The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱) is a 28 episode super natural comedy based on he light novel series written by Tanigawa Nagaru.  The original  14 episodes aired during the Spring of 2006 and the second 14 episodes aired during the Fall of 2009.  This overview covers the original aired episodes.

    The series is about the title character Suzumiya Haruhi, an eccentric and fearless first year high school student and how she affects the world around her. It is told from the perspective of her classmate known only as Kyon, so you could say he is the main character in the show. There are a lot of monologues by Kyon who also acts as narrator. Haruhi is fearless, unrelenting, abusive, blunt and completely out of her mind. Upon showing up for the first day of school she introduces herself by telling everyone in class that she is only interested in paranormal beings, time travelers, aliens and ESP'ers. In normal situations this would make someone the class fool and leave them to be ridiculed by everyone. For Haruhi it's different, she is smart, beautiful and good at sports…plus she had generated an amazing reputation during middle school with her eccentric antics. Everyone around her can't help but stand aside and watch her work. She unhesitatingly confronts anyone anywhere and demands what ever she wants from them…one such case was forcing the baseball club to give up the field so her club could practice baseball instead.

   Eventually Kyon is able to strike up a conversation with the abusive Haruhi. During the course of said conversation he suggests that she create a club of her own, since she is bored with the ones that exist. That's exactly what she does and Kyon is her first victim/member. She calls her club the SOS Brigade…or the "Save our world by Overloading it with fun Suzumiya Haruhi Brigade". Having no idea for the clubs actual intent, Kyon is swept along in Haruhi's mania. She procures a room to have the club in, the old literature club of which only exists one member, the quiet and alien Nagato Yuki.  Haruhi is able to get Yuki to agree to let her club use the space. Yuki also gets absorbed into the SOS Brigade, due only to her being completely apathetic. The forth member scouted out by Haruhi is the 2nd year buxom beauty, Asahina Mikuru. Haruhi time and time again abuses Mikuru physically and emotionally, using her body to intimidate men, dressing her in bizarre moe costumes and generally controlling her. Kyon half-heartedly attempts to preserve Mikuru's sanity but takes advantage of some situations to feed his lust for her. The final member of the club is the 'mysterious transfer student Koizumi Itsuki. With this, the club has all of its necessary components, at least according to Haruhi, it is time to reveal the true purpose of the SOS Brigade to its gathered members;to search out and investigate paranormal phenomenon involving time travelers, aliens and ESP'ers.

 

 

    As the story develops each of the other members approach Kyon and confide in him that they are members of one of the above paranormal categories. That they are all there to observe Haruhi's actions, summoned to her because of an incident involving her from three years previously. As events unfold Kyon begins to believe the other members fantastic tales. Yet all of this must be kept from Haruhi, for according to all of them, she is the one person in control of reality. The reason all three of them are members of the club is because they represent each of the paranormal groups she is seeking and unknowingly she summoned them to her. Kyon has to figure out what is real and what isn't, as they all work to try and keep Haruhi from becoming bored or angry.

    The characters are pretty memorable, and aside from the main five, there are few supporting roles. Haruhi has the most colorful personality. Kyon is mature beyond his years and goes along with Haruhi mostly because of nothing else to do. He is obsessed with Mikuru but not in the usual anime teenager way. He does peek views at her when he can, but is composed and mature around her, unless she starts getting naked (voluntary or otherwise) during which he tries his best to not embarrass her. Kyon is also the only normal human being in the Brigade. Mikuru, the large chested bimbo, is soft spoken, not particularly bright and easy to walk over. Yuki is the quiet bookworm, always reading a book, which she does at incredible speeds. She says vary little and when she does, says it quietly. Nothing around her affects her in the slightest. Then finally there is Itsuki, the 'mysterious' exchange student. He is suave, debonair and generally good-natured. If it wasn't for the fact that he is connected with Haruhi he would probably be the popular boy in school…but he doesn't yearn for such things and instead enjoys him self with the club activities

 

    The first season was intentionally aired out of order in its original broadcast.  This is referred to as the Kyon Order and is as follows when compared to the correct chronological order of the first season.  The first number if the Kyon order and the second number if the Haruhi/First Season Chronological order.

1/11, 2/1, 3/2, 4/7, 5/3, 6/9, 7/8, 8/10, 9/14, 10/4, 11/13, 12/12, 13/5 and 14/6.
 

  I stumbled upon the series as it was airing in 2006. After skimming through the first episode I almost deleted it and banned it's existence from my memory. This is due to me misunderstanding what the first episode was truly about. My first impression was, this is a low quality, horribly drawn, badly encoded pile of moe garbage. Each time I would play the file and skip around in it I would pick up on things that perked my interest. Eventually I went all the way to the end and realized most of the first episode is drawn to look like an 8mm film being projected on a screen. I also started to realize that the part done like that is actually a home movie made by the characters and isn't really what the show is about. I ended up watching the first episode all the way though with a couple of friends, reassuring them that it wasn't going to be stupid, that it was funny. At the end of the episode, when they realized what I myself had finally realized, I was still unsure about the series. I was even less confident that my friends would be willing to watch any more of it. I decided to shelf the series and quietly pull the remaining episodes to be viewed sometime in the future. The first episode had some funny moments in it and I am a sucker for goofy high school comedies. I started to do some research on the show it's self. learning that the episodes were aired out of order on purpose…partially to mess with people and partially to alter the viewer’s perspective of the story. This intrigued me.

 

 

    The show quickly turned into a phenomenon as it aired n Japan. The novels it is based on jumped in the best selling list on the  Japanese Amazon site. The series ended up becoming one of the hottest fansubbed series of 2006 and generated so much buzz that the American licensing company, Kadokawa Pictures USA, officially recognized the work and effort of the fansubbers. A new special alternate ending for the series was released and ended up being the second most watched video on YouTube, with over 240,000 hits the day after it was uploaded…it was removed by the poster shortly after.

