In the language of flowers, chamomile stands for “energy and patience in adversity” because of its ability to restore harmony and balance into our lives¹. That’s what Sawako is all about, that’s what the Kanto Library Force is all about.

I’m not exactly sure if Shiina Karuho thought about this chamomile symbolism beforehand, because there are no visible signs of chamomiles in the manga (especially not as ‘visible’ as the one in the anime). Either way it can only mean one thing: P.I.G. is AWESOME *bow*

Those lovely chamomiles have been with us since episode 1! They’re Sawako’s guardian angels flowers. I feel like calling them KYAAmomiles now <3

chamomile scenery pr0n, coming through!

And while we’re on the topic of chamomiles, I thought I’d remember love for Toshokan Sensou as well (I rewatched the last episode and cried again):

And here’s another pseudo-chamomile I took a pic of not too long ago. Until the day I finally come face to face with a real-life chamomile.

Lovely lovely chamomiles~ Just the sight of it is enough to relieve one’s stress ^_^ Never underestimate their healing power.

What a coincidence it is that both Kimi ni Todoke and Toshokan Sensou were made by P.I.G. (or The Igg, as sdshamshel calls it).

Didn’t notice the chamomiles? Couldn’t figure out what’s so soothing about the series either? Perhaps you’re looking too near, or too far. You might want to take a step back, stop letting logic get in the way and just enjoy the ride. Nitpick on it if you must, but more than anything else, enjoy it for what it is. I’m sure it’s not just you, Kiriska

Oh and realism is overrated btw, just saying

P.S. Looks like Operation: Rewatch Toshokan Sensou shall commence sooner than I thought.

1. as stated in http://www.floweressenceenergy.com/newsletter.shtml

Related posts:

1. Kimi ni Todoke: From Around The ‘Sphere to You
2. Kimi ni Todoke Reached My Soul: Sawako-chan is so SawayaKYAA~
3. Atashi ni Todoke: Revving Up the Engine With a Little Paradigm Shift

Fuwa fuwa time~

No related posts.

I was in the mood for some Halloween anime/manga treat a few days ago (back when it still WAS Halloween), but somehow, I ended up rewatching the Halloween episode of two of my timeless favorites instead — Daa! Daa! Daa! (aka UFO Baby) and Aka-chan to Boku (Baby and Me) — both of which also happens to involve one or more babies. I haven’t talked about these two series in the blog, or rather, they aren’t really talked about in the ’sphere, period. I’m not even betting my hopes on it happening any time soon, because y’know, the new season is all the shizz, and who would even go out of their way to discover them antiquated animus, right? So I thought, why not trick and treat myself into writing about them?

Halfway through the Daa! Daa! Daa! Halloween episode, I was already tearing up. The episode was moving in itself (it was the episode where we got to know much about the lead guy Kanata’s past — something that he himself wasn’t aware of — the time he spent with his mom back when she was still alive, and how he got her love for pumpkins and home-made food from her), but the nostalgia factor made it even worse (if you weren’t seeing it from my sentimentally biased lens at the very least it’d make you go ‘awww’).

The Aka-chan to Boku Halloween episode, although not one of the most moving episodes in the series, proved to be heartwarming as ever, and reminded me of the time I was watching it in Star Mandarin back in high school — the laughter and the tears, and how it made me wish I had a brother like Takuya.

I’ve almost forgotten how much I loved these two series, and it all came back to me in this rewatch. And here I thought I was just an apathetic viewer and didn’t love animes until recently. Oh so wrong.

I contemplated on including Daa! Daa! Daa! and Aka-chan to Boku in my Top5 animes when I first joined MAL, then changed my mind when I realized how juvenile it was. I wasn’t able to think this through, I thought to myself; That having this on my list shows my poor taste, especially when matters of image and what my list says about me is involved. Perhaps I felt guilty, that I was including an anime that wasn’t really of quality. Oh noes other people’s Top 5 Animes List are so EPIC and shiny, while mine is so sissy~

But here I am, a decade later, finally realizing my true feelings: I loved them all along, and I still do. And there’s absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Declaring certain animes as my favorites even when I didn’t genuinely love them (at least not yet), that’s what I should be ashamed of.

I don’t want to turn this into a ‘How We Choose Our Top x Animes List’ post or a ‘What My List Says About Me’ post (Stripey, omo, schneider, and digitalboy already posted about this) because all I really want to do is remember love for these two shows. But inevitably, this got me thinking about the way I personally choose my favorites, or the methodology I want to adopt. No rankings though, I hate them to the guts because it forces me to pit my favorites against each other.

It took me a decade to realize that I really really love Daa! Daa! Daa! and Aka-chan to Boku (and that I really am a shoujo fangirl at heart). If anything, this proves how timeless they are for me. Despite being simple & sweet, light-hearted & funny, not too angsty, not too happy and sappy either — just the right balance of quirkiness, sweetness and warmth — it sure tickled and touched my heart, and it still does. More series to add to the list of Animes for the Whole Family, especially Aka-chan to Boku.

At the same time, I thought of the other series I included in my Favorites List: Toshokan Sensou, Darker than Black, and Honey & Clover in particular, and realized that I didn’t really love them the way I thought I did. Call this my mid-otaku-life crisis.

I like Toshokan Sensou, very very fond of it. Now the rose-colored glasses have worn off, and I start to wonder whether I really loved it or was simply caught up in the hype back when it was airing. Like a spur-of-the-moment thing, the same way with True Tears. Perhaps I really loved it, but perhaps not. Either way I owe it to myself to step out of being the Toshokan Sensou hype machine that I was, and figure out whether my love for it was indeed genuine or not.

