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Ask Dr. Rin! have you heard of this show?

August 19, 2008 – 10:28 pm

Ask Dr. Rin

Tenshin says, wake up lazy!

Well I hadn’t heard of this show…but it sounded kinda interesting…I love the internet and being able to find anything here ^_^ ! “Ask Dr. Rin” is a really cute, kinda old-school anime (toootally looks like Sailor Moon!!! I used to love that show when I was in middle school!!!) about a magical girl named Meirin who can read feng-shui and tell people how to have their best luck for the day (”you should wear a pink ribbon today” or “yellow watering cans are bad luck”). She does kind of a magic-transformation sequence (Sailor Moon style) when she consults the feng-shui goddess, and keeps her super-powers a secret from her family and friends, except for her brother who helps run her Dr. Rin website where people email her with questions and problems and she gives them advice and feng-shui forecasts to help them. Meirin says it’s fate that she will end up with her crush, the soccer-playing Asuka, but a mystery stalker who also has some feng-shui powers and a strange interest in Meirin has some other ideas…dun dun dun…

It’s a really cute anime! It’s also a short series to watch, there are only 11 episodes, and the main plotline is resolved in episode 9 (which is kind of weird, leaving the last 2 episodes for kind of side stories…or maybe they were special episodes…).I liked Meirin’s voice actor, she has a sweet voice but not high-pitched or squeaky like so many other anime girls that try to be cute (and end up just being annoying). And it’s kind of nostalgic with the 80’s feel and Sailor Moon similarities, but not in a bad way- usually I don’t like older-looking anime animation but this series wasn’t bad, it was actually still cute. Meirin also has an adorable pet monkey named Tenshin that, you know, does the usual anime pet things like wake Meirin up when she’s late, scold her, get kidnapped by villains, etc

The drama in the show is pretty good for such a short series. Asuka acts like he’s kind of embarrassed to show that he cares about Meirin, and Meirin acts kind of obsessed with him…no wonder he’s scared off, I’d run away too if someone kept telling me not to get on buses cause it’ll crash or don’t go south today because it’s unlucky…(see picture below). I wasn’t expecting the shojo drama, but the villain kid that keeps stalking and harassing Meirin and trying to kill Asuka blackmails Meirin into dating him to keep Asuka safe, causing lots of satisfying drama and confusion until the disappointing denouement (SPOILER…sort of) that the villain kid is just possessed by evil spirits- he’s not really evil, he’s a nice klutzy kid that becomes everyone’s BFF after he stops being possessed. Booo lame villain.

Ask Dr. Rin

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Anime Review, Cute, Fantasy, Magical Girl, School Life |

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Coffee Prince- interupting the anime for a Kdrama…

August 15, 2008 – 1:57 am

coffee prince

So Kdramas (Korean dramas) are pretty addictive and I’ve almost finished watched The First Shop of Coffee Prince and it is so good!! So even though it’s not anime, I thought I’d write up a quick review cause if you like romance dramas (SOAP OPERAS) you’d probably like Coffee Prince. Coffee Prince is about this girl Go Eun that’s a tomboy, and people mistake her for a boy a lot- in the first episode she’s delivering food to a women’s bath-house and when they see her they yell and throw stuff at her cause they think she’s a guy! In the picture above she’s the third from the left…I think she could pass as a girl or guy, although it’s totally all the bad haircut- when she pulls her hair back you can tell she’s a girl. Anyway she somehow runs into the guy on the right, Choi Han, whose mother keeps bothering him about getting married so eventually he works out a deal where Go Eun (he thinks she’s a guy) pretends to be his boyfriend and scare off all the arranged dates his mom sets up. Then, Choi Han takes over the family’s coffee shop and Go Eun gets a job there- still as a guy- since she desparately needs the job cause she is the head of her family. Her younger sister is still in school and her mom is kind of irresponsible and an impulsive shopper.