 

     I enjoyed this anime, it is a nice psychological show that kept me guessing for a while. The animation isn't bad; one thing about it is the quality of the characters motions, particularly the dance sequence in the final credits; it is well done and quite fluid. This is common in the series and brings it to that higher level in my opinion. The story is, with out a doubt, engaging and interesting. The characters are all interesting and memorable. All around I would say this series, although quite odd, is well done and can find its place in many peoples collections. If you're put off by the raving otaku fan base around the series and the large quantity of YouTube video’s showing people copying the ending credit dance sequence, don't worry, the show is pretty far from fan service otaku fodder.

His and Her Circumstance

His and Her Circumstance (彼氏彼女の事情) is a 26 episode comedic slice of life romance based on the manga of the same name by Tsuda Masami.  The anime originally aired between the Fall of 1998 and Winter of 1999 and was produced by Gainax.

 

     Miyazawa Yukino is the top student in her class. She is perfect in every way; best grades, good looks, and friendly attitude…just the #1 student. She has a secret…she expends all of her energy projecting that image because she thrives off of praise and attention. She feels that she must hide the fact that she is just a normal, middle class student who has flaws. She is so addicted to praise that she does everything possible to be THE model student. Yet at home she relaxes, lets her guard down, puts on grubby clothes, puts her hair back with a headband and dons her glasses to study until her brain is full. Her family is normal…if a bit goofy. She has two younger sisters and her parents. They live in a normal house and work normal job.  Her parents and sisters make fun of her for being the way she is, which she returns by being snide and overbearing. She sacrifices so much of her life being perfect she has no hobbies or true friends…all she is concerned about is being the best.   At the beginning of her high school career that all changes. 

 

    She was supposed to be the best, have the highest exam score, be the class rep, etc. Then someone else got a better score than her, Arima Souichiro. He is her rival in every way, he has the best grades, is liked just as much as her, is in the kendo club, excels at sports, is easy to get along with, is generally the model student and comes from a long line of doctors. She begins to direct all of her energy to beating her new rival…only in her head.  She feels that Arima threatens her existence; he is what he his naturally, while she is what she is due to putting up a facade and working hard. She hates him to such an extreme that all of her energy is put into becoming even better then he is, excelling above and beyond him, becoming the model student that wasn't even possible before. He surprises her with a confession.   She rejects him instantly, seeing it as an opportunity to hold something over his head.. This leads her to analyzing if he was honest or not, wondering whether or not he was just trying to taunt her. Then she lets her guard down at the worst possible moment.

 

 

    On a Sunday afternoon Arima goes to her house to lend her a CD that they had talked about previously in light conversation. Miyazawa, being the only one home, does not consider the person ringing the doorbell is not a family member.  She answers, looking as she does when she is alone at home, a complete wreck, to Arima…whom she has started to have feelings for.. It is out, her secret, true identity is out, she is no longer the icon of perfection, and her rival in love and society now knows her secret. She fears he will use it against her so she try's to strike a bargain with him to hide her true identity.  He accepts and makes her do his homework. The 'blackmail' only lasts so long before she snaps on him and tells him to do it him self.  In the confrontation she finds out that he too, is hiding his true identity, and the only reason he had her do his work was so he could spend more time with her. Arima works almost as hard as Miyazawa to be the model student he is, to prove to his family that he is not a failure like his biological parents were.  That he will make his foster parents (his aunt and uncle) proud of him. He pushes himself to the limits to be the best at everything for fear of becoming worthless like his real parents. 

    They both know each others true identities and complexes. They make a pact with each other to be their true selves from then on. This leads to the beginning of their romantic relationship and their fellow classmates begin to harbor resentment and ill feelings towards them, most notably Miyazawa. The series follows them through many trials and tribulations with their relationship. Both internal and external conflicts that threaten to destroy what they have together. Between other students, the faculty, their grades and their own insecurities. This is when a lot of the heavy analytical thinking starts to happen, when the characters are constantly analyzing their relationship and finding what is wrong with them that would cause them to not be together. More characters are introduced and the base increases as the series continues. Soon there is a good-sized cast of supporting characters who are both protagonists and antagonists. There is a small side story that deals with a girl who is from the same middle school as Arima that feels he is the only man for her. The arc deals with her home life issues and is quite mature (even though the character in question is not). Another episode delves into Miyazawa's parents past, showing how her parents met when they were barely in grade school. In my opinion her fathers' story is the most emotional, although less than an episode in length. 

    The series was directed by Anno Hideaki, the man behind Neon Genesis Evangelion. Anno’s art direction and story telling style are as prominent in His and Her Circumstance as it was in Eva.  The series is primarily a romance drama, there is some goofy comedy but overall it is about the two main characters relationship and both the outer and inner influences and obstacles their relationship encounters. For a series that deals with a 'typical' high school romance it is quite mature and highbrow in my opinion. There is a certain amount of goofy anime-esque dialog and physical comedy, but large portions of the characters interactions are excellently handled and insightful. I really enjoy Anno's tendency to have his characters delve into themselves as if they were psychoanalysts. He touches upon very real and very profound ideas in the characters conversations and self-examinations that make for a truly enjoyable series.

 

    The animation isn't the greatest in the world, the characters are of the same style as in Eva, there are a lot of Anno's somewhat trademark background scenes…images of real objects, distorted and traced over. This was done to some extent in End of Evangelion. The series is from the end of the 90's, so obviously it is dated but that shouldn't keep people from watching it. The main draw should be the character dialog. This series would work better, I think, as a live action drama…but hey whatever, although it would be harder to convey the techniques Anno uses in the anime. Most of the soundtrack in the series is light and airy classical music, with your run of the mill anime-pop opening and ending themes. I truly enjoyed this mature and engaging love story…it was defiantly NOT run of the mill. For people who enjoy good romances, like Maison Ikkoku, this is perfect for you. Even if you are not a big fan of the romances you might want to watch some of this show just to check out the excellent story telling.

 

Koi Kaze

Koi Kaze (恋風) is a 13 episode dramatic romance based on the manga of the same name by Yoshida Motoi.  The anime originally aired during the Spring of 2004.

