Beocat

Try Yuri!!! On Ice yet? That's the one I'm going to try out (then thinking about seeing what this Prince of Tennis thing is all about that people go on and on over...) as I am actually a huge fan of gymnastics and ice skating competitions (most any sober person can run in a straight line. It takes actual skill to throw yourself up in the air and twist, turn, and capitulate and then land while making it look graceful and effortless. Grace that I lack...clumsy me... ~sighs~). I haven't started watching it yet so no spoilers folks. I've already heard some things about it but I'm just hoping the ice skating is good. Hmmm...I might try to rewatch Irregulars someday (but can't promise I'l get any further, even knowing that). @Oakmi message sent

@drill Anytime I am planning on grabbing a few titles too, just trying to whittle down my choices. If only Time Jam were part of the sale. I will just have to wait a little while on that one.

Hey all, I'm tossing up the link for Sentai Filmwork's summer sale if any of you want to check it out and grab some Sentai titles at super low prices (some down to $5-$9 USD). They usually do a summer sale, then a Black Friday (end of November, early December) sale. It's a great way to support the industry and get a good deal (and a lot of anime for not a lot of expense). https://shop.sentaifilmworks.com/collections/summer-sale-2018?page=1

That right there is why I have a rule I live by. I don't go out of my way to remember names or get to know anyone I'm working with until I've had a chance to watch them work for about five or so months first. Usually by the end of five months, you can tell exactly what kind of horrible person the person is, whether that be stalker, gossiper, clingy, fibber, lazy, highstrung, petty, whatever. And the less people know about me the less they can target me from. I just don't trust people in business because most people will try to climb to the top off the backs of person they stabbed. The thing is, this was in a government facility on federal land (where somehow most labor laws don't matter). When I first arrived, one investigation had just ended. The previous department head had been groping the contracted staff on the job (just walking up behind them and grabbing crotches and boobs and sexually harassing them). The girls reported it to their supervisor who laughed in their faces and told them no one would care and to get over it. They felt they had no alternative (reporting outside the department had caused retaliations in the past). Eventually, one girl opened an investigation on it regardless of the backlash and the investigation team dragged it out so long (intentionally) that the statute of limitations ran out before the department head was charged (and he was able to retire honorably with full benefits and pension off of my tax dollars). Then the investigation team turned it around on the victims and reprimanded them for not reporting it outside of their chain of command (even though many had proof of previous retaliation for having done similar things) sooner. I grew up in an AF town. Well, I can tell you, none of that would fly if it were AF. I could describe every investigation in detail and how it ended and the promises that were made to certain individuals if they were complicit in a lie or cover-up or if they failed to give adequate testimony. I can tell you how investigators intentionally changed witness statements (hoping the witnesses would just sign it and not read what they were told was a transcript of the interview). Corrupt! So very corrupt! I'm definitely better off away from there. I have one interview later this week, one I did yesterday, and I have a possible future interview (when the job is no longer on hold....they are changing it from PT to FT) in a few weeks. I'm hopeful for myself. I haven't heard from her though since. I'm not sure I will. She was flighty at best...I couldn't blame her. Talking to me must remind her of that place to some degree. I still can't believe that I made it that long in that place. It has made me certain I never want to work in a place like that again. I had misgivings my first day there (literally I think the world was trying to tell me to back out quickly) but I stuck it out.....next time I'm listening when the world or a higher power tries to tell me something important. I will obey! LOL

None that I can think of actually. I've jumped out of planes, climbed up and down the side of canyons (which was only scary when the girl above me nearly fell to her death in front of me. Thankfully I was under an overhang so she wouldn't have taken me out. Heart attack anyone? She was a lot less reckless after that), dive with hundreds of sharks, hike through the woods, prefer the dark and night, aren't bothered by snakes (but do respect them!), can tolerate spiders (though I don't like them I'm certainly not like some people that I know who would burn the house down to kill a single spider), stared down the barrel of a gun, not afraid of dogs (even though I have a scar on my face from a dog attack when I was a child).... None of that has ever "scared me". So I guess no phobias. My brother is terrified of clowns hehe..... I think I know what I'm doing this Halloween.... I'm pretty good at compartmentalizing things when needed, so I'm sure that helps when I'm under stress. In the past, when things have happened that should have terrified me (like being pulled underwater by another person, driving on black ice, tornados, etc), I just put the terror and panic into one place and let my logical side and any training I have to deal with situations take over.

