The story of Sekaiichi Hatsukoi and me

Once upon a time happened a fujoshi (me) who finished her THIRD BL anime. In more or less one year I managed to finish three BL animes. Does it say anything about me? Probably.
And what does it say you ask? That I love seiyuu too much for my own sanity.

So yeah, after my last two desastrous experiences with BL anime, I just HAD to do it again. Obviously.
A lot of girls around me were going about how awesome Sekaiichi Hatsukoi was. I'm curious so I asked what it was about, BL I was told. I frowned and said I wasn't interested then moved on.
But one day, someone whom I think starts to know me a bit too well told me Kamiya Hiroshi was in it. And then I said : Need. To. Watch. Now.

Obviously. He was the cause of the first disaster too. (The cause of the second was Hochuu Ohtsuka in case you were wondering)
In the end, did I like it? No. Did I hate it then? Well it's not like you could say that either.

Sure I wanted to just hit a few characters here and there.
Ok, I pretty much wanted to hit everyone. Except three of them, strangely enough. (Kamiya's character aside because he could be the worst asshole on earth I'd still like him) And god knows how important characters are in a show, I wanted to punch half of the main cast, so that is a problem and the reasons I only half watched a few episodes.

Second thing I didn't like? Art style and animation. As for the artstyle, well, it's pretty much a given I have a hate for pointy faces and shôjo like style so yeah, that was bad for my eyes, the colors were pretty toned down though, even all the pink of the office was easy to bear. As for the animation, ever litterally burst out laughing during a kiss scene? That's what happened to me at every one of them.

The story? Well it's about things like "I don't love him, I totally don't love him, there's no way I love hiiiiiim!" and "Do I love him?" "Am I good enough?" "I don't understand what's going on"
That kind of thing. And I don't like animes entirely based on love stories, they bore me.

To be fair, the seiyuu were great. Thankfully.
And it was sometimes funny, and I loved Onodera's inner monologues. He just re-ignited my dying respect for Kondo Takashi.

Morality of the story? You've just encountered a fujoshi who doesn't like BL animes. I think having gone through 3 of them is enough to be sure of that.

[Review]AnoHana

Far, far back in time (OK, April but human memory can be very short) an anime I didn't like appeared. And to be honest I shouldn't be surprised anymore that when I don't like a first episode I end up liking the serie.

So, let's go back, AnoHana it is, because I still don't remember the full title is mostly a story about friendship and  acceptance.

In the end, it's beautiful. The tearjerking kind of beautiful. And strangely realistic despite dealing with a ghost. Though that doesn't really matter anymore.
I'm not even sure of what I want to comment on either. Seiyuu were damn awesome, good enough to make me cry buckets.

The characters too are awesome, remember how I hated Anaru? I don't anymore. How she spoke to Tsuruko in the last episode impressed me very much. Yukiatsu has been painful to look at for how unwilling he was to get close to anyone but Memna. Tsuruko for how she was holding it the whole time, never slipping a word and always there from the sides. Poppo too for his neverending quest of seeing things capable of erasing what he saw on that day. Jintan too for not finding a way to move on after the death of probably the most two important women of his life. And Memna, longing for something she'll never have, yet trying her hardest to fullfill a promise made for the sake of her friends.
Memna's family too portrayed very realistic reactions.

I can't even say anything about the plot because everything was based on the characters and their interaction more than on what they were exactly doing. That's what drew me in. That's what I wanted to know more of. Wishes? Fireworks? I couldn't care less, all I wanted to see is how they would react to everything, whether or not they'd make up, laugh or fight.

In the end I cried (but I do cry for the strangest things lately, example, C) because it was sad yes, but beautiful.

[Review]C

Remember a few months ago the first episode of that awesome show called C aired, the one I thought was my favourite of the season? Well, it's not anymore. Not totally. (But that's only because I think Tiger&Bunny shouldn't count in the competition. It's just too awesome I feel like it wouldn't be fair to the other shows.)

So what was it about again? Basically battles with money and where you gamble your future on the fights, all of this orchestrated by some great unknown power.

Now what did I think about it? I don't know. I REALLY don't know.
It's the kind of ambitious serie that has everything to be awesome, a good plot, good characters, good voice acting, good music even if not very noticeable. So, what happened?

