My Little Monster

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun (lit. The monster next to me) is a 13 episode romantic comedy based on the manga of the same name by Robico.  The series aired in Japan in the fall of 2012.

    Shizuku Mizutani has lived a lonely life.  Through her childhood she has never felt any compassion or concern for those around her.  She doesn't find anything wrong with this and accepts her peers shunning her for being cold.  Her only concern is to be the top student and most of her free time is spent studying to stay that way.  One day she is asked by her teacher to take paperwork to a classmate who has been absent after being suspended following a bad fight the first day.  Reluctantly she goes because the teacher promised her a study guide in exchange.  She arrives at a business that the student resides at and finds he isn't exactly what she expected.  The delinquent, Haru Yoshida, jumps out of a second floor window upon seeing her.  As she leaves to head home Haru attacks her and demands to know why she was at his home.  When he's convinced she isn't there to make him go back he instantly acts like they are best of friends.  The next day her teacher begs her to convince him to return to school but Shizuku refuses, vowing to never talk to him again.  On her way home from school he again attacks her and makes her come with him to check out a 'stray' dog he saved.  After she convinces him to find the dogs owner they get dinner.  Haru's childlike innocence takes over and he tells her how he wants to be friends with her since he doesn't really have any and he wants to experience all sorts of idealized school life fantasies with her.  He's so infatuated with her that he starts coming to school so he can spend more time with her.  His return to school isn't with out problems.  Haru has incredible strength and no control over his emotions.  He soon starts beating up other classmates and causing everyone to fear his presence.  Haru keeps pressuring Shizuku to be his friend which annoys her due to being focused solely on school work.  When he confesses that he loves her out of the blue her world heads down a path of oddity and change.  While she reluctantly accepts his friendship, but not his love, he starts to include her in his insanity as well as gather up a ragtag bunch of misfits to join in.  Shizuku needs to figure out if she can maintain her life's goal with the distractions the odd Haru brings to her.

    This was a really odd and somewhat enjoyable series.  It's half absurdist comedy and half drama.  Haru's actions are over the top as he punches people into oblivion at the drop of a hat and runs around searching for things like a grade school kid.  His enthusiasm is incredible and Shizuku has a really hard time taking his blunt honesty.  One thing that was good with this series is the bluntness of both of the main characters who easily and continuously speak their mind to each other and everyone around them...sometimes to a fault.  The story just kind of ambles on though with out any real goal or intent aside from Haru continuing to persuade Shizuku to love him back.  There are a couple of different plot lines that are brought up and run with for a little bit but never account for much when it comes to the story.  There just seems to be a bit more that should have been told.  Much of the series hints at and reveals pieces of Haru's part, which has been troubled and difficult.  Yet they don't really take it anywhere in the end.  There are a handful of side characters that they somewhat develop but much of their stories are left unfinished as well.  It really feels like this series would have benefited from being longer.  The manga ran 2008 to 2013 so there is bound to be more story in that format.  The series also just kind of ends and it doesn't seem likely to expect any more...but who knows.  Maybe some OAV's to fill in some of the gaps.  It ends, sort of, like many romance stories with a good inkling of the future relationship between the characters but with nothing definitive.  Over all it was a fun series.  The comedy was well done and the drama was also well done.  The characters were mostly likeable, especially the main ones.  I liked and hated the animation.  The characters looked odd when shown in profile, which happened frequently, and at times the animation for them speaking while in profile was really strange.  There would be the outline of their mouth closed and just to the side of it their mouths movement was animated...it was odd.  There is absolutely ZERO fan service!!  YAY!!!  Shizuku is actually rather homely.  The series reminded me of Kare Kano in some ways.  Haru is actually naturally intelligent and Skizuku despises him for that.  Make sure to keep watching after the end credits as each episode contains omake like vignettes.  On a side note, I haven't seen a girl get cold-cocked that much in any romance...it was actually pretty humorous.

    Either way, this was a fun romantic comedy and is worth the time...although it may be more beneficial to read the manga instead...  The series was released on Crunchyroll in North America, no word on any kind of disc release though.  The manga is currently being released in North America by Kodansha Comics American division.

Golden Time

Golden Time is a 24 episode slice of life romance based on the light novel series of the same name by Yuyuko Takemiya (also of Toradora fame).  The series aired in Japan during the fall of 2013 and the spring of 2014.

