Series Review: Myself;Yourself

"What are you saying? In love, age and gender does not matter."

Myself;Yourself is a strange show. It's kind of like a do-it-yourself visual-novel show would look like.

You know, the kind you see in magazines and TV ads. Quick to set up, easy to assemble, and cheaper than a name-brand. Certainly, a lot of Myself;Yourself is almost cookie-cutter harem/visual novel fare, and a lot of it is put together following the simple included instruction manuals and diagrams.

An appealing female cast outnumbering the males? Check. Replete with the loli, the tsundere, the dojikko, the nice girl, and the older woman? Double-check.

Light-hearted opening episodes leading into serious drama and conflict? Yup. Revolving door of characters getting their turn in the spotlights? Got it. Myself;Yourself is, largely, by the numbers, at first glance.

But like a well-assembled kit car, it has that special touch that makes it more than the sum of its parts. The show has a shiny finish to its paint, a personal touch, that sense of caring that most machine-assembled shows lack. The drama's a bit more dramatic, the characters a bit more fleshed-out, it's more enjoyable and fun a show than one would believe.

Unfortunately, there are flaws by this same hand-assembled approach. It's not as professional as the ones the pros make; the pieces of the show don't always fit together exactly, and some of the parts show clear signs of a rush job, of time suddenly running out.

And for this reason it's tough for me to pass a judgement on Myself;Yourself. It's a good show - definitely one of the better in a season full of visual novel conversions - but not top tier, and it struggles to compete with the Shuffle!s and solas. I don't regret my time spent watching it, but really wish that it had been just a bit longer - Myself;Yourself pushes the boundaries of a 1-cour show, but in the end is dragged back to reality by the physical limitations of time.


(Listen to Aoi.)

One of the elements, that will likely be one of the polarizing elements of M;Y, is the drama element. The show, like many recent ones, evoked cries of School Days upon the shots of a bloody knife, and this is one case that I'm willing to say it's not too far off the mark. Myself;Yourself, while it doesn't push itself to the same ridiculous levels, definitely has some intense character-vs-character conflict (although of a slightly different kind), and I consider it a sort of barometer for these types of shows as a whole, a sort of Dorama Lite.

The drama itself, as some have said, was a little unrealistic at times; Asami's personal story, I'm willing to forgive, but the amount of trauma that heaped up on the Wakatsuki twins, from the parental mess to the school troubles to what Asami added, was simple insane. You have to admire them for staying sane through it all but you have to wonder how much drama is too much for a show like this.

I enjoy shows that can make me angry, that can shock me, that can make me laugh in insanity, and so Myself;Yourself worked well for me in this regard. It really gave me a reason to anticipate Wednesday evenings for thirteen weeks, really was one of the few shows that I could simply not wait for the next episode. Some may call it melodrama, some may call it bad storytelling, and I don't blame them. But in this case, for me, it was a hit, and not a miss.

Probably the second stand-out thing about Myself;Yourself is the broad scope it has, doubly shocking for a 13-episode show. It devotes time to nearly every one of its characters; while it could have gotten away, maybe, with just the main paths of both Sana and Shuu (and thus, Nanaka and Shuri), M;Y instead gave a lot of screenspace to Asami, her side characters (Grandma Kaji among others), the teacher, Yuzuki, and what seemed to be the throwaway loli, Hinako.

What results, on the most part, is a well-developed cast full of likable characters. Nearly everyone has a story, a defined personality, and if not an appeal a plea for sympathy. Nanaka seems to be the ice queen, but she's just a girl recoiling from trauma, willing herself into a normal life. Shuri seems happy all the time, but she's hiding away her true feelings. Yuzuki's outreaching personality stems from her desperation to be recgonized. Hinako's mix of maturity and childness is surprising for someone of her type. And Asami's double personalities, one of jealousy and one of kindness, simply astound. Only Aoi is truly left out, and that is something that I cannot decide is a good thing or a bad thing, considering how Asami factored into the story at the end.

Somehow, due to how the show is spread out, the cast seems quite memorable. They're a standout bunch, and I enjoy the fact that none of them particularly stand out as a "good character" or a "bad character". Certainly, Asami is more the villain, and Nanaka more the victim, but all of them have two sides to them, at least subtly, which makes for a cast which isn't spearheaded by one or two main girls stealing the show.

