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Archive for November, 2009

AniBlogging Crossover Special: Two Different Views on Honey and Clover

November 23rd, 2009

ExecutiveOtaku’s Intro: Honey and Clover is a series that has been written about fairly extensively in the anime blogging community. It’s also a favorite of many. So when, as a brand new blogger, I found out that Scamp from Bokutachi no Blog was currently working his way through the series, I proposed that once he was done that we make a post comparing how two different people viewed the series. Having just recently finished it, he and I ended up having fairly different opinions on it. From my viewpoint as a huge fan of Honey and Clover, and he as someone more mixed in his opinion, we have collaborated to bring you this post displaying and contrasting our opinions on such a widely well regarded show. While the series ended three years ago now, I feel that it is rich enough to be worth a (semi) retro-editorial especially given our different opinions on it. I’ve also just always wanted to write more about it despite joining the blogging community a few years late, heh. We both hope you’ll enjoy this inter-blog, international collaboration between Scamp and myself and our differing opinions. We also invite your own comments and opinions in the comments section whether they agree with one of us, with neither of us, or with both of us (somehow…).

Just a word: it should go without saying that this will contain some amount of spoilers.

Overall impressions

Scamp: If FLCL is the perfect anime at portraying the transition from childhood to adolescence then Honey and Clover is the perfect anime for the transition from adolescence through to adulthood. At least, the first season is anyway. There is a phenomenon in any great slice-of-life anime I like to call the Azumanga Effect. This is where the characters, while not necessarily doing anything different, gradually grow on you to the point that you just love watching them together no matter what they’re doing. OK, this isn’t exactly restricted to the slice-of-life genre but it’s by this effect that these shows live or die by. In an ideal situation the characters should gradually grow on you until right at the end of the series where you actually feel pretty darn emotional just at the thought of saying goodbye to the characters, as if they were your personal friends and you’ve lived through those times with them. The best anime examples I can think of are BECK and, of course, Azumanga. This is what Honey and Clover should have achieved and was certainly heading in that direction. The insanely accurate depiction of college life, the slow maturing process of each character like a good cheese and the friendship between those bunch grew on me gradually, culminating with Takemoto’s return from his bike journey at the end of the first season. And yet the series didn’t quite feel complete just yet. There wasn’t that sense of closure that could’ve left the first season work as a stand-alone series. Several plot points had yet to be solved but most of all it hadn’t quite reached the uber-Azumanga Effect finishing levels just yet. That is what the second season should have done. But instead it abandoned all that for some fucking dorama. Hagu was turned into a just another Key adaptation esque pity moeblob. The resolution of Morita’s story was painfully anti-climactic. The second season killed the fun, killed what made me love Honey and Clover in the first place and, even though it’s been about 2 weeks since I finished it, I am still bloody pissed off about that entire season.

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ExecutiveOtaku: “It’s so real!” was the exclamation of a friend of mine as she watched Honey and Clover with me, more precisely during the sequence in episode 07 when the song ‘Tamagawa’ plays. And this, in one sudden outburst, is exactly why I love the show. Honey and Clover is easily my favorite anime for its amazing combination of genuine emotion, characters you can identify with, its realistic approach to growing up, excellent visuals, and skillful use of insert music. That’s quite a lot of praise, but it’s hard for me to overstate exactly how much I love the show and how watching it (three or four times now) has impacted me. There are so many anime series that cover some of the same themes but are set in high school. While I know that this fits into the long standing (though currently changing) Japanese social concept that compulsory schooling is for fun and growth and that everything afterwards is srsfknbsns, it’s rather hard to believe that high school is the place that these themes play out to resolution. It has been my observation that the time when people really develop and figure out who they are is during the years immediately after high school. And in Honey and Clover it’s all there: the search for who you are and what drives you, the ‘student poverty’ that somehow creates great memories, that transitional phase into adulthood, loves lasting, one-sided, and short, and what to do with yourself after you graduate.

The growth and experiences of the characters as they go through this time in their lives is so well done that someone who is also at that point in their life can identify with all of the characters at different moments. Sometimes Takemoto’s feeling of emptiness is something you experience, other times you’re in Yamada’s shoes, or at a particular moment you might feel more like Mayama trying to pursue your dreams but still confused or clumsy in doing so. Maybe you know a Morita (or are one), or are under pressure like Hagu, or stuck between trying to be cool and trying to be genuine as Nomiya was. At different times you are, or you know people who are, all of these characters. And even with so much else to love about this series, this ability to identify with the genuine emotions being conveyed through the screen is the true strength of the series.

