To Your Eternity - Season One

To Your Eternity (不滅のあなたへ) is an adventure anime based on the manga of the same name by Oima Yoshitoki.  The first season aired between the Spring and Summer of 2021.

    In an unknown time and an unknown place a mysterious orb comes into contact with a dying wolf.  The orb transforms into the wold following its passing and begins a journey that will take it to lands and times far away from its place of origin.  The recreated wolf's first contact with humanity is a boy who has been abandoned by his tribe, left on his own in the arctic wastes, the sole resident of his village.  The boy does not know the wolf before him is a replication of his pet and companion and welcomes him back with love and warmth.  The boy soon desires to reconnect with his people and sets out across the ice shelves.  AN accident proves fatal for the boy and he returns to his home to die.  After his passing the recreated wolf realizes it can assume the boys body now as well.  It transforms into this new shape, one that has had an impact on it, and resumes the boys trek across the barren landscape.  The journey proves perilous and difficult, but the transformed boy learns that it can not be stopped by death or damage to its form.  After a short period it will restore its self to the previous form, allowing it to continues on its course.

    After an unknown amount of time the transformed boy succeeds in leaving the arctic region, finding its self in a lush forest.  In the forest he comes across a young and wild spirited girl named March.  Marsh's small tribe are forced to offer up their children to be used by a stronger neighboring peoples as sacrifices to a massive bear they consider a god.  Marsh, with the help of an older girl from her village, Parona, has succeeded in escaping the Yanome people as she was about to be few to the bear, Oniguma.  The transformed boy helps her to escape the pursuers.  Even though he is older than her, March realizes the boy before her struggles with basic functions and helps him find food among the trees.  AS she rests with the boy, she realizes that her baby sister will most likely be sacrificed in her place and decides to return to the Yanome.

    The woman, Hayase, leading the small band of Yanome warriors finds her first, drugging Marsh and bringing both of them back to the sacrificial altar.  With everything back in place they prepare to leave until Parona returns, attempting to rescue the young girl again.  This time the bear has arrived as well and Hayase stays to watch the spectacle.  In the ensuing battle, the boy is killed, returns to live, transforms back into the wolf and succeeds in dealing a fatal injury to the bear.  Hayase decides to bring the three captives back to the capital of her land, with unknown intentions.  On the long journey Marsh gives the boy the name Fushi and continues to teach him as if he were her new born child.  In the city, Hayase treats the three to wonders they had never before experienced, ultimately drugging them during a meal.  The three awake to find themselves imprisoned, Marsh and Parona in one cell and Fushi alone.

    Curious about the nature of Fushi, Hayase begins to experiment on him, having him killed multiple times, trying to understand the nature of his apparent immortality.  Fushi makes a new friend, in an elderly woman named Pioran who joins him when Parona attempts an escape.  The bear god has died while in the care of the Yanome and Parona believes that if she returns with a piece of it to their village, they will be able to stop the sacrifices from continuing.  As they make their escape, Marsh shields Parona from a volley of arrows, sacrificing her short life for the older girl.  In rage and fury, Fushi realizes he is able to transform into the now dead bear god and ravages the pursuing forces, allowing them to escape.  They make the somber journey back the village, where Parona tells Marsh's parents about what happened and her death. 

    Suspecting the return to their village, Hayase has taken a group of soldiers to the village to ambush them and capture Fushi.  The trap is sprung but Parona in turn sacrifices herself to allow Fushi to escape into the woods.  As he travels, alone again, he encounters the old woman Pioran again and the two continue on together.  As they journey together, she teaches Fushi how to speak, as he only learned a few words during the events with the Yanome.  Pioran wants to return to her homeland, an area called Takanuha, which is currently at war with the Yanome.  As they reach their destination, Fushi is attacked in the night by a strange orb like creature, which steals his memories and ability to transform.  At this point the being who created Fushi long ago appears to him.  He tells him that the creature he faces is his enemy and the enemy of all life, a being known as a knocker.  Each time the nokker succeeds in killing Fushi it will steal the memories of the form Fushi had taken at the time of the death, stealing it from him.  Fushi creator tells him that his purpose for existing was to preserve the world and the things with in it but if the knockers steal all of her memories they will win.

    After defeating the knocker and retrieving the memories it stole, they arrive and Pioran's hometown and find her old boyfriend, known only as Booze Man.  Booze Man allows them to live in his house and help out with his business making and selling alcohol.  A young boy named Gugu helps the old man out as well after he was saved from death by him.  Gugu has grown up on the streets, living hand to mouth, doing whatever work he can with his older brother.  His older brother though has abandoned him and life has been rough for the young boy.  He fell in love with the daughter of a rich merchant in town but has never been confident enough to really approach her.  To make things worse, Gugu was almost killed in an accident, crushed under a massive log.  He survived it, but was horrifically mutilated.  Booze Man helped nurse him back to health and provided him with mask to hide his disfigured head from the public.  The rich girl, Rean, frequently comes to the Booze Man's shop, but does not know the boy in the mask is the same street urchin she has encountered before.

    Fushi and Pioran settle into a carefree life with Booze Man and Gugu, a number of years pass and both boys have grown in body and spirit.  Fushi has adapted well to living as a human and has learned to speak and act quite naturally.  Tensions grow between Gugu and him when Rean begins to show signs of affection for Fushi.  A group of men attempt to kidnap Gugu, only to be rescued by Fushi, who transforms into the bear god.  With his secret revealed, the two discuss Fushi's nature as an undying being meant to preserve the memories of the world around him.  In time, Fushi has grown to understand some of the aspects of his ability and how he is able to replicate things he is close to at the time of their death or destruction.  He promises that he will preserve Gugu in the same way, ensuring he is never forgotten.  That chance comes sooner than either would like when the village is attacked by a group of nokkers.

    In the battle Fushi is killed and discovers that when he restores himself back to the shape of the boy from the arctic village, he is restored back to its younger form when he died.  Gugu is killed in the battle, protecting Rean.  In order to protect the girl, Fushi takes Gugu's form and lies to her, saying he needs to go on a long journey.  Realizing that the nokkers are drawn to him, Fushi decides to leave the town and head away from large groups of people.  Against his wishes, Pioran join him as he travels to new lands.  In the next village they are immediately captured and sent away to an island populated only by prisoners.  Fushi is distraught when he becomes separated from the old woman, fearing for her safety as the grim reality of his new home sets in.

    The island is a land ruled by the strong, where the weak are exploited for anything of value.  He is determined to rescue Pioran once he learns that she is being help captive on the island.  He encounters a band of children lead by a girl named Tonari.  He is not confident that he can trust her, especially after he reveals his immortality during a gladiatorial competition.  The competition is help to determine who will be making decisions for the island as a whole and Fushi see's this as a way to rescue Pioran.  During one of the bouts he unconsciously turns into Parona, informing him that she has died.  Fushi is reluctant to continue killing combatants, causing the audience to revolt.  During the melee nokkers attack the island, leading Fushi to shift into protection mode as he once again battles his persistent enemy.