None this year. Been saving money and playing older games.

A side-story fan, then? Hmm...I used to be that way too but my tastes just keep evolving over time. I'm even starting to get slightly interested in sports-related anime (though I have no real life interest in sports. Very odd.). As for cringeworthy cookie cutter events, I can definitely name a few (wind blows the skirt up as the MC takes an innocent picture ending in a slap, MC and HC run into one another and land in a compromising position ending in a slap, MC walks in on HC in the nude ending in a slap...) as they are the reason I still know how to roll my eyes. I'm surprised you were able to watch the Irregulars. That one was a huge turn off for me (probably because it was thrust into my face almost immediately on the first episode). I've come to believe that most MC's have sisters so that they can be a harem member eventually. You know, it's interesting that you mentioned Spineless heroines. Sometimes that really is the case and I think it gets used as a means of extending the romantic tension (albeit, there are better ways of doing it). Have you ever seen Okami-san and her Seven Companions? The spineless one is actually the guy...and he's not really spineless, just has pretty severe anxiety. That was a very unique anime and I felt the romance could have been amazing if they had continued it. Yet another anime that will probably never get another season... >_> Well, studies have shown that we innately find beauty in people who are more genetically different than we are (likely because the increased variability in genes increases the robust nature of your immune system and from a survival standpoint that is important) and less beauty in those genetically similar. That being said, with all these fathers raping their daughters in America that happens (truly sad cases. Working in a pediatric clinic, you see the actual effects of sexual abuse on these children. Horrific. I believe it is more widespread than reported.) I really question if people actually have an innate distaste for it or if it is more a convenience thing. I am interested in what interesting things you found in your digging on Japan. Care to share? You can private message me if you think it is too hard core for the forum.

Well, @Optic, congratulations on scoring a new full-time job! I too am in the market and crossing my fingers currently for a temporary to permanent one so I completely understand the stress you are under. That said, everything will be alright so no stressing (or rather, make sure you have some time set aside to relax too). I've got my fingers crossed for you too. And no apologies necessary! I don't think anyone here expects you to put your life on hold for the forum. When you get your feet back under you again, we'll still be here. Best wishes! ~Beocat

Same here. Legal sites only (that ensures the developers, publishers, and artists get paid their dues). I am more a hulu and Crunchyroll fan but have been using Netflix lately since I let my hulu subscription lapse. Downloading has too many risks for me to consider.

I prefer blurays (it gives access to both sub and dub in high quality) but I use streaming sites too, especially if it isn't out on Dvd or bluray yet. A bonus with blurays is thst you get to watch the trailers for other shows in the "Also from..." section. Those trailers have gotten me interested in shows I wouldn't have given a thought to try before. Being able to stream broadens what I watch too since the personal investment is much lower.

~backs up the pickup truck and lowers the tailgate~ Will this do? I definitely agree that this is a topic that needs to be addressed (preferably sooner than later) by the industry. The problem with any kind of artistic medium that involves story-telling is that if you spread a concept widely enough, and often enough, it becomes culturally acceptable with time (and this isn't always a good thing for the people in the culture). I do believe that the widespread portrayal of incest (even in what might be an innocent way) may ultimately cause some questionable family relations some day in Japan, but that is yet to be seen. You know, I had initially planned on starting up a genomics company (before I went and did something else) so I know all about what you are talking about with the genetic issues that incest creates. It is an awful thing to burden a child with those problems from the day they were born (not all are unlucky, but it only takes one!). I will say though that although I generally don't like them, I have stumbled across the one where I actually rooted for the siblings to develop the relationship. I guess you should never say never lol...It was very well crafted I will admit. And I want you to know that relative humidity joke...took me about 10 seconds for the light bulb to go off but then I was bowled over laughing! That was a good one! And I think the harem trend has already been beat to death and then some. It is everywhere!