-Favorite character(s)

Scamp: Tough choice. It’s between Morita and Takemoto. While Takemoto might not have been the most interesting character in the world to watch, it was his story and development that really hooked me. That returns back to what I love about the series. The portrayal of growth through adolescence and nobody showed that better than Takemoto. I hate to say that he was a character that was easy to relate to (OMG, I’m also a generic high school boy who has troubles getting girlfriends just like that guy in *insert whatever here*) but that’s exactly what I’m going to say. Morita, on the other hand, is a complete and utter nutter. What he lacks in terms of his story and development he makes up for with his sheer energy. The moment that will always stick in my mind with Morita is, after disappearing for several months, randomly showing up on TV to accept the award for the movie he worked on and to equally randomly show up in the bed beside them. It wasn’t until he returned after several episodes absence did I realise how much an effect he had on the show. Everything turns funnier when you added Morita. Ideally if you were to mix Takemoto and Morita together you would have the ultimate anime character.

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ExecutiveOtaku: Mayama. I know many fans of Honey and Clover tend to focus on Takemoto due to his epic journey of self-discovery, but I’ve always liked and identified more with Mayama. Mayama’s experiences were more about trying to find a way forward towards the future and what he wanted out of it, whereas Takemoto first had to find out who he was. This was more relatable to me, since I was never really unsure of who I am but have had lots of moments where I wonder about the future and how I’m going to make my place in it. The love triangle between Mayama, Rika, and Yamada was also my favorite part of the drama in the series, and it was really touching and heartfelt no matter which character’s angle it was presented from. Full disclosure: I was a Mayama/Rika fan right from the start.

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In the end it was Mayama’s attempts and progression towards maturity that made me like the character, respect him even with his faults, and to sort of look up to him in a way. He would try to act like the cool upperclassman to Takemoto and others, but in the next moment make an anime or kid’s show reference or getting embarassed after making a mature sounding comment (for instance, the Galaxy Express 999 reference he couldn’t help making, but was obviously somewhat embarrassed to, when everyone broke into Morita’s room.) He grew up into an adult, but moments like this just show that he’s still young at heart. His determination in the face of a difficult and complicated situation in regards to both Rika and not wanting to hurt Yamada was admirable and relatable. As I head into the last year of grad school I often recall his journey and hope that I can pursue my goals with the same stumbling yet resolute steps forward.

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-Favorite moment(s)

Scamp: Easy choice. Takemoto’s bike trek across Japan. Throughout the first season they kept making references to Takemoto getting on his bike and just seeing how far he could go and I never quite got where they were heading with that analogy. But it clicked in those episodes exactly what the purpose of Honey and Clover was and what the anime was aiming to portray. Heck, you could write pages and pages of analysis into, as EO puts it, ‘Musings on Takemoto’s Bicycle Journey Analyzed in a post-Marxist Context or Something Equally Pretentious’, but there are people far better at writing analyital content and love the show more than I do who are far more qualified to compose something like that. I’m sure a quick search Mono no Aware, Ha Neul Seom, Kritik der Animationskraft or similar styled blogs that usually put me asleep will conjure something on Honey and Clover. I’m going to compare it to the feeling I got after finishing Forest Gump. As soon as the credits rolled I got an intense urge to go out the front door and start running. Honey and Clover achieved that same feeling times ten. Just to go out the door, hop on my bike and pedal. No direction, no purpose. Just to see how far I could go. I didn’t, in case you were wondering. I hadn’t got my bike repaired after I got knocked down by that van. Plus it was raining. It’s always bloody raining in Ireland. There’s a big difference between cycling in Japan and Ireland I’ll have you know.

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ExecutiveOtaku: The scene at the hospital when Mayama finds Rika, talks to her, and then gives her a ride home as a pretext to talk to her about their relationship and tries to move things forward. The scene where ‘Yoru wo Kakera’ plays during episode 15 of the first season. While I’ve already covered it in my Defining Moments in Being a Fan post (it’s my top moment), I’ll try and take a little bit different approach to explaining why it’s my favorite. It has great visuals, excellent use of music, and is an important point in their relationship. I have written about these before, but the true force of the scene to me was that I could feel both the emotions of the characters and the change in the direction of their relationship like the surge of a wave. As I watched the scene, I saw a relationship that had seemed deadlocked suddenly built momentum again and Mayama’s unexpected risk-taking paying off in a big way. It’s another example of the determination that I loved about Mayama, even if he’s not always the smoothest. And seeing Rika being affected by such a straightforward attempt to reach her through the guilt she felt towards both Harada and Mayama was truly profound.