    In the final gladitorial battle he faces none other than Hayase, who is trying to recapture Fushi for her own mechinations.  In the form of Parona, he allows himself to be defeated by Hayase.  She in turn spins a story about how she brought the immortal being into sentience and crowns Tonari as the leader of the island.  Fushi agrees to go along with Hayase's plans in exchange for all of the children to be removed from the island, Tonari included.  Hayase wants to carry Fushi's child, believing that it will allow her to create a lineage of immortals.

    All of the children are drugged as their ship sets sail but Tonari is able to overcome its effects.  She heads back to the island, attempting to rescue Fushi.  Her efforts are cut short when the nokkers return again and begin taking over the dead.  In the end all of Tonari's friends fall prey to the attack, becoming reanimated corpses themselves.  Fushi rescues both Tonari and Hayase from their own death, concocting a plan to defeat the nokkers.  Fushi leaves the island with Hayase, once again leaving Tonari in charge.  On the way back to the mainland she pledges her undying love to him.  This angers him and he leaves her to her own designs.

    Reconnecting with Pioran, Fushi and the old woman head off into the wilderness, settling down on a remote tropical beach.  Pioran is suffering from dementia and soon she passes but not before she is visited by the Black Man.   She asks him to allow her to be useful to Fushi after her death.  Fushi morns the loss of his companion and settles into a decades long isolation until a nokker finds him, which he destroys easily.  It appears his sanctuary is compromised after decades of isolation.

The story continues with Season Two.

Deaimon

Deaimon (であいもん) is a 12 episode slice of life anime based on the manga of the same name by Asano Rin.  The series originally aired during the Spring of 2022.

    Ten years after leaving home to pursue a dream of being a professional musician in Tokyo,  Irino Nagomu returns to Kyoto in order to take over his families confection shop.  He dropped everything to return home after receiving a letter from his mother informing him of his father being hospitalized.  The reality that his families traditional Japanese sweets business would disappear suddenly shocked him out of his stupor.  He rushed home, ready to assume the role of heir, only to discover he is unwanted and unneeded.  His fathers health issue was more routine than anything life threatening.  He left home a decade earlier they have written him off as being involved in the business.  Perhaps the most surprising change is the appearance of a ten year old girl named Yukihira Itsuka.  Itsuka has been living with his parents for the past year, having been abandoned by his father and her mother being gone even longer.  They have taken to the serious and respectful girl so much that his father plans on making her his heir.

    Left with nothing else to do, Nagomu stays and begins his training.   Unfortunately for him, no one has any faith in his abilities.  Nagomu is carefree and emotional, prone to crying over some of their most luxurious wagashi being sold.  He wears his heart on his sleeve and bumbles through life without forethought or reflection.  Due to an offhand remark from his mother, he begins to work at being a replacement father figure for Itsuka, much to her annoyance.  Itsuka is a serious child, driven by the fear of abandonment.  Her mother left the family when she was five and her father abandoned her with this unknown family.  The Irino's however have done everything they can to make her feel safe and comfortable.  Her earnest attitude and motivation to please them, showcases Nagomu's opposite approach to life.  Perhaps out of jealousy or perceiving him as ungrateful, she treats him almost as harshly as his father does, with outright contempt and hostility.  But, understanding that those around him have a right to view him that way, doesn't let that dissuade him and continues his efforts to befriend the abandoned girl, all while trying to become a version of himself that his father won't outright detest.

      This is a slice of life series that can be summed up as, healing.  Perhaps a lot of that has to do with how laid-back Nagomu is or the artwork that feels like water colors at times.  It is not a stretch to consider this an iyashikei.  The only downside of the anime could be how it ends, with just another day passing and uncertainty still in the air regarding a few show length arcs.  Itsuka is always yearning for her father, searching for him when she is able to.  Near the end of the final episode we see a shot of him, knowing he is in the area, but nothing more is done.  We don't know if he comes to find her or she him.  There is also a woman that Nagomu left when he returned home, his long time girlfriend Kanoko.  When he told her he was returning home to take over his family business and asked her to come with, she leaves him.  His easy going nature lead him to shrug and continue with his plan.  Shortly after returning home Kanoko ends up moving to Kyoto and someone becoming a part of his life again.  There are moments where we see into her point of view and she struggles with the situation, somewhat wanting to get together with him again but unwilling to make the move, relying on him to do it instead.  We pretty much never see what Nagomu thinks about any of this and are left hanging on their future together.

    A lot of people may become discouraged and upset with how the series just...stops.  But there is always the manga, which I suspect has more story after the anime.  But its also true to its nature as a slice of life story, we are literally taking a peak into the lives of these people for a slice of time.  Its unnatural to have everything wrap up nice and tidy by the end of the voyeurism.   Honestly, I am happy that it just ends.  I was dreading the final two episodes falling into the same pattern that so many dramatic slice of life shows do.  The second to last episode leaves us on a cliff hanger where the comfortable existence that has been established is in danger of going away.  Then the final episode resolves that danger, even if the life doesn't return to the exact same state it had previously be in, it is still recognizable as the ideal outcome.  Beyond all of that, this is a fantastic and calming series with a wide range of enjoyable characters...I should probably pick up the manga for this one as well.

The series is available on Crunchyroll.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These - part 4

Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These - Intrigue (銀河英雄伝説 DIE NEUE THESE 策謀) is the fourth 12 episode season of the remake based on the novel series Legend of the Galactic Heroes by Tanaka Yoshiki.  The series was originally released as three movies over the Fall of 2022.

    Things seem to be stable in the galaxy as the Alliance and the Empire have drawn to an uneasy truce.  Yang and his loyalists are holed up in Iserlohn.  Reinhard has solidified his rule over the Empire with just a few minor details to iron out.  He is not content though, he views the continued existence of the Federation as a thorn in the side of his ambitions.  He renews his efforts to unify the Empire once and for all.  With Iserlohn under the control of his nemesis, it would be a waste of manpower and resources to pointless throw them against the fortress.  Instead he needs to think outside of the box.  The only other viable route into Federation space is through the neutral Fezzan.  Luckily for Reinhard ambitions, one lof the enclaves authority figures, Rubinsky, is more than willing to make a deal to further his own wealth and prestige.

    The Fezzan plans are a bit more complicated than just agreeing to allow Imperial warships into its territory.  A plan is hatched with disaffected members of the aristocracy to kidnap the current Emperor, 7 year old Joseph the Second.  The plan succeeds and the young Emperor is taken out of the reach of Reinhard and deposited in the capital of the Free Planets.  There one of the exiled nobles makes an announcement with the Free Planets president, talking about how he and a group of other exiled nobles have formed a government in exile.  They announce that the Alliance has recognized this government in exile and have partnered with it to oppose Reinhard and his authoritarianism.  This doesn't bode well for either of them as the Empire in exile has no actual authority of way to enforce their existence.  The backing of the Alliance causes social unrest and conflict, weakening its position as well.

