Anime Blog Online

Archive for the ‘Scrumptious’ Category

’nuff said.

…but for some reason I can’t stop myself from saying more.

As opposed to bloggers sucking up to each other (Anime Blog Awards), this time around we’ve got an otaku eliminator who jizzes and pisses at them blogs. Looking forward to the cumming of age of this one (I think it’s already happening, actually, not in their blog but in some other parts of the ’sphere, bloggers asking for feedback on how they can improve, being their own OEG, and all that). Still, I think the OEG needs more Baka-Raptor, seriously.

Further Reading

ETERNAL’s Commentary on the Otaku Revolution
Moritheil throws his two cents on the OEG
Seinime eliminates himself from the OEG
Michael of Low on Hit Points asks readers to critique his blog.
Gargron does the same and asks for some whippin’

Related posts:

1. The Best Thing About Being an Otaku?
2. Cross Game Commercial Break: Nomo’s Picture Drawing Song~!
3. Cross Game: These are the Moments…

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Thanks to my melancholic mood for the last couple of days, I came up with a list of my ‘10 Favorite Anime Music Blues Chasers’, also in response to adaywithoutme’s ‘Anime Music to Listen to When Depressed’. What better way to fight melancholy but drown yourself in music, right?

I rarely talk about music in this blog, and now I’m finally giving you the chance to judge my taste in music! Anyways, let’s cut the crappy intro and move on to those songs!

Mou Nakanaide – Azusa Senou (Ranma 1/2 OP)

Yuuki 100% – Hikari Genji (Nintama Rantarou OP)

Arashi no Naka de – Chihiro Yonekura (Gundam 08th MS Team OP)

Sora – Hayama Takeshi (Chuuka Ichiban! / Cooking Master Boy OP)

13-gatsu no Shukumei – Fence of Defense (El Hazard: The Alternative World OP)

Daijoubu – Aki Maeda (Boys Be OP)

SUPER DRIVE – Kotani Kinya (Gravitation OP)

Little Wing – JAM Project (Scrapped Princess OP)

Houki Boshi – Younha (Bleach ED)

Changes – Baseball Bear (Toshokan Sensou ED)

Runner Ups

And for 15 more Blues Chasers that I can’t seem to include in the above list:

Niji to Taiyou no Oka – Piyo Piyo (Ranma 1/2 ED)
My Friend – Zard (Slam Dunk ED)
Kimi ni Naka no Eien – Takehide Inoue (G Gundam ED)
Asu e no Yuuki – Keiko Yoshinari (Magic Knight Rayearth ED)
Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku – Zard (Dragonball GT OP)
Nanka Shiawase – Oystars (Flame of Recca OP)
Aoi Sora ni Deatta – Arisa Tsujio (Cooking Master Boy ED)
Ashita ni Todoke – Like Uncolored Velvet (Power Stone OP)
Butter-fly – Kouji Wada (Digimon OP)
Dive Into Shine – Lastier (Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne OP)
Itazura na Kiss – Day After Tomorrow (InuYasha ED)
Sunday – The Babystars (Yakitate Japan ED)
DAYS – FLOW (Eureka Seven OP)
Kimi, Meguru, Boku – Hata Motohiro (Itazura na Kiss OP)
Namida – 2BACKKA (Skip Beat ED)

…and that’s it for my list. You didn’t really expect me to comment on each and every one of those songs now, did you?

Hope you like them as much as I do! List exchange, anyone? :3

No related posts.

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I wasn’t supposed to write/publish this post until after a month because that’s the time when I’d really grow older, but what do you know, people change. So without further ado, let’s get ready to rambleeeee!

(My Garden by ぱ)

Bloggers have been accused of loving their blogs more than they love anime. I plead guilty. For the past few years, whether I like it or not, blogging has changed (revolutionized?) the way I consume animes. Life-changing as it may be, it turned out to be a double-edged sword. Gone were the days when I could simply sit down and relax, watch an episode or two, marvel at it for whatever reason and go on with Life^TM. I’m sure you’ve heard that elsewhere, right? Blogging has made be an active consumer, and that’s good, but somewhere along the way, it also alienated me from what I’ve been doing.

Lately I find myself thinking, did I really like [insert name of series I blogged in the past], from the bottom of my heart? So much for spending more time blogging or thinking about blogging the said series instead of just basking in it and loving every moment of it, to the point of wondering why I even blogged it in the first place. From enlightenment, here goes another blogging blues relapse. Oh boy. Seems like I’ve become even more confused now that blogging has not only taken my time, but has also tainted the lens through which I view my animes. I guess it all boils down to “I don’t know myself enough just yet”, and more importantly, because blogging is not the cure to this identity crisis. That I should’ve known since a year ago, since that blogging crossroad.

(Catcher For U by ハルイチ)

This blog is an extension of my soul, and that’s that, just an extension. If I’m confused IRL, then I’ll be even more confused when I blog. In the same way as you don’t get into a relationship to fill whatever void in your heart, you can’t just blog to complete your anime and manga fanaticism, or to make up for your incompetence. It’s there to complement the animanga-loving fan that you are, and you shower it with your love overflow, the kind of love that oozes from you when you’re an enthusiastic fan. More importantly, you should have a firm grip on yourself, what you want and why you want it, so as to not get drowned into the Blogging Waves and lose yourself in the process. Somewhere, somehow, I lost my Hontou no Jibun and now I’m struggling to get it back. And again, I have to tell myself, I can’t find that True Self of mine by blogging and blogging alone.

You get better at writing by writing MOAR, but if you’re confused about what you want to write about, uncertain of your feelings even, you don’t exactly write about not being able to think of what to write. Instead, you step out and explore the world, head out for an adventure, discover its beauty, get to know yourself in the process, and grow holistically. For the aniblogger, this entails more than just discovering the ’sphere, but filling your very own love tank with true animango love. How? By blogging less and watching/reading MOAR, immersing yourself in what you watch and read, even without the premise of blogging.

(by 幼夢堂)

I don’t know what came into me, but suddenly I feel so confused. For the past two and a half years, who exactly was the usagijen blogging here? Was it really me, or a mere persona (or ‘nexistence’ in the words of lelangir) I created, a whole new beast and not really myself? But if so, then that means everything I’ve been doing here is a lie, which isn’t exactly the case. Admittedly, some of my posts are pretentious, but not exactly a lie. Sigh. I hate hate hate being confused, but here I am. Again.

After much enlightenment, I remain a Takemoto who headed out for a bike adventure without realizing why he even did it in the first place. What was I trying to achieve? Was I even trying to achieve something in the first place? I want to remember love, like ghostlightning, but how the heck will I remember love when I’m not even sure if there was indeed love in the first place? My love tank is running low on fuel, and I have to fill it up, quick. More importantly, I have to make sure that my feelings are genuine and real. Man, if only I was simple-minded, I wouldn’t have any of these problems.