Analysis

-Story

Scamp: Eh, H&C is slice of life so talking about story is a bit redundant. I will say this though: the Yamada/Mayama/Nomiya/Rika story dragged on waaay too long. I didn’t really notice it by the end of the first season because I was too busy adoring the bike trip and reveling in the presense of Morita once again. But the start of the second season is where I really got sick of them, which is just another reason why the second season sucked. Mwahaha, go my biased views, go!

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ExecutiveOtaku: I disagree with my colleague on story in slice of life being redundant. Life moves and changes constantly, and Honey and Clover reflected this with the progression that constantly went on even during the ordinary days that the characters experienced. If it was all just random ordinary days or entirely a drama the series would not be what it is. The progression was great, and the resolution in the second season gave us the realistic mixed bag of some things working out, some not, and the reminder to treasure them either way.

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-Visuals

Scamp: I usually think of Josei series in my head as ‘older shojo’ and group the two together (or alternatively ’shojo series I actually like’. This and Nodame are the only shojo series I’ve ever properly enjoyed). Not only do they act similar, the animation style is very similar. Sparkles, flowers and SD facial expressions are the order of the day. I can’t really praise or criticise it though, it did it’s job just fine. No more, no less.

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ExecutiveOtaku:The artistry of the visuals in Honey and Clover is among my favorites in both anime and live action. The drawing style was mostly realistic but utilized various effects such as watercolor-like backgrounds, vivid recolors, and complete black or white backgrounds with just an object or a character to put the visuals in service to the emotions being expressed. Angles were often used effectively as well, such as the slanted, shaking angle when Mayama ran after Rika at the hospital, the moonlight cast down on Yamada as she drank and cried during the ‘Tamagawa’ scene, and the ferris wheel interior scenes. And rounding it out on less serious fronts were good use of chibi faces and comedic background changes/reaction shots.

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-Music

Scamp: This is a hard part to review thanks to those bloody fansubbers. The music in H&C is excellent, I can certainly grant it that much. But when the fansubbers provide you with karaoke for every single fucking insert song that ever appears (and trust me, there’s at least one insert song with lyrics per episode) I started wishing the show would stop the insert music. My favourite songs were always the lyric-less ones.

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ExecutiveOtaku:: The music really made many scenes for me and was the best use of insert songs that I’ve ever seen (my referring to certain scenes as the ‘[song name] scene’ may have given that away, heh.) Now every time I hear them I recall those events and remember my love for the series. I even made sure to listen to ‘Tamagawa’ on the shore of the Tamagawa River one night when I was on study abroad BECAUSE I’M A HUGE NERD.

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Tangent – Authors Opportunity to Talk About Whatever

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Scamp: I HATE DORAMA

I assume by now you can see that I really did not like the second season, more specifically the drama. However it wasn’t until discussing this series, and eventually other series, with EO did I realise exactly the extent of how much I hate human drama in my anime. In PlanetES, EO preferred the drama and imagery while I liked the ’slice-of-life in space’ aspect of the series. Full Metal Panic is yet another example of a series where I hated the second series, this time because it killed the fun that the first series and FUMOFFU had in bucketloads. Looking down through my favourite series on MAL there’s only two anime that focused primarilly on human drama that I’ve rated highly, Grave of the Fireflies and Welcome to the NHK. Funnily enough, I wouldn’t class either of these series as something I enjoyed. Rather, I appreciated what their messages were. Basically, I HATE DORAMA.

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ExecutiveOtaku: Miwako is Mai Waifu

Oh Miwako, you acting older than you are, Mayama and Nomiya teasing, Rika idolizing, massage chair sitting, Yamazaki embarrassment scheming, heavy lifting, 60-40 hair styled, outdated reference making, mischievous office lady, let me count the ways I love thee! I enjoyed every minute that this wonderful supporting character had in the series. Her demeanor, sense of humor, commentary, and genuine support for the characters she interacted with (even if they were embarrassed by it) made her a standout supporting character to me.