    All of this instability and uncertainty is part of Reinhards plan, as his cooperation with Rubinsky in allowing the young Emperor to be kidnapped and escape was a tool to create weakness in the Alliance as he plans to launch his invasion.  Yang sees right through the plan, and warns his allies in the capital that the Empire will more than likely punch through Fezzan to invade this time, instead of wasting their time with the impenetrable fortress he commands.   But his warnings fall on deaf ears, as people in power feel they understand the situation and tactics better.  They stick to the ideals that Fezzan will never sacrifice its independence and access to wealth and prosperity willingly.  Unknown to them, that is exactly what is happening.  Unfortunately for Rubinsky, he seems to underestimate how much the under the table negotiations will remain in his favor.

    In response to the declaration of the exile government, Reinhard makes an address calling this an act of war and aggression, rallying the people to the cause of returning the Emperor to his home and punishing those that kidnapped him and support his displacement.  A massive mobilization is enacted, seeking to build a force of 100 million soldiers.  He knows, in order for his diversion to work, he will need to make the force attacking Iserlohn large enough to be convincing.  This requires him to have that force be larger than the previous one that failed.  In order to make the sneak attack work, he will need an even greater force at Fezzan.  Thus his plan unfolds and Yang finds himself stuck in a position where he has no hope of affecting the outcome of this new attempt at invading the Alliance.  Reinhard appears to be in position to win this drawn out rivalry and bring his goals of revenge into its final stage.

As with the other seasons, this one is available on Crunchyroll but currently only subtitled in English  There is no word yet on a fifth series to continue to story and we are left as the precipice of this assault.

Bucchigiri?!

 Bucchigiri?! (ぶっちぎり?!) is an original 12 episode shonen comdey anime created by Kishimoto Taku and produced by MAPPA.  The anime originally aired during the 2024 Winter season.

     Tomoshibi Arajin returns to his hometown to find is overflowing with juvenile delinquents.  His high school life will be quite difficult surrounded by threatening muscle bound, fight obsessed men, but a cute girl in his class gets his attention and sends flutters through his heart.  The girl, Jin Mahoro, has ulterior motives in mind and invites him to a date only to have her brother Jin Marito challenge him to a fight before his gang.  Little does Marito suspect, Arajin has a secret weapon at his disposal.  A local legend exists around a race of super beings who imbue their strength to worthy individuals, honki, or genies.  Revaling it as a child, hes waved it away as the fantasies of youth.  While attempting to evade being beaten by members of a different gang, he hides in an abandoned shrine which is at the center of the legends.  As he desperately tries to defend himself he sets off an event that leads to the vessel of a genie named Seya to be embedded in him.  The genie appears, eager to merge with the weak young boy and become a legendary brawler.  Arajin tries to escape the genie and his strange expectations but is unable to.  While facing down the older and stronger Marito, Arajin agrees to join forces with the genie in order to lose his virginity.  Powers granted, the physically inferior Arajin delivers a clean shot on his opponent winning both his safety and respect.

    Arajin's childhood friend, Asamine Mataraka, is excited for the boy he admired to return.  He is desperate to rekindle their friendship and have him join him in the pursuit to be a honki.  Arajin wants nothing to do with him, brushing him off at every turn, focused only on dating Mahoro.  Marito is impressed with the new kid and invites him to be a member of his gang, the rival to Mataraka's gang.  Arajin, wanting only to be close to Mahoro, eagerly agrees to the invitation, pleasing Senya.  Senya only wants to fully merge with the boy and take on the mantle of honki, seeing the sudden immersion into youth gang life as the perfect outlet.  Arajin doesn't suspect anything form anyone and is purely driven by sexual desire.  When rival factions start to set up a major conflict between his school two gangs, he finds himself in the middle of what might become a blood bath.  But the real fuel behind the carnage is Senya and a another jinn with a rivalry for the ages.

    This is a strange anime all around.  Its a story about gangs of savage high school kids, most of which you can't take seriously because of how over the top their appearance and personalities are.  Then you toss in a tale around two jinn souls who have traveled time and space to continue their rivalry in modern Japan.  Not to mention the homeroom teacher who frequents a hostess club at every opportunity as a side story.  Arajins mom is ridiculous, hand waving everything that shows up at hr doorstep as a natural part of adolescence.  AT its core its about Arajin trying to come to terms with his own inadequacies and the guilt he struggles to express about his past.  Its a world were authority doesn't exist and hooligans are free to do whatever they want, with only their twisted honor as a safety mechanism.

    I had a lot of fun with this show.  The artwork is amusing and the directing goes a long way to enhance the absurdity of the story.  It is not as joke laden or brain melting as Cromartie High, but it is a good choice for fans of that older show.  A show about super naturally powered delinquents who are trying to straighten out personal issues that aren't earth shattering for anyone not living their world is best served with a smile.  If this series took its self seriously it would be boring and uninspired.  Instead it winks at the audience and gives us a ridiculous damn near steamy yaoi action comedy.  Tell me this isn't a boys love story...I dare you.

The series is available on Crunchyroll.

Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf

 Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf (狼と香辛料 merchant meets the wise wolf) is a 25 episode dramatic romance based on the light novel series Spice and Wolf by Hasekura Isano.  This second retelling of the light novel originally aired during the Spring and Summer of 2024.

    Kraft Lawrence is a traveling merchant in a time of transition from the old ways to the new.  Traversing a world that is falling under the sway of a central religious authority, focused on sweeping away historical beliefs and practices he does what he can to earn profits through the exchange of good across the land.  He travels to a small farming village during their wheat harvest in order to acquire some quality grain to trade in a city.  He leaves with more than he bargained for when the wolf spirit who has provided the village with their quality harvest for generations sneaks aboard his cart in the form of a young girl.   The wolf god Holo asks Lawrence to allow her to accompany him on his travels as she desires to visit her ancestral homelands far in the north.  She is curious how the world has changed around her after all of this time and fancies him as the perfect guide on her journey.

    Lawrence agrees to get her safely to the northern lands, something endearing the ancient wolf girl to him along with his compassionate nature.  Holo does not want to be a burden on the man and offers her abilities at his disposal.  She has an innate ability to detect untruths and a keen sense of negotiation, given her long life and unnatural abilities.  However, her long life has made her shrewd and patient, never offering her services outright, waiting for Lawrence to realize that he would be in a better position by asking for her help.  The arrangement seems to benefit both of them until the Church begins to sniff around, rumors traveling about Holo's potential unnatural nature.  Wolves have always been feared and hated by humans, so Holo does what she can to conceal her true nature, but the power of the Church means it is not as easy as hiding her ears and tail.