I watched Honey and Clover 3 years ago, but did it resonate with me right then and there? Not quite so. But that could just be because of my apathetic viewing habit that time, or the simple fact that I still didn’t know how to appreciate an anime like this back then. Is H&C awesome? Why yes, I know it is, but I have yet to feel its awesomeness, genuinely so — the awesomeness ^ nth level that would make its way to my heart and soul.

For Darker than Black, objectivity influenced my decision a whole lot and I alienated myself in the process. I watched it, understood how awesome it was; I recognize its value and worth, but I feel cold and distant to it. Is this what happens when you watch a series during one of the dark and dreary points in your life? Or did it fail to move me, nothing else but that?

When a series you loved (or thought you loved) doesn’t linger in your thoughts after watching it, or you don’t remember much of it, does this mean you didn’t really love it? Should it take yearsss before you come to grasp that you genuinely love/d a series? Some people acquire the wisdom to discern that with time and experience, so we can’t exactly say that. But when a series does linger in your mind even after sometime, and only gets better with age, like wine, it’s a sign that there is something special about it. I have yet to feel this for Toshokan Sensou, Honey & Clover and Darker than Black, and only time will tell if I will, but not until after a rewatch.

Then I wondered, would I have had this Very Special Love for Daa! Daa! Daa! and Aka-chan to Boku if I discovered them at a later time? Would watching other series of the same vein prior to these two hinder me from enjoying them to the fullest? Is love supposed to be a race? Omo’s list of favorites proved to be interesting in this regard, as he shows a list of his personal favorites and its alternate universe counterpart — how it would look like had he not watched anime in the 90s — while acknowledging the influence of ’said past animes with his opinion on RaXephon and FLCL, two series which “work more powerfully if you have context in terms of other anime you have seen, although they are both quite potent by themselves”, according to Omo.

So… would Nadesico and Magic Knight Rayearth have resonated so much with Omo had he watched it in a different time and space continuum? Perhaps yes, perhaps no. If so, despite the notion that we might not enjoy certain animes because we’re not yet ready for it, does that mean it’s also possible to get past that ‘right time’? I suddenly feel deprived of the right to proclaim any anime to be timeless…

But oh screw this, objectivity be damned. For me, Daa! Daa! Daa! and Aka-chan to Boku are timeless gems. There’s a plethora of factors affecting one’s enjoyment of a show, but I remain confident that anyone can enjoy these two series even at this day and age. Not as EPIC High calibre as, say, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Rose of Versailles, and Princess Tutu, but AWWWSOME(ly heartwarming and sweet) in their own right.

Objectivity is good, it enriches our perspective; but like everything else, too much of it can be damaging. What makes us interesting as humans is our complexity — no one is alike — and our ability to feel, our emotions. All people might agree about what makes for an objectively awesome anime, but in the end, what really matters is what we genuinely feel to be personally and subjectively awesome. When we talk about subjectively awesome shows we personally love, we can create a Spiral Energy so great we make the most impossible of feats possible. And the best thing about this is, you know for sure that it’s not just a bunch of pretentious crap. You’ve got real people talking — people who do not simply know what they’re talking about, but feel it with their heart and soul.

And this one’s for you, o [objectively] subjectively awesome timeless animes~

Daa! Daa! Daa!

The premise of Daa! Daa! Daa! is but simple (and silly): Two high school kids, Miyu and Kanata, ended up living under the same roof no thanks to their eccentric parents, who left their children for the sake of pursuing their childhood dreams. And then, out of the blue, a UFO falls from the sky, with an alien baby named Ruu and his baby-sitter-pet Wannya. As if living with someone you barely know wasn’t enough, Kanata and Miyu were also forced into parenthood as they take care of Ruu, on top of surviving crazy high school and alien invasions (not really hostile ones, fortunately) from time to time.

“Leaving your kids alone, WTF are these parents thinking?!!” Fortunately, this is shoujo. So instead of b00bs, T&A, pantyshots and whatsoever fappable fanservice, we get lots and lots of guilt-free rabu rabu scenes designed to make girls (or anyone else with an ‘inner fluffy fangirl’) go KYAA with its sweetness, unadulterated moeness, and total fun factor. Not to say that fappable fanservice is bad, but it’s certainly something I can live without.

A simple boy-meets-girl-with-an-alien-baby-twist story at its core, a fun and heartwarming shoujo romance comedy at its best. “a frivolous and silly premise laid a foundation for such a heartwarming, funny and fun story”, as one commenter by the name of sakura_13 in the Baka-Updates page said. Yes, I was cheating, this was a comment on the manga, but the same can be said about the anime too.

Every episode of Daa! Daa! Daa! doesn’t stray off from this one philosophy: it has to be fun, and/or sweet. The series knows well its target audience (like damn right it does! — Miyu x Kanata is my OTP KYAA~!), and also knows well what it means to not simply pander, but provide something of Total Quality to the said audience. And even those outside of it.

I admit, what initially hooked me into this is the romance between Miyu x Kanata (it’s pretty well developed, despite its simplicity, and it’s always fun to see them bantering), and the uber cuteness of Ruu-kun, one of the most adorable babies in the 2D world. But look a little deeper, and you’d see a gem of a shoujo series — adorable and heartwarming through and through.

My most favorite episode, the Cinderella ep~!

Right from the start, we already know that Miyu and Kanata are meant for each other, but this is one of those special (rare?) cases where you can’t help but watch all the episodes to not miss a single moment, in a romantic context and even those which are not. And with the rich and crazy world of Daa! Daa! Daa!, you will never find yourself saying that this is yet another dull and boring shoujo show — all thanks to Miyu and Kanata’s eccentric parents, wacky classmates, alien connections, and all other elements (zOMG fairy tales~!) that makes this a wonderful WAKU WAKU wonderland~

Their fate has been written on the stars…!

