Anime review: "Bakuman", third season

Few days ago I finished watching third and last season of "Bakuman", adapted from manga about drawing manga.

This season continues "Bakuman" plot where it left in previous season. Mashiro and Takagi have finally made a manga they are satisfied with (PCP - Perfect Crime Party) and they struggle to make it better not to lose their place in Shounen Jack. They have not lost their dream of getting an anime adaptation, so Mashiro can marry his love Miho (a condition set in middle school). Takagi is supported by his wife Kaya (also met in middle school), while two of them compete against other manga-artist present in Shounen Jack, most of them familiar from previous seasons, but with some additions.

This season if a bit different from previous two (if I remember correctly) by being more episodic - there are several arcs that are almost independent between them (especially Nanaime's). But by and large, there are no much changes from first and second seasons, so if you are a fan of "Bakuman", you will be more that satisfied with it.

I cannot be sure because I haven't read manga, but it feels a bit rushed in places, like they had to squeeze too much material in it. But at least the pace is good and there is no dragging... Ending is as expected, but very solid. And I like how it is clearly showed that Mashiro and Takagi won't lose their motivation, even though they fulfilled their dreams. It is interesting how the author succeeded in having an shounen battle-anime feel when the story couldn't be less apart from such.

Characters stay the best part of "Bakuman". As I said, there are no many new additions, but we got to know older ones much more, and there are some changes in their relationships. Niizuma, who is on one hand very funny, improbable and exaggerated character, is shown to be very dedicated and consistent. I like how Hiramaru gets more serious, even though he is still hilarious - and Joshida makes him a great pairing. Also, we got a bit of romance, spread throughout the anime. Rest of the characters are also solid (Fukuda, Aoki, etc.).

It was very nice to see some modern mobile phones, and android references, too. But that can be expected since this anime was finished a year ago and is set in present.

The worst part of "Bakuman" is really bad and old-looking style of characters and drawings. Thankfully, this is character- and story-driven anime, so it doesn't matter much. Interesting how we have very poor art, but it becomes good (or at least more detailed) when it comes to manga they are drawing. Voice acting and music is solid, but nothing to praise much. There are 25 episodes in total.

In short, "Bakuman" continues with style and spirit of previous seasons, so if you liked it before, you will like it here also. I would recommend this series to everybody who likes otaku-stuff and daily-life anime, and fans of "Genshiken".

Movie review: "Anna Karenina"

Yesterday I went to movies with my girlfriend to watch "Anna Karenina". It was originally her idea, but I didn't have anything against it.

Even though I was a passionate reader since I was ten, for some reason I (successfully) avoided most of high-school proscribed reading, including "Anna Karenina". I was vaguely familiar with the story, as much as I remembered from a book with short analysis of plot and characters for high-school books, but in general, I didn't know anything about the movie.

The story of "Anna Karenina" is a tragedy, revolving about three central characters in 19th century Russia. Karenin (played by Jude Law) is a high-positioned noble and politician, orthodox, strict but respected for his moral and ethical principles - but at the same time he is shown as cold and distanced, especially toward his family. Anna (Keira Knightley) is his wife, at the beginning of the movie displayed as happy with his marriage and especially their son, and loyal to her husband. She actually reprehends her cousin for being angry at her husband for cheating on her and manipulates her into forgiving him. But this changes after a chance encounter with young and dashing Count Vronsky - a pampered noble with eye for beauty, sweet tongue and flowery manners. An unexpected happens and these two unlikely people fall in love, and later to obsession, which damages their lives and especially Karenin family. There is also a secondary story, dealing with another young and shy noble Levin and his love toward Princess Kitty.

The story is good, but center of this movie is its characters, primary the central trio. As I expected from a renowned literary classic, characters are great and complex. The best notion for me is that no one is described as negative: all three are just people, with their personalities, caught in facts of life, love and passion. Though, I was surprised that at the end I was putting most blame on Anna - I don't know if this was intended by the movie-makers, or it was projected from my own beliefs and personality. I am even tempted to read the book to find out.

I liked the acting, even though I am not fan of Keira Knightley. But even more I liked the semi-breaking of the fifth wall: during the changes of scenes, characters are shown as traveling through theater sets; when important things are happening, supporting characters "freeze". I also liked the costumes and small details about Imperial Russia. The music was very good, even to me who usually don't notice such things.

All in all, I really enjoyed "Anna Karenina". If you don't like romances or dramas, avoid this movie. But for everybody else, the movie is never boring, has great and interesting characters and is very intense.

Anime review: "Beck"

Although "Beck" is an older anime (2005.) that I would have usually watched without any second thoughts (daily life, great rates, classic, compared to "Nana", etc.) for some reason I long resisted it. I am happy that I have rectified this mistake now.

"Beck" is anime telling a story of members of the band with a same name, during several (two or three) years of life of Yukio Tanaka, nicknamed Koyuki. At the start of anime, Koyukio is 14 and still in his middle-school, without any goals or talents in life. After accidental encounter with Minami Ryuusuke, a few years older guitarist who spent childhood in USA, Koyuki enters the world of music and rock, and we follow them and their personal life as they try to establish themselves...

I have always liked anime that depict daily-life of characters, shounen seined and josei. "Beck" is such combination that plays on the line between shounen and seinen. In this respect it is similar to "Bakuman" (or vice versa), and I think that fans of "Bakuman" will also like "Beck". By this, I mean that even though they are focused on shounen audience, the anime doesn't follows a typical maxim "if you just want something really hard, you can do it" that is, for me, the most distinctive trait of shounen anime. On the other hand, "Beck" has some ridiculous premises, which are strongest evident in later stages: their decision to stick with Chiba is totally illogical and impractical; also, wouldn't a band need to have more than three songs. One more thing I liked about this show is that it doesn't idealize teens - they are spiteful, promiscuous, drinkers, they swear (there is a lot of English curses)... There are some usual shounen characters like a bully or spoiled rich kid that compete with main characters, but there's more than that, also.

"Beck" has a very slow start - for first two episodes you have no idea what is happening. Plot goes very slowly, but the show has a really great build-up of characters. Most focus is put on Koyuki, and his relationships with other characters, but Ryussuke also gets his almost individual sub-plot. I noticed that plot sometimes get a bit rough - maybe they had to skip some elements from manga to fit it into 26-episodes anime. Curiously, anime incorporates lots of characters from out of Japan, but not in a way of the usual transfer-student. There is a lot of humor here, including some slapstick, but most of it is light and intelligent.

