Hourou Musuko - manga

Hourou Musuko (The Wandering Son) is a coming of age slice of life drama by Takako Shimura.  The series was published between 2003 and 2013 and compiled into 13 tankoubon.  An anime adaptation was released in Japan in 2011.

 The review that follows does contain semi-spoilers so be cautious.

     Hourou Musuko follows a small group of friends as the move from being children to adolescents to adults.  The story begins with the main character Shuichi Nitori beginning 5th grade as a transfer student.  Shu is quiet and easy going and quickly makes friends with some of the girls in his class.  His closest friends are the boyish Yoshino Takatsuki and self centered Saori Chiba.  Both Yoshino and Saori convince Shu to start dressing as a girl and end up giving him dresses to wear.  Shu isn't opposed to the idea and starts to dwell on the wish of being a cute girl instead of a boy.  Yoshino on the other hand wishes that she was a boy.  Conflict ariss as Saori becomes jealous over Shu's relationship with Yoshino, she is falling in love with her living doll.  Tension becomes so bad that Saori begins to hate Yoshino and herself,  even converting to Christianity to fight the guilt she feels. As Shu and Yoshino become closer in their shared gender identity concerns he starts to fall in love with her.  The next year brings another quiet tranfer student, Makoto Ariga, who quickly becomes Shu's best male friend.  Makoto starts to explore cross dressing as well and confides in Shu that he is gay.  There time as elementary school students ends with dysfunction when Saori finds out Shu confessed to Yoshino but was rejected.

    The circle of friends grows, amid hatred between Yoshino and Saori, as they enter middle school.  New friend, Chizuru 'Chi' Sarashina emboldens Yoshino in her cross dressing desires.  Chi shows up from time to time wearing a boys uniform, for nothing more then self entertainment.  After being rejected by Yoshino, Shu ends up dating his sisters model friend Anna, but he can't determine what their relationship really is.  Attempts to repair the void in the three main friends relationship are put into action with varying degrees of success by those around them.  While they can't completely put aside their conflicting feelings their greatest enemy is the continuing path of puberty.  Both Shu, Yoshino and Mako stress about the changes their bodies are going through and how their entrance into adulthood will conflict with their desires.  An old enemy from elementary school, Shinpei Doi, convinces Shu to be friends with him.  Doi is mostly interested in meeting a beautiful woman that Shu is friends with.  Little does he know, that beautiful woman is a cross dresser that Shu and Yoshino have been friends with for a few years.  Doi is also intrigued by Shu's cross dressing and convinces him to come to school as a girl one day.  When Shu builds up the confidence to do so his life falls apart from every ones reaction.

    As they enter high school the friendships change and break apart.  Yoshino and Chiba start to mend the rift between them while Shu end's up isolating himself due to the trauma from when he came to school as a girl.  Anna ended up breaking up with him and Mako confessed his feelings to him.  As he comes closer to adulthood, Shu struggles with what he really wants to do with himself; still desiring and wishing to be a girl, but knowing that in reality it is impossible as his body is changing

    After watching and enjoying the anime I wanted to read this manga, as I knew it dealt with much more than the anime did.  The anime really only covers the first two years of middle school, but that does take up a good bulk of the manga.  I was not disappointed in the manga, it is very well written and well drawn.  The dream like atmosphere expressed in the anime also comes across in the manga.  I did get anxious in parts of the story which were covered in the anime.  I already knew what was going to happen and just wanted to quickly get to the parts I didn't know yet.  As I read it the one thing that kept coming again and again in my mind was the quality and detail in the expressiveness of the characters faces.  Takako-sensei has a fine eye for detail when it comes to facial features and how expressions change those features.  One thing that also stood out was the subtle changes the characters faces and bodies go through over time as they age.  It is most striking with Shu as he is about to finish high school.   There were times, though, where it was difficult to figure out who some of the characters were and what their relation to the main characters are.  This was particularly the case when they entered high school.  There were characters who would show up for a few frames, say some things, and I didn't know where they came from or what their motivations where...they seemed to just be thrown in haphazardly.  Through out I was hoping for some of the side characters histories to be fleshed out more to help understand their view points regarding the main characters.  By the end, some of these characters were fleshed out well enough, but not others.  There was too much obfuscation with some of the characters pasts, particularly some of the teachers and other adults the characters related with.  You have to connect a few dots and make a few assumptions to get the complete picture.  This in no way detracted from the story, it just added a few bumps in the journey.    But the real meat of this manga is the story.  It is a finely crafted tale of self awareness, self identity and how to deal with the world around you and your perception of yourself. 