Conclusion

Scamp: Insanely realistic and so easy to connect with, Honey and Clover is the perfect series at portraying the growth from adolescence through to adulthood. At least, the first season is…

ExecutiveOtaku: There has been no other series that I’ve watched that has so completely captured the real emotions and experiences of this period in life. It will be something that I’ll be looking back on and recommending to people for years to come.

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To Aru Kagaku no Railgun – 07: The War on Hikko Terror

November 23rd, 2009

Says the Level 5 who has destroyed a few city blocks…

IED Ishii continues his reign of terror as he targets Judgment instead of the people who kick the crap out of him. So far he is the most retarded villain to date and it suits him for he doesn’t know who his enemy is. How he could have failed to attack soft targets like his tormentors is quite beyond me he see’s them in school he sees their faces and yet nothing he sits idly by blaming Judgment while listening to Ali Project all damn day. It’s like blaming the cops when your dumb ass gets jacked because you were too sissy and prickish to earn the privilege of conceal and carry. The Hikko scum bag aside it was nice to see Biribiri praising Kuroko for all the hard work she does, and considering Kuroko’s workaholic tendencies it seems the love child of Alphard and Liang-Qi has inherited their work ethic. I sense that Kuroko will be a great leader one day. Biribiri on the other hand seems to have been the love child of Alphard and Canaan as she has super powers, is an onee-sama, but has childish tendencies and tastes. I make no secret of my dislike for Spikey-kun and today he was showing off his pedo preferences and had the audacity to whine and complain when he lost his loli to some hikkomori. At least his presence was brief and he didn’t ramble on for an episode.

While I do like Biribiri and her tomboyish behavior I can still use a lot more Kuroko who seems to possess the more likable traits of her parents. In the end IED Ishii was thrown out along with the trash and I was all the more happier for it. I have no small dislike for would be rebels with shallow ideologies and I do sincerely hope that Kuroko killed him in a manner that would make Liang Qi proud. The story seems to be moving along thogh we have yet to see the two Anti-skills featured in the OP. While there seems to be an new enemy next ep I wonder if Saten will achieve a night that goes on forever and ever with Uiharu…

Calawain’s Adoration of Railguns

This episode featured an excessively lame bad guy of the week, although I suppose his power was somewhat interesting. What a whiner with a really irritating set of headphones. Inferior set of headphones and music to the MC from Persona 3.

Touma taking a loli out to go shopping was kinda creepy and pedobear like. Not sure I get where all of that came from, maybe I missed something. He did have his badass moment sliding in front of Biribiri to block the explosion. Though the excuse they used to put him in there (dropping her coin) was pretty silly. All in a day’s work for Touma, saving some girls and making Biribiri even more tsundere for him.

Crusader’s Record of Kuroko’s Love

What’s this Kuroko is actually hearing praise?! The rabu rabyu assault is finally paying dividends…

But of course she does, Biribiri is just going through a phase of confusion is all…

Could? You SHOULD!

See Kuroko is feeling better already!

Well at least they aren’t going before a BIG FIGHT.

And that you were keeping a lookout for IEDs…

LOAN SHARK FAIL

Sometimes you just have to smell the flowers…

Ah an onee-sama meeting.

Kuroko has a long list of items she wants her onee-sama to have…

Sadly Saten and Uiharu were underage…

IED Ishii not only has shit taste in stuffed animals but music as well…

Developing Kuroko-like tastes are we?

You never know until you try…

Marilyn Monroe had a subway grate, Uiharu has Saten.

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Kuroko was hoping that was code for lingerie…

Rather excessive…the skirt serves no purpose at all…

So all Kuroko has to do is wear that…

Are you trying to make her blind?

There is another…

To be fair no one likes the idea of growing old…

Patience, calm…

Strike while the iron is hot!

I have no idea, but me thinks Spikey-kun be stalking…

And he went straight for the underwear section…the damned pedo.

Let me guess he offered you candy if you went in his van…?

So Biribiri likes them young…

Sadly Spikey-kun was the one to hide behind civilians.

Well on the bright side, you have yet to master CQC.

Praise this loli for dragging away Spikey-kun before he could give a speech.

Her only other true love is Gekotan…

More like Fakotan.