WAKU WAKU, DOKI DOKI, totally fangirlgasmic. The above screenshot came from the Halloween episode where we also find out that Kanata and Miyu already spent quite some time together back when they were teeny tots. They are sooo [conveniently] made for each other, and I have no complaints whatsoever (are you kidding me?!).

And there goes your token loli~

Aka-chan to Boku

How’s it like to be a 10-year old kid who, after losing his mom, is left with the responsibility to take care of his baby brother? Such is the life of Takuya with his little brother Minoru, and what Aka-chan to Boku is at its core. Blessed with a loving father they might be, but since he has to work to provide for his family, Minoru is left in Takuya’s care most of the time.

This is not easy, especially for an elementary school kid. There were times when Takuya questioned his fate, unfair it is that his life seems to be manipulated by this unconcerned little brother who deprived him of the right to be a normal kid. But instead of dwelling on the angst and dark pits of how it’s like to be in Takuya’s shoes, Aka-chan to Boku shows us what lies in the path of acceptance and love, the joys of having a little brother, pain in the ass it might be at times.

Later on in the series, we get to know some other Takuya’s classmates who also happen to have little siblings, each with their different family situations — the source of many of the priceless fun antics in the show, and the heartwarming side of it all. The love triangle between Minoru and his two female classmates in the daycare, both of whom happens to be the sister of Takuya’s classmate, always makes for a fun watch.

And when the focus shifts to the 温かい家庭 [warm and loving family] aspects (each episode has ‘em), I BAWWW like a little baby.

“urusai! urusai! urusai!” was soo 90s, but Shana ended up with the patent for it.

As much as I want to babble about the Halloween episode and tell you about Takuya’s tsuntsun classmate Akihiro, I’m gonna refrain myself from doing so and save all I want to say in the Coming Posts.

Watching Daa! Daa! Daa! and Aka-chan to Boku feels like eating a warm taiyaki¹ on a winter day. Warm and sweet, tickles me and my taste buds~ あたたかい。。。くすぐったい～

Further Reading

Let THEM show you why Daa! Daa! Daa! is one of the best shoujo series to date.

In case you want to find out more about Aka-chan to Boku, here’s this Aka-chan to Boku review on EX (pretty detailed so it might be a little spoilerish).

P.S. I plan to blog every episode of Aka-chan to Boku, because it deserves all the love it can get. I’m not just doing this because of the lack of subs. With or without subs, my desire to blog this won’t change.

P.P.S. If you notice a blogging slow-down this November, that can only mean one thing: JLPT1 CRAM MODE ON!

Credits to あきのん for the Halloween fanart

1. specifically ‘warm’, because there’s a taiyaki ice-cream

Related posts:

1. Kimi ni Todoke Reached My Soul: Sawako-chan is so SawayaKYAA~
2. On Epicness and the Legend of Basara – A MUST READ EPIC SHOUJO GEM!!!!
3. Rating Your Love (for Darker than Black, and others)

In 1910, an assistant professor from Tokyo University named Fukurai Tomokichi conducted a well-known research regarding ESP. His first subject was Mifune Chizuko who read messages written inside hidden envelopes. Mifune, however, was viewed as fraudulent. Later that year, Tomokichi found Nagao Ikuko who was said to have nensha. As an experiment, Nagao was to “burn” an image onto a dry plate sealed inside an airtight X-ray proof metal box. Like Mifune, Nagao was seen as a charlatan. Depressed, Nagao developed a fever and succumbed to it. As for Mifune, she committed suicide in 1911.

I noticed there was something vaguely familiar with the story. I later realized that it was narrated in the fifth episode of Mouryou no Hako. At first I thought the narration was merely to provide a backstory for Enokizu Reijiro, the self-proclaimed psychic, but it was interesting to discover that it was based on an actual event.

The anime mentioned that despite the negative reputation he has earned, the professor was undeterred with his research. The anime didn’t mention though that in 1913, Fukurai met Takahashi Sadako who was said to have developed nesha through mental exercise. Sadako was able to convince several skeptics in her favor.

Now I am sure the name Sadako brings up an image of a woman crawling out of a well or a television screen. Oddly enough, Shizuko, the mother of the Ring cycle’s Yamamura Sadako, is based on Takahashi Sadako. Shizuko was a psychic. In a public demonstration of her abilities, Shizuko was mocked and accused as a fake. Defending her mother, Sadako, also a pyschic, attacked and killed a reporter. Sadako was eventually sealed under a well but survived through sheer will. When a resort was built on top of the well, Sadako, through nensha projected her spite into a blank videotape which, when watched would kill the viewer after seven days.

It seems Sadako, through nensha, has also “burned” her image into the Japanese pysche and to the rest of the world as well.

Going back to Mouryou no Hako, it has been a year since it came out and I recall writing a Mouryou no Hako post around this time of the year. It has been a year indeed but why, oh why, does the final episode remain unsubbed?

No related posts.

Earlier this week, GeoCities became officially unavailable, a few months since YaHoo! announced its closure. GeoCities began in the mid 1990’s providing free web hosting and later on, paid premium service. GeoCities was initially organized into “cities” or neighborhoods, such as Tokyo for anime and other Asian topics, or SiliconValley for tech topics. When Yahoo! acquired GeoCities in 1999, they switched from the neighborhood based URLs to a customized ones.

I first learned of GeoCities in high school, around a couple of years after the city was introduced to the World Wide Web. I was fascinated with Yu Yu Hakusho then and I would research about the anime in the Net. Information regarding Yu Yu Hakusho, however, was limited and so I thought of creating my own YYH website. After deliberating which web host to use, I settled for GeoCities. I learned HTML and came up with a crude lay-out filled with marquees and Java applets (they were all the rage then). I couldn’t exactly remember that site’s URL but I think it was www.geocities.com/yyh_profiles.