(■□廊下□■ by 108)

I mentioned before that blogging has made me an active consumer. Sounds good, but not until you realize its negative implication: I’m pushing (forcing?) myself to be attentive because I’m thinking of blogging it. Ergo, I’m watching and enjoying what I watch for the sake of blogging and not exactly for pure & genuine enjoyment reasons. “But isn’t the desire to blog something an accurate indicator that you really love something?”, you ask, to which I return another question: How can you be so sure that you really love it if you can’t leave blogging out of the picture?

Actually, the thing about me being an apathetic viewer (which I talked about here) in the past isn’t exactly true, because I already was active before blogging, in my own little way. How else could I have remembered much of Daa! Daa! Daa!, Aka-chan to Boku, Ranma 1/2, Magic Knight Rayearth and KimiNozo (the CDs of which I dumped into the garbage bin out of RAEGG, and I got depressed for days even when I don’t have the slighest reason to be!)? Or even with other series which I can’t remember as vividly but lingered in my mind (Mermaid’s Forest, Honey and Clover, Ouran High School Club and Nishi no Youki Majo). Not once did it cross my mind that time that I was going to blog them, and yet, I remember them.

(道端の堕天使 by ベカサク)

otou-san once talked about how our experiences at the time we watch an anime affects the way we perceive it, “the circumstances at that very moment are important”, he said. ghostlightning also said that “We will not like some anime because we are not ready for it”. But how exactly will we be able to know if we’re ready? The voice inside me says, “you’ll _feel_ it, my child, you certainly will”. Time and again, I really will have this Eureka Moment, and I can wholeheartedly say I LOVED THIS, FEELS SO GOOD. But at times–many times–I end up cheating my way through this because of blogging, and I end up trying to convince myself that I am ready to enjoy a certain anime, when in fact, I’m still not. I end up skipping through the “watching and enjoying animes without exactly understanding why” immersion stage.

Or let me put it this way: At times, I’d be blogging about how “This series is sooo awesome and I LOVE it” even before reaching that actual “OMG I’m sooo enjoying and loving this, and know & feel that this is real and know exactly why I’m loving it” state. And when that happens, I’d look back at what I wrote a few months and end up wondering whose reflection it is I see in this blogging mirror. Or perhaps I’m just being too hard on myself, perhaps it’s just recency bias coming into play here. But something else is complicating all this for me.

There are people in the ’sphere who influenced me (and continues to influence me) in blogging — the Kaminas I look up to, my source of spiral energy yo. They inspire me, they humble me a whole lot. But the downside of it all is being haunted by the feeling that I need validation from these people, that I need their acknowledgment and recognition before I can recognize my worth as a blogger. I’m still not secure with myself, and I hate hate hate feeling this way. I hate my post-blogging blues where, after writing a post and it doesn’t exactly connect with readers the way I wanted it to, I end up moping and questioning what I did wrong. Did people read my post? Did they like it? Did they even care? And worst of all, is realizing on hindsight how disconnected I was from what I wrote; it wasn’t heartfelt enough and didn’t have my True Soul. Perhaps that’s why I keep on looking for external rewards in all this, to fill that emptiness, to cover up my incompetence. I was supposed to be over this, but here it comes again.

Blogging for 2DT is a cure for loneliness. I guess it is, for me too, though at times it becomes my source of loneliness.

For digitalboy, it’s a (questionably) legal drug. With the highs and lows I get from blogging, the alienation I feel at times, I’d say it’s like a drug for me too, with both beneficial and harmful side-effects. But I don’t want blogging to be just a drug I use for escapism purposes; I want it to be a reflection of who I am, something I pour my love and devotion to not simply for the external rewards I will gain after, but because of the internal rewards I will reap just by being able to write and express my thoughts and feelings, by sharing all this to an audience (imaginary or not). So that each and every step of the way I’ll be able to sing:

This is real, this is me
I’m exactly where I’m supposed be now
Gonna let the light shine on me
Now I’ve found who I am, there’s no way to hold it in
No more hiding who I wanna be, this is me ♫

(瀬戸内夏便り¹ illustration by 犬丸)

This is the time of the year when I (once again) realize that I’m still stuck in the lower end of the Moral Development Stage, and I have to find a way to reach the post-conventional level. Blog not just for the sake of it, not for the sake of other people either, but because I love what I’m doing and know exactly what I’m doing. And hopefully, be able to realize the Higher Purpose of why I’m doing this in the first place.

Perhaps blogging pushed me to be an active watcher, and there’s nothing wrong with having that little push to motivate me to do something. That’s even the key to people’s success at times. But one way or another, I have to step out of being pushed and be moved to act by a force within, something that’s got nothing to do with external validation rewards, something that’s not dependent on the ‘whims of other people or social groups’ either. If I’m going to ponder upon what I watch, it’ll be for the sole reason that I delight myself in it, not for whatsoever pandering purposes. As this one motto goes, “Until you are happy with who you are, you will never be happy with what you have” If what I write is not good enough for me, it will never be good enough.

In the meantime, while I’m still struggling to find that Higher Purpose, the least I can do is to be true to myself. I’m a little slow compared to most people. I’m not spontaneous, and I can’t outright say my thoughts on what I watch until after a bit of pondering. Unless we’re talking about shows I can quickly fangirl and KYAA over. This is who I am, and I should delight myself in it. And as of the moment, I prefer immersing and delighting myself in what I watch and read without the premise of blogging; Allow the episodes I watch to linger in my mind first (in the words of Michael Jackson, “You gotta let it simmer”), and finally, when the Right Time comes and I’m ready to pen down my thoughts into one coherent post (and even not-so-coherent ones), then I will. I won’t have to force myself to think of what to write because it will just come out naturally. The words will just… flow~ And I’ll be doing it in the spirit of good fun. As Hige said, “Blog in a manner that suits you, that makes you happy. Fuck the rest.”

I may still not see the 2D world from the eyes of them Great Bloggers, but there’s no need to rush. In my own time, I will grow; My perspective will change, be enriched… No need to rush. Be still my soul, fly free and soar above the clouds, but be grounded in reality and never lose sight of who you are, and why you’re doing this in the first place. I should tell myself that All The Time. Blogging shackles, begone!

Never have I felt more free and enlightened. Sorry dear readers, for I have been a pretentious wank. If you’ve read my past posts on this very same topic, I won’t be surprised if you’re now going “NOTTO DISU SHIT AGAIN?!”