On the other side, of course, the plot suffers as a result. Part of the reason that the drama bounced so harmlessly off many viewers was the fact that it was, pretty much, out of left field. There was a definite crush for time near the end of the show, with multiple stories needing to be resolved, and so there wasn't as much foreshadowing as would have been liked; I bow down to anyone who even had a hint of Asami's shock twist without spoilers.

Instead, a lot of time was devoted to side threads which arguably went nowhere. Two and then some episodes spent on Hinako, who really had no appearance beyond that in the climax final three episodes of the show. A plot involving Crazy Grandma Kaji that fizzled out, a cheap lead-in to Asami's reveal. And, of course, all the light-hearted time-wasting in the early parts of the show. Why?

For good reason, of course. Myself;Yourself, despite its looks, is a show that isn't afraid to be different - Owen calls it "post-harem" - and its free-roaming plot is just but part of this concept. Without the side storylines, Myself;Yourself would be very streamlined, very no-nonsense; certainly the Sana/Nanaka is quite intense at points, but it does fall on the predictable side, and the added side stories allow for more mystigue, more intrigue, and in the case of some of them, a sort of mellow break. Hinako's story of discovering love versus a simple crush, is warm and pleasant, while not being boring, a good example of how loli-style characters can work without setting off the pedo siren.

Additionally, the multiple-plotline style of M;Y, while not as apparent as other shows in the same season, allowed for all this to go on without horribly compromising the show. Sana and Nanaka might be the 'main' couple, but arguably they didn't really feel that way overbearingly. Hinako's development was aided by not just Sana, but also Aoi and Shuu, and the Wakatsukis had an arc to their own, with the focus on Shuu instead.

Speaking of the Wakatsukis, the subtle elements of their relationship, which others might label siscon, are refreshingly done as well. Instead of leaping over the line hand-in-hand like many have been apt to do, Shuu's caring for Shuri blurs the line between brotherly love, and true romance. It's definitely well-done, and brings more of a warm sensation to the show; whether they are lovers or not, the bond that they share is admirable.

But, on the other side, there are chances that Myself;Yourself takes that don't pan out so well.

As much as I hail the side plots of this show as something essential, I do wish, sometimes, that we had cut back on them a little bit, if not only so that the last episode was not so rushed. Even if we had just cut out the OP or ED in the final episode, it might have been enough. But the rushed conclusion that M;Y had to pull in its closing moments left bad tastes in many a viewer's mouths.

As far as time jumps go, it wasn't a horrible one. But M;Y seems to stretch the "leave some ends open" thing a bit far. It's never really revealed what happened to Asami to have her turn into a good character, nor is the Wakatsuki's relationship, 10 years on, expounded on. (We don't even see their faces...) Sana proposes to Nanaka, but they cut out the actual reveal - blasphemous in a show that, ironically, lacks in romantic aspects itself.

Confessions, kisses, you name it; Myself;Yourself is surprisingly devoid of the kind of thing you would expect in a show like this. It might just be a different approach to the genre - Mike at Anime Diet calls it a story "more about self-realization and discovery", and this is enjoyable too, but, after all that effort to get Nanaka to open up, Sana must be at least a little dissapointed.

Still, I think the ending was passably done. Given how quickly the sand was sinking through the hourglass, I was pleasantly surprised with how M;Y managed to conclude most of the stories, in one way or another. Certainly it could have been done in a better way, but given what it did, it's a closure, one that felt at least moderately fulfilling.

I think Myself;Yourself is stuck in kind of a hard place in regarding to scheduling; there isn't quite enough storyline among all the characters for a full 24-episode show, but the main plots can't fill 13 episodes alone; as such, instead of trying to drag out the main stories to silly length, trimmed versions of the other characters' stories were added. It seems the better choice of the two, at least.

Touching on the sense elements briefly, the music of Myself;Yourself wasn't spectacularly memorable, being your typical visual novel fare. There were one or two ace violin pieces, especially the arrangement of the OP/ED themes, though, and the OP and ED were both musically enjoyable and upbeat if not that powerful.

Graphics were equally kind of 'there', with no glaring defects nor shining moments. Picky viewers may take offense to the fact that everyone bleeds WD-40, but that doesn't concern me a whole lot.

Voice acting was above average - Asami managed to make her monologue emotionally affecting, despite being, well, entirely random, Shuu and Shuri managed to put impact to their powerful moments, Nanaka and Sana I don't remember much about, in either way. Aoi's childish Chiyo-voice was survivable by me, and was kind of cute at times, but the way she screams is pretty awkward.