In college, I collaborated with two my my classmates to create another anime site: www.geocities.com/anime_list. Our site contained categorizations of anime characters such as those with cool hair, or those with cool weapons, etc. Later on, we put up fanarts and also wallpapers for download.

Also in college, I decided to create my own personal blog. I knew of the existence of blogging services such as LiveJournal and blogger but I opted to put up my blog in GeoCities because it offered greater control. My HTML skills have somehow improved and I learned CSS so I wanted to try coming up with my own design. However, since GeoCities had no blogging framework, I had to manually arrange my pages such that the latest post comes first. I also had to use HaloScan for the commenting and trackbacking system. My blog was at www.geocities.com/disruptive_camouflage.

Eventually, I grew tired of having to rearrange my pages each time I had a new post so I migrated my blog to WordPress. In fact, the oldest entries at my Wordpress blog came from my GeoCities blog. I still kept the GeoCities site and used it as a file server of sorts.

It’s been almost a decade since I’ve used GeoCities and now, the popular free web hosting site has gone to the far reaches of cyberspace oblivion. It is understandable though why YaHoo! closed GeoCities. With the rising popularity of blogging services and the arrival of social networking sites (which too provide blogging services), GeoCities has fallen out of fashion and its userbase has shrunk. And besides, it’s not making money for YaHoo!, as Rupert Goodwins, editor of ZDNet, said, “I think GeoCities was the first proof that you could have something really popular and still not make any money on the internet.”

The curtain has finally closed on GeoCities and some things will be missed forever. Well, goodbye Geocities! You have served me well.

This wasn’t really talked about much in the anime ’sphere, wasn’t it? I’m sure many of us were born before the ’90s era, basked in the HTML awefulness of Web 1.0, visited and/or created anime shrines at one point in our otakudom lives… right?

Geocities closed down, together with a good number of anime sites that shaped me as a fan. *Looks at all the Geocities sites in Anipike and sighs* With the exception of Hate Sites or Clubs, these sites were the epitome of remembering love for animes and mangas. Even until now I’d look back at those times and wonder just how I can make a shrine out of this blog. Or a museum, as ghostlightning once said.

There was this bishounen files site I was so fond of way back high school, with profiles of bishies from various series, classified into various types: the boy-next-door type (I remember Yuu from Marmalade Boy was one of them), the underdogs (Ryoga), the cross-dressers (Nuriko), the evil overlords (Zagato), etc etc. My memory’s a bit fuzzy but there’s a big chance that it was hosted in Geocities. I doubt I’ll ever be able to find that now, obviously.

Someone ought to rebuild that bishie bio database. Now it’s all about moe and GAR, seme and uke. Boy do I love digressing.

First encounter with HTML and Photoshop

I was never inspired to make my own site, lazy as I am, not until 1st year college when it was required by our professor. The year was 2002, back when Neopets was all the craze, and CometZone was still hip and trendy; back when I was still addicted to Ranma 1/2 (I remember using Ranma and Akane’s Ballad as my site BGM lol), YuYu Hakusho, Fushigi Yuugi, Rurouni Kenshin, and Card Captor Sakura. And still into fanart-ing.

I visited my homepage one last time before the D-Day, and a wave of nostalgia came over me as I was looking through my image gallery, most of which were scans of my fanarts and the Newtype magazine I had since 2nd year high school. A walk down memory lane here we go~

(Click on the thumbnails to view the larger image in an overlay window, won’t work through a feed reader)

Low and behold, my first scans, from my first Newtype magazine. Ever.

First impromptu color fanart (woke up in the middle of the night and thought, “I feel like making a fanart of my beloved Kurama-sama, so let’s do that”)

First raburabu fanarts <3

First CG attempt and FAIL

First CG semi-success; first fanart submitted and featured in a local manga-zine. Culture Crash, anyone? Microsoft will so sue me for using that Windows wallpaper for my background.

*cue Winter Sonata’s Memories BGM*

This one’s for you, Geocities:

But you put on quite a show, really had me going.
But now it’s time to go, curtain’s finally closing.
That was quite a show, very entertaining.
But it’s over now…
Go on and take a bow.

Or as SDS says, “Shine On, Geocities. Shine On… Forever”

It was my 2nd year in highschool and I was 16, constantly running away from Britney’s “Oops!… I Did It Again” in those eternal summers of youth. I managed somehow, rocking out to Neon-Genesis Evangelion’s intro by swapping multi-(floppy)-disk zip archives with my friends, and discovering this thing called Anime(lol!). It was either that or dial-up Hyperterminal, downloading it yourself from some random site in Anipike.com or trying your luck in Napster.

So we got techie, learning about the freedom in mp3’s and the internet boom helped us along, albeit slowly at 56kbps, until one day, instead of just visiting Anipike, we thought we’d try our luck with our own tribute/shrine/whatever. My sister was taking Computer Science at the time, and there were plenty of HTML resources online, plus Geocities(God bless his soul!) was offering free hosting with your yahoo mail, so we tried our hand in that.

Mine was called “the Grandstand” to commemorate the bleachers my friends and I usually hung out in. There, along with some game and personal stuff, I also built an anime corner. In hindsight, it was the anime corner that grew the most, housing a menial collection of Fushigi Yuugi pictures, random midi’s(Misato theme!) and large amounts of painstakingly coded HTML code. By code I meant secret links in length marquee’s, thorough use of the tag, and a small banner proclaiming “Proudly made in Notepad” to spite all those perky, oddly-colored, Frontpage users.