    Banri Tada is a first year college student enrolled in the law program at a university in Tokyo.  He arrives not knowing anyone, suffering from amnesia due to a serious accident a year prior.  He decided to move away from his home in Shizuoka to build a new life with new memories.  After orientation he gets lost on his way to the law department.  He runs into fellow freshman, Mitsuo Yanagisawa (Yana-san) and they band together to find their way to the correct building.  As they arrive a well dressed woman approaches them and slaps Yana with a bouquet of roses.  The woman, Koko Kaga, has delusions about being Yana's fiance, given their childhood together.  Koko has followed Yana to college and the law program.  As they settle into college life Koko continues to hover around Yana; who has become friends with Banri and a few other students.  When enough is enough Yana pops Koko's delusional balloon once and for all.  Banri offers his sympathy to Koko and as they spend more time together they develop feelings for each other and begin dating.  Koko's possessive personality consumes much of Banri's free time and they join the same club.  Banri discovers that a senpai in the club, Nana Hayashida, known as Linda, was his best friend in high school.  As he begins to question his past and what Linda means to him he fears that he will lose the love he has created with Koko along with his current memories.

    This was a surprisingly good series.  The story progressed slowly which worked in it's favor.  The characters developed well and I really started to anticipate each new release...it's been a loooong time since that's happened.  It was very refreshing to have a mature romance that had little fan service; I think I have come to expect it at some level in any romantic series.  In the beginning I really hated Koko's character, due in part to her attitude and her resemblance to Asuka from Evangelion.  But I soon started rooting for her and the future she was trying to build with Banri.  The story brought up an interesting idea that I pondered for a bit; what would it be like to suffer such absolute amnesia like Banri and what would happen when that amnesia was 'cured'?  A theme through out much of the show is Banri's fear of losing the self that he knew from after the accident and being replaced by the self prior to the accident that he didn't understand and feared.  On a side note there is a semi cameo by Nana Oosaki from NANA.  I say 'semi' because it's not the same character...just in name, look and personality.

    This is a good mature series, there's some comedy to it but if you like the more serious drama's like Asatte no Houkou and Say 'I Love You' this one would be a good one to watch.

    The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll and licensed by Sentai Filmworks.  No word on what type of disc release the series will see in North America though.  There is no word on English adaptions of either the light novels or manga adaptation.

Engaged to the Unidentified

Mikakunin de Skinkoukei is a 12 episode slice of life/super natural comedic romance based on the manga of the same name by Cherry Arai.  The series broadcast in Japan during the winter off-season in 2014.

    Kobeni Yonomori is a first year high school student who wakes up one day to find two new house guests.  Hakuya and Mashiro Mitsumine are siblings from a family that Kobeni's late grandfather was close to.  As a child on a trip to the remote Mitsumine home, Hakuya saved Kobeni after she had a serious accident.  To show his gratitude her grandfather promised that Kobeni would marry Hakuya when they grow up.  Now, years later, Hakuya has arrived to live with Kobeni and get to know her.  Kobeni on the other hand has no recollection of the incident or her betrothal.  But her older sister, Benio, and their mother know all about the incident and greatly encourage the two to become closer.  Kobeni is gracious and kind, but taken back by the idea of the arranged marriage.  Hakuya's quiet demeanor doesn't put her off, but she wants to understand more of the situation before agreeing to her grandfathers wishes. 

    At first the series annoyed me a little bit, especially Mashiro's childish way of speaking and Benio's loli-con tendencies.  I also feared a great deal of fan-service, which seems to mostly have been contained in the opening credits.  But as the story progressed I started to enjoy it.  The main characters of Kobeni and Hakuya are easy going and likeable.  There is none of the typical perversion and idiocy found in a high school arranged marriage story, which was a relief.  There are mild supernatural tones to the story, but explaining that would ruin part of it, so I won't get into that.  Overall this was a decent anime, something nice to fill the time.  It did seem to list about through most of it though and may not have needed to even be 12 episodes.  Thankfully it wasn't longer...that would have just gotten boring fast.  One thing I liked is that Kobeni was presented as thick (by anime standards), women with curves are where its at!  She was drawn realistically curvy which was a nice change of pace from the unrealistic girls in anime...skinny or otherwise.

    You can enjoy this series if you have liked Tona-Gura, Honey & Clover or even Inukami.

    The series was released in English on Crunchyroll.  It has been licensed by Sentai Filmworks with no word on DVD release dates.  I believe only 1 DVD has even come out in Japan as of the time of this review.