What I don't understand is how a music-manga can be successful. It surely can: "Beck", "Nana", "Nodame Cantabile" are all great anime, and they wouldn't get an anime adaptation without being a popular manga first. I will really have to try to read one such manga. I am not really into music, and I don't stick with any particular genres or band/performers, and I can't discuss the musical side of the anime, but I found music fine and catchy. There is a lot references and influence by real-life rock bands and famous performers.

My favorite part of anime was the stop-and-go romance between Koyuki and Maho, Ryussuke's younger sisters. I am glad that anime didn't put too much focus on it and left it on us to imagine the result. Best part of anime for me was at the end when Koyuki enters the stage alone. This is a typical shounen ending - a miracle. But that is the reason why we watch shounen anime... After that, the last two episodes almost ruined this anime for me with degrading resolution, and I started wishing it ended immediately after festival, but the actual ending wrapped things very fine.

From visual side, "Beck" is not very inspiring. Especially after watching "Nekomonogatari", animation and colors are pretty drab. Characters mostly look ugly, even when they should be good-looking. On the other side, there is a lot of attention put to details, like clothes, posters, instruments... As I said, music is very good, and so was voice-acting.

I am very glad that I finally watched "Beck" and would recommend it to anybody who like real-life anime and don't require action in it (except in case they don't like music). Even though it is not perfect, "Beck" definitely deserves it high grades with its interesting story and great characters.

Anime review: "Nazo no Kanojo X"

I regularly (once a month or so) browse AniDB calendar to see prospective candidates for watching and add them to my wishlist. So when I need to pick some anime, I go to my wishlist, filter it to show only finished series and then choose one that looks the best. AniDB allows choosing a priority for watching, red, yellow and green, so I usually first add them as yellow and later upgrade or downgrade them depending on rates and reviews. Such was the case with "Nazo no Kanojo X" (or "Mysterious Girlfriend X"). I first added it, and them my interest started dropping when I saw the ugly front-cover picture and bad rates. But somehow reading the short reviews on its AniDB page persuaded me to give it a chance, since there wasn't any other series I was really interested in.

"Nazo no Kanojo X" starts... Well, both usually and strange. Main character is Tsubaki Akira, a normal second-year high-school boy. He is quite ordinary, without girlfriend, although he would like to have one. At the beginning of the second year, a new transfer student is introduced, Urabe Mikoto, and is placed on seat next to Tsubaki. He initially tries to be friendly to the new girl, but she turns out to be a strange and quiet loner, ignoring Tsubaki and literally everybody else in class, spending all free time sleeping at her seat. After the first shock, Tsubaki gets used to this and she just melts to the background of class. Until one day! Returning suddenly one day to the classroom, Tsubaki finds her sleeping later, and after waking her up, she notices a pool of drool left on her table. Tsubaki, being a horny teenage boy, disturbed by noticing how pretty actually Urabe is, decides to lick her drool. He feels shocked and ashamed by his behavior, but forgets about it soon. Next day he has a strange dream about her, and few days later he gets a fever and has to stay at home. He is surprised when Urabe visits him after school, uncovers his licking of her drool, and tells him that from now on he is addicted to her drool and that they now share a bond....

Well, this is not the strangest premise of romance anime I have ever heard. Just going through my list on AniDB ("Bakuman", "Itazura na Kiss", "Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou", "NHK ni Youkoso!"... And I will not even start with those based on dating-sims) reveals Japanese fondness of bizarre reasons for coupling two persons, but "Nazo no Kanojo X" definitely has one of the more nauseating - drool. But if you are not very squeamish, don't be thwarted by this seemingly disgusting premise, because "Nazo no Kanojo X" is one of better anime I have watched this year and is definitely underrated. Although this sounds like a recipe for ecchi anime, it is not: this is a seinen romantic comedy. There is some fan-service (panties shots, boing-boing), but nothing over the top; girls are sometimes shown naked, but their bodies are without features, only silhouettes. I just realized that this anime is very similar to "Nisemonogatari": even though there is a lot (and in "Nisemonogatari", a really lot) of sexual innuendo, this is not a primary point of this anime. If you are watching either of this anime for fan-service or arousal, you are completely missing their points. There is also a noticeable supernatural streak in here, although it is taken for granted. Any yes, the show justifies its name ("Mysterious Girlfriend"), because there is a lot to reveal yet about Urabe.

"Nazo no Kanojo" is definitely a seinen anime. Although there is a lot of blushing, nosebleeds, and drooling, as you could expect from anime romance comedy, it is the characters that make this a real seinen anime. By this I mean that they are not one-dimensional and perfect: they are bizarre, but they are also realistic. I know that this sounds like two opposites, but if you are a fan of anime, you know what I mean. For example, Harima from "School Rumble" if unrealistic idiot (I don't mean this derisive, he is one of my favorite character ever); Tsubaki on the other hand is quite realistic idiot. He is a naive/innocent/goffy like a teenage boy that he actually is. Urabe, who is on one side completely bizarre character, on the other hand is reasonable and multifaceted character, which is able to recognize the flaws in others and her, but she is also able to accept them as part of people. Tsubaki is the main character and we see the story mostly from his POV and hear his thoughts, but there is lots of Urabe POV's and inner observations. Both of them are strangely shy. Except them, there is only few other characters in series and they are the usual one-dimensional (but funny) anime characters.

Jokes in the anime are good, and they are not of laugh-out-loud type and more focus is put one romance than comedy. And of course, all is all mixed with this strange topic of sharing drool (and not by kissing).

At the beginning, I was almost put off be "old-school" design of characters, something that I connect with older anime like "Akira" or "Golden Boy", but I soon get used to it. "Nazo no Kanojo X" actually has a pretty good animation, design of characters and vivid colors, which is especially seen in Tsubaki's dreams, which are very imaginative and impressive. The show has pretty good sounds and background music. Two other things I appreciate: people wear different clothes and even though at first it looks like Tsubaki lives alone with his sister, it is later shown that this is not true. There are 13 episodes in series and there is an additional OVA, which is actually a regular episode. Manga is still on-going and I hope that there will be a second season some time in future.

In conclusion, "Nazo no Kanojo X" is definitely an underrated anime, but I can understand this because it belongs to not the most popular category and has an off-putting element. But if you are into more serious romance comedy (like "Lovely Complex" or "Bakemonogatari") and are not particularly nauseous, I would recommend not to skip this anime.