 

    Saekiu Koshiro, a large and quiet man, lives with his father in Tokyo, working at a company that provides match making and wedding planning services.  His girlfriend leaves him for another man, blaming his disinterest and general lack of direction in live for her change of heart.  One day on the train he sees a high school girl and begins to yearn for her. She drops her train pass as she leaves and he rushes out to give it to her, further deepening his instant love of this unknown girl. A few days later he and a coworker attend a meeting for work and are given tickets to a nearby amusement park. Koshiro's coworker pushes them off on him as they are leaving. When they exit the building the same schoolgirl from the train is in front of the building. She is waiting for her father. Koshiro, blinded by his lust for her, asks if she would like to join him at the amusement park for a while. While on the Farris wheel, they begin talking about each others relationships. Koshiro breaks down after he realizes how miserable of a human he is and the girl comforts him in a motherly fashion. They end their fun at the amusement park and as they are parting ways the girls father shows up...it's Koshiro's father.

    Koshiro's parents divorced when he was younger, he stayed with his father, his baby sister went with his mother. Koshiro neglected to visit his sister or mother in the twelve years they have lived apart and had all but forgotten about her existence. Nanoka, who uses their mothers last name Kohinata, has decided to move in with Koshiro and their father so she doesn't have a long commute to school and was happy to finally be with her brother and father after all these years.  Koshiro's initial feelings of sexual attraction to his younger sister causes him a great deal of mental turmoil.  In order to fight off his feelings for her, he turns offensive and crass when dealing with her. He yells and scolds her all the time in a futile attempt to drive her away from him. As the series continues Nanoka begins to fall in love with her brother, regardless of his attitude, causing him even more emotional strain.  

 

    Before I go any further I should probably tell you that this series is not some twisted hentai. It is a tasteful (as possible for the context) well-written and engaging drama. The entire atmosphere of the series is very soothing and dreamlike, with moody backgrounds and softly tinkling piano music. It is well done and quite mature, yet disturbing in subject matter. THE REST OF THIS REVIEW FOR THE MOST PART CONTAINS SPOILERs, SO BEWARE!!!

    I was under the impression that it was going to be about Koshiro fighting his demons, not attempting to succumb to them. The series stays at that level until episode 12, were it all crashes in and passes the point of no return...the point of no salvation...Koshiro even states that himself near the end of the episode. I think going the way it did is a brave, yet disturbing, move on the creator's part. A series like this would not be readily accepted in the United Sates, let alone played on a major TV network (it aired on TV Asahi). I was rather surprised to see that it was released on DVD in 2005 in the States. In the end they succumb to their primal urges and the need for another humans touch and do what siblings should never do...yet it ends with an open ending. 

 

    The last segment does not clear up whether they decided to continue their relationship, end their relationship or end seeing each other all together and forget all that transpired. *Scratching head* Anyways, the series, regardless of the subject matter, was well done and enjoyed (minus the subject matter). The entire time I was watching in horror as Koshiro slipped closer and closer. I was begging him to come to his senses, hoping for a normal non-damaging ending. Not to say that the series mentally scarred me, I would like to think I'm mature enough to handle such taboo subject matters without questioning the fate of the world. I was just hoping that the characters wouldn't be as flawed as they turned out to be. I was hoping for what I lambaste, predictability and normalcy. For a large part of the show I was on the edge of my seat wondering when he was going to end his downward spiral on the end of a rope. After they consummated their mutual feelings I was on the edge wondering how large the fall out was going to be. The series is quite sweet and very moody, so if you are one who is not afraid of an off-kilter subject and enjoys well done romance/dramas check this one out...just make sure you can accept the fact that you are watching a series about incest without feeling like bathing in holy water and acting like your watching a hentai flick.

 

The series was released on DVD in North America.

 

Welcome to the N.H.K.

Welcome to the N.H.K. (N・H・Kにようこそ!) 24 episode slice of life anime based on the novel of the same name by Takimoto Tatsuhiro.  The anime originally aired during the Summer and Fall of 2006.

    Satou Tatsuhiro became a hiki during his first year of college after suffering a nervous breakdown on the way to school. He began thinking that everyone on the street was chastising and ridiculing him. He fled in terror and locked him self in his room. Now he is a hikikomori NEET (Not of Employment, Education of Training) who lives on an allowance his parents send him, watching TV all day long. He sits in his one room apartment smoking, drinking and not doing anything. The series starts off with him being rudely awoken to the muffled sounds of a bi-shojo anime theme. His new neighbor has been playing the same song continuously for a couple of weeks and it is starting to grate on his senses. He envisions himself kicking in the door and yelling at the otaku to knock it the fuck out already. Yet he remembers that he is a hikikomori and can't stand to have any sort of contact with other people. He begins to daydream about his high school years spent doing nothing with the only other member of the literature club, his senpai Kobayashi Megumi, playing cards and debating conspiracy theories. He developed a deep infatuation with his senpai but was never brave enough to confess to her. Thinking about conspiracies leads him to believe that he is the way he is due to a conspiracy. 

    Suddenly his reality shifts and his appliances begin talking to him (in the manga this happens after he downs a bunch of pills). They tell him the organization that is behind his life of misery is the NHK (Nihon Hodo Kyokai; Japans PBS or BBC equivalent), re-branded as the Nihon Hikikomori Kyokai or Japanese Shut-in Corporation. He comes out of his delusion with a strong sense of power and thinks that, due to his seclusion, he should be able to break a glass bottle with his bare hands like a karate master. He attempts it and cuts himself. In the middle of trying to clean up the mess his doorbell rings and without a second thought he answers it. Standing at the door is a mysterious pale girl holding a parasol. Before either can say anything the girls' aunt steps in front of Satou, pushing religious tracts on him. He notices the issue she holds up has an article about hikikomori and he freaks out saying he couldn't possibly be one himself and retreats into his house. After lightly attempting suicide he decides he needs to improve his situation and get a job, as his electricity is close to being shut off. He gathers up all of his courage and heads out into the world to find a job. He stops at a manga café to apply but seizes up when the pale girl from before is working the counter. He stammers on about something meaningless, drops his resume and flees back to the safety of his apartment. He wonders why the girl was there and begins to imagine her as some sexually deprived/yet needing good little catholic girl…like the standard hentai plot line. Then she shows up at his house with his resume in hand. She introduces herself, Nakahara Misaki, and questions why he didn't apply for the job at the manga café. In the course of the conversation he admits that he is a hiki of which Misaki is overjoyed. She says she has come to save him from his miserable life, that she has a course that will cure hikikomori.