The Drama! Go Eun and Choi Han fight a lot but also grow to be very close…and Choi Han is freaking out cause he finds himself attracted to Go Eun but doesn’t know she is a girl!! And meanwhile Go Eun meets Choi Han’s cousin Choi Han Seong, the guy on the left, who I thought was much cuter- especially with the glasses- I love guys that wear glasses! But of course in Kdramas the girl always like the first guy she meets, who is a jerk to her and not as cute, while the cuter NICER guy falls for her but somehow can’t compete with the annoying not-as-nice cousin/friend/other guy…! The same things happened in the Kdrama Full House…I thought guy #2 in that show was nicer and cuter to the main girl but she just wasn’t having it. Anyway and then there’s the other girl there to make things more complicated and drama-y, since she is the girlfriend of the cuter glasses guy and both guys used to like her before Go Eun showed up.

The exciting part was, the cousin guy (guy #2) knows Go Eun is a girl since she delivers his milk and talks to his dog (in Korean when you say sister or brother it’s different words coming from a boy or girl). When he invites her to an art opening, I knew it was a date!!!! And you know what that means, MAKEOVER episode! It’s crazy though how different the actress (Yoon Eun Hye) looks with the hair and makeover. Then she looked kind of familiar and I realized I’d seen her in Princess Hours…I’ve only seen 2 episodes of that but I’ll probably get that next. Kdramas are kind of expensive, I found Coffee Prince for $63 used-new on amazon, but new they are like $80-90 for the season. Well I guess a season of most animes are expensive too… And while most of the subtitles were fine, one of the discs had really awful translations- I mean hard to understand what it was supposed to mean, like it was translated word for word or something, it was weird. Actually now that I think about it I’m wondering if I got a bootlegged copy cause the picture on righstuf looks more official than the one I got (mine is in a plastic case not a box) : / although the dvds look official..they’re in those connected plastic sleeves with stamped “stars” logo on them but I don’t see any company name, could be sketchy? hmmm

coffee prince = ??!!

susieq |

Drama, Kdrama, Romance |

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Natsume Yuujinchou

August 13, 2008 – 7:30 am

natsume yujinchou

Natsume Yuujinchou is about a boy (Natsume!) who sees supernatural spirits that others can’t see (he’s “special”). He talks to a cute fat cat and learns that his grandmother had the same ability, and used it to defeat the yuujinchou and make them give her their names for a book that let her call on them to help her. But it’s dangerous- the creatures are unhappy about it and chasing Natsume- although later we end up feeling sorry for the poor misunderstood ghosties because Natsume’s grandmother made “friends” with the poor thing and then never called on them to help even though it waited for her and grew lonely. So Natsume decides the book is a liability (gee thanks grandma) and decides to, with the help of that cat, dissolve the contracts in the Book of Friends page by page by setting the mythological creatures free.

Natsume Yuujinchou reminds me of Mushishi. And about Mushishi- I’ve had it on my to-watch list for a really long time but after being bored through the first 2 episodes I keep watching whatever else comes up instead of watching Mushishi. I like the idea of Mushishi, it sounds interesting, and the animation is good and very pretty, but it’s just a little too slow-paced for me. So anyway back to Natsume- it is about a boy who sees spirit creatures, kind of like the guy in Mushishi, except it is framed more as an action show with a linear plot than a “roam around and see what’s going on in this forest” kind of show. Maybe it’s not as artsy and abstract, but as far as first impressions it holds my interest more to see a progression and continuity in plot from episode to episode in Natsume. Plus the fat cat is cute and fun to watch because it is actually some kind of dragon spirit that is actually powerful, when he feels like turning into a dragon, but otherwise he just seems to do what he feels like, including helping Natsume for the meantime.

natsume yujinchou

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Lovely Complex

August 11, 2008 – 1:43 pm

Lovely Complex

My latest anime addiction is Lovely Complex (also called Love * Com), a great shoujo drama that reminds me of Peach Girl. I highly recommend both for anyone who loves gossip, drama, and romance in their anime like I do. Lovely Complex is about a girl, Risa Koisume, who is much taller than the average high-school girl, and always uncomfortably aware of it (172 cm- google says 5′ 7″). During summer classes she meets a shorter-than-average boy, Otani, that she fights with a lot but also becomes close friends with. Then Risa faces the oh-too-common problem of falling for someone she doesn’t think she can really date- Risa and Otani are compared to the comedy duo “All Hanshin Kyojin” because of their comical height difference- definitely not couple material…or are they??

