Most school life anime just focuses on the first five aspects. Don’t you agree?

I like animes which portray school life. Yes, whatever you want to say, even if it’s heavily cliche already. Then again, one thing that I see them overlook is this aspect of tight competition in the school. We often see anime such as Toradora! where the focus is actually romance and comedy. The academic standings of the characters weren’t really given the focus. GTO, meanwhile focuses on the issues of the students, primarily bullying and delinquents, but not whether these characters are studious and bright.

Okay, what I want to talk about here is this competition of the characters in terms of grades. Just thinking about this topic reminds me of Special A, since the it’s the primary gripe of the female lead, being the second — But I haven’t watched it so — so much for that. Maho(Kare Kano), is basically the same — It’s just that she was overwhelmed by this helpless feeling of defeat.

We rarely see seriousness in the competition of the characters in terms of their grades. Azumanga Daioh features Yomi and Chiyo having a relatively close fight in their grades. Chiyo didn’t really mind her grades. It was only Yomi who we could see somehow obstinate on planning to beat Chiyo’s score.

I think only Kare Kano so far has given me this kind of situation wherein the revolving issue is “class standing”. Absurd as it may seem, but I think this is rather realistic, compared on how other shows take it. Based from Kare Kano and regarding the competition inside the classroom. Maho was somewhat used to be the one at the top of the ladder — which is why she was frustrated when Yukino was able to usurp her from that place. Then again — that frustration might probably be actually pretty much the same with what Yukino felt when Arima grabbed the crowd.

There really is a competition going on just to have that spot you wanted in the corporate or professional  world, not only in Japan.  I’ve even read some articles citing that this tight competition in the school grounds is also one of the reasons why hikkikomoris exist.

I guess one of the reasons why some of us like watching anime is, because it deviates from the real world, where competition exist. We’d rather focus on the comedy, rabu-rabu scenes, and other hijinks that happen in schools instead of its primary purpose, which is education. And, I think anime producers know that, which is why they are showcasing us with shows that do not put grade competition in its lime light.

Even if you say that BakaTest does the opposite, you could actually see them portraying the anime in such a sarcastic way wherein some of the characters just don’t care about their grades, or staying in that kind of situation. It somehow deviates us again in reality when Himeji proclaims that she is better off in Class F, rather than in Class A! (That sounded though as if she was consoling everyone in Class F)

You could blandly see the classroom where our primary characters stay, and how poor they are treated in terms of facilities, and yet, do we really focus on that aspect of the show? No, some turn their heads and stare at Hideyoshi instead .

Class F’s objective to beat Class A seems superficial to me. BakaTest would have shown some aspect of reality, just as how “respect and treatment” is equated to your intellectual capability in school(which is not necessarily true!), but then again, you won’t really notice signs of disappointment in the characters when they were beaten once again by Class A.

Then again, if you would want to see Baka to test to Shoukanjuu in light of the comedy it presents, then go ahead.

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image credits: pixiv user 雪見@ばかてす

2009 is the first year I’ve actually completed to monitor from January to December. Now I can fully assess the anime(s) I’ve watched—and liked from every season. Is 2009, yay or nay?

The anime(s) listed below are not really in any order of preference or such, but these are my final picks for the best shows for the year of 2009. I really didn’t include shows which weren’t done airing yet. Meanwhile, I’ve included a show from 2008 Fall which didn’t finished airing on 2008.

Anyway, I’ve finally finished Persona 4 before the end of the year so expect some sort of a review of the game. It’s partly responsible why the year end post is late.

Toradora! – It was kind of let down that this show not really left that of a heavy impression among the viewers but to tell everyone the truth, Toradora! is one of the shows that really kept me excited every week during the season it was being aired.

I never really liked Taiga at first because she only seems to me a brat, with a Shana-esque voice, spouting baka-inu over and over. It was really Minorin who enticed me in this show. I still remember that scene with Ami whispering to her, whether her feelings of guilt has disappeared or whatnot… Although I also have to agree that Taiga was awesome during this episode as well because of the cat fight.

I just don’t care anymore about the love interest of the characters here in the series. I just really like the character developments made in this show, from Minorin’s guilt, deceit and of course her impulsive character, Ami’s provocative attitude, Yuusaku’s idiotic tendencies, Takasu’s awesomeness, and Taiga’s ill-temper.

Well, I honestly didn’t liked the ending of the series. Seriously, I just don’t know why Toradora suddenly tripped that branch when it’s already about to end. I don’t know if I’m the only one who didn’t like the ending. Adversely, I guess there are also several episodes which I liked, which I think could compensate for the feeble ending.