Yes counterfeit merchandise is the bane of her existence…

OH SHI- Spikey-kun killed her dumped the body…

Never hear that much do ya Uiharu…

Such low tactics IED Ishii uses…

Thus does his arrogance and stupidity increase…

And yet he has attacked zero assholes…

I think he means he’s giving out blow jobs too…

I didn’t know they stacked garbage that high.

A major fault of IED Ishii was that he liked to brag…to himself.

Your insignificant powers are no match for the Yuri-side of the Force…

You will pay the price for your lack of vision…

Now Bomber-san…you will die.

For Almighty Zeus hates you that much.

Says the guy who attacked none of his oppressors and used a loli as a suicide bomber…

Says the one without the wit to use his power constructively or productively…

You know if he bled out from his mouth that would have ensured the he’d shut the fuck up for once in is miserable life…

Sad to see that it was not as devastating as a ROCKET PUNCH.

I see that the love child of Alphard and Liang Qi has some special trolling in store for him.

Kuroko is very detail oriented.

Indeed.

Yes she did.

I just thought this was cute.

Hooray for skinship.

ANYTHING…

Consent is not required…

To be fair it was a plot contrivance on the level of TRANS-GRAHAM.

You know she really must stop stealing from the same vending machine.

I completely agree, the fucking tosser.

Saten…and what might you be up to…

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Shizuku is awesome and Natsuru should just DIAF

November 22nd, 2009

Kampfer

I’d “Ahh~” for Shizuku-sama at any damn time for any damned occasion. No wonder Mentar was stalking gg to release this episode ASAP.

Kampfer

I’ve heard of casting pearls before swine, but motherfucking Natsuru is way fucking worse than that. In fact, I’m so angry about it I actually decided to blog this up. The single most beautiful, elegant and capable woman around you INVITES YOU out for a real date and you think it’s just a damned ploy to attract your enemies? He should be tied to a stake and motherfucking stoned to death while being burned alive. I can’t believe HE IS THAT. MOTHERFUCKING. DENSE. He really must be an eunuch.

Ah well…. at least Shizuku’s happy about it.

Kampfer

Kaori Nazuka (voice) is sexy.

OMAKE: Oh wow, is this the human form of Seppuku Kuro Usagi? Pretty hawt.

Kampfer

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A Certain Crocodile Tears Railgun

November 22nd, 2009

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun

My favourite humor part of the manga finally gets animated.

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun

Yes, that’s Kuroko banging her head on the table. That reaction of hers was so fucking hillarious and just goes to show how dedicated she is to her onee-sama.

But…. I’m sad Touma got replaced out this time. This was one of his awesome parts in the manga. Oh well….

Also I would like to express my utmost appreciation for the anon’s doing vol.4 of the Railgun manga. You guys are on fire (3 chapters out overnight!) and I’m loving it!

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Oh Sakutaro you stud!

November 22nd, 2009

SEACATS LOL

Oh Sakutaro you STUD! Having all the Seven Sisters wrapped around your cuddly-bunny buns!

SEACATS LOL

Too bad it doesn’t work on QUALITY MOTHER OF THE YEAR, Rosa. I’d so like to give her a mug with BESTEST MOTHER EVER written on it like sagematt suggested once.

Finally obligatory SEACATS ANIME IS THE QUALITY ANIME OF THE YEAR. Thank you.

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DtB: Ryuusei no Gemini 07

November 21st, 2009

Darker than Black

Looking rather UNCLE there, Hei.

Pretty much bridge-filler episode focusing on Suou and July’s unspoken, developing bond… much akin to Hei’s first season bonding with Yin. I kinda LOL’ed at hearing Nabatame Hitomi as the treacherous ‘transporter’ Hei hires to get them out from Hokkaido to Tokyo. Too bad she’s just a one-shot character killed terribly by the end of this episode. Speaking of which…. Suou was pretty nifty at throwing those glass shards.

Major revelation this week is that Suou’s father is still pretty much alive, under Shion’s thumb and probably had a cloned body prepared to masquerade as his corpse for the Russian authorities, prompting Tanya’s return to fray… not that it’s unwelcome since she looks hawt as hell in those uniforms.

I’m just glad the show’s getting back on the serious track for now. Hopefully that’ll be the last we see of dreadlocks boy.