Fanservice in the show was delivered courtesy of Miss Aoi as well, although it only lasted a few episodes and was quickly faded out. The show managed to make it kind of amusing as well, if not in delivery but in concept (it surprises me when I see a new way to do fanservice, in this case, chopstick groping), so this doesn't affect the show adversely.

A dramatic visual-novel-type show like this warrants the obvious comparisons to School Days, but personally it seems uncannily similar to sola in the way it goes about. Both shows are extremely intense, with plot and emotions, at the expense of a smooth flow. Depending on who you ask, both shows' conclusions are great full-circle exercises, if not a bit ambiguous. sola is arguably the more well-timed series, while Myself;Yourself is more all over the place, but the two shows have a lot of differences as well, the latter being much brighter, much more unabashedly harem-alike.

For reasons like this Myself;Yourself is probably not going to appear out of nowhere and win Japan's vote for best 2008 anime, but I have no doubt in calling this anime one that's vital for those who enjoy visual novel conversions or harem-slash-romances. It's not a harem show in the typical sense but only in the cast sense, as Myself;Yourself revolves more around the individual story of each character, and tying these stories together, than around how each character ties to the main character.

It's a kind of a restyling of the well-worn model of visual-novel/harem; it retains enough similarity to the ways of old, but changes enough aspects to liven things up. Some changes might be unnecessary or unwanted, but given the resources and timeframe available, the amount of freshness that Myself;Yourself brings to the table makes it a highly recommended watch for fans of the genre.

-CCY

(Not much extra to say for once...well, in retrospect, it sounds like Aoi's story doesn't intertwine well with everyone else's, so there's another reason.

Also, here's an incredibly thought-provoking if not unrelated paragraph I came across while researching, courtesy of the defunct Like Water:
In the end, anime is a hugely personal entertainment medium. It caters to individual fantasies, and makes you believe that you are the center of the fantasy (exemplified by harem anime). This makes it very difficult to "dialogue" on anime the way you might a good fiction novel, or the way you would a great movie. You wrap so much of yourself into the story and the characters that you feel like you have your own private world with these people, and it's something that others can't take from you. This is why anime is so addicting, and why people who enjoy it tend to watch so much of it. Who doesn't want their own special world that others can't even comprehend or touch? We can share it to the extent that we say what characters we like, or what particular moments touch us, but we can't really share the depth of feeling that draws us to anime because it's something that lies deep in us, something that we let few people touch.

It seems to be a blog that was frequented by 'older' names in the anime blogging circles, but I reccomend anyone to check it out for the frequently introspective articles taking a close look inside the anime fan themself.)

Twelve Moments in Anime 2007 - #12: Myself;Yourself 11

The "12 Days of Christmas" series is a joint feature by some members of the Anime Blogging Collective recognizing twelve moments, twelve series, or just twelve things about anime that we've enjoyed over the past year, that really make us enjoy loving what we do, and that is being an anime fan. Feel free to join in the list-making fun too if you wish. We hope you enjoy this feature.

If you had asked me a year ago what I thought of anime, I'd tell you that Cardcaptor Sakura ruled my life and that would be the end of it.

If you had asked me a year ago what I thought of Haruhi, of Kanon, of Tsukihime, I'd give you a funny look.

If you had asked me a year ago whether I'd think I'd find myself, in a year, writing almost 50,000 words about anime, I'd ask if you'd come back in time just to ask theoretical questions about anime to me, and why don't you just go win the lottery instead?

Perhaps to call anime life-changing would be a bit of a stretch, especially in the young, impressionable high school years. But I have no regrets about adapting the life style of a self-admitted anime geek, with the blogging and the watching and the Shiori worshipping and a good portion of the full nine yards, and I would like to think that my alleigance will not be wavering any time soon.

And so to close out the month of December, a time for celebration, it's time for me to recgonize some of the moments that really personify why I am glad I made the choice to be here, watching anime, in a 12 Days of Christmas countdown.

And the first moment up is every bit as dramatic as the this intro paragraph is, for better or for worse: Myself;Yourself 11.


12 Moments of Anime 2007
#12: Myself;Yourself - 11
"Asami is bi!"

Upon suggesting the concept for a "12 Days of Christmas" list I managed to come up with eleven different moments from eleven different series fairly handily. Just for kicks, I picked out my singular favorite moment from everything I've watched so far - since I'm a fanboy like that - and then picked the eleven that jumped out.

