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.)

Artbook Check! II: Da Capo / Cardcaptor Sakura

It's been a while since my last - not to mention only - artbook post, not in the least because I don't do much purchasing of obscure anime goods; somehow, my sense of reason has managed to continue outstripping the little anime fan in my head that screams "moeeeeee~" at every figurine, pencil board, and plushie that I see.

This may be a result of the fact that these novelty goods are, to be subtle, ridiculously expensive at times. Probably mostly because I'm a student on an overly cheap budget, first and foremost, but secondly because, well, I don't see what you can do with a figurine outside of taking pictures of it, playing Smash Bros. with it, or making disturbing 4chan gifs with it.

Artbooks, though, have been a fondness of mine, if only because they tend to give some semblance of value to me - after all, you can browse them over and over, they have lots of pretty pictures, and if I ever actually manage to learn Japanese they might just be good reading material.

Additionally, I've recently become figuratively married to a little bookstore chain in southern California called Book Off, which offers a lot of new and used books (of which I can hardly tell the difference), ranging from standard English novels, to manga in both languages, to magazines, and - as you may have guessed - quite a few anime artbooks. Depending on the chain, you might even find some DVDs of both regions (spotted some Japanese Shuffle! LEs and AIR and Tsukihime boxsets), or import video games.And all at great prices too - my previous purchase of the Shuffle! On the Stage artbook was half the price I saw at Kinokuniya. Good stuff.

Unfortunately however I am not getting paid royalty fees for this post so I'll move on to the two latest artbooks I added to my meager collection, and that would be that of Cardcaptor Sakura and Da Capo.

(Note this post actually has pictures, so those of you stuck under a 56K rock still, look out. And for those wondering about the camera work, well, let's say my house was undergoing a small earthquake during the five minutes I was filming. Or maybe my camera hand was drunk. Maybe you need glasses. Or maybe it was a rush job and I was using a borrowed camera.)

Actually, both of these shows, being the monoliths they are, span multiple artbooks, but resources afforded only a small peek at the rabbit hole.


First up, the Cardcaptor Sakura artbook was a veritable steal at $4, half off of its normal price (although the other ones were normal price, mysteriously). The artbooks look to be split up into the show's respective sections, with one covering the Clow Card arc and one covering the Sakura Card arc. There was an additional one for the second movie, The Sealed Card, and presumably one for the first one as well, which I didn't spot.

The one I picked up was the Sakura Card artbook, which handily says on the back in English, "The Complete Book of TV Animation 'Cardcaptor Sakura' Part 2", so I'll take that as the title for it.


It's a pretty comprehensive artbook as well, with an episode overview of each episode of the Sakura Card arc, from 47-70, in the "story digest" section taking up about half of the 120-page book. Each episode summary spans two pages, the front of one and the back of the other, featuring about 20 commented screencaps from the show with a long paragraph below it. It seems to be pretty in-depth, although, since I'm illiterate outside of spotting Sakura's name, all I can really say is that the pictures are a great throwback and that chibi Sakura is incredibly adorable.


There are additional screencap segments for the third-season OP/ED, Platinum and Fruits Candy, with lyrics. Later on in the book there is an interesting segment which displays some of the storyboard planning behind the two sequences, as well.


What follows in the second section is the traditional black-and-white character sketches, featuring six pages of Sakura costumes (Tomoyo's busy, y'know.), and a page devoted to all the other main characters (Tomoyo, Syaoran, Meilin, Eriol, etc), with the remaining few pages in this section devoted to background scenery and side characters, and the aforementioned storyboarding. It's cute and heavily commented stuff but the black-and-white sketches have never really been a main draw for me.


Likewise with the cast interview segments, which are almost entirely if not completely illegible, although I did learn interesting things, like how just about bloody everyone in CCS is voiced by a girl. Yukito I figured, Kero I remembered (since her VA did Haruko from AIR), but I didn't figure on Syaoran. Touya and Eriol are the only guys from the main cast.

Also, there was more liberal sprinkling of chibi characters here (although admittedly sourced from the orginal animation), which was always a plus. The interviews give two pages at least to all main characters, and half a page to a lot of 'side' characters, right down to Nakuru / Ruby Moon and Fujitaka. Even the directors (I assume) get interviewed.