    This is a fantastically well written story and has received a number of awards.  This is the type of thing that makes a great introduction for wide audiences into the world of manga; not as a comic book, but as a form of story telling that can be respected and can actually be quite beneficial.  Thankfully the manga is being licensed and released in North America by Fantagraphics Books and would make great reading for teenagers, especially those dealing with gender identity issues.  Even those that are not to help given them pause when thinking negatively towards peers that are gay or otherwise.  It is a mature and realistic look at what it is like to go through puberty and the trials and tribulations those changes present.

    All in all, fantastic manga, highly recommended.  I would actually suggest reading the manga first then watching the anime.  You will take more away from the manga and understand all of the back story they reference in the anime.  I look forward to reading the authors other manga as well!

My Tenuous Relationship with Fansub's

    As a member of the generation of American otaku ushered in by Akira in the early 90’s I have had a long and complicated relationship with fansub anime. 

    With the rapid growth in the early 90’s of anime being commercially available in the United States so grew the hunger for more than what the distribution companies could keep up with.  Once we ran out of things to rent from Blockbuster and Hollywood Video or buy from Suncoast Video and local comic book stores we had to look elsewhere.   The underground VHS tape trading market that had helped fuel the earlier generation of American otaku was where we turned.  The fansub distribution circles grew to accommodate the growth in demand in the mid 90’s.  You could pay 'per tape' fees or annual memberships to some of the groups to help support the costs associated with materials and mailing fees.  In this already illegal realm of pirating the idea of charging for the fansub was more than a gray area when it came to ‘morality’.  But, in some cases, $15 for a VHS full of TV episodes mailed to you seemed like a fair trade for time and expenses incurred.

    I started tapping into the world of fansub’s in 1997 with Rurouni Kenshin.  A friend of mine at the time owned a store that specialized in anime and manga, including video rental.  Certain video rental members of the store had access to fansub tapes and we all pitched in to cover the costs of acquiring these tapes.  We were mostly watching stuff that was not remotely close to being licensed in North America at that time; Yu Yu Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin and Macross 7.  We looked at the consumption of illicit fansub anime with two mindsets; being able to watch anime that is currently not available and wouldn’t be commercially available for months if not years later.  Since he sold commercial anime it was in his best interest to not support fansub’s of licensed shows.  We liked being on top of everything that was new and to have access to shows and movies that never saw the light of day outside of Japan.  The other mindset; due to the majority of fansub being TV shows directly recorded from the broadcast, in many cases with commercial breaks intact, was that we were consuming it the same way people in Japan were.  Free over the airwaves.  The biggest hitch in this mindset is that we weren’t exactly the target audience for the advertisers that helped fund the shows existence.  

     When file sharing came about everything changed.  In 2004 my friend decided to close down his store after 10 years of being moderately successful.  His biggest competitors were Best Buy and internet based video and merchandise sales; not file sharing.  What file sharing did to the fansub community though was make the idea of paying anything for a fansub completely obsolete.  It also allowed for significantly rapid release periods.  We were able to receive new episodes within a matter of days of their airing in Japan…this was revolutionary and cemented the mentality of joy in being on the ground floor along with the Japanese.  This made viewing a fansub almost like a drug addiction.  Case and point; Naruto which began airing in Japan in 2002.  It began airing in North America 3 years later, roughly 150 episodes behind Japanese and active fansub viewers of the series.  It’s hard to put that pipe down and wait respectfully for the licensed material to catch up to where you were before it was licensed.

     The end of the 00’s saw this landscape change again with legitimate and accessible streaming services showing up, intent on trying to supply anime at the same pace as the fansub community.  This was a welcomed development in my mind, but I was skeptical at first.  At around this time, in 2009, I had stepped away from the anime community for a number of reasons, uncertain what was really in store for it in North America.  When I returned in the middle of 2013 I was pleasantly surprised to see what legitimate streaming services provided by Crunchyroll and FUNimation had been able to accomplish.  What I was also surprised by was the collapse of pretty much all of the distribution companies I had ‘grown up’ with.  Having not looked into the reasons behind the closure of ADV and Pioneer I can’t really speculate on how much the fansub community affected them in the end.  Either way the streaming services have almost rendered fansubs obsolete as the vast majority of TV shows released in Japan are being picked up for streaming distribution.  With these services sometimes releasing the episodes within hours of their broadcast in Japan the once revered speed-fansub’s have also become pointless.