But having exhausted my list of anime and of eleven-related "ridiculous and not even funny" jokes, I decided to make a stretch for the twelfth one and put the, at the time, most recent, and probably most ridiculous episode of Myself;Yourself - the tenth one, in the final spot on the list.

And then, surprisingly, here comes the next episode to soundly knock itself off the pedestal at the last minute, and this time, I have no doubt in my choice.

Myself;Yourself, to do one comparison, is somehow what I imagine School Days would be like if I had never heard of it before watching it. Maybe not in straight character relations, but in terms of sheer mindblowing revelations, Myself;Yourself has it in spades.

And since - unless you count vague descriptions on the official Japanese site, which I didn't peruse - the game / anime is essentially unspoiled, it made these moments all the more powerful.

Myself;Yourself, at this point, is the ultimate trap show.

The first episode, maybe even the first few episodes, are exceedingly light. Nice, simple, harem-style lightheartedness with a little fanservice courtesy of Aoi. All the plot seemed choreographed enough, with Sana's fear of blood and Nanaka's fear of fire fairly obvious. It seemed to be the kind of show that could be a light watch. Something that took a minimum amount of thinking to provide a high level of entertainment.

Even when the plot started taking a turn for the serious in the second half, the show was there to comfort you, to say "Don't worry, it's still all in the name of fun," with a half-episode dedicated to the amusement park and the largely sideplot (unfortunately) Hinako.

But the last two episodes have done nothing short of turning the entire show upside-down. Siscon - or not - drama, family abuse, cheating wives, violent old ladies - the phrase 'blood, sweat, and tears' is scarily appropriate for the show; the tears coming from both sides of the screen at times.

And it all culminates with what possibly might be the single most impossible-sounding revelation this year in anime.

The title of episode 11 is "Confession". Some of us thought it might be one of love. Maybe Shuu really is serious about his sister, maybe Sana will finally make a move on Nanaka, maybe Asami will figure into the story again. Others thought it was one of guilt - the adults, such as the Wakatsuki 'mom' confessing that they wrote the incriminating letter.

But what really happened - Asami confessing that 1) she liked Shuri and 2) she wrote the 'love hotel' letter - no one should have seriously seen coming.

I'm still lost for words. I don't know if it's good or bad yet. It's one of those revelations that's utterly shocking and captivating - if it doesn't wreck your suspension of disbelief.

And to be honest, it is sort of out in left field. But it's still intriguing in the way Asami lays it all out for Sana in a monologue that never felt like it dragged on or got melodramatic. It seemed very nicely done; strange source material aside, the scene was done excellently.

And it's not like we couldn't see how all the pieces added up. It almost makes sense. Why Asami's silhouette is overlaid on the Wakatsuki part of the OP. The strange reaction Asami had to the letter in episode 10, how she reacted to the ferris wheel incident in 9, even all the way back to all the highly platonic time she spent with Sana in the early parts of the show. It's just one of those reverse-engineering cases, where it's easier to see it backwards, after the fact, than forwards.

Who would have thought she would have so much in common with Grandma Kaji?

But since, of course, we were thinking it forwards, with no prior knowledge, we wrote Asami off as the side character, the 'outsider' to the group. The one for the express purpose of being Nanaka's tsuntsun catalyst. The one who was overshadowed by her arc's adult villain, Grandma Kaji. The nice character that had good intentions, the one that seemed destined for the Nayuki Club.

"Poor Asami," it was said. "It's too bad she didn't really play a role in the story."

Maybe, in the end, she didn't. But there's no doubt that, even if she doesn't affect the final outcome, she left her mark on the story and wasn't just a side characters. She is the epitome of characters that break the mold, that surprise and shock and leave us utterly dumbfounded.

No matter whether in the end I view this scene favorably (as an excellent piece of exposition) or unfavorably (as an excellent example of ridiculous plot twists), this moment will live on as proof that anime can still pull rabbits out of its hat.

As cliched as it looks, as pandering as it can be, sometimes, there are just moments where we, the viewers, get it all totally wrong in judging a character or story. And that's something I can appreciate.

-CCY

Myself;Yourself 10 - PLOT Just Kicked In, Yo

And, like every good street racer in anime, Myself;Yourself has jumped four gears from second to sixth and is accelerating at about the speed of a jumbo jet.