We expanded by joining the roster of sites included in Anime-rings’ random links. We also linked to each other–and always href-ed their site at every mention of their name–and signed guestbooks prolifically. All the while, religiously monitoring our daily visit site-counters. And then Google happened, and Blogger/Livejournal was born, and Anipike sorta fizzled out and we found out about going outside.

But I stop by ever-so-often. And though I have to jump through the Wayback Machine because geocities got tired of hosting me, the nostalgia and the indomitable optimism of those teenage years will always be online.

Share your Geocities story and we might just unleash a torrent of nostalgia right here

Further Reading

SDS’s eulogy posts for Geocities, where a number of people also shared their stories.

AstroNerdBoy reminded us to archive old GeoCities anime sites back when the news came about.

princetrunks also shared his Geocities tale, which explains the Web 1.0 look and feel of his site.

toonleap showed his geocities sites before, though unfortunately we can no longer access them. Except maybe through the Wayback Engine.

Reminiscing the Analog Otaku Life Days

Related posts:

1. A Tale of Friendship, Love, LULZ, and ToraDora
2. Cross Game Commercial Break: Nomo’s Picture Drawing Song~!

This sure is one timeless commercial, oh [in]famous Dragon Katol. The line “Dragon kung umuwsok… leymowk seyguradong teypok!”¹ never gets old. So… katol.

If only she had Dragon Katol, tsk.²

Katol is the Tagalog word for mosquito coil or mosquito incense, and apparently, it was adopted from the Japanese word 蚊取 [katori], its Japanese counterpart (literally it’s “to get [取り] mosquito(es) [蚊]“). Discovered this by accident, as I came across 蚊 [ka] (mosquito) in the Kanzen Master kanji book I’m using for my JLPT1 studies, which eventually led me to 蚊取 [katori]. One little Google search was all it took to confirm my hypothesis: Mosquito incense = katol, so katori = katol?

“Katol is one of the few Japanese words that have entered Filipino vocabulary, although most do not know of its origin.”, according to the Tagalog Lang site. True enough, almost all of my officemates didn’t know this, and neither did I. Do you?

Makes me wonder if there are any other Japanese loan words in Filipino. Perhaps suka (vinegar) is one of them… 酢 [su] = vinegar => su-ka? *ba dum psh* In any case, feel free to share what you know about them Japanese loan words, may it be in Tagalog or other languages, it’ll make for a real fun discovery

Further Reading

On the Etymology of Arigatou, where I managed to confuse the heck out of people with all the kanji talk.

Fellow chef absolute0 also talked about the Etymology of Mouryou back when he was still blogging

1. Translated as: “Smokes like a dragon, mosquitoes are surely exterminated!”, done in the stereotypical speaking-Tagalog-with-an-American-accent way. Otherwise that line would’ve simply been “Dragon kung umusok… lamok siguradong tepok!”
2. The image became even more punny when 蚊噛み came to mind, something I made up on a whim. 蚊[ka] (mosquito) + 噛み[kami] (bite) = Kagami. Get it? Okay you may laugh now.

Related posts:

1. The Final Countdown Before the JLPT1 Doomsday
2. Nihongo Speech Files #2: How I Met Nihongo

The fangirls, fanboys, and otherwise, have said it. Kimi ni Todoke is the show of the season. Some curmudgeons remain curmudgeons, but oh well, such is life. What I’m about to show here are a portion of what bloggers have to say about Kimi ni Todoke (mostly first impressions), all for the sake of having a warm and fuzzy circle-jerk~ I can’t help but feel like a post scraper with this post though…

(Oh and all links open in a new window)

Anna-sempai talks about the charm that sets apart Kimi ni Todoke from other shoujo series:

I think the best part of Kimi ni Todoke is how it’s taking its sweet time. Sawako obviously has feelings for classmate Kazehaya, and vice-versa, but there’s no need to rush things. It’s really cute to watch these characters go through the awkwardness, the stumbling and blushing of young love. [...] High school is tough enough, but Sawako faces her situation with this matter-of-fact attitude: this is what I am, and if I keep trying and put myself out there, maybe people will warm up to me. Being a good person doesn’t hurt, and even the class mean girls recognize her good heart.

issa-sa tells us why Kimi ni Todoke ROCKS, and I could only heartily concur:

What sets Sadwako apart from the other hopeless shoujo protagonists (who conventionally could never end up with the lead male but in due course does so anyways to please the readers/viewers) isn’t her horror-film-esque aura (done before, and not even as well), but her own resolve in improving herself for the sake of generally being liked by the people around her who unjustly shun her for her outward appearance, and not specifically to be liked by the guy of her interest.

miz mentions her fears, but remains optimistic:

She better develop a backbone, and accept the friendship before tearing or getting shy all over the place. However, this may be the metamorphism of her character from a shy caterpillar to a butterfly, so I will be watching this series with a keen eye.

f3licity throws in her two cents and shows us More Reasons to Love Kimi ni Todoke:

Getting into a plot that focuses in great depth on the growing relationship between the main character and her female friends this early is a pretty unconventional move for a shoujo title. Regrettably, most of the time “friends” aren’t too much more than plot devices or comic relief in romance manga (of the non-magical girl variety at least). Yet another reason I love Kimi ni Todoke.

jeanniex1 thought some moments were cringe-inducing (obligatory shoujo scenes, anyone?), but quickly gets over that and points out one of the major reasons behind this anime’s current success:

As I’d hoped, I think I’m going to be liking this more as it goes on. And you KNOW that about 75% of the reason I’m watching it is because PRODUCTION IG is so awesome. I can’t say it enough. They are in a completely different league. I love them.

Of course, let’s not forget Ryan’s little blurb which brought quite a eureka! moment to a whole lot of people:

Subtle, is that which renders From Me To You my season gem.