    So where does that leave an otaku like me?  One who has spent as much time consuming licensed anime as fansub anime?  It leaves me in a rather comfortable place, with a few minor irritations.  I gladly pay my monthly fees to Crunchyroll and Hulu and eagerly countdown the release of each new episode for all the shows I watch.  I also enjoy their back catalog of shows I missed in my 4 year absence from the scene.  I gladly pay my Netflix fee and consume the anime it has, with disappointment that they are not following the simulcast policy of Crunchyroll and FUNimation.

    I also miss the flare that many ‘reputable’ fansub circles put into their work.  Would it kill some of these streaming services to provide subs for the OP and ED songs?  I have never seen the licensed version of Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei and wonder if Media Blasters did as much painstaking work explaining many of the obscure references the show is littered with.  I do know that FUNimation did a poor job in explaining the peripheral information scattered throughout Pani Poni Dash.  In the fansub world you can find people, who have strong passion for anime, unfortunately it’s an illegal output for their passion.

    While I don’t defend fansub as a legitimate thing and don’t argue against it being an illegal activity, I do think there is still a need for it and a place in fandom.  It is the only way North American otaku can have access to anime that will never be available to us in a commercial fashion.  Off the top of my head, here are 5 series’ I have used as case examples before.  Macross Zero; Harmony Gold’s long standing control of the Macross/Robotech world in the United States has kept almost everything Macross out of the country indefinitely.  Minami-ke; I have no idea why this has not been licensed.  Itazura na Kiss; classic 80s/90’s romance stories seem to be out of fashion (ItaKiss was released by Discotek Media on DVD at the end of 2014!).  Bokurano; Viz publishes the manga…I have no clue why they have not released or perhaps even licensed the anime (Bokurano has a pending Discotek DVD release as well).  The one I am most frustrated with, Denno Coil; it would seem the Japanese got fed up and decided to globally release it themselves with English subs on iTunes though.  Since I am not in the industry of licensing anime I really have no idea the reasons (aside from Macross) why these titles have not seen the light of day in North America.  Perhaps the Japanese license holders are asking for too much money?  I really don’t know, but it’s still frustrating.

    In conclusion, I want to support the companies that make it possible for these stories I have loved over my decades of fandom.  I greatly welcome the legitimate streaming services that are hopefully providing adequate compensation to the people that deserve it.  Yet since some stuff will never be available the fansub community is still a necessary evil for otaku outside of Japan, we just have to decide for ourselves how we want to approach and regard that aspect.  If you decide to go down or continue the path of illicit fansub viewing, be respectful.  Buy the DVD’s when they become available, pick up merch and don’t try to profit off of other people’s hard work.

    On a side note; I miss the hell out of the commercial breaks that were left in fansub’s during the 90’s.  The cutesy end to all Glico commercials runs through my head like sugar plums and I learned to fear the kabuki clown Ronald McDonald.

Getting on the Space Brothers bandwagon

When I got back into anime last year the long running drama Space Brothers caught my attention.  I put it on the back burner though and focused on other things.  Over the months I noticed that it showed up frequently on the weekly anime TV ratings in Japan, as reported by Anime News Network.  A while ago I did watch the first episode, liked it and filed it away to watch another time.  Last night I decided to pick it up and roll with it...I can't stop watching it now.

    Space Brothers takes place a bit in the future and follows two brothers dreams of becoming astronauts and finding proof of alien life.  Mutta and Hibito Namba tried their best to excel in their studies to guarantee a future in the space program at JAXA (Japans equivalent to NASA).  Hibito, the younger brother, was successful and became and astronaut for the agency.  Mutta on the other hand was side tracked and became a successful engineer for an auto manufacturer.  As Hibito is about to embark on a joint mission to the moon, Mutta finds himself unemployed after head butting his draconian boss.  Now, with no other direct, Mutta again focuses on his childhood dream, wanting to beat his younger brother to Mars.  As of April 2014 this series has kicked out 100 episodes, at the time of this post I have watched the first dozen or so, so obviously the story stretches far beyond this synopsis.

