Review: Lovely Complex (TV)

Running time: 24 minutes
Number of episodes: 24
Vintage: 2007-04-07 to 2007-09-29
Age rating: Teenagers (May contain bloody violence, bad language, nudity)
Genres: Comedy, Romance, Slice of life
Animation Production: Toei Animation

Source: Anime News Network

Kansai-ben. Good old kansai-ben. The inherently funny dialect that some of the funniest human beings on Earth speak. I’d love to end my review here, but then you wouldn’t really know why I think Lovely Complex is good enough to be on your watchlist.

Lovely Complex tells the story of Koizumi Risa and Ootani Atsushi, both freshmen at Maido High School. There’s nothing out of the ordinary between these students other than the fact that Koizumi Risa happens to be 170cm tall, and therefore she’s taller than most guys. Ootani Atsushi, on the other hand is only 156cm tall, so he’s about the same height as most girls. They each have a “complex” about their height and it’ll cause problems for both of them as you can surely expect.

A new school year begins for Koizumi so she is all fired up hoping to find a boyfriend. As is typical of this type of shoujo, girl’s are depressed when they’re single and begin high school so they desperately seek companionship. This is precisely when she ends up confronting her seemingly destined rival at life, Ootani. They constantly fight and bicker and never fail to mention things that usually lead to jabs at their difference in height. You won’t exactly know why they fight so much intially, it just happens. However, Otani sees an opportunity to use his “enemy” Koizumi to his own benefit, while at the same time letting Koizumi have her way with perk for herself. You wouldn’t expect this kind of truce in the middle of a battlefield at school, but when there’s something to gain, I suppose it’s worth it. Things quickly backfire on them both (don’t they always?) and they’re back to square one, each being single. Yet again, as fate would seem, they both have very aggressive and competitive personalities so, crazily enough, they decide to make a competition to see who gets a girlfriend/boyfriend first.

The fun starts when Koizumi and Ootani become closer “friends” than they think while everyone else around them perceive them as a couple. They are constantly together or thinking about bumping into each other, and are commonly referred to as the All Hanshin Kyojin comedy duo. Their hobbies are all too similar, they like the same food, heck they even like the same music by Umibouzu, a rapper in the anime. Things are a little too perfect when they’re together even though they actively deny any affection towards each other because of their height.

If there’s a shoujo cliché you can think of, it’s in here in some form. That said, it doesn’t detract from the show since the delivery is spot on every time taking into account it’s little bits of originality with the comedy. It’s one thing to follow a story about a couple falling in love, but another to follow an incredibly unorthodox couple that just somehow seems so right for each other, are funny as hell together, but just can’t shake the embarrassment of being seen together!
If you’re like me and can’t get enough kansai-ben these days and need a good laugh and a bit of joy, you need to add this to your list of shows to watch! You’ll definitely be laughing throughout the entire thing, and the classic happy ending is a well done payoff to remember. If you’re a fan of shoujo you should definitely try this one out. It’s a refreshing new twist on high school love comedy with 100% concentrated fun. Say it with me! Nande ya nen?!

Review: Ouran Koukou Host Club (TV)

Running time: 24 minutes
Number of episodes: 26
Vintage: 2006-04-04 to 2006-09-26
Age rating: Teenagers (May contain bloody violence, bad language, nudity)
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Shoujo, Slice of Life
Animation Production: BONES

Source: Anime News Network

Ouran Koukou Host Club is one peculiar shoujo to say the least. A fair warning should be said about this show though, which is, it’s a real shoujo. Hardly any aspect of this show can overlap with any other tastes, so unless you’re prepared to be wrapped in male eye candy with some comedy romance drama, you should rethink your decision to watch this show.

Now with that out of the way, Ouran Koukou Host Club tells the story of a first year student named Fujioka Haruhi at the Ouran Academy for the rich and the elite. This student is quiet and very reserved, in part because this person does not have any affluent characteristics at all. As such, this student is known as the special scholarship student that got into this super-rich school entirely on academic strengths and no other merits.

On a regular day in high school, the student in question tries to find a quiet place to study and strolls into a music room that doesn’t seem to be in use. Much to this student’s surprise, the music room hides the presence of a peculiar group of people — the Ouran Koukou Host Club. These people did not quite expect to see Haruhi walk into their lair so nonchalantly. Just like every good story, Haruhi ends up in a bind and is “trapped” (yes, I meant it) in the world of the Ouran Koukou Host Club to pay off a debt of several million yen for a tiny accident in the music room.

Because Haruhi can’t even afford the school uniform’s exuberant price, the little accident in the music room is no joke. The payment for the trouble caused ends up being Haruhi’s torment of having to form part of the Ouran Koukou Host Club. Haruhi’s duties start out as lowly errands, but soon “he”… or should I say “she”… becomes a real host. I’ll let you find out about this legendary trap’s real story on your own.

The Host Club is simply a group of guys that for an hour or two a day, dedicate their after school time to entertaining women with their innermost desires. They’re also some of the most powerful sons of the super rich socioeconomic world, and as such they are both rich and handsome. They speak directly to the hearts of women with soft and enchanting words. They whisper delicately into their ears and wash away their qualms and take them away to their dreamlands. In other words, the Host Club is a club these guys made for women to come by, drink tea, and marvel at them. Add a ton of “moe” fetishes that they play out to further reach these young maiden’s hearts -and- pockets, and you have the Host Club. Give or take a few details of course, that you’ll have to find out on your own if you’re interested.

The Host Club itself is fairly complete, although, once again, it’s not necessary to “get” all the little details. What I’m referring to is the nuances of shoujo and female oriented manga that tends to go to “other” extremes you wouldn’t understand if you’re used to shounen stuff. I’m not going to try to sound like an expert, because I’m far from one, but if you know the difference between an uke and a seme, you’ll probably find this show more refreshing than most from your “usual” material.

Even if you’re not into the homoerotic gags early on, the show will stem away from most of that later and can be tolerable for those of us that don’t really like that kind of stuff. In the end, I stuck with the show because it was incredibly funny almost consistently. There’s tons of comedy acts and the mix of characters seem to pull it off well. They break the 4th wall from time to time by making fun of us commoners a lot. Rich school anime is never complete without pauper life being subject to ridicule for the littlest of things, and it’s pretty good throughout. There’s also some banana slips… maybe a little too many banana slips!

The show makes fun of, but also makes use of a lot of moe fetishes too. It’s good that you don’t have to be into the moe to enjoy the scenes, since after some long winded explanation, some other character will break the ice and bring the show back to its goofy self.

The ending is quite nice, although it’s of the fairly generic -yet- expected happy kind. If you’re feeling experimental, or just want to get to know the cutest reverse trap in the history of anime, I wholeheartedly recommend Ouran Koukou Host Club. It can’t get much more shoujo and funny than this. The few heartwarming scenes can’t be ignored either, especially in the presence of one fine trap!

Review: Ookiku Furikabutte (TV)

Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 25
Vintage: 2007-01-11
Age rating: ???
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Slice of Life, Sports
Animation Production: A-1 Pictures Inc.

Source: Anime News Network

I’ll be honest for a moment and say that there have been times when I really wished I was born in a different place, a different time, and as a completely different person with a different nationality. The moment after I finished Ookiku Furikabutte was one such time, even if it was for a short while.

Ookiku Furikabutte is a baseball anime that shows how a group of boys spend their summer months preparing for baseball matches against equally hardworking teams across their prefecture. Every single one of them is tough, and every single one of them is determined to reach their ultimate goal — the Koshien.