    The original version of the anime has long been on my list of series that I need to watch.  It has been revered for a long time and considered a quality romance as well.  The reboot seemed like a perfect opportunity to finally see what all the fuss was about.And I was pretty disappointed.  I don't really see why this is considered a romance when there is very little in the way of romantic connections between Holo and Lawrence.  Sure, she has a level of admiration for him that is evident through a lot of her actions regarding him and his safety.  But the story focuses almost exclusively on the dangers presented by the growing authority and autonomy of the 'church'.  Lawrence struggles at every turn to keep Holo's true nature hidden while protecting his own livelihood.

    This is really a story about mercantilism and the perils of making enemies in a world were its easy to be disappeared when enough power moves against you.  The art isn't bad, the character designs and world building is solid as well.  The biggest shock was Holo's attitude when I finally got around to watching the series.  I had only ever been exposed to it through still images and a narrative that belies the reality of the story and her personality.  I was very surprised to learn that she is not some subservient and agreeable teenage maiden.  Instead she is head strong, calculating and very very shrewd.  She plays games with Lawrence but when she needs him to understand that she holds all of the cards she doesn't hold back.  Holo...instead of being a male fantasy of the ideal subservient partner, is a quality representative for woman's equality and independence.  The story is good, the world is detailed but its not the story I was looking for and its not the style of world I tend to enjoy.  The problem is with me...not Spice and Wolf.

The series is available on Crunchyroll.

Zom 100

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead (ゾン100〜ゾンビになるまでにしたい100のこと〜) is a 12 episode horror action series based on the manga of the same name by Aso Haro.  The series originally ran during the Summer of 2023.

     Tendo Akira is a young salary-man working for a black corporation, draining the will to life from him as he trudges through days of abuse.  When the zombie apocalypse strikes he suddenly gains a new optimistic outlook on his life...he finally has the time to kick back and relax.  He turns the collapse of civilization and daily immanent/grisly death into his opportunity to life a fulfilling if someone shortened life.  After reconnecting with his best friend from college, Ryuzaki Kenichiro, the two team up with a goal to do everything they ever wanted to do before they fall prey to the zombie hordes.

    They begin to construct a bucket list and with Akira's desire to see is his parents are safe, they head off to the countryside.  Along the way the pick up fellow survivalist, Mikazuki Shizuka, to join them.  Shizuka is pragmatic and calculating.  She has easily transitioned her calculating resourcefulness to surviving the hellscape that is Tokyo with great success.  She however understands that staying in the maze like city reduces her chances of continued success and agrees to join them on their journey.  As they travel the country side they quickly learn that the living is more dangerous than the dead as bands of abusive  humans begin to interfere in their trip.  The collapse of civil society really can bring out the worst in some people can't it?

    This was a highly anticipated series at the time is premiered in 2023.  The production quality was rather high with excellent directing and a colorful palette.  However it fell victim to its own workload and the final three episodes were pushed back to the end of December.  This caused me to drop off from watching the series as it simulcast to not completing it to well over a year later.  But its production delays weren't the only thing keeping me from finishing it.  I rally fell in love with this fresh take on the zombie trope.  The survivors were fun and enjoyable as they enthusiastically took each day on with carefree abandon.  Akira and Ryu's go-lucky attitudes did a lot to make the series fun and funny.  There was a lot of over the top scenes where their survival was only gotten through the magic of fiction and I loved it!

    Then it fell prey to what every great zombie story falls prey to, the need to shift the dangers from the brainless undead masses to the darkness of human tendencies for control and domination.  The halfway point, where they encounter a trap on the freeway that is set by a band of slave-driving sycophants really turned me off and made me lose excitement with each new episode.  Humans as the real threat is a boring and worn-out trope in zombie films.  I understand the godfather of the genre, Night of the Living Dead set this principle, but we can also explore other narratives beyond that.  I really though Zom 100 was going to be different.  It was at first and it was fun and exciting and lovable.  But it fell back on the common garbage and lost its steam.  It lost its interest, it characters alone struggled to carry on the joy that was experiences in the first few episodes.  The final arc, the one that got delayed, was even less interesting and the story seemed to fall apart with no real goal in mind.  This story could have been so much more but fell into old routines and lost all the shine it had.  Sad...

The series is available on Crunchyroll and Netflix in both sub and dub formats.  There is also a live action version on Netflix.  

I Have a Crush at Work

I Have a Crush at Work (この会社に好きな人がいます) is a 12 episode romance based on the manga of the same name by Enomoto Akamaru.  The series aired during the Winter of 2025.

    Mitsuya Yui greatly dislikes Tateishi Masugu, one of the employees in the accounting department of the giant confectionery company she works for.  She greatly dislikes his unbending attitude and his extreme adherence to policy and formality.  She doesn't like having to grovel before him to get things done when they need to be done.  Tateishi has a reputation for his sternness but also for being helpful.  He doesn't like having to deal with Mitsuya's aggression, when all hes trying to do is his job.  While these two coworkers hate each other in the workplace, they are dating in secret.  In order to prevent unwanted disruptions in their work life, they agreed to hide their relationship from everyone.  But that means they have to continue with their aggressive rivalry during office hours.

    As time goes by Yui and Masugu work hard to juggle their work responsibilities and time together.  They feed off of each others motivation and strive to push their success at work, encouraged by the others efforts.  But its hard to find time to be intimate when they have to meet in private and avoid going anywhere they may be spotted.  A Golden Week get away leads them to make a challenge, to further their work goals, the looser pays for the return trip to the same hotel.  Adding in the extra effort means that they have less time to see each other after work.  Will they be able to keep up the charade in the office when they become starved of each others attention under the extra workloads?

     This is a straightforward, no nonsense, adult romance.   We begin the series with them already dating.  There is no, will they won't they moments, no plot lines rotating around miscommunications or over active internal dialogues.  There are plenty of times where it delves into the work-life experience.  This is through and through a office life romance about being a normal boring ass adult.  I loved it for that!!  Which is why it was so frustrating that this series was not picked up by any English language streaming services.  This was such a sweet and grounded love story about two believable and realistic characters.  Their situations was relatable and their environment is realistic.  Maybe that's the problem...maybe its too real and too honest to be desirable.  It doesn't present children as sexual objects or fabricate a juvenile representation of romance.  Lets be honest, Rent-a-Girlfriend may be largely about adults, but its no different a story than if the setting was high school instead of college.   I Have Crush at Work is such a needed take on realistic romances its a shame it won't get much attention from the wider anime audience.

    As with a lot of slice of life romance, the artwork isn't the greatest.  But what drives the story are the characters and their situation.  Masugu and Yui are fantastic and developed well enough to carry the story.  We also get side characters that add more life to their environment, enhancing its delivery.  There is even a rather touching side story related to Masugu's direct manager and another underling in a different department.  All in all, this is a top notch romance for those looking for something that doesn't involve unnecessary panty shots, plot lines based on ridiculous misunderstanding or the need for a beach episode.

