Anime Blog Carnival! - What makes a 10/10 anime?

Welcome to a blog carnival! What is it about, you ask? Well, the exact definition is subjective to the participants, but generally a blog carnival is an event where several bloggers get together to write and discuss about the same subject. It's a fairly simple concept that allow bloggers within the same blogosphere to talk about a particular topic, and although the idea that has been used in other blogging circles for a while now, strangely enough it is almost unheard of in the anime blogging community.

And so, I've got several fellow bloggers interested to join in this round of the carnival. Marina, Sam, Marow, Nopy, Draggle, Mira, AceRailgun, Leap250, Yumeka, SnippetTee, Ephemeral Dreamer, Hoshiko and Yi would all be publishing their post sometime today (or tomorrow, depending on their timezone), so be sure to check out their opinions on the subject too.

12 Moments of Anime #7: Ohana's first tears

Remember that when the first episode of HanaIro aired, everyone was talking about how awesome it was? The series might not have pleased everyone in the end, but I think most would agree that the first episode did made quite an impression. Also known as "Ohana's worst days ever".

AniBlogger Choice Anime Awards: My Top 12 Favourites of 2011

Unrelated pic... needs to be longer.

Getting my top 12 out is easy. It's true that the more anime you watch, the more picky you are when choosing the anime you rather watch then... you know, doing constructive stuff. I've only completed 30 series this year (including series I intend to complete, but have not finished airing), not counting the 19 series that I've dropped. After striking off the bad ones and voila! 15 series. I only need to remove 3. Here we go.

Series Review: Hanasaku Iroha (10/10, yes haters)

Hanasaku Iroha is my absolute favourite series for the past two season. There are plenty of worthy titles that I've enjoyed as well, like Anohana and Croiseé, but they didn't quite give me the eagerness and anticipation like HanaIro does. Nowadays, I usually set aside anime episodes I've downloaded to watch during a free time, but in the case of HanaIro, I would set aside everything I'm doing to dedicate my next twenty minutes to that episode.

And the funny thing is that HanaIro had been the subject of much criticism, mostly on the weaker characters, unnecessary dramedy, pace, and failed expectations/potential. I didn't overlook the weaker side of HanaIro myself; there are many boring scenes and even episodes, parts that I thought could be played out better, unrealistic actions and situations, and pacing problems that I've questioned many times. These are widely "discussed" on blogs and forums, between haters and fans, where they try to convince the other party that it's either the best thing ever produced or just an incredibly over-hyped piece of crap.

It's obvious which camp I'm in. Well, I can't deny that the series has it's ups and downs, but it never fails entertain me, even for a particularly crappy episode. I feel that judging the charm of HanaIro as a drama would be a mistake, because its charm doesn't lies on its story; even without the pacing "problem", the series didn't (even try to) create a actual story arc with a exciting climax. Except for, well, the Jiroumaru arc, but I would argue that the arc is used more as an introduction to the series.

I feel that the real charm of the series lies in the unique style HanaIro took to present itself as a show. It lies in Ohana's monologues and her perspective of the her current life, the series' intricate handling of the finest details, depth of the various characters and how we get in touch with them, superior animation quality, and how "real" the characters and their feelings were. It is very, very different from your usual anime. So much that I would argue that it does not really fit into any of the genres it's commonly assign to, like drama and slice-of-life... because HanaIro has a genre of its own.

Is it a good ending? Is it a bad ending? I don't know. It feels to sad that the inn is closed, but at the same time it feels happy and hopeful, for the fact that everyone's looking at the better future, and to a certain extent, same goals. The strongest feeling I had at the end of the series is nostalgia, because I'm really going to miss the inn, its crew, and its special atmosphere.

HanaIro has its boring and crappy parts. That's true, and I don't intend to defend the show on that. But the ingenuity and excellence into delivering what we saw shows a level of commitment beyond what most anime could had possibly do, and that makes the experience damn worthwhile. It deserves a perfect ten for value, no doubt. The show had just set a standard on which this generation of anime should try to achieve. And I'm gonna miss my HanaIro mondays.