Lovely Complex

Love * Com is so good because (like Peach Girl) it manages to keep the tension going for the whole 24 episodes- a rollercoaster ride of plot turns, romantic tension, and definitely some frustration- why can’t they just be honest and work things out???? Well of course they will, eventually, it’s just kind of maddening when it looks like things could work out this episode (again)…but no something has to get in the way. And usually it’s not even some scheming jealous boy/girlfriend, it’s Risa and Otani’s own selves that get in their way- not being able to decide what they themselves want, and then adding miscommunication on top of that. So then they’re already confused themselves, and talking to each other only makes it worse! Which really just makes the show very realistic and gets you emotionally attached to seeing how Risa and Otani can resolve their feelings.

Risa and Otani are both huge fans of Umibouzu (”Sea Monster”)

Lovely Complex

Risa and Otani have similar hangups about their heights that make them stand out from the rest of the people in their class. But while that’s an important part of their identities, it’s only part of who they are and what they have in common. I really liked how both characters were developed. Risa kind of overreacts to lots of things, and makes weird faces, but not in a typical cutesy-anime-girl kind of way, in a way that usually scares the people around her…but is very entertaining. At one point she is super depressed because Otani is so clueless to Risa’s attempts at confessing her feelings to him, and she is dressed up as a scary mythological creature for a play but keeps acting in character and chasing people around saying she’ll haunt them.

Don’t you wish you had a friend who would just kick you out of the way whenever you were about to make an idiot of yourself in front of the guy/girl you like?

Lovely Complex

One of the main plot devices in keeping the romance drama going is how oblivious Otani is to Risa’s feelings- literally every one of their friends knows she likes him and has tried to tell him (several times) but he just doesn’t get it. I don’t know how realistic it is, are guys really that clueless? You’d think by the second attempted confession he’d consider that Risa might be serious about liking him…but he just assumes she’s joking because he doesn’t think of her as more than a friend (YET!). Although I don’t think it’s really just a “guy thing” cause you always hear guys complain about girls that are friends who wouldn’t consider them as real guy dating potential. Reminds me of the ladder theory…maybe both girls and guys have ladders, not just girls. (Ladder theory is- girls rank all guys they know on either a friends ladder or a date-able ladder, and you can move up the ladder but it is hard/impossible to jump from the friends to date-able ladder…or that’s what they say anyway.)

At :

Manga vol. 1
Manga vol. 2

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Anime Review, Comedy, Cute, Drama, Romance, School Life |

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Code Geass: finally watching season 1!

August 8, 2008 – 2:06 am

Yeah, I know, everyone and their grandma already watched season 1 and is currently obsessed with season 2 of Code Geass…but I’m finally jumping on the bandwagon and watching (okay, more like super-marathoning because it’s so addictive) Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion. Most people will probably skip this now…or you can come reminisce about how addictive Code Geass is, how scheming Lelouch is, and how feisty the elevens are…!

Code Geass

Episode 1: We learn about the Britannian empire’s conquest of Japan, renaming it area 11, and the servitude that the Japanese people (now called elevens) have been reduced to. We meet Lelouch, a typical privileged Britannian schoolboy who plays chess to earn money. Soon his path, by chance or fate, crosses with a few Eleven rebels and he meets his old childhood friend Suzaku, an Eleven who has become an honorary Britannian military soldier fighting the rebel Elevens. When the Britannian soldiers find Lelouch they think he is associated with the rebels and are going to kill him but he is saved by agreeing to a “contract” with the strange green-haired girl (CC) and he obtains the power of Geass, and can make others follow his orders.