Sadly...there series is not legally available in North America.  The manga is though!!!

A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School

A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School (妖怪学校の先生はじめました!) is a 26 episode comedy series based on the manga of the same name by Tanaka Mai.  The series aired between the Fall of 2024 and the Winter of 2025.

     Abe Haruaki dreams of becoming a teacher, but his first experience as one leaves him less than encouraged.  Haruaki is easily intimidated and when attempts to scold delinquent students backfires he quits teaching.  He is encouraged to try again, this time at a school on a remote island.  Uneasy about the position, he is warmly welcomed by the administrator.  This new assignment isn't exactly what he expected it to be.  He has been contracted to be the only human at a school exclusively for yokai around the nation.  The school its self is located on an isolated island that is only populated by yokai as well.  Being a human among monsters is the least of his worries.  His class has zero respect for him, largely due to his flighty nature and concerning passion for women/girls uniforms.

    Haruaki decides to continue his job, even in the face of unusual circumstances and mortal danger.  As his tenure proceeds he begins to earn the respect of his rowdy class, often selflessly endangering himself to help them.  The reason he was chosen for this position is due to his paternal lineage.  He is the descendant of a powerful  Heian era onmyouji, Abe no Seimei.  He possess his ancestors ability to dispel yokai but he is unable to control that ability.  The schools administrators have knowingly brought a dangerous person in their midst in hopes of being able to keep track of him and prevent anything problematic from happening.  Fortunately for them, Haruaki is lovable, gullible and recklessly passive.

 

    Over all this was an amusing series that didn't fall into repetitive patterns.  The cast of goofy characters ws enjoyable and covered a wide breadth of yokai, complete with brief descriptions.   A lot of the charm with the series is the frequent shifting of character design to enhance the comedy.  In reality there isn't much of an over arching story that unfolds.  Over the course of the series you learn about the backgrounds and motivations for a number of the students, some of the other teachers and of course Haruaki.  It didn't dawn on my until I was done watching it but this is pretty much a yokai spin on Great Teacher Onizuka.  I did enjoy the series and was happy when it got extended into a second cour.  Halfway through the second cour I started to lose interest in the shows apparent meandering but was snapped back in when the final half dozen episodes coalesced into a plot.

    This was a fun and hectic comedy that just so happened to use the absurd backdrop of an all yokai school too add some extra flavour to its delivery.   Over the decades I have come to really appreciate manzai style comedy and this series offers that in excess.  Haruaki is the classic kind hearted idiot.  A lot of his students are serious and ruthless in their interactions with him.  Almost all of the cast being yokai does well to help explain away the absurdity throughout the show.  There was one episode in the second cour though that almost made me quit the series due its rather blatant and unfortunate racism towards people of Chinese decent.  It was...alarming, something one would expect from an older anime.  Its unfortunate that publishers and production teams are still accepting of that type of sentiment.

The series is available on Crunchyroll.

A Retrospective on Romance Anime & Manga - Part 5

The fifth edition of the retrospective is here(恋愛アニメ回顧)!  Over the five submissions so far we have covered 140 titles.  For quicker navigation, here is the home of the first retrospective, then the home of the second retrospective, the home of the third retrospective and the home of the fourth retrospective.

 

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really Really Really REALLY Love You

    Rintaro, after being rejected by 100 girls, prays at a local shrine out of desperation to finally find love.  The shrines god grants him that wish, but tells him that a mistake was made at the time of his birth and he will have 100 women fall in love with him.  He has to make sure that he loves all of them, or else those he can not love will die prematurely.  Undaunted by the prospects and logistics, he surges forward in his new high school life, looking for love in all of the places.

    Its hard to tell whether this is a joke, a sad fantasy or a combination of both.  The story takes the idea of a dating sim game and bypassing all of the complications with choosing one by choosing all of them equally.  Aside from the absurdity of the situation, the crazy rampant fan service and the blithe response to Rintaro's goal, the series is rather amusing.  At this time there is only one season and I am not certain I will have any interest in watching the continuation of it when it comes out.

365 Days to the Wedding

    Two awkward employees at a travel agency concoct a plan to have a fake marriage in order to avoid being transferred to a branch office opening in Anchorage Alaska.  As they struggle to convince themselves that their ruse is working they slowly develop feelings for each other.  They are both content living solitary lives and struggle to understand what the other person is really thinking, all while continuing to do more to convince everyone around them they are really a couple.

    This is a cute adult office romance that focuses on two socially inept hermits.  Knowing they will eventually become a real couple isn't hard to recognize, but the journey is filled with fun moments and some good side stories that give a pretty well fleshed out story, though it did end rather abruptly...still worth the watch.

A Condition Called Love 

     Hotaru doesn't understand the first thing about romance.  When one of the hottest guys in school, Hananoi asks her to go out with him, she doesn't know how to respond.  His persistence borders on concerning as he tries to persuade her to give him a chance, feeling she may discover romance when putting it to the test.  Recognizing his persistence she agrees to a tial run relationship with him, willing to see if anything sparks for her as they spend time together.

    While initially problematic, particularly with how possessive and dangerous Hananoi was, the story ended up being a rather sweet tale of burgeoning love.  This was a romance that strayed from many of the more standard character types.  Hotaru is an nontraditional female lead, given her plain and unassuming persona.  She strives to not make any waves around her, fearing for reprisals.  While in elementary school she had a traumatic fall out with her best friend over misunderstandings about a classmate.  Hananoi though looks like some visual kei guy even though his personality is that of the loner otaku stalker.  There is a fare amount of drama, enough to over whelm the lighter elements of the story.

Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian

    Alisa is a half Japanese, half Russian high school student who harbors hidden feelings for the boy she sits next to in class, Masachika.  The carries herself with a stern tsundere-like demeanor and hides her true feelings from him by hitting on him in Russian.  Unknown to her, Masachika understands whats she saying, due to spending a lot of time as a young boy playing with a girl of Russian decent.  He struggles with what her intentions are when she says things to him or about him in Russian and is hesitant to take anything at face value.

    Initially I misunderstood the premise that Masachika did not understand her and worried the plot device would grow weary quickly.  The idea that he does understand her adds a satisfying layer of enjoyment out of their interactions.  While the story was a lot of fun at first about hald way through the first season its tone shifts in a weird way.  Or more precisly it begins to focus on a plot line that consumes more of the stories attention than it should and greatly detracts from the growing closeness of the two main characters.

The Apothecary Diaries

    Maomao, the daughter of a lowly apothecary, who grew up hanging out in a brothel, finds herself kidnapped and forced into contracted servitude in the Imperial palace.  Her desire to remain inconspicuous is undone by her curiosity and deep knowledge about poison and physiology.  She is picked out by the highers eunuch in the rear palace, reserved for the concubines, to work for one of the top four mistresses.  Maomao's abilities to resist poison place her in the role of food tester while her intilect and curiosity continues to bring her into the eunuchs favor, among the thick intrigue of palace life.