Now who's going to go rebuilt the inn in Kanazawa with me.

Concept: Excellent!
Style: SUPERB!
Audio/Visual: Superb!
Value: 10

Goodbye! *Sobs*

where the fuck are the hanairo figurines?? 

Spring 2011 Anime May...ish Review Part 3: AnoHana, Enma-kun and Summary Score

Ok, wow. I've never heard Tomatsu Haruka like that before.

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi we Mada Shiranai

So what I've feared finally came; the gang starts to second guess Jinta's ability to see Menma, and thinking that's it's his own bullshit all the while. Aside for the fact the Menma's so coporeal, it also bugs me that the gang trust Jinta (somewhat) so easily and had made so much effort because Jinta claims to be able to see Menma. Well, now that Menma proves to be able to communicate with the gang after all (you only realised now?), we'll be able to see the story pick up the pace. But hey, it's nice to see that whatever Menma's wish is, it's already somewhat fulfilled now that the gang has been meeting up for a while now.

Dororon~ Enma-kun Meramera

It was only until around 4 episodes that I realised that I'm watching a fanservice show. It doesn't seem like any kind of plot is going to take place, and most likely the monster-of-the-week and its various ways of exploiting the female characters fomula would carry on until the end of the series. Well, at least it wasn't completely boring; the presentation can very incredibly lazy at times, but the unique style (old-school...) of the show and creative fanservice allows it to be a good way to pass time time <.<

Summary Ranking & Score

1. Hanasaku Iroha - A+
2. Anohana - A+
3. Ao no Exorcist - B-
4. Tiger & Bunny - C+
5. C - C (not trying to be funny, but...)
6. Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko - C-
7. Enma-kun - C-
8. Deadman Wonderland - D

Spring 2011 Anime May Review Part 2: Hanasaku Iroha, Tiger & Bunny, Ao no Exorcist

Uguu~ The most emotional scene in the show season so far.

Hanasaku Iroha

I'm not gonna talk about how we came to expect too much out of the first two episodes anymore, because even if the other episode isn't as dramatic as we thought it would, Hanasaku Iroha has proved to be an extremely entertaining show. In fact, I totally love the show for what it is now. The studio have a very precise and subtle way of expressing the characters, like the scene where Ohana cried in the pic above. I can't find a better example where the scene really allows the audience to put themselves in the character's shoes.

And it's not just the emotional parts of the show that are good. The show had inject a lot of flavour into the minor characters as well, and I love their sense of humor while they're at it. I didn't enjoy Minchi's episode that much, but Tomoe is full of win.


Actually, if you're still expecting an all-out drama because of the first couple of episodes, it would be pretty unfair to the series itself. It's no doubt that various shows would try to make an epic introduction so as to secure viewership, and Hanasaku Iroha did a fantastic job at that. Perhaps too fantastic, which results in the unmet expectations. But seriously, watch the OP and you realise that it's trying to say that the show is a Working at the Ryokan story, not so much a High School Girl Drama story.

Ao no Exorcist

Like Deadman Wonderland, I pretty much got into this because of the awesome manga. Unlike DMW, it hasn't disappoint... yet. The story has been a snooze even until the 8th episode, but I enjoyed the characters, especially the twins Rin and Yukio with very different personalities.Rin is brash and rude most of the time, but he easily shows his nicer side to people that appreciate people's efforts and talents. Yukio calm demeanor and talent outclassed Rin, but they had excellent chemistry and it really shows when they are bickering or even fighting together. The fact that they are twins makes them complement each other very well. And of course, there's Shiemi, voiced by my goddess Hanazawa Kana. She's a moe overload as she is now, but I still can't wait to see her in regular school uniform.

Unfortunately, the animation could use a lot of improvement.

Tiger & Bunny

T&B had impressed me early on the with the concept and production values, but lately I've came to find the show a bit boring. I guess the main plot would be Bunny-chan trying to find his parent's killer, but the progress is awfully slow and frankly the fillers are way more enjoyable. The fact that the hero's approach to every conflict never changes makes it worse. I know that Kotetsu's goofy appearance is one of the selling points in the show, but he's been like this for every single battle for past 10 episode and well, he needs the change, doesn't he? And he should had tried harder to make it up to his daughter too.