    I can see why this is a popular series in Japan, its just really fun to watch.  Mutta is a man with a good heart but sometimes misguided attention.  He's comical, easy going but underneath a reliable and dedicated person.  The series paints him as the underdog with a slight chance at success.  Everyone loves a good underdog story!  The series is pegged as a drama but there is a fair amount of humor in it as well, particularly with Mutta's view of the world around him.  The drama and tension is pretty easy going as well and the series has a general feel-good quality to it.  It's nice and light, fun to watch and makes you feel good in the end.  The pace of the story seems to be right, not dragging things out, but allowing time for the characters identities and the situations to fill out, along with inserting back story in appropriate locations.  So far, so good!  I'm not sure how much the saccharine air will stick around, I'm sure they will have to ratchet up the tension and perhaps throw in some tragedy at some point.  Mutta can't keep winning, even if his success is dubious at times.  But for now, I'm going to sit back and enjoy the show and catch up with the Japanese.

    If you like feel good stories that make you chuckle this is a fantastic story.

Mokuyobi Post - Genocyber

Genocyber is a 5 episode OAV sci-fi horror series based on the manga of the same name by Tony Takezaki (A.D. Police).  It was originally released in Japan between 1993 and 1994.

    An evil shadow corporation is using twin sisters who have inante psychic powers to craft a biological super weapon they dub vajira.  After a murder filled search for one of the sisters they are merged together and form the vajira Genocyber.  Instead of being controlled by the organization Gynocyber, driven by the girls pshyche's goes on a path of destruction and retribution.  Eventually more vajira are created to try and destroy Genocyber to no avail.  Hundreds of years after Genocyber goes on a rampage, destroying much of the Earth, the remnants huddle in frightened existence.  A couple in one remaining city stumble upon the dormant bio-weapon while fleeing the cities ruthless mayor.  Genocyber awakes, takes some more revenge then apparently goes back to sleep?

    OK, this series has been on my shit list for a long time.  Its pretty bad, even for mid 90's animation.  Its nothing but an orgy of ultra-violence and nudity, don't get me wrong I'm not against ultra-violence and nudity...this story just plain sucks.  Apparently the manga was never finished so people must have detested it as well.  This was part of the first wave of commercial anime in North America when the regional licensing companies were trying to grab anything that was edgy and adult orientated, feeling that their sales would fare better than if they directed their attention to the general market.  This series came out fairly quick in America (according to info on Anime News Network the US got the OAV before Japan did).  It was a staple in the mid 90's for any anime fan but it was less then inspiring.  Put it along side Guyver and you have a festival of horrible action horror titles that should be buried and forgotten.

    If you are interested in seeing what this series looks like and how people get brutally murdered, the DVD appears to be easily accessible.

PuPiPo

PuPiPo is a 15 episode super natural slice of life series based on the manga of the same name by Rensuke Oshikiri.  The 4 minute per episode series aired starting in December of 2013 in Japan.

    Wakaba Himeji is a troubled young girl.  She can see and interact with the spirits of the dead, causing her to shun contact with other people for fear of their safety as well as her peers shunning her for her gloomy disposition.  Her occult obsessed classmate Reiko Azuma decides to befriend her in order to experience paranormal events.  At the same type a mysterious pink creature named Po enters her life and defends her from all manner of pushy spirits.  Her world is still disturbed by the dead but when she meets a boy named Naoya Yuki who can see the dead as well they decide to try and cure their affliction together.

    This is an off beat series, particularly Azuma's character.  Lets be honest too; Po is Kirby...from the long running video game franchise.  That said the series seemed to list about, even though its roughly an hour in length.  The last third of the series turns into a sort of world hoping fantasy story too...  In the end it was a decent series, the final episode made up for everything that was lack luster.  I would say the real intent of the story is Wakaba being able to establish normal relationships with peers and figuring out what/who Po is.  Really though, the final episode turned it from a series not worth mentioning to something that I am happy I decided to watch.  The manga was done a number of years ago and compiled into a few tankoubon so I may have to check that out too.

    Even with the increase in short run anime series being streamed in North America I doubt this show will see the light of day.  If it was going to be picked up, someone would have started simulcasting it.  The manga is not licensed in North America either.  I scratch my head and wonder why Crunchyroll would pick up a series like Pupa and skip on PuPiPo...but whatever.

   

Today in Class 5-2

Kyo no Go no Ni is a comedic/ecchi slice of life OAV series based on the manga of the same name by Koharu Sakuraba, who also created Minami-ke.  The OAV's came out between 2006 and 2007 in Japan.