I know Hinano thinks From Me To You is a rather f*cked up translation, but I guess we can quickly get over that

Minnie seemed to be one of the first few people to point out the similarities of Kimi ni Todoke with the jdrama Nobuta wo Produce, and both Ryan and jeanniex1 thought so too. I wasn’t exactly keen on watching Nobuta wo Produce, despite the positive responses I’ve seen, but now my interest is perking up++

Speaking of resemblances, Sawako also reminded k1y0 of Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge, a series which I have yet to watch. Someday perhaps, as with all my backlogs *sigh* k1y0’s probably one of the few fangirls out there in the ’sphere who could go KYAA and still churn out coherent and thoughtful posts on various series and an array of other topics. And to highlight a bit of her blurbs on Kimi ni Todoke episodes 2 and 3:

It’s been so long since a romance series make me squee like a little girl. One can’t help but cheer Sawako on when she tries to make friends with others, and feel their blood boiling when she gets discriminated against due to mere rumors.

As mentioned in the show, though Sawako feels that it is all thanks to Kazehaya, it is really all due to Sawako’s efforts and determination. [...] And I’m really thankful that this is not one of those romance series in which the lead characters are always agonizing needlessly over minor misunderstandings.

and yes, Peach Girl be damned.

kanzeon disses the Skip Beat anime adaptation, but sings a heap-load of praises to Kimi ni Todoke, so all is forgiven.

Like Cidz, I also loved the internal monologues of both Sawako and Kazehaya. Yummy yummy stream-of-consciousness *omnomnom* N-n-not like I have a f-f-fetish for it or a-anything, ok?!

Epi the shoujo fanboy swoons for KnT:

The fact that Sawako is known as ‘Sadako’ makes for a lot of fun jokes, and I hope that this aspect of the show doesn’t go away soon. I think it keeps things from being TOO mushy which can be overwhelming sometimes [...] by keeping things a bit lighthearted.

ETERNAL wasn’t WOWED, but felt the heart of the show, awakening his inner fluffy fangirl, as Choux puts it. Schneider hasn’t mentioned about it in his blog, but I’m sure he felt this too. :3

This series has awakened my inner fluffy fangirl, she’s not about to go away any time soon.

Even the first episode resonated with Author, who might have just met his inner fangirl. I can only hope he stands by it till the end:

Swayed by the exhalting posts, I gave Kimi ni Todoke a good try and giggled maniacally non-stop through the first 15 minutes of the episode. Also, squeaked “OH NOES SHE’S CHANGING COLOR” and such. No idea if this is my internal fangirl or what, I’ve never met her before. [...] As far as the story, too early to tell. Characters seem sympathetic, but again the dude is a big question mark. I’m not even certain I’ll stick with the series in the long run, but it was a good ride at the start.

Julius_Firefocht sees through Sawako’s inner and outer beauty and shows us why ota-Haruka pales in comparison to Sawako:

If I had to choose between Nogizaka Haruka or Sawako as the better Noto-voiced female lead, I would choose Sawako without batting an eyelid. Haruka is too “perfect” so to speak, while Sawako is a normal girl that is sweet and endearing. I felt more for Sawako in 2 episodes than I did for Haruka in 15 episodes, which is saying something.

Sawako wins the heart of comrade Crusader, and whereas I fail in showing my love for Noe, he succeeds just about every time:

Despite the lack of my kind of mecha it seems that I get a very promising shoujo series this season. Sawako is just darling as a little generator of fear forcing cowards to flee for the hills at a mere glance. Unfortunately she’d rather make friends with these cowardly types than cast them off a precipice of annihilation, but different strokes for different folks I guess. [...] Sawako gets a bit weepy now and then, but at least she is selfless, though at times overly selfless, so I can forgive Sawako’s True Tears for Noe likes them too.

ghostlightning thought Kimi ni Todoke wasn’t meant for him, but found it refreshingly nostalgic nonetheless:

What makes the show engaging to watch for me is how this world of high school love seems nostalgically ideal. [...] I wonder if there’s some dreadful twist that happens along the way. [...] But for now, I can’t imagine anything else but the slow days of growing love and self-discovery that plays out in this little show. Episode two gave us sunbeams through the trees, rain, and the colors of dusk on a wet landscape. The after school sun gives the world orange hues. Why worry about grades and the future now? It’s kind of the time for love.

Shinmaru falls in love with Sawako Kuronuma (who wouldn’t?!) and also talks about the gorgeousness of the 1st episode:

But even if the story is relatively basic right now, the episode makes up for it by being confidently directed and downright gorgeous. When Sawako describes to Kazehaya why she likes summer evenings, while the cicadas chirp in the background and a breeze flits through when Kazehaya stares up at the stars, it makes me want to go outside, sit on the grass and stare at the sky for a few hours.

He also tosses in his two cents on Kazehaya, and hopes he’ll become an even more interesting character later on. I hope so too! He makes me go KYAA, but it’s because he’s a wish-fulfillment character (as maAkusutipen also said) more than anything else. Apart from Sawako’s shadow, he’s not quite as… sparkling.

And what better way to show the said gorgeousness but with the actual lovely lovely eyecandies. Let Misu show you~

Hanners also falls in love with Kimi ni Todoke, JUST AS KEIKAKU.

There’s really a lot to be said for the way this series takes a lonely, borderline bullied girl, and turns it not into a depressing tale of misery and woe but into one of hope and positivity… [...] This, coupled with Kazehaya’s influence, leaves you rooting for the main characters right from the off, and as I observed last episode that’s quite unique in itself these days – A far cry from the Itazura na Kiss’s and White Album’s of this world. In fact, I can’t think of the last time a series like this left me with a constant smile on my face, and you know what? I really love Kimi ni Todoke for doing just that – Long may it continue.

QFT.