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Yet another random post from a random ghost

November 21st, 2009

The AFA 09 in Singapore is here again, and I was thankful that they actually emailed me to offer me a media pass. Honestly, work has been so tiring these days that I had to sadly ignore NovaJinx’s calls on Friday because of intensive meetings at work. On a pleasant note, I didn’t expect the communications team for AFA to remember a random folk here. I mean, I am not exactly employee of the month, I couldn’t go to the press release because I am at work (2 pm is not a friendly time for a working adult) and I didn’t even promote on AFA at all. I promise I will be diligent next time at the very least.

After visiting the conference, I will probably be making a simple post about the overall state of AFA. I am quite sure that many blogs will offer you the sights and sounds of the conference, while I will probably do a more boring entry about the improvements and regressions from AFA08 to AFA09. Stay tuned if you are keen to hear what I have to say.

For now, I am still fully engrossed in Kimi no Todoke and Kobato, both good series that never fails to have that fuzzy feeling in your heart. I remember a comment from my girlfriend who noted that this season would make GAR lovers squirm in agony from all the lovey-dovey moments in the better animes. I am PERFECTLY glad if that happens every season. The bad news is that I will then haunt this blog much more than you wish for it. Whether it is a good thing or bad thing, I wouldn’t personally know myself.

I do apologize if people are expecting me to blog systematic articles of particular episodes. I believe the other bloggers could cover it. I also find myself hard to devote onto a specific series these days, considering my time constraints and workload. It’s definitely fulfilling to find a job you enjoy that surprises you everyday, yet it can be tiring at times when you struggle to figure out how to make it work. I am not sure if anyone could give some advice, but I will be glad to hear from you about your work-life balance.

Side note:

I have been enjoying the blog entries about the PSC scholarship through DarkMirage’s entry and Moto’s entry, who were/might have been high fliers within the public service. As I am hardly of that caliber myself, I find it fascinating to see how differently they consider things from the elite point of view. Perhaps, this is why they and many others might have left. Still, I cannot dive in deeper to publicly voice my views due to the confidentiality of a currently hired civil servant. Those who might be interested to listen to my views could always contact me on my MSN when I have some spare time to come on.

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Samurai High School (J-Drama): Pretty Much Live Action Anime

November 21st, 2009

vlcsnap-4552580 One of these things is not like the other~

Something that has always perplexed me is why anime fans don’t watch more Jdramas. I’m sure this could be for any number of reasons but many dramas are based off anime (Hana Yori Dango, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, GTO, Nana, etc.) and some seriously seem to have been animes in a past life. That’s where Samurai High School comes in. It’s got all that you ever wanted in an anime ridiculous faces, great acting, awkward shots focusing on things that aren’t important and the absurdest characters in strange places. Yet still these two worlds will never meet eye to eye I suppose.

In that way it’s kind of like the plot for this show. The main character Mochizuki Kotaro (played by Miura Haruma, who also was in Gokusen 3) is an unsuspecting and frankly average high schooler who shares the name of his ancestor, a heroic general from the Sengoku period. While for normal people this would just be an omen of good luck when Mochizuki meets a strange librarian things start to change. When trying to save a classmate he bumps his head and turns into his samurai ancestor!

vlcsnap-4552792 It’s all in this book! I swear!

The first episode starts out with Mochizuki in a battlefield in Sengoku Japan, about 400 years ago when samurai were overtaking something in Osaka. I’m the first to admit I don’t like history very much. He’s woken up in class and tries to explain himself but he’s in math class so there’s very little reason to be dreaming about history. As a punishment the teacher assigns him a paper on the Campaign he was dreaming about. On his way home some girls harass him for money but evetually he heads home. On the way he sees a library sign that leads him to believe he can find books about history in there. vlcsnap-4555533 This smile makes me smile. Oh ho ho ho~

The creepy librarian woman sees his name of the paper to sign out books and brings him a very special book which glows. Inside the book is the tale of a boy the same age (17) and same name as Mochizuki.

The second-hand embarrassment is so high right now.

When he gets home instead of writing his paper he pretends to do samurai moves with a ruler. At that point he gets a call from his best friend Ai who sees their classmate Nakamura in trouble. He does what any good samurai would and runs to the rescue.

vlcsnap-4556817 Yanki’s are pretty bad ass but even I think I can take these girls. Especially if I were 6′2″…

Nakamura is kind of a helpless boy. He stutters and looks down all the time but because he’s played by Shirota Yuu (former D-boys member) I forgive him. Mochizuki is immediately scared and stutters out a bunch of nonsense. When he tries to defend himself he trips down a flight of stairs and hits his head.

vlcsnap-4557070 Somehow as a samurai Mochizuki has perfect hair and a TON of eyeliner. Very stylish for the Sengoku era.

