Death’s Notes and Thoughts

Posts Tagged ‘School Life’

Based on a shoujo manga by PEACH-PIT, serialised in Nakayoshi. Everybody at Seiyo Elementary thinks that stylish and super cool Hinamori Amu has it all: But nobody knows the real Amu, a shy girl who wishes she had the courage to truly be herself. Changing Amu’s life is going to take more than wishes and dreams–it’s going to take a little magic! One morning, Amu finds a surprise in her bed: three strange little eggs. Each egg contains a Guardian Character, an angel-like being who can give her the power to be someone new. With the help of her Guardian Characters, Amu is about to discover that her true self is even more amazing than she ever dreamed. [taken from AniDB] The Description is from the first season, cause the so called “2nd” season is basically a seamless continue, so I consider them as one and also review them here as one long series. First of all, I must say I was kinda surprised that the anime isn’t as low and stupid like I first thought when  a friend of mine, Asakomi, said to me I should give it a try since I could like it. It too a few episodes until it begun to unleash it’s fun potential, but then it definitely catched me. At first it seems it’s the usual kids series that run later on your local station at lunch time to entertain the kids, but for people who knows their anime is a lot to see present. Also unlike other series that follow this stereotyp I descriped here our characters undergo a development in behavior and feelings. It’s not like often that in the start she is having a crush on him but never during the series there comes a conclusion to it, no, sure here is nothing final yet as the manga still continues but still one gets a good idea whats coming up. Also she is quite tricky, maybe not intended but the result is what counts, when it comes to men. I mean later on she have a kind of harem around her, just that she don’t take the big advantage of that fact^^. It’s fun to see the harem-game in a different variant from the usual. But well, lets not forget about her lil’ fellows that aren’t bad either. Ran (red/heart)) is her sporty and a bit hyperactive self, causing our dear Amu often problems since she is quite impulsive and so takeover her every now and then. Then we got Miki (blue/spade), the artistic self, through she tries to act a bit reserved later on she melts and gets more social/livly. Also she is a bit of a collector when it comes to male shugo chara’s, kinda the Amu of the shugo chara’s^^. I mean during the series so far (up to episode 102) she had a crush on nearly every male char, and did collect a lot of pictures of them. Then there is our parodie shugo chara, at least I would title her like that, Sue (green/clover). Those of you, who saw Rozen Maiden, may agree that she is a friendly parodie variant of Sueseseki, her looks kinda remind me, also her habit of always adding “-desu” and her clumsyness. It’s just that she is the counterpart of Sueseseki in terms of behavior, as she is friendly with friend and foe. Dunno, she was often a reason for me to lol a lot. It has definitly a reason why she have a kind of repair ability ;p. But yea, there are also the fellow characters of Amu, with their own Shugo Charas. First she meets the so called “Guardians” which are her first fellows, and begin to fight the evil X-Characters. But intrestingly here we don’t kill our enemy but rather put them in a corner and then pyschologically finish them off. The X-char result from a depressed and lost heart, so she have to make them believe in their dream again. I like this alternative way of solution a lot, since often they have to kinda “kill” the enemy but here they clean them. But then again, when I think over it, the main reason to watch it for me was the funfactor the shugo chara’s produce, since they hit often the bulls eye with their comments on Amu’s behavior, make her going angry (which is kinda cute), and also the fact the character’s develop. Also a positive aspect was that here it don’t play out the school life/scenario card. Often you also see the bunch in private clothes (and those change!, a rare ocassion), and during their free time. I must say I took a liking in Amu’s style which I would descripe as “light gothic”, through she also sometimes wear more “normal” clothes. Another thing which surprised me was how they integrated the trap-topic (trap => a boy dressed up perfectly as a girl or other way round). It’s not giving me those eerie feeling like other series did, for example Happiness!, which I call for a reason rather Trappiness! *creepy~*. Also this series have a rather positive message that gets delivered to the viewer during watching, like “Continue to believe in your dream!” and “Go for your dream!”. All together I had much fun, and also didn’t felt like they filled up somewhere (through they probably did as they’re ahead of the manga, hence that Shugo Chara Party crap running now), since all fall into it’s place, it may take time until one see it, but then it gets visible. So give it a try and have lots of fun like me!