    The romance for this show is very very subdued, almost imperceptible.  The show is primarily a mystery series sprinkled with a bit of comedy and drama.  Through out all of it there is a very very slow simmering romance between Maomao and the eunuch Jinshi.  But...given his attitude and appearance is he really a eunuch?  Beyond that, this was a well an interesting story, even if the romance was almost absent.  It is a good story in the end with a well crafted pay off and a look to the continuing story were we should see more romance.

Astro Note 

    Takumi is an out of work chef who replies to a help wanted ad for a promising restaurant.  Instead he find the place to be a run down share house.  He is about to leave when he hears a commotion and comes to find its manager dangling precariously from the roof.  After using him to break her fall, Mira apologizes to him for the misleading help wanted ad.  Through the urging of the houses odd borders and his sudden love for the beautiful young woman, Takumi agrees to take the job.  Little does he or anyone else know Mira is an alien princess who has come to Earth to find a lost item that will allow her to ascend the thrown for his world and become its queen.

    This fantastic original series takes a lot of cue's from Maison Ikkoku with plenty of nods to other classic anime from a variety of genres.  This well crafted character driven story shows that sometimes love is all you need to find a purpose in your life.  It blends romance, comedy, slice of life, sci-fi and mecha seamlessly into a story that never disappoints.

Blue Box

    Taiki, a freshman on the badminton team, has his eyes on a second years student and star of the girls basketball team, Chinatsu.  WHen she ends up moving in with his family, so she can continue her fantastic sports career instead of leaving the country with her family, the boy struggles with his sudden proximity to her.  Now he has to fret over if he has the courage to tell her how he feels about her.

    I should have liked this, given how close it is in theme to my original romance love, Suzuka, but its struggles under the lack of depth in its primary characters.  It is nice in that is refuses to fall into the less noble tropes found in shonen love stories but suffers from the lack of personality. 

Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki 

    Tomozaki is a social outcast gamer nerd who also happens to be the top ranked player in Japan for...essentially Smash Brothers.  The second ranked player asks to meet him IRL and hes floored to learn its one of his classes popular girls, Hinami.  At first revolted that her nemesis is a loser from school, she decides to turn his obsessive perfectionist approach to the game into a tool to improve his social standing.  She presents his life as a game to play and sets goals for him to achieve.  Not wanting to shirk the challenge, he faces her tasks head on, willing to improve himself and his lot in life.

    The series started out as a boring/rote dating sim with a loser as the MC, but turned into an interesting and enjoyable realistic drama with a wide cast of characters.  The characters, while largely one dimensional in their archetypes, did present themselves as an enjoyable cast.  While skepticism and experience can lend the viewer to easily recognize the end of the series in terms of partnering, the course of the story does a really good job of putting anything up as a possibility.  The characters are more realistic in their mannerisms and inter personal relationships than you would typically find in this style of romance, which added to the enjoyment of the story as it evolved.

Dan Da Dan

    Momo is a flashy gyaru who just wants to find a love like the famous strong man actor Takakura Ken.  After getting dumped by her good for nothing boyfriend she ends up helping an otaku from being bullied...only because she wants to fight someone.  The otaku misunderstands her intentions and an argument ensues.  He tries to bridge the gap with her by talking about the occult.  He believes in alien invaders and shes the granddaughter of a spirit medium.  They change the other to a test of faith with results in the boy being possessed and Momo feeling guilt about it, literally responsible for saving him with awakened psychic abilities.  Now they fight a batch of weird forces while they work to remove the curse on a boy...whose name is Takakura Ken.

    This is a stealth super natural shonen action series that has a heavy emphasis about the two main characters growing affection for the other.  This anime is a pretty good complete package, offering an ever changing story type with amazing art direction by the fantastic Science Saru.  While its a good all around package, its also a bit two weird and uncomfortable at some points for newer anime fans,

Days With My Stepsister

    Yuta lives an unobtrusive life, focused on being as self reliant as possible.  When his father remarries, he gains a step-sister the same age, named Saki.  In order to maintain their comfortable patterns in this new arrangement, they agree to not do anything without agreeing to some for of exchange.  This leads them living an existence as a business arrangement instead of as a family that can rely on each other without condition.  Those constraints begin to break down as their time together grows and Saki in particular struggles with emotions growing for her new brother, who seems to be working on a relationship with an older coworker.

     Everyone knows how step-siblings are supposed to behave in anime romances and will be severely disappointed in how this one handles that trope.  It doesn't touch it with a 10ft pole.  In fact there is barely any romance in this.  Instead it is a dry and slow paced drama about two strangers struggling with how to deal with the massive upheaval of their lives.  They navigate around each other in a way to not disrupt the wishes of their parents happiness as well as their own perceptions of the others focus and goals.  It ended up being a breath of fresh air, even if the tension is as slow as its characters are emotional.

Fruits Basket 

    Tohru is a hard working orphan, who has been secretly camping in a forested region of a spacious estate.  She does not wish to burden her extended family and chooses to live homeless.  Her secret is quickly exposed by the residents of the estate, the Souma clan, of which some members she goes to school with.  Feeling sorry for the poor girl, she is invited to stay with them instead, in exchange for doing cleaning and cooking.  Problems arise with her lodging as the Souma clan has a dark secret that her presence has complicated.  The family is incredibly wealth and vast, with some of its members inheriting super natural aspects linked to the 12 zodiac creatures.  If they come with in physical contact of someone of the opposite sex it will force them to transform into their zodiac form.  As Tohru settles in she fnds herself in the middle of a dangerous power struggle between her new friends and the head of the family.

      This is one of those classic romances that is well loved in shojo circles.  In 2019 it received an anime remake so I decided to finally watch it.  I got through the first 25 or so episodes but had to stop because of how abusive the story turned into.  There is so much painful drama and heart ache in the story I couldn't bring myself to continue it, loosing all interest in the stories resolution.  I've come to the conclusion that consuming this story is akin to self harm.  But, that isn't to say it isn't bad, I just don't have the fortitude for this form of darkness and depression in a romance.

 

Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again

    One day while working their farm, an elderly couple discover a gleaming golden apple growing from a tree in their orchard.  They decide to share it and in the morning wake to discover their bodies restored to the youth and vigor of their late 20's.  Unsure as to whats going on, they decide to take this second chance and make up for the things they were too poor or busy to do when they were newlyweds.

    This is a cute and endearing story with a fun super natural aspect to it.  The story spends a lot of time focusing on the elderly couple causing waves around them in their youthful forms as well as them trying to tackle modernity.  Beyond the story of the couple, there is some depth given to their immediate family, particularly two high school aged grand children. The artwork and character design was a little subpar, but the story was sweet and endearing in the end.

Honey Lemon Soda

    Ichimori has no self confidence and freezes when interacting with others in school.  A chance encounter with one of the most desired boy in class changes her trajectory in life.  He pushes her in his own obtuse manner to build confidence and stop begin negative on herself, protecting her from the trouble around her until she can stand on her own two feet.