Mokuyobi Post - Dragon Pink

This 3 part OVA hentai series pokes fun at typical computer RPGs and the female stereotypes found in them.

    Santa is a fearless sword for hire, with the help of the barbarian Bobo, elf mage Pierce and his sex cat slave Pink, they defeat evil creatures for gold and fame in-between various bouts of consensual and non-consensual sex.  Each episode has a self contained story that loosely resembles some sort of plot, but is more just filler between each increasingly graphic sex scene.  By the third installment things get pretty out of control and deranged.

    Lets be honest, this is a middle of the road hentai from the 90s with the quirk of poking fun at RPG's.  There's nothing redeemable about this series and its only masturbation material.  The only thing I ever took away from it was the opening sequence joke in the third installment relating to Pierce using Bobo to replenish her mana.

Wandering Son

Hourou Musuko is an 11 episode slice of life drama based on the manga of the same name by Takako Shimura.  The series aired in Japan during the winter of 2011.

    Shuichi Nitori is a quiet 7^th grader who is more comfortable with dressing as a girl and yearns to be one.  A small group of close friends from elementary school know his desires and are supportive.  One such friend is Yoshino Takatsuki who is also in the same gender identity situation.  In elementary school he confessed his love for her but was rejected.  Regardless they still remained friends and confidants.  One of the only people who knows about his feelings and does not support him is his older sister, Maho, who is disgusted by her brother.  As the children start their lives as middle school students Shu and Takatsuki work at coming to terms with their desires and their identities, wrestling with how to approach them in more public ways.  Takatsuki is emboldened by a new classmate, Chizuru Sarashina who showed up for the first day of school wearing a boy’s uniform.  Chi is not interested in cross dressing, she just has a peculiar personality.   The anime shows a year and a half of the characters lives and how they progress with their desires and feelings towards each other.

    This was a fantastically written series.  I don’t have any concerns for my gender identity but can still greatly appreciate a well written and well told story.  Not only does it deal with gender identity/cross dressing, it also deals with homosexuality and transgender issues.  These subjects are less taboo in Japan than in America but are still points of tension with those who identify themselves LGBT.  Shu is continuously and rightly concerned with how the world will view him for his feelings and desires.  He struggles against that constantly as he tries to be true to himself.  On top of the identity concerns with the characters, there are a few threads dealing with unrequited love and general adolescent confidence issues.  Shu’s best male friend, Makoto Ariga, deals with being a mostly closeted homosexual and with jealousy issues involving Shu.  There were some parts where I was expecting Makoto to confess his love for Shu…perhaps that is a story thread in the manga (it is).  The relationship between Shu and Takatsuki has a third member that causes tension for everyone.  Sauri Chiba was friends with both Shu and Takatsuki in elementary school, she encourages his cross dressing but when she discovers her love for him is one sided she becomes cold and aggressive towards both of them.  Shu’s sister is a fashion model and much of her distaste with her brothers’ habits is that she thinks he is prettier than she is.  There is plenty of drama but there is also some humor, especially with Chi and her antics, she reminds me of a more intelligent version of Tomo-chan from Azumanga Daioh.

    In the end this was a fantastically well done series.  The subject matter may be difficult for some people to handle, but to them I say, get the fuck over it.  There is little in the way of typical anime convention in this series.  Sure the characters have classical anime features but it doesn’t follow any of the typical trappings of the school aged shows.  One common thing that shows up is the school festival, but unlike other series’ this is a catalyst, allowing the characters to quietly out their true selves to the rest of the school.  The animation is dream like, with washed out water colors for the backgrounds and the characters alike.  It is a very mesmerizing show.  From reading some background information on the manga, which has been running for quite a while but may now be done (it ended in 2013 with 15 tankoubon), I think I need to read it as it shows much more of the history and future of the characters than the anime does.  So if you enjoy a well told dramatic story this one is a great one to watch.

    The anime is only available via Crunchyroll in North America and the manga is being released by Fantagraphic Books.

A Quick Look at the Spring 2014 Anime Season

With pretty much all of the simulcast shows I am watching coming to an end in the next 2 weeks it’s time to really take a look at what’s coming up I want to watch in the all important Spring season kick off.

    Keroro – Most shows don’t start until the beginning of April but the flash animated reboot of the Keroro Gunsou franchise kicked off March 22^nd with the first of its 3 minute installments.  I like it but I don’t like it.  The series has updated animation but is crammed into 3 minute bursts instead of having 2 parts spread over a 20 minute episode.  Either way it’s great to see Keroro return.  If only it found a wider audience in North America.

