Review: Hana Yori Dango (TV)

Running time: 24 minutes
Number of episodes: 51
Vintage: 1996-09-08 to 1997-08-31
Age rating: Older Children (May contain mild bad language, bloodless violence)
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Shoujo, Slice of Life
Production: Toei Animation
Broadcaster: Asahi Broadcasting (ABC)

Source: Anime News Network

Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers) is a fairly old but solid romance story. The first thing that I noticed when I started watching it was how similar it looked to Marmalade Boy, a series that I dropped months ago. I did a little research and I finally got the answer when I found out Yoshihiko Umakoshi was the character designer and animation director for both Marmalade Boy and Hana Yori Dango. They are both shoujo series that deal with female leads fighting the turmoils of love with other male characters. I dropped Marmalade Boy because it dragged on and on about little things, so the show became too long to enjoy. There were too many love interests and crushes that it didn’t move me at all, plus the filling content was redundant and off course. Hana Yori Dango fixes a lot of the problems I had with Marmalade Boy by being shorter and more focused on true and meaningful love and romance. It’s also a fairly original school anime romance story, unlike Marmalade Boy that didn’t do anything special beyond the school yard setting.

The story begins with Makino Tsukushi, a regular girl going to school at Eitoku Gakuen, a super rich school where high class students attend. She miraculously got accepted, so her parents, as poor as they are, work hard to send her to such a extravagant school for her to have a better future. While at Eitoku she has lived in the shadows by not generating any attention to herself, a striking difference from her lively middle school school days. At Eitoku there is a group of 4 male students known as the F4, short for Flower 4. They are the richest and most powerful heirs to giant corporations who use their power and influence to reign havoc upon their school. Even the teachers are afraid of them because of what they can do. They cut class repeatedly and are not even forced to wear the school uniform because they do as they please.

One day Tsukushi finds her way in their path when she tries to help her only friend being bullied by the F4. She unwillingly breaks her silence and is immediately noticed by the F4, so now they turn their sights to Tsukushi. They force a group of guys to go after Tsukushi and she is cornered. One of the members of the F4, Hanazawa Rui, is different from the rest, and Tsukushi finds comfort in being at Eitoku when for some reason Rui saves her from being bullied. Tsukushi gains confidence and fends off the F4 with her wild and violent personality, something unheard of at Eitoku. Even though they fight and growl at each other, Tsukushi eventually ends up getting closer and closer to the F4 because she is different from all of the cookie-cutter gold-digging girls at Eitoku. They take notice of her unique view of life and this gives fruit to the overall romance story. It’s a bumpy road with lots of triumphs and defeats, but in the end the path leads to a better place.

The conclusion to this anime lacked enough power to fully satisfy me, but nonetheless it ends well. I was rooting for the pair that got together all along so I’m glad it ended the way I wanted it to end. If you’re into shoujo this is a pretty good one that’s serious and takes you deep into the minds of the characters. It doesn’t fall flat on its face by trying to appease to childish crushes and instead goes right into more deep passionate feelings. For such an old show it does a good job of providing a solid romance story with a concentrated group of meaningful characters with real feelings and thoughts. Not bad at all. It has its faults but it’s worth a watch if you need some old but enjoyable shoujo.

Opening:

Italian opening ~spoilers~ (contains many scenes from the anime):

Review: Otaku no Video (OAV)

Running time: 50 minutes
Number of episodes: 2
Vintage: 1991
Age rating: Teenagers (May contain bloody violence, bad language, nudity)
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Historical, Magical girl, Mecha, Science Fiction, Shounen
Production: GAINAX

Source: Anime News Network

Although this isn’t quite relevant to this review, I feel its necessary to mention that I don’t consider myself a true otaku. In a less than humble expression I feel that I lack the strong qualities of devotion and dedication a true otaku possesses and therefore I deem it necessary to not label myself as a true member of the exclusive social group. I don’t alienate myself from true otaku because I fear the label or the implications associated with it, in fact I look up to the most hardcore, but I genuinely don’t have the inner drive that it takes to follow through with core aspects of the lifestyle. I’m pretty apathetic towards most popular “moe” elements such as magical girls, loli, and the like. I’m not even into cosplay in general, although I’ve seen a few in pictures that have impressed me. This puts me at a disadvantage to position myself as an authority on any given subject where a true otaku would show true dominance, making my judgment seem obtuse by comparison. As such, I write this particular review with the careful observation that I am sailing into unknown waters so I’ll try my best to be less partial and biased.

Otaku no video is most likely a well-known OAV and I wouldn’t doubt many people consider it an essential introduction to anime in general. Putting aside my ignorance of the significance of this particular OAV, I ventured on and watched this show and I can honestly say it’s worth watching if you want insight into the world of a true otaku. The OAV is quite old but still encompasses many of the cultural aspects of being an otaku that still exist today. It’s by no means an accurate depiction of the social activities of otaku since it really does feel scripted and sensational, but its totally worth your time if you’re into the subculture of anime.

The show itself starts off with a regular guy named Kubo who’s a freshman in college and enjoying life with his girlfriend who’s been with him since high school. His life is very social and active, so you could say he’s a very good example of a “normal” guy. By chance he finds himself meeting his old high school friend, Tanaka, who’s the leader of an otaku club. They end up spending lots of time together and little by little Kubo’s life drifts away from a regular guy social guy to that of a real gritty and dirty otaku. This begins the roller coaster ride where you will learn of the hopes and dreams of a bunch of otaku. You will find stereotypes for every kind of otaku, including science fiction, military, and other specializations, plus the legendary female otaku that looks good in cosplay. Along with this, the show has a habit of breaking the core animation’s story with live-action scripted scenes where random Japanese men are interviewed and they explain how they grew up as hardcore otaku. The second episode of the OAV continues the tale but in a much more fantastical way and finally concludes the main story of the anime.

The story of the anime isn’t breathtaking in any way and I certainly wouldn’t consider it brilliant in any particular aspect, but it’s still educational and entertaining. The way the lifestyle of otaku is explored is timeless in itself since it freezes in time the way otaku lived in the 80’s and 90’s. Today’s otaku hasn’t changed much, but thanks to the internet many more people are being influenced in massive quantities. The anime industry is much more mainstream and there’s a plentiful amount of mature content (not necessarily adult content) that has made the notion of otaku as a whole less demeaning.

If you’re obsessed about anime you owe it to yourself to check it out, and even if you don’t really care about the subculture you should still check it out if you can. It’s a good experience to have under your belt that will provide a vast amount of historical value of the Japanese otaku culture that is now less “Japanese,” and more global than ever.

Opening: