Student Review Contest #12

[C0MPL3X]

I didn't come up with any great and original theme like my username (contest no.6), but we are in spring, mr and miss AA seems popular, so to go with the flow this week's theme is,

COUPLE

Theme Requirement: You must review an anime where the relationship between a couple (preferably male and female) is if not the focus then at least an important element.

I don't think you're going to have trouble finding animes to review for this one. Animes like Maison Ikkoku is of course allowed because the focus of the story in my opinion, is between Kyoko and Godai. Animes like BECK are also allowed because although BECK is about music at core imo, relationship between Koyuki and Maho is at least important. I didn't feel like turning the contest into romance genre.


Rules:

1. One entry per person.
2. Only completed anime can be reviewed.
3. Reviews that are posted after the two week deadline will be disqualified.
4. Entries are final. Once a review is posted no more editing is allowed, regardless of whether it is still before the deadline.
5. The winner chooses the next theme and hosts the next contest.
6. Reviews must include at least a title, review, summary and grade.
7. The review and summary must be written by you.
8. No entering a review that has previously been entered in an Anime Academy Student Review Contest.
9. Fully clarify your theme. Do not be vague or over restrictive.

Guidelines
1. While it is not mandatory, including series details such as title alternatives; genre; company; format; dates; highs and lows; screenshots and a captioned screenshot, are looked upon favourably.
2. The preferred word count is about 300-500 words, as per the Anime Academy main page.
3. Previously written reviews are allowed to be entered as long as they don't break rule #8.

Submission deadline: 28th January 2007

And just as a reminder, please refrain from posting a review already entered in previous contests since that is a violation of rule number 8.

[Angi]

Is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya okay? I mean, even though they aren't exactly an official couple, the relation between Haruhi and wachamacallhim is still an important part of the plot.

[AlterGenesis-X]

Shame on you. After your imagnitive review, this is all you could come up with? FOR SHAME. :p

[Sorrow-kun]

OH GOD THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME AN EXCUSE TO REVIEW BOKURA GA ITA.

Not that I needed an excuse in the first place since I'd have certainly reviewed it, but at least now I can put it to use in competition.

[7Raven7]

OH GOD THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME AN EXCUSE TO REVIEW BOKURA GA ITA.

Not that I needed an excuse in the first place since I'd have certainly reviewed it, but at least now I can put it to use in competition.

Shouldn't you let some of us poor slobs win once in a while before going on to win your third?

[C0MPL3X]

Is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya okay? I mean, even though they aren't exactly an official couple, the relation between Haruhi and wachamacallhim is still an important part of the plot.

Mm I didn't think of that before I came up with the theme. Same question applies to Crest of the Stars, where Jinto and Lafiel are not 'officially' a couple but their relationship is without a doubt driving force of the show.

I'll allow it. Couple don't have to be going out or ****ing each other, they just have to have genuine feelings towards each other and their relationship important to anime.

[Sorrow-kun]

Shouldn't you let some of us poor slobs win once in a while before going on to win your third?You've won one, what are you complaining about?

[Angi]

This contest doesn't seem to be receiving much attention. Normally, a few days later, there are alot more posts

[L-sama]

This contest doesn't seem to be receiving much attention. Normally, a few days later, there are alot more posts

Some of us have no time. For me, my spring semester just started, and classes are not fun for me right now. I'll probably be skating in at the last second this time around.

[ohtori_akio]

This kinda makes me want to review Ranma... LOL

[LadySage]

Title: Peach Girl

Genre: Comedy/Romance

Company: TV Tokyo

Format: 25 Episodes

Dates: 2005-01-08 to 2005-06-25


Poor Adachi Momo is a member of the swim team and tans easily, so people see her dark skin and assume she’s a skank, although that couldn't be farther from the truth. But now things are looking up because she's starting to move in the right direction with her friend Toujigamori Kazuya – "Touji" for short – despite rumors that he prefers pale-skinned girls. However, her sole friend, Kashiwagi Sae, also has set her sights on Touji, and has enlisted the help of the impish and popular upperclassman Okayasu Kairi to tear the budding couple apart.

Highs: The pain takes a few episodes to set in
Lows: Terrible seiyuu work; Ridiculously repetitive; Complete lack of character growth

The recent proliferation of shounen romance has led to a lot of pap like Ichigo 100% and Tona-Hura coming out, with harems of cute, squeaky, subservient girls, and blatant male wish-fulfillment. It's easy to forget, however, the other side – shoujo romance – can put out trash just as smelly. For better or for worse, Peach Girl is here to remind us all of that.