    5th grader Ryota Sato and his friends are starting to look at their female co-ed's in less than pure ways as they enter puberty.  The series followed Ryota and a good portion of his classmates as they find themselves in bizarre and sometimes adult situations while living their lives as elementary school children, about to become adolescents.  From being turned on by exposed collarbones, fearing the power of the schools water faucets to super ball bouncing competitions.  The characters are innocent and easy going, struggling with how to express their building inner dialogue and their shifting perceptions and relationships with each other.

   This was a fun, if perverted, series that had me laughing quite a bit.  The animation was pretty slick, given its OAV status and was generally well done.  Each episode is a series of vignettes are not related aside from the characters who participate in them.  Ryota is arguably the protagonist and focus of the series but some of the stories take the point of view of other characters.  If you enjoyed Minami-ke you will like this one too, even though its of higher ecchi content.  Considering the age of the characters some of the situations can be a bit uncomfortable, but nothing is overtly erotic or explicit.  Much is implied and suggested, but its still pretty perverted non-the-less.

    No surprise, this series has not been licensed in North America...governing officials do tend to have issues with sexualization of minors...even if done in a tasteful manner.  There was a follow up TV series that aired in Japan in 2008 but I never did get around to watching that one and figured it wasn't going to be as entertaining.

Itazura na Kiss - manga

Itazura na Kiss is a romantic comedy manga by Kaoru Tada.  It was published between 1990 and 1999.  The series was ended prematurely following the accidental death of Tada.  It has seen a number of TV drama adaptations in both Japan, Korea and Taiwan as well as an anime version that concluded the story, with the help of Tada's husband, in 2008.

    Kotoko Aihara is a less then bright senior in high school.  She has been helplessly in love with the schools top student, Naoki Irie since the beginning of high school.  Kotoko finally musters up the courage to give him a letter confessing her feelings to Naoki but is instantly rejected in front of the school.  That night her friends come to the brand new house her father built to celebrate the completion and to cheer her up after the rejection.  The celebration comes to an abrupt end when a minor earthquake topples the home.  On top of the embarasment of being publicly rejected by Naoki, Kotoko has to deal with the news that her house was the only one that collapsed in the earthquake.  Her classmate and one sided love interest, Kinosuke Ikezawa tries to console and woo her, by starting a drive to raise money to help her and her dad.  Naoki offers to pitch in but is refused out of frustration and pride by Kotoko.  After school her dad informs her that they will be staying at her dads childhood friends house until they can rebuild.  As fate would have it that childhood friend is Naoki Irie's father.  Now she has no choice but to accept his charity and must deal with living under the same roof as the guy she has loved for so long now.  Much to Naoki's irritation his mother instantly takes a liking to the hapless Kotoko and begins to plot them getting married.  His younger brother Yuki shares his brothers disdain for the less than bright girl.  Can Kotoko deal with living with the man who hates her and her own feelings for him?  Will Kinosuke be able to persuade Kotoko to forget Naoki and marry him?

    I originally watched the anime as it was airing in 2008 and really liked it.  It's light hearted and reminded me of the other classic romantic comedies from the 80's; Maison Ikkoku, Touch, Ranma 1/2...etc.  It was a welcomed change from the ever encroaching fan service laden love stories based on eroge.  The anime also ended nicely and showed 8+ years of the characters lives.  The manga, stated earlier, never ended due to the authors premature death.  When the anime project was green lit the producers worked closely with Tada's husband to pen the ending that she was planning on.  The manga, compiled into 12 tankoubon, is covered rather quickly in the first 15 episodes of the anime.  The manga was OK...I actually prefer the anime adaptation better, not just because it was able to conclude the story.  I was not a fan of the artwork and some story lines seemed to have been unnecessary and dragged on.  The anime its self would have been better with being a bit longer though as it felt rushed.  There are a few differences between both, but the anime was a relatively faithful reproduction of the manga...so since I wasn't treading on new territory or much in the way of expanded story much of the manga was boring to me.  Don't get me wrong though, its still a really good story and I recommend it highly if you are a fan of romantic comedies.  One thing that became starkly clear that didn't seem to be as impressive in the anime, was how much of an evil mother fucker Naoki is.  He really is a bastard and treats Kotoko like shit through the entire thing...it's a wonder he was rated one of the worst boyfriend type characters by Anime News Network...the guy is nothing but condescending asshole.

    Either way, pick it up if your are interested, or if you want to save time pick up the anime instead.  If you read it, you can see the ending in the anime...plus about 9 more episodes of material after the fact, following the creators original intent.  This is still a good series, nice an heart warming, funny and off beat with memorable characters...the character design is just a little odd, but I don't like to speak ill of the dead.

