Massive new anime post

[fub]

Long overdue new anime reviews!

Junjou Romantica: Yaoi. Young mand needs tutoring to get into college. His brother's best friend, who has a thing for men, agrees to act as tutor. When the brother takes home his girlfriend, both are pretty shocked, and they turn to eachother for support

Comments

[damanique]

The Antique Bakery manga is excellent, for a yaoi manga. It doesn't actually have any yaoi (but the author's own doujinshi do!) but great characterization, typical art style and is funny.

The anime, however, even though it slightly follows the plotline of the manga, sucks. I can't get past the crappiness of the animation quality and the fact that Tachibana looks old. Plus, there is a lot more going on in the manga than just Ono's Demonic Gay charms. There are customers coming in the store, a lot more interaction between the personnel and the customers as their own personal stories unfold a little. There's Ono, but Tachibana is in fact much more interesting. It's stupid they put a hint about his past in the FIRST episode (he set up the bakery because his kidnapper force-fed him cakes)

There's Chikage, who's got like an IQ of 70 and yet a daughter, and is very protective about Tachibana which provides material for the fangirls, but is not actually gay. Even though he's Ono's type. And Eiji the boxer is totally straight, has to quit boxing and loves pastries.

The anime, IMO, is too focused on Ono's gayness. The manga are nice because each manga features a new set of customers (such as school friends reunited and a salaryman who wants to taste-try all the bakeries as his secret) along with the main characters' development.

And the animation quality sucks.

Seriously. D:

Junjou Romantica I still have to read and see myself, heh.

*is somewhat pleased you reviewed yaoi/shounen-ai anime* XD

You should try the Fuyu no Semi OVA. It's like Rurouni Kenshin: Seisouhen, only gay. If it's still available after the Youka Nitta scandal...

[fub]

Obviously, we never watched past the first episode, and I don't know the manga either -- so thank you for elaborating on that. Perhaps the other readers of this entry will be able to use this to their advantage. :)

The animation quality didn't strike me as very bad, I must admit. Not the best we've seen this season, but not the worst either.

You should try the Fuyu no Semi OVA.
If it gets fansubbed, we'll check out the first episode. Most yaoi that we see is rather bland and predictable, though, so it never makes the cut.

[damanique]

I didn't even watch past the first episode. Go figure. It was really painful to watch, since I'm a big fan of Fumi Yoshinaga's work. D:

I guess I am too spoiled with cell animations and aquarel backgrounds, because the blurry shading and 3D backgrounds really threw me off. For me the visual quality of an anime matters a lot, too. After all, it's a visual medium.

There aren't many good yaoi anime out there that I know of. The recently remastered Fuyu no Semi is excellent though - great animation quality, and a sweeping story not just romantically but also historically, as it covers the relationship between two men of opposing clans during the Japanese civil war. I have it subbed.... IN SPANISH. D:

But I haven't really searched for an English sub yet. ^^;

Aaaanyway.

I think Fuyu no Semi is about the highest quality of yaoi I've seen. It's been licensed by Kitty Media but because of the scandal I wonder if it's still distributed.

And it's got Shinichiro Miki! <3

Another yaoi anime I like is Sensitive Pornograph. It's two short movies about yaoi with explicit sex, but they're cute and normal. Nothing special, but it doesn't really try to be more than that anyway.

Then there's the FAKE anime, which isn't bad, but it doesn't convey the charm and intensity of the manga very well and comes off as really cheesy instead.

Yaoi is very rich in manga. It's too bad that so few make it into good anime, as opposed to the countless of brainless harem anime that are floating around. :s

[fub]

For me the visual quality of an anime matters a lot, too. After all, it's a visual medium.
There is a minimum level of competency that needs to be exhibited before I'm interested. But if the story is really good or interesting, I am more forgiving.

The recently remastered Fuyu no Semi is excellent though
Ah, you mean Winter Cicada, that I reviewed in April last year? At least the first episode has been subbed in English - don't know if the eps can still be located.

It's too bad that so few make it into good anime, as opposed to the countless of brainless harem anime that are floating around.
I think it's exactly the same for harem anime, though. Sure, many more harem manga get made into harem anime, but only a few get remade into good harem anime.

[damanique]

Ha, I had no idea you'd reviewed it. Confusing titles. I tend to read it as Fuyu no Semi, because I read the manga first :D

I should really chase down the episodes.