Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou
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Slice of Life
Kobato!
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Kill Me Baby
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Taisho Yakyu Musume
Alternative title:
Taisho Baseball Girls
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Honey and Clover
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Kaleido Star
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K-On! (Season 1)
Alternate Titles: None
Original Japanese Release Date: April 2nd, 2009
Episode Length/Run-time: 14 episodes
Summary:
Yui Hirasawa is a high school freshman and she needs a club to join. She discovers a club on the brink of extinction, the light music club. Yui joins the current members of the club Ritsu and Mio and later, Tsumugi and Azusa, as they save the club and become best friends.
Review:
K-On is a “moe” anime. There really isn’t much to it. Five girls get together after school and eat cake and have tea and occasionally, practice rock music. That’s about all there is to it. Like most “moe” shows, this one wastes many of its episodes on mindless content that is meant to serve one purpose, being cute. These episodes include school festivals, trips to the beach, and endless sessions of cake eating. So at this point you might wonder, “how does this show get a 4/5?” The show does have some good things going for it that make it likely, one of the best, if not the best “moe” show out there.
The show, aesthetically is very pleasing. First off, the music in the show is fantastic. Making it’s way to the top of Japanese pop charts, the opening and ending themes, “Cagayake! Girls” and “Don’t say “Lazy”, make the music very special. This not only because the songs are good but because the themes are performd by the seiyuu actresses themselves; Aki Toyosaki with Yoko Hikasa, Satomi Satou, Minako Kotobuki and Ayana Taketatsu. In addition to the music, the visuals are excellent as well. I think it’s a shame however that good production values get wasted on watching “moe” girls tripping all over themselves.
It was also nice watching the girls working towards their live performances together, something that is sorely lacking in the second season. As a musician, it was also quite interesting watching Yui trying to learn the guitar. So in the end, this is a pretty nice show that really does what it’s intended to do very well. In terms of a “moe” show it’s much more tolerable than most and because the characters are enjoyable and the music is great, it’s generally a show that can be recommended to most audiences.
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Kuragehime
Alternate Titles: Jellyfish Princess, Princess Jellyfish
Original Japanese Release Date: Oct 2010
Episode Length/Run-time: 11 Episodes
Summary:
Tsukimi is a geeky girl who lives in Amizukan, an apartment complex that no men are allowed to enter, with other otaku, hikkimori, and NEETs. She has a deep love for jellyfish due to a memory of her late mother. One evening, when trying to save a jellyfish she recieves help from a beautiful girl, but this girl is a trap!
Review:
This is an anime that I was earnestly surprised at how much I enjoyed. The premise seemed a little cliché, nerdy people afraid of popular beautiful people. But the execution was awesome. I loved how the “ugly” people were, well, actually ugly. It wasn’t like a lot of series where the “ugly” ones were actually really beautiful all things considered, they were pretty homely in this one. But it worked with creating the realism of the seires.
There are two main points of conflict in the show. One with Tsukimi and her relationship not only with a boy but a cross-dressing, popular, beautiful, rich boy, and how she overcomes this within. The other conflict is the risk of the Amizukan being torn down to make room for new building projects in the city and the geeky girls loosing their home and safe-haven.
The pacing of this show is also really great, it moves well and progresses in a speedy but not hasty manner. Things seem realistic in how the emotions change from encounter to encounter.
At its core I’d say Kuragehime is a feel-good show which anyone who has ever felt slightly socially outcaste can enjoy. It was a show I enjoyed a large amount and really recommend as a worth-while watch.
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A-Channel
Alternate Titles: None
Original Japanese Release Date: Apr 2011
Episode Length/Run-time: 12 Episodes
Summary:
Tooru who has just entered the same high school as her best best and childhood friend Run, who is now a second year, and Run’s friends Yuuko & Nagi in their daily lives.
Review:
I feel like this anime is supposed to be really funny, or, at least, a little funny. But the problem remains I found myself SO bored watching it. The characters are the normal funny formula, the young one, the bookish one, the ditz, the well-meaning screw-up, perhaps I’m jaded but it all just falls flat. The slice-of-life doesn’t really help either, because there’s no real conflict, or overarching plot, or real antagonist, just random stuff happening one thing after another. For example, there is an entire episode about sneaking into the school at night, and not even for a fun reason, they just forgot something. I had foolishly thought that there may be some semblance of a story or at least relationship building throughout the show, given the relationships at the beginning and the cute girl crush one of them had, but that was foolish thinking. The love just serves as a plot device to have one girl be all protective and have some slapstick humor as she punches people who get too close away. The style of the show is nothing to write home about either. Everything looks chili, even the adults are done in a very simplistic style… Though I suppose on the bright side they don’t look the same age as their students, so thats a pro for the show. But they have things like montages during stupid little songs, the budget is too low for a montage I tell you! Animate everything! I suppose this is one of those anime that you just have to be into to want to watch. If this is the kind of stuff you like, random acts of girl/Moe cuteness with little else than this really delivers. I suppose its not too Moe that non-Moe fans will not upchuck after a minute, but its still pretty solid Moe stuff left to right, up to down. The biggest thing I enjoyed personally was the opening, its a good song and good animation, otherwise I found myself dragging my bored feet through this show.
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Chi’s New Address
Alternate Titles: Chi’s Sweet Home: Atarashii Ouchi, Chi’s Sweet Home: Chi’s New Address
Original Japanese Release Date: Mar 2009
Episode Length/Run-time: 104 Episodes (3 minutes an episode)
Summary:
The lovable kitten Chi has moved with her family the Yamadas to a pet friendly home. Now Chi has a yard and lots of local animals to play with and can go outside as she pleases, no longer in hiding from the landlady.
Review:
There isn’t too much to say about this show, it is basically the same premise as the season before it with the aforementioned changes. That being said the changes breathe new life in the new possibilities of the neighbors pets and her freedom to go outside. Chi is still adorable, and cat owners and lovers alike will revel in her cat antics that are innocent and lovable. This show is very simple and the four minute episodes make it easy for a shot of cuteness whenever you need it. I don’t know what else to say really, its simple and perfect in what it is and does what it set out to do, be adorable. If youre studying Japanese try watching it without subs as the language is very simple it could be good practice. I laughed, I cried – really I did, and I squealed with delight at the cuteness of this show. It only gets a low score because I try to score critically, and no its not amazing, nor does it really have a plot. But, on a personal enjoyment level I love this show so much and on a personal scale its one of my favorite anime ever, easily a 5/5.
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