Manga review: "School Rumble"

After some two weeks of reading, I have finished with "School Rumble" manga. I have watched the anime adaptation several years ago - it was one of the first anime I watched, and I still consider it as one of my favorite anime. This actually applies for the first two seasons - third one was composed of two episodes and left a bad aftertaste. So I had some great expectations from this manga, but at the same time I was dreading it would leave prove my memories false and diminish my experience of "School Rumble".

I can't say that "School Rumble" has any real plot. It is a love-polygon slapstick comedy following member of one class during their second high-school year. Two main characters are Tsukamoto Tenma and Harima Kenji: Tenma is a childish, clueless and not so good looking girl, while Harima is notorious and one of the toughest delinquents around - and he is hopelessly in love in Tenma. But Tenma herself is in love with Karasuma, a strange and expressionless boy from their class. He lead us to the second level of main-characters, which include him, Suou (one of three Tenma's best friend, beautiful and popular), Sawachika (another of Tenma's best friends, half-Japanese, blonde and also beautiful), Takano (yet another of Tenma's best friends, capable and elegant), Hanai (class leader, all proper and strict, but altogether a good guy) and Yakumo (Tenma's younger sister, one of the most popular girls in school, shy and capable). I won't list more characters because I would need several pages to mention all few dozen of recurring characters...

Main topic of the first several volumes are Harima's efforts while he try to express his love to Tenmna, while Tenma tries the same to Karasuma. Later focus changes more to the Tenma's misunderstanding (and she is full of those) where she belives Harima in love with Suou, Sawachika, Yakumo, Itoko (their teacher but at the same time Harima's cousin), Tae (a girl Harima meet during one of his frequent giving ups of life). All, all this is crisscrossed with love-problems of other girls (which may or may not include Harima) and other characters, and with short gags. Structure of the manga is such that every now and then there is a longer arc which describe a typical event like trip to beach (where Sawachika will see Harima naked), school sport festival (where Sawachika and Harima will save the reputation of their class), school culture festival (where Harima will be found in bed with Yakumo) and so on....

As for characters, there is really bunch of them. Since this is a shounen slapstick comedy, one cannot expect any real depth and complexity of them, but you can expect much hilarity. They usually have few distinctive characteristics that are used to draw laughter: Imadori like breast and Dojibiron (something like Power Rangers); Hanai is proper but can be challenged to extreme actions; Tougo is all extreme, Sawachika is a typical rich Princess, but has a surprising gentle side, and so on.

Appeal of "School Rumble" is coming from play between rooting that a guy finally gets a girl and rooting against him because you know that it's funny and if he ever catches it, then everything is over. The trick is in doing this but keep the originality and not irritating the reader - and it can't be said that "School Rumble" always succeeds in this. There are irritating parts (for me, most of the Tenma-Karasuma thing was irritating), but I liked most of it. I didn't like "trip to England" arc and found it really not funny. Also, I kept hoping for a different ending - I would be more satisfied if mange ended one or few chapters earlier. There are lots of slapstick jokes, misunderstandings, puns - I would usually snort at least once during the better chapters. And Harima can always cause an outright laugh ("Miko-chan...").

The art in manga is not really impressive, and the color covers were especially poor. But for such manga where its strength is in gags and dialog this is not so important. Dialog is often nonsensical and plot inconsistent, but they are hilarious. I had few occasions that I really couldn't follow the plot, like there were pages missing, but they are not often. Also, I noticed few differences from anime: like missing the explanation why Harima is in love with Tenma, although there is one in anime.

I really liked "School Rumble" mange and had a very good time with it. But all in all, I wouldn't recommend it - I would recommend the anime adaptation, and only first two seasons ("School Rumble" and "School Rumble: Nii Gakki"). Anime perfectly filters only the best parts of mange (the most it), it has a better art and it gives characters voices. But if you have watched anime and now are wondering what mange is like - it is good.

Anime review: "The Flower We Saw That Day"

Sometime around last weekend I finished watching "The Flower We Saw That Day" (or "Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai"). I really don't know how I missed noticing this anime before, nor do I really remember how I found it - I am usually more organized about this things. Before watching, I had a vague impression of being something similar to "Hachimitsu to Clover".

So, "The Flower We Saw That Day" is a story about a formal group of friends, told mainly from the story of Yadomi Jinta (or Jintan for friends). When they were little, Jintan, Anaru, Jukiatsu, Tsuruko, Poppo and Menma were best friends, a group called "Super Peace Busters". But after an accident where Menma lost her life made the group grow apart. But life got even worse for Jintan: soon after he lost her mother due to illness, which turned him into hikikomori, not going to school and rarely leaving his house. But one hot day of summer, looking as she would look if she was alive, Menma appears in his house visible only to him, and asks him to fulfill her wish. A wish that will need him to reform the former group - which will not prove easy...


In basis, this anime is a melodramatic story about group of young people, mixed with daily life and romance categories. So yes, it is pretty much similar to "Hachimitsu to Clover", probably the top-most reference in such type of anime. I was hooked up from the first episode, which is very dynamic and strange at first. One difference is that it is a bit more focused on male audience - or maybe it would be better to say that it is less focused on women audience - making this a seinen anime. The second difference is much more important - it involves super-natural element, character of Menma. Anime plays pretty well with this concept - is it really Menma's ghost that only Jintan can see, or is it just his stress, as he tends to believe. I really like this this game, so I was very disappointed when they revealed the truth around the middle of the show. There is a lot of drama and revelations, which are mostly not easily predictable.


Anime jumps regularly between the present and the past, a time of childhood of "Super Peace Busters". All characters are pretty well developed, the main six and few supportive. I really like when they invest in making characters wear different sets of clothes!! Also, it is obvious that they have a life out of scope of plot - they have part-time jobs, hobbies...  


Animation is pretty good and detailed, and I once again compliment of design of characters, and especially their clothes. Voices were also good, but I can't say I remembered much of OP and ED songs. There are 11 episodes, which is perfect - they would probably become over-dramatic if they stretched it to more episodes. This way episodes stay very intense. Also, ending is left somewhat undecided, which makes you wish for another episode telling what happened after - but I don't think there is a room for sequel.


"The Flower We Saw That Day" is an anime for the fans of "Hachimitsu to Clover" or for those who liked "Clannad" or "Ef - a Tale of Memories" and now want something more serious. It has a nice plot, interesting and deep characters, a bit of supernatural and tragedy. It is not the best in genre, but I don't think it will disappoint anybody who is a fan of such anime - at the contrary!