And there's also that car-off-the-bridge scene in episode 10 that I can't ignore. Wild Tiger's stuck in the same spot for at least a minute and the miniguns can't tear him up? It looks like it all missed anyway. What the hell.

AND we need moar Huan Paolin (Dragon Kid). Because she's plain awesome. Who doesn't think so?

The Longest Day at Kissuiso (Hanasaku Iroha Ep9) + Hanasaku pilgrimage?

Well we were all totally expecting a dramatic moment when Ko meets Ohana since episode 7 but damn! You're heading home just because the inn is full? Your LOVE LACKS POWER dude, I expected better out of you. You could have stayed somewhere nearby like Fukuya anyway. Oh, and your girl got *embraced* by a guy manlier than you in every way, on that same day you're trying to find her. Way to go, bro.

No, it isn't what you think. Ohana just collasped.

Well, at least Ko does play a certain role in the end. His motivation phone call does somewhat helped her get to Tohru, even if Ohana should have done the obvious in the first place. It does tells a lot about the relationship between the two though, and how it got past the awkwardness created by Ko's confession. But Ko better be trying harder though, for the sake of my anticipation of their meeting.

Once again the day is saved by Ohana's ability to try harder than anyone else, and her inability to feel embarrassment at her own actions. But of course this is why we all love Ohana! This is what made her so genki (in her own way) and unique (but not unrealistic), and so enjoyable to watch.

This isn't really related to the episode, but I just wanna take a moment to say how much I loved the lightly flushed cheeks of the characters. It doesn't really a blush, for all we know Ohana doesn't get embarrassed at anything after all. But perhaps it does makes the illusion that the characters are more emotional than what is scripted, but hey, it worked on me. And it worked well on Ohana's unusually pale face, for some reason. This is just a small detail, but it is and additional detail that most animes overlooked.

nano.ripe does makes a lot of awesome songs right? This isn't the first nano.ripe insert song, but I really loved how it complemented the otherwise meaningless journey back to Kissuiso. Well, except for the fact that Ko just passed by Ohana hugging another dude. Ouch! Lucky you didn't see that. Well, I'm still trying to figure out if the singer is the same as the Honey & Clover OP one.

The split-second pose of Minko made this scenes such a win, when she's trying to feed someone she likes with her first tempura. That, and with Ohana smiling stupidly at the entranceway at the two of them.

Jiroumaru, you've officially won the Most Useless Employee Award in kissuisou. Not only you've failed to recognise who the Mystery guest is (and wasting a lot of the crew's effort), you've officially creeped out a guest with your ridiculous performance. Please, I don't want to see anything like that when I go to Japan.

Next time, it's Ohana's turn to get sick. And she's having issues. And she's receiving the forehead-temperature-check from Tohru. And Ko's trying to get her to go back to Tokyo. Wow. I can't wait.

And what's with the flushed face and lips? (you can see how close Tohru is in reflection in her eyes) Looks like Tohru unintentionally (?) made a move on her.

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P.S Since I'm preparing for a trip to Japan, I did a bit of research to see if Kissuiso actually exist... you know, so I can pay a pilgrimage or something. Well, Yunosagi station doesn't exist, neither does the ryokan that goes by that name, but according to this source it seemed like these two places are modeled after two seperate real locations. Check out Yuwaku Onsen in google maps, and check out (I) marker. The western most tower is proof?

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P.P.S That's just a museum. Upon further research, it's actually based on an "ultra-luxurious" hotel known as "Hakuun Tower Hotel". It went bankrupt in 1998 and was kept as a cultural heritage until 2006, where it was dismantled after it was deemed to have no value after all =( Read more here (use Japanese Shift_JIS encoding).

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Tomoe's Mid-life Crisis (Hanasaku Iroha Ep7)

This week, we deal with Tomoe's mid-life crisis.

Tomoe has been a character of little importance so far, but since we're in the midst of a filler phase, why not make an episode about her?