The only possible explanation is that it was just too ambitious for a 11 episode serie. But it's a shame.

I wanted to know more about assets. I wanted to know more about the Guild. More about Masakaki. More about how the district worked. I wanted to know what C is. I wanted to know about Kimimaro's father. About Jennifer's organization. About Mikuni. Just about how everything worked. About the effects on real life. About Hanabi. I wanted to know about the used up futures.
Well I just wanted a proper explanation.

I didn't understand everything, far from it, of that ending. As an episode I would have loved it. As an ending it just doesn't work. But as I've seen a lot of people wondering about it, so I guess it's still worth throwing my explanations/theories out there.
I still don't know who that strange guy might be but I got the feeling Kimimaro wasn't really part of the world anymore and that everything was just, simply, a reset.
Like, Kimimaro, Mikuni and others are just players in a game that can be resetted at any time and of which the rules could change at any times.
It felt that way to me.

So yeah I would have loved more explanations and I feel like I have been trolled. I am not happy but happy at the same time.

And I still don't know what to think about this anime ...

Spring 2011 : Voices hit or miss!

Despite having been going to sleep later and later everyday, I've been finding myself a bit troubled when it came to actually falling asleep, hence my lovely brain going a bit crazy and it actually manages to find ideas for new blog posts. Granted, there are ideas that are definitely not fit for posts but still.

So today is the first installement of the seiyuu only report of the last season! Ok it's not finished, but I don't particulary think they'll suddenly introduce anything really new in that aspect. As usual, it's based on my tastes only, which are a bit peculiar, if not totally weird. (Though for seiyuu I have to say my tastes are pretty "normal" compared to other stuff)
Well whatever, here is my attempt to list what my ears liked or what they didn't, listed anime by anime, that I watch, wouldn't dare to judge something I am not watching. (But it's half of the season anyway so ...)
Oh and there's a deliberate order. Somehow.

Gintama 
I am not going to bother granted that there are pretty much at least a hundred characters.
Just now that Sugita Tomokazu is as awesome as usual and that Norio Wakamoto's and Hochuu Ohtsuka's characters should appear more often. But because I love them, it's not going to happen.

Deadman Wonderland
- Pretty much everyone has been miscast in this. I don't even know how to express my disappointment.
+ FukuJun, Suwabe Junichi and Kana Hanazawa are the only ones who actually fit their role and are at it.

Sengoku Otome
+/- This has only girls so, same problem as in KamiNomi, can't recognize them very well.
+/- They can sing though. Mostly. And they're cute

HenZemi

+ Seiyuu are the only real interest of the show and why I picked it up in the first place so ... (that and the fact I just realized that my guy friends from middle school are weirder than I thought they were)

Hanasaku Iroha 

- Omigawa Chiaki happens to be one of the seiyuu I hate

+ Nothing to report on anyone else

KamiNomi

+/- Most girls voices are not recognizable enough. But my ears find a lot of girls seiyuu just plain, I really love 4 and I really hate 2. 

+ Hiro Shimono is good at this, switching from the nice and calm mode to the hysterical one. 

Beelzebub 

- I have more interest for side characters' voice actors than for the main roles. 

- What's the point of hiring Sawashiro Miyuki to say "dayum" every 3 seconds?

+ Sugita Tomokazu is awesome. 

+ Casting Takahashi Hiroki as the Great Demon Lord may have been the best idea ever. 

Gosick

- Sawashiro Miyuki as Claudia, something is just not right. 

-/+ Kujou, I mean, he's plain, which is nice, but he should stand out more. 

+ Kiuchi Hidenobu, who doesn't get enough roles. 

+ Yuuki Aoi, never expected a single anime to change my views on her so much. She's absolutely incredible as Victorique. 

AnoHana 

+ I have nothing to complain about. Just wanted to take the chance to say once more that Sakurai Takahiro is awesome.

C

+ Sakurai Takahiro and his acting are marvelous. 

+ Uchiyama Kouki (Kimimaro) who sounds just plain enough for Kimimaro and whose voice I love. 

+ Daisuke Hosomi (Mikuni) FINALLY HAS MORE ROLES! 

Steins;Gate

+ The cast is perfect. Just perfect. They all sound as normal as possible considering the circonstences. 