As the guy in the shotgun seat all we can do is sit there, whiplashed, and stare agape at how fast things are whizzing by us. And with the end of the road coming up quick it's definitely possible for panic to set in.

There's no way he could make the turn. No way that I'll survive this alive.

Only one thing is sure, and that's that they're not going to let up on the gas any time soon.

Car references aside, Myself;Yourself really did take a turn for the holy shit in its last episode, number 10. It's a combination of plot developments that left many people polishing up their Nice Boats in anticipation.

In all truthfulness, the rumors of impending death, most likely, have been greatly exaggerated, but that doesn't stop the fact that some very interesting and dramatic things are likely to come up soon as Myself;Yourself rushes towards the cliff, Kaiji style, ready to make a flying leap.

Whether it'll make it remains to be seen, but until then let's take a look at the situation, as there's still quite a lot to play for in this story.

The tenth episode introduced a lot of burning questions that with any luck will be answered later on, the first one being "why are all the adults such assholes?" It's something that's contributed to part of the subtle contempt I held for the tenth episode, as the show approaches almost-School-Days levels of "all the characters are jerks", at least with the older group.

Yuzuki-sensei pretty much is the only person standing up for the students. The principal / vice-principal seem to have watched one too many seasons of Da Capo in immediately assuming the Wakatsukis guilty of love-hotel incest.

The Wakatsuki's second mother is a dirty-playing villain who probably contributed to that whole situation - it's quite likely she was the one who wrote in the letter (since she was "tired of the kids")...not to mention, was that another guy she slept with, aside from the Watatsuki father? Who, in himself, is a self-centered person who won't let anything - such as morals or the truth - stand in his way.

Or what of Grandma Kaji? The predictions about her were relatively on-the-ball; the bird and Poe fell to her, and she turned to Shuri, instead of Nanaka, next. While she's not quite the most brilliant criminal - her arc seemed to flash before our eyes in episode 10 - she still managed to make her mark, with a chair, on Asami. Pro wrestler style.

Even Nanaka's uncle is still under deep suspicion. All the signs point to him being a factor in the supposed arson of Nanaka's house five years ago, and I doubt we're going to be proven wrong.

The second question is "Just how messed up is everyone going to end up?" The amount of stress that everyone is undergoing is simply incredible, reaching nearly soap-opera levels at times. Sana's still going berserk at the sign of anything pointy and bloody and probably family problems, Nanaka's got mental trauma and probably family problems, and the Wakatsukis have boarding school, siscon issues, and definitely family problems.

And Asami's busy getting the Sayuri Hospital Makeover.

Only Aoi and Hinako are relatively safe, and that's because we're busy wondering "why aren't they in the plot?" Aoi doesn't seem to have any coherent story in the anime - unless she turns out to be some sort of overarching villain ("I was trying to kill everyone off to get to you, Sana!" *annoying Chiyo screeching*), and Hinako's busy getting Token Appearance Episodes.

And, "whose arc is it anyways?" With time ticking down faster than a speeding 240Z, it still remains to be seen how all the plot will be tied up. Certainly there is a lot being done to consolidate the "side character" plots (Asami and the Wakatsukis), but Nanaka and Sana still have a lot of explaining to do. Even if that explaining is very obvious.

So let's take a look at some of the answers. Or at least what I believe to be so.

Although everyone in Myself;Yourself is thoroughly drama-filled at this point, I have no doubt that Myself;Yourself is going to be end well. As has been stated time and time again it's very rare that a show decides to go 'eff the viewers' and have a bad end; especially so if a show 1) doesn't have a reputation for being gritty and 2) starts so pleasantly and frilly like M;Y did.

As impossible as it seems I'm going to maintain the 'zettai daijoubu' attitude that it's all going to wrap up well in the end. The only question is how and why?

With only three episodes left, it will be tough to conclude everything in a meaningful manner without deux ex'ing or resorting to "go buy the game to find out". But it won't be impossible - if there's anything episode ten proved it's that this show can go very fast and very strong if it wants to.

Where did Aoi and Hinako go? I'm afraid they might be sacrifices for the greater good; with a 1-cour show like this it's very difficult to cram all the arcs in (a difficulty I've heard Da Capo II is experiencing) and so the 'lesser' character had to be shafted in order for the other side characters to be developed.