I picked some op’s and ed’s from the ones, otherwise it would get too much. Why the weird border is present, beats me, but those where the only HQ variants of the OP i came across…

Shugo Chara Opening 2

Source: YouTube

Shugo Chara S2 Ending 2

Source: Youtube

Shugo Chara S2 Ending 1

Source: YouTube

Enjoy!

-Death

GA is a class that specializes in the arts at Ayanoi High School. Kisaragi, Nodamiki, Kyoju, Tomokane and Namiko are a group of five friends who have colorful adventures and learn about art techniques. Its the anime adaption of the ongoing slice-of-life manga series “GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class” by Satoko Kiyuzuki, which premiered in 2004. Its one anime to like as it have quite intresting parts when the characters go about color type, what they made of, or what techniques all there. The technique are real stuff and usually good enough explained to a new comer to the topic to understand how it works. Also if you like to draw or to create things u might get a new impression what you can do or whats possible. But also the characters are a funny bunch. There are the hyperactive two, namly Miki Noda and Tomokane (we never got the familyname during the series). Noda images herself often as some colorful magical girl featuring a paint brush, also she love to play pranks on others, especially on the more settled Kisaragi. She also love fashion, getting alon with her small and cute looks, but on the other hand she is pretty spoiled. Tomokane is also quite hyperactive, and also does stuff together with Noda (while Noda is beeing the initator of that action for the most part), also she is also pretty tomboyish (she made me wonder for quite a while if she is maybe a trap, like a dude wearing girls clothes^^). She tends to get often into trouble during her rather explosive temperament and beeing impulsive. Then there is Namiko Nozaki, she is the tallest aswell as the oldest of the bunch. She behaves more adult then the rest and so act as the “older sister” character. She often offers assistance or scold when its needed (well, Noda and Tomokane gets it usually, but I think that was forseenable ^^). Kisaragi Yamaguchi is the opposite with her rather soft and sometimes also childish personally. So she becomes the target for the hyperactive tag team or at least gets affected by the actions of those. Matching her personality she likes natural cats (Sunekos), and so u often see her drawing them. Last but not least we have there Miyabi Oomichi (usually called “Masa” or by her family name), a shady person. Her expression seems to be the same the whole series, and no matter what she always come up with a solution or have the right thing at hand. But not enough with that she also posses strange powers like natural magnetism or the ability to control animals. She is the mysterious character, reminding me a bit on Ichijo from PaniPoni Dash!, which also was behaving pretty strange. Also speaking of weird chars, I found the idea of the Lord Chickens in G.A. pretty weird but somehow fun. The chickens are the lords of the land so are allowed to do anything and you’re not allowed to do harm to them. Also the animation styles like using those eyes without pupils which often gets used on Noda, I liked it as it made me even more lul since her expression gets so wonderful strenghtend by it. Sure it might sounds a bit scary but when you saw it you realise what I mean. All together its a quite intresting and also entertaining anime with a bunch of funny chars and lots info about art. The art infos arent getting you annoyed, rather they worked it pretty good in so it fits right into the flow of the series itself rather then making it too much like some teaching movie. I really consider to get the manga to get on with it and hope you got some intrest and check out this real good piece of anime to find out that you have the same amount of fun with it as I did. Also watch and hear the endings, they switch every episode. Every episode another char from our crew sings the ending song and so the songs vary, also there are 4 different endings. So dont just skip it like usual, also thats why I only feature one single ED this time.

Opening:

Source: YouTube

Ending:

Source: YouTube

So, and now watch it.