    In general I didn't like this series given how I perceive the negative connotations of Ichimori and how she works to change herself from timid to confident.  It sets a bad precedent for members of the audience who identify with our lead and hope to achieve a similar line of success in their struggles.  Unfortunately, that takes finding Mr. Right and making him care about you enough for them to take on the role of guardian for you.  I do understand the need for those looking to grow to have a support structure around the, but this one feels like its sending a problematic message instead of a hopeful one.

How I Attended an All Guys Mixer

    After agreeing to a mixer, three guys in college wind up becoming close friends with three women who work as drag kings at a host bar.  The women, enjoying the malleable mens company, play a drawn out game of flirting, willing to see how long it takes for their prey to realize whats really going on/

    This is a really fun and lovable comedy that goes to great lengths to flip the script on romance.  The men are easily spooked and oblivious as the women hold all the power in the growth of their relationships.  The only down side?  I didn't begin watching it until the series was done running.  It was one of the highlights of the season it aired!  Highly recommended for fans of Ouran High School Host Club.

I Have a Crush at Work 

    Masugu works in the finance department of a large confectionery company.  Yui works in the development department and has a bone to pick with the uptight Masugu.  Their dislike of each other is well known by their peers, which makes their secret relationship all the more complex.  They begin dating but don't want their relationship to impact their work, so they choose to hide it from everyone, continuing their work rivalry.  Yet things are hard to hide when they enjoy each other to the degree they do.  Sometimes it's hard to hide your real emotions in public, when caught of guard and as their love deepens so does the gymnastic they have to do to hide it.

    I always welcome anime romanced about legit adults in legit adult situations.  This is a really cute and enjoyable comedy that can get a little spicy at times, but spicy in a tasteful way.  This was such a breath of fresh air among all the rote high school romances that its mundane situations and setting did no damage.  The main characters of Masugu and Yui are absolutely lovable and their coworkers are enjoyable as well.  This is a nice relaxing and satisfying realistic portrayal of adult love.

 I'm Getting Married to the Girl I hate in Class

    High school seniors and eternal rivals, Akane and Saito are forced to wed and live together due to their grandparents wanting to recapture their lost youth.  As they try to navigate their shared space in amicable ways, they struggle with growing feelings for the other, while working to deny everything and keep it hidden from their peers.

    If it wasn't for the likeability of the main characters, this show would have been dropped by episode two.  It suffers from everyone else around them being terrible and gimmicky.   I do want to reach the source material to see if that is more palatable however.

Love is Indivisible by Twins

    Jun is a model student who is close childhood friends with his neighbors, twin girls Rumi and Naori.  At the end of middle school Rumi confesses and he accepts her feelings.  But after a year she decides it is unfair to her sister, who has likes Jun since they were little and breaks up, forcing them to become a couple.  Naori is unwilling to let it be that easy and breaks it off as well, forcing him to make a final decision between which of the two sisters can receive his love.  All the while Jun struggles with his unwillingness to actively hurt either of the girls he holds in a special place.

    On the surface this should be a terrible story with ecchi moments at every corner.  Instead we get a drama full of realistic characters in situations that are not unnatural.  The only down side is the less than quality artwork but don't let that distract you from this fantastic drama steeped in the real world. 

Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines

   Nukumizu, a friendless introvert light novel fanboy suddenly finds himself involved in his co-eds relationship struggles.  One after the other popular girls are being rejected by the boys they like and he tries to use his experience in love via novels to ease their pain...

    That's a terrible way of explaining this series but its pretty must the basic concept.  But based on that you might picture something featuring an edgy incel being given his opportunity to make the girls swoon for him.  You'd be pretty far from the reality.  Nukumizu is awkward and confident at the same time, he really has no interest in becoming friends with everyone but feels compelled after he finds himself in the midst of the situations.  The girls aren't stereotypical, unnaturally beautiful and mature representations.  They are all scrawny and quirky weirdos with complex personalities.  This isn't really a romance?  It doesn't really deal with Nukumizu pursuing a relationship with anyone and we really don't see anything like that develop.  He becomes entangled in helping fellow classmates sort out their messy one sided feelings all while building strange friendships with them.  This anime was so good, even if it wasn't a standard definition of a romance.

Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to my Charms

     Mona is the center of attention where ever she goes.  She exist solely to be praised and worshiped by men, women, boys and girls of all ages.  When the boy next to her in class, Medaka, refuses to fawn over her, she does everything she can to make him another fan.  Medaka, a monk in training, uses every tool at his disposal to clear his mind and soul, avoiding the tempting mistress next to him.  His refusal to comply only pushes her further in her efforts for subjugation.  Will she be able to overcome his rigorous dedication or will she be swayed instead?

    This was a new twist on the standard shonen romance where the narrative character is the girl as she throws herself at the mail lead.  Medaka himself is barely the focus.  There is a fair amount of casual fanservice that is used tastefully in many instances, but not all.  In the end this was a relatively sweet story that had some struggles getting to the potential pay off.  Its far better than Strawberry 100% by a lot.

Okitsura: Fell in Love With an Okinawa Girl, But I Just Wish I Know What She's Saying

     Teruaki moves to Okinawa from Tokyo for high school and is overly eager to learn about the cultural differences so far from the capital.  The first friend he makes in school is a spunky girl named Hina, who has a deep love for her culture and is more and eager to show Teruaki the ways of an Okinawan.  This outreach endears her to him and he begins to fall for her.  Unfortunately, she uses a lot of local vernacular and he struggles to understand whats shes saying.  Fortunately for him, Hina's best friend Kana steps in to work as translator.  Thus begins the friendship between all three of them, a friendship where Kana secretly likes Teruaki, who secretly likes Hina who openly loves Okinawa.

    This was a really fun and sweet series that spent as much time teaching you about what makes Okinawa special as it does making you love its characters.  The character designs are fun, the animation is high quality and the characters lack annoying qualities.  My only hope is that we get a second season of this series and some sort of resolution to the love triangle at the core of its plot.

Pseudo Harem 

    Rin is a first year student and bright star of the schools drama club.  She has taken a liking to second year drama club member Eiji, who has taken a liking to her as well.  The pair spend their moments together enjoying each others company while flirting innocently.  Rin uses her acting chops to assume different personalities, eager to fulfill Eiji's juvenile desires to have a harem of girls fawning over him.

    This is a perfect anime.  If you want a cute, innocent and endearing story about blossoming love between two characters who enjoy their time together, this is going to deliver the perfect package for you.  Every episode becomes increasingly sweet and lovable as they spend more time together, innocently flirting every chance they can get, letting the world slip by beyond them, focused only on each other.  Perfection with a chance of diabetes.