Anime review: "Bakuman", second season

So, quite fast after fighting against and then succumbing to the first season, I watched the second season of "Bakuman". The good news is that third season (last one, I think) is following this fall. I am looking forward to it. Only thing I can object about it is that is was so good that I watched 20 episodes in one day (Sunday), which resulted in 4 hours of sleep that night and a very sleepy morning at work next day.

As I wrote in my review of the first season, "Bakuman" is a shounen anime flirting with seinen. This is even more notable than in first season. Mashiro "Saiko" Moritaka and Takagi Akito continue struggling to fulfill their dream of becoming the first-rate manga-ka for Shounen Jack, so Saiko can marry Miho (whom he had seen one or twice since their middle school). I know: a typical senseless shounen plot. But for some reason, it works great. In this season even their relationship become a bit more realistic (but still a far away from normal).

In the first season the duo succeeded in getting a serialization of their manga. This made their goal seem quite reachable, but it also brought one shortfall - instead their genius editor Hattori, they are now transferred to a junior editor Miura. Will the new editor be show good enough to support them? And more important, will they first manga prove to be enough to get an anime adaptation?

This biggest plot starts at the beginning, and is resolved toward the end, but there are few side-roads taken around the middle. This is a good thing, because this side plots are used to evolve the characters (I almost used the word setting, but this is a character-centered anime, setting is irrelevant), the new one and the old one. Cast is widened so much that it would be a trouble to remember everybody, if they were not so unique and unforgettable. I didn't expect such evolution of what I thought to be side-characters - there is much character development in this anime. Characters are also more mature. I think that focus of this season is removed from creation of manga toward relationship between them, although manga stay the center that everything revolves. All in all, I think that this season was composed nicely - nice pace, not too slow, but neither too fast; and always interesting.

I read some comments that anime adaptation rushes through the manga, which means that there is probably more material there. This series is completed, so I would like to read the manga original, although after the fiasco with "Black Lagoon", I am somewhat weary. I will keep this one on mind, but not for the close future. Anyway, this season takes around three or four years (in anime time)!

The humor is simply great. There are lots of gags, and it kept me smiling most of the time. But the funniest character of the series so far was Hiaimaru. And to believe that he was introduced so sinister in the first season... I think that I laughed in every scene featuring him. Otters...

There is not much to say about audio or visual side - they are mostly mediocre. I wanted to said that unique design of characters follows more from authors' (Obha Tsugumi  and Obata Takeshi) weak skill that from intention. But I then checked Wikipedia and saw that they are responsible for "Death Note", which was drawn much better, so maybe I am wrong. There are 25 episodes, again.

For conclusion, I think that it is enough to say that second season of "Bakuman" is even better than the first. A nice catch for those who like slice-of-life or comedy anime. Special recommendation for the fans of "Genshiken".

TV show review: "The Pillars of the Earth"

I started watching this series with my girlfriend sometime in December, after we finished watching "Game of Thrones". I heard few people talking about it (it was also going on TV around that time) and then remembered reading about the book somewhere, so I thought it will be a good watch.

"The Pillars of the Earth" is an 8-episode historical TV-show with a story set in 12th century England. As it covers a period of couple of decades there is a lot of going around. On highest scale we follow the war between cousins, after King Stephen takes the throne from rightful Queen Maude. But the focus is put on a town of Kingsbridge and its residents: Prior Phillip, an ambitious but extremely pious and moral man; Tom Builder, a master builder whose dream is to build a cathedral; his son Alfred and talented foster-son Jack. Their plans to build a cathedral in Kingsbridge will be a thorn in the eye for corrupted Bishop Waleran and wicked family Hamleigh, which stole the neighboring Shiring Castle from its rightful owners, young Aliena and Richard. In the background of all this events is the story of Jack Shareburg, a mysterious man who was killed for witnessing a sinking of the White Ship which carried England's original Crown-Prince.

Plot is not bad as it is, but it is pretty much predictable and full of tropes. I presume that it worked much better in the book where it could be developed in more details, but here, more experienced viewers will able to guess immediate events without much trouble. But if you like history you will probably find it interesting. It is gritty and violent, with lots of fights and scheming.

Characters are much better, although they also suffer from the same problem - they had to be simplified to fit the frame of the show. But they are complex enough and should be able to pique your interest. This is especially true for Bishop Waleran and Prior Phillip, who are probably two most complex characters in the series. The Hamleighs will also be able to provide you with some shock. Most of the "good" characters behave as you would expect from them, but the "bad" ones will be there to make things interesting.

The production of this series is a minus for it. Much, much weaker than "Game of Thrones" (comparing these two is maybe unfair from me, but I have watched them one after another). Locations and people are quite limited. Mass battles are anything but. The cast is pretty good and well known, though. No one is a big star, of course, but even I was able to recognize a lot of faces, if not names.

Taking all this in consideration, "The Pillars of the Earth" is nice enough historical series, although I would not recommend it to anybody. This is a series for lazy Sundays, if you don't have anything better to watch.

Anime review: "Bakuman"

Today I finished watching "Bakuman". Most of the time I give myself a few days of rest before posting a review, but since I am still on vacation and have some free time on my hands, I decided to do it today.

"Bakuman" has been on my wish-list for some time now, based on its high marks, but only on moderate importance. I was feeling a kind of dread whenever I thought about watching it - just look at that image! Especially on the upper-left corner! Include to this words like "middle-school", "marriage", "becoming a mangaka" - how could this be a good anime? Well, it turned out that I was pretty much wrong and this is a great anime!

Mashiro Moritaka is a typical middle-school kid, moderately good student, but without any particular dream or purpose. One day he loses a notebook where has was secretly making drawings of Azuki Miho, a girl who he likes. After coming to school to retrieve it he is confronted by another kid from his class, Takagi Akito, who has found his notebook. On the basis of drawings from there, Takagi tries to force Mashiro to become his partner in drawing manga. Since Mashiro has some bad experience regarding manga (his uncle was an unsuccessful one and died from overexertion), he initially declines. But Takagi tries again, this time in front of Miho (who incidentally, aspires to become a voice-actor), and this time Mashiro accepts - but even more surprising, Mashiro proposes to Miho. Even more surprising, Miho accepts - to become married after they realize they dreams and she plays a role in anime made after his manga.