-Death

Toradora!’s story begins with the male protagonist Ryuuji Takasu who is frustrated at trying to improve his look as he enters his second year of high school. Despite his gentle personality, he has a natural outer-appearance which makes him look like an intimidating delinquent so he is utterly hopeless about his chances of getting a girlfriend anytime soon, and does not have many close friends either. After being greeted by his hungover mother in the morning, Ryuuji goes to school and finds out that he is in the same class as his best friend Yuusaku Kitamura. But what makes him extremely happy is that he gets to be in the same class as his crush Minori Kushieda. However, it is then that he unexpectedly knocks into “the creature ranked most dangerous in the school” — Taiga Aisaka —, who goes by the nickname “Palmtop Tiger” and who just happens to also be in his class. Taiga has a negative attitude towards others and will not hesitate to snap at people. After a series of misunderstandings between Ryuuji and Taiga, Ryuuji is taken in by Taiga as her personal servant. Taiga had moved out to live on her own due to family issues and isn’t able to do any housechores. After discovering the state of her apartment Ryuuji, who has a real talent at domestic chores, decided to do all of her housechores. Taiga spends a lot of her time over at his house, so much so that she could almost be considered a member of his family. Since Ryuuji spends a lot of time with Taiga, he is opened up to her world and to a side of her that most people do not see. The two also attempt to help each other in order to improve their relationship with their crush (Taiga has a crush on Ryuuji’s best friend, Yuusaku, and Ryuuji has a crush on Taiga’s best friend, Minori). Unknown to them, however, people they know from school start to become curious about their strange relationship together and rumors begin to spread about them. (stolen from AniDB) Well, since you know now the story of it, we can go over its good and bad points :)) The characters are definitly intresting and differes a bit from the typical “harem” ones a bit. I mean u hardly have a model that is a bit schizophrenic, an ultra sports girl, a sword wielding lil chibi and a dude thats look like a good for nothing. What I also liked about it that they didnt used the usual “drama” scenario towards the end. Sure we (attention spoiler) get the old my parents are divorced and now my father/mother wants me back stuff but thats just a small fraction. Also no “I maybe die soon of some random illness” and no “I will kill myself since u didn’t choose me” emo shit we had way too often. No, rather they do straight at the topic from the beginning. In the begin they choose the wrong persons as their girlfriend/boyfriend but that works out in a manner you buy off them. It’s not too uber dramatic but more or less “realistic”. Well realism overdo it might a bit, but still I can imagine a similar scene quite good. Also u have some side stuff happening that support the main storyline in a pretty good manner. It makes the anime standing out from the usual sex and boob animes, or even worse those shota rape animes like Kanokon. If you want the real thing, and maybe already enjoyed Lovely Complex, then you should like this one too. Also the chars like said earlier have their own thingies that brings fun. Yacchan, Ruyuji’s mom, and her childlike but still cute behavior. The weird bird they have, called Inko-chan, you always wonder when he probably will die since he always seems to choke on something (I say its his tongue). Minorin and her hyperactive and happy beeing. Teiga does wonderful towards the end the part of the I never admit it girl, also lovly are the animation of her beeing a lil neko-like creature, its so cute, regardless the angry face. There is more but I close here or I spoil it too much.

Opening:

Source: YouTube

Opening 2:

Source: YouTube

Ending:

Source: YouTube

Ending 2:

Source: YouTube

So, I hope u like it. Sorry for the break but real life kept me busy. But therefore today I write some more reviews.