This about wraps up the content in the book, outside of the advertising for other CCS stuff, such as the Tetris spin-off which heads the 'games I irrationally want' list, and the 18 DVDs - or, if you're feeling retro, videotapes (this is circa 2000, after all), at a cheap 6800 yen. No worries - the first volume is a wallet-sipping 5000 yen. Almost makes the remastered set look cheap.



Extras are sparse but there, as the book includes two postcards (which I can't imagine that anyone would actually use) and a small poster (bigger than standard paper but smaller than a Megami pullout) featuring a shocked-looking Sakura against a black backdrop with Eriol and his minions in the background. Overall, CCS The Complete TV Animation Pt. 2 is still a steal at $4, and would still probably be worth it at it's standard $8 - especially since it's listed at 1500 yen on the back of the book.



My second purchase is what can only be described as the Da Capo Box, as that's pretty much when I went on when buying it. It was shrink-wrapped, so it was pretty much a prayer purchase. It was formally called "D.C. Collaboration Stories", and the fact that it was big, thick, and didn't look to be H seemed to make it a good deal for $13. And while I may not be doing backflips like more striped Da Capo fans might upon such a steal, I still consider it a fairly reasonable purchase.


It's a three-part set, which would explain why it comes in a box, for one. The first part, and the most important, naturally, is the flipping huge book. It's 300 Spartaaaaaaaan pages long (that joke stopped being abused fast, as an aside). That's a lot.



It opens promisingly - once I figured out that it read right to left - with a bunch of stunning fanart by what I can only assume are other famous artists. I say this because I recgonize the Shuffle style of Aoi Nishimata. There are 9 full-page (and note that a page here, as opposed to CCS's A4 size, is roughly 8.5" by 12") illustrations, most of them worthy of being pulled out and pinned to the wall, if that's your sort of thing.

What follows is a roughly 100-page collection of a bunch of manga stories drawn by different artists. Each is about 10-20 pages, and what I could glisten from the pictures they span:

- Magical costume dress-up Sakura
- Some flashback involving loli Sakura and Junichi, plus Miharu

- Nemu being typically clingy tsundere after Junichi runs around with some large meganekko in what can only be a giant misunderstanding
- Something involving Kotori, which should be enough for her fans

- Something involving Moe, which gives her more development than two seasons of anime despite me not being able to read Japanese
- Miharu x Junichi adventures
- Something involving Suginami, Mako, and a possible pairing of the two. Second only to Mayumi and Itsuki in 'best comedy duo that needs romance'.
- Nemu reminscing about Junichi and their amusement park trips in the past and present
- NekoNemu. No one knows why.

Plus a few 4koma.

It's a pretty lame collection because there's no Yoriko vast range of manga by a bunch of people with different art styles, and since they give time to nearly everyone except Yoriko, fans of Da Capo who don't mind Yoriko getting the shaft, especially those who can read Japanese, will enjoy this segment unless they have any pity for Yoriko.

(Well, she did get one 4koma.)


What follows after this is the game CG collection with 100% more Yoriko, which is always a fun read (and by read I mean look) for people like me who are wholly unfamiliar with the original source game. I lucked out in that this section is entirely non-ero; it barely misses work-safe due to containing the 'pre ero-scene' CGs where the heroines are in a state of vague undress.


Each character has their own section here averaging from 5 to 10 pages. Each section includes a large character portrait, a list of character sprites (interestingly, Kotori has more than double anyone else's at nearly 70 poses, while most have 30-odd), and the game CGs at about quarter-page size. Of course, everything is annotated by a bunch of flavor text which I'm sure says...something.


It's informative since you can glean a lot from the images (such as Yoriko's ending, which apparently involves either her or Misaki coming to school as a real girl), and, failing that, you can roll on the floor and/or agonize over why there's a CG of Suginami in a half-naked maid outfit.


After this, there's about 20 pages of straight text, interrupted by scarce CGs; I'm assuming this is a sort of mini-story of its own; it's titled "Another Story", and each character gets their own section. I'm not sure if this is just copy-paste from the game(s), or original content, but either way, reading material right here.

Then there's few short sections, one being a walkthrough for each of the characters, another being a corner for fanart (of the postcard kind), the third being the 'buy stuff please' segment, (Note they sell shirts for every character but Yoriko.) , and the final segment closes off the book with some sheet music for what I presume are the game OP and ED themes.