This anime combines some realistic approach and themes with ridiculous stuff typical for shounen anime - but in perfect combination. For example, the plot: basically, this is a show about two kids who aspire to become mangaka. I obviously can't know what really happens on a road to becoming one, and I presume there is much more than showed in here, but everything that was presented sounded logical and realistic. Our protagonists have troubles in coordinating school, working on manga and private lives; they have to fight prejudice for being too young for this enterprise; they have to deliver their mangas to editors, have to discuss it and remade it; these editors have their bosses to respond to, have to take care of things like pools, formats and schedules; and myriad other small things that make this (in my humble opinion) a realistic representation of young manga authors' life. On the other side, we have a such plot elements that can be found only in shounen anime: the reason why all this is happening is because a 15 year old kid wants to marry when he is 18 (!!); they have friendly rivals who will give everything they have to become mangaka; there is even a genius high-school mangaka who draws them like a machine... But even with all this simplifications and jokes, this anime's first and foremost subject is about what it takes to become a mangaka.

Characters are great, simply said. Mashiro and Takagi are obviously mostly developed, but most of other got a pretty good realization. Mashiro gets a bit more coverage, especially his inner thoughts, than Takagi, which is little unfair because they are both equally good characters. On the other hand, Takagi has an actual girlfriend, Miyoshi (Miho's best friend) - very normal and realistic relationship for a shounen anime. Mahsiro's and Miho's relationship is anything but normal and realistic - they exchange maybe three sentences in whole season - but this IS a shounen anime so there is no room for complaining - actually they move toward normal at the end. Niizuma Eiji (guy from the upper left part of the picture) is the before mentioned "high-school genius", but he is also very good characters - he grows, realizes mistakes, accept advice and so on. Hattori is another character that fooled me - considering his design I thought he will be one-shot character - is another good and fully-realized character - a grown-up editor in manga-magazine. There is another 10-15 named characters. Interesting and laudable is the fact that some characters come and go - for example Iwase has some importance in first part of the show when they are still in middle-school, but disappears later when they enter high-school.

All characters do a lot of growing up: they learn from their mistake, don't always act rashly, and think about past and future. This is to be expected, since show takes almost two years of their time. Another their property worth mentioning is that they are not frustrating, which is often occurring, especially in shounen romance anime.

Jokes are pretty good and I chuckled at loud at least once in every episode. Kudos for jokes where they make fun of themselves ("Doesn't anyone have a fiancée?")! Also there are lots of references to real-life manga and anime: "Dragon Ball", "Naruto", "Bleach", "One Piece"... Actually, a magazine where they are submitting their works is called "Weekly Shounen Jack", which is an obvious reference to "Weekly Shounen Jump".

One thing that got me confused was Miho's anime. If she works only as voice-actor, why does the character she gives voice to looks like her? I can't get it whether this is a mistake or only simplification...

From technical side, anime has 25 episodes, all original, no fillers or recaps. Animation and design is good, but nothing over-the-top. Characters wear different clothes (although restricted number of sets) - I always notice this and find it laudable where it is so. Music I didn't like much, but voice-acting was very good. I especially liked Takagi's voice (done by Hino Satoshi).

I am happy to say that "Bakuman" was a very pleasant surprise. It doesn't belong to the best anime ever, but it is very good and especially enjoyable. Recommendation too all, except to those who watch exclusively action anime. I just hope that next two seasons will be good as this one.

Movie review: "No Strings Attached"

Yesterday my girlfriend and I watched "No Strings Attached", a romantic comedy with Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman. We try to avoid sleazy teen comedies, so we pick only those with stars included. My friends, on the other hand, when they watch such movies (which is not often), don't use this "method of filtering", so results often vary much.

So, Ashton Kutchers play Adam, a young man, some kind of movie assistant, easygoing, cheerful and sensitive. Natalie Portman is Emma, a medical student with tight schedule and no liking for relationships. They have met briefly several times in past, always feeling something but never doing anything. Until one night when Adam gets drunk and accidentally ends sleeping in Emma's apartment. Since then they will start a purely sexual relationship, with rules made by Emma that will keep things simple. Of course, at first things go smoothly, but slowly Adam will find that he has more feelings for Emma. Emma, on the other hand, has fear of relationships, but she will also realize that she is not completely immune to Adam's care and happiness. But how long will he be able to fight against her fears...

Not to drag this, this is a typical romantic comedy. Introduction, happy part, sad part, happy ending, all crisscrossed with humor. I like this concept, and shorter the sad part, happier me. It has a nice kind of humor, based a lot on sexual jokes, but nothing crass and no nudity - a kind of humor you would expect from big stars that also act in serious films (well, this is true more for Portman than for Kutcher). It has weird, but funny friends, and even a bad guy. Acting is solid and movie actually gets more serious than I expected based on the beginning.

So, in short, "No Strings Attached" is a nice romantic comedy which will not disappoint if this is what you expect and want. A good evening watch that doesn't ask much of you.

Anime review: "Kimi ni Todoke" 2nd season

Huh, I finished watching second season of "Kimi ni Todoke" before almost ten days now, but last week was quite hectic for me, so I didn't find time to write about. And things are already fading from my mind... Good things that I made some notes.

"Kimi ni Todoke" was one of my favorite anime of last year. It is shojo romance anime with many comedy elements, dealing with Kuronuma Sawako, nicknamed Sadako ("The Ring"), strange, but strong girl, whose shyness and quirkiness get her estranged from people. In first season she wins over some of her problems, getting several good friends. But focus of the series was on her relationship to Kazehaya, a boy from her class. Interesting was that she only regarded him as a friend at first, never realizing that they could be something more.

In this season, things continue directly after the first one. There is even episode zero that recaps a bit of events, so you won't have problems with remembering facts. Different from last season, biggest focus is put on Kuronuma-Kazehaya relationship and this is at the same time the biggest strong-point and biggest weakness of anime. Because, at least in first half, Kuronuma loses her voice every time she is near Kazehaya. Which means we have very slow (especially first two) episodes, full of long scenes where nothing happens. On the other hand, we have Kuronumas inner thoughts revealed in these scenes, so they are not boring. Just very infuriating, because you start to wish that she finally speaks something. Basically, things got reset back to starting point between them. Fortunately, events become much more interesting and faster pacing in later episodes. It got all elements of high-school anime, but they are all present nicely.

Characters are the same as in first anime, with exception of Kent, who is here to provide a counter to Kazehaya. Well, there is Kent's friend, but he only has few lines. As I said, most focus is put on Kurnouma and Kazeaya. I would wish that there were more parts with the rest of cast, because they were very interesting in first season. Here we have only one or two short scenes featuring Yoshida, while the private lives of the rest of the cast is ignored, which is a pity. Nevertheless, they are well features in show. Pin was especially good as comedy relief.

Visuals are good, although I think a bit weaker than in first season. I can't say anything good or bad about audio.

From one side, this season provides an almost definite ending. Things can always be continued, but they are concluded as it is by this ending. On the other hand, I see that manga is still ongoing. If they continue with adaptations to anime, I hope they will put more focus on side-characters.

Second season of "Kimi ni Todoke" is definitely weaker than first one, but it is still a very good watch. If you liked the first one, you will like the second one and will not be disappointed.

Anime review: "Ayakashi - Japanese Classic Horror"

I stumbled across this anime few times before, but first time I seriously considered watching it was after watching "Mononoke". AniDB article about it claimed it shared one of the characters. It is relatively short (11 episodes), so I watched it last week, between "Daggerspell" and "Stonewielder" (post about it will be next).

"Ayakashi - Japanese Classic Horror" is 2006 anime adapting three Japanese classic horror stories. The three are completely different in setting and style, even in animation, so I will describe each of them separately.

"Yotsuya Ghost Story" is based on "Yotsuya Kaidan", Japanese most famous ghost story (at least according to Wikipedia). It is a tragical story about Iemon and Oiwa. Iemon is a ronin who wants to marry Oiwa, despite opposition from her father. He slays him and then uses his death as a mortar for his marriage, claiming he will help Oiwa as a husband to revenge her father. Everything is well for some time, but slowly Iemon's true face starts to show. He finally abandons Oiwa for richer and younger woman, who poisons Oiwa. This is the start of tragedy where everyone connected to two of them will end dead. Iemon refuses to admit any guilt and slowly sinks into madness, seeing Oiwa everywhere. There is also a parallel tragic story, about Osuda and Yomoschichi, which is interwoven with the first plot.

Story is interesting but not especially original. Probably you even saw it or parts of it, since it was adapted and partly used numerous times. It is not really scary also. Animation is decent, although looking older than 2006. Most interesting details it the way it is represented: story is narrated by the "original" author of the story, who claims he was inspired by Oiwa's ghost to write it. He also claims that the story is cursed and everybody who takes part in screening, acting or writing it ends dead.

"The Legend of Tenshu" is completely different kind of story. It is a love story between Himekawa Zusho-no-Suke, a young falconer, and Tomi-Hime, ruler of Forgoten Gods, kind of powerful and scary demons that feed with human flesh. This a complete mini-anime and I am wondering why is haven't been expanded to full-sized anime. It even has comedy-relief characters. Story is interesting and tense; there is action, comedy, romance... Again, animation is a bit weak, and design of characters could have been more original. But story is definitely good.

Last, "Bakeneko" is a star of this collection. It features the medicine-seller from "Mononoke" in one more exorcism adventure. Or better to say, this is the original story, that was later extended to whole series. It has original animation, original characters and great story. I loved it. This was only really scary story; not in visuals, but in setting and style. For those who didn't watch "Mononoke"; don't be put off by seemingly archaic animation. Definitely a recommendation!

My next post will be about "Stonewielder" by Ian C. Esslemont.

Movie review: Killers

Yesterday evening I watched a movie "Killers" with my girlfriend. From a quick watch at IMDB, I expected a simple and easy-watching romantic comedy, which I exactly what I got. I was even positively surprised with the level of jokes and overall feeling of the movie.

About the plot: Spencer (Ashton Kutcher) is professional hitman, working for the CIA, while Jen (Katherine Heigl) is young women recently dumped by her fiancée. They met in Nica: he performing his mission and she on a recovery trip with her parents (father is played by Tom Selleck). Spencer is already questioning his line of work, and when he meets Jen, he decides to quit (against the wishes of his boss!). Three years later, they are happily married and fighting petty problems, when their lives are interrupted by Spencer's past. And then starts the action....

First part of the movie (the introduction, courting, the wedding) is done really fast and smooth. I expected poor jokes about Spencer's occupation interfering with start of their relationship. Instead, we fly trough this start and stop when they are already settled and having no problems. Main part of the movie is when Spencer's past start creeping in his life, and then in hers, too. This part is mostly action (three martial-arts scenes, car chase, etc.), interrupted with their verbal fights (the funny part). As I said, I liked the jokes; they were not sleazy or childish.

Biggest objection I have is the end. It is low below the rest of the movie. I guessed who the bad guy is some time before the end, but I couldn't believe it because it was too naive and unbelievable. Even so, if they really wanted to it that way, they could do it better. Though I admit, there were some nice jokes at the end. I believe the movie could have been much better if it was just a little longer.

Just a remark: there were two surprisingly violent (graphically) and bloody scenes, which is not common in comedies of this type. But I consider this a plus!

In a few words, a movie you will forget two days after watching it, with no memorable scenes or jokes, but a nice way to spent hour and half of your life. I'm not sorry in any way for watching it.

Anime review: "The Tatami Galaxy"

"Tatami Galaxy" is one of this spring anime that I planned to watch for months now. There are few more, but most of them were 12 or 13 episode anime, and this one has 11 episodes, so it was first to finish. Therefore, it was first from to list to be watched. This will be a bountiful year, since I saw many good spring and summer anime announced on AnimeNewsNetwork.

Reason I put it on my wish list in first place was because it was announced as "seinen", "school life" and "college" anime. Also, somewhere I found that it has some connection with "Baccano!" (I just can't remember what it was: authors, studio or something like that). So I expected something like "Genshiken" with a touch of humor from "Baccano!". I was wrong, but I'm not sorry for it.

Main protagonist is a third year student whose name we never learn. In first episode talks about how he was naive and idealistic and expected to have a "rose-colored life" on campus, surrounded with friends and "raven-haired maidens". For that reason, he joined the tennis club, but unfortunately learned that he has no talent whatsoever. For that, he will get involved with Ozu, evil-looking prankster, and two of them will become known as "black Cupids", ruining other people's relationships, never admitting they can love also. But in the end, he will realize he is in love with Akashi, his year-younger female fellow student. Unfortunately, he will fail to gather the courage to approach her and end angry at himself and blaming Ozu as root of all his troubles.

This is just the first episode. Next one will be told with same characters and in the same time, but main character will join the movie club instead of tennis. And his efforts will end with similar results. Next time it will be cycling club. And so on... In every episode he will try to reach his dreams of "rose-colored campus life" and always spectacularly fail.

Somewhere around fifth episode, I thought that whole anime will be a constant stream of unconnected episodes with same theme, but different context. And I was wrong again. Every episode IS connected and they all help to create a complete picture, which is necessary to understand the last episode. And the last episode is one really great ending. It's amazing how all pieces fall in their place.