This has been one crazy bumpy trip for me over the past several months. I left my job with no promise of a new job and so far, I've had fairly terrible luck in landing one. Let me give you a bit of history. The place I was previously working for four years suffered greatly from certain individuals blatantly abusing their authority, retaliating against anyone who would dare speak the truth in the multiple investigations that occurred (four in four years...unheard of, yet the higher ups continue to protect the corrupt likely because they are just as corrupt), targeting people for abuse, bullying, and hazing, and discriminating against individuals on the basis of color, gender, and religion. Let's not even cover how they bluntly did not care for patient safety because "it's not like they can sue us" (guess what...some of them can! It is no excuse for sub-quality care and possible intentional endangerment of a patient!). Needless to say, it was a fairly terrible environment and the last year I spent there was full of anxiety and depression. I considered the place I worked as The Gates of Hell. I was burned out, exhausted, and I was actually starting to hate people, and I'm not like that. I was also doing 90% of the work there by myself. So I left, a friend of mine left, another friend of mine left, another person went into rehab (drugs and alcohol...can't blame her in that place), another got arrested for fraud (that one can be blamed on him alone). While myself and a friend kept up with one another, my other friend only kept up with me for a little bit. We talked about how much of a relief (physical, mental, and emotional) it was to be away from that place, no matter the financial difficulty it would bring us. We talked about meditation, exercising, cooking, spending time with our loved ones, the hobbies we had left behind due to the stress... When she stopped emailing me, I thought she had decided to move (she had talked about it) and wanted to cut off all friends and memories of that place (I wouldn't have blamed her). I hadn't heard from her for three months, then she sends me an email out of the blue. She had been far more depressed than the rest of us. She had almost taken her own life. I knew she was very depressed. She was treated far worse by our supervisors (even though she hadn't been there nearly as long as I had) and truthfully, I don't think legally that they should have been able to treat people the way that they did. When myself and my other friend left, I believe that she felt alone and solely targeted. She didn't stay longer than a month after we left. I can only imagine how difficult the healing has been since then. Truly no one can understand how bad it was unless you were there. Even now, I know they curse my name because now they have no one to do all the work for them (the people who are left are worthless and incompetent, but their incompetence makes them not a threat to the incompetent management). All I want is to move on and never feel the way I felt while working there for the past 4 years. I hope that she stays in contact with me this time and I hope she never feels that low ever again. This universe can be so unfair sometimes but in the end, things will even back out. They have theirs coming to them. I can only hope so anyways. I think if I make it through all of this, I just might leave this profession forever. Plan my exit. Or at least invest in an alternative income source. Anything to never feel as though I can't freely leave a bad job again. I'm so thankfully I had months saved up to support myself through this.

@the_twig Yes, I have actually not gotten around to the Lostorage series as of yet but I'll try to keep my expectations at a minimum. It's better to think it was better than it could have been than worse than it should have been lol... Thanks for the heads up on that one About Freezing, yes the ecchi was entirely my reason for quitting that anime too. I remember actually watching this on hulu with my best friend (she does not remember this lol). I had hoped the ecchi would be less by episode two but it wasn't so I wanted to drop it and she wanted to continue it....she actually ended up buying it later and watching the entire series. She has a much higher ecchi/fanservice tolerance than I do (which does not match her own standards that she describes for anime but eh...). She has since told me plenty about the series in an attempt to get me to watch it again...if I ever do, it will have to be one episode a week or so unless the ecchi shrinks back. As far as serious takes are concerned... the incest is not a love story. You should private message me if you want to know more.