And once again, I summon Rilke’s spirit and let his voice move me:

“You ask whether your verses are any good. You ask me. You have asked others before this. You send them to magazines. You compare them with other poems, and you are upset when certain editors reject your work. Now (since you have said you want my advice) I beg you to stop doing that sort of thing. You are looking outside, and that is what you should most avoid right now. No one can advise or help you – no one. There is only one thing you should do. Go into yourself. Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depths of your heart; confess to yourself whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to write. This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write? Dig into yourself for a deep answer. And if this answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a strong, simple “I must,” then build your life in accordance with this necessity;

And if out of this turning-within, out of this immersion in your own world, poems come, then you will not think of asking anyone whether they are good or not. Nor will you try to interest magazines in these works: for you will see them as your dear natural possession, a piece of your life, a voice from it.”

I’d also like to dedicate Miley Cyrus’ The Climb to myself, just because I can:

Every step I’m taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high

There’s always gonna be another mountain
I’m always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose

Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb

The struggles I’m facing
The chances I’m taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I’m not breaking

I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I’m gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going

And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on

You say my post is long-winding? So what? These are my thoughts, confusing and jumbled up, right there as you see it. My writing will get better in time, I’m sure. But more than anything else I need to find out what the heck I really want to do, and do it. There’s no need to rush~

Comrade schneider already beat me to this “You don’t have to rush it” talk, darn! hehe But yeah, I do want to have the same mindset from here onwards — take things easy not just because I’m growing old. I had my chance to be on the spotlight; I experienced how it was like to ride the waves of hype, be the hype machine myself, and also how it was like to get caught up in the hype and end up losing myself. It was EPIC and fun, but now I realize that’s not exactly where I want to be. That’s not what would keep me going in the long run, because in the end, what matters most is what’s left after the hype is gone, after the in-love state has run its course. Whatever lies beyond this path, I would have to see and experience it for myself.

This blogging adventure is just beginning~

EDIT: Ryan’s comment reminded me of one more song I’ve been wanting to dedicate to myself for the longest time now, Lenka’s The Show:

I am just a little girl
lost in the moment
I’m so scared
but don’t show it
I can’t figure it out
it’s bringing me down
I know
I’ve got to let it go
and just enjoy the show

Dum Di Dum, Da-dum di dum~ Just enjoy the show~ ^_^

Further Reading

My introspections, which a lot of people are probably sick of reading by now (not that I really care or anything ):

Confessions and Epiphanies of an Incompetent Blogger
Micro-blogging is Confusing the Heck Out of Me Now, But I Has Gained Englightenment! (this one’s pretty stupid now that I’ve read it again, in a lolz way, but at least I was being honest?)
Beyond the Blogging Crossroad Part 1: A So-called “Love Affair” with Animes
Beyond the Blogging Crossroad Part 2: Why I Blog

Enough about me, and go read these posts by other bloggers which are far worth your time instead:

2DT on Anime Blogging as the Cure for Loneliness
digitalboy on Anime Blogging as his (Questionably) Legal Drug
Hige’s Editorial #12 – Convention Can Suck My Left One
ghostlightning on Recency Bias and How it Affects Anime Appreciation
what color are your glasses now? asks otou-san
schneider’s Continuing World turns one year old, and in this first anniversary post he talks about his humble beginnings, and keeping it cool yo~

Notes

1. an independently produced short film/anime TV ad(?) supposedly uploaded here in niconico, now deleted before I even had a chance to see it.

Related posts:

1. Beyond the Blogging Crossroad Part 2: Why I Blog
2. Beyond the Blogging Crossroad Part 1: A So-called “Love Affair” with Animes
3. A Koushien-esque Cross Game Blogging Ambition Once Forgotten

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If there’s one way to describe Kimi ni Todoke (aside from ‘refreshing’), it would be soothing, like chamomile.

In the language of flowers, chamomile stands for “energy and patience in adversity” because of its ability to restore harmony and balance into our lives¹. That’s what Sawako is all about, that’s what the Kanto Library Force is all about.

I’m not exactly sure if Shiina Karuho thought about this chamomile symbolism beforehand, because there are no visible signs of chamomiles in the manga (especially not as ‘visible’ as the one in the anime). Either way it can only mean one thing: P.I.G. is AWESOME *bow*

Those lovely chamomiles have been with us since episode 1! They’re Sawako’s guardian angels flowers. I feel like calling them KYAAmomiles now <3

chamomile scenery pr0n, coming through!

And while we’re on the topic of chamomiles, I thought I’d remember love for Toshokan Sensou as well (I rewatched the last episode and cried again):

And here’s another pseudo-chamomile I took a pic of not too long ago. Until the day I finally come face to face with a real-life chamomile.

Lovely lovely chamomiles~ Just the sight of it is enough to relieve one’s stress ^_^ Never underestimate their healing power.

What a coincidence it is that both Kimi ni Todoke and Toshokan Sensou were made by P.I.G. (or The Igg, as sdshamshel calls it).

Didn’t notice the chamomiles? Couldn’t figure out what’s so soothing about the series either? Perhaps you’re looking too near, or too far. You might want to take a step back, stop letting logic get in the way and just enjoy the ride. Nitpick on it if you must, but more than anything else, enjoy it for what it is. I’m sure it’s not just you, Kiriska

Oh and realism is overrated btw, just saying

P.S. Looks like Operation: Rewatch Toshokan Sensou shall commence sooner than I thought.

Notes

1. as stated in http://www.floweressenceenergy.com/newsletter.shtml

Related posts:

1. Kimi ni Todoke: From Around The ‘Sphere to You
2. Kimi ni Todoke Reached My Soul: Sawako-chan is so SawayaKYAA~
3. Atashi ni Todoke: Revving Up the Engine With a Little Paradigm Shift

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Fuwa fuwa time~

No related posts.

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Metatastic Long-Winding Intro

I was in the mood for some Halloween anime/manga treat a few days ago (back when it still WAS Halloween), but somehow, I ended up rewatching the Halloween episode of two of my timeless favorites instead — Daa! Daa! Daa! (aka UFO Baby) and Aka-chan to Boku (Baby and Me) — both of which also happens to involve one or more babies. I haven’t talked about these two series in the blog, or rather, they aren’t really talked about in the ’sphere, period. I’m not even betting my hopes on it happening any time soon, because y’know, the new season is all the shizz, and who would even go out of their way to discover them antiquated animus, right? So I thought, why not trick and treat myself into writing about them?

Halfway through the Daa! Daa! Daa! Halloween episode, I was already tearing up. The episode was moving in itself (it was the episode where we got to know much about the lead guy Kanata’s past — something that he himself wasn’t aware of — the time he spent with his mom back when she was still alive, and how he got her love for pumpkins and home-made food from her), but the nostalgia factor made it even worse (if you weren’t seeing it from my sentimentally biased lens at the very least it’d make you go ‘awww’).

The Aka-chan to Boku Halloween episode, although not one of the most moving episodes in the series, proved to be heartwarming as ever, and reminded me of the time I was watching it in Star Mandarin back in high school — the laughter and the tears, and how it made me wish I had a brother like Takuya.

