Category: Commentary

Miscellaneous thoughts on the latest shows

Commentary

Nibbling at Amagami and KimiKiss

Doesn’t that make you want to buy the OST?

Amagami has been on my radar for a while (since some people kept pointing out the amount of doujins the game was getting), but I’m a little underwhelmed by the first arc. By “underwhelmed” I mean that I didn’t melt into a puddle of kyaa~ and moe~.

So, it’s clear that I like the series – why wouldn’t I? I enjoy character games and dating sims and all of the other fluff, and it seems like Enterbrain is no stranger to simulated love (even if I gave True Love Story a 1/10 on MAL, I blame that on the adaptation). After going through the KimiKiss manga and doing a bit of background research, however, I realized that these adaptations are undertaking an extremely difficult task: turning a first-person dating sim into a coherent storyline to be experienced from the third person.

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Commentary

Shukufuku no Campanella’s Blessing

I went into Shukufuku no Campanella knowing one thing only: the art. Ko~Cha has worked on a lot of Windmill’s games – browse if you’d like – and, frankly, she (he?) is an incredible artist. I saw the character merchandise for the game and leafed through the Danbooru tag back in the Winter, and I was hyped for the anime solely because the premise looked exciting and I knew it would be pretty and shiny.

It goes without saying that I’m not disappointed. At the time of writing this, only the first third of the show has aired, but it’s already proven that it can magically read my mind and do exactly what I want it to.

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Commentary

From Me to You with Kimi ni Todoke

[110 gou]

Kimi ni Todoke doesn’t jump out at me. It doesn’t make my heart go aflutter; it doesn’t make me want to sit in front of my computer with a box of chocolates in hand.

And yes, that’s been known to happen.

But even without the bittersweet pining and the hesitant blushing and the warm acoustic guitar, the show does have something.

It has heart.

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Commentary

Seitokai no Ichizon is like the chat log you accidentally saved

Seitokai no Ichizon is masturbation in every sense of the word except the literal one. It’s as meta as meta can be, as counterproductive and pointless as a dating-sim parody of Comic Party. I don’t expect there to be anything original in Seitokai; I don’t expect it to be occasionally heartwarming like Lucky Star or occasionally bittersweet like Genshiken. You’d have to search high and low to find something that has less of a plot.

And yet, I’m writing this post with nothing but praise in mind. Does that say something about me as a fan? Technically, yes – but don’t forget that there’s more to entertainment than objective quality.

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Commentary

On Power Levels and Mary Sues

It’s a Saki post in disguise!

If there’s one thing we know about anime, it’s that everything seems more exciting in 2D. The beginning of a school year doesn’t mean less free time and more math homework, it means encountering a mysterious transfer student under an eternally blossoming sakura tree! Being a maid isn’t about doing tedious housework that no one wants to do, it’s about serving your master and tending to his psychological needs! (Or in some cases, protecting your master through whatever bizarre means necessary.)

Likewise, in the world of anime, mahjong is not just mahjong. It’s epic mahjong. In fact, it’s epic Crazy Loli Yuri Mahjong. But is this trend to lean towards the over dramatic a good thing? How does the use of extreme exaggerations affect the viewer, especially when the line is crossed by a mile?

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Analysis

Politics, Religion, and Paradise – Speculations on Eden of the East

I’ll admit: there will always be genres that I like more than others, regardless of objective quality. If it isn’t already obvious, I’m the kind of person that likes to dissolve into 13 episodes of rabu-rabu or moe-moe, and if not, I can only hope that the show will be funny enough to entertain me.

But of course, there are exceptions to every rule, and I think Eden of the East fits that bill for this season. Even aside from the unique premise and above average portrayal of America in terms of realism, it didn’t take long at all for the show to captivate me. It should come as no surprise, seeing as it’s an original story from the director of the Ghost in the Shell TV series, but the first two episodes really have exceeded my expectations.

However, the fact remains that there is precious little to say after only a few weeks, so I decided to try something familiar: taking a closer look at the opening and ending sequences and seeing what little treasures I could find.

And believe me, there’s much more than meets the eye.

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Memories of Eternity