Unlike many parts of the world, in Japan the Koshien is the single greatest sporting event of the year. Everywhere else, such as in the US, all the big dollars will go towards pro players making millions of dollars in baseball, amongst many other big budget sports. However, in Japan, the Koshien is open only to high school students. These are guys that spend their hard earned summer vacation in crazy concentration camp-like training grounds where they perfect their game, bond as a team and as friends, and ultimately better their chances to reach the promised battleground known as the Koshien.

When I think about how hard it is, and yet how awesome it is to be able to be seen on TV and rooted by everyone, I have to wonder what’s the big deal about pro sports. Sure, it’s difficult to become a pro player, make the big bucks, and win half the time, but there’s even more difficulty to reach the Koshien. You only have 3 years of your life to make it. You either make it as a Freshman, a Sophomore, or a Senior. Then it’s over. Sure you can keep playing ball and make it to a pro team and be admired by lots of people, but you won’t ever play at the Koshien. That’s what makes it so special in my opinion, and that’s what made me wish I had such an opportunity to spend a part of my life on. The way the show drew me in with how every character fought with high levels of determination, I felt as if I needed to be there. I needed to not cheer them on, but be on the field, keen on my position and supporting the team from within.

Ookiku Furikabutte’s main character is Mihashi Ren, a highly timid freshman that was his middle school baseball team’s star pitcher. He was able to take the ace number he wanted so badly through connections, since his grandfather manages the team. The players resented him, and although he was hardworking, he felt as if his selfish ways let his team down.

Now Mihashi is going to his first year of high school at a new school. He convinced himself he’d only watch the baseball club, and not join them, as he approached their field. As you might have guessed, he unwillingly got put up to try out for the team since the coach was having trouble getting a full team put together. The coach ended up being a very peculiar girl named Momoe Maria. She’s a very docile and caring woman half the time, but can turn into a scary and violent tough-girl when she wants to. When asked, Mihashi stated his name and his position, and surprisingly Mihashi seemed to be the only pitcher present. The only catcher, Abe Takaya put Mihashi to the test and he observed that Mihashi had an incredible amount of skill in his pitching. Although his pitches were slow, they were accurate, almost too accurate. Not only that, his “fastball” had an alarming backspin that not even Mihashi seemed to be aware of.

Mihashi eventually takes the ace number for his new team and tries to make up for the past, depending solely on his skills and hard work. As he learns to cope with his new team members and their aspirations, Mihashi takes it upon himself to battle his emotions on the inside and the game of baseball on the outside. Unfortunately, Mihashi is a first-class crybaby, and you’ll have to cringe at him crying at every little thing that happens. He worries a lot and is constantly aware of making mistakes. Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it’s plain stupid, but it will always reflect who Mihashi really is — a hardworking individual. As a result, Mihashi’s personality can be a bit annoying at times, but thankfully Abe takes care of him for us. Even so, Mihashi will win you over from time to time on the field. Fortunately, everyone else on the team is fairly normal.

The baseball team eventually molds together little by little and they finally enter the summer competition. An entire team composed of freshman students coached by a girl is extremely rare, and everyone else underestimates Nishiura, Mihashi’s high school baseball team. You’ll need to watch it yourself to see how it all unfolds.

The end of Ookiku Furikabutte is incredible to say the least, and as a result it is the best baseball animation I have ever had the chance to enjoy so far. I loved the first season of Major, but this show is a lot more condensed and fair. The main story is much more compact, and therefore the details stand out more. Although the show ends abruptly without going as far as I and most likely others would like, the point where it stops is very symbolic. You can almost “finish” the show yourself with the pieces left behind at the end. You’ll soon find out Mihashi and his friends have what it takes to survive and that they’re “just starting.”

Review: Nodame Cantabile (TV)

Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 23
Vintage: 2007-01-11 to 2007-06-28
Age rating: ???
Genres: Comedy, Romance, Shoujo, Slice of Life
Animation Production: J.C. Staff
Music: Nodame Orchestra
Music Collaboration: EPIC Record Japan
Music Production: Fuji Pacific Music Publishing, Sony Music Entertainment

Source: Anime News Network

Close your eyes for a moment. Picture yourself in an auditorim. Listen to the void of the hall as it prepares to engulf you with the waves of aural enchantment. As it begins, you are instantly drawn in. The first note is enough, as you resonate strongly with the bold introduction. The intensity binds you with a chord and hits you repeatedly. Then it continues on to a strong -yet- delicate heart-piercing arpeggio. The force is enveloped by the emerging sound of the orchestra. How strangely, through the hollows, glows this piano introduction like a dull red morning light! Into the deepest gorge it flows, scenting abysses in their night. There vapor rises: here the orchestra sweeps, now like a fragile thread it creeps, now like a colored fountain it plays. Here the vast length of a piano passage winds its way, in a hundred veins, down the vales, and all at once, it swept you away to a golden world!

Nodame Cantabile is just like the first paragraph of this review, hard to picture but a beautiful experience. There’s many layers of intriguing things to find in this unconventional yet amazing shoujo. Nodame Cantabile is strictly a show about classical music and how a very special group of people end up living and experiencing it in ways that many of us may never have the opportunity to do so. If you’re put off by classical music, don’t worry. I was put off at the beginning and now I’m a fan of Rachmaninov!

Nodame Cantabile is a true shoujo at heart, and the main female character is named Noda Megumi. Noda Megumi likes to be called Nodame for short for some reason, hence the name of the show. She’s a piano major at a conservatory in Tokyo called Momogaoka College of Music. Together in the lime light with Nodame is Chiaki Shinichi. He’s the perfectionist number one piano major at the same conservatory where Nodame studies. He is not only gifted with musical talent, he is also gifted (or cursed, however you look at it) with looks that make all the ladies fall for him.

Although the show is called Nodame Cantabile, much of the focus is on Chiaki and his turmoils towards success. This makes sense in a shoujo, since his appearance, skills, and personality is the eye candy. Nodame does get developed a bit later on, but it was a little surprising how quickly Nodame’s spotlight disappeared in the beginning. She’s always a part of the show in some form or another, so my comments about her participation might be a bit moot.

As for the premise, it’s fairly simple. Chiaki, being a son of a famous pianist, was able to travel to Europe as a child and experience some of the world’s greatest musical performers on stage. He was smitten since then and he vowed to return to Europe one day to become Vierra-sensei’s student and become a conductor like him. He played the piano and violin early on as a child, and wished to hone his skills and become a conductor proficient in piano, that can also play the violin! The problem is that Chiaki soon developed a fear of flying -and- a fear of sailing ever since two seemingly cursed events formed his paranoias. He’s now a grown man, yet he’s emotionally trapped in Japan and cannot reach the outside world to fulfill his childhood dream.

As his world continues to fall apart to the point where he even considers quitting music and just getting a typical salaryman job, he meets up with the strangest girl on the planet — Noda Megumi. Noda Megumi, Nodame for short, is just weird. I won’t list her peculiarities, since it’s part of her charm, but for now just picture the the weirdest girl you know. Now take that image and multiply it by 100, that’s Nodame.