The bump on the head makes his ancestors personality come out. Even when we (the audience) can hear the real Mochizuki on the inside he seems powerless to make his own body move. Samurai-Mochizuki easily takes care of the three pansy girls while freeing Nakamura. He does this with the ruler that was still in his pants ^^;;. He moves in to kiss Ai but then this happens.

vlcsnap-4557778 Warning: May explode when kissed.

He wakes up as normal Kotaro and has trouble trying to explain to Ai what happened. He doesn’t have time anyway because Nakamura has already gotten himself in trouble with those yanki girls again. This time Nakamura has let them talk him into stealing watches. Mochizuki runs to try and convince him not to do it but ends up there at just the wrong time.

vlcsnap-4563597 Neither of these men is articulate enough to explain that three evil girls did this.

They are taken the police station, picked up by their teacher and manage to clear their names in front of the board while the girls get off scot-free. There’s a long scene of lamenting where Nakamura tells Mochizuki that they’re both weak and so they can never win at life and it’s as simple as that.

vlcsnap-4564177 Stop moping you pretty boys this isn’t a Final Fantasy game!

When he arrives home Mochizuki’s father tells him that he is the ancestor of the samurai bearing the same name proving something that we’ve pretty much known all along. The yanki girls from before kidnap Mochizuki and Nakamura a few hours later to beat them up for some reason even though everyone got off without more than a slap on the wrist.

vlcsnap-4564923 Look, they brought friends…

They throw Mochizuki out the window when he fights back and he bumps his head and turns into a samurai again so he can kick butt with a broom!

vlcsnap-4565630 Becoming a samurai also puts his hair in a ponytail for some reason?

He beats all the bad guys up and the day is saved with no thanks to Nakamura because he pretty much cowered on the ground and made sad noises the whole time.

I’m trying not to read anything sexual into this but I have trouble.

♥ It’s a bromance ♥

Final Thoughts:

If you have some time and you’re out of anime (amazing but it happens) then I would definitely tell you to give this series a watch. It’s a pretty great series and there’s already has five episodes out. I had a ton of fun watching it and even my fiance kept starring at my screen to try and watch it with me. Unless I get some overwhelming response I don’t think I’ll be blogging other episodes of this but I figured maybe every now and then I’d show you guys a great Jdrama that’s anime-ish. This one gets a full 5 stars out of 5 for wild ride awesomely acted ridiculous anime-esqe comedy.

Confession Corner:

I have something to get off my chest and I won’t be able to move on until I do. I started watching this for Shirota Yuu. You do not know this about me but I am in love with the Sailor Moon Musicals and Yuu played Tuxedo Mask from 2003 to 2004 (where I fell in love with his body singing). Someday I may bring you some Sailor Moon musical reviews and recaps but until then I leave you with this picture:

tuxedomask

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Negima! 271

November 20th, 2009

Negima!

Fate unleashes a mysterious power in his fight against Rakan!

Negima!

That’s a lot of spikes….

Negima!

Rakan wins…. or?

Negima!

Classy as usual, eh Fate.

Negima!

Whoa… what!

Negima!

Wait what—? Reality manipulation?!

Negima!

Oh fuck… the Mage of the Beginning guy again?

So… who the heck is actually Fate working for and what is exactly the Lifemaker or Mage of the Beginning entity? The power it has is truly HAX if judging from the small demonstration Fate showed us this chapter. This is gonna make it hard to counterattack if anything…..

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Appearance in AFA 2009

November 20th, 2009

Despite news on the contrary, which reached me through the grapevine, I am unfortunately not able to attend this year’s AFA due to assignment and exams gangrape by my university. Honestly, this year’s a bit too expensive for me as well, what with the entrance tickets and concert ticket prices rising up to a pretty premium compared to last year. Besides, I’m not gonna pay to see Shoko-tan eat cats on stage! I really wanted to hear Mamoru Hosoda talk (WTF 600 SGD ARE YOU GUYS CRAZY?) and Aki Toyosaki live though…. sob sob sob.

You guys have fun with stalking Danny Choo then. /shrug.

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