Senpai is an Otokonoko

    Saki confesses her love for an upperclassman only to find out its really a boy named Makoto who is more comfortable dressing as a girl.  Makoto and her develop a friendship, including her into his small circle with his old friend Ryuji.  Saki realizes that Ryuji has feelings for Makoto but struggles with them.  She had thought she had finally found someone that could be special to her and vice a versa but she realized she is more of a third wheel than anything else.

    This is a fantastic story about youth struggling with a world that doesn't appreciate them for who they are.  Makoto struggles with everyone's thoughts on his cross dressing and his mothers psychologically abusive responses.  Saki struggles with parental abandonment and feelings abnormal when compared to her peers emotional experiences.  Ryuji's struggles are internal as he tries to understand his emotions compared to his logic with regards to his life long friend.  Its a beautiful story that has many wonderful and sad moments.

Spice and Wolf

    Lawrence, a traveling merchant, acquires an unexpected companion in his journeys for profit.  Holo has the form of you young woman but in reality she is an long lived wolf god who has decided to leave the land she has long lent her bounty.  Her old age has caused her to yearn for the land of her youth, to visit it once more before she is unable to.  She convinces Lawrence to be her guide while paying for the service with her supernatural abilities to detect dishonesty and her own shrewdness.  Her true identity must be kept secret for fear of the omnipresent 'new' church wanting to kill her as a heretical symbol of a time fading into the past.

    This series is more a story revolving around economics than it is romance.  But through its course, as the two characters struggle to succeed in their schemes, romance simmers between the man and the wolf, as the wolf is violently jealous and is less than forthcoming about her intentions to be with the young man.  While not the most interesting story, myself not being a big fan of historical anime, Holo's character is a breath of fresh air compared to most other female leads.  She is confident, powerful and in control of her own destiny.  There are very few times in the story where she is a helpless maiden in need of the strong masculine love interest.  She has lived for centuries and has faced danger and threats at all corners of the world.  Little can cause her to lose control.

Tadaima, Okaeri

     Hiromu and his husband Masaki have moved to a newer neighborhood, hoping to escape societal prejudices aimed at their relationship.  Masaki is an alpha, the dominant human's who easily fall into roles as leaders in society.  Hiromu is an omega, someone who is generally unassertive, meek and able to be impregnated by alphas, regardless of their gender.  The two are trying to find a safe and happy environment to raise their young son Hiraki, while working to break through the ceiling of stigma around someones assigned type.

    This was my first exposure to the fiction style known as 'omegaverse' that is grounded on the concept of easily dividable humans based on their natural assertiveness of passiveness.  Essentially transporting the pseudo science concept of wolf pack orders into erotic fiction as the driver for sub/dom relationships.  This series was not explicitly sexual, at least the anime adaptation.  It was quite boring and mundane though.  To make matters worse, I am not a fan of this style of characterization and over all really disliked the world it built and displayed.

Tokimeki Memorial ~Only Love~

     Riku begins his life as a high school student, hoping to remain inconspicuous.  That all goes out of the window as his performance in a beginning of the year game, meant to humiliate him, brings him to everyone attention.  His innocent success brings a gaggle of girls and competitive males to him as he tries to normalize his life.

   

Tomo-chan is a Girl 

    Tomo is the epitome of a tom-boy.  When she musters up the courage to confess to her childhood friend, neighbor and fellow karate enthusiast, his reaction is less than ideal.  Jun reacts to her as if shes just one of the guys, which is the way hes treated her for the 10+ years they have been best friends.  Tomo needs help connecting with her feminine side, convinced once she does Jun will see her as a potential romantic partner.

    This series ended up having way more emotion and honesty than I anticipated.  What started out as a throw away premise with a limited run gag turned out to be a really endearing story about growing up and coming to terms with the way your relationships change.  There is a healthy dose of well timed comedy, realistic mannerisms with the characters and some very grounded introspection.  In the end this story wrapped up in a very satisfying manner and is a fine example of quality story telling.

Tsuma Shogakusei Ni Naru

     Niijima Takae died in a traffic accident, leaving behind her husband and daughter.  Ten years later she finds herself inhabiting the body of a young girl names Marika.  She confronts her husband and now adult daughter, convincing them its her.  She is determined to use this miracle to change their lives as they have been stuck in a rut of depression since her passing.  Will she be able to get them to a point where they can truly live on with out her, the best they can be?

    What could have been a slap stick comedy or dangerous perversion turned out to be a really somber story of loss and regret and the struggles of actually getting a second chance to make things right.  This was an enjoyable melodrama that proved to be far better than I expected it to be.

Twilight Out Of Focus

     Second year students, Mao and Hisashi are room mates at their all boys school.  During the beginning of their first year, Mao learned that Hisashi is gay and has a boyfriend.  He promised to do everything he could to protect his room mates secret, while Hisashi promises to never pursue Mao as a sexual partner.  Mao's feelings begin to change the film club begins to produce their yearly movie and Hisashi is one of the leads, playing a gay man.  Mao struggles with his growing feelings and the promise Hisashi has made to him.

    This was an interesting yaoi romance that quickly changed focus to other characters that felt annoying, I ended up dropping it half way through as its thinly veiled romance plots began to make way to unimaginative sex scenes and amateur writing.  I enjoyed the main couple and liked the progress of their story but lost all interest when it changed focus.  The shift appeared to only exist to show yet another 'first time' scene between those characters with little other interest in furthering the story.

Whisper Me A Love Song

    One the first day of high school, Himari falls in love with the lead singer of a student band performing in the welcome ceremony.  She quickly seeks out the upper classman, Yori and confesses her love for her.  Unfortunately for Yori, Himari's love is for the power of her seniors performance, not for the senior herself.  Yori, heart broken, is still pleased that the energetic younger girl wants to spend as much time with her as possible.  Eventually, Yori confesses to the younger girl her feelings and tries as hard as she can to make ber feelings break through to her.

    This was a nice take on the standard high school yuri romance.  The initial misunderstanding growing into a burgeoning relationship and then shifting into a interpersonal drama revolving around the girl Yori replaced in the school band.  The character designs are questionable but the personalities, motivations and expositions of the small cast is well fleshed out and enjoyable.

Yakuza Fiance: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii

    Yoshino finds herself a willing prisoner in a rival yazuka family, under the pretense of marrying the clan boses grandson, Kirishima.  Kirishima is dangerous, belittling and abusive but when Yoshino plays the game at his level is disdain for her turns to uncontrollable desire.  She wants nothing to do with the violent lose canon, who is too unpredictable to join the ranks of his grandfathers clan.  As they find themselves at the center of a dangerous underworld conspiracy Yoshino begins to soften to her captor as she tris to endure it for the time.

     There is little actual romance in this series, which has a lot of problems both on the production side and what the characters represent as human beings.  But something about Yoshino made me watch it all the way to the end only to find the story on the cusp of being really interesting with no sign of there being more.  I'm on the fence about this being worth the time or not...especially since it ends prematurely and took so long to be compelling enough.