I am intentionally not talking about the characters. Except unnamed student, Ozu and Akashi, there are maybe five more important characters. Talking about them would be considered as spoilers. Every episode reveals a bit more about them. Even though sometimes information seems in conflict, last episode give them full meaning.

Jokes are usually very funny. I was more reminded of "Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei" than of "Baccano!". Only objection I have is that the protagonist sometimes talk too fast and I couldn't read all the subtitles (and I read fast). There are lots of details that you will be reward noticing for (for example, price of fortunetelling).

It is interesting how the main character always blame Ozu for his problems, without realizing that everything was his fault and Ozu just gave him the means to the ends. And Ozu is quite an imaginative prankster. They really made a bulls-eye with his look and voice.

From visual side, it looks very nice. Character design varies from super-deformed to realistic. Backgrounds and objects are done (intentionally) better than the people. Colors are very vivid, which means the most to me - I hate "Tom and Jerry"-like colors. I remember that OP and ED are very good, but I really can't say anything about SFX. Voices were nice, though. Oh yes, there was a nice song in anime, in fourth episode I think.

This is very funny anime, but with great and didactic message in the end. Definitely a good watch for fans of seinen anime and intelligent comedies.

Movie reviews: "The Proposal", "Top Secret", "The Bannen Way", "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"

In last week I watched four movies. Since I didn't find time to write posts about them (feeling lazy) I decided to put all four of them in one post. Movies (except last, of course) are not really new, but I watched them for first time. So, in the order of watching...

"The Proposal" is 2009 movie, a romantic comedy, starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. I don't like Sandra Bullock and her movies, but a friend told me that this movie was a very fun watch (and he doesn't like romantic comedies and Sandra Bullock), so I decided to give it a go and watch it with my girlfriend. Plus, I like Ryan Reynolds movies.

In the movie, Bullock is a book editor and Reynolds her assistant. She is a heartless and results-only-matter boss, hated by all her stuff, while he is nice and hard-working, trying to make a name for himself in the business. After she finds out that she will be deported (she's a Canadian), she blackmails him into marrying her so that she can stay in the country. To prove that they are true in their intentions, they travel to Alaska, to his parent house, to announce their marriage. Then the fun starts....

Movie is pretty good. It has nice jokes, the kind of that doesn't make you feel stupid watching them and laughing. It also has a serious under-theme, expressed especially toward the end. Both actors are good in their roles and their characters don't feel like caricatures. It's not an impressive movie, but definitely a nice watch, especially for couples, because both can enjoy.

"Top Secret" is a 1984 (so, old as me) parody that I watched accidentally. I just got into friend's house when they were beginning to watch it. For first 10 minutes, I was thinking in myself "Why are we watching this?!?!", but after that, it turned out to be one of the funniest movies I watched in years.

Protagonist is Nick Rivers, played by Val Kilmer (his first leading role, according to IMDB), an arrogant and confident rock-star, traveling to East Germany to perform rock there for the first time. He will get involved in some crazy plot including Nazi's, Russians, French Resistance, captured scientist and so on...

Plot doesn't matter really; jokes are what this film is about. If you like old slapstick comedies and Mel Brooks' films, you will like this movies. Jokes will feel familiar, since they were copied many times in years, but nevertheless... I didn't believe how a boots-wearing cow can be hilarious for several minutes! Best to watch with group of friends in good mood.

And "The Bannen Way" is worst movie I watched since "Shoot 'em up". It is enough to say that one of the writers is also a leading actor. The main character, Neal Bannen is a con-artist, in his thirties (maybe even older), starting to bold, with absolutely none of the qualities that make a good con (he is not really good with words, he's not good looking, not very smart, determined, skillful, lucky or anything). Nevertheless, he manages with every heist he tries...

Somewhere in the beginning of the movie, he enters some office with intention to impersonate somebody else. After two smiles and three words, he manages to get the secretary to let him into locked and secured office and have a "wild passionate sex" with her, in the same time making some transfer of money, we stopped really  watching. Two people (out of five) actually went home. And we that stayed involved in meaningless discussion about it the main female actor Eva Longoria (she's not) and what unbelievable scene will come next. In short, don't watch!

Last, "Eclipse" I watched in the movies, with my girlfriend. She's a fan of series, so I didn't have a choice of not going (joking). Next, the trailer announced a much darker and action-oriented film than first two. Plus, it featured the Volturis, a vampire family that was the first thing that looked like something of a background history...

So, for you who watched first two movies (rest of you try watching first part and see if you will continue), plot is next (in very short): Victoria is back once more; someone is making a vampire-army; Jacob is determined to take Bella from Edward. For me, plot was secondary in this movie. What I liked the most were characterization (especially Jasper) and bits of history that finally try to make something of a coherent world.

Unfortunately, I think that will not be enough for most people. Fans who watched first parts for all the angst and emotional tension will find the action orientation of this movie as off-putting. For non-fans, the movie is far from impressing: bad acting (but better that before), predictable plot and many things to sneer at. I think that people like me will like "Eclipse" most: people who like vampire themes and world-building, grateful for small gems of imagined histories.

An anime review: Paradise Kiss

One of short anime I watched during the vacation was "Paradise Kiss". I found it few months ago, by searching josei anime with good ratings on AniDB. I didn't have some special wish for watching it because I was a bit put off by bland-looking picture on its profile. But, because of its rating and shortness, I gave it a chance. In the end, I wasn't disappointed.

Series follows Hayasaka Yukari, a high-school girl soon to graduate, as she encounters and befriends (or better to say, gets befriended by) a group of fashion high-school designers. Yukari is nice and intelligent girl, but feeling a bit lost in her life. For as long as she can remember, she obediently followed her mother's wish to succeed in school. When she meets the group, named ParadiseKiss, she realizes that she doesn't actually know what she wants and decides to find herself.

Her connection with ParadiseKiss starts when they ask her to be their model for annual fashion competition at their school, because of her height and beauty. At first, she doesn't believe herself to be good enough, and think of them as time-wasting truants. But, she changes her opinion of them as she sees the passion and effort they invest in their clothes. All this help her to understand herself better, making her to leave school and try to make a living as a professional model. In only 12 episodes she will encounter various troubles, in professional and emotional view.