I’ve almost forgotten how much I loved these two series, and it all came back to me in this rewatch. And here I thought I was just an apathetic viewer and didn’t love animes until recently. Oh so wrong.

I contemplated on including Daa! Daa! Daa! and Aka-chan to Boku in my Top5 animes when I first joined MAL, then changed my mind when I realized how juvenile it was. I wasn’t able to think this through, I thought to myself; That having this on my list shows my poor taste, especially when matters of image and what my list says about me is involved. Perhaps I felt guilty, that I was including an anime that wasn’t really of quality. Oh noes other people’s Top 5 Animes List are so EPIC and shiny, while mine is so sissy~

But here I am, a decade later, finally realizing my true feelings: I loved them all along, and I still do. And there’s absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Declaring certain animes as my favorites even when I didn’t genuinely love them (at least not yet), that’s what I should be ashamed of.

I don’t want to turn this into a ‘How We Choose Our Top x Animes List’ post or a ‘What My List Says About Me’ post (Stripey, omo, schneider, and digitalboy already posted about this) because all I really want to do is remember love for these two shows. But inevitably, this got me thinking about the way I personally choose my favorites, or the methodology I want to adopt. No rankings though, I hate them to the guts because it forces me to pit my favorites against each other.

It took me a decade to realize that I really really love Daa! Daa! Daa! and Aka-chan to Boku (and that I really am a shoujo fangirl at heart). If anything, this proves how timeless they are for me. Despite being simple & sweet, light-hearted & funny, not too angsty, not too happy and sappy either — just the right balance of quirkiness, sweetness and warmth — it sure tickled and touched my heart, and it still does. More series to add to the list of Animes for the Whole Family, especially Aka-chan to Boku.

At the same time, I thought of the other series I included in my Favorites List: Toshokan Sensou, Darker than Black, and Honey & Clover in particular, and realized that I didn’t really love them the way I thought I did. Call this my mid-otaku-life crisis.

I like Toshokan Sensou, very very fond of it. Now the rose-colored glasses have worn off, and I start to wonder whether I really loved it or was simply caught up in the hype back when it was airing. Like a spur-of-the-moment thing, the same way with True Tears. Perhaps I really loved it, but perhaps not. Either way I owe it to myself to step out of being the Toshokan Sensou hype machine that I was, and figure out whether my love for it was indeed genuine or not.

I watched Honey and Clover 3 years ago, but did it resonate with me right then and there? Not quite so. But that could just be because of my apathetic viewing habit that time, or the simple fact that I still didn’t know how to appreciate an anime like this back then. Is H&C awesome? Why yes, I know it is, but I have yet to feel its awesomeness, genuinely so — the awesomeness ^ nth level that would make its way to my heart and soul.

For Darker than Black, objectivity influenced my decision a whole lot and I alienated myself in the process. I watched it, understood how awesome it was; I recognize its value and worth, but I feel cold and distant to it. Is this what happens when you watch a series during one of the dark and dreary points in your life? Or did it fail to move me, nothing else but that?

When a series you loved (or thought you loved) doesn’t linger in your thoughts after watching it, or you don’t remember much of it, does this mean you didn’t really love it? Should it take yearsss before you come to grasp that you genuinely love/d a series? Some people acquire the wisdom to discern that with time and experience, so we can’t exactly say that. But when a series does linger in your mind even after sometime, and only gets better with age, like wine, it’s a sign that there is something special about it. I have yet to feel this for Toshokan Sensou, Honey & Clover and Darker than Black, and only time will tell if I will, but not until after a rewatch.

Then I wondered, would I have had this Very Special Love for Daa! Daa! Daa! and Aka-chan to Boku if I discovered them at a later time? Would watching other series of the same vein prior to these two hinder me from enjoying them to the fullest? Is love supposed to be a race? Omo’s list of favorites proved to be interesting in this regard, as he shows a list of his personal favorites and its alternate universe counterpart — how it would look like had he not watched anime in the 90s — while acknowledging the influence of ’said past animes with his opinion on RaXephon and FLCL, two series which “work more powerfully if you have context in terms of other anime you have seen, although they are both quite potent by themselves”, according to Omo.

So… would Nadesico and Magic Knight Rayearth have resonated so much with Omo had he watched it in a different time and space continuum? Perhaps yes, perhaps no. If so, despite the notion that we might not enjoy certain animes because we’re not yet ready for it, does that mean it’s also possible to get past that ‘right time’? I suddenly feel deprived of the right to proclaim any anime to be timeless…

But oh screw this, objectivity be damned. For me, Daa! Daa! Daa! and Aka-chan to Boku are timeless gems. There’s a plethora of factors affecting one’s enjoyment of a show, but I remain confident that anyone can enjoy these two series even at this day and age. Not as EPIC High calibre as, say, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Rose of Versailles, and Princess Tutu, but AWWWSOME(ly heartwarming and sweet) in their own right.

Objectivity is good, it enriches our perspective; but like everything else, too much of it can be damaging. What makes us interesting as humans is our complexity — no one is alike — and our ability to feel, our emotions. All people might agree about what makes for an objectively awesome anime, but in the end, what really matters is what we genuinely feel to be personally and subjectively awesome. When we talk about subjectively awesome shows we personally love, we can create a Spiral Energy so great we make the most impossible of feats possible. And the best thing about this is, you know for sure that it’s not just a bunch of pretentious crap. You’ve got real people talking — people who do not simply know what they’re talking about, but feel it with their heart and soul.

And this one’s for you, o [objectively] subjectively awesome timeless animes~

Daa! Daa! Daa!

The premise of Daa! Daa! Daa! is but simple (and silly): Two high school kids, Miyu and Kanata, ended up living under the same roof no thanks to their eccentric parents, who left their children for the sake of pursuing their childhood dreams. And then, out of the blue, a UFO falls from the sky, with an alien baby named Ruu and his baby-sitter-pet Wannya. As if living with someone you barely know wasn’t enough, Kanata and Miyu were also forced into parenthood as they take care of Ruu, on top of surviving crazy high school and alien invasions (not really hostile ones, fortunately) from time to time.

“Leaving your kids alone, WTF are these parents thinking?!!” Fortunately, this is shoujo. So instead of b00bs, T&A, pantyshots and whatsoever fappable fanservice, we get lots and lots of guilt-free rabu rabu scenes designed to make girls (or anyone else with an ‘inner fluffy fangirl’) go KYAA with its sweetness, unadulterated moeness, and total fun factor. Not to say that fappable fanservice is bad, but it’s certainly something I can live without.