Code Geass

Wow episode summaries always take a lot longer to write than I think they will…now I remember why I don’t do episodic blogging…but anyway wow Code Geass is such an awesome action/thriller anime. The plot runs along at a fast pace, with lots of suspense because you really have no idea what is going to happen- which is so refreshing compared to the many predictable animes or tv shows. The parallel comparison between Lelouch and Suzaku is interesting, and shows how human nature is complex and not necessarily determined solely by your birth or your experiences. Or at least, people refuse to be constrained by these- whether or not they can ever fully turn away from either is another question. Suzaku was born an eleven, Lelouch a Britannian; different starting points, but a common experience in the turmoil of the war just trying to survive in a warzone. Suzaku would like to ignore his birth as an Eleven, and make his own identity, however it is not so easy to convince society to look past its perception of him.

Code Geass

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Action, Anime Review, Drama, Mecha, Suspense/thriller |

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Rec: Episode 8

August 6, 2008 – 2:37 am

rec anime

Here is one of the many Rec title screens. There were like 4 title screens per episode…kind of strange, maybe they had lots of ads when it was on TV? I guess some other shows like Cowboy Bebop always had lots of unique title screens too…

So I don’t really do episodic blogging, too much writing about the same thing, but this episode of Rec (read my earlier post) had an interesting conflict that was realistic and got me thinking about what I would have done in that situation. Plus there were lots of funny pictures to take so here’s a random discussion of episode 8 of Rec even though I probably won’t blog any other episodes…

Matsumaru and Aka go out for dinner, and they run into this lady from Mastumaru’s work that he used to like but who blew off a date with him- but she just got dumped by her boyfriend, and demands attention and a drinking party. Okay that’s understandable…of course you feel bad for the dumped girl even if she was mean before, so sure some drinks and listen to her rant for a little while. But maybe they shouldn’t have let her get so completely wasted…because then when they’re leaving Matsumaru has to take the office lady home because she can’t go by herself, and he gets a taxi and leaves Aka to go home alone b/c she has to wake up early…hmmm sounds like a really bad idea!!! Then Matsumaru gets the drunk girl home, tries to leave, gets nagged into taking off her shoes, tries to leave, has to carry her to her bed, she hits on him, throws his phone on the floor, and gets sick from drinking so much. Meanwhile Aka tries calling him, no answer, and of course is getting pissed that her semi-boyfriend (?) is at some drunk lady’s house- especially when he doesn’t come home because the girl was sick most of the night.

Uh-oh, the trouble is starting: this is going to end badly…

rec anime

It’s not surprising that things ended up that way, since Matsumaru is a nice guy and seems to have a hard time saying no to people, but should he still be blamed for what happened? I think the biggest reason Aka was mad wasn’t just that he helped the other girl get home, but he didn’t call her afterwards to let her know what was going on. Should he have stayed because the girl was sick though? It’s a tough call b/c he and Aka aren’t technically dating, but they were starting to have an understanding so if he stayed he should have known that he was jeopardizing that. It seems like it’s the kind of thing where it’s easier to apologize afterwards for something you did wrong, than to ask permission in the first place- because if he apologizes then he’ll probably be forgiven by the end of the episode, and still have gotten to stay and be polite. Oh well maybe Aka’s punishment in the meantime will be enough payback- hahaha scary outfit Aka!

rec anime

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Anime Review, Cute, Drama, Mythology, Romance, Supernatural |

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World Destruction

August 4, 2008 – 2:01 am

World Destruction sounds pretty similar to World Domination, which I really like (as a hobby), so of course I had to check out this anime. In the world of World Destruction, talking animals seem to rule the world, while humans, called “otherkin” are treated like second class citizens. A “catboy” (named Kirie) just trying to make a living as a cook turns out to be a human in disguise, when he gets involved in the ruckus caused by a girl confronting the police. It turns out she’s a wanted woman, and part of a committee who’s goal is to destroy the world!