Spice and Wolf II – The best sequel I’ve seen so far. I think the first season is somewhat shallow because it  simply seemed to me a boy meets girl plot. Season 2 begs to differ because it explored more the relationship between Horo and Lawrence. There have been several situations already where Lawrence was drove into a corner to select from limited options but it has never been the case that Horo has to leave his side, in exchange for something he has desired for long. Season two further tests the strength of the bond formed between Horo and Lawrence after their encounter. It was a good watch because you get to see some substantial character developments from the two primary characters, even if it was in a slow-paced manner. I am highly anticipating a third installment from this series.

Bakemonogatari - Haha, it’s kind of expected already because Bakemonogatari is one of the unique series through out the year. Nisio Isin’s antics were funny, but at the same time, he still didn’t failed to incorporate the story. I fail as a viewer though because I never had the chance to formally write a review for it, but I’ll certainly write one. Someday.

Ugh, I still remember that it was too late for me to realize that Senjogahara’s staplers were sembalnt to that of crab’s pincers. I think I was only able to sumise that after 10 episodes, yes it was a real fail for me for noticing it on the last minute.

The series’ capriciousness is one of its fascinating traits. The characters are pleasing in sense that they are fun and surprising to watch, on how they are going to react to certain situations. I especially liked conversations between Senjogahara and Araragi, since these two are the very embodiment of the descriptions I’ve just said. Araragi’s fun to watch because of his tsukkomi-esque responses while Senjogahara is so enticing to watch as she teases Araragi.

My only qualm though is the walls of texts. Probably, that’s one of the reason I just can’t say that I’ve fully understood the series. Once in a while, I get to see this kanji character of kuro 黒 (black) — which I still don’t comprehend up until now.

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 – One of the anime(s) that left me dumbstruck after it was finished.

It was a blunt bullet for people who don’t really know how to get past some obstacles in life. It was a realistic portrayal of how Mirai was able to change from that of an annoying teen into a much mature Mirai after all the events. It showcases that commonality among people to take for granted some things that they’d find important once it is lost already. Sometimes though, we just have to overcome that fear in order to advance in our own lives.

I doubt one would still be able to utter “the world should just break” after watching this series.

The final episodes gave such a confusing impression among the viewers though because of the issue regarding Yuuki. Either way, I think witnessing Mirai’s growth through out the story is the true essence of the series.

Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou – A supernatural series that has a subtle atmosphere, but piquant on its own unique way.

Okay, how should I describe this anime? Well, it was interesting on its own right, but I especially liked the portrayal of Natsume’s character. He is an interesting fellow for he does his best to deal with youkais alone. I guess I just can contemplate with his behavior towards the people around him. He seems to be fine around others when he’s actually not often times.

Natsume’s stance between both youkais and humans is of course one of the catch of the anime. Will he be able to keep up with the youkais given his transient life? When will he finally be at his true self around humans? The human-youkai relationship being the focus between Natsume and Madara is also a good watch because it somewhat tells a story of an unrequited relationship between two different entities. Madara’s growing fondness towards Natsume is given already but will the two of them make it given the barriers?

It also has a slow paced manner of story telling but it is worth watching Natsume’s struggles with Madara, as they take that path, nobody knows where it leads.

Also— A third installment as well puh-lease.

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Hmm, probably my runner-ups would be: Aoi Hana, Eden of the East, Birdy Decode 2 and Skip Beat. K-on, Umineko and Valkyria Chronicles just didn’t made it on my cut. There are still lots of anime I’ve watched but I guess those above would be the top 5? Well, I guess this will look like very subjective since I don’t have any formal criteria to assess them, but i really don’t care about crappy animation and sound that much because I give the heavy weight to the story and characters alone while distributing some to my personal enjoyment and the value of the anime itself.

I hope you’ve enjoyed as well these top 5 anime(s) of mine for the year 2009.

Well then, it is again the start of another decade. I hope there would be more good anime(s) which would be produced.

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image credits: pixiv users NPN♥サイト引っ越しました, きぃら～☆, 椿九, 928, Liddle

Are you guys blind? That deformed railing is obviously where Taiga fell!

I think this episode is similar to the episode where Taiga almost drowned but Ryuuji saved her. Although this time, it is the opposite since Ryuuji was the very first one to notice that Taiga has disappeared.

I’ve always predicted that Ami would finally provoke Minorin to burst because of her emo-ness and irresoluteness. Although this time, it’s very untimely. As I see things in Ryuuji’s situation, he is by foremost having the hardest time recovering from the rejection and yet these girls don’t know how to control their selves that they even got into a fight… Meanwhile, Taiga enjoyed watching the first round for she also joined and finally confessed to Ryuuji…

Even though one could say that Taiga is trying her best to be kind enough so Ryuuji would be better off alone without her so Minorin could finally accept her feelings, she is being dishonest as well like Ami which causes Minorin to be emo which then irritates Ami a lot. Tracing the root cause would point all the arrows to Taiga… Poor girl. Anyway, even though Taiga has her own faults, I can’t say that she caused all of it since Ryuuji is spoiling her a lot that it is starting too look like they are a couple. The lesson here, never be a bridge to anybody’s relationship if you want to be the one distraught by your own feelings.