    Satou then meets his otaku neighbor face to face to find out it is an underclassman from high school named Yamazak Kaorui. Satou ended up saving Yamazaki from being beaten up one day in school only to impress his sempai. Due to that, Yamazaki has felt strongly indebted to Satou. Yamazaki is in Tokyo for school to be a video game programmer. Yamazaki is a true otaku, his apartment is filled with manga, anime, figurines and posters and, as Satou knows, anime soundtracks. This gives Satou an idea on how to convince Misaki that he isn't a hikikomori. He meets her that evening at a near by park and tells her that he cannot be a hiki because a hiki doesn't work, he works but it's just at home. She asks what he does and he tells her that he is a game designer. When she asks for proof he tells her that he is working on a new game and he will show it to her when it's done. He then goes back to Yamazaki and tells him they need to make a game, Yamazaki instantly jumps on the idea and takes it to the next level. Their goal now is to make the biggest most ground breaking ero-game ever and take over the video game world. Since Satou has no skills he is given the task of writing the scenario for the game. In order to understand what they are trying to achieve Yamazaki lends him a stack of ero-games. Once Satou understands what to do he becomes obsessed not only with the games but with downloading porn as well.

    The series continues on it's course and deals with Satou and Yamazaki trying to make their game, Misaki-Chan trying to save Satou from being a hiki, using her self made course material and other people from Satou's past either taking advantage of him or trying to rekindle some old ideas/emotions. Satou's senpai tries to destroy her 'perfect life' by cheating on her boyfriend with Satou. The class rep, from Satou's class, has gotten sucked into the treacherous world of pyramid schemes. All in all it is really about Satou and Misaki-Chan’s social and self-esteem, issues and how they react towards each other. Satou is trying to find a place for himself, some sort of reason to live…and to loose his virginity. Misaki is trying to feel some sort of self worth and latches onto Satou as someone who needs her to survive. The series has a lot of insane humor, sight gags and cultural puns but near the end it turns towards a more serious tone and the comedy starts to take a less prominent role. It's a well-written series that is based off of a manga that was based off of a short book. I have not read the book but I have read the manga. The manga and the anime are different in certain things; some of the story arcs are not in the anime or are slightly different. There is less emphasis on sex or sexuality and there is almost no reference to many of the characters drug habits/problems. The drug thing is understandable for broadcast TV but it helps to explain why the characters act they way they do sometimes.  The characters really are into drugs, there is a great little story arc that leads to the climax of the manga that involves Satou and Miyazaki doing some pills and going to a hot spring…funny stuff.

    This is a must see anime for anyone who is a fan of anime. The way it takes apart the lives of the desperate; society-shunning otaku is both highly entertaining and insightful. The entire series is available in English as is the manga.  Highly recommended!

Zegapain

Zegapain (ゼーガペイン) is a 25 episode original mecha anime created by Sunrise.  The series aired between the Spring and Summer of 2006 and was used as a companion piece for two Xbox 360 titles, released in 2006 titled, Zegapain NOT and Zegapain XOR.

 

    Sogoru Kyo, a freshman in high school, whose anger issues have caused him to be the schools sole swim club member, struggles to recruit members to save the club. One day he sees a beautiful girl standing on the high dive board in the pool, she stares at him with sad eyes and silently speaks to him, then dives into the pool and disappears. He desperately begins to search for this mysterious girl, which no one else seems to know. At the same time he enlists the help of his childhood friend and neighbor, Kaminagi Ryoko, a member of the AV club, to help him make a recruitment video. His key to making the video is to have the mysterious girl in it.  After searching relentlessly for the girl, Kyo finds himself back at the pool after school. The girl appears, asking him if he heard her voice. She then pushes him into the pool, jumping in after him. Underwater she embraces him, a mysterious logo appears on her forehead, she asks him if he is ready to return to Zegapain and the logo appears on his forehead as well. Kyo finds himself in the front seat of a large mech, with the girl sitting behind him. She quickly instructs him that he is a Gunner and she is a Wizard, they, with the help of Zegapain; work to save humanity from a mechanized menace. Kyo feels comfortable and familiar in the Gunner seat of the Zega, as if he has done it hundreds of times before. Using the Zega's light armor and light weapons, they defeat a slew of enemies in an abandoned war-torn cityscape. When the battle is over Kyo finds him self back in the pool with only the memories of the fight and a kiss from the mysterious girl named Shizuno Misaki to prove it was real.

    The next day at school, Kyo discovers that everyone suddenly knows Misaki.  Barely questioning the circumstance around this, Kyo only cares about the promo video. During filming they are again transported through the water to the Zegapain, for another round of combating the enemy called Gards-orm. Kyo is instructed that the mission is to destroy the Deutera Areas, which the Gards-orm uses to make areas of the destroyed planet uninhabitable for humans. Kyo finds out that he is now a Celebrant, a select group of people who fight the Gards-orm using the Zega's and flying battleships. His high school student council president captains the ship he is now a part of. He also meets pilots of the other Zega aboard the ship. Kyo spends his time between the real world of school, fights and swimming, and the other world where he fights the enemy to save humanity. After visiting his friend, Kaminagi, he discovers that a popular net-game her brother plays, is exactly like the battles he goes through as a Celebrant. Soon he uses the game to train himself to fight more efficiently and learn about his mission. Nice little product placement huh?