+ MAMORU MIYANO! It has gotten to the point I didn't even recognize him at first. Never thought he'd be able to pull it off so well. 

Yondemasu yo Azazel-san

+ Daisuke Namikawa is awesome. 

+ Kamiya Hiroshi is awesome

+ Onosaka Masaya is made for this kind of role

+ It has awesome surprises appearance such as Kazuya Nakai and ... Keiji Fujiwara. 

Ao no Exorcist 

- Ono Daisuke as Arthur (granted he hasn't even appeared yet but I'm not happy) it just doesn't fit the character.

-/+ Yuusa Kouji as Renzou Shima, I love his voice but it makes me feel like he's a villain. 

-/+ Kazuya Nakai as Bon, it's not bad per say, and it's exactly the kind of character I'm used to hear him voice, it's just that's something wrong with it. 

-/+ FukuJun as Yukio. Sorry, I love you, but you should have played Arthur. Yukio should have been voiced by ... Toyonaga Toshiyuki? Well someone more of his style at least. (And it's NOT because I miss him, granted, I would have been dead happy since popular anime = character song and I'm in love with his singing)

+ Kana Hanazawa as Shiemi. Note that they have the same haircut. And that I had predicted it! 

+ Nobuhiko Okamoto as Rin. Unexpected, REALLY unexpected considering he hasn't been really that active but he does a much better job than I thought he would. 

+ Keiji Fujiwara as Fujimoto because damn, badass and sweet all at the same time. Was totally wary of him at first, well, he's been Ladd, so ...

+ Kamiya Hiroshi as Mephisto. Who could better than him voice a plotting bastard? 

Tiger&Bunny 
+ Yuusa Kouji as Yuri Petrov/Lunatic. Just the right amount of villain vibes and not villain vibes.
+ FUJIWARA KEIJI as Jake Martinez or the guy who just increased my suspicions on Maverick being the ultimate villain even more.
+ Kotobuki Minako, the girl who voices Tsumugi because she doesn't sound like at all like Tsumugi in this anime.
+ Morita Masakazu because I didn't like him before, still don't like him in any of his other roles but am totally in love as Barnaby.
+ Yuko Kaida because damn, her "Bonjour Heroes" is so incredibly erotic.
+ Tsuda Kenjiro as Fire Emblem because that guy is awesome, and he seems like such a fun person.
+ Hiroaki Hirata, granted, I didn't know him all that much before, just heard him in extracts of Pirate of the Carribeans Japanese version as Jack but I'm impressed, his voice goes up, and down, and it's gentle and not gentle the next second. Perfect. (and one day I'll give in and watch One Piece)
And have a bonus, + for Maaya Sakamoto, who doesn't appear in the anime but who voices Amamiya Tomoe, Kotetsu's tsundere meganeko wife, in the drama CD. (and you're not making me believe there's no relation with Mami Tomoe, nope, never)

Spring 2011 : Characters Top10!

During the last Tiger&Bunny episode I suddenly started to think about how fucking loveable they all were (between one or two tears crisis, I cry easily don't mind me) and thought that, since I currently need a distraction, I'd make a top 10 of my favorite characters of the season. So here you go!
Reverse order because I love to keep suspense, or so I like to pretend.

10 -Bee-yan (Yondemasu-yo Azazel-san)
I know it's weird considering he has some rather peculiar tastes when it comes to food but he's so funny, well that's one of the things that make him funny. I love the contrast between his two forms too and how he can be so incredibly evil and yet, somehow, thougtful.

9 - Father Fujimoto (Ao no Exorcist)
He's just the kind of plotting bastard I like, you know he's hiding something but you can't help but liking him because despite everything he is a good guy. He raised Satan's son after all and he's damn badass even if he doesn't seem to be.

8 - Msyu (C)
Her character development was lovely. How she started by not caring that much for Kimimaro, not understanding him the slightest. Continuing by trying to understand know him better, softenning, and ending up loving him. That's cute. And she's badass.

7 - Akutabe (Yondemasu-yo Azazel-san)
He's a sadistic bastard. That's all I have to say.
But deep down he cares. Probably.

6 - Mikuni (C)
I admire Mikuni a lot, yes, despite everything. He's willing to do anything to protect what he believes he should protect. He's like, a villain with good intentions.