-Death

This is the first year of high school for the four girls, looking for that very special club. The healthy and energetic Tainaka Ritsu (club president, drums) decides to join the school’s Light Music Club, only to find out that the club is about to be closed — due to the lack of members. Without much ado she drags along her childhood friend, the shy, mature, and sensitive Akiyama Mio (bass). That leaves only two more members, required to keep club from closing. Luckily the gentle, calm, warm, and cute Kotobuki Tsumugi (keyboard) stumbles into the club, only to be “convinced” by the pleading Ritsu to stay. The last member, the easily distracted klutz Hirasawa Yui, can only play castanets, even though the club needs someone on the guitar, but she is “bribed” — with cake — to stay anyway. Will Yui be able to learn to play the guitar — the special one she just bought and loves so much — before the four girls graduate? [stolen from AniDB] I must say unlike many other animes with the genere music/band I liked this one and enjoyed it. It wasnt focusing too hard on just the band-thingie but also featured some life outside the band, making it more balanced. Also the characters are something one can enjoy as they sometimes a bit typical but also have their own cute behaviors. Funny was definitly Tsumugi (Nickname: Mugi-chan) with her big eyebrows, a very unusual attribute for a girl in anime (and reality aswell?). Normally I would expect her to be some bad-ass angry something, but its more the other way round. A bit quiet but lovly person. Through my favorite unlikes the masses opinion is still Yui, as she is just so wonderful clumsy, but also is just great when she is set on something. Its like she goes on fire but well… she lacks a bit planning ahead sometimes so… u can imagine what comes out^^. Mio is nice, and have a good makeup for a moe-char that pleases the masses (shy, easy to scare, easy to embrass, nice body). Ritsu is the impulsive and a bit hyperactive one of the quartet, but the same amount she is hyperactive she is lazy at other times and keep forgetting her forms for things (bad bad ritsu), and so causing Nodoka (the representative of the student concil) pain. At some points I feared it might end up in some worse drama (I cant stand drama stuff too much currently, having too much IRL drama around me) but thankfully they didnt choose that way. It always just was some lil “panic” event that get resolved within an ep. Also fun was their club supervisor, which i would call “metal teacher sawakawa”. Boy… she was definitly evil, also have this nice cosplay fetisch. (why i call her metal teacher sawakawa, u have to find out yourself, i already spoil too much^^) If this all is to your liking, watch it. The only thing I would have liked to be different would have been the amount of songs. 1-2 more songs would have been nice, but well, you can’t have everything, right?

Trailer

Source: Youtube

Opening

Source: Youtube

Ending

Hopefully u enjoy it as much as I did. I suggest to watch Frostii’s version.

-Death

Based on a shoujo manga by Maki Minami serialised in Hana to Yume. When Hikari was little, she and her father liked to watch pro wrestling, and she became very good at it. She was the pride of her family until one day she was introduced to Kei, the son of her father’s friend. He instantly defeated her in wrestling, and started what would become Hikari’s major ambition to one day beat him. To do this she enrolled in Kei’s school, an ultra elite school that costs her father a lot of money. This unusual school created classes according to grades, and the top seven students become members of the “SA”. They have their own building, and can optionally attend class. Hikari is usually the only one who does so, since she desperately wants to beat Kei with test scores. The members of the “SA” have been close friends since their first year. (yep, like u guessed, i stole it from aniDB again^^) Hmm, special it says in the title but still its a romance comedy. It have its good points and its unusual points, like having that extreme rivality between Takishima (Kei-chan) and Hikari. Sure u say we got other anime with that but its somehow different. Funny was that the other characters made their proposal way earlier then our main couple and sometimes u got nice “games” that get played with the main chars. But they dragged it way too much out of my taste, they could have them come together much earlier so we could have a bit fun with they as a couple. The chars are an interesting mix, thats again one of the better points. You get a Animal Lover, the girl who is all over Hikari, the boy who trys to play the violien but its horrible at it and aside from that rather shy, his silbing? (i think she was, i forgot already, had a lil gap between the last episodes^^) that wish to sings but her singing have the impact of a small nuclear strike (no joke, u see why i call it that when u see the animation), the dude that looks kinda homeless and always is after something to eat, and our main stars, Takishima, super rich and sucessor to a big company group, and Hikari, the compared to the rest pretty poor but hard working girl, and have a constant fight with Takishima. Its an intresting mix, that have to withstand much bad blood and maintain their friendship. It becomes pretty deep (not just because of the building of couples) but that gets explained later in the series^^. I probably spoiled a lot, and i wanna apolpogize for that. If u’re into this topic, or just need a filler u can try it. Some episodes i suggest to leave out, at least i considered them not important for the story and way too cheesy. Seems i’m not that easy with such stuff anymore^^.