@Wedgy @brycec Some of my favorite couples are actually from genres other than romance too. For instance, Shiro and Akatsuki from Log Horizon is one of my favorites and a big part of it is actually their age. They are older, have graduated from college, and have their own jobs and lives before being stuck in the game (though I can't say if that relationship will go anywhere, especially with it being harem-lite). They are refreshingly not in high school That was a big part of the appeal of Recovery of an MMO Junkie too. When I was younger, I really had no interest in romance but the older I get, the more I seem to enjoy it. Hehe, I have worse My father was the King of Bad Jokes and the Master of Bad Puns. It probably runs in the family. I do agree with you that Harems are kind of borderline cheating. I mean, if you are interested in starting a relationship but you don't have family jewels to make things exclusive or even tell someone you just aren't into them, then you are really just keeping your options open. Not much of a commitment there. I had to actually look up NTR (netorare). I have to admit...that's one way to start a relationship...or break one... From a psychological standpoint, some of those anime are almost like Stockholm Syndrome which could explain why they typically turn out the way that they do. As for the incest stance, I won't be burning you at the stake for it. I personally couldn't stand watching anime that alluded to incest closer than at the cousin level (even if not acted upon. Surprisingly, cousin incest is legal in my state...not sure if that influenced my natural tolerance of it or not) and after a while I decided that I would just have to tolerate it to watch some anime (with much eye rolling and grimacing). Then I stumbled across Selector WIXOSS and all that changed... It snuck up on me and I didn't mind it in that anime. I'm not sure I can say the same on others. Even the Game of Thrones incest is still rather revolting to me lol... Let's hear it for Familiar of Zero! =D Yes! Another fan! I also loved how it ended. Did not love the harem...especially the maid (whose personality changed drastically from season one...even the princess =/ Those two became carbon copies of one another. What a waste.) but the fact that he actually marries her (for the second time I believe... it's been a while and I was under some extreme stress the month I binge-watched it so my memory is a bit bad) made up for it. I really do believe that it is the only one with a conclusive ending. Some reverse harems have conclusive endings too but they never seem to make it that far in the anime. It was just so refreshing to see Not to mention he deserved literally every lashing she gave him. Maximum approval here! Hehe. I think Kanon didn't do a bad job though it certainly wasn't a good job either for a harem. He did have a complete romance with one girl (which I thought was a cheap cop out move on the writers) and did kind of choose another one (the one I was rooting for but you just don't see where it goes far down the road). So...half-way complete? As a tragic harem, I felt it did fairly well. I am a personal fan of tragedies. When I get into a sad mood, a tragic story is all I need to set my soul into a gentle glide of sorrow. That definitely helps to bump it up on the list for me. By the way, I love your Levels/Stages of Romance too. Stage One....the typical cliché is the train/subway rolling past drowning out the confession that took episodes to build! Ultimately frustrating to me. But then, I like to forward with people and I prefer that they be forward with me. You know, if they didn't hear you the first time, repeat yourself until they do. Ah, but romances are filled with frustrating scenes like this meant to extend out the time to a change in the relationship. Stage 3 and 4 are awesome when you actually get to see it happen. I too wish there were more Stage 5's. @the_twig That is interesting...only one must fall in love... Definitely not a traditional view. I can see how it would be more difficult to craft a meaningful story that way. It makes me think of Eponine from Les Miserables. Another tragic story.... ~sighs~ And I completely agree with you that harems are a bane on Romances. I cannot tell you how I came to loathe the harem members in Familiar of Zero. How I started out with respect for most of them...and ended with such disgust.... There are other harems that have frustrated me terribly, but that one took the cake (and yet the ending was quite satisfying, likely because the harem I loathed and detested was nullified at that time). On the incest part....I can see how it could be a weird subject for the two of you (with a joint account....no offense but on Facebook that usually means you cheated on your spouse in the past. This is the first circumstance I've seen a joint account where it was not a husband and wife. Just a bit different, but unusual circumstances too.). A friend of mine believes that Freezing (Vibration? The second season) took a serious take on incest. I didn't make it past the 2nd episode of the first season so I can't personally attest to that myself. She also watches some of the Yuri and Yaoi anime too....her thoughts are that too many of them devolve rather quickly into lust to be any good.