And while here we are racking our brains trying to figure out what sets Kimi ni Todoke apart from other shows, Mike of Anime Diet just blows us away with his insights — personal, thoughtful, insightful:

A lot of anime, maybe most these days, is wish-fulfillment for the socially awkward. What else is a harem show than a fantasy for the otaku who has a hard time finding any dates, let alone three or more? Kimi ni Todoke falls squarely in that camp; it’s hardly the brutally accurate emotional portrait of an Onani Master Kurosawa, Welcome to the NHK!, or Honey and Clover, at least not yet. The plotline so far is simple [...] It’s not the general premise that makes the show work. No, what sets Kimi ni Todoke apart is the exactness in its portrayal of both the social awkwardness and the ways the longings of such a person are fulfilled.

(This is an excerpt, please go to the post to read the awesome article in its full glory lol)

This, together with animewriter’s insights on the masks we wear makes me want to write my own personal account of Kimi ni Todoke, but I’m afraid I’ll end up spilling too much emo sh*t again. Anyways, here’s an excerpt from the said post:

Throughout our lives, we all wear masks of one form, or another. [...] As we meet people and interact with them, we slowly let our masks slip a little as they let their masks slip a little revealing to each other the whole person. The people who we allow to see fully under our masks become our friends, lovers, and spouses, but before that can happen, we have to have the courage to let our masks slip a little and let people into our lives.

Somewhere around the globe, Kimi ni Todoke also reaches Neomoonline:

A rather simple plotline, but here it doesn’t matter; the show succeeds all on its own. The characters, the school, the town, the score, right down to the poor little Sawako and the adorable man-moe Kazehaya. Also noteworthy, the anime is made by Production I.G. A show not to miss.

Seems like Kimi ni Todoke brought back polymetrica’s faith in weekly anime watching too.

It’s also interesting to see a number of people who aren’t exactly into this genre but still ended up warming up to the series. Like Noirsword, who was wowed, even though “school-life romance shoujo aren’t his thing”.

Someone doesn’t seem too happy with the way the anime is going, and longs for more conflict in the series, though it turns out to be a misunderstanding that has now been cleared up. I’d still say he’s being tsuntsun about Kimi ni Todoke though, lol.

Ahh, the ’sphere is a wonderful place to be~ ^_^

Related posts:

1. Kimi ni Todoke Reached My Soul: Sawako-chan is so SawayaKYAA~
2. Atashi ni Todoke: Revving Up the Engine With a Little Paradigm Shift
3. The Soothing Chamomiles of Kimi ni Todoke and Toshokan Sensou

As much as I hate to admit it, my reaction to watching Kimi ni Todoke is nothing out of the ordinary. I bet you guys have seen it coming, “Oh she’s a shoujo fangirl, and she likes Kimi ni Todoke. So? Isn’t that what fangirls do?” But much like the series itself, which (I’m sure people could ‘objectively’ agree with this, take away those rose-colored glasses first) isn’t anything groundbreaking, I thought, well, I’m not exactly here to exceed whatever expectations or do anything groundbreaking [in blogging/fangirling over this], right?

Something need not be groundbreaking for you to appreciate it, enjoy it, and love it. And no don’t give me that “I already know what’s going to happen from the start till the end of this series” bullsh*t because you obviously don’t know what you’re talking about. Search deeper, and you will find out what makes this a cut above the rest. Who would be so willing to dive in and actually get on with this quest: that is the question.

The moment you start labeling things as generic (in the negative sense of the word) and grow weary at the sight of scenes which you have “already seen a million times before”, it can only mean either (1) you’ve realized how much it sucks compared to how you’ve seen it before, now that you’ve become more knowledgeable about your taste, or (2) you’ve become numb and/or jaded that you no longer see the beauty that it once had.

In Kimi ni Todoke, we have a terribly misunderstood girl, who longs for nothing else but to break the walls-of-misunderstanding that’s keeping her from opening up to people and allow them to see her in a true light. We follow her throughout this Naritai Jibun Quest; she gains friends in the process — her support group — and somewhere along the way she realizes that her feelings of respect and admiration for the guy she looks up to is… something more. And they fall in love~ Not exactly the kind of premise that would instantly grab your attention once you hear it (except if you’re a shoujo fan of course), and yes, you’ve probably heard this story elsewhere, and you already know how it’s going to end etc etc.

But if you’d only take the time to dive in and discover this series for yourself, you’ll realize that there’s more to this than how I so uninspiredly described it. Not groundbreaking, but special; not the kind that would WOW you (I’d disagree with this because I was WOW-ed, but I’m afraid I’m biased, so…), but would thug your heartstrings nonetheless. Unless of course you’re like a certain grumpy blogger with a heart of stone (in the words of Author).

The true beauty of Kimi ni Todoke lies within, in the subtle moments which makes this series shine above others. moritheil also said something along these lines before:

“…if you’re talking about love, sometimes it’s the little things that make us realize we love someone or something.”

“Enjoy. Small. Things.”, as Ryan says.

In the end, I wasn’t able to pinpoint exactly what sets Kimi ni Todoke a cut above the rest. But rather than unsettling, I find this exciting. I’m drawn to this series far more than the rest of the Fall offerings, and up until now I’m still trying to find out exactly why. Perhaps it’s because of those special moments, or perhaps, something more. Either way, I’m just gonna have to continue watching, continue to be touched, until I find the answers. Yay for more excuses to continue watching this gem~

At one point, you’ve got to stop comparing what you’re watching with other animes (especially for purposes of proclaiming one to be better than the other) and simply appreciate it and love it for what it is, savor all its moments for what they’re worth. The same goes for love and relationships isn’t it? You can’t just benchmark and go on scrutinizing how the guy in your current relationship is better or worse than the guys from your past. It could very well be a sign that you still haven’t gotten over the past and have yet to completely let go. You might fall into the trap of using guys for rebound purposes if that’s the case, missing out on the bigger and more beautiful picture of it all.