    All is not right with the world though, Kyo begins to question what reality is. He questions why they are fighting the Gards-orm and why he continuously feels deja vu. The answers to these questions are all linked and the truth is strong enough to destroy his mind. I won't get too much into the actual mystery behind the series, I feel it would ruin the show. What I will say is that Kyo has been 'Resurrected'. The beginning sequence of the first episode shows Kyo and Misaki fighting the Gards-orm on the surface of the moon. Taking heavy damage, Kyo tells Misaki to return to the ship while he does what he can to stop the advancing enemies. The end result is Kyo self-destructing the Zega. Much like Neon Genesis Evangelion the Celebrum seem to come from the school that Kyo and the others attend. Almost everyone who works on the ship are from the school. Not only is the student president the captain of the ship but his second in command is the vice-president of the student council. The rest of the non-combat members are also students. Ultimately the fight against the Gards-orm is a fight to save humanity, even though it takes place in a different world.

    The animation is typical for the current crop of TV anime, nothing special. The design for the Zega took a little getting used to for me. Part of the mechs, the parts that are light armor, and light weapons, are computer generated. The integration of the 2d and 3d is mostly seamless, but it's still a bit odd to see parts of the mech glowing. The mech designs are very similar to the Eva's. The characters are moody and, for the main cast, well developed. The main secret for the story is revealed around episode 5 or 6 but more secrets keep you guessing almost to the end. Speaking of the ending, there is a nice little scene after the credits of the final episode that end's it on a nice note. I was pleased with the ending in whole, but, unless I missed something, there were a few questions, I had, left unanswered. People can pick out a good deal of hidden meanings in the series that relate to current political and scientific issues. Some of these you have to dig for and others are straightforward. The series is pretty much standard fair when it comes to the end result and the arc it takes. Good guys fighting the bad guys. Misunderstandings between each other’s worldly views. The main characters overcome personal flaws and prevailing through self worth, determination, trust in others and sometimes self sacrifice for the good of others. It can also be construed as a coming of age story and a loss of innocence archetype.

 

    All in all, good series, nothing too out of the ordinary, but then again it's not a bad thing to not fix what isn't broken. Even if most American reviewers didn’t like the series I still enjoyed it.

UPDATE: Bandai owns the license for this series in North America and released it on DVD.

 

UPDATE JANUARY 2024: Sunrise announced in August of 2023 that a follow up series is planned for 2024 called 'Olta Mode Arc' but little details have emerged since that press release.

Rumbling Hearts

Kimi ga Nozomu Eien (君が望む永遠) is a 14 episode romance/drama that aired in Japan during the Fall of 2003.  The anime is based on a galge for the PC of the same name.  The American title for the show is Rumbling Hearts and was brought out by Funimation. Kimi ga Nozomu Eien translates into The Eternity You Desire.

 

 

    The story is about four high school friends. Takayuki, Shinji, Haruka and Mitsuki. Takayuki and Shinji are child hood friends and the same goes for Haruka and Mitsuki. Haruka falls in love with Takayuki in a chance encounter at a bookstore. She forces Mitsuki, who is in the same class as Takayuki and Shinji, to become friends with them in order to allow her to get closer to her love. Eventually, all in the first episode, Takayuki finds out about Haruka's feelings and the two begin to date. Takayuki is the strong, silent type who coasts through life without any worries. He doesn't have any particular cares or concerns. It seems like he agrees to date Haruka because he can't think of a reason not too. Haruka is a shy, timid girl living not wholly in reality, her dream is to be a children's book author. She is a pretty innocent soul. Eventually, the second episode, their love blossoms and they almost have sex, but are interrupted by Haruka's family returning home. Mitsuki is a rough athletic tomboy who harmlessly flirts with both Takayuki and Shinji. It doesn't seem that she likes one of over the other but as time goes on, the first two episodes, you can see she has more fondness for Takayuki. Shinji, well, he's kind of like the 3rd wheel, or in this case the 4^th wheel. He likes Mitsuki but is pretty 2 dimensional; they really don't develop his personality in the series.

    Takayuki develops a habit of being late to dates with Haruka, a couple of times due to Mitsuki, this is were you begin to see her fondness for him. The final straw is when Takayuki is already running late for the date, he was buying a book that Haruka really wanted as a present when Mitsuki sidetracks him. She forces him to buy her a birthday present. By this point Takayuki and Haruka's relationship has developed to the point were they are both planning to go to the same university in order to be together. Pretty well developed after such a nonchalant start. After satisfying Mitsuki's demands he rushes off to the train station, where Haruka is waiting, already dangerously late. He discovers an accident scene when he arrives. Some one lost control of their car and slammed into a row of pay phones in front of the station hitting a pedestrian. Upon searching for Haruka in the crowd of on lookers, Takayuki over hears the name of the accident victim…yeah it's his girl. The car obliterated her, leaving only blood and a hair ribbon to prove it.

 

    Skip ahead 3 years into the future, episode 3, and Takayuki is working part time in a family dinner named, Sky Temple. Mitsuki is working at some sort of business supply company, selling things door to door. Shinji is going to college. Haruka, well she's laid up in the hospital in a coma. The rest of the series deals with the 3 awake friends relationships with each other and with Haruka.  Mitsuki and Takayuki are dating, and for some time, living together. Shinji, who still has feelings for Mitsuki doesn't play much of a roll until near the end of the series as a sort of catalyst point…boring fuck. Eventually Haruka awakes from the deep sleep, and is not aware of the passage of time. Her chain-smoking doctor informs everyone that they cannot let her know that 3 years have passed. She still thinks they are in high school preparing for college entrance exams and that she and Takayuki are dating. What makes matters worse is Haruka's younger sister, Akane. She once idolized Mitsuki and loved Takayuki as an onii-chan. The sight of them together fills her with rage and disgust as she sees betrayal of her sister in their relationship. She pushes the 'love triangles' strains to the limit. All in all the series is about these people who at one point were inseparable and how events changed the directions of their lives. Now they have to face undeniable truths and salvage what they can of their relationships as time catches up to them.