A simple boy-meets-girl-with-an-alien-baby-twist story at its core, a fun and heartwarming shoujo romance comedy at its best. “a frivolous and silly premise laid a foundation for such a heartwarming, funny and fun story”, as one commenter by the name of sakura_13 in the Baka-Updates page said. Yes, I was cheating, this was a comment on the manga, but the same can be said about the anime too.

Every episode of Daa! Daa! Daa! doesn’t stray off from this one philosophy: it has to be fun, and/or sweet. The series knows well its target audience (like damn right it does! — Miyu x Kanata is my OTP KYAA~!), and also knows well what it means to not simply pander, but provide something of Total Quality to the said audience. And even those outside of it.

I admit, what initially hooked me into this is the romance between Miyu x Kanata (it’s pretty well developed, despite its simplicity, and it’s always fun to see them bantering), and the uber cuteness of Ruu-kun, one of the most adorable babies in the 2D world. But look a little deeper, and you’d see a gem of a shoujo series — adorable and heartwarming through and through.

My most favorite episode, the Cinderella ep~!

Right from the start, we already know that Miyu and Kanata are meant for each other, but this is one of those special (rare?) cases where you can’t help but watch all the episodes to not miss a single moment, in a romantic context and even those which are not. And with the rich and crazy world of Daa! Daa! Daa!, you will never find yourself saying that this is yet another dull and boring shoujo show — all thanks to Miyu and Kanata’s eccentric parents, wacky classmates, alien connections, and all other elements (zOMG fairy tales~!) that makes this a wonderful WAKU WAKU wonderland~

Their fate has been written on the stars…!

WAKU WAKU, DOKI DOKI, totally fangirlgasmic. The above screenshot came from the Halloween episode where we also find out that Kanata and Miyu already spent quite some time together back when they were teeny tots. They are sooo [conveniently] made for each other, and I have no complaints whatsoever (are you kidding me?!).

And there goes your token loli~

Aka-chan to Boku

How’s it like to be a 10-year old kid who, after losing his mom, is left with the responsibility to take care of his baby brother? Such is the life of Takuya with his little brother Minoru, and what Aka-chan to Boku is at its core. Blessed with a loving father they might be, but since he has to work to provide for his family, Minoru is left in Takuya’s care most of the time.

This is not easy, especially for an elementary school kid. There were times when Takuya questioned his fate, unfair it is that his life seems to be manipulated by this unconcerned little brother who deprived him of the right to be a normal kid. But instead of dwelling on the angst and dark pits of how it’s like to be in Takuya’s shoes, Aka-chan to Boku shows us what lies in the path of acceptance and love, the joys of having a little brother, pain in the ass it might be at times.

Later on in the series, we get to know some other Takuya’s classmates who also happen to have little siblings, each with their different family situations — the source of many of the priceless fun antics in the show, and the heartwarming side of it all. The love triangle between Minoru and his two female classmates in the daycare, both of whom happens to be the sister of Takuya’s classmate, always makes for a fun watch.

And when the focus shifts to the 温かい家庭 [warm and loving family] aspects (each episode has ‘em), I BAWWW like a little baby.

“urusai! urusai! urusai!” was soo 90s, but Shana ended up with the patent for it.

As much as I want to babble about the Halloween episode and tell you about Takuya’s tsuntsun classmate Akihiro, I’m gonna refrain myself from doing so and save all I want to say in the Coming Posts.

Watching Daa! Daa! Daa! and Aka-chan to Boku feels like eating a warm taiyaki¹ on a winter day. Warm and sweet, tickles me and my taste buds~ あたたかい。。。くすぐったい～

Further Reading

Let THEM show you why Daa! Daa! Daa! is one of the best shoujo series to date.

In case you want to find out more about Aka-chan to Boku, here’s this Aka-chan to Boku review on EX (pretty detailed so it might be a little spoilerish).

P.S. I plan to blog every episode of Aka-chan to Boku, because it deserves all the love it can get. I’m not just doing this because of the lack of subs. With or without subs, my desire to blog this won’t change.

P.P.S. If you notice a blogging slow-down this November, that can only mean one thing: JLPT1 CRAM MODE ON!

Credits to あきのん for the Halloween fanart

Notes

1. specifically ‘warm’, because there’s a taiyaki ice-cream

Related posts:

1. Kimi ni Todoke Reached My Soul: Sawako-chan is so SawayaKYAA~
2. On Epicness and the Legend of Basara – A MUST READ EPIC SHOUJO GEM!!!!
3. Rating Your Love (for Darker than Black, and others)

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Last week as I was browsing Wikipedia, I came upon an article on nensha (念写). It is the ability to psychically imprint an image from one’s mind onto surfaces or the mind of others.

In 1910, an assistant professor from Tokyo University named Fukurai Tomokichi conducted a well-known research regarding ESP. His first subject was Mifune Chizuko who read messages written inside hidden envelopes. Mifune, however, was viewed as fraudulent. Later that year, Tomokichi found Nagao Ikuko who was said to have nensha. As an experiment, Nagao was to “burn” an image onto a dry plate sealed inside an airtight X-ray proof metal box. Like Mifune, Nagao was seen as a charlatan. Depressed, Nagao developed a fever and succumbed to it. As for Mifune, she committed suicide in 1911.

I noticed there was something vaguely familiar with the story. I later realized that it was narrated in the fifth episode of Mouryou no Hako. At first I thought the narration was merely to provide a backstory for Enokizu Reijiro, the self-proclaimed psychic, but it was interesting to discover that it was based on an actual event.

The anime mentioned that despite the negative reputation he has earned, the professor was undeterred with his research. The anime didn’t mention though that in 1913, Fukurai met Takahashi Sadako who was said to have developed nesha through mental exercise. Sadako was able to convince several skeptics in her favor.

Now I am sure the name Sadako brings up an image of a woman crawling out of a well or a television screen. Oddly enough, Shizuko, the mother of the Ring cycle’s Yamamura Sadako, is based on Takahashi Sadako. Shizuko was a psychic. In a public demonstration of her abilities, Shizuko was mocked and accused as a fake. Defending her mother, Sadako, also a pyschic, attacked and killed a reporter. Sadako was eventually sealed under a well but survived through sheer will. When a resort was built on top of the well, Sadako, through nensha projected her spite into a blank videotape which, when watched would kill the viewer after seven days.

It seems Sadako, through nensha, has also “burned” her image into the Japanese pysche and to the rest of the world as well.

Going back to Mouryou no Hako, it has been a year since it came out and I recall writing a Mouryou no Hako post around this time of the year. It has been a year indeed but why, oh why, does the final episode remain unsubbed?