ParadiseKiss group consist of four people. Koizumi Jouji, nicknamed George, is a person I would probably hate in real life (joking). He is a genius designer, rich and good looking, independent and cocky; he is the center and main force of the group. As show goes on, I realized that I actual like George and after watching whole series, think of him as a protagonist, even though events are focused on Yukari. He has much depth as a character and he is very aware of himself. It is displayed how he is ready to sacrifice much for his real passion, design. Although he is sometimes cruel and insensitive, her cares for people and helps them to realize themselves, even though at times it looks like he is just a prick.

Miwako and Arashi are the couple of the group. Arashi is pierced and plays a guitar in band; he looks scary, but he is actually very emotive and caring. Miwako is cute and looks younger than she really is, which is amplified by her dressing style, which consists mostly of pink and lace. Isabella (just a nickname) is tall and tacit, but also very passionate. Some people will be surprised with a "revelation" about her somewhere toward the end of series. I say "revelation", but it is actually revealed in first or second episode, you just have to be open-minded to see it. Except these main five characters, there is also a big cast of supportive characters, each with their own life and history and each nicely done.

At first show reminded me much of "Nana". Just that instead of music it deals with clothes. If show wasn't finished, I would like it much less that now. And it has a definite end! If it lasted 24 or more episodes, I would judge it just a mediocre. Compared to "Nana" or "Lovely Complex" or even "Hachimitsu to Clover", it is much less intense. Main character have their own problems, which each of one can understand, but in long run are not very interesting to watch. But, as series has only 12 episodes, it works very well. You don't get irritated by character stupid choices or unending stream of bad luck. This way, they all get presented well, but they don't have time to become boring.

Ending was the greatest part of anime for me. As I said, it is definitive. It invokes feelings but you are not disappointed that is ended. Even though it's not a typical happy end, it makes you happy for the characters.

I saw on AniDB and Wikipedia, that this is a semi-sequel of one other similar show: "Gokinjo Monigatari". But I don't plan to watch it, since it's long and old (1995/1996).

From technical side, all good. Animation is OK; nothing spectacular, but nothing poor either. It does its job. Music is much better; OP and ED are great. Can't say anything about SFX during the episodes, but voices were good.

For conclusion: "Paradise Kiss" is not one of the greatest anime I watched, but one of the best josei. Only 12 episodes, it's a great choice for those who like romance anime, and a must for those who watch josei.

Eden of the East: The King of Eden - anime review

I have watched first movie in the "Eden of the East" series. It picks the story some six months after the anime.

Again, it is a strange, but captivating mix of secret-societies, high-tech thriller and cute romance comedy. This time story focuses mostly on Saki and not on Takizawa, who is mostly a goal here. Also, it brings other "Selcao" to the forth.

Unfortunately, things don't work in form of a movie. This is actually a three or four anime episodes glued together in one 82 minutes film. It would have been much better to make all episodes and then screen it normally.

This is a must for all who liked the original series, but be prepared to be angry at producers after watching it. As for the rest of you, definitely watch the original!

As of my next project, I plan to read "Shigurui" manga.

Kimi ni Todoke - anime review

Welcome to the review of a new addition to the list of my favorite anime. As series was closing to finale, so was my fear that there will be no more sequels growing. Now I'm relieved, since nothing has resolved in the last episode. To be doubly sure, I checked Wikipedia and found that manga is still ongoing! I don't know how many volumes did the anime adaption covered, but at least I know that somewhere in the future a new season of this great anime is awaiting me.

 (source: AniDB)

First to state, this is a shoujo anime. This covers a lot of series, from heart-tearing drama like "Clannad" to slapstick comedy like "Ouran Koukou Host Club". Specifically, this is a romantic comedy shoujo anime, but with just a right ratio of romance and comedy. I would best compare it to "Lovely Complex", which has the same captivating combination. I've seen people compare it to "Kare Kano", but I didn't like that anime (irritating characters and worse quality), so I will not join them.

Main character is Kuronuma Sawako, a very (really, VERY) shy girl, who unfortunately reminds to Sadako (from horror movie "Ring"). She is also very good and considerate, so she doesn't mind to sacrifice her comfort for happiness of other people. This leaves her alone, with no friends, somewhere at the beginning of her first year in high school. Kazehaya Shouta is her opposite: very lively boy, always smiling and ready to help, adored by classmates of both sexes, constantly surrounded by friends. When he takes interest in Sawako, her life is about to change.

Let's not pretend naive: it is obviously that they will end up together. Already in first few episodes, it's indicated that they both have feelings for each other. Just to show how much Sawako is shy: she realizes that feelings she have for Kazehaya are actually romantic somewhere around half of the series. For Sawako, who never had friends, step from realizing that she likes someone in romantic way to actually doing something about it is a very long one. And Kazehaya, for all his friendliness, doesn't have much more experience in this field, so I think we can look forward to at least one more season before they end together.

This is a common story, used in many animes. But, what differentiates this anime from others with similar premise is that, not once during watching it, I haven't thought "IDIOTS! Why are you doing this?!?!". In most anime, you just know that when it comes to the critical scene, main characters will say or do just the most completely wrong thing he or she can. This doesn't happen here. Sawako, for all her shyness, is actually very brave and stubborn. For example, when in the beginning, she and Kazehaya are mistaken for a couple (because they were seen talking), she actually stands in front of her class and denies it, because she believes that is a right thing to do and that further misunderstanding would inconvenience Kazehaya.

Supporting cast is small, but very good: they are all real people, with their own lives. Ryu (silent and sleepy) is Kazehaya's friend, while Chizuru (a tomboy) and Ayane (a stylish girl dating an older guy) are Sawako's first ever friends. Of other character, I can mention Pin (yount teacher with planet-size ego) and Kurumi (girl version of Kazehaya). Except Pin (who is more of a comedy relief), none of this character is stereotypical. For example, Chizuru is interested in sports and winning and has a history of violence, but on the other hand, she is easily moved, ready to defend her friends and actually harbors a secret love.

From visual side: nothing to complain, but nothing to be impressed about. There are lots of chibi and super-deformed scenes, but I found them quite funny. From sound department, the same; except, I liked the voices. They are very appropriate and skillfully done. There are 25 episodes, one of which (16th) is a recap episode. Unfortunately, I didn't found any news about when the next season is planned.

Best recommendation that I can give to this anime is that whole time during watching it I kept smiling and laughing. This is a must for fans of romantic comedies, and a good watch for everybody else (except if you think that shoujo anime are only for little girls). For now, it is right next to "Lovely Complex" as my favorite romantic comedy, with potential to greatly overcome it (depending on the way in which is continued).

I already started reading "Shadow and Betrayal" by Daniel Abraham, so my next post is in due for week or probably two, depending on my free time.