And I don't regret more time being spent on Shuu and Shuri at all - Shuu is portrayed on the rarely-seen line between "caring brother" and "siscon", and Shuri's character is admirable as well.

It's still a bit sad that Hinako, with an episode and half of solid development as a mature character despite her age, will probably go to waste or only have bit appearances; such is the fate of a character that goes to a different school (and wasn't part of the original 'party'). And it's far too late for Aoi to be anything more than a support to the supporting characters now. Isn't it sad, Aoi?

In the end I'd much rather the time be spent on fully fleshing out the ending and main/side character development. Shuu and Shuri look set for a closing episode, and Sana and Nanaka will pick up the last two. With any luck Asami will get some final thoughts in as well.

So what's to keep in mind as we reach The Bloody Conclusion of Myself;Yourself? (Admittedly it's not going to be the same sense of 'bloody' as the reference would suggest)

The preview sounds like the Wakatsukis might be heading away after all - likely they'll be back before the end of the series, but with the imagery of Sana being manly and chasing someone to a train station, someone's leaving, and Sana and Shuri look to be the best bet.

Doubly so since this could bring up some interesting parallelism between the past, where Shuu ran and screamed something to Sana when he was leaving (episode one, flashback), and the present, where Sana could return the favor, and perhaps remember some things in the process.

"Confession" could mean all sorts of things for the next episode, and if M;Y has any intentions of being misleading it WON'T be the Sana x Nanaka that I'm expecting (since they need to get a move on, even if they aren't stealing the show anymore). It's quite possible that it could be Shuu making the siscon move (he came close, last episode), or Asami trying to grab the spotlight again.

Or it could be a confession in the criminal sense. I doubt that we'll see more of Kaji, but the Wakatsuki family has got bad guys all over the place and it remains to be seen which one of them will crack first.

Sana's family is one aspect that was brought up early in the show and seems to have faded out, a clue that it'll come blaring to front when we least expect it; it's likely to have ties to the whole wristwatch fiasco (/wrists, etc), but the fact that Sana's living alone now just doesn't seem to add up. There's a piece missing here somewhere, and I have no idea what it is.

That's the big question mark for most of the unresolved plot in Myself;Yourself. It's been a predictable show. It's been one that foreshadows a lot. But there's that feeling of unease. That things aren't right, that we're not right.

It looks like Nanaka's uncle burned down the house, it looks like Sana's a cutter, it looks like Asami and Kaji's plot are done, it looks like the Wakatsuki parents are utter assholes...but it's not over until the tsundere girl plays the violin. (Which we should also see a full-circling of later, with any luck.)

Myself;Yourself doesn't pull off a lot of plot twists, which only makes it more shocking when it actually does. It's a very good show for lulling people into a sense of complacency with a light-hearted start, and then it turns the world upside-down with a dramatic second half.

That's what the tenth episode in sense did, except by now it was full-bore drama the whole way. It's something that was a bit jarring and perhaps overdone; but I won't lie in saying that it only increased my interest in the show.

In that lies the biggest parallel I believe can be made to School Days, which was the last anime to emotionally charge me like this. That sense of disbelief, that "it cannot possibly be happening" thought, while it may turn off some viewers, is something that keeps me drawn in, if only because it's so rare for shows to be this raw, this over-the-top.

It's a delicate balancing act that Myself;Yourself is pulling off, that line between gripping and ridiculous.

Somehow, it does feel like auto racing. Some people enjoy the crashing, and some enjoy the displays of talent and skill. Which one Myself;Yourself will end up being, remains to be seen.

-CCY

(Last you're going to see of her. ;_;)

Harem Wars: Fall 2007

I just want an excuse to use the word "threesome" in the 'wrong' way again.

In all seriousness though this season's crop of anime is looking very promising for any harem/visual novel show lovers, with at least four shows out there that look to impress.

In the four corners we've got:
Clannad, the 500 Pound Moe Gorilla,
Da Capo II, the Never-Dying,
Myself;Youself, the Newcomer,
and ef, a.k.a. Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film (because it hasn't been subbed yet).

Luckily the subs for the shows have been very speedy as well so I can offer first impressions on the first three of this batch, and if there's one thing I can say about them it's that, despite all technically being visual novel anime, they all feel like they have a different approach to the genre.

It's not the world-upside-down approach to the harem genre like School Days, by any regards, but certainly each show has a different feel and creates different expectations. It looks like the next 3 months or so will have a lot of tense spamming-refresh-waiting-for-subs moments...