5 - Ivan Karelin/Origami Cyclone (Tiger&Bunny)
I never thought I'd like him as much as I do now. But you have to admit he did grow up a lot, well, he had more screentime to start with. I just really, really loved his determination in episode 11. That's, mostly, why I like him. And he has the cute face of a kitten (don't judge me ok? I'm a shallow fangirl)

4 - Barnaby Brooks Jr. (Tiger&Bunny)

First, I love tsundere characters. Second, I feel truly sorry for him, and it makes me happy to see him "trusting" other people. Ok, I just want to hug him and find his dedication to find his parents' murderer really admirable, even if it's just an escape. 

3 - Q (C)
This week's episode made me fall in love. So cute, well she's always been cute but she ended up being scary too. I really love the contrast. I think she should have had more screentime.

2 - Mephisto Pheles (Ao no Exorcist)
Flamboyant twisted bastard, obviously planning something AND an otaku. What's there not to love?

1 - Kaburagi T. Kotetsu/Wild Tiger (Tiger&Bunny) 
Surprised much? XD
I don't even know where to start, well, he's adorable isn't he? And strong, and dedicated both to his work and his family, and I love how he protects his beliefs no matter what and how he cares for everyone and tries to stay positive despite the situation.

I want everyone to please note two things as a conclusion :
- OMG I like anime girls! GIRLS! Can you believe it?
- I didn't include a screencap of that Tiger&Bunny scene. Be proud!

Summer Season 2011 : Heads up!

I have tons of manga reviews to do but I keep on pushing them away, I just don't feel like writing them, then again I don't really feel like writing "serious" stuff lately and thus I reblog nonsense on Tumblr.
So, have the, rather small, especially compared to this season, collection of what I will be watching in summer. (Though it'll probably increase when it'll start because I'm just like that)
I'm pretty thankful a few of my favorite shows, such as Tiger&Bunny and AoEx, my TWO ultimate "OMG cannot wait a single minute more, need. To. Watch. The RAW. Now.", are going to continue though because it would have felt lonely. At best, there's one of these per season, I'm happy to get two, it helps my Japanese improving and there's never enough Mameshiba in the world, nor weird French. ANYWAY!

Here I go!
Will definitely watch and no one will prevent me from it! 
- Natsume Yuujinchou San : The first two seasons are in my favourite anime list for a reason, the manga is one of my favourite for a reason too, I am a fan of the main seiyuu and I absolutely love the music writer (it'll screw with my mind but I don't care!)
For those who have no idea about what it is, it's about a boy who can see yokai and his daily life. He gets attackes, he makes friends, and it's so incredibly sweet and peaceful despite everything. You definitely should check this out.

- The Idolm@aster : Ok, don't judge me? I kinda always like idol arcs in animes and I happen to be a sucker for "live" performances as well. So this one happens to hit all of these so I'm on it.

- R-15 : I read "porn" on the summary ...
(Oh god, am I still a girl? ^^)

- Kami-sama no Memo Chou : I read the summary, got interesting by the " NEET detective in pajamas" part, then checked the cast list, wasn't interesting enough to make it a must watch, then checked the music writer and was "OMG IWASAKI TAKU I MISSED YOU". So yeah, watching just for him. (because the detective "hiring" an assistant plot has been a bit overdone lately ^^)

- Nurarihyon no Mago : I've seen the first season, it went boring after 6 episodes, was awesome again at the end, so, like every Jump anime or nearly, it gets better afterwards. Hopefully.

- Dantalian no Shoka : Library? Book of demons? GET! And the artwork looks lovely.

- Usagi Drop : Noitamina anime are always a must watch. And it seems like a really sweet story.

- No.6 : Same as above. And I love science fiction.

- Uta no Prince-sama : I'm watching the Idolm@ster, I can't possibly ignore the one made for girls can I?
I'll probably regret it later but Norio Wakamoto makes everything worth the headache. (no, but honestly, anime adaptations from otome games are generally bad so ...)

Maybe if I'm bored, meaning it's not top priority but I'll at least check the first episode out : 
- Kamisama Dolls : From the look of it, it looks just weird and the miko attire screams fanservice, but I read "bloody corpse in an elevator in the summary" there's nothing much I can do against that can I?
And it has a nice cast so ...