    This is a very heavy and serious drama. Like really damn serious. Between about episodes 9-14 I was wondering who was going commit suicide. At one point or another all four friends, and Akane, get pretty close to doing it, at least in my eyes. Hell, a lot of real people in Japan will choose suicide over a lot of things, especially deep rooted pain and fear. Anyways, it's really depressing and emotional, except for two sub characters. At the restaurant Takayuki works at, there are 2 servers who are the series comedic relief. Two spitfire, anime-esque, girls named Daikuuji and Mayu (Mayumayu). They provide plenty of chuckles, grins and even a few laughs as they mess with Takayuki. Daikuuji, the main perpetrator, has a catch phrase that she shouts at him, 'Go step in cat shit!'. Along with their scattered appearances throughout the series they are also the main focus of the "previews". It's actually not a preview of the next episode.  Instead it's the two comic relief characters acting goofy in SD while talking about something that happened in that episode, a little like the end of every Bleach episode, the Shinigami Golden thing. There is also a 2 minute long spoof/parody that was released that's a trailer for a Gundam spoof that deals with all the characters and the plot line of the series, worth tracking down!

 

    All in all this was an entertaining series, if you're into romance/drama. The story is pretty gripping. The art is nothing special, but this series isn't about the art, it's about the story. The characters are all your normal anime fair, different unnatural hair colors and the absence of facial details every so often. I am happy that it was being released to English speaking audiences. So, if you are one who finds this anime intriguing definitely pick up the DVDs.

    There was a continuation of the story released called Kimi ga Nozomu Eien Next Season which was released in 2007.

Kurokami

Kurokami (黒神) is a 24 episode super natural seinen series based on the manhwa of the same name by Dalli-Young Lim and Park Sung-woo.  The anime originally aired between the Spring and Summer of 2009.

     Kurokami takes place in modern times or a little further in the future. High school student Keita Ibuki lives alone with his older sister after their mother was killed in a traffic accident some years earlier. One night, sulking in misery, Keita runs into a strange homeless looking girl at his favorite ramen shop. The shops owner ends up talking to Keita about his mother when the girl interjects. Keita brings up the idea that there are 2 people in the world who look exactly like you. The girl tells him he is wrong, what it really is is that there are three versions of everyone made, who live different lives. When two of them met each other two of them will die shortly after, leaving the original copy alive, continuing the existence of all three people. Keita’s mom was killed the day after she ran into someone that looked exactly like her. Before the girl could comment on anything more a large man arrives and attacks the girl with a baseball bat. The girl proves tougher than her appearance and both beings begin an aggressive and powerful fight. After what should have been numerous fatal blows both combatants flee the scene as the police show up, leaving Keita with more than enough questions to worry over. The next day the idea proposed by the mysterious girl is made more concrete after his classmate is killed the day after talking about seeing her double. To make the point stick even more the little girl who lives next door to him is taken out by a truck shortly after she tells him about seeing her double. Now Keita wants to find the mysterious girl who knows so much about this hidden world around them, so he can get answers for himself and possibly find out why his mom was the one that had to die.

     This is a pretty slick story. The animation is nice, although the mysterious girl, Kuro, is drawn in typical goofy fan service style and comes equipped with a cute animal.. The first thing I thought about is that the series mildly reminded me of Elfen Lied. There are two things that are unique with this anime. The manga was created by two Korean artist’s and the anime will be broadcast simultaneously in Japan, America and Korea when it officially airs. Bandai has chosen to distribute it in America with an English dub on their aiTV network on Thursday nights. The show looks good, the story is interesting and I can’t wait to watch more of the series…good start to the new year.

2008 Year in review amendum

So it was pointed out for me that I forgot at least one title for the 2008 year, Xam'd. This slick and entertaining action adventure series is the latest from Bones and is an interesting combination of Escaflowne, Pumpkin Scissors, Last Exile, Naussica and some weird bio monster show. So there are actually 9 best picks for the year, still a poor showing in my book.

KissXsis

It seems fitting that what was supposed to be the first new episode review of the new year would be somewhat related to a series I just watched that is over 25 years old. KissXsis, originally I thought it was a new TV series, is actually a hentai OAV set. I continued to think that this was series was going to be airing on TV in the next week or so and that the episode zero I found was a precursor to it. Well, that information is partially correct. Episode zero is a precursor to the series that came out packaged with the recent tankuban volume. The problem is that this is not a lead in to the TV series, because their will be no TV series, yet anyways, for this title. Instead the OAV's will come out with the tankubon volumes. Unfortunately I discovered this about half way through the damn episode.

    Why I say this is very coincidental since I watched it 24 hours after pounding through 13 episodes of the old romance Miyuki (see review below) is due to the subject matter, love between step siblings. The similarity ends there. The OAV, based on the manga by the same name, is about young Keita and his twin step sisters, Ako and Riko. They continuously tease Keita in very un-sibling like ways, partially for their enjoyment of tormenting him and partially because they are both in lust with him. Keitas father and step mother seem to have no problem with the situation, with his father strongly endorsing it...so long as the boy keeps up his grades. Keita doesn't, at first, want anything of the sort to happen due to their sibling status, even if there is no blood relation. He has known them since a very early age and see's them as his cute older sisters. the twins have other plans and end up confessing to him in school. It kind of ended here in the episode, which I had already started skimming through instead of watching entirely.

    So, I don't enjoy hentai, I grew out of that when I graduated high school. A lot of the fanservice tendencies that I detest derive from hentai. I have no interest in watching this series and if I wouldn't have been confused I wouldn't have even watched what I did. I knew right away there was something wrong with this series, before I knew the truth. At first I was shocked by the graphic-ness of it, thinking it was still being aired on TV. then I thought this first one was an OAV and of course it could be a little more raunchy, it was a pre-episode after all, thinking the TV series would be a little more subdued. There wasn't any nudity per say, just a lot of very detailed panty shots and boxer shaped erections. Nothing says loving like camel-toe and inter-sibling tonguing I guess. Anyways, needless to say the show didn't interest me and I quickly began scanning the net to find out info on the show as the episode rolled on. When I discovered the truth I skipped through the rest of the episode and shuddered when it said 'tsutzuku' at the end. The only reason I decided to even write about viewing this hentai OAV is because of the topic being so closely related to the show I just reviewed. It goes to show hat the same subject matter can be handled in a number of different ways. You have KissXsis, with it detailed anatomy (the animation is actually pretty top quality all around so kudos for that) and it's very sexually natured scenarios. Then you have Miyuki and it's semi-innocent tale about step sibling relations, even if it is flawed in how it presents the dangers of reality, it's still innocent and family friendly. Lastly you have Koi Kaze and it's true incest story which is probably one of the most dramatic and well written anime out there, even if the subject matter is incredibly taboo (and KissXsis calls it's self taboo, pah!!) which aired on public TV in Japan. KissXsis is nothing new, nothing shocking and nothing to get excited about, unless you like hentai, then again I didn't see any nudity in the first episode so that might even be a bust.