Related posts:

1. Mouryou no Hako – 04 “Fiery Chariot”

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A Eulogy for Geocities…

Earlier this week, GeoCities became officially unavailable, a few months since YaHoo! announced its closure. GeoCities began in the mid 1990’s providing free web hosting and later on, paid premium service. GeoCities was initially organized into “cities” or neighborhoods, such as Tokyo for anime and other Asian topics, or SiliconValley for tech topics. When Yahoo! acquired GeoCities in 1999, they switched from the neighborhood based URLs to a customized ones.

I first learned of GeoCities in high school, around a couple of years after the city was introduced to the World Wide Web. I was fascinated with Yu Yu Hakusho then and I would research about the anime in the Net. Information regarding Yu Yu Hakusho, however, was limited and so I thought of creating my own YYH website. After deliberating which web host to use, I settled for GeoCities. I learned HTML and came up with a crude lay-out filled with marquees and Java applets (they were all the rage then). I couldn’t exactly remember that site’s URL but I think it was www.geocities.com/yyh_profiles.

In college, I collaborated with two my my classmates to create another anime site: www.geocities.com/anime_list. Our site contained categorizations of anime characters such as those with cool hair, or those with cool weapons, etc. Later on, we put up fanarts and also wallpapers for download.

Also in college, I decided to create my own personal blog. I knew of the existence of blogging services such as LiveJournal and blogger but I opted to put up my blog in GeoCities because it offered greater control. My HTML skills have somehow improved and I learned CSS so I wanted to try coming up with my own design. However, since GeoCities had no blogging framework, I had to manually arrange my pages such that the latest post comes first. I also had to use HaloScan for the commenting and trackbacking system. My blog was at www.geocities.com/disruptive_camouflage.

Eventually, I grew tired of having to rearrange my pages each time I had a new post so I migrated my blog to WordPress. In fact, the oldest entries at my WordPress blog came from my GeoCities blog. I still kept the GeoCities site and used it as a file server of sorts.

It’s been almost a decade since I’ve used GeoCities and now, the popular free web hosting site has gone to the far reaches of cyberspace oblivion. It is understandable though why YaHoo! closed GeoCities. With the rising popularity of blogging services and the arrival of social networking sites (which too provide blogging services), GeoCities has fallen out of fashion and its userbase has shrunk. And besides, it’s not making money for YaHoo!, as Rupert Goodwins, editor of ZDNet, said, “I think GeoCities was the first proof that you could have something really popular and still not make any money on the internet.”

The curtain has finally closed on GeoCities and some things will be missed forever. Well, goodbye Geocities! You have served me well.

This wasn’t really talked about much in the anime ’sphere, wasn’t it? I’m sure many of us were born before the ’90s era, basked in the HTML awefulness of Web 1.0, visited and/or created anime shrines at one point in our otakudom lives… right?

Geocities closed down, together with a good number of anime sites that shaped me as a fan. *Looks at all the Geocities sites in Anipike and sighs* With the exception of Hate Sites or Clubs, these sites were the epitome of remembering love for animes and mangas. Even until now I’d look back at those times and wonder just how I can make a shrine out of this blog. Or a museum, as ghostlightning once said.

There was this bishounen files site I was so fond of way back high school, with profiles of bishies from various series, classified into various types: the boy-next-door type (I remember Yuu from Marmalade Boy was one of them), the underdogs (Ryoga), the cross-dressers (Nuriko), the evil overlords (Zagato), etc etc. My memory’s a bit fuzzy but there’s a big chance that it was hosted in Geocities. I doubt I’ll ever be able to find that now, obviously.

Someone ought to rebuild that bishie bio database. Now it’s all about moe and GAR, seme and uke. Boy do I love digressing.

First encounter with HTML and Photoshop

I was never inspired to make my own site, lazy as I am, not until 1st year college when it was required by our professor. The year was 2002, back when Neopets was all the craze, and CometZone was still hip and trendy; back when I was still addicted to Ranma 1/2 (I remember using Ranma and Akane’s Ballad as my site BGM lol), YuYu Hakusho, Fushigi Yuugi, Rurouni Kenshin, and Card Captor Sakura. And still into fanart-ing.

I visited my homepage one last time before the D-Day, and a wave of nostalgia came over me as I was looking through my image gallery, most of which were scans of my fanarts and the Newtype magazine I had since 2nd year high school. A walk down memory lane here we go~

(Click on the thumbnails to view the larger image in an overlay window, won’t work through a feed reader)

Low and behold, my first scans, from my first Newtype magazine. Ever.

First impromptu color fanart (woke up in the middle of the night and thought, “I feel like making a fanart of my beloved Kurama-sama, so let’s do that”)

First raburabu fanarts <3

First CG attempt and FAIL

First CG semi-success; first fanart submitted and featured in a local manga-zine. Culture Crash, anyone? Microsoft will so sue me for using that Windows wallpaper for my background.

*cue Winter Sonata’s Memories BGM*

This one’s for you, Geocities:

But you put on quite a show, really had me going.
But now it’s time to go, curtain’s finally closing.
That was quite a show, very entertaining.
But it’s over now…
Go on and take a bow.

Or as SDS says, “Shine On, Geocities. Shine On… Forever”

It was my 2nd year in highschool and I was 16, constantly running away from Britney’s “Oops!… I Did It Again” in those eternal summers of youth. I managed somehow, rocking out to Neon-Genesis Evangelion’s intro by swapping multi-(floppy)-disk zip archives with my friends, and discovering this thing called Anime(lol!). It was either that or dial-up Hyperterminal, downloading it yourself from some random site in Anipike.com or trying your luck in Napster.

So we got techie, learning about the freedom in mp3’s and the internet boom helped us along, albeit slowly at 56kbps, until one day, instead of just visiting Anipike, we thought we’d try our luck with our own tribute/shrine/whatever. My sister was taking Computer Science at the time, and there were plenty of HTML resources online, plus Geocities(God bless his soul!) was offering free hosting with your yahoo mail, so we tried our hand in that.

Mine was called “the Grandstand” to commemorate the bleachers my friends and I usually hung out in. There, along with some game and personal stuff, I also built an anime corner. In hindsight, it was the anime corner that grew the most, housing a menial collection of Fushigi Yuugi pictures, random midi’s(Misato theme!) and large amounts of painstakingly coded HTML code. By code I meant secret links in length marquee’s, thorough use of the tag, and a small banner proclaiming “Proudly made in Notepad” to spite all those perky, oddly-colored, Frontpage users.

We expanded by joining the roster of sites included in Anime-rings’ random links. We also linked to each other–and always href-ed their site at every mention of their name–and signed guestbooks prolifically. All the while, religiously monitoring our daily visit site-counters. And then Google happened, and Blogger/Livejournal was born, and Anipike sorta fizzled out and we found out about going outside.

But I stop by ever-so-often. And though I have to jump through the Wayback Machine because geocities got tired of hosting me, the nostalgia and the indomitable optimism of those teenage years will always be online.