As strange as she is, Nodame was able to get Chiaki back into caring about music and working towards his goals without depending on studying overseas. A bit of luck and help from the outside brings Nodame, Chiaki, and a ton of hard-working students at the Momogaoka College of Music in contact with a very special foreigner. As you can expect, it boils down to Chiaki not being able to go see the world, so with the help of Nodame and a little luck, he brought the world to him. There’s plenty more to discover in Nodame Cantabile, especially since the story takes on a new direction after one of the best high points in the story. Chiaki’s goals take on a new direction, and Nodame takes the talent that Chiaki saw in her and puts them to the test. All of this unfolds in interesting ways all the way till the end.

Nodame Cantabile is exceptionally funny along the way, yet it takes pauses to exemplify the rich serious tone when it needs to. There are a few high points in this show that are just beautiful, and although it’s always a known classical piece, for me it was always a scene of musical discovery and appreciation for yet another work of art so pure that I never took the time to appreciate. You will be tempted to watch the high points of the show at least more than once, given how much of an impact they create. Very few shows can make me want to watch them over and over, but this one did.

The end of Nodame Cantabile is an open ending that won’t exactly compare to the shows other high points, but it does deliver a solid reaffirmation of closure and new beginnings for all of the characters. The unsolved mysteries are pointed out in manga-style shorts that are both informational, witty, and out-right funny. This show won’t make you do anything drastic like get your friends to play instruments so you can conduct an orchestra, or make you change your major to piano, but it will open your eyes to some really beautiful music if you make the effort to appreciate it.

Hidden within the magic of music is a very comical romance story that will definitely hold your interest. It’s amazing how well things are so obvious to some characters, while others remain completely oblivious — or at least want to be. The way things unfold bit by bit until the end will at least give you a few laughs in between the music and the rest of the insanely good gags.

If you need any more convincing, piano, violin, oboe, cello, -heck- an entire orchestra is to Nodame Cantabile as guitar is to BECK. Maybe rock music as a whole to NANA. You can even throw in Hirano Aya’s performance in Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu if you want to stretch it a bit. If you were swayed by fictional character performances in these anime shows, Nodame Cantabile is yet another experience you shouldn’t miss. The bond between the viewer, the characters as performers, and the music has only been achieved at this level in very few instances like these.

Review: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (TV)

Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 27
Vintage: 2007-04-01 to 2007-09-30
Age rating: ???
Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Mecha, Science Fiction, Slice of Life
Animation Production: GAINAX
Production: Aniplex, GAINAX, Konami
Director: Hiroyuki Imaishi (God)
Planning: Hiroyuki Yamaga

Source: Anime News Network

The burning passion — Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. I really did not expect to be able to enjoy another mecha show on this level so soon. GAINAX knows their stuff, but Eureka SeveN proved that there’s other studios that can do mecha right. However, this one’s special guys — the kind of anime that transcends past all expectations and stays on your favorites list forever. Gurren Lagann is currently the epitome of epic mecha giant robot action shows. Not a single part of me doubts what I’ve just said. It’s the burning passion of hot-blooded action, it’s Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann!!

The show starts off introducing you to Simon and Kamina, two really distinct guys that live in an underground village. They’re not real siblings, but they’re close enough to refer to each other as siblings anyway. Kamina is the older tough-guy and loud-mouth that always gets off on excitement and adventure. Simon, on the other hand, is a very timid child typical of GAINAX anime. You could say he’s a dirty Shinji, if you will, for those of you that have watched Neon Genesis Evangelion, since he likes to dig the ground and find stuff.

Kamina and Simon’s village is forced to stay underground because of some strange fear for what’s on the surface of the Earth. Kamina, being the way he is, makes it clear that he will pierce the enclosure of the ground above and live to see the surface. His father supposedly once left to the surface and Kamina feels it’s his calling to do the same. Simon kind of just tags along, even though he doesn’t quite have the drive to make it to the top — yet.

If you’re still reading you might want to know why the hell am I calling this the epitome of mecha anime, when I haven’t even mentioned them yet. Well, I’m getting there, and much like the show, it won’t kick off for bit. One day as life remains the same underground, a giant mecha, called ‘Ganmen’ falls from above, just like that. Soon after a very foxy girl, who seems to be have been fighting the Ganmen that just came crashing down, falls into the underground village too. Kamina doesn’t let up and immediately lets his fiery personality take over and he begins to interfere acting as if he’s actually helping. Kamina even declares his participation as part of the “Gurren Brigade,” which at the time is composed of just him and Simon. A lot of comical moments ensue, and it leads the pretty girl, Kamina, and Simon to a spot where Simon had been digging earlier and found something strange. To everyone’s surprise it seems Simon found a small mecha buried in the ground and Kamina puts Simon in the spotlight when he tells him to pilot it since -he- found it. Kamina, being the smack talker he is promptly and aptly gives the little Ganmen they found a name — Lagann. You’ll have to find out about the ‘Gurren’ part on your own.

The fight that follows is sensational and at times downright silly. However, pay attention to Kamina’s words because he hints at what the show is going to be about. With shouts of only needing your spirit and guts to succeed in ass kicking, you know something just has to happen for this to make sense. Kamina and his essence, character, and personality is the backbone of the show; the very mold of the Gurren Lagann experience and the ultimate reward for sticking with the show.

Right then and there, the legend is born and the gang in Gurren Lagann begin their incredible adventure towards the top. When I say the top, I mean it, because the sense of scale in Gurren Lagann is ridiculous. I would love to come up with a better way to describe the way the show will rock your world, but it’s better experienced. Also, understanding the pacing in Gurren Lagann is crucial to enjoying the show. The slow start is just the calm before the storm begins. Keep going, because by the end of the third episode you will know that the show is special and if you stick with it you’ll be rewarded with many, many, many great moments of WOW.

It’s about time GAINAX made a full length mecha anime series of this type that isn’t Neon Genesis Evangelion. Top wo Nerae! Gunbuster, Top wo Nerae 2! Diebuster, and FLCL are all classics and each one added to the genre and GAINAX’s stronghold in mecha anime. However, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann mixes a little bit from every great GAINAX mecha and with a solid focus it is able to – literally, as the name implies – break-through the seemingly perfect mold the studio founded in its long history of anime production in the mecha genre.

The show is easily described as the burning passion, a man’s fiery spirit that burns with every waking moment of his step. With the brothers and the brigade of ass kicking, Gurren Lagann, has no equal. A drill in an abstract sense is the fitting image of this sensation. The upwards spiral towards the concentrated single point. All the energy, all the thoughts, power, emotion, and feelings are all in that single point. Put aside logic, put aside reason, this is manly instincts infused with 100% determination and 0% chance of failure. Probabilities of success? MEANINGLESS. They CONTROL probability. They win. That’s it. It’s always do or die. If they miss, they shoot in every direction, then they can’t miss. Never falter, not even an inch. This is Gurren Lagann. Determination by proxy. Believe in me who believes in you. True determination. Not you believing in me, not me believing in you, but you believing in yourself. This show will say to you, who THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?!?

This is man versus beast! Or is it beast versus man? Or is it man-beast versus man! Or worse, BEAST VS BEAST!! The beast within the man, that is. Join the brigade where true men’s spirits live. Be a part of history. Watch this anime. Introductions. It’s all about your introduction. Hot-blooded speeches. Defeat your enemy before you lift a single finger by the power of your words. Enchant your populace, envigor your peers. You have the power to destroy -yet- also to create. Create hope in the hearts of men. Change despair into strength. Strength into spirit. Spirit into victory. Victory into ultimate victory. There is no limit for those with the spiral, the drill, the point of concentrated force that tears through the very fabric of time and space and bores through any and all obstacles. It’s within each and every one of us. It’s in our DNA. We are all potential energy waiting to be moved by the heart and soul of manly speeches. ROW ROW, FIGHT THE POWER!!