Additionally, there is a CD that comes in the Da Capo Box, but unfortunately I seem to have been ripped off as my box did not come with a copy of it. It looked to have some game (of, I imagine, token value) on it, along with what I'm guessing is a short visual novel and perhaps some bonus images or something.



The third item in the box is a vintage 2003 calendar, which I imagine was more useful back in the day. It features 7 images (2 months apiece, plus one image for the entire 2004 year) which cover all the main characters. I guess, since it's old, it can be cannibalized for more art posters, since the art here is quite good except for Yoriko who of course has the only NWS shot in the calendar. Stupid cat maids..

In the end, essentially I did just buy a $13 book in a box, but it was a fairly 'worth-it' purchase, given the size of the book and the appeal of its contents, both in comprehensible and incomprehensible form. I'd recommend it to any D.C. fan, especially if you can actually get it with the CD. The back of the box says that D.C. Recollection Stories retails for 3200 yen.

These were the two purchases that I felt were worth covering - Book Off also has random $1 books like the 500-page Gran Turismo 2 guide I found, and I snagged a $5 copy of Megami 90, but the former is only tangentially related and the second is covered far too well by Kurogane, so there you go.


Also, I have no idea what these Kanon trading cards are, but they're ten cents apiece, and, well, Kanon.

-CCY
(We apologize for the fault in the rampant Yoriko fanboying. Those responsible have been sacked.)

(We apologize again for the fault in the excessively bitter Yoriko fanboying. Those responsible for the sacking the people who have just been sacked, have been sacked.)

(The directors of the blog hired to continue the post after the other people had been sacked, wish it to be known that they also think highly of the characters of Kotori and the Mizukoshis. Also, they have been sacked. The post has been completed in a entirely different, raving fanboy style, at great expense and at the last minute.)

eh about ef? (Episodes 4-7)

By all means, I should be entirely smitted with ef, like most of the otakusphere (to steal a term) seems to be.

It's got what seems to be it all: a unique animation style, characters ripped straight from a storyline I dreamed up, parallel plots that look to tie together smoothly, and personalities that are appealing without being overly moe. Not to mention, a green-haired meganekko.

I've spent a lot of my time with my hands plugged in my ears not just because I'm trying to get the earwax out, but to avoid the spoiler-tastic raving that everybody has been going on about for ef. It encouraged me to catch up with the show over the last few days of vacation as part of the "My God, it's Winter 2007/8 season already!?" watching panic.

So I was quite surprised when ef turned out not to be the gripping, awe-inspiring wonder that it's been made out to be, but merely a show that's good. Funnily enough, popular recommendations as to shows in off-center genres such as magical girl (Shugo Chara!) and GARmbling (Kaiji) have worked wonders for me, and I can't say enough superlatives about those, but for a visual novel show that's pretty much straight up my alley, it's not working out quite the same.

I could attest this to any number of things. First off would probably be that I've just seen too many of these damn shows. I love the visual-novel-slash-harem genre to death but in terms of bringing new concepts to the table it takes a lot to impress me. Perhaps because I'm an 'expert' in this genre I expect more, and it's quite easy for shows in this genre to fall into a cliche pattern.

It's a bit amusing, in that I try to avoid blatant escapism in my harem shows, which is kind of like trying to avoid the cream filling in an Oreo. It's there and it's going to be there, because that's a core part to a lot of shows in this genre.

ef has stayed out of this trap pretty well, but there are parts where it stumbles a bit; Chihiro's spontaneous lapsing into uber-dere-dere mode with the "you can kiss me if you want" for one, and the quick transitioning of the Kei - Hirono - Miyako plot into a sort of love triangle of the jealous regard.

This bugs me, probably the most because it was doing pretty well while giving the romance part a backseat, while making the story a tale of character discovery, and when the love-love part gets center stage it's just sort of flat and been-there compared to the rest.

It's a bit early to be refuting my argument but I suppose the counter is that this kind of stuff could just be working to develop the characters; yeah, Miyako's just working herself into either the lonely girl or yandere corner, where things will get interesting, and Chihiro's "kiss me nao plz" thing is kind of tacky but it sets Renji on a hardcore monologue.

Maybe this post as a whole is kind of ironic, in that it does mirror Renji's thoughts a lot. That feeling of "gee, I should be loving this, but something's wrong" is very prevalent in my viewing of ef so far.