- Nyanpire : There's something strangely appealing at the thought of seeing Date Masamume catified. If only he was voiced by someone else though.

- Sacred Seven : Sunrise has been pleasantly surprising me lately, the plot seems fun with their "memories changing the world" thing, the cast seems nice, but really? Naming characters, maids even, after seiyuu? That screams fanservice, and just by seeing the characters I can already more or less predict their behaviour, that's boring even before it starts.
BUT I'll check it out because it's Sunrise and because FictionJunction happens to be singing the OP.

- Nekogami Yaoyorozu : So that one deals with yokai and I like the two lead seiyuu so I'll at least check it out.

- Ikoku Meiro no Croisée : The French my friends, the French!

Mid-season but not quite ramblings

Slight break of hiatus due to forced hollidays at old house. It's been a while actually but I've been stolen away by Tumblr (that thing is evil I swear)


Anyway, thought I'd do a mid-season recap since I have nothing better to do right now (and honestly don't feel like doing anything else either.) 
Mid-season is kind of a big word since it'll nearly be time to think about what I'm watching for next ^^


- Ao no Exorcist : Kinda mad at the filler episode so soon into the serie but I understand why it's there and it was entertaining (read : there was Mephisto) so I won't complain too much. 
Plus it's inspired by an omake in the manga and these are just too cute. Now, I hope they'll animate the undercover of volume 5 in which we can see Bon and his hairs after the shower. I've taken a liking in his hairs I cannot help it.
Also : MAMESHIBAAA! The lack of Mameshiba at one of another episode actually plunges my Twitter and my Tumblr dash in despair. 
- Gintama : I LOVE THE RECAP EPISODE SO GODDAMN MUCH!
Also, why making Matsudaira appear in the OP if he's not going to be in the anime, do you know he's my favourite character?

- C : It's turning to be even more interesting that I thought it'd be. Still my favouite show of the season and will stay in my top 5 favorite anime list for quite some time.

- Deadman Wonderland : Nope. We're not going to be friends. Something is lacking, something really important that could make it awesome is not there and I'm pissed off because I can't pinpoint what it is. 
And the cast, while being awesome in name, is in name only, most of the cast just don't fit their characters. So far, special mention to Suwabe Junichi as Tamaki, then again, he's perfect as twisted characters, same goes for FukuJun as Rokuro, I missed his deep voice, and the duality in Kana Hanazawa voice makes her perfect for Shiro. 
Aside from them, I really have a hard time with the cast.
- Steins;Gate : That too is turning more interesting than I thought. I don't really know how to express it but it's human, it shows friendship, it shows doubts and regrets, it shows how sometimes you're just placed in the middle of events you don't understand. It's really nice. 

- AnoHana : Wonderful character development in there. Wonderful story too. 

- Hyouge Mono : I've seen 4 episodes of this and prior knowledge of Japanese history and traditions is a must. Still kinda fun, too bad no one subs it.

- Yondemasu yo Azazel-san : Kamiya, Kamiya /chants
Also pleasantly surprised by the character development, especially in the last episodes. 

 - Kami Nomi : Better than the first season! Definitely better! 

Because it's more about Keima and less about the girls. I like Keima. 

- Hen Zemi : It's nearly interesting. Well entertaining enough so I keep watching, I like(d) that yankee girl, better now that it's not always centered on the normal girl anymore.

- Sengoku Otome : One day, maybe, they'll learn that plot in an ecchi anime is not a good idea. 

It's boring most of the time and too obvious they're trying too hard. I like yuri so /rejoices

The runner-ups, a.k.a. I didn't intend to watch because I watch too much stuff already but I'm hopeless so let's add a bit more. 

- Tiger&Bunny : I take back what I said, there is plot, it makes me create weird theories (serious theories, there are less serious ones ^^)

And well, for a tons of other reasons I love this. Very much. A bit too much actually.

- Hanasaku Iroha : Still never boring despite the boring situations. Hey a whole episode about how sick she is? Come on, anyone would have made it boring. Just not them.

Don't like Tohru's character development too much though ^^ (who would have thought? XD)

Beelzebub on the other hand is getting more and more boring every week and Gosick more and more interesting. Grévil in particular became more likeable.