This is the burning passion in you, in me, in all of us. You’ll want your kids to see this. It’s that good.

Review: Hataraki Man (TV)

Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 11
Vintage: 2006-10-12 to 2006-12-21
Age rating: ???
Genres: Slice of Life
Animation Production: GALLOP
Production: GALLOP, Hataraki Man Production Team, Kodansha

Source: Anime News Network

Hatarki Man is genuine slice of life show, so you won’t see anything you wouldn’t expect to happen in real life. Anime doesn’t always seem to work with stories that encapsulate “real” individuals, but this one does it well. There’s a fine line to keep between real life drama and an “animated life,” but Hataraki Man somehow happens to do it and hang on with enough style to keep you interested.

The name of the show stems from the fact that the main character, Matsukata Hiroko, is true a work-a-holic. She rushes to work even when she’s not late, she always surpasses her boss’ expectations, and will constantly blow off dates just to get her work done perfectly. Sure, you could argue she’s just doing it because she likes to, but there’s a lot more to it. Her peers are impressed the most when she actually becomes the Hataraki Man, or “Work Man.” It’s not really what you’d expect since it’s not some kind of superhuman ability. She just unleashes her innermost potential as a magazine editor and fully concentrates on her writing. For most writers, being able to switch on your “zen mode” and spew out words as they come is a gift. Matsukata has that and it really helps her succeed at her job.

The anime takes place in the offices of Weekly Jidai Magazine, a fictional magazine in Japan. It’s a magazine geared towards men with content such as fad diets, fashion, serialized novels, etc. Matsukata’s a journalist working on weekly articles about all kinds of topics of interest to the male readership. She’s not the only editor at this successful company so she doesn’t do all the work herself. There’s plenty of interesting people at the office that also pitch in to make sure the readers are able to get their fill each week with juicy articles and blowout specials.

The characters in the office range from Matsukata herself to Tanaka, the rookie editor on the lower end of the spectrum. He’s not quite anyone’s friend and he’s always expressive about doing the minimum effort required for the job. The Editorial Desk manager, Narita, is Matsukata’s direct boss and the chief director, Umemiya, is Narita’s boss. They’re kind of the older and wiser bunch that lead the team through adversity. Editor Nagisa is a nervous wreck and is part of the few women in the company along with Matsukata. There’s plenty of characters that I missed that you’ll eventually find out about on your own. Most if not all of them will make sense in terms of why they’re there and what drives them in their daily lives. They each fit their roles perfectly, exemplifying the typical hierarchical structure of an office in Japan.

There’s plenty to find and appreciate in this show, especially if you have any kind of work experience. To truly succeed you need to have a plan, or you’ll end up drifting away from what you want to do. Then there’s the sacrifices you must make in order to complete your plan. In other words, it’s not quite as simple as laying down a road map and crossing out milestones the moment you reach them. When there’s an aura of satisfaction in your work your life completely changes for the better. The offset of satisfaction when you truly enjoy what you do every day changes your perspective. Being told to balance “work,” and “life” is a fair assessment that we’ve all heard a thousand times. However, when your “work” is your “life” it becomes much more complex to try to imitate the majority of people who are working to live but not living to work. While this show is not as deep as I wish it could be, not as long as I wish it could be, and doesn’t quite end as conclusively as I’d like, it was still an eye opening experience. It reminded me time and time again of my respect for people that strive for success using as a driving force the sheer satisfaction of what they do day after day. The show reduced that feeling to the simplest degree that in my opinion made it much more realistic than I originally thought it would be.

This show made me feel as if there’s no greater achievement than finding your place in life and sticking with it because thats what you believe in. As the show conveyed, sometimes being where you want to be may force you to make choices that will ultimately affect every facet of your “personal life.” When you no longer consider artificial boundaries such as a “personal life,” it becomes much more difficult to control a typical modular lifestyle where you can switch in and out the work you do, while being able to live on your “personal life.” Your life and your work become entwined as one experience and adversely affect each other. Distinction becomes faint and others who may not think like you may end up scorning you for your way of being.

If you’re ever interested in a short story about hard work and dedication, complete with the turmoils of romance this is a great show to watch. You might even get to funnel some of the characters’ dedication into your own life, and allow yourself a moment of reflection. Are you a Hataraki Man?

Review: Zettai Shonen (TV)

Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 26
Vintage: 2005-05-21 to 2005-11-19
Age rating: ???
Genres: Drama, Mystery, Science Fiction, Slice of Life
Animation Production: Asia-Do
Production: Bandai Visual, GENCO, Zettai Shonen Project

Source: Anime News Network

Slice of life can be a very interesting genre when it’s presented well and wrapped around a scenario that augments the best traits of the genre. Some may agree that it’s easily described as storytelling fragments inspired by every day life that form the lives of the characters in any given story. These typical encounters allow for some reasonable balance between fiction and what could be a plausible event in the day of any typical person under certain circumstances. This ties in with Zettai Shonen which heavily bases much of its emphasis and focus on delivering an engrossing slice of life style that steps beyond the bounds in many directions. As a result it ends up portraying a striking blend of supernatural mystery and unexplainable things with the routine events of the lives of regular people.

The story in Zettai Shonen starts off with Aizawa Ayumu, a son of a divorced couple that is offered a mountain bike so that he can stay with his father who lives in a rural town called Tana. Ayumu takes the offer and expects to make use of the bike until he’s satisfied. There must be some differences that have pushed his parents apart but Ayumu doesn’t seem to be phased by it. Ayumu also isn’t entirely new to the town since he used to live there many years ago. As could almost be guessed, Ayumu somehow doesn’t remember key details of his stay in the town that soon become the gateway to a very rich mystery. This is where most of the mystery of the town and the elements within it start to revolve around the story in Zettai Shonen.

The town is not quite all that eventful except for the peculiar yet reasonable actions of its inhabitants. The kids in the town have their own agendas and reasons to skirmish around and because of the small size of the town they usually end up bumping into each other regardless of their intent. Some characters are just strange while others seem to know a lot more than they should about the weird things in the town. Included in the mix are characters from outside of the town adding a bit of complexity to the overall mindset of the individuals involved in the story.

The story carries on until there is a small build up that concludes the arc in the rural town where Ayumu stays for the summer. The second half of the story transfers the setting to the city and new characters and a new viewpoint is presented. It’s not quite entirely different from the experience of the first arc, but it does have its own mood and personalities because of the immediate change of characters and a new mystery.

The mystery that unfolds as the story goes by isn’t exactly Earth-shatteringly complex, but it is deep enough that the deeper you go in the layers of its obscurity you will begin to understand things in sync with the other characters as the story unveils. Zettai Shonen’s mystery is much less about the mystery and it’s eventual solution -or lack thereof- but the passive discovery process it entails. The unknown powers at be do not seem dangerous to any of the characters, so there really isn’t any kind of fear or urgency to retaliate at the mere existence of the creatures.

Putting it simply, the show is a mostly a flat line experience with minor buildups towards some of the darker parts of the story revealing some much needed details. I’d compare it to a very slow bass-line only song that throws in the strings only when it needs to and keeps the frequencies low as possible. This makes it a passive experience with a mood that will either interest you or push you away. The strength of the show lies in keeping that balance and plowing through the slice of life and how the things happening in the places where these characters live adversely affect the regular lives of everyone involved.