The predictability factor is beginning to rise in the show as well, continuing on with the 'story is looking kind of weak' worry. Soon enough, if it hasn't already, it will hit Renji that Chihiro's story, like most, is a quite un-subtle narrative reflecting on her own tragic life, and their story will continue on their heartwarming if not kind of straightforward style of "someone reaching out to the lonely person". Eventually it will hit Kei that she's being a Class-A Jealous "Friend" and being entirely unfair to Miyako. At that point, they'll have a My Story Is Sadder Than Yours duel and Miyako will probably claim Hirono, while Kei either gives up on her feelings or puts out to that photographer guy.

It's all entirely speculation of course, and most of you who have actually already finished ef (which, I suppose, is all of you reading this) are laughing in that evil-villain-with-a-monocle way at my foolishness, but that's the way the story is feeling to me. It just seems like ef has played most of its cards already.

We have Chihiro's backstory, have most of her inner feelings exposed. We've seen Kei's light and dark side, seen her relation to her sister and her guilt, her true relation to "onii-chan" Hirono. Miyako, we now know her past, and her desperation to be recgonized, to be loved by someone again.

It's just sort of at a 'what now?' point. Maybe there's something good to be said about this, how ef is up-front with its characters and doesn't take the entire time beating around the bush saving up for a shock that should have been obvious. But I'm just kind of lost with what this show is planning to do; it was moving so solidly earlier and is now kind of bogging down a bit, with sequences which are moving, yes, but damn long.

You know what I mean, with Miyako's now-famous 99 Missed Calls (take that, American movies). It was a touching moment, one that isn't easily forgettable, but the little Mystery Science Theater voice in the back of the head spoiled everything. "They used like 4 frames over 15 minutes, you know," it says. "They didn't have to drag it on so long, we know that she's desperate." it says. "Why couldn't it have spent more time on her backstory instead of throwing it out there and going straight to the voice mails?"

This is my problem with ef as a whole, as as much good as it is on paper, it's just not clicking, not getting that connection with the viewer for me. I see Miyako rant on and on for 5 minutes to Hirono's phone, and I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to feel sorry for her or scared of her. I see Renji struggle with whether he should Just Kiss Her Already, and I'm not sure whether he's doing what any person would do or is just being a standard romantic coward.

It's this unease about the story that gets to me, that it's very ambiguous in terms of characters and morality. This is probably what a lot of people love about this show, in that it's different from every moe-fest visual novel; like Chihiro says, "if the characters are thought to be cute, that means they aren't described properly."

And don't get me wrong; I don't hate anything more than a story that is very black and white, good vs. evil. But the characters of ef just aren't hitting any special shade of grey; they don't really inspire, at least not yet, a lot of discussion about their actions and thoughts. They're just, there, to me. And that hurts.

Undoubtedly, the judgment is not final yet. I've still got five episodes to go and that could make all the difference for this show; even though I cannot see how yet, ef might pull an ace out of its sleeves. There might be an intriguing twist, or more revelations on a character's train of thought. But right now, it's just kind of a dissapointment.

Like Chihiro's "you can kiss me" scene, what it says and how it looks are two different things. It's on paper, visual novel gold, a show with the dual plotlines of a KimiKiss, the balanced characters of a sola, the character discovery of a Myself;Yourself, but in reality, it just doesn't have the feel that it should. It's just not lining up, and that's something that worries me.

Clearly, the intent to like ef is there, by the tone of those words and the references to the show itself. In the end, although it really sounds like I dislike the show, maybe the underlying meanings of this rant tell more - I try to hate the show so that when it turns out good, it's all the better. We shall see.

-CCY

Any show with Cardcaptor Sakura, Touhou, and Lucky Star has to be good, right?

(Incidentally, I don't have much to say about the SHAFT-itude of it all.)
(One more random thought: all the red-flash-heart-beating parts of episode 7 were a real throwback to Tsukihime the visual novel. Hehehe.)
(Finally, Chihiro's analogizing of her own problems to the sheep math problem, with the "if the chain is 13 years long" and all, was much more chill-inducing than Miyako's 99 Missed Calls.)

The 19th Day Hangover: Feedback

And that's that. Welcome to 2008, everyone.

Now before I pass out and take a break from blogging for a few days (or just go light on the posting), it's time to talk a walk on the meta side and have a little reflection on the blogging part of the 'anime blogging' concept now.

