Anime Fide: Smoke 'em if you got 'em

...Not that I'm advocating smoking, just to be clear. I have always enjoyed this saying; there's something in me that can really understand the advice to take a moment to enjoy something as one never knows when either the moment will depart or the source of one's enjoyment run out. It calls to mind the virtue of being fully engaged in living. This is a virtue extolled in anime; let's look at two examples.
In Zombie Loan the character Michiru Kita begins the series in a state of limbo. She is not engaged in her life, neither enjoying herself nor suffering. Each day leads to the next because that is the way the planet spins, not because she has any particular impetus to continue living. She is forced to reexamine how she goes about living after meeting two very willful guys from school. They each have their reasons for valuing living so very much, but what they impart to Kita is a lesson about getting the most out of life. She opens the door on a new period in her life, accompanied but friend-like people, willing to embrace a philosophy of "nothing ventured nothing gained."
Amatsuki, a show I just began watching, features the adventures of lackadaisical high school student Tokidoki Rikugō. His poor performance in school and easy going nature are both drawn from the distance he feels between himself and his life; he feels like an observer of his life rather than as the participant. When he finds himself thrown into a world he knows little about he is at first nonplussed because it has about as much to do with him as his life before did. Only when confronted by the swordswoman who saved his life does he resolve to become engaged promising to do what he can. He finds himself happier in his new life than he had been in his old, even though he experiences more conflict.
This feeling of the meaninglessness of everyday life with which each of these characters begin was well known to the author of Ecclesiastes. This unknown teacher or preacher begins the book certain that there is nothing in human activity but ephemera and shadow. Human industry, human acquisition -- all of this pales in the face of human mortality. Therefore, he concludes at the end of chapter 2, rather than engage in meaningless toil it is better for humans to find pleasure in their work, in relationship with others, in the things that make for joy. This is a gift from God, indeed the ability to find pleasure in one's life is a sign that a person has grasped a small bit of divine wisdom.
Go, therefore, brothers and sisters working for peace and joy for yourself and for those around you. Take pleasure in this life that you are living and live it to its fullest.