Guilty pleasure
If you were to ask me which music instantly relaxes me, my first thought would undoubtedly go to the entire OST of an anime I watched during my early teenage years.
Many kids probably tuned into mainstream shows on the Italia 1 channel (part of the Mediaset network), like Naruto, Dragon Ball, and Shaman King. The more nerdy ones might have shifted to the anime aired on Italian MTV during its Anime Night, where you could catch more "alternative" titles like Orphen, Full Metal Alchemist, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Black Lagoon. Then there were other anime broadcasted by MTV at different times, such as Golden Boy, Ranma 1/2, Inuyasha, and Slam Dunk.
In this last category was an anime that I truly loved, so much so that I bought a DVD box set that eventually ended up closed in a cabinet and never opened... I'm talking about an anime that emotionally engaged me, made me sigh, opened my mind, entertained me, alarmed me, and ultimately reassured me.
It had a unique style, a heartfelt story—certainly romanticized but grounded in reality—that attempted to depict those "situations" that every teenager, even those from countries far removed from the original Japanese setting, can experience. I'm referring to the famous Kare Kano1, translated into Italian as Le Situazioni Di Lui E Lei.
This was a "coming-of-age" anime, adapted from a manga that wasn't exactly shonen2; in fact, it was a shojo3. Yet, my teenage self found significant points of reflection, realizing that romantic relationships are often much more complicated and challenging than a novice might think.
In my opinion, one of the strengths of this anime lay in its OST, which perfectly highlighted the characters' personalities, the situations, and the light passage of time during adolescence, where the greatest concern should revolve around studies and sports—though, in reality, it often isn't.
This soundtrack contains some of the most tipically '90s Japanese easy listening music I have ever heard.
Below, you can find a selection of tracks from this soundtrack that you can play in the background while you write, work, or read other blogs on this wonderful platform, Bear Blog.
Happy listening, friends!