Summer 2010 anime season blogging

[beckerbell]

The new anime season is upon us and I have to admit. With one or two exceptions, it is not looking that thrilling, especially not after following up the awesome spring season. Thus, I need to get myself motivated--both to catch up on the spring season and to get in gear with the summer season. Thus, I am going to do my best to get 100 episodes

Comments

[blackmagie]

I had the same reactions as you about Occult Academy (love Maya) and Shiki (oh god, could Megumi have been any more unlikeable?!)

And it's not like you can't do unlikeable and make her cool. We meet Kamikaze Girls's Momoko under similar circumstances -- and she shares many of the same traits as Megumi -- and yet I absolutely loved Momoko while I was desperately trying to find something to like about Megumi.

[beckerbell]

We must be on some kind of wavelength! Because I was thinking along those exact same lines the entire time I was watching Shiki, I kept thinking that I often love supposedly unlikeable characters! I love a good bitchy character! They're usually my favorites!

So why was I failing to find anything charming about Megumi? (The design of that pink dress of hers wasn't helping. The skirt was totally adorable, but did it really need to be missing that much fabric around the waist and back? Really really?) I'm hoping that she'll get better in episode 2, but I suspect Chigusa may be our only hope with Shiki.

*curious* Have you watched anything else this season? I'm hoping that Ookami-san might be decent, because I would hate for there to be only one new anime worth watching this season!

[blackmagie]

Exactly! I usually love the unsympathetic characters but Megumi was lacking... I don't know. I think with unlikeable characters, there's usually something that makes up for their bad personality. I think with Megumi, it's because there wasn't much of anything. With Momoko (from Kamikaze Girls), she knew she had a bad personality and she didn't care. At the start of the story, she doesn't care if she has no friends because she doesn't need them. With Megumi, I didn't get that sense. I think she wants friends but she wishes they'd be more fashionable, like some impossible ideal out of a haute couture magazine.

No, those are the only two I've watched because there were the only two that caught my eye. ^^;;

[beckerbell]

she knew she had a bad personality and she didn't care

I think you hit the magic words for me there--self-awareness of what/how you're like is something I really go for. I love a character that just doesn't care how they're coming off or else they're in the tsundere type, that the narrative is at least making a point of their "bad" side and that's half the appeal. With Megumi, I'm not even sure the narrative was saying that she was being obnoxious, not with the way it seems like we're supposed to be rooting for her. (Is Kamikaze Girls worth picking up some time then?)

I keep thinking that I should try to focus on this season's stuff, since it's just starting and I can keep up with it! But maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to focus more on catching up this season instead of the new stuff. *g*

(I'm actually kind of dreading having to check out High School of the Dead, but I promised myself I'd give it a fair shot. :< )

[aeslis]

I just wanna say: I LOVE Yano so hard. She is fantastic in the manga. Chizu is fun too, but I love Yano's snarky girliness. She reminds me of a friend of mine, actually. :)

And the series itself is just great. For once, the male love interest is NOT an asshole. Fancy that! And the girl doesn't get a makeover or change herself to be popular! She's still her, but people are starting to understand who she is. I love it, a lot.

[beckerbell]

Yes to all of this! I adore Yano and Chizu so hard because they look like they really could be Yankee types and yet! Such awesome, friendly, supportive girls! Who won't hesitate to kick your ass if you hurt their friend! AWESOME.

I adore Kazehaya for those reasons! And because he's obviously crushing on Sawako right from the beginning and it's only her total social ineptitude that keeps her from noticing it! As a couple they remind me a lot of Haruna and Yoh from Koukou Debut and, christ, I wish more manga/anime would follow that type of relationship--have the guy be a genuinely GOOD GUY! Shoujo needs more male leads who are total sweethearts, for serious. ♥

[statr]

aww, you're not watching what I'm watching this season. :\ SO THAT MEANS YOU SHOULD TOTALLY SEE OOKAMI-SAN TO SHICHININ NO NAKAMATACHI. ♥

[beckerbell]

I've only just gotten started! XD Ookami-san is the one I had next on my list to give a shot, actually! Is it good then?

(It's these ones, High School of the Dead, and Sengoku Basara that I want to check out this season. Then I'll wait to see if anything else gets really good buzz or at least looks pretty.)

[statr]

YES. the characters all have a unique personality especially that one guy there who's gifted in stealth but developed ophthalmophobia in the process. :DD IT'S AWESOME. please try it as soon as you can! there's already 2 episodes subbed.

aside from Ookami-san, I tried Mitsudomoe and Seitokai Yakuindomo. Mitsudomoe is hilarious but is so wrong. SERIOUSLY. my mind can't grasp why the characters there think like that! and I have to yet watch the pilot of Seitokai Yakuindomo (YES I AM LOOKING AT YOU DOWNLOADED FILE). :D

[beckerbell]

Having looked at reviews for Mitsudomoe, I am frightened now. XD I am vaguely curious about it, because "wrong" equals "potentially interesting" in my head (one too many shows like Narutaru have warped me, I fear), but I still fear.

Though, at this rate, I'm never going to get caught up on all this anime. ^_~

[themadpoker]

Oh man, I love kimi ni todoke! It was one of my favourite manga finds last year. \o/ Sawako and Kazehaya are adorable and Yano and Chizu are the greatest friends and I just sort of want to trace hearts over everyone everytime I read a new volume. Maybe I'll check out the anime once I've cleared up my TV show roster a bit.

[beckerbell]

I'm really curious to see if the manga and the anime are similar enough that you could probably watch/read just one of them and get the full experience or if there are little differences between the two that make them worthwhile to do both versions. (Usually I go for the manga first, but I've been so enamored with anime lately that I couldn't resist.)

Honestly, there's not enough shoujo in the world where you love everyone in the manga and want to draw sparkly hearts all over them. I would read this kind of shoujo pretty much forever. *___*♥

[themadpoker]

Your description sounds like they're pretty similar! BUt I'd have to see the anime to find out.

That's why I reread my favourite series so often. I'm guaranteed I'll love the characters! \o/ Though it's harder with my longer ones because I usually loan them out all over the place to spread the love and somehow there are always a few volumes that disappear into the ether never to be returned (Fruits Basket. Kare Kano. >().

[beckerbell]

That is the double-edged swords of adaptation--either you change things and risk alienating the original fans or else you keep things exactly the same and the original fans are bored. (I suspect this is why I rarely get SUPER into both an anime and a manga of something.) I've heard that it's pretty faithful, but I'm not sure if that's 100% or what.

Oh, man, I have series like those! Dragonball and Hanakimi are probably the worst for me, because it's pretty much every other year that I invariably just mean to get one or two volumes out and then REREAD THE WHOLE THING. (And this is why you should never lend anything to anyone or do anything nice for them! WHAT DOES BEING NICE GET YOU IN RETURN? XD)