So, I imagine some of you are reeling from that poll…if you even managed to finish it. I picked a hard topic to cover this time for sure. Okay, I couldn’t resist but that will be my only pun. A romance is different to every person. Some people have stricter definitions as to what constitutes a romance while others have a fairly loose identity to follow. In my own opinion, harems have substantially muddied the water while other special romance circumstances (incest for instance) definitely pose some interesting moral conundrums. That isn’t to say that other circumstances haven’t posed serious moral conundrums in the past. I, for one, am old enough to remember when sex in anime (especially if out of wedlock) was considered controversial. Let’s not get started on how long same-sex relationships took to become less of an issue across the board as well. So, what does your concept of a romance encompass? Do you have certain things that might make an anime not a romance? How do harems fit in for you? What do you think of incest relationships and what level or degree of incest are you able to tolerate (e.g. cousins but not siblings? Yearning but not intimate?)? I think that incest is definitely more common in the world of hentai, but that being said, harems have a strong tendency to dabble with incest as well. With harems being inserted into more genres across the board, this is an issue that cannot be ignored. Anyone have any thoughts or opinions on that matter? Please by all means, don't be shy in posting! This will probably be my last poll for quite a while but I think that it raises an interesting topic for debate. I can't wait to hear all of your thoughts on this (it is really much broader than I usually aim for)!

I've been watching Minami Kamakura High School Girls Cycling Club every few days or so. I've been watching it while I work so I kind of missed a bit of what was happening in the last two episodes (will have to backtrack). It is what I'd call a pretty standard anime but it is also very informative. I'm learning so much more about biking and bicycles than I ever knew before. They not only put that information into the anime but they have these "infomercials" that talk about biking after the anime. The only other anime I've ever seen do this was Arjuna (which had "infomercials" that reminded me of the ones after Captain Planet). So, interesting but standard run of the mill too.

You know, I'm actually wired that way from decades and decades of reading books. Even when I do writing on my own, I consider where the plot will go, how it is going to develop, where it will end and more before I even start. Non Non Biyori was a huge departure from that for me. It really has no plot...there are things that continue from one episode to the next (like the whole plush doll thing - more a questionable personality trait of one of the girls), but no overarching storyline. What kept me watching it was the insight into rural Japan. I wouldn't say it is my favorite SoL, but it was probably my first plotless anime (I think my only plotless anime lol). I definitely prefer a good plot too. It was interesting but not my favorite and it was the setting that made it interesting to me. I completely agree with both of these statements. That's actually where I think the allure of SoLs lie. It is the time that they genuinely can spend focused on the characters and their motivations (other than the generic types and deres we've all become painfully familiar with that take up most anime). The characters aren't running from place to place and the slower pace seems to bring out more of the characters nuances so they don't end up as a "type-cast" for the story. I often wish more anime had characters as carefully and thoughtfully crafted as SoLs tend to have.

I should post a picture sometime of my greenhouse for farming. I made it ridiculously huge but the lighting I decided on for the crops was..odd. Odd but it works. Got to get back to my homestead on that game eventually. Been fixing the few towns that I have the last few times I logged in.

I used to build giant lighthouses and cobblestone mushrooms as my landmarks but since playing on an "all high mountain" terrain I have just started carrying a compass with me. No sleeping lol....

Neck problems keep me from being able to do anything high impact (even walking affects me) and keeps me from being able to lift weights. Swimming, diving, and biking is all I can really do. I used to be a runner. Oh how I miss it.