After second thought I decided not to put up a video for this show, the only one that would work with my time frame choices is the entire morning kiss scene between the twins and their brother. I didn't want to set up any sort of standard by putting something so graphic, even if it's not nude based, on this site. It's not that I'm puritanical, far from, I just don't think this is the place I want something like that lurking

Miyuki

Miyuki (みゆき) is a 37 episode slice of live romance based on the manga of the same name by Adachi Mitsuru.  The anime originally aired from the Spring of 1983 through the winter of 1984.

 

    Miyuki follows the internal conflicts and pubescent mishaps of high school student Wakamatsu Masato. We begin the series with Masato and his two friends working for their classmate/friend Ryuichi at his beach house. Ryuichi tricked them into the job with the promise of being able to see their classmates in bikinis during spring vacation. Ryuichi invited four girls from their class as guests in order to lure the boys to help him.  Masato and classmate Yoshio end up sneaking into the girls room, looking through their swim wear. When the girls arrive both boys hide in the closet and discover that one of the classmates, Kashima Miyuki, has mild interest in Masato. Masato takes this opportunity and approaches Miyuki later to try and develop a relationship with her. When he asks why she isn’t swimming she confesses that her swimsuit is missing at which point Masato realizes the bottom portion of it is in his hoodie pouch. In a moment of embarrassment he absentmindedly removes it from the hoodie to wipe his forehead, much to both characters horror. Miyuki promptly slaps him and that ends his chances to go to a movie with her. Shortly afterwards a beautiful girl arrives on a surfboard. All the boys are smitten with her and Ryuichi nudges Masato to go get her information. He chases after her into the woods. She coyly plays along with him, teasing him a bit, but does not tell him who she is.

 

     After the day is done, Masato heads to his fathers cabin nearby. His father is supposed to be back in Japan after six years working and living abroad and Masato wants to see him. He arrives at the cabin but the only person there is the mysterious surfer girl from earlier. The girl, whom he has fallen for, given his failure with Miyuki, is none other than his sister Wakamatsu Miyuki. She teases him but they are glad to see each other for the first time in six years. When school starts again Kashima Miyuki makes up with Masato and they again resume plans to go on a date to the movies. At the same time Masato is struggling with feelings for his beautiful and uninhibited younger sister.  Masato must chose who he wants to be with but doing so will be a rocky road on either side as he continues to make embarrassing mistakes with Kashima and can’t let on to his feelings to his sister Miyuki.

 

     OK, so you might be thinking, it’s an incest story, like Koi Kaze, but you would be wrong. It’s a bit complicated how Masato and Miyuki are related, I actually didn’t find out the whole story between them until I looked it up online. Masato’s mom died when he was young. His father married Miyuki's mother, thus becoming Miyuki’s stepfather, making Masato her stepbrother. Miyuki’s mother then died and she decided to live with her stepfather while Masato chose to stay in Japan under the care of a family housekeeper. So Miyuki and Masato are not related by blood, just the bond of perceived relation, which is what causes Masato such a headache when he lusts for his stepsister. To make matters worse Masato, for fear of anyone discovering his feelings about her, does not tell anyone they are not blood related. At the same time he also continues to pursue Kashima Miyuki, to varying degrees of success. By the end of the 13 episodes I had, they were officially dating but not before a number of slapping incidents and misunderstood make-ups. Wakamatsu Miyuki has also enrolled at school and is dealing with her own relationship trouble as well. Ryuichi is continually courting her, much to Masato's dismay and her homeroom teacher; Torao blatantly tries to court her affection. After a while Kashima Miyuki’s father Yasujiro, a police detective, begins to court Wakamatsu Miyuki, even though he is married and has a child.

     So this anime is interesting in the way it shows perceived stereotypes of lust and wanton abandon in Japan. You have the creepy single teacher who is trying to get with his underage student. Then you have the creepy police officer that is trying to get with an underage student. The police officer is the biggest example of this problem in Japan, where you have a middle aged, professional, family man, who is actively courting a high school student. He gives her rides around town, buys her gifts, fawns over her every chance he can get, and hides it all from his family. He even lies to Miyuki in the beginning and tells her that he reminds her of his long dead daughter, which causes him to work fast on his feet when Miyuki questions how she can look like someone who died when they were so young. Eventually Masato realizes who the dirty old man is but seems to only regard the situation as troublesome instead of dangerous.

 

 

The same is said with the teacher’s lust. With the teacher though, at one point you find out he is involved in an arranged marriage to a woman named, you guessed it, Miyuki. Due to a misunderstanding on his part, when he though he was confessing to the younger Miyuki, he blurts out he will marry her and the two are set to be wed. On the last day of bachelorhood he convinces Miyuki Wakamatsu to go on a date with him, so he can savor that which will never have and start fresh with his bride. After the date he goes to a yakitori stand to drown his misery in sake and happens to share the stand with his soon to be father in law. In a drunken rage they fight after he complains that he is marrying an ugly older woman and the wedding is canceled, leaving the teacher to pursue his student once again.