That bear is just…too…cute
World Destruction anime

My first thought was, how did the animals gain control? And how can the humans take them seriously? Most of them are so cute, even the “evil” ones, I just want to give them a giant hug and pinch their cheeks! Awwww how cute it’s a fat cat that thinks he is a king! And he has little cat soldiers that follow his orders, adorable ^_^. Oh wait they want to make human sacrifices…hmmm…that’s not so cool, bad kitty! Then again…even their human sacrifice ritual is really cute…”Nyagor~~ nyagor~~ nyah nyah nyah…” And nice pink bow tie mr. king cat.

World Destruction anime

Good job not looking suspicious. That’s exactly what a terrorist would say!
World Destruction anime

The Kirie kid is the typical goofball anime type, who generally wants to help people but usually ends up getting in the way- especially if there’s any way he can get kidnapped/held hostage. In contrast, Morte is a tough chick who fights well (she’ll probably be rescuing Kirie an average of 1.2 times per episode…) and seems unemotional, but we all know she must have an emo back story that she’s just waiting to tell us. The team is rounded out by the cute yellow (pirate ?) bear in the first picture- he does some narration about heroes, the world, life, etc. He seems to think he is a hero, and takes things kind of seriously, and doesn’t want to be involved with the questionable World Destruction committee types since they are kind of anti-heroes. It’s kind of annoying after a while though how the bear adds “kuma” at the end of every sentence as some kind of distinctive speech- but what is he, a pokemon??? (kuma means bear.) I guess they’re trying to make the good guys the World Destruction committee and the bad guys are the “World Salvation committee”? Or maybe just telling the story from the Destruction point of view as opposed to the “save the world” point of view. So far I’ve only seen 2 episodes though, so I’m not really sure what the Salvation people are up to besides trying to stop the World Destruction people.
World Destruction anime

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Strike Witches: Girls and Planes and Pantsu, oh my

August 1, 2008 – 2:47 am

Strike Witches

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you combined a girl with a plane? Or a plane with girls’ underwear? Well your burning questions are now answered because Strike Witches is the hot new show that combines all 3. Oh wait and the girls also sprout cat ears when they use their magic powers- seriously I wonder if they designed Strike Witches on purpose based on imagining just how many marketing segments this show appeals to! Something for catgirl fans, loli fans (like 5+ young girls who never wear pants…?), action/fighting fans…actually it’s kind of a classic anime, combining seeming disparate genres of airplane-fighting with fantasy-magic-using girls.

Strike Witches is about a bunch of special (ooh, magical) girls, who are witches (duh, Strike Witches), and they use their powers for awesome by wearing these fancy jetpacks on their legs that let them fly around like planes. There’s a war going on, so the girls fly around with giant machine guns and fight lots of high-tech battleships in the sky. And the battleships are all pretty CG…okay probably they don’t look pretty when you’re fighting them, cause shoot these intense red laser beams that blow stuff up but luckily the Strike witches are well-equipped with weapons and shields (??) that can block the lasers.

Strike Witches

The main character seems to be Mio, the daughter of the scientist that invented the awesome Strike Witch jetpacks. Her dad hasn’t been seen and was thought dead but…maybe he really isn’t (!!). Mio is more of a peaceful person though, she uses her power to heal people like her mother and grandmother. When the Strike Witch commander lady comes to recruit Mio, at first Mio refuses because she doesn’t want to fight in a war, she wants to heal people. But then the lady says Mio’s father is probably still alive, plus Mio can help heal people injured in battle…so yeah Mio decides to leave home and make the strike witch aircraft carrier (?) her new home for a while.

Strike Witches