Through 150+ entries and nine months, my posting schedule and content has changed a few times to settle on the plan of posts every other day, about anything and everything, as long as I can rant about it at sufficient length.

I'm self-centered and so I blog about whatever the heck I want - which usually entails a lot of complex deconstructing of simple shows - but I'm curious as to what the people on the other side of the glass think.

What features did you enjoy this year? What would you want to see more of? Less of? Please do note that I'm referring mainly to things that went on this year - I, too, think it would be something fresh and new to drop everything and start writing yaoi dango lemons, or something equally non-sequitor, but chances are that visual novel shows are going to remain the forte of this blog for times to come.

How are the non-post aspects of the blog? Is the layout too blue? Too wordy? Too Blogger?

Any other thoughts? Don't feel obligated to answer this like a questionnaire - answer what you feel about the most. If you want to spend your comment criticizing my irrational Nagato fandom, so be it.

(But don't be surprised if you see men in black suits at your door the next day.)

All input is appreciated, and I hope that both I, the writer, and you, the readers, can continue to enjoy your time spent at Eternity for many...eternities to come.

-CCY
(And you always wondered why the doors were locked behind you.)

And in case you were wondering about the guards...

The 18th (and Final) Day of Christmas - Resolutions for 2008

I'd like to hear a song put to the Eighteen Days of Christmas, especially with a random smorgasboard of themes like this.

Unfortunately, like all features, this one has to eventually come to an end, especially with a growing list of harem (among other) shows begging to be put to the microscope.

Oddly enough, blogging an average of 1,300 words a day for eighteen straight days has not been as incredibly exhausting as I imagined, partly because of the raw fanboy adrenaline that drives these posts. It's certainly been a fun experience to go over all the shows and moments of my first year of serious anime fandom, especially since I uncovered a few shows again that were beginning to fade into the mists of time. Hopefully it's been the same enjoyable, sentimental experience for the readers as well.

And now it's time to point the fancannon towards the future, as we take a look at what next year has in store - at least from the perspective of a relatively new romance/harem fan. There are promising shows from the fall season, the winter season, and even beyond, with intriguing releases on both sides of the Pacific.

No doubt, though, that some of the most interesting things to happen haven't been revealed yet - perhaps another random show will blindside its way to a top spot on the list, or maybe some exciting news involving an old favorite. You never know.

And so, here are some of my resolutions for the year 2008 in anime...

I resolve to figure out what the hell Byousoku 5cm, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and Honey & Clover are, and why they are so awesome.
I'm pretty sure this one is self-explanatory. These three shows are romance-types that have been praised to heaven and back a few times, that I've just missed the boat on thanks to licensing. Indeed, I downloaded the first episode of H&C, and didn't even get to watch it before the license was announced. Such is the way of fansub fandom.

In any case, I don't plan on complaining about shelling out an extra hundred dollars or so blind for these shows combined if they turn out to be half as good as the hype. There's only one way to find out~

I resolve to fall into a seven-year coma over the sheer beauty that only sad girls on DVD can impart. (Kanon R1)
Kanon has, and will always be, my personal fanboy weak spot. I watched Kanon once streaming, watched it again on fansubs burned to DVD again, and now it looks like it's going to be the third time, except this time in real DVD quality on the big screen.

Rewatching a show has never been my thing, with so much new content still available, but given that Kanon just looks better every time I watch it (if you follow the progression above), and that it will appease my guilt about cheaping out on anime, I don't think I'll mind that much. After all, I did say on a forum that I would buy "any box with a picture of Shiori" on it...

(But they gave a cover to Kaori? Pfft.)

I resolve to believe in the fanbase that believes in the Gurren Lagann.
Similar to the triple threat above in the first resolution, Gurren Lagann has pierced the heavens with the praise heaped upon it by fans large and wide, and I figure with ADV going beyond the impossible and offering free streaming of the first few episodes, I should kick my reasoning to the curb and see what the hell Gurren Lagann thinks it is.

I'm not a mecha person personally, but I have been pleasantly surprised before (look down one resolution), and, well, if it has this many quotable phrases, I'm sold on it.