To be honest, it doesn't start out that badly. It's unremarkable, neither particularly good nor egregiously bad. Momo was a bit awkward, but that's part of what makes her sympathetic – her situation of a toxic best friend and a hopeless love is one far too many girls may be able to relate to. However, Touji was just boring, with Kairi and Sae, the two antagonists, being far more dynamic. The problem was that as the series continued, nothing changed. Everyone, Touji and Momo in particular, make the same mistakes over and over and over, resulting in a very redundant series. Every time Momo does the same stupid things, she grows considerably less likable until her awkwardness, once almost endearing, is nothing short of insufferable. By the way, I lied when I said nothing changes: even Kairi and Sae become infected with the same disease of idiocy that Momo and Touji had throughout the series.

Of course, the seiyuu don't help matters one bit. Peach Girl has some of the very worst seiyuu work to come out of Japan. Of course the actors can't be entirely faulted since they're portraying poorly-written situations with insufferable characters… but one has to wonder which came first. Did the bad acting make the characters intolerable, or are the characters intolerable because of substandard acting?

There are moments where it looks like Peach Girl can pick itself up and actually maintain some semblance of quality, but then some character jumps to the wrong conclusion or makes a stupid decision. The experience of watching this series is much like playing with a bunch of firework duds. Every so often there may be a slight spark, but it always ends in disappointment.

[Angi]

Some of us have no time. For me, my spring semester just started, and classes are not fun for me right now. I'll probably be skating in at the last second this time around.

Well, I can't really review anything cause i still go to school and can't really spare time to watch too much anime. But at least my post brought back into the light.

[L-sama]

Anime: Ah! My Goddess AKA Aa! Megami-sama
Genre: Romance
Company: Kodansha
Format: 5 OVA
Dates: 2/21/1993 to 5/17/1994

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k25/Itachi_rox/Ah%20My%20Goddess/wideeyesmile.jpg
Pretty Little Angel Eyes

Poor Keiichi; he can’t seem to catch a break. Left alone to dorm-sit, he makes an innocent call on the phone for some dinner and instead of the restaurant, a Goddess calling herself Belldandy is on the other end with a proposition: he can have any one wish granted! Thinking that this is some kind of prank call, he jokingly says that he wishes for Belldandy to be with him forever. Sure enough, Belldandy magically appears before him as his new girlfriend! Is this a dream, or is this fate for Keiichi? -Summary by L-sama

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c186/meimei008/skuld_konnichiwa-1.jpg

Score: 70%

Highs: Great art and animation; Music; Urd and Skuld
Lows: Way too short; Lifeless main characters; Awkward chronology

With the reputation that preceded this title, I was expecting something that would make my jaw drop in sheer amazement. Unfortunately, my jaw dropped not because it was great, but because of what this series lacked.

By no means am I saying that this series is bad across the board. The opening theme, "My Heart Iidasenai, Your Heart Tashikametai" is a very enjoyable way to start off each episode. Visually, Ah! My Goddess doesn’t show its age at all. Colors are bright and vibrant, and the animation is rather good for its time, making this series very pleasing on the eyes. It seems like some of the characters fed off of this energy as well; Urd and Skuld are absolute gems in this series and really make up for the lack of life in Belldandy’s character. She and Keiichi are just too shy and plain in comparison to the supporting cast, making their relationship seem dull and nearly lifeless.

What also hampers this from being one of the best in its genre is its length. At a fleeting 5 OVA, there’s no time to develop much of anything. Taking into consideration that at the time 7 volumes of the manga were already on the shelves by the time the first OVA was released and 10 at its completion, I almost felt cheated that so much story was taken out in the final production. Also, the fact that so much time elapses in such a short format makes everything flow awkwardly. I would’ve liked to see more of a development in Keiichi’s and Belldandy’s relationship rather than speed through nine months time and only get a sampling of what happened.

Fans of romance anime should still pick this up though. Despite its shortcomings, there’s still a good amount of charm in Ah! My Goddess to make it a fairly good buy, even if there are other anime like it out there with better execution.

[C0MPL3X]

Just to fix something on my first post...

The submission date is not on 21st of January, it's on 28th of January. That should be a period of 2 weeks like previous contests.

Sorry if that caused any confusion.

[Mr. Otaku]

Never mess with a classic:
Usagi Tsukino and Mamoru Chiba from Sailor Moon! Yay!

[Erigion]

Never mess with a classic:
Usagi Tsukino and Mamoru Chiba from Sailor Moon! Yay!
This a review? If not you shouldn't be posting here.

[Sorrow-kun]

I don't know about COMPL3X, but if I were running this contest, that wouldn't be counted. I'd hate for it to be considered, given the amount of effort most of us put into a review.