(No spoilers for anything past the first episodes ahead but I might hint vaguely at past anime of the same genre)

Da Capo II was one of the first shows of the fall season to hit the ground, and it hit the ground running...for about five seconds. It uses the perhaps seen-before but still highly awesome premise of "let's start with a confession," which I find a great way to kick-start a series in gear. Perhaps it's because I dislike it when a show takes too long to beat around the bush.

Which, to be honest, is kind of what DCII does for the next 23 minutes; it's a very introductory episode with every Important Character getting at least a scene as we dash about the cultural festival in the typical fashion.

Watching anime girls stumble over themselves and blush the color of a tomato has never been one of those things I could really call adorable for more than 5 seconds, and considering that Koko's character essentially consists of that for the first episode it was almost a painful episode to watch.

As I always say though, other characters again swoop in to save the day. Yoshiyuki, the protagonist, seems mostly the typical naive, pushed-around harem lead but at the end of the episode where he accepted Koko's confession with a smile (despite, perhaps, not loving her in the same way) one can really begin to like the accepting and friendly personality that the Asakura bloodline has passed down to him. (At least, I assume he is such, being the male protagonist)

As one who has watched the first two Da Capo seasons I can also enjoy the other hints of characters from the past, whether it be the now double-trouble siscon incest pair, another Shirakawa, or just mysteriously-exactly-the-same-but-still-entertaining Suginami.

The D.C. series has never struck me as a fast moving series, as the first episodes of each season have been less than impressive and so in that regard D.C. II is right on track; although I expect it to move faster if it really is a 12-episode series.

Another thing I've enjoyed the series for is the lesser amount of focus on just one confession; frequently the relationships are taken care of ahead of time, with a bigger conflict at the end that's more of a test for the already paired lovers. Koko getting "with" Yoshiyuki certainly looks to breed some interesting conflicts (cause, y'know, it's a harem show) in the following episodes, to that regard.

And, finally, D.C. II does seem to continue the trend of being a very unpredictable show, harem-wise, as I am unable to find the winner out of the crowd, unlike many more obvious harem shows. Koko's got the disadvantage of being a childhood friend and getting the first strike, Nanaka has the Shirakawa name working against her, and even if we nail the contenders down to the two sisters, which one at the moment seems like a toss-up. So I hope that D.C. II will remain fairly interesting in that regard.

Myself; Yourself was the second show up, and being based on a as-yet-unreleased visual novel it has the clear advantage of a unspoilerable show. While watchers of the other three shows may be tainted by prior knowledge and focus more on What Path Are They Going to Take, Myself; Yourself works with a blank slate.

This of course means that it has to work a bit harder to establish a devoted audience, but the first episode seems to be a solid intro to the show.

Admittedly, Myself; Yourself is a bit by-the-numbers as far as harem/VN shows go. There's one standard-issue harem lead, a bunch of moe girls, and a large time gap. However, this somewhat-cliche setup can still run a bunch of paths, anywhere from Kanon's sad-in-snow-fest to Shuffle!'s boxcutter-frenzy, so don't count this show out just yet.

And it does seem to have a couple of tweaks on the normal formula as well. The support male is actually from the childhood friend era as well. The lead female (Nanaka) seems to have undergone an interesting personality change - many call her a tsundere over five years (all dere before, all tsun now; how 'bout it) , which may be a stretch, but certainly she's been doing some brooding.

And Sana, the lead male, certainly seems to have a balanced personality. While he makes no pretenses that he's a guy (sizing up Aoi and Nanaka) he isn't overly perverted or overly spineless, which makes him what could seem to be a realistic character.

Some interesting points, some new and some old, are raised as well. Why did Sana move back, and why does he seem to have such a rocky relationship with his parents? What did his friend (the support male) yell to him when he was leaving on the train? How have all the characters changed in the last five years?

...And there's a couple sticky points in the OP too (awesome song, I must add); the guy in the flame background right before the concert scene, the clock stuck at 11:59 with the two twins leaning on it, Nanaka playing the violin, depressed Sana in the middle of the street, all sorts of things to think about.

One last point on the characters; the voices really throw me off, like they do a lot of people, but it's less the squeakiness and more the previous roles. To see Sakura (D.C.) and Chiyo (Azumanga) voice characters with a physical appearance in the double-digits for once is really kind of strange, but it's not really that bad. It'll just take getting used to.