I resolve to figure out how to pronounce 'zawa zawa'. (Kaiji continues)
Seriously...it's not computing, no matter how many times they say it in the show - which, considering the situation Kaiji is getting to, is quite a lot. Kaiji has been probably the one shock show of the year for me; something with one token-appearance girl over thirteen episodes, with really ugly art, and a mere 50-second opening song wasn't going to end up on my watch list by any means of my own resolve, but I'll have to thank the Kaiji fans out there (Orion, among others) for tuning me on to this show.

It's mindgame central, with an anti-protagonist who alternates between incredibly stupid and ingenious fighting with a bunch of morally-ambigious characters in a yakuza-sanctioned last-chance 'gamble' for debtors. And from there, it only gets better, with an emotionally-intense rooftop tightwalking challenge that leaves everybody questioning themselves, and leaves the audience wondering and wanting more. It's a show with a real sense of danger and tension, and it's pretty intriguing to follow analytically as well too, at times. If you have even a hint of hair on your chest, or want some, drop whatever you're doing and watch Kaiji. Now. You won't regret it.

I resolve to fanboy 200% more over any humanoid interface with purple hair, yellow eyes, and glasses. (Haruhi II)
And now for the other end of the spectrum...the fourth book in the popular Haruhi Suzumiya light novel series, titled "The Dissaperance of Haruhi Suzumiya", is getting animated sometime in 2008 by Kyoto Animation. This book focuses on and develops the character of Yuki Nagato, a humanoid interface who shows little emotion on the inside but may harbor internal desires. Additionally, a mysteriously related girl, thought to be removed from the story, named Ryoko Asakura, returns, in a time-bending plot that will leave readers on the edge of their seats.

Is that enough sanity for you? I really want to go to town with the potential of this anime. (Can you take me to...mo~e town?! Can you take me to...) Nagato's my favorite character in Haruhi by leaps and bounds, and the fourth book was intriguing in its plot and head-hurty time travel aspects...not to mention, talking, blushing Nagato! (plus cold, rational Nagato for maximum fanboyism) Plus, the many potential side-stories KyoAni could throw in leaves the imagination wondering of the possibilities. It's easily one of my most anticipated anime of 2008, and I don't care if that makes me a slavering fanboy.

The only thing that worries me about this show is the stratospheric hype that people like me will pile on top of it. We'll see if KyoAni can clear the bar that has been set even higher than before.

I resolve to actually pick one consistent Shuffle! girl to fanboy this time around.
Well...first it was Nerine for a brief stint, then Mayumi, and now Sia resides in the spot of 'most adorably awesome Shuffle! character', but one thing's for sure...I'm looking forward to the R1 release of Shuffle.

It was probably one of the ecchi-er shows I watched this year but it more than redeemed itself with a gripping second half, with Sia's, Asa's, and Kaede's stories all resonating on different levels and making for great dramatic stuff. It's been a while since I've seen it in full (considering I couldn't even make it through Shuffle! Memories), and so I'll see if it stands up to the test of time. I certainly hope so - Shuffle! has both a stunning cast and storyline, definitely a good mixture.

I resolve to make the producers of Code-E's second season resolve to actually resolve the story this time.
Easy enough to understand. I think I may be one of a dozen or so English fans actually anticipating the remainder of this show, considering even the first season went over lukewarm, but apparently someone in Japan likes this show...or is threatening the studio.

It's kind of understandable why the first season of Code-E was so understated in terms of popularity - it was a very slow-paced, relaxed show, and didn't really offer a lot to grab viewers (not to mention the infamous lack of noses). But it was a slice-of-life with a fair amount of romance, and even a little bit of action and intrigue, and was a good show for kicking back - the pace was in-between Aria and KimiKiss, being relatively laid-back most of the time, but occasionally sitting up and doing something.

In any case, I look forward to the second season, as with the recent revelation of NanaDrops and sola as some of Japan's top 10 anime of 2007, Code-E might be left as my only show I've liked that I can trumpet as 'something not a lot of people have seen, but probably should.'

I resolve to figure out what the hell is with this whole 'dango' thing. (Clannad continues)
It's Clannad! What am I going to do, drop it? Unsuprisingly, dango fever has overtaken a lot of English blogs, with some affected more than others, and it seems overall that the third Key anime to be produced is being recieved a lot more warmly than Kanon or AIR. Perhaps this is due to the larger emphasis on comedy, and the surprisingly strong female lead that Nagisa is turning out to be. She's a character who's weak in emotion but strong in resolve, and has the feeling of being mostly believable with just a dash of escapism attached. The way I like it.

