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Posted on: 02 Jul 2011 00:01:42 PST

Categories: Archives Multiply Uncategorized

Tags: anime anime watch list

Since I don’t want to study yet, let us import another blog entry from the website that does not want the original author to export them. This was posted there on Nov 19, ‘08 4:05 PM. This also serves as my first blog entry for the month of July.

By the way, part I is here.

So, here goes.

#== Start of document ==#

Finally, I’m able to release another part…

WHEW! Anime watching is really “life-threatening”, for it really sucks your time and makes you tardy. Well, anyway, here are other 5 anime series you should watch, together with my comments and insights on each.

Seems like we have a category today, for these series has one thing in common: romance.

So, here goes nothing…

[img 404]1. The Melancholy of Haruhi SuzumiyaAuthor: Mizuno Makoto
Completed: No
No. of Episodes: Season 1 - 14; Season 2 - yet to be released

An anime with love as a central theme (as with the others that will follow), Haruhi (most often called due to the long title) is about a “queer” girl, Haruhi, who turns out to be a god that can control the world, though she is unaware of it. A clearer plot summary from wikipedia says:

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya follows the high school life of Haruhi Suzumiya, a young and very active high school girl, and those who are caught up in her antics. While Haruhi is the central character to the plot, the story is told from the point of view of Kyon, one of Haruhi’s classmates.

Kyon is an ordinary first year high school student who has recently given up his fantasies of espers, time travelers, and aliens as he left middle school.[9] When he chooses to speak to Haruhi, he unwittingly sets off a chain of events which drag him into surreal situations; he is drawn further into a world eerily like the fantasies he had just managed to outgrow, with Haruhi at its center.

Searching for a group that interests her, Haruhi joins and quits every club in the school, finding only dissatisfaction.[10] Kyon makes a snide remark about her actions and accidentally provides Haruhi the inspiration to create a club of her own. To help start the club, Haruhi forcefully drafts Kyon, who only stays in the club to protect other helpless victims of Haruhi’s “voluntary arrests”. As the story progresses, Kyon finds that each of these supposedly “helpless victims” has a specific reason to be there.[11]

The first of these new members is Yuki Nagato, a silent bibliophile who usually wants to simply be left alone to read. Without Haruhi knowing, Yuki is in fact a “humanoid interface,” or an artificial human, created by the extraterrestrial Integrated Data Entity.[11] The next member is the shy and timid Mikuru Asahina, who is one year above Haruhi; she is actually a time traveler.[11] The final member of the SOS Brigade is Itsuki Koizumi, who is almost always smiling and more than willing to give in to Haruhi’s strange demands. He turns out to be one of many espers in an organization known as the Agency.[11]

Except for Kyon, the members of the club are secret agents of various organizations who are sent to observe Haruhi. They gradually explain that Haruhi has superhuman control over every aspect of the universe—an ability which she is unaware of. Whenever Haruhi becomes bored or otherwise dissatisfied with reality, she subconsciously creates a new universe—one more to her liking—and attempts to switch over, thus leading to the destruction of the current universe. In order to prevent this, the members of Haruhi’s club spend their time attempting to keep their god-like leader entertained, hold her powers in check, and maintain the illusion of a normal life.

The series never clarifies whether the club members gathered around Haruhi by their own free will, her subconscious, or were simply created out of thin air for Haruhi’s amusement. The question of their origin is a motif seen throughout the series.

There you have it.

What’s unique in this anime though (as differentiated from the others that will follow) is that the anime is broadcast at random: though the episodes are labeled chronologically per se, the plot (if you follow the anime according to the aforementioned labeling) is at random. Nevertheless, for those who want to watch it in REAL chronological order (though watching it in its default “chronological” order is fun), here is the correct order:2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 1, 12, 13, 14.

We all know well the saying, “the more you hate, the more you love.” Though the anime itself does no explicitly express (so far) the relationship between Haruhi and Kyon, you will get a grip of it when watching the series.

2. KanonAuthor: Petit Morishima (manga), Mariko Shimizu (light novel)Completed: Yes
No. of Episodes: 13Since I’m admittedly bad on summarizing plots, here is a snippet from Wikipedia:

Kanon’s story revolves around a group of five girls whose lives are connected to the same boy. Yuichi Aizawa is a second-year high school student who had visited the city where the story takes place seven years prior to Kanon’s beginning. The story opens on Wednesday January 6, 1999 when Yuichi arrives in the city and is very detached from the it and its inhabitants. Prior to his return, it is decided that he is to stay with his first cousin, Nayuki Minase, and her mother, Akiko. After his long absence, Yuichi has forgotten almost everything except minor details of what happened seven years before and is in need of being reminded of what he left behind. Nayuki initially tries repeatedly to jog his memory, but is unsuccessful. Throughout the story, as he learns about the supernatural undertonesof the city, Yuichi is reminded of the events of seven years ago in the city.

On the day after Yuichi’s return,he is out with Nayuki who is showing him around city. Nayuki remembers that she has to buy things for dinner, but Yuichi is reluctant to go into the store with her, arguing that he might get lost. Moments after Nayuki leaves him waiting on the sidewalk, a strange girl named Ayu Tsukimiya barges into him with little warning. Upon recovering, she drags him away to a nearby café and confesses to inadvertently stealing a bag filled with taiyakiafter being accidentally scared away by the salesman before she had a chance to pay. Yuichi drags Ayu back to the salesman, where they both apologize for the trouble, and Ayu is forgiven. They decide to meet up again another day and Ayu scampers off. A few days after he has been in the city, Yuichi is accosted by a girl named Makoto Sawatari who has lost her memories, though still remembers that she has a grudge against him from when he last visited the city. After she collapses in the street, he takes her home and learns about her situation. Akiko gives her permission to live with them for the time being, which is against Yuichi’s plan to hand her over to the police.