    The manga has been released in North America by Digital Manga Publishing...I believe in its entirety...the anime has not sadly.

Mokuyobi Post - MD Geist

This 2 part fantasy action OVA has a notorious history for both its shoddy production and ultra violence.

    On a distant planet Jerra two forces are battling each other.  Outgunned one side creates a force of super soldiers dubbed Most Dangerous Soldiers.  Unfortunately, the MDS units kill everyone with out pause.  The surviving units are then forced into suspended animation and kicked off the planet.  One unit, Geist, crashes back to the planet years later and joins up the conflict again, working under his own designs

    This is a horrible, horrible anime.  Its right along the lines, story wise, as Fist of the North Star.  Dealing with a land filled with roving bands of psychotics all gratuitously murdering each other.  In the opening sequence Geist amputates both arms of his attacker before finishing him off.  The only legitimate reason one should watch this pile of shlock is for reference and research in the time period where anime was obsessed with ultra violence.  Like other titles of it's ilk, the North American market was more than eager to bring it to a new audience.  The original American distributor helped the Japanese production company with putting together a cleaned up version of the original release.

   This OAV set is readily available on DVD...I wouldn't waste my hard earned money on it though.

Strange+

Strange+ is a comedic satire based on the manga of the same name by Verno Mikawa.  The series aired in Japan in the winter of 2014 and ran for 12 episodes.

    The Mikuni Detective Agency is a collection of bizarre people who take odd jobs that sometimes resemble detective work.  its members are the loli-like older brother Takumi, pretty boy younger brother Kou, buxom Miwa and beefcake Masamune.  Together they handle all sorts of bizarre requests from guarding priceless family treasures to acting out action show stage productions.

    This 3 minute per episode series is nothing less than strange.  The humor is scatological and fast paced.  There is little over all plot development and little character development.  It’s more a venue for bizarre scenarios, off beat cosplay and butt humor.  That said, for what it’s it worth it can be mildly entertaining.  Part of the entertainment is the frantic pace and seeing what stupid plot shows up next.  There really is no rhyme of reason to this series.  Thankfully, it’s as short as it is, coming in at around 40 minutes in total aired length.

    This is another of the growing crop of anime shorts that are being produces for manga that really shouldn’t have full length shows.  I really can’t figure out what series is similar, perhaps if you liked The Ping Pong Club this would be up your alley.

    If you want to check it out its available on Crunchyroll.

The dumped list of new shows for Spring, 2014.

These are the titles I either flat out refuse to watch or stopped partway through the first episode.

No Game, No Life – NEET siblings, Sora and Shiro are sucked into a real life gaming reality.

    I am really tired of all of these shows coming out that deal with people getting sucked into MMORPG’s.  Plus, gratuitous 11 year old panty shots 5 minutes into it?  Seriously?  Fuck you Japan, fuck you.

Is the Order a Rabbit – I really don’t know what this one is about other than appearing to be an entire series set up to create semi-plutonic moe school girl cosplay fantasies.  PASS.

The Irregular at Magic High School – Following 90-ish years of war, destruction and technological advances, science has been crafted to allow special people the ability to use magic.  Two siblings begin attending a prestigious magical school to become soldiers or something…for Japan…cus even after WW3 when most of the world is grouped into a few conglomerate countries Japan is a small independent island nation.

    OK, I don’t get into much fantasy, I don’t like steam punk and I have little regard for blatant cosplay fodder.  And Japan would have totally tried to annex most of eastern Asia in another global conflict, so don’t pretend you haven’t tried time and time before people!!

Haikyu – The ganbatte adventures of a high school volleyball team!   I don’t watch shonen sports titles.

Chaika the Coffin Princess – A loli-con dragging around a coffin…wasn’t that just done in A Sunday Without God?  Pass.

Blade and Soul­ – Again, I don’t dig fantasy anime.

Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to – This one I am not sure if I will continue watching.  It’s a short episode series about a perverted manga-ka and his cute female assistants who help him make his ecchi manga.  The ero-ge driven otaku suck has truly come full circle.

Kamigami no Asobi - A girl is transported to a school/world full of bi-shonen gods.  It really seems like a reverse harem, shonen-ai female gal-ge fantasy.  I'm pretty sure there's a shit ton of BL dojinshi that exists for this series.