Then the anime suffers from a lack of realism (especially if they start stating the gun is pointless. What extreme naivety...). If the buildings are "corpses" then they are probably falling apart from lack of maintenance. The people they meet could be threatening (truthfully, we are savages. Civilization and the constraints society places on us is one of the only reasons we are "Civil" to one another. To be in a lonely world stocked with friendly people going about their own way is insane. Watch infants and children who haven't learned of society yet. They'll take what they want when they want, and if the other child cries from the loss of his/her favorite toy then so be it.). That too would bother me. Maybe it is more fantasy than anything else. And that is a huge departure from realism in their situation. Like before, I wouldn't want to see a child suffer, but if they are just meandering around with no threats...it is not realistic and kind of shows that maybe the author was writing this story through Rose-Colored Glasses. For now I'll have to hold my judgment until I've seen it. But those two thoughts would be huge detractants for me. Ooooooooh Don't say that Envy.... I've already thought up my next polling topic (came to me a few minutes after waking up today) and it deals with a subgenre....one that most people have some strong opinions on (but I am so curious as to what those opinions are O_O ). I wonder if you really might have a favorite in this genre now..... >_>

Ah! They eat Black Beauty!? Guess I'll have to be extra careful if I ever visit Japan not to get that. I don't think I ever could in good conscience.

This reply to you might be a bit off topic but I can't resist.... Have you watched the first season of Digimon recently? It has many many puns for your enjoyment....So many bad puns v_v I whole-heartedly agree with those first few paragraphs. It does get thrown around a lot and ends up being slapped on far too many shows that it isn't. If the main focus is romance, then it is a romance. I guess that's why for me it ends up being at times a category of exclusion (as in, not a romance...not a space opera....not a mystery...is it a SoL? Hmmm...). I do feel strongly that it must being focused on the snapshot of life that it is aiming for. As for Camp A...that goes for just about any genre these days. Look at Girls und Panzer and High School Fleet. Pretty girls...sell just about anything. I feel like I've missed something not having seen Girls Last Tour... >_> I might need to bump it up on the timetable...That said, I will stand by my own words of..... And I will explain in more detail this opinion. While it does answer those psychological questions you posed @the_twig, you must also consider that you are watching two children trying to eke out a survival in a post-apocalyptic world. They are alone (psychologically traumatic, even in a pair) and very young (and not trained for the situation in advance). This is not a story that would appeal to a great number of people. How many people really want to watch children who may be suffering and who are coming face to face with their own mortality so early in life? The situation that they are in is far from normal (though the show focuses in on their own every day life within that setting so...SoL-fringe to me) and may be emotionally distressing. I will admit, I love survival shows. I watch this pretty awesome show called "Alone" (first, second, and fourth (only season to feature a pair of survivors) seasons took place on Vancouver Island, Third in Padegonia, and the fifth is in Mongolia) where trained survivalists compete to see who can survive the longest (up to a full year) without tapping out with no human contact (other than the weekly medical team that drops off more batteries for the cameras and picks up the used camera film and verifies that their health has not declined to the point that they must be medically evacuated to save their lives) and while I enjoy seeing how they respond to the environment and the things they are able to create to survive and the genuine planning they put into every action, the physical toil and psychological trauma is severe, even when you have someone to suffer with. While I can watch an adult who knew what they were getting into put themselves through that kind of suffering, I'm not sure I could watch a child do the same and really enjoy myself. I may not love kids...but I don't hate them either. I also know what kind of effort one must put in to survive in situations like that, so I may not appreciate the lack of realism if the series suffers on that part (especially because I understand how much food you would actually need to survive and not slowly starve to death). So, I'm not slandering the anime, but I am saying that it could be difficult to watch. Most SoL's definitely take a lighter view of life. Am I interested enough to watch it sometime? Yes. Might I not make it to the end? It's a possibility. I'll only know after I've seen it. Still, this is a good discussion. I'd consider that to be a fairly unique SoL for sure.