The thing I don’t understand here though was Taiga’s feeling towards Kitamura. Did it suddenly faded after realizing that Kitamura is looking beyond the horizon for Sumire and not for her that she decided to come for Ryuuji? Well, I think yes. You can see Taiga still uncomfortable beside Kitamura but not because she is still feeling the doki-doki in her chest anymore. I think she already accepted in her heart that Kitamura would always be looking past her image that he is now chasing Ryuuji to be by her side instead.

Minori is hopeless if she would continue looking at things vaguely like referring it to cryptic messages from alien. If she really understands Ryuuji and Taiga, I don’t think she has to be a coward in fighting for her own interest. Meanwhile, Ami got pawned by Minori (she’s a softball captain remember?). That slap to wake Minorin up is already late which caused Ami her own demise because Minori’s slap is definitely heavier. Although Ami is sort of emotionally unstable these days because of her anxiety towards the events, it’s her fault for thinking so much. Although her model figure is straight, I doubt if her mind is.

Poor Ryuuji, harems has to end. Of course he has to pick one. WHICH OF COURSE HAS TO BE TAIGA. Not because I really prefer Taiga that much above other else but mainly because it simply has to be. Few more episodes before the resolution!

Actually, I want to control myself not to write an entry about Toradora! since it is very popular already that almost every episode has a corresponding lots of entries but I just can’t control it either lol!

The english translation from the script was:

Minori closed her eyes and, reminiscent of the crucified Christ, raised both hands so very slowly while wearing a peaceful expression. Her expression that had been like that of a dead person very, very slowly shifted into a smile. Her hands ended up making a large circle over her head…at least, that’s what it looked like at that moment.

Kuwa~!

With her face crinkled and her mouth opened as if she were crying out, both her hands crossed violently in a slashing motion. They ended up forming an X.

I think almost all viewers that saw this scene rolled over the floor to ease their laughter. I already saw it turned into an animated .gif which lurked several anime forums and image boards.

Based from the translation above, I don’t know why J.C Staff made the last part kinda exaggerated. In contrast to the light novel version of the last segment. Well, I think it really was hilarious enough and a total whim out of the producers. It was totally unexpected and that caused to not clearly understand what was her answer to Ryuuji’s question.

In contrast to the anime version, Minorin’s face in the light novel is more moe. Descriptively speaking, both pictures are effective in capturing the script but then, I think the anime version is more accurate since it was written that “her face crinkled” which was not seen in the light novel illustration. Even so, it is exceptional since Minorin was made to look as if still cute even though that was her real expression during that time. But personaly speaking, even though Minorin is hyperactive, she doesn’t portray herself as a comic relief. Instead, she utilize it as a veneer to hide her true feelings. Because of this, I still see the moe picture much more appropriate to describe the scene because Minorin would undoubtly do that kind of face in front of Ryuuji.

Also, the next sentence in the light novel was referring to the “seemingly puzzled” face of her classmates when they saw Minorin did that which is rather vague since they should have been surprised not just puzzled by that kind of reaction if the expression used was the anime version.

Okay, this time, I guess I underestimated an anime. Well, I think I’m glad I did that since I don’t want to be utterly disappointed from picking shows which I won’t like in the end. I thought Toradora is just your mediocre high school themed anime but I suppose not. Episode nine really changed my first impression about the anime and I’m glad that I pursued to watch it even though I felt like watching School Rumble.

Unlike the previous episodes, I don’t see any unique scenes or ideas that would recreate it as something notable in my mind. I was always reminded by Saito and Louise during the first episodes and I’m deeply frustrated since I just keep on seeing tsun-tsun and dere-dere moments between Taiga and Ryuuji. Episode nine hinted me the character development I’ve been waiting all this time. It was pretty hilarious during the first scenes but it managed to enjoy me. The scene that made impact to me was the conversation between Minorin and Ryuuji. I just can relate to what Minorin said about all the love thing since I’m also far beyond its reach as well. If someone would ask me a parallel question, I might answer the same thing. The scene with Taiga and Ryuuji after the midnight dinner might have been the best scene since the setting was very romantic if only Ryuuji went along with what Taiga has been saying and thinking.

For now, I see Taiga being reluctant if she really likes Yusaku or not. Meanwhile, I don’t really understand what Ami-tan is thinking. Ami seems to be joking with all her provocations to Ryuuji so I can’t say if she really has intentions to Ryuuji. Minorin is invulnerable for now and if this keeps on, Ryuuji might lean on and end up with Taiga. Yusaku is… I just can’t seem to describe this character. I thought he was a decent person when I saw him but I guess he also has several idiotic tendencies.