The way this series handles the problems of adult men lusting for teenage girls is both troublesome and understandable given the age of the series. It shows such situations pretty realistically with the exception of the extent of the danger. While all of the characters are cautious and warm against the vultures, it is done with out any real sense of danger or concern. Masato has more concern for his sister hanging out with his classmate Ryuichi than he does with the pedophile cop. If this series were being produced now we would see the situation shown in a different, darker light. Yet this story came out in a more innocent age in anime, where nothing can totally go wrong and everything is clean and friendly to some extent. I won’t know for sure until I watch the rest of the series or read the manga but there is a slight possibility of their being a dark and sinister moment in the series that shows the dangers of pedophile men. I say there is a slight chance of this due to the author who doesn’t always paint a rosy picture, as with the main plot device in Touch, but I don’t see that happening. That would have caused a major stir in Japan during the early 80’s. Instead it was acceptable to playfully show some dirty old men being dirty but clean.

 

 

Miyuki is an old series. It is dated and the animation is low quality by today’s standards. The characters are goofy and fall into stereotypes similar to series of the same period, like Urusei Yatsura. If you are a fan of the 80’s romances, try and check this one out, it’s really hard to find and almost impossible in it’s entirety from what I can see in English. The manga is also incredibly hard to find as it only came out in Japan and I have not been able to find a scanlation version. Luckily, I could easily end the series after the 13 episodes, because the 13^th one brings us back to Ryuichi’s beach business and we can get a glimpse of a possible answer to which Miyuki ends up with whom. Yet since I know there is more, I want to watch more. If you want to deal with a similar series and not run into the hassle of not being able to finish it, track down Touch instead.

UPDATE: This series is still not and will never be licensed in North America.  It is too old and there is too little interest in it.  I will continue to try and find it in fansub form but have little hope in being successful.

Minami-ke Okawari

Minami-ke Okawari (みなみけ～おかわり～) is the 13 episode follow up to the original Minami-ke slice of live comedy series.  It is based on the manga, Minami-ke, by Sakuraba Koharu.  The series originally aired over the Winter of 2009. 

     Okawari (seconds) continues the daily lives of the three Minami sisters, Chiaki, Haruka and Kana, as they go about their lives as lovable orphans. Their friends continue to visit at every available opportunity and Chiaki and Kana continue to scheme against each other.

    Okawari is really just a continuation of the original series, but due to the change in production companies, the way the episodes are arranged also changed, which was a bit unfortunate. With the original series each episode was more like a string of related vignettes, which followed the spirit of the manga. With Okawari, the episodes are complete stories in themselves, mostly focusing on one central theme or topic. While this is common in most anime, the vignette style of story telling made the original series' pace more natural. Some of the episodes in Okawari dragged on. One episode in particular was quite annoying in that it was a story that has been rehashed in TV for decades. The episode was all about Kana feigning sickness to get out of work at school and then work at home. The suspicious Chiaki keeps a close eye on her for the entire day to catch her when she slips up. The next day they plan to go out shopping together and get a nice dinner. Unfortunately for Kana she is sick for real and has to hide it from her sisters. She tells them to go shopping without her so she can do her homework and then be free of concern for their dinner together. She uses the opportunity to fight her cold in the short window of time available but is unable to by the time her sisters return, catching her red handed in her lies.

     Don’t get me wrong though, this is still an entertaining series, just not as fast paced as the original. The sisters continue to abuse and manipulate their friends in highly entertaining ways, such as making Makoto continue to cross dress and act as Mako-chan. We get to see more of the side characters that were briefly shown in the original. In the end though the series is a straightforward slice of life light comedy about the sisters. If you liked the original you can enjoy this one, as it is more mundane adventures with beloved characters. With the end of this series there is also a blessing in disguise as well. A third series, unfortunately done by the same production company, will be airing in the beginning of 2009, once again bringing us more oddball antics between the sisters.

UPDATE: As of October 2013 none of the Minami-ke titles have been licensed of released in North America.

UPDATE: As of September 2023 the Minami-ke franchise is still not commercially available in North America...very strange indeed.  I need to rewatch the series as it was quite enjoyable overall, even if it had some problems over its course.

New Year, New Accost

    To begin the year of the Ox by being accosted with a horrible new anime is not an ideal start. In an attempt to organize my thoughts in regards to the current anime I am viewing and the anime that will begin airing for the mid season I came across a new title that originally seemed to be a direct descendant of my favorite anime movie, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. On Monday January 5th Sunrise (everything Gundam, Keroro Gunso, Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop) will be airing it's new shojo anime, The Girl Who Leapt Through Space. After some digging I discovered that this is just a play on the title of the previous series and is not related in any way to the Tokikake stories. Before this fact was discovered I scanned over the offending anime's website for a preview of this supposed follow up. What I found was an akitaku nightmare of fan service and overly ornate cosplay primed characters.

    I can't stress how much I abhor fan service pandering garbage like this. Unfortunately since the boom of the hapless otaku as a major economical force in Japan this kind of senseless commercialism has increased significantly, pushing aside the chance for creative and interesting stories that might not come from the big names in the industry. As in all businesses when you have companies that are more interested in turning the highest profit margin over integrity and building some sort of legacy you find attempts to artificially tap into the base targets emotions. It happens all the time in all aspects of the entertainment industry. A small group of executives puts some data together and figures out the perfect formula for tapping into the fan base allowing them to capitalize on the fans feelings. A perfect case in point is the success of the maho shojo title Precure 5 Go GO. They consistently have audience shares in the top 10 of TV anime week after week. This isn't due to it being a quality, engaging product. This is due for the fact that the producers of the show know that one of the top draws for the reclusive otaku crowd are flashy, over produced maho shojo titles. These numbers aren't because legions of raving 5-10 year old Japanese girls are watching this show week in and week out, although they do make up part of the audience. It's because every single garage kit obsessing socially inept 20 something male who hangs out at the maid cafe's in Akibahara dvr's each episode so they can study all of the complex movements in the transformation sequence as well as the correct dimensions of the apparel for their next cosplay project. They also inhibit borderline pedophelic feelings shrugged off as platonic relations, with said shows pubescent/pre-pubecent characters. This tongue in cheek reference to Tokikake is nothing but the next attempt by a production company to blatantly tap into the akitaku wallet. Hell, they even include all of the characters measurements in the shows website. When will everyone stop calling them 'shojo' titles and instead call them what they really are; 'relationship inept adult male pedophile shut in' titles? Or is that too blatant?