And they did, and they also showed us how awesome she is.

That's youth right there.

I'm not the first one to say this, and probably not the last to - It's pretty awesome just to see how many epic faces she delivered in this episode, and the funniest is when she got an idea on how to throw the troublesome guests out of Kissuisou. (above, right).

It's funny that she's already under pressure to get married though, because she's only 28, according to official source. Most people where I lived got married at 30+, and I don't think the pressure really comes in until your are in your late 30s. It's just the culture difference, maybe? And an interesting fact is that her seiyuu, Mamiko Noto, is actually 31 now, which means she should be worrying more than her character Tomoe. Who know if she really got into character when voicing Tomoe in this episode. (lol)

Another surprise this episode is actually seeing a happy Minko. I got so used to her being a sulking bitch that I'm expecting her to stay that way until Ohana change her or something but... who knows that she actually looks pretty like this? Ohana should start praising her food so that Minko would go tsundere for her.

The downside to this episode is that I'm starting to see Hanasaku Iroha as more of a comedy than a drama. After the dramatic first couple of episodes, the show is filled with a lot more jokes than I've come to expect. While I'm happy to see that the previous episode is a little more serious, this episode goes over the top by bringing really absurd people into the show (survival-gamer-paramilitant-peepers?). I hope that's as far as they go, otherwise what's next? A mysterious man who can apparantly use magic? I'm still really enjoying this show, I don't want it to turn into another Love Hina.

And we need to bring the show back onto Ohana. I mean, she still awesome, but not as awesome as it was. She's becoming like just another enthusiastic cheerful high-school girl. We need her monologues back, come on.

Luckily, Ko's appearance (hinted at the next episode preview) might just do that. Otherwise, we can make do with some more of um, you know...

Delusions win!

Hanasaku Iroha 01 is aww.....esome

I think I love to spoil myself on the blogosphere before giving any series a look. This is my impression of what's going on in the series, right before I watch it myself:

Ohana's tired of her current life her irresponsible mom gave her, and now that she ran off with her debt-ridden boyfriend, she took it as a chance to start anew. She dumped her boyfriend and moved to the countryside to live with her grandmother, who isn't as loving as she though she would be. She end up having to work for her keep and once got bitch-slapped so hard she nosebled.

I've never been so misled by synopsis of other websites before. Ohana's mom didn't exactly ran away from her responsiblity to look after her, she ran away because of her boyfriend's debt. Ohana didn't dump anyone, the guy just confessed and never appeared again (I suppose he would have a bigger role in the future). And Ohana just have a higher tendency to nosebleed more than other people, it wasn't exactly due to the slap she got from her grandma. But there's one thing that the paragraph above pictured correctly: Ohana's life is totally fucked.

One thing that really got to me is how indifferent Ohana's reaction is to all the crap she's been taking throughout the episode. It's not that she doesn't have a reaction, but I would find it normal if she did rage over it. I guess it tells you a lot about the life she had for the last 16 years under the care of such an irresponsibly mother, so much that the head waitress Wajima Tomoe thinks her mom's a total whore.

But once the light of the situation finally sets in, I guess it is too much for a little 16yo girl to handle after all. That's what I really loved about this particular scene. She might have be pretty indifferent throughout the whole episode and always putting on the strong front, but the tears that welled up in the end really tells you how much crap she tried to kept bottled up. That is quickly followed by a motivating yell as she cleans the corridor, showing that there's still plenty of fight left in her. GAMBATTE OHANA!

I never really took notice of voice actor Ito Kanae, but I'm surprised by how well she voice Ohana. It feels a world apart from the Asobi ni Iku yo's Elis, which was a pretty dumb character. What really surprised me was Miamiko Noto. I've hated most of the roles, particularly Nogizaka Haruka, but I'm pleased to see how well she can voice normal, sane characters as well. There's a better use for her voice than for shy, clumsyfuck characters.

Anyway, I enjoyed the OP as well. I couldn't find any information on the group nano.ripe, but can anyone confirm if the lead singer is the same as the one who sang Honey & Clover OPs?