For now, I have decided to carry on on watching Toradora and I hope I’ll like it even though it is another tsundere story.

Anyway, Nodame has only 11 episodes and I’m very sad that it won’t last long unlike the first which really satisfied me a lot. Many mentioned Nodame being the independent these days. She also exhibited a very unexpected move from the episode 5. I might consider reading the manga if I get too much excited in the ending of this chapter.

With the Tales… I’m not very optimistic that I’ll still be able to blog this one but I’m also playing right now the game and I’m already at 2/3 of the game. My very first pertaining to hate Luke was what the viewers are currently experiencing. I hope their love for Luke come back once he cuts his hair. This would mark his change in the game and much mature thinking. Many disclosures would be revealed pretty soon in the anime and maybe the viewers already got their clues about Luke and Natalia. Sync’s identity is pretty obvious already.

I’m really enjoying myself watching Skip Beat and I really got hunches that Shoutaro is Mamoru Miyano which I got right but I didn’t expected that Kyoko and Ren is Yoko and Kamina XD. With the ordinary thinking of humans, I expect people would also refer Kyouko as a persistent, trying hard and desperate foolish woman trying to climb the stairs by leaping ahead. Even so, I find it interesting because I also want to see Shoutaro’s face when he got face to face with Kyoko reborn.

Clannad AS is still dramatic as ever and I find the previous episodes the resolution for the supporting characters such as Sunohara himself, Mei-chan, Misae-san and currently, it’s Yukine’s part. I think the rest would follow before the truth unfolds with the main character and the heroines. I just don’t know when Fuko would show up. I’ve read few spoilers from the visual novel from Wikipedia but… I just don’t know how to react if that would be the really thing to happen. The robot and weird girl is very annoying as the first preview Xd.

Toradora! is so-so, I’ve been accustomed to it already but I don’t see anything new or any thing that would get my hopes up about the show except Minorin’s horror face. I don’t see anything out of ordinary… Anyway, maybe the anime is still introducing the full cast and now that Ami-chan have completed the slots, maybe the true twists and character developments would slowly begin to progress.

I have nothing to say about Gundam 00 S2…haha lol. I want the plot and I’m currently waiting what’s the plan with all that Mr. Bushido crap.

I remember going to 4chan every Sunday because of the Code Geass R2 craze but all of those are gone… I’m missing all those “fanfictions” all the anons are coming up because of the screwed up plot of R2. I guess Code Geass’ timeline is already finished.

I lost interest with Jigoku Shoujo and Ga-rei… so maybe I’ll be watching them next year?…

I thought it has a very serious nature because of the introduction of the characters. For some reasons, I was engulfed by the introduction of the show especially by the words they spoke.

I have to agree that Kugimiya Rie fits the character because Aisaka really is tsundere in nature.

I think I like the introduction of the show. I really don’t know the plot because I don’t have any access to the Light Novel but just like Omni-senpai said from his preview for the animes this fall, It might just be the “next Haruhi.” I hope this show don’t mess up just like Zero no Tsukaima. I wasn’t really interested to this show at first because it might be just like Louise and Saito — Considering J.C Staff also did the production.

Since the intoduction is okay, I think I’ll continue to watch it. I don’t have clues what the Light Novel is all about but the plot for me is so indecisive except fot the information that Ryuuji will be an another Bakainu for Louise – er, I mean Aisaka. I hope this pass my expectations since it is branded as the “next Haruhi”.

Aisaka is more violent than your Haruhi. She is definitely a tsundere. She is also dumb, irrational and hot-tempered. Her appearance is so deceiving and yeah, you’ll mistook her as a doll but not really… She doesn’t look like so fit and strong but she made Ryuugi budge a little when they ran into each other.

She is so demanding. She might also be difficult to please but her heart is also easy to melt though she responses violently just so to hide her gentle side. Expect what from tsunderes?

Meanwhile, our male protagonist suffers from misunderstanding of his classmates as someone who is a delinquent. He got his facial features from his father who already died. I suspect his father is a member of a yakuza and her mother is just some sort of a cabaret girl… He is your ordinary high school guy with no motives at all in life but suddenly got involved with your female tsundere who is desperate to get a love interest.

He acts like a bachelor because his mother is always out for her “customers” (yah know–). He knows how to cook and clean your dirty kitchen. He tries to be stylish but it isn’t just probable due to his “as-if-he’s-gonna-eat-someone face.”

If I have to compare this to other animes I have watched before, what comes in my mind is School Rumble. It’s always been a love confession, a love letter to be handed that always result to failure. The protagonist then needs some support from his/her friends but this supporter somehow ended up having a crush as well. Something like that—, I hope the plot is not sooo like your typical high school life anime.