    Mushi-shi Zoku-sho – This fantastic and ambient series about a wandering spirit master returns almost 9 years after the original broadcast in Japan.  This return to the story was ushered in early January 2014 by an hour long special.  I have seen reports that it will be split between the spring and the fall, taking a break over the summer.  Can’t wait!!

    Isshukan Friends – This is a slice of life series dealing with a girl who loses her memories every Monday.  This may be a good follow up to the amnesia driven plot of Golden Time.

    Mekaku City Actors – Not sure of the idea behind the series but it deals with a Hikikomori who is coxed out of his room for the first time in 2 years.

    Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to – No idea what it about beyond a slice of life story about a manga-ka and his assistant.

    Kokukoku no Brynhuildr – This deals with a boy who is obsessed with aliens, leading him and a girl to a serious accident when children.  Now years later he is still obsessed with probing their existence but his past still haunts him as what appears to be a doppelganger of the girl arrives.

    Black Bullet – typical sci-fi action series, could either be bad or good…depends on the animation, level of fanservice and creativity in the story.

    Soul Eater Not! – This is supposed to be a follow up series that parallels the original Soul Eater dealing with a different group of technicians and weapons to battle souls.   I still need to finish the original…

 

    Knights of Sidonia – This looks like the most promising of the mech action shows that are coming out…seems to be dark and mysterious…time will tell.

  

   

Ichigo 100% - manga

Ichigo 100% is an ecchi harem romance manga by Mizuki Kawashita.  The series spanned 167 issues and was published in Weekly Shounen Jump between 2002 and 2005.

      Junpai Manaka is a slacker 3rd year middle school student who dreams of making movies.  One day while on the schools roof a mysterious girl falls in front of him, displaying her strawberry patterened panties.  Immediately he desires to film this heavenly vision.  The girl runs off in embarasment before he can find out who she is.  A notebook is left behind belonging to a girl named Aya Toujou who happens to be in the same class as him.  He thinks that Aya is this heavenly beauty but he doesnt recall anyone in his class that looked like the girl on the roof.  The next day he discovers that Aya is a quiet and unasuming book worm that does not look like his rooftop angel. Aya wears her hair in pigtails, has glasses and is shy and introverted.  Yet the notebook is definitely hers.  When he tells to her about finding it she asks him not to read it, he says he didn't but that he forgot it at his house.  That night his curiosity gets the better of him, thinking that he will find clues to the girl with the strawberry panties he reads the notebook.  The next day he confesses to Aya that he read what she had in it and wants to read more.  Aya has dreams of being an author and she filled the notebook with a story she is creating.  Junpei confesses his lifes ambition too and tells her that he wants to make movies with her when they are older.  Convinced that Aya is not the girl he is looking for though he continues his search.  He brings up his search to his two friends who convince him it is probably the schools top beauty, Tsukasa Nishima.  Even though her hair is different Junpei is convinced Tsukasa is her.  He musters up his courage and confesses to her...to his and everyones surprise she agrees to date him.  Junpai has the girl of his dreams, or so he thinks; he does have the most popular girl in school though.  He becomes friends with Aya too as they share a dream of writing and making movies now.  When Aya changes her appearance one day, Junpei realizes that it really was her on top of the school that faitful day.  As high school approaches he needs to decide who he has stronger feelings for and once in high school his situation becomes more complex as he and Aya build a film research club from the ground up and Tsukasa enrolls in a different school.

    It was really painful reading this manga.  The entire plot device of the series is bassed around strawberry patterened panties.  There are more panties in this manga than in Victorias Secret.  This is classic ecchi harem manga...but there are parts of the story that are really good.  I pushed through it because everyone said the ending was good.  I kept expecting it to change and become a really well done series that wouldn't make me want to puke.  It really didn't change.  The writting is top notch for harem titles, but its still an annoying manga.  The typical bullshit plot devices, character interactions and rampant fan service.  Junpei's character is an indecisive shit head.  There were countless times where I had to resist the urge to punch his image.  Misunderstanding abounds between all of the characters to build unneeded tension.  This story really could have lost a good portion of its plot and been better.  The entire thing covers about 4 years of the characters lives.  The ONLY saving grace in my mind is that Junpei chooses the girl I was hoping he would choose from pretty much the very beginning.  If he didnt I would have probably started flaming this damn series all over the interwebs.  There was a real gem in this whole thing though.  At the end of the series there is a really well done omake dealing with a side character and falling in love in her first year of college.  It was very well done and such a nice change of pace compared to the rampant panties, clothing articles flying off and other bullshit.  Yet the omake wouldn't have resonated as deeply without reading the manga.  The story in the omake is more like a condensed mirrored version of Junpei's possible relationship with one of the main girls.  So in a way it is also a bit of a tease as to what kind of love may have developed with Junpei instead...just with two different characters.