Promo Trailer(eng subbed by Rozen):

Opening:

Well, thats it for today. Hopefully i manage to finish off Mnemosyne these days, but i’m rather on “Grim Tales of Billy and Mandy” trip, so it can eventually take longer. Anyways, have fun

-Death

Based on a shounen manga by Ikeda Akihisa, serialised in Monthly Shounen Jump.By a bizzare coincidence, Aono Tsukune has accidentally gotten himself admitted to a youkai acadamy, a school attended by monsters. Just when he thinks he’ll run away from there, he meets the beautiful girl Moka and his mood turns ultra happy. However, she transforms into her true form when the rosary on her chest is taken off, she’s a super vampire! (stolen from anidb, whatelse?) Well yea, this one is really far from beeing intelligent, thats for sure. But it kinda reminds me a bit on the good old times with the nice ecchi ova’s like Agent AiKA with excessive Pantsu Shots and similar actions from the girls^^. I think i basically watched it cause of that reminiscent feeling i get. Its not too deep but still we got a funny bunch of monsters. A Vampire, a Succubus, a Snow woman (or yuki-onna if u’re more familar with that name), aswell as Witch. They all have one or the other reason to like our human(!) main char, i think i dont have to explain that point further :p. Thats what the story goes around basically. Its not too, hmm… well not too deep but still when u liked stuff in the style of Agent AiKA and those one should be able to enjoy it. They even included everytime how long the “end fight” in the individual episode takes, usually it takes around 40 sec for moka to kick their ass. But i shouldnt tell more or i maybe spoil too much~.

Trailer

(the “cappu-chu” sound is when she bite him again to suck blood, she cant stop that bad bad habit :p )

Opening

Ending

And here is a fan-made parodie trailer, which i came across while searching for stuff on tube. Please note ITS A PARODIE TRAILER!

Enjoy, Death

Based on a shoujo manga by Nakahara Aya, serialised in Margaret. Risa and Otani are always being laughed at as the comedy duo. Risa, a girl, is taller than the average girl, and Otani, a boy, is shorter than the average boy. The two are always bickering and even their teacher sees them as a comedy act. But as their friendship develops, so does Risa’s feelings toward Otani. [taken off AniDB] It was a funny romance anime, which brought a fresh feeling and new fun to me. Here you have not the “I know him from my childhood and now still love him” or “I love him because he helped me with something” or similar. No, here those 2 had in the beginning not even the slightest intention to get together, but develop a relation in a quite “normal” way, so not some extreme stuff happends, no psychic drama. Its just a story of a romance developing over the time u spend in school in a way that I consider as not too unrealistic. That means not its getting boring, instead u get lots of fun. It begins with the lil problem already meantioned in the description, that they always get considered as the comedy duo “all-hanishin kyoshin” (forgive me if i wrote it wrong). That comes from Risa beeing like 1 1/2 head bigger then Otani, and the concidence they act at some times similar, like its a practiced comedy (but it isnt). It goes on with the stuff u can drag out of this difference in high but not limits itself to it (this is where the “complex” in the title comes from^^). You have also her friend Nobou (which damn reminds me on Ren from Super GALs) and her boyfriend (he is not the brightest but well…^^), they also cause a lot of situations and try to help Risa and Otani (mainly Risa) to develop the romance.What you shouldnt expect from this one is any fanservice scenes as its no fanservice anime. That makes it in my eyes even better and refreshing, since i watched too much of those romance fanservice comedy stuff… Another thing is that one should watch this one with an open eyes as you can find here and there some little parodies again on other animes^^. All together a nice and entertaining romance anime, so if you like this genere you probably want to give this one a try.

Opening 2 and Ending

Here you get OP2 and the Ending. I personally like the song of OP1 better but i couldnt find it. Seems the japanese cried once again cause ppl putted the op/ed on youtube… *sight*

Enjoy,

-Death