Kotomi's still a wildcard at this point as to how she's going to turn out, Tomoyo looks to be a lot of fun when her arc comes around, and Ryou and Kyou are comedic, awesome, and adorable all at once, and nearly threaten the Hisui and Kohaku deadlock on 'best twins in anime'. We'll see if Clannad can keep up this strong pace as it looks to head into some more of the supernatural, visual-novel-type stuff in its second half.

I resolve to be in despair again. (Zetsubou II)
Even though it lost a little steam (and a few fansubbers) near the end of its first season, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei was still a hilariously fresh comedy that was an entertaining blend of Monty Python, the anime reference database, and a couple thousand monkeys on typewriters.

That is, black humor, random parodies, and random...random, put in a blender, and set to awesome. Oh yeah, and add a dash of Shaft for maximum head-churning - certainly, with all the blackboard scribblings and references, I could see why it takes so long to translate - after all, it usually takes 30 to 35 minutes for me just to get through a 25-minute episode!

Although SZS did take a turn for the repetitive and fanservicey toward the final episodes of its first run, the characters are great twists on the norm, and I look forward to seeing Itoshiki and his anti-harem pull off some amusing antics again in winter 2007/8.

I resolve to learn how to manipulate people to cross-dress. (Minami-ke II)
Minami-ke is the second comedy sequel in the winter 2007/8 season, and it's also got my attention, with an equally vast and hilarious cast of characters, from the romantic stalkers, to the countless traps, to the scheming sisters behind the whole slice-of-life show. Certainly I was counting on only Chiaki being the manipulative one, but with the advent of Banchou Haruka and the revealing of Kana to be much brighter than she looks (when she chooses, anyway), it seems all the characters have a lot of potential for having 'fun' with the others, intentionally or not.

The nature of this Minami-ke confuses me however, as I'm not sure whether it's a second season, a remake, an alternate retelling, or all of the above, but if it stays close to the adapted formula used in the anime, it should be plenty good.

I resolve to get back in touch with my Dark (and Krad) side. (DNAngel manga continues)
Some interesting news that nearly slipped by the radar near the end of this year was the quiet announcement that the DNAngel manga was to continue serialization soon. Having stalled out for few years, the hype for a popular fantasy-romance manga like this has probably subsided a bit, but it's enough for me to still raise at least one eyebrow.

I enjoyed the DNAngel anime and what existed of the manga in my early years of anime watching, and although I've moved on to much bigger and better romances and adaptations, I still look forward to seeing this - hopefully - finish, or at least progress. An unfinished story is one of the things I detest the most, even more than a sloppily finished one.

Which, incidentally, probably means I should finish watching To Heart 2 (nine months in the watchlist, and six episodes still to go) ... but it's not interesting enough at this point to deserve a resolution in itself.

I resolve to continue watching shows targeted at an audience younger than the anime itself...and female. (Marmalade Boy)
Marmalade Boy was another blast-from-the-past manga I re-encountered this year, in the form of a 4-DVD boxset in the public library. It's vintage 1994, and it shows in every form, from the different character design, to the purely animated (no CG) graphics, to the old-school music, to the lack of...well...moe.

It's really a pure shoujo romance, right down to the sparkly pan shots of the blond-hair bishonen, and yet it's still not too bad. I can't determine whether it's the sentimental factor of the manga, of old anime in general, or just my tastes in romance overall, but it's still a fun watch, and one I'm hoping I'll get to stumble across more of in the next year. And hopefully soon - with roughly 50 episodes to go, there's a lot left...

I resolve to say something interesting about KimiKiss, and why I'm going to keep watching it. KimiKiss is a tough show to crack funny about, if only because it is rather, almost plain at times - but you know what else is plain? Vanilla ice cream. You know what vanilla ice cream is? Awesome.

KimiKiss is refreshing in its take on visual novel romance in many ways - the first, hinted at above, is that it's very down-to-earth, simple in a way compared to the other starfish-carving, memory-erasing, house-burning dramatic visual-novel anime featured recently. And secondly, there are three, maybe four threads going at the same time - it's not just everyone loves one guy, but rather, Kouichi and Kazuki, the main guys, have two potential characters each, Mao has Kai and maybe Kouichi, and even the third guy, the film club president, and High-Class Girl Voiced By Mamiko Noto (considering Kotomi and Konoe, that narrows it down, doesn't it?) might factor in. The ways in which the many independant threads of KimiKiss could intertwine, are certainly intriguing.