Review: Initial D: First Stage (TV)

Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 26
Vintage: 1998-04-18 to 1998-11-28
Age rating: Teenagers (May contain bloody violence, bad language, nudity)
Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Shounen, Slice of Life, Sports (Auto Racing)
Animation Production: Studio Gallop

Source: Anime News Network

I’ll be honest right from the outset. Initial D is praised by a lot of people for being a very good anime. That is far from the truth when you consider the major shortcomings that plague Initial D’s storyline. However, even with the terrible story Initial D is the anime that made cars and drifting cool.

The animation in Initial D is mostly cheap 3D car renders that don’t look that great, even for the time when the show first aired. The character designs are terrible, especially what are supposed to be women, which look ugly as hell. The “slice of life” in between the main attraction, the racing, is stale and forgettable. There’s some things to learn about the characters, but it’s all just fluff and not necessarily all that meaningful.

So if Initial D is so terrible why do so many people like it? Well, even though it does a lot of things very poorly it does one thing so well that you tend forgive the shortcomings of everything else while expecting to see some of the best drift racing anime can offer.

Initial D is all about car racing. Not only that, Initial D’s races have an effect on people, whether you’re a car buff or not. There’s a lot of cool stuff happening while the cars are being driven, but of course the animators make it all look so simple. Using heel-toe and clutch throws, changing gears at the precise moment, and steering and counter–steering in and out of corners performing the best high-speed drifts can be really very fun to watch. It’s very much about the skill of the driver and not about how flashy the ricer looks. Drifting is a lot more than showing off a car take on a corner with style, it can truly allow for a fluid high-speed motion through a corner that a grip technique would not be able to catch up with, especially on a downhill race.

In addition to all of the over-the-top drift action, Initial D has yet another layer of immersion — the soundtrack. As stupid as it sounds, cars and the super crazy EUROBEAT genre are the ingredients for making one of the most exciting racing anime you’ll ever see. Even if you’re not into the genre of music, the way the action and the songs are choreographed together alongside the sound effects of skidding tires and roaring engines really gets your heart pumping. By the end of the show you will probably want to start a EUROBEAT collection for your own driving. It’s great concentration music for racing games too.

It’s amazing how this simple mix can produce so many goosebumps and make you restless at every corner. The commentary during the races helps a lot too since it’s always over-the-top and over exaggerated but it flows well and builds anticipation for the next feat. A race that is supposed to last a few minutes may drag on for two or three episodes, but you’re not bored as long as they keep throwing new music and build the tension.

So while the characters unnaturally speak to each other to explain technical details about a race in a way that makes them seem overly condescending, when they do it in the middle of a race with the formula in place for high tension, you’ll get pulled in no matter how corny it is.

When you’re done with Initial D, you’re done with the races pretty much. You won’t remember who or what really happened, heck you may not remember any character’s name, but you sure as hell will remember drifting and EUROBEAT. Initial D’s story is forgettable, but the racing is down right a classic. I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone who’s seen Initial D is suddenly a better driver too — or not.

“No one sleep in Tokyo,” “Tokyo is on fire!” “Running in the 90’s,” “Night of Fire,” are just a few of the lines you may get stuck in your head after watching this show. Even if it can be considered a very long music video, this anime delivers all kinds of exciting moments when at the top of its game.

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Review: Great Teacher Onizuka (TV)

Running time: 27 minutes
Number of episodes: 43
Vintage: 1999-06-30 to 2000-09-24
Age rating: Teenagers (May contain bloody violence, bad language, nudity)
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Shounen, Slice of Life
Production: Studio Pierrot, SPE Visual

Source: Anime News Network

Teaching can be a lot more work than just rattling on and causing a room full of 40 people to fall asleep, but only if you make it so. You don’t necessarily need to sugarcoat the description and portray it as a sacred profession, but there’s definitely many ways of interpreting it. However, when you strip away all of the fancy words, it’s still a nine to five job (or rather seven to four) with the added benefit of long paid vacations.

Great Teacher Onizuka is the very manifestation of a special kind of teacher, one that understands the passion in a different way and believes in bonds with the students exemplifying the teacher-student boundaries of respect and mutual need. It’s less about the separation between figures such as a master and his pupils, but instead the relationship between person to person in a given classroom. The classroom is a unit, the teacher is a unit, and together they are yet another unit. There’s certain unwritten rules that keep the two together but also keep them apart. Onizuka basically takes everything that’s important about “street smarts” and puts it in the classroom. The classroom flourishes thanks to his interpretation of what it is to be a teacher that goes beyond a perfect cookie-cutter role model and more like a simple-minded human being susceptible to mistakes just like any other person is.

The first episode is very good at putting you right into the action, which is strange when you consider this is supposed to be about a school teacher. The first few scenes summarize the main character, Onizuka Eikichi, in two very different acts. First one shows his abhorrent perversion for high school girls, as seen when he’s looking up a few girls’ skirts and the other is his badass strength and violent character when he kicks the shit out of two guys that tried to rob him. Then it just hits you, this very person you see doing these lewd and cruel acts is aiming to become the greatest teacher in Japan.

Skipping over the nonsense, you learn right away that Onizuka is finally a student-teacher filling in a temporary position at a private school. He’s assigned a problematic classroom that is full of “low lives,” that make it difficult to teach. Onizuka’s first attempt at taming the class backfired because he’s split between his duty and responsibility as a teacher and his inner rage wanting to kick some disobedient student ass. The classroom turns on him when a group of students and a seemingly innocent high school girl frame him into doing something a teacher should never do. Onizuka just loses his temper and makes their nightmares come true using his background as a gangster. As miraculously as it seems, the students that were once riled up and disobedient became docile and hardworking, contrary to what Onizuka thought would happen.

A special case develops involving the girl that was part of the original set up to force Onizuka to quit his job. Onizuka learns of what’s been bothering her at home and he uses what he knows best to solve the problem. At the end of the short period Onizuka spends at the school as a student-teacher he befriends the most problematic classroom that sees him off in tears, and the girl that he helped offers something special to Onizuka which he correctly describes as “Great!’

The real deal starts after the introductory episode, because as easy as it was for Onizuka to tame a classroom full of dimwit punks and wannabe gangsters, Onizuka faces yet another problematic classroom that has caused all kinds of traumatic experiences for every teacher that has attempted to teach there. The striking difference is that class 3-4 is full of genius scheming middle school students.

You don’t really expect a teacher that can bench-press 150Kg (330lb) to be all that great at teaching social studies, much less able to outwit a classroom full of really smart kids that can do a lot of harm. It may have worked the first time because he fought fire with fire, but now he’s faced with a silent enemy. However, in Onizuka’s crazy and roundabout way he makes them little by little into his friends. The rest of the characters get taken in by Onizuka’s pace and it’ll soon turn into less of a war against the teacher and more about “what stupid shit is Onizuka gonna do today?” As the show progresses characters will change and new characters will be added in to tally up a considerable roster of main characters. It can feel a little predictable as characters “turn over to the dark side,” but there’s always a twist involved that fluffs the experience and makes it worthwhile.