One complaint of mine about the characters though is that Aoi, as awesome as she may be, seems too manufactured. She's moe to the ninth power, yes, but it almost seems like she was made that way rather than just happening to be that way. Think about it; megane, energetic, likes books, large chest, easily blushing, loli voice... it seems to hit a lot of demographics, which almost seems like too much of a perfect storm, so to speak.

Other than that, though, I like the cast of Myself; Yourself so far.

The direction of the show is wonderfully ambiguous as so far it has mixed some light fanservice with a bit of heavy plot, so it's anyone's guess whether it will be more D.C. or more Key. The main girl seems to be pretty guaranteed Nanaka, but there definitely will be a large fanbase and hopefully plot built up for Aoi or...uh...the other one, so we'll see just how this turns out.

Not a lot of complaints so far, which might remain my biggest worry; a show that starts strong has a lot more pressure to stay strong.

And to that regard Clannad is going to be one of the toughest-judged anime in the history of mankind, given that it's from a highly reputable studio (KyoAni) adapting a highly-reputed viusal novel work (from Key).

The amount of hype that this show has recieved is immensely huge, and even I'll admit that this was my big-ticket show for the season.

And, what can I say? It's lived up to the expectations so far.

Perhaps it's just because I am partial to the Key storytelling of "Rend mind first, ask questions later" but the first episode introduces a lot of really likable characters and really burning questions.

What appeals to me about the Clannad cast is that it's a different balance than usual. While most anime have one strong guy and perhaps a tsun girl, Clannad is bursting at the seams with badassery.

Tomoya, the main lead, is striking of Yukito from AIR, a character who doesn't take any crap yet is kind of a softie at the core. Nagisa's father is hilarious in his macho parentitude; take his consideration of Tomoya as 1) the ungrateful rice-cracker-pan-hater, 2) potential boyfriend (yes, no, and maybe), and 3) Tomoya ETHANOL. Oh yes.

Meanwhile, on the female side, we have the tsun + dere twin pair of Kyou and Ryou. Ryou's strange mix of Shiori, Tsukasa, and maybe Mikuru seems to be a win of the ages for those who like shy characters (and I'll admit her off-kilter fortune telling was funny as well). I don't find Kyou too appealing yet but I like the different factor in that she's more cocky and up-front than an already cocky and up-front delinquent character; most normal harem shows wouldn't have characters with half these guts.

Oh yeah, the other fighting character: Tomoyo. Wow. Real impressive fighting skills, and I look forward to learning more about just how she's like that.

Nagisa, the final remaining main heroine (aside from the Phoenix Wright pose underclassman who hasn't been introduced) seems to be the main heroine from all the attention she's got, and to be honest I'm not a huge fan of her character. To do more comparing, she's like Shiori (with the sickness and whatnot) but without that great combo of shyness and boldness. She's just sort of a quiet, antisocial pushover at this point. Almost like Misuzu as well, but again, less bright.

Which is great. I'm sure she appeals to a bunch of people out there who feel they are in the same situation, to the loners and the shy ones, but really her character just doesn't really strike me as something entertaining, or, realistic to be honest. Only in visual novels, kiddies.

Still, even if Nagisa isn't strong yet and even if she is The Chosen One (which I can't say 100%), there's a bunch of episodes between now and the end, and the strength of Key anime has always been the focus on the characters instead of the relationships. Perhaps it's missing the point to say "I'm looking forward to crying manly tears," especially considering the very amusing and light nature of Clannad so far, but at the very least I imagine that a lot of the characters have some secrets to tell, especially starting with Nagisa and the mysterious world at about 6:00 in.

Not to mention, Nagisa and what my anime companion called the "hooker speech" at the end of the episode. Seriously, standing under a streetlight at night, promising to make dreams come true...naive as ever, Nagisa.

Don't feel ashamed, I laughed at it too.

Oh yes, and the animation was sexy as ever. Just take the mysterious world sequence and the dull-tone/color flashing in the beginning as proof.

To sum it up, D.C. II is the only show so far that I feel mildly let down by, but it will get by on it's track record of starting slow and ending strong. Myself; Yourself has a decent start and I can only hope that it keeps the pace up. And Clannad? I'm afraid it's everything I imagined it would be at this point. Fanboyism is a dangerous thing like that.

All we have left at this point is the ef subs to complete the quartet...

-CCY