I resolve to double my yandere view-count. (Higurashi R1)
Higurashi is another anime that's somehow passed me by, and with Geneon in trouble, the window for me to watch this show without shelling out hundreds may be shrinking into the distance.

Still, I hope someone manages to pick up this show, if only because I've heard many interesting things about this show; it's a visual novel adaptation and it's got cute girls that are apparently ALL yanderes, and that sounds like a good enough reason to keep me on the edge of my seat. Also, I've got the first ten seconds of the "Auau~" song stuck in my head.

I resolve to say "Magical Beretta" with a straight face. (School Days OVA)
Seriously, what the hell? That's all I can say about this.

Apparently School Days is cashing in on its popularity just like Makoto seemed to have done within the show, with not one but two OVAs being produced in the near future for it, and with 0verflow's reaction to the end of the anime (here's a hint: they're selling "Nice Items" at Comiket) there's no bounds as to where these OVAs could end up going. Especially since this one's adapted from an essential April Fool's Joke. It's going to be - what's the word - interesting...

I resolve to say something eye-catching about Shira Oka, a true English-produced school-life visual novel.
I believe this is what they in the business call "name-dropping".

This is something I've got an eye on with that enthusiasm that only an anime fan could have: I'm not sure if this visual novel will sell, or even avoid becoming vaporware, but with the powers of hope I look forward to this product, just to see what could become of the possibilities.

Additionally, I have a vested interest in this company, Okashi Studios, because they're California-based, so there you go. Apaprently this game has been going around a while, making shows at some anime conventions, so we'll see what comes of it.

I resolve to actually watch through Shugo Chara's transformation scenes, at least once.
Shugo Chara was the show that made me wonder where I'd been without my magical girl fix. The answer was probably Nanatsuiro Drops, but these two shows really piqued my interest in the 'pure magical girl' genre again. They offer an interesting blend of slice-of-life and romance, and don't always devolve into the cutesy pink-fests that many believe this kind of shows to be.

Rather, Shugo Chara has a large amount of intriguing characters for both genders; Amu herself is a character with realistic fears, hopes, and struggles, and Ikuto is an interesting flirt with that slight touch of rebellious character. The plot has promise of becoming something in-depth, instead of monster-of-the-week as well.

One thing I have to say from the spoilers, though, is: Nadeshiko, say it's not so. I don't care what you take from me. My dignity, my pride, my sense of sanity, anything, just tell me this isn't true. It can't be, it won't be, it'll never be. I'll never accept it, never, ever! Never I tell you!

I resolve to power through ef in a 15-hour span, lest I forget about it.
I think that was how the plot went, in any case. Although I usually watch shows one-episode-per-night, I might have to step up the pace, since between all the other shows, the disjointed Shaft style of ef, combined with the dual plots, makes it very hard to watch.

Which really bugs me, since everyone is heralding it as a true work of genius, and so far I can see why. I really like a lot of it, from the touching story of the main heroines, to the motto of the male leads wanting to be the 'knight in shining armor for someone', and I can't wait to see how it all ties together. I just hope I can make sense of it.

I resolve to fall in love with Sakura and Syaoran falling in love all over again.
This is something that's a long time coming. A Cardcaptor Sakura rewatch is something I've been meaning to do one of these days as a blog mini-special, with a little episode recap blurb, maybe a half, quarter size of a normal post, on each episode of Cardcaptor Sakura. Just because I want to see if my fanboyism for this show knows any bounds - and to see if it's still as gold as it first was.

It may not happen the beginning of the year, it may not finish before 2009 - but I just have to find the drive, and the time. Rest assured, it WILL happen. Long live hanyaa~n.

-CCY

Sacchin waves bye-bye to 2007.

(Wow, I sound like an old crochety anime fan with all my ridiculous passion for old shows like Marmalade Boy, Cardcaptor Sakura, and DNAngel. Even my harping for Code-E, who knows.)

(Oh my God, nearly 3300 words. This pips at the post by a dozen words or so the fall 2007 mid-season review post as the longest post ever on Eternity - yes, without this addendum. Hope you haven't fallen asleep during reading this. Happy New Year, and here's to another great year of anime~)