To be honest the show’s main plot isn’t that magnificent but there is a lot to appreciate. Most story bits will reset themselves after being told, making the show less gritty and much more laid back. The way the show is designed I don’t really see it as a bad thing since there’s not much to dwell on once it’s fixed. Basically this means that every episode is self-contained and what may have been the focus point of one episode doesn’t necessarily carry on in the next episode. Some of the situations that are put together are pretty good, others are much less believable, and others are just way out there, but in general the story delivers. GTO is remembered by most of its fans as a very good experience and it certainly was good for its time. I’d honestly say it has legs making it worthwhile to watch by those who missed out.

On the down side, the end of the show happens too quickly and doesn’t really reach any kind of conclusion, thus breaking the overall experience. The anime is supposed to have covered up to volume 14 of the manga, with its own added twists and variations to separate it from the source material. Although GTO is a great show to watch, the end is so lacking that anyone that is truly enamored with the characters and wants a real ending would need to continue reading the manga from volume 15 onwards. Conversely, you might consider starting over from the beginning of the manga and re-digest it all. For some this is fine, but I’m a firm believer in a solid ending for an anime and GTO unfortunately does not have one.

As always with the big successes, even with the rushed ending GTO was popular at the time it came out for many good reasons that I am still able to pick up on and enjoy. There’s very good reasons to be a GTO fan indeed. It’s not going to change your views on teachers or education as a whole, but it’s offbeat enough to carry you through a good deal of crazy school drama coupled with some laughs and smiles all the way through.

Props go to all my previous and future teachers and professors; a few of you did and still do care about more than one’s classroom performance.

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Review: Koi Kaze (TV)

Running time: 23 minutes
Number of episodes: 13
Vintage: 2004-04-01 to 2004-06-17
Age rating: Mature (May contain sex, drugs, and extreme graphic violence)
Genres: Drama, Psychological, Romance, Slice of Life
Animation Production: A.C.G.T.
Broadcaster: KIDS STATION, TV Asahi
Music Production: Lantis
Production: Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc., Geneon Entertainment, Inc., Rondo Robe, TV Asahi

Source: Anime News Network

Koi Kaze takes a journey into the mindset of two people very much in love but torn by the exterior pressures that they must face if their love should ever be the way they wish it to be. Before even trying to lay out the storyline, it’s important to warn you what you’re up against. Koi Kaze tells a gritty tale of two siblings who fall in love without knowing they were siblings when they meet several years after separating. They are then are smitten by the crime of forbidden love and work hard to suppress these feelings they have while trying to live a normal life together. I don’t necessarily condone incest in real life, but after witnessing the way things unfold in Koi Kaze as a fiction story, you can’t help but blind yourself to certain parts of this equation because of how true and meaningful the feelings these two people have towards each other are.

The main characters are Saeki Koushiro and Kohinata Nanoka. Koushiro is a 27 year old man that lives his life as a regular salaryman. He has never once in his life been truly affectionate about something or someone which has lead to his current slump. His girlfriend breaks up with him because she doesn’t feel like Koushiro really has feelings for her. Koushiro isn’t surprised by her actions because he himself doubts what he truly feels about her and lets her go easily.

One day on his way to work, Koushiro notices a cute 15 year old high school girl named Nanoka on the same train with him. The girl suddenly gets off the train once it reached a stop, but in the middle of pushing her way out she drops her I.D. card. Koushiro quickly fumbles through the chaos, picks it up, and gets off the train so that he can give it back. He calls out to her and she turns around to face him. In the midst of their confrontation sakura leaves blow right past them and in the few seconds it lasts they are in a profound sudden rush of emotion. They part ways with a smile once the good deed was done. As fate would have it, they meet again the next day when the same girl is passing by Koushro’s workplace by coincidence just as he’s about to leave. Koushiro received some tickets to an amusement park and he decides to give them to Nanoka. Nanoka happens to need to kill some time while waiting for someone so she decides to go with Koushiro. Thus, they end up taking a quick innocent date at the park. While they spend time at the park they slowly open up to each other and say the things that have been bothering them in their lives to cool off. The quality of the voice acting and the detail in the music helps transmit the emergent sensations that these two people feel and how they connect while being together at the park.

When the day is finally over and they are about to part their separate ways, a much older man yells at them from a distance. This man happens to be their father, Saeki Zensou. He’s happy that they are together and jokes around since he’s convinced they knew they were siblings and that’s how they ended up together. Obviously, Koushiro and Nanoka are really surprised by this and the path down a bumpy road begins from here.

Rather than focus only on the pure emotions these characters feel, the show instead takes a more direct path down the reality of two people in love. It’s not always about how they felt when they first met, or the beautiful things they may say, but the gritty truth that they just can’t be apart. In real life the layers of desire, emotion, and temptation all unfold in humanly ways, thus real life is not beautifully scripted like in a sugar coated fiction love story. In those stories characters say what they mean with certain levels of eloquence and confidence while also doing the right things that trigger the beauty of their profuse love; this doesn’t happen in Koi Kaze for the most part and instead we get to see a more rough yet truer transmission of feelings and emotion. The fact that people make mistakes and let their emotions get the best of them is not an understatement and it is well presented here.

While the show is very powerful and delivers an emotional drive of taboo love, once it ends it’s a little less explicit. I must say the end of Koi Kaze employs a level subtlety that’s very effective but may require re-watching to fully understand it. It won’t change your views on the subject matter at hand, but once you pick up on the details you’ll be able to piece it together and create your own conclusion. I really enjoyed Koi Kaze despite the shortcomings of assimilating a scenario of blood related siblings falling in love. The music and the voice acting helped elevate the delivery of quality on the whole package. If you can swallow the premise and accept the consequences, you will most likely enjoy Koi Kaze.

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Review: Bokura ga Ita (TV)

Running time: 26 minutes
Number of episodes: 26
Vintage: 2006-07-03
Age rating: ???
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Shoujo, Slice of Life
Animation Production: Artland
Production: Marvelous Entertainment, Pony Canyon, Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.

Source: Anime News Network

For those of us that don’t really care we’ll get swept into the pace of any particularly good anime regardless of what type of audience it’s intended for. Bokura ga Ita, being an excellent shoujo anime, is a good example of this. The heartwarming love between a regular girl and a regular guy in high school can be as effective on guys as it is on girls. For this reason Bokura ga Ita becomes one of the better shoujo anime I’ve been able to like from start to finish.

One of the first things I need to mention about Bokura ga Ita is its animation, which frankly, is a disaster. The reason is simply because it hardly animates. In addition to that the art has a striking style that has that “love it or hate it” vibe. As the scenes unfold in video form, much of the intentions of the pages in the manga are retained. In other words, when you’re watching Bokura ga Ita it’s almost like flipping through volumes of manga with voice-overs, sound effects, and music instead of reading. To be honest I don’t have a problem with this because it’s still effective at what it wants to do most, but many people take lack of animation seriously. It can be a barrier when trying to get sucked in the show, but if you can look past it there’s lots to be enjoyed.

The story starts off with Nanami Takahashi who one day begins her first year of high school. She’s hopeful of a good thorough experience even though she’s completely new and has no friends yet. She successfully mingles with a few people and learns that a really popular guy is in her class. The guy is Yano Motoharu, known for his striking personality and his handsome features which turn him into a chick magnet. Little did Takahashi know that she would meet Motoharu for the first time in the hallway and know exactly who he was without him ever telling her his name.

