Saint Seiya!!!!

If you read my blog you know that it's not often that I put exclamation marks anywhere, let alone in the title, let alone putting several of them. And the curious thing is that what makes me do that is a Japanese anime series. Me who is not fan of Jap anime and who still don't want to join Bibo's anime fan group on the facebook despite Bibo being nice and kind and cute and all that. Why Saint Seiya?

Because I watched it when little. Back in China when parental (or maternal) restrictions on TV-watching were strictly observed. What precious moments I snatch on TV I remember clearly, every one of them. So this series was shown daily at 5 or 6ish. I got to watch it when mum was in good mood. As a result my impression of the episodes was broken, also due to the storyline being utterly confusing with the sheer length of the saga and the multiple and looped flashbacks. A rather complete portion of the series that I remember was about the 5 Saint fighters going through twelve palaces to rescue Athena, their violet-haired employer, who was captured by an evil Pope. Saint Seiya is the leading fighter. The dwellers of the 12 palaces were of the 12 horoscopes and they were golden fighters, while the Saints were bronze fighters. But anyhow they won, though I had the impression that they died one by one as they approached the last of the palaces. But it couldn't have been, because it was far from the end of the series.

So the day before, a girl who has just finished her A-levels lent me the entire series on VCD. In watching them, I felt that I haven't felt so motivated for a long time ever since I drove my parents to the Niagara Falls. I remember every note of the opening theme song and some Japanese syllables in it too, especially the two words "Saint Seiya..." that are repeated in the chorus. I had no clue that "Saint Seiya" is the title of the series, since it was shown in Chinese then. And a sound that had sounded like "hoo-heh" to my childish ears is now distinguishably "oh yeah" (pronounced in a Japanese way). And I remember all the names of the definitive skills that the saints possessed. They were all in Chinese then. Now it's in Japanese, but the subtitles in Chinese showed those exact words, and I can almost hear them shouted out in the dubbed voices, just like thirteen years ago... For once I didn't abhor the Chinese subtitles for cheesiness, and actually wished I could have watched it with dubbing, while I have usually cringed at the Taiwanese mandarin of dubbed Jap animes.

That's how it's like when you grow up with something. Your taste changes but it will never abandon the treasures of child time. Treasures acquired that way are more precious than knowledge acquired through any intellectual process. And imagine that you picked up some childhood jewels by chance when you never thought anyone'd give you a clue about where you can find them back. Like in the first good deed done by Amelie.

So if I grew up in Singapore, will I love it, despite its inherent lack of nobility or sublimity? (Then again which country doesn't?) Or should I take the stand of the abandoned intellectual and judge even my childhood? (see a discourse on the social role of an abandoned intellectual here) Is there more wisdom in the later? There sure isn't happiness. Or am I sure? Depends on perspective I guess. Am I ever sure about anything?

Ok at least one thing. Want to go home and watch more Saint Seiya!