[vspirit]

Hello, sanriki. Welcome to the board and thread =). I like the song a lot, too. For such a simple and peaceful-sounding song, the impact it’s had on me has shaken me to the core. I looked up the singer as well and was rather surprised to find out that he’s not quite the ‘ojisan’ I thought he was. Shimauta-style singing can be quite misleading, huh? I’m glad that the song is so well received in Japan, though. I hope Atari-san and his music will become more popular because his music is very moving and he gives me the impression of someone who’s truly musical.

I'm glad that most of you are judging and/or gauging the show from the kind of work it is, rather than what it clearly isn't. Because this isn’t an action-packed sort of thing, if that’s what you’re expecting, you’ll only be setting yourself up for disappointment and ruin an experience that could otherwise have been good. Instead, I recommend watching the show for what it is because that way, you’ll be able to notice the subtler things the show has to offer that you’ll otherwise miss if you let your preconceptions cloud your experience of the show.

As for me, I like the lessons in life that are imparted in each episode which the audience get to learn through Takashi’s experiences. Rest assured, Takashi will open himself up little by little to make friends because unlike Reiko, despite all that he’s suffered due to people’s inability to believe and accept (and what they can’t accept, they reject and ridicule instead), he still sees the good and believe in them due to the little kindness and warmth he has been shown (by the Fujiwaras, mostly, and the friends that currently surround him), and so yearns to be apart of their society and world. He’s aloof and without friends at first but you can’t really blame the boy, after knowing the kind of past he’s had (there’s more that the anime hasn’t shown yet). But here, he slowly learns to open up, even if it’s only a little (it’s limited because he’s super-wary of letting others know of his strange ability—a mistake he’s made a few times in the past and suffered the consequences of).

There will be more action-packed episodes in the future, if the anime continues in its current vein of following the manga super-closely (each episode number so far corresponds to the manga chapter it drew its story from), but it will be in the anime’s own unique fashion. Just to inform those of you who are expecting something that’s clearly out of the anime’s genre. Do keep watching though, even if ends up not being quite your thing, because I think this is the kind of show that, if watched with the right frame of mind, appeals to just about anybody, and if enjoyed properly, the lessons you learn from it can make your life a richer one. =)