Another girl who is connected to Yuichi’s past is Mai Kawasumi whoattends his high school as a third-year. She takes it upon herself to fight and defeat demons at night while the school is deserted.[7][11] Due to this, she is constantly blamed for accidents because she never denies them, being too sincere to say anything and knowing that no one will believe that there are demons in the school. Yuichi coincidentally meets a fifth girl named Shiori Misaka for the first time who he gets to know along with the other four heroines in the story. She has suffered from an unexplained affliction since birth which makes her weak to the point of missing school because of it. Yuichi startsto talk with her more after noticing her in the school courtyard one day. It turn out that Shiori stands outside on the school grounds nearly every day because she wants to meet someone dear to her.

This is a really good anime, and I swear it’s touching. The anime’s opening (song and video) is somewhat queer though: it can make you sleepy and/or say “Enough already!” This is, like Fate/Stay Night, is also based on a visual novel of the same name. Oh yeah, it is also classified as a harem anime, so be forewarned.[img 404]3. ClannadAuthor: Jun Maeda, YūichiSuzumoto, Kai, and Tōya Okano (light novel) Completed: YesNo. of Episodes: Season 1 - 24: 1-22 series, 23 extra episode, 24 OVAFrom onemanga:

Clannad is set in a high-school located in a Japanese town. Tomoya Okazaki is a third-year student who doesn’t take his studies seriously. Always late for class, he’s seen as a delinquent by the rest of his classmates who are busy preparing for their entrance examinations. Needless to say, he doesn’t have too many close friends either.

Tomoya seems not to mind too–until he meets a few other girls from his school. Though he doesn’t care much about them at first, he soon opens his heart to them as they get to know each other better.

Clannad is a romantic youth drama that’s likely to be more down-to-earth than Key’s other works. But like Kanon and Air, Clannad’s story is expected to be another touching and heart-breaking weeper.

Based off the game of the same name.

This is also a very good anime series, and is similar to Kanon. Like Kanon, it can also be said as a harem type of anime. It is also very touching, and feature a virtual world as a counterpart to Kanon’s frequent flashbacks.There is also a sequel to this anime. Entitled Clannad After Story, it has 7 episodes at the time of writing.

Moving on…

4. Itazura na KissAuthor: Kaoru Tada (manga) Completed: Yes No. of Episodes: 25

From onemanga:

High school senior AiharaKotoko has had a crush on Irie Naoki since freshman year. But she’s been discouraged from confessing to him by a few things: he’s a member of “Class A,” the top ranking class in school, whereas she’s in “Class F”; he gets the top score on every exam; and he’s so smart, popular, and handsome that he’s been class president every year. When Kotoki finally musters up the courage to present him with a love letter, though, Naoki outright refuses it, telling her point blank–with a look of disgust and boredom–that he doesn’t like “stupid girls.” Poor Kotoko’s worst nightmare! Her heart is broken, but then a change in circumstance forces Naoki and Kotoko to be together every day…!?

NOTE: The series stops at volume 23 due to the mangaka passing away.

Another typical story of “the more you hate, the more you love” scenario. It is really good, especially the opening song entitled Kimi, Meguru, Boku.May the author rest in peace.

[img 404]5. Lovely ComplexAuthor: Aya Nakahara (manga) Completed: Yes No. of Episodes: 24

Wikipedia summarizes the story as:

Lovely Complex is a love story between a boy and a girl. The girl, Risa Koizumi, is 172 cm (5’ 7”) tall—much taller than the average Japanese girl. The boy, Atsushi Otani, is 156 cm (5’1 and a half”) —way below the height of the average Japanese boy. Because of this, they are called the “All Hanshin Kyojin” after a popular comedy duo that has a similar height difference.

During summer school, a very tall student (from another class) shows up and Risa immediately falls for him, as she has had bad luck with boys in the past because she is tall. There is a girl that Atsushi likes as well, so Risa and Atsushi decide to put aside their differences and help each other get their love interests. But as they get to know each other better, Risa’s feelings for Atsushi begin to blossom, and her love life gets complicated from there.

It also comments on it: One notable fact about Lovely Complex is that instead of speaking standard Japanese, almost all characters speak in Kansai-ben (the story takes place in Osaka). While having one or two characters speaking Kansai-ben is common in many anime shows, having all characters doing so is unusual.

I learnt of this anime when I was in Yakal dormitory. My friend recommended it to me, and like HellGirl, I instantly liked it.The anime points out that height is not a hindrance in finding your true love. Also, it has a very good opening song: Kimi + Boku = LOVE? (Literally means You + Me = LOVE?)

There you have it: another round of anime series to kill your time. And also to be entertained.

Enjoy watching, and, more importantly, enjoy your free time!

P.S. I don’t really care if the anime is old or not; what I care about is if it suits my taste, and, more importantly, if I can relate to it.

Updates: Gundam 00 is now on its episode 7, season 2. Clannad After Story, as I said earlier, is at episode 7. season 2.

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