Yay for me!

Huzzah for my first entry in my new blog!
Sequential Thoughts is intended to be reminiscent of the term "Sequential Art" (for those of you who don't know, that's the fancy way of saying "comic book"). See, I enjoy comic books. And unlike a lot of people, I don't draw much of a distinguishing mark based on where they come from. I enjoy comics from Japan, Europe and the United States. I also enjoy cartoons (including anime), books, video and computer games, sports, and, of course, movies and TV shows. Sometimes I enjoy one more than the other. Two years ago I was big on American comics, video games, and novels. Now I'm enjoying TV, manga and anime more, but these things come in cycles, and I expect that at some point I'll be more interested in talking about the others.

As you might be able to tell, Sequential Thoughts is going to be my rambling discourse on things I like. I noticed last week that all of the media I enjoy has something in common, it builds up elements sequentially. Not necessarily the plot (though that's usually the way it is), but some elements of the story are built up over time.

For example, two years ago I was no longer following anime and/or manga. It seemed like there wasn't really anything in it for me anymore (up until this point, I had enjoyed Cowboy Bebop, Gundam and other anime shows). As a matter of fact, pretty much the only animated shows I was watching anymore were the Dini/Timm DC Animated Universe (Batman: TAS, Superman: TAS, Batman Beyond, Justice League, Teen Titans). I went to the library one day and checked out the first five volumes of Love Hina and the first three or four of Oh My Goddess. Now I should point out that I already knew the broad strokes of what each series was about. I had assumed that neither would be my cup of tea. I read the Oh My Goddess volumes, and wasn't especially surprised. It wasn't for me. After the first volume of Love Hina I was pretty sure it wasn't going to be for me either.

However, by the end of the third volume something strange happened, I was laughing out loud while reading. My sense of humor is a little bit dry and ironic, so I usually don't find comedy especially funny. I know when to laugh, and I include (what I like to call) my polite laugh in the appropriate parts of shows I watch, but up until this point I had never really laughed at something before. My wife would look at me strangely because I couldn't stop laughing while reading. The thing about Love Hina is that the gags build up. By the fourth volume you have seen pretty much the punchline to almost every joke Love Hina is going to give you; however, the inventive build ups and elaborate ways the jokes are staged are what make it so funny. And even funnier are the moments where you keep waiting and waiting for the joke but it never comes.

It's important to note how this is different from something like Looney Tunes (not that there's anything wrong with Looney Tunes either). In Looney Tunes they use a lot of the same gags over and over, but the gag is basically repeated (the same for Tom and Jerry or other, non-sequential comedy shows). In Love Hina, the gags are escalating, each one provokes a reaction that builds on the previous reactions. The difference is that one is intended to be watched in a certain order, and the other is designed to be watched in a random piece by itself. Note that I'm not saying there's anything with the Looney Tunes way, I just happen to prefer mine the Love Hina way.

Similarly, one of my favorite TV shows was Babylon 5. In order to watch (and understand) Babylon 5, you have to see the earlier episodes. The plot is layered over seasons. This is different than the way a TV show like (for example) Star Trek works. Though later versions of Star Trek included more layered plot elements than earlier ones, for the most part you can pick out any episode of Star Trek and watch it with someone else without having to explain what happened in the earlier episodes. Again, there's nothing wrong with either approach, I just prefer mine the Babylon 5 way.

For my next entry, I'll probably include an idea of my favorites from each genre. Which will give us an interesting starting point to begin discussions of the things I'm watching/reading now in comparison.