Ah, Wolf Children. I loved that anime...heart wrenching... It is definitely in my top favorites as well for Slice of Life. Fruits Basket...I'd probably call that one a Reverse Harem personally. But that's just my opinion there. As for Plotless, try out Non Non Biyori. It basically revolves around school life in an extremely rural area of Japan and how extremely different the setting is from urban and suburban Japan. So, the focus there is on the setting and how it affects the characters lives and on the interactions of the characters. There didn't seem to be an overarching plotline, just more of a look inside the lives of the girls living there. [mal type=anime id=17549] Another one would be Sweetness and Lightning (Amaama to Inazuma) which I have not yet had the opportunity to watch but have heard about. It focuses on cooking (usually a different Japanese meal oer episode) and deals with character development on a per episode basis of a grieving widower, his young daughter, and a friend, but with no overarching plotline. So, it is simply a collection of weekly meals amongst the group. [mal type=anime id=32828] Those are the only two that popped into my mind so quickly, but I'm sure there are more out there. I agree too that SoL tends to be much more character centric than most other anime. When well done, it can really be something spectacular to see. I think it depends on each anime, but genres tend to gather a certain reputation at the same time. Slice of Life is actually quite broad for a genre (almost like Space Opera having a broad definition) so there is a lot of variability that can occur within it. The one thing that tends to stay the same though is how ordinary it portrays life. No superpowers and usually no outrageous personalities...just normal people trying to make the best from the life they have. There is a simple beauty in that, but beauty is judged by everyone differently too so I understand where you are coming from here. I'd say that bad comedy is Slap Stick comedy in my opinion. I know my husband loves the Three Stooges but I can't stand watching them. If there was a Three Stooges anime...I would refuse to watch it. There are many out there with a good plot but lots that have no plot too. So, are you saying that a plot is necessary to enjoy it? I guess what I'm trying to figure out is what makes it good to other people... Okay, so I looked up Girl's Last Tour and wow...have not seen that one. Just reading the premesis of the anime gives you a pause. That would be a hard anime for most people to enjoy. Definitely more of a psychological dive than most Slice of Life's aim for so maybe more of a fringe-SoL there. Barakamon though, that seems definitely more in line with most SoL titles. I might have to put both of those on my "watch eventually" list.

Well, I have no clue where you live but if you are in the USA, job prospects aren't looking good for doctors anymore. If you aren't in it to help people, you will not be happy at all. Doctors are going the way of the pharmacists, as in, they allowed big corporations to take over and wreck their reimbursement so that the insurance companies and corporations they work for get rich, and they get paid less and less, are expected to see more and more patients with less time for each one, and are judged off of satisfaction scores (basically, did you give the person a zpak on their way out so they feel they didn't waste their money on a trip to the doctor that really wasn't needed for a runny nose?). Pharmacists are hurting terribly right now and most of us can't even find a job (the field is narrow...there is nothing else you can really do with the degree.). Doctors are getting the same with the family medicine docs getting pushed out by cheaper NPs and PAs and big health systems dictating how they should practice medicine. Then add on top of that that malpractice insurance is at an alltime high from the frivolous lawsuits (which you can be named in even if you only saw the patient once and had no part in what the lawsuit is about. They name more people so they can raise the amount they are demanding in the suit for payment.). You should definitely do some forum digging into it all before you decide on any career in the medical field. Dig deep into the prospects, especially if your heart is not into it. As much as I love pharmacy, if I could do it all again I would have opened up that genomics company I had planned on and I'd be filthy rich now. I knew the advances were coming to the field. I had it all planned out. But when given the opportunity to study for pharmacy, I wanted to have an impact on people today...not years down the road. Well, hard to have an impact when you can't land a job LOL. Sad but true. Got to get my inner robot on. It isn't about taking good care of patients or patient safety. It's just about how fast you can work, how robotic you can be, and how much of your soul you are willing to throw in the trash every day. Goes against everything in my soul. Really does.