[C0MPL3X]

I'm astonished that you guys would even find that a possibility of being a review.

[Sorrow-kun]

Title: Bokura ga Ita aka We Were There
Genre: Romance/Drama
Company: Artland
Format: 26 episodes
Dates: 4 Jul 2006 – 26 Dec 2006

Synopsis: Upon starting her first year of high school, Takahashi Nanami, a somewhat clumsy girl, has trouble adjusting to her new life in high school. There she meets fellow student Yano Motoharu, a well-liked, yet boorish boy and even though she finds him ambiguous and impolite at first, she quickly begins to develop feelings for him. While he is one of the most popular student in school, he is intensely hated by the girl that sits next to Takahashi in class, Yamamoto Yuri. Yano’s best friend, Takeuchi Masafumi later reveals to Takahashi that Yamamoto’s deceased sister was actually Yano’s ex-girlfriend.

The Highlights
Characters: Incredibly well developed and deeply explored.
Story: First half maintains an almost perfect balance between comedy, drama and romance.
Comedy: Not really needed in the second half.
Animation: Muted; often lacks detail and motion, yet still works for this series’ tone.
Ending: Ambiguous, yet fitting in an ironic way.

http://www.nihonreview.com/images/AnimeBgI01.jpghttp://www.nihonreview.com/images/AnimeBgI02.jpghttp://www.nihonreview.com/images/AnimeBgI03.jpg

Bokura ga Ita is as an anime of two halves. And, while both halves are outstanding, the first contains a balance of comedy, drama and romance that is as close to perfect as I have ever seen in an anime. The overall series, a title in the populous, yet slowly dying genre of shoujo drama/romance in a high school setting, is one of, if not the best I have seen of this sort, well and truly eclipsing similar anime like Kare Kano and Fruits Basket (http://www.nihonreview.com/wordpress/anime/fruits-basket/).

Fruits Basket (http://www.nihonreview.com/wordpress/anime/fruits-basket/) and Now and Then, Here and There director, Daichi Akitaro displays the care that made those two titles instant classics again, with Bokura ga Ita. Whether the scene be dramatic, romantic or comedic, the timing, atmosphere and camera-work is always near perfect. Where Bokura ga Ita excels, though, is not just the fact that it handles each of these individual aspects as well as, if not better than the vast majority of other anime, but the fact that they mix so extraordinarily well, blending into an incredibly well told character-focused story. Would it be so easy to feel for these characters in grief if we weren’t allowed to laugh with them earlier on in the series? Would we yearn for them to find happiness in their own way if it wasn’t revealed, in such depth, how they feel for themselves and for each other? The answer isn’t just an obvious “no”, but also a profound statement on how well analyzed and sympathetic these characters are.

A special note needs to be made for the drama, and how incredibly well weighted it is. Rather than forcing dramatic plot points down the audience’s throat, as some other titles do, Bokura ga Ita lets its characters interact in such a way that allows the drama to play out naturally, with the conflicts resolving over time. It also helps that this series only really has four characters, with the rest of the cast acting more as extras and waypoints of support, rarely taking the spotlight. This means Bokura ga Ita can allocate a massive amount of time to fleshing out its true characters, the benefits to the story of doing so, noticeable.

Bokura ga Ita’s tone and style are both of a type that has very limited appeal and the slow pace, minimalist plot and muted animation (there is very little actual motion in many scenes) will not likely hold fans of more faced-paced, action-orientated shows. My own criticisms of the show are far less superficial, but I felt that Yamamoto needed more time in the spotlight. She wasn't underdeveloped, per se, but she wasn't as deeply explored as the other major characters. The comedy didn't work as well in the second half as the first half, but it took the sideline in this part of the anime, so that's a minor complaint. It did its job in the first half of the series (i.e., adding another dimension to the characters) and I wouldn’t have missed it if it played even less of a role in the second half.

In spite of, or perhaps due to its qualities, Bokura ga Ita flew far under the radar, even for a title in a genre that doesn’t garner a great deal of attention. Its story did end ambiguously, but the majority of it is beautifully crafted, following a similar style to legendary josei anime Honey & Clover, and even executing some of its aspects better than that series. This is an almost shockingly underrated series, one that simply doesn’t deserve to be as underappreciated as it is.

The Rating: 9
http://www.nihonreview.com/images/rank8.png

Reviewed by: Sorrow-kun

[Sorrow-kun]

There's (at least) one error in that review, but I wonder if anyone's going to notice it...

[ultbaka]

yay... I don't have anime with couples in them... oh crap.

Ah well...