Typical as it may be, as time goes by Takahashi is involved in things that put her in direct proximity to Motoharu constantly. Her strange ways of thinking and pursuing things has her thinking and obsessing over Motoharu until there’s finally a path paved for them to walk across together. Rather than cling to each other like everyday companions, Motoharu and Takashi take things a little more seriously and truly devote themselves in heart and soul to reach happiness together. However, as in most shoujo anime, there’s lots of cracks on their path they’ll constantly trip over. Motoharu himself carries with him a burden of overwhelming proportions that completely changed his life. Although he’s perceived as calm, cool, and collected in most other peoples’ eyes, he’s actually surrounded by guilt and sorrow of an event long ago. This eventually reaches Takahashi who, being the way she is, ends up creating a turmoil of mixed feelings that hinder progress of a beautiful relationship. It’s one of those “love hurts” situations caused by uncontrollable circumstances that become like unbreakable thorns in their feelings. As much as you’ll agree with one side, the other side has an equally compelling argument that throws you off balance. I certainly applaud the story because sometimes you can’t help but feel torn between what’s right and what’s wrong.

Although the story revolves around Takahashi and Motoharu, there’s plenty to go around. There’s also Yamamoto Yuri, an old acquaintance from Motoharu’s middle school who is in Takahashi and Motoharu’s class. Then there’s Motoharu’s best friend since 6th grade, Masafumi Takeuchi, whom also takes part in the story. Typical things will happen with this mix of characters if you want to take a few guesses, but as a shoujo drama it is to be expected. However, it’s the way things unfold that counts and I have no complaints as far as originality and execution are concerned. The love between the characters is genuine, an attribute I consider very important. There’s no doubt that these characters are in love and their feelings are communicated in happiness and in suffering.

The end of Bokura ga Ita is satisfactory in my view, but there’s no doubt that there could have been much much more. The good news is that the manga ends almost exactly the same as the anime, and there’s more story coming since the manga is still being serialized. If the manga continues to be as engrossing as it has been continuing 3 years after the end of Bokura ga Ita, I’d love a new anime season with a more fleshed out end. Since Bokura ga Ita is such a popular shoujo manga among girls in japan, I’d be willing to bet on the certainty that there is demand and interest to continue the TV series in the future. For those of you on the fence still, it’s great! Go watch it!

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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.

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

Review: NHK ni Youkoso! (TV)

Running time: 24 minutes
Number of episodes: 24
Vintage: 2006-07-09 to 2006-12-17
Age rating: ???
Genres: Comedy, Psychological, Romance, Slice of Life
Animation Production: GONZO

Source: Anime News Network

Strange. Weird. Odd. Peculiar. These are words you’ll likely use to describe NHK ni Youkoso! (Welcome to the NHK!) when you first start watching it. It immediately takes you into the mind of Tatsuhiro Satou, a 22 year old hikikomori. Being a hikikomori Satou is self restrained and is not able to handle society. His anxiety locks him in his one-room apartment and he can’t leave without feeling remorse and pressure from the outside world. This condition forced him to drop out of college and live off allowance from his parents. This situation also makes him a NEET (Not in Employment, Education, or Training) and thus his life revolves around him and the things in his room. His TV, computer, and air conditioner are the only things that allow him to live a comfortable life in seclusion.

To top things off, Satou believes there’s a large conspiracy of epic proportions behind all of his mishaps in life. He calls the sinister secret organization after him the N.H.K., Nihon Hikikomori Kyokai, or “The Japanese Hikikomori Association.” (It’s pretty obvious this is a parody of the Japanese TV station N.H.K. for mass producing otaku’s) Thanks to this he’s conflicted and confused in his head which leads him to sleep 16 hours a day at irregular hours. All of this is happens while in total isolation from the rest of the world. There’s no doubt you’ll quickly agree that something isn’t right about Satou and his behavior, yet you may find similarities between yourself and Satou.

One day a cute high school girl arrives at his door accompanied by an older woman. The woman seems to do soliciting from neighbors to become aware of social problems and join some kind of religious group. The woman tries to get Satou interested in a booklet that has an article on the very problem he is experiencing. He quickly denies being a hikikomori or a NEET, but reflexively blurts out the truth in the process. Surprisingly, the cute girl just smiles at him. His hikikomori state of mind throws him into a turmoil of confusion and he decides he’s going to try to get a job. He thinks the neighborhood is aware of his situation, so getting a job and going to work for a while should be able to fool them. Shaved, clean cut, bathed, and armed with his resume, he sets off to a nearby manga cafe called Comic Break that is looking for part-time employees. Shockingly, he meets the same cute girl he met before at the shop and finds out she’s working there. He instantly gets nervous the moment he makes eye contact and makes a quick attempt to leave the shop. In the process of leaving he drops his resume on the floor.

Back at his apartment Satou is even more troubled and burdened by his luck of meeting the one girl that exemplified the type of person he wanted to fool by getting the job in the first place. After a while Satou hears the doorbell ring again but this time he doesn’t answer. When he finally decides to look through his door’s peek hole he notices the girl from the shop showed up at his apartment. She dropped off his resume with a note on the back that said to meet her at a park by 9PM that night. Satou always goes to that park to relax because its the only place besides his apartment where he can be alone and think. He has trouble deciding if he’s going to go to the park or not, since he would of gone whether or not he got the invitation, but he eventually ends up at the park anyway. Surely enough, the girl is there and she welcomes Satou into her project that she assures him will cure his hikikomori way of life.

From here on the project to cure Satou begins, for better or for worse. The adventures and misadventures of Satou, Misaki, and a few other characters have many interesting developments. Although the show alludes to being about hikikomori and NEET’s, it will soon introduce new characters and new social problems. Everyone in this show has some kind of issue and it’s explored in interesting ways. The journey is long but hard earned, and many surprises are sure to be revealed.

Watching NHK ni Youkoso! is undoubtedly a unique and refreshing experience. Many of us who enjoy anime can admit to being a little secluded at times, and some of us are also on the extreme of being real hikikomori. To keep up with most of the anime that is pumped out of Japan we need a lot of free time. I’ve had the experience of being a NEET and staying at home for months, which has lead to the creation of this blog. This is one of the reasons I instantly related to this show. Those of you who live more vivid and social lives and watch anime more casually may not notice anything that will grab your attention at first, but later on there’s plenty of diversified content you may find interesting.

The very core of NHK ni Youkoso! is all about troubled youth and their perception of the world. The most enjoyable aspect of it is seeing how these problem ridden people cope with each other and the rest of society. Because of their similarities you’ll find the characters form special bonds within their small circle of friends, and in a special case this allows for the strongest human emotion to flourish. Watching everything unfold in NHK ni Youkoso! is most of the fun, so I don’t want to give away too much, but I’m sure you’ll eventually agree that NHK ni Youkoso! is an interesting concept that hides a very special romance story. The real cure to a hikikomori state is found somewhere between these very strong feelings the characters develop. In retrospect, this show serves as a good lesson to us all who suffer from some kind of social anxiety.

Unfortunately, I did not find the conclusion to the show to be fulfilling enough, especially after such a grand beginning. However, if there is ever a case where the journey is better than the destination, this is one such example. I really enjoyed the story and how most of it unfolds, especially since I could find some way to relate to many of the characters’ troubles. Too bad it gets derailed several times, but at least it doesn’t lose its quality of storytelling. If you’re a passionate anime fan who’s had your share of lonely time, you owe it to yourself to check this one out. I wholeheartedly enjoyed it and you should too.

Thanks Zaitou for the recommendation; you’re spot on as always!