Share your Geocities story and we might just unleash a torrent of nostalgia right here

Further Reading

SDS’s eulogy posts for Geocities, where a number of people also shared their stories.

AstroNerdBoy reminded us to archive old GeoCities anime sites back when the news came about.

princetrunks also shared his Geocities tale, which explains the Web 1.0 look and feel of his site.

toonleap showed his geocities sites before, though unfortunately we can no longer access them. Except maybe through the Wayback Engine.

Reminiscing the Analog Otaku Life Days

Related posts:

1. A Tale of Friendship, Love, LULZ, and ToraDora
2. Cross Game Commercial Break: Nomo’s Picture Drawing Song~!

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Fellow Filipinos, remember this?

This sure is one timeless commercial, oh [in]famous Dragon Katol. The line “Dragon kung umuwsok… leymowk seyguradong teypok!”¹ never gets old. So… katol.

If only she had Dragon Katol, tsk.²

Katol is the Tagalog word for mosquito coil or mosquito incense, and apparently, it was adopted from the Japanese word 蚊取 [katori], its Japanese counterpart (literally it’s “to get [取り] mosquito(es) [蚊]“). Discovered this by accident, as I came across 蚊 [ka] (mosquito) in the Kanzen Master kanji book I’m using for my JLPT1 studies, which eventually led me to 蚊取 [katori]. One little Google search was all it took to confirm my hypothesis: Mosquito incense = katol, so katori = katol?

“Katol is one of the few Japanese words that have entered Filipino vocabulary, although most do not know of its origin.”, according to the Tagalog Lang site. True enough, almost all of my officemates didn’t know this, and neither did I. Do you?

Makes me wonder if there are any other Japanese loan words in Filipino. Perhaps suka (vinegar) is one of them… 酢 [su] = vinegar => su-ka? *ba dum psh* In any case, feel free to share what you know about them Japanese loan words, may it be in Tagalog or other languages, it’ll make for a real fun discovery

Further Reading

On the Etymology of Arigatou, where I managed to confuse the heck out of people with all the kanji talk.

Fellow chef absolute0 also talked about the Etymology of Mouryou back when he was still blogging

Notes

1. Translated as: “Smokes like a dragon, mosquitoes are surely exterminated!”, done in the stereotypical speaking-Tagalog-with-an-American-accent way. Otherwise that line would’ve simply been “Dragon kung umusok… lamok siguradong tepok!”
2. The image became even more punny when 蚊噛み came to mind, something I made up on a whim. 蚊[ka] (mosquito) + 噛み[kami] (bite) = Kagami. Get it? Okay you may laugh now.

Related posts:

1. On the Etymology of Mouryou
2. The Final Countdown Before the JLPT1 Doomsday
3. Nihongo Speech Files #2: How I Met Nihongo

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The fangirls, fanboys, and otherwise, have said it. Kimi ni Todoke is the show of the season. Some curmudgeons remain curmudgeons, but oh well, such is life. What I’m about to show here are a portion of what bloggers have to say about Kimi ni Todoke (mostly first impressions), all for the sake of having a warm and fuzzy circle-jerk~ I can’t help but feel like a post scraper with this post though…

(Oh and all links open in a new window)

Anna-sempai talks about the charm that sets apart Kimi ni Todoke from other shoujo series:

I think the best part of Kimi ni Todoke is how it’s taking its sweet time. Sawako obviously has feelings for classmate Kazehaya, and vice-versa, but there’s no need to rush things. It’s really cute to watch these characters go through the awkwardness, the stumbling and blushing of young love. [...] High school is tough enough, but Sawako faces her situation with this matter-of-fact attitude: this is what I am, and if I keep trying and put myself out there, maybe people will warm up to me. Being a good person doesn’t hurt, and even the class mean girls recognize her good heart.

issa-sa tells us why Kimi ni Todoke ROCKS, and I could only heartily concur:

What sets Sadwako apart from the other hopeless shoujo protagonists (who conventionally could never end up with the lead male but in due course does so anyways to please the readers/viewers) isn’t her horror-film-esque aura (done before, and not even as well), but her own resolve in improving herself for the sake of generally being liked by the people around her who unjustly shun her for her outward appearance, and not specifically to be liked by the guy of her interest.

miz mentions her fears, but remains optimistic:

She better develop a backbone, and accept the friendship before tearing or getting shy all over the place. However, this may be the metamorphism of her character from a shy caterpillar to a butterfly, so I will be watching this series with a keen eye.

f3licity throws in her two cents and shows us More Reasons to Love Kimi ni Todoke:

Getting into a plot that focuses in great depth on the growing relationship between the main character and her female friends this early is a pretty unconventional move for a shoujo title. Regrettably, most of the time “friends” aren’t too much more than plot devices or comic relief in romance manga (of the non-magical girl variety at least). Yet another reason I love Kimi ni Todoke.

jeanniex1 thought some moments were cringe-inducing (obligatory shoujo scenes, anyone?), but quickly gets over that and points out one of the major reasons behind this anime’s current success:

As I’d hoped, I think I’m going to be liking this more as it goes on. And you KNOW that about 75% of the reason I’m watching it is because PRODUCTION IG is so awesome. I can’t say it enough. They are in a completely different league. I love them.

Of course, let’s not forget Ryan’s little blurb which brought quite a eureka! moment to a whole lot of people:

Subtle, is that which renders From Me To You my season gem.

I know Hinano thinks From Me To You is a rather f*cked up translation, but I guess we can quickly get over that

Minnie seemed to be one of the first few people to point out the similarities of Kimi ni Todoke with the jdrama Nobuta wo Produce, and both Ryan and jeanniex1 thought so too. I wasn’t exactly keen on watching Nobuta wo Produce, despite the positive responses I’ve seen, but now my interest is perking up++

Speaking of resemblances, Sawako also reminded k1y0 of Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge, a series which I have yet to watch. Someday perhaps, as with all my backlogs *sigh* k1y0’s probably one of the few fangirls out there in the ’sphere who could go KYAA and still churn out coherent and thoughtful posts on various series and an array of other topics. And to highlight a bit of her blurbs on Kimi ni Todoke episodes 2 and 3:

It’s been so long since a romance series make me squee like a little girl. One can’t help but cheer Sawako on when she tries to make friends with others, and feel their blood boiling when she gets discriminated against due to mere rumors.

As mentioned in the show, though Sawako feels that it is all thanks to Kazehaya, it is really all due to Sawako’s efforts and determination. [...] And I’m really thankful that this is not one of those romance series in which the lead characters are always agonizing needlessly over minor misunderstandings.

and yes, Peach Girl be damned.

kanzeon disses the Skip Beat anime adaptation, but sings a heap-load of praises to Kimi ni Todoke, so all is forgiven.