    In conclusion...I didn't like this manga.  Some of the writting was good, too much of it was bad.  The fanservice was rampant and annoying.  It ended the way I wanted it to but honestly it wasn't worth my time.  There was a 13 episode anime adaptation I have heard was pretty bad so I won't even bother watching it.  The manga and the anme have been available in North America for quite some time.  If you love harem romances you will have already read this manga.

Gotta love the Loose Socks!!

Time of Eve

Eve no Jikan is a 6 part slice of life sci-fi ONA series by Yasuhiro Yoshiura.  The series was released between 2008 and 2009.  In 2010 it was complied into a single movie.

    In the near future androids have advanced to the point of being human like companions.  They are beholden to Asimov’s classic Three Laws of Robotics which strictly determine an artificial beings inability to harm a human.  Rikuo is a high school student living a listless life.  When reviewing the data log of his house android, Sammy, he discovers an oddity in the code.  The next day in class he convinces his friend Masaki to help him track down the location in which the oddity occurred.  What they find is a hidden café called Time of Eve.  The house rule at the café is that humans and androids must not discriminate with each other while there.  Under normal circumstances all androids have a LCD halo above their heads displaying data…as a way to help differentiate the advanced models from humans.  Rikuo and Masaki quickly realize that an android, in order to obey the café’s rule if it was there, would have to disable the ring.  The bewildered students must come to terms with the idea that androids are trying to intermingle with humans in a way that resembles human emotions.  On the other side to is the idea that humans would seek out similar interactions with androids.  This at a time when public outcry for androids is rising as a political action group is feverishly trying to roll back the use of androids in many aspects of society, saying it is a danger to humanity.

    This was a very well done, if short, story.  The animation was pretty top notch and the story is interesting, if mostly enclosed in the small world of the café.  There are very few characters but their interactions are in-depth and propel the growth of Rikuo’s character.  They also expand the viewers understanding of the world within the series.  This is a fun look at what our future probably holds for us.  It is also a warning for that future and our current issues of hatred towards others.  In current and past context it’s hard for me not to look at this story as a critique on how non-Japanese residents in Japan are treated.  You can easily substitute the feelings of hatred and disgust towards the androids with those same types of feelings directed at people of Korean or Chinese or Chilean.  There are groups of individuals in Japan, some of which are becoming very prominent currently, who are of the opinion that everyone who is not Japanese should leave the country.  Some of the blatant and widespread racism these fringe groups spout is pretty shocking to someone from America where this type of hatred isn’t as visible…well probably just ignored.  Either way this was a stark criticism on hatred and distrust of those different from our selves.  On top of that there is a less prominent critique on slavery and servitude in the series too, but the prime focus of the show was the racism thing.

    I enjoyed it for taking a mundane look at the near future.  You could imagine this being the story of ordinary people from the world of Ghost in the Shell.  It’s easy to forget while watching a sci-fi action series that 99.99999% of the people that would exist in that world live mundane lives.  This story tells about what some of those 99.9999% are up to and it’s fun to see that.  As I said before, the artwork is well done, similar in character design to what Makato Shinkai does.  The series also reminded me a bit of Dennou Coil and Code-E with its look at near-future tech and how it appears in everyday life.  There is no action in this series but there is an underbelly plot of intrigue and corruption similar to something you would find in an action series.  There is plenty of room to expand upon this world and these characters; hell there was a bit of a set up for a continuation that may include more danger type drama.  But something tells me this is all that will ever exist of this story and I think that’s the best way to leave it.  At the end though it stated to get a little sappy which they quickly erased with some well placed humor.  Who is an android and who is not?

    If you enjoyed Denno Coil and Code-E you would enjoy this series as well.  It is well worth the time, which is a little over an hour.  There are also a few robot nerd shout outs in the series, like the Asimov reference.  The ONA set is available for streaming on Crunchyroll.  The availability of the movie version is dubious…but apparently an English dub was made.