Koi wa Ameagari no You ni Episode 1 Discussion

Just started this one after noticing that you were watching it @perseii

I LOVE these shot comps and colorful visuals, what a beautiful first episode. There's such a clear reverence on display for the mundane scenery and foodstuffs of everyday life. It's kinda breathtaking. Gonna need to keep an eye out for Wit Studio and whoever worked on this one.

I also love when an anime does that kind of thing. That includes small character moments and actions, too, like tying your hair or simply staring into a cup of coffee.

I don't know what it is exactly, and maybe it's not just one thing, but the premiere episode also made a deep impression on me.

Wit Studio is definitely widely-respected, and I also like a lot of their shows. The studio was what caught my eye to check out this anime, actually.

@perseii Your words remind me of a paper I once read about affective forecasting and "impact bias," or the idea that people tend to overestimate how much they'll suffer from serious setbacks. For example, people will believe that being laid off or suffering a breakup will cause them to feel terrible for months and months, when it generally causes pain that only lasts a few weeks. Part of the reason why this happens is that people tend to underestimate the (usually very positive) impact of surrounding circumstances. In the moment of trying to imagine the future, they fail to account for the little everyday things, the people they meet, the food they eat, etc. and how that will help them heal and move forward.

I've been thinking about impact bias recently because, in my own life, I've failed to account for how important these little daily occurrences actually are to me. Over a decade ago, I picked my first-choice university. I was lucky to be able to do that, but I ended up unexpectedly hating many of the small things in life. I got sick of the school's food, I got sick of the town I was stuck in, I got sick of the people around me. I had a terrible time with my undergrad studies, and now, when discussing college choices with my students and advisees, I make a point to highlight all the little things. I tell my students to eat a meal at the school dining hall when visiting prospective colleges, to check out the dorms, and to pay attention to how passers-by conduct themselves.

I think anime that highlights the stuff you mentioned has helped me move on from my past mistakes, in a way. Or maybe it's just providing some validation of my perspective by venerating the mundane. Either way, the excruciatingly beautiful attention to detail, whether its on a cup of coffee or a character's tics, helps to ground a lot of shows in a way that many other forms of media don't even bother trying. And this show's first episode has that down to an art.

bit of an essay here, but hopefully you don't mind some reading