Uta Koi
The best summer anime series (not saying much because the summer season kind of sucked)
I started watching Uta Koi because of my love for Chihayafuru but Uta Koi turned out much better than expected. I really enjoyed learning more about the poems in Chihayayfuru and some of the historical figures from the Heian period in Japanese history (a period seriously neglected in anime).
Of course it had some so-so episodes and there were bunch of annoying comedy moments in the beginning & end of episodes (that the series could really have done without).
That being said the episodes resonated more often with me than not. When the series was introduced it said it would focus on love poems. While the majority of episodes did just this, what I ended up really enjoying about the series, is it looked at love in many different ways...not just romantic love, but the love of friendship, & the love of poetry itself.
The series also had some awesome seiyuu (reading poetry). And in fact there is going to be a competition between this & Shirokuma Cafe who had the best seiyuu cast seriously porn for the ears.
Another thing I loved about Uta Koi, is the FANTASTIC LADIES. Now when I say "strong female characters" this is what I mean. It's hard to pick a favorite because there are so many great women in this series. What is more impressive is the female characters in Uta Koi were real historical women. When you think about it many women were instrumental in shaping Japanese classical literature & poetry (that is pretty awesome to me). I guess though my personal favorites in the series would be Ono no Komachi (known as a great Waka poet) & Sei Shonagon (author of the Pillow Book, which I really have to read now) since they had the most focus.
There were many beautiful poems used throughout the series but my personal favorite was this one composed by Fujiwara no Kinto
Though the waterfall
Ceased its flowing long ago,
And its sound is stilled,Yet, in name it ever flows,
And in fame may yet be heard.
I started watching Uta Koi because of my love for Chihayafuru but Uta Koi turned out much better than expected. I really enjoyed learning more about the poems in Chihayayfuru and some of the historical figures from the Heian period in Japanese history (a period seriously neglected in anime).
Of course it had some so-so episodes and there were bunch of annoying comedy moments in the beginning & end of episodes (that the series could really have done without).
That being said the episodes resonated more often with me than not. When the series was introduced it said it would focus on love poems. While the majority of episodes did just this, what I ended up really enjoying about the series, is it looked at love in many different ways...not just romantic love, but the love of friendship, & the love of poetry itself.
The series also had some awesome seiyuu (reading poetry). And in fact there is going to be a competition between this & Shirokuma Cafe who had the best seiyuu cast seriously porn for the ears.
Another thing I loved about Uta Koi, is the FANTASTIC LADIES. Now when I say "strong female characters" this is what I mean. It's hard to pick a favorite because there are so many great women in this series. What is more impressive is the female characters in Uta Koi were real historical women. When you think about it many women were instrumental in shaping Japanese classical literature & poetry (that is pretty awesome to me). I guess though my personal favorites in the series would be Ono no Komachi (known as a great Waka poet) & Sei Shonagon (author of the Pillow Book, which I really have to read now) since they had the most focus.
There were many beautiful poems used throughout the series but my personal favorite was this one composed by Fujiwara no Kinto
Though the waterfall
Ceased its flowing long ago,
And its sound is stilled,Yet, in name it ever flows,
And in fame may yet be heard.