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Review: Sensei no Ojikan – Doki Doki School Hours (TV)

Running time: 24 minutes
Number of episodes: 13
Vintage: 2004-04-04 to 2004-06-27
Age rating: Older Children (May contain mild bad language, bloodless violence)
Genres: Comedy, Slice of Life
Animation Production: J.C. Staff, Studio Guts, Studio Matrix

Source: Anime News Network

There’s no denying that once you start watching Sensei no Ojikan you’ll immediately be reminded of Azumanga Daioh if you’ve seen Azumanga Daioh before. At first I thought everything was just a blatant cash-in by J.C. Staff to reap more profit from Azumanga’s success. However, further investigation showed that Sensei no Ojikan’s 4 panel manga was serialized 2 years before Azumanga’s, so in reality the source material for this show is older than Azumanga’s.

Sensei no Ojikan is a comedy school anime much like the well-known Azumanga Daioh. These two anime share a lot in common beyond coming from the same studio. Some of the gags in Sensei no Ojikan felt like they were pulled straight out of Azumanga (although the truth might be the other way around). The pool jokes, the gaijin jokes, and a few other major parts of Azumanga are found in some remixed form here. I can’t be too negative about Sensei no Ojikan though, because it’s not completely Azumanga-lite. One of the more refreshing aspects that Sensei no Ojikan has over Azumanga is the more prominent role of males. I enjoyed the girl bunch in Azumanga a ton, but the inclusion of an equal amount of guys with differing personalities allows Sensei no Ojikan to create situations that were not possible in Azumanga.

Every character in Sensei no Ojikan fills a particular personality. On the girls’ side we have the main character, Mika-sensei (Suzuki Mika) who is a 27 year old woman that looks like an elementary school student. She still lives with her parents and her father spoils her like the child she looks like. There’s no doubt you’ll be reminded of Chiyo from Azumanga who’s equally as cute and short. There’s also Tominaga Miko, a stuck-up rich girl who is part of the cooking club. She likes to say things as they are without any consideration for anyone’s feelings. There’s also Kobayashi Akane who is very lazy but likes to buy expensive stuff and also worries too much about her appearance. She’s has a bit of similarities with Tomo from Azumanga, including her appearance. Then comes Nagare Shizuka, also called iincho. As class president she has a bit more brains than the rest, but has an obsession with a certain pop idol. This obsession and her “megane” look makes her resemble Yomi from Azumanga. Finally, there’s Kitagawa Rio who adores Mika-sensei too much. She doesn’t like boys at all and instead gets off cute tiny girls like Mika-sensei. I’d go as far as say she’s a twisted version of Sakaki from Azumanga. They are both tall and good looking in the eyes of their peers, but unlike Sakaki who is incredibly shy about liking cute things, Rio is the complete opposite and embraces cute things openly. There’s a few more girls but those are the main ones.

The guys are a more original set of characters. There’s Suetake Kenta who is admittedly dumb and loves sports, Kudo Yuichi who’s openly gay and is in love with Suetake, Sei Jyoji a super feminine guy who loves himself more than anyone and also seeking a girlfriend, Wantabe Takumi, president of the manga club and a hardcore otaku, and Nakamura Gen, a student that looks like a 40 year old man whom everyone calls “Oyaji” meaning “Old man.” The homo erotic jokes between the guys are frequent because of this set up, and surprisingly are some of the more daring and funny bits of the show. Nosebleeds and everything are included. However, even with a diverse mix of both male and female characters, Sensei no Ojikan just can’t match Azumanga’s level of attraction. Even with less characters, Azumanga carries on for 26 episodes full of funny situations. Azumanga is also a much more personal experience. It has less characters, so you learn more about each one and tend to care about them more. It’s a great relationship to have with anime. Sensei no Ojikan, on the other hand, uses the same mold over and over and drags the same gags to death. There’s only so many times you can see Mika-sensei jump for sweets because she’s too short or Rio setting Mika up to cry, and the list goes on. There’s plenty of remixed content that really hurts the experience.

There’s no doubt Sensei no Ojikan suffers from high expectations when Azumanga is upheld as a staple in comedy anime. The show never quite equals Azumanga at any single point in time. However, there is some original and funny stuff to be found that it might be worth your time if you want Azumanga-style comedy. It’s less refined and its pacing is all over the place, but it ultimately delivers an acceptable level of comedy fun that can be watched at least once and enjoyed. Anyone who’s never seen Azumanga Daioh might actually have a better time than those of us who have.

Review: Planetes (TV)

Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 26
Vintage: 2003-10-04 to 2004-04-17
Age rating: Older Children (May contain mild bad language, bloodless violence)
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Science Fiction, Shounen, Slice of Life
Director: Goro Taniguchi
Script: Ichiro Okouchi
Production: Sunrise, Bandai Visual, NHK

Source: Anime News Network

Planetes is one of those great shows that only comes along once in a while. It was based off its original manga, but the anime turned an already good story into a better one. The main story focuses on Technora, a space-age company, and it’s debris division. The members of the debris division are in charge of picking up space trash, also known as debris, that’s floating around in space. I wasn’t really aware of this, but debris objects around the earth travel at over 8 Km/s and even a tiny screw can cause huge damage to a ship, space station, satellite, etc. The show grounds itself in reality and really tries to depict a realistic space environment.

Planetes takes place in 2075, and because of a very realistic problem in space, debris retrieval was made mandatory to all space companies. It is described as combined effort, and every space company must have debris personnel. However, because debris retrieval does not provide a company any means of profit, they fund their sections very loosely and make it very difficult to do a good job. The crew in Planetes are an earnest bunch and they truly believe they are making a difference by making space-age commuting safer. They thrive in their line of work despite all of the associated hardships.

The cast is excellent, starting off with a very original and energetic lead character named Hoshino Hachirota, nicknamed Hachimaki. Hachimaki is the best EVA suit pilot in the business, although his skills are not recognized by anyone except his team. He’s the one in charge of all the hands-on debris retrieval for Technora. Accompanying Hachimaki is the newbie named Tanabe Ai. You’ll see her come in the first episode since she is brought in to fill a much needed vacancy in the debris section. She becomes Hachimaki’s partner in space after he teaches her the basics. There’s also Fee Carmichael, who is captain and pilot of the DS-12, also known as Toy Box. She’s probably the sharpest of the group and handles all of the space coordination with the ISPV-7 or “Seven,” the main Technora ship giving orders to the crew. There’s also Yuri Mihairokoh who is Fee’s first officer and co-pilot who helps all-around wherever there’s a need.

The rest of the characters are the section chief, his assistant, and a temporary female employee that does desk work. They’re secondary characters and never go outside into space, but they fit their roles really well with the rest of the crew. Picking up debris is what you’ll see throughout the beginning of the show. It will, however, change drastically with a completely different pacing. As you learn about each of the character’s hopes and dreams, you’ll see how some of the characters try to make their lives better and actually fulfill their dreams. There’s quite a few bumps in the road, but it’s quite emotional to see how the “trash” people grow and earn the respect of those above them in the company. Planetes, in my opinion, is graced without a dull moment. I was able to cruise through the entire series without feeling bored or sidetracked as everything was as cohesive possible and really grounded within the realm of the anime. I will point out that near the end things really get heated and you may feel the same way I did and start cursing at the show. It’s all intentional though so keep watching. It’ll all make sense and once the dust settles you’ll be treated to one of the most satisfying endings I’ve been able to experience in anime.

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