Like Cidz, I also loved the internal monologues of both Sawako and Kazehaya. Yummy yummy stream-of-consciousness *omnomnom* N-n-not like I have a f-f-fetish for it or a-anything, ok?!

Epi the shoujo fanboy swoons for KnT:

The fact that Sawako is known as ‘Sadako’ makes for a lot of fun jokes, and I hope that this aspect of the show doesn’t go away soon. I think it keeps things from being TOO mushy which can be overwhelming sometimes [...] by keeping things a bit lighthearted.

ETERNAL wasn’t WOWED, but felt the heart of the show, awakening his inner fluffy fangirl, as Choux puts it. Schneider hasn’t mentioned about it in his blog, but I’m sure he felt this too. :3

This series has awakened my inner fluffy fangirl, she’s not about to go away any time soon.

Even the first episode resonated with Author, who might have just met his inner fangirl. I can only hope he stands by it till the end:

Swayed by the exhalting posts, I gave Kimi ni Todoke a good try and giggled maniacally non-stop through the first 15 minutes of the episode. Also, squeaked “OH NOES SHE’S CHANGING COLOR” and such. No idea if this is my internal fangirl or what, I’ve never met her before. [...] As far as the story, too early to tell. Characters seem sympathetic, but again the dude is a big question mark. I’m not even certain I’ll stick with the series in the long run, but it was a good ride at the start.

Julius_Firefocht sees through Sawako’s inner and outer beauty and shows us why ota-Haruka pales in comparison to Sawako:

If I had to choose between Nogizaka Haruka or Sawako as the better Noto-voiced female lead, I would choose Sawako without batting an eyelid. Haruka is too “perfect” so to speak, while Sawako is a normal girl that is sweet and endearing. I felt more for Sawako in 2 episodes than I did for Haruka in 15 episodes, which is saying something.

Sawako wins the heart of comrade Crusader, and whereas I fail in showing my love for Noe, he succeeds just about every time:

Despite the lack of my kind of mecha it seems that I get a very promising shoujo series this season. Sawako is just darling as a little generator of fear forcing cowards to flee for the hills at a mere glance. Unfortunately she’d rather make friends with these cowardly types than cast them off a precipice of annihilation, but different strokes for different folks I guess. [...] Sawako gets a bit weepy now and then, but at least she is selfless, though at times overly selfless, so I can forgive Sawako’s True Tears for Noe likes them too.

ghostlightning thought Kimi ni Todoke wasn’t meant for him, but found it refreshingly nostalgic nonetheless:

What makes the show engaging to watch for me is how this world of high school love seems nostalgically ideal. [...] I wonder if there’s some dreadful twist that happens along the way. [...] But for now, I can’t imagine anything else but the slow days of growing love and self-discovery that plays out in this little show. Episode two gave us sunbeams through the trees, rain, and the colors of dusk on a wet landscape. The after school sun gives the world orange hues. Why worry about grades and the future now? It’s kind of the time for love.

Shinmaru falls in love with Sawako Kuronuma (who wouldn’t?!) and also talks about the gorgeousness of the 1st episode:

But even if the story is relatively basic right now, the episode makes up for it by being confidently directed and downright gorgeous. When Sawako describes to Kazehaya why she likes summer evenings, while the cicadas chirp in the background and a breeze flits through when Kazehaya stares up at the stars, it makes me want to go outside, sit on the grass and stare at the sky for a few hours.

He also tosses in his two cents on Kazehaya, and hopes he’ll become an even more interesting character later on. I hope so too! He makes me go KYAA, but it’s because he’s a wish-fulfillment character (as maAkusutipen also said) more than anything else. Apart from Sawako’s shadow, he’s not quite as… sparkling.

And what better way to show the said gorgeousness but with the actual lovely lovely eyecandies. Let Misu show you~

Hanners also falls in love with Kimi ni Todoke, JUST AS KEIKAKU.

There’s really a lot to be said for the way this series takes a lonely, borderline bullied girl, and turns it not into a depressing tale of misery and woe but into one of hope and positivity… [...] This, coupled with Kazehaya’s influence, leaves you rooting for the main characters right from the off, and as I observed last episode that’s quite unique in itself these days – A far cry from the Itazura na Kiss’s and White Album’s of this world. In fact, I can’t think of the last time a series like this left me with a constant smile on my face, and you know what? I really love Kimi ni Todoke for doing just that – Long may it continue.

QFT.

And while here we are racking our brains trying to figure out what sets Kimi ni Todoke apart from other shows, Mike of Anime Diet just blows us away with his insights — personal, thoughtful, insightful:

A lot of anime, maybe most these days, is wish-fulfillment for the socially awkward. What else is a harem show than a fantasy for the otaku who has a hard time finding any dates, let alone three or more? Kimi ni Todoke falls squarely in that camp; it’s hardly the brutally accurate emotional portrait of an Onani Master Kurosawa, Welcome to the NHK!, or Honey and Clover, at least not yet. The plotline so far is simple [...] It’s not the general premise that makes the show work. No, what sets Kimi ni Todoke apart is the exactness in its portrayal of both the social awkwardness and the ways the longings of such a person are fulfilled.

(This is an excerpt, please go to the post to read the awesome article in its full glory lol)

This, together with animewriter’s insights on the masks we wear makes me want to write my own personal account of Kimi ni Todoke, but I’m afraid I’ll end up spilling too much emo sh*t again. Anyways, here’s an excerpt from the said post:

Throughout our lives, we all wear masks of one form, or another. [...] As we meet people and interact with them, we slowly let our masks slip a little as they let their masks slip a little revealing to each other the whole person. The people who we allow to see fully under our masks become our friends, lovers, and spouses, but before that can happen, we have to have the courage to let our masks slip a little and let people into our lives.

Somewhere around the globe, Kimi ni Todoke also reaches Neomoonline:

A rather simple plotline, but here it doesn’t matter; the show succeeds all on its own. The characters, the school, the town, the score, right down to the poor little Sawako and the adorable man-moe Kazehaya. Also noteworthy, the anime is made by Production I.G. A show not to miss.

Seems like Kimi ni Todoke brought back polymetrica’s faith in weekly anime watching too.

It’s also interesting to see a number of people who aren’t exactly into this genre but still ended up warming up to the series. Like Noirsword, who was wowed, even though “school-life romance shoujo aren’t his thing”.

Someone doesn’t seem too happy with the way the anime is going, and longs for more conflict in the series, though it turns out to be a misunderstanding that has now been cleared up. I’d still say he’s being tsuntsun about Kimi ni Todoke though, lol.

Ahh, the ’sphere is a wonderful place to be~ ^_^

Related posts:

1. Kimi ni Todoke Reached My Soul: Sawako-chan is so SawayaKYAA~
2. Atashi ni Todoke: Revving Up the Engine With a Little Paradigm Shift

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