Aaaand let’s end this post before we stray off any further from the topic. Here’s to hoping Kimi ni Todoke will be able to reach a whole lot more people

Related posts:

1. Kimi ni Todoke Reached My Soul: Sawako-chan is so SawayaKYAA~
2. Kimi ni Todoke: From Around The ‘Sphere to You
3. The Soothing Chamomiles of Kimi ni Todoke and Toshokan Sensou

Sawako-chan is so moeeeee~!! SawayaKYAA~

*ahem* Now where were we?

refreshing drink in your refreshing anime. *ba dum psh*

Sawako is one of the most refreshing shoujo protagonists I’ve seen in a long time (literally and figuratively), alongside Kyoko-sama of Skip Beat. She shares a bit of that Kyoko-ptimism, made lite-r and less exaggerated, which can either be seen as (1) not as comedic and lulzy, or (2) more realistic, down to earth, and just overall moe~~ (and can appeal to a more diverse group of audience)

issa-sa’s pretty much covered what makes Sawako awesome compared to other shoujo heroines *cough*Kotoko*cough* and why she ROCKS. I mean, where in the world of shoujo manga have you seen a girl who doesn’t let her world revolve around one guy, whose actions are driven by the noble desire to become a better person each day of her life? Not an ordinary sight, I should say.

After hearing the sentiments of eternal and Kiri, however, I feel the need to further elaborate on this refreshingness feeling, which I owe mostly to the pile of shoujo dung crap I’ve exposed myself to throughout the years. I guess I’ll deal with that in another post, and back to the topic we go.

It’s a rarity, to see a character with this balance of gentleness and strength in her, after which I didn’t want to barf at how inauthentic or unreal it seems. And if we were to argue on the realism vs. unrealism aspects of this series, I’d say the emotional realism is definitely there. As if crying as I watch each episode isn’t enough proof. Feel free to disagree if you must you apathetic orcs!

Belldandy and ota-Haruka might come to mind with the mention of “gentle but strong characters”, but these two girls strike me off as a little too idealistic, bordering on being nothing else but wish-fulfillment characters. And in the department of pathos, they fail hard, especially the latter. Yes I know, I wrote a worship-post dedicated to Haruka-chan before, also how she touched the otaku in me, but that’s mostly me filling the emotional gaps in the show, or feeling empathy despite the cheap emotional plot devices (scenes thrown simply to make you go ‘awww’, for a brief period of time, because what follows is a chock-full of pantsu). Sawako, on the other hand, touches my soul like no other, and when she gets to you, she really gets to you. Rose-colored glasses out, Sawako’s in, and she WINS. Feels like I’m comparing apples and oranges here, so uhh whatever.

In any case, I’m definitely on the same boat as Yoshida with regards to Sawako:

this sums up how I feel with every episode

Gotta wonder how Sawako grew up to be that pure and innocent despite her environment. How to raise up such a child, teach me~! It’s highly possible if one has a good upbringing, I guess, growing up with a warm & loving family and community. Because otherwise, it’ll be very very difficult, especially with all the negative influences right around the corner. Either way, having managed to ROW ROW FIGHT THE JUDGMENTAL SOCIETY (while retaining one’s goodness, humility, integrity, etc.) is certainly admirable.

Edit: Looks like animewriter’s got the answer to this one.

While Onani Master Kurosawa shows us how it’s like to get trapped inside your own narrow stall of introversion — introverts gone bad — Kimi ni Todoke shows us the ideal side of things. What happens when, despite everything around you — judgmental bitches and assholes who talk about you behind [and in front of] your back and form their own perception of you based simply on unfounded rumors, not the least bit compelled to even question if the said rumors are true — you remain brave and optimistic, level-headed at all cost, able to understand where people are coming from when they treat you the way they do (both positive and negative), and continue to persist in breaking down all those walls that distances you from the rest of the people? You get the feel-good and refreshing Kimi ni Todoke (or simply Sawako) as a resullt.

Sawako is, without doubt, as bluemist says: a genuinely angelic human being. She’s such a brave & pure-hearted innocent girl, and I can’t help but cheer her in her Naritai Jibun quest. Her greatest dream is, let’s just say, a lot like OMK’s Magister (in fact she is a Magister in the making, or more like Magister is her Naritai Jibun)…

People have built walls around them to shun the very existence of Sawako, but here she is, striving to bring down those goddamn walls. Sawako just wants to open up her heart and make friends with everybody, even with freaking bitches and fags who badmouth her. Truth be told, those stupid judgmental people don’t deserve whatever Sawako’s trying to do for their sake, like “No Sawako, you shouldn’t care about these lowlifes because they don’t know how to appreciate beauty (inside and out) even if it’s right in front of them!” Pearls before swine, so to speak. But Sawako is Sawako, and she won’t stop at nothing until she’s able to reach out to just about everyone.

I’m so glad P.I.G. is working on this, viva la Production I.G.!! So happy to see a shoujo adaptation get this treatment.

ghostlightning has already given us a glimpse of that P.I.G. magic at work, and the rest, you’re gonna have to see for yourself. To see is to believe and all that jazz.

But enough talk… Kimi ni Todoke is awesome. Highly recommended. I can only hope it’ll Reach You too.

P.S. I will do everything I can to blog this regularly, or semi-regularly. I failed at Cross Game, must not fail this time around. 絶対！ *shakes fist* Will find a way to balance watching/blogging this, and studying for JLPT1, on top of work.

Related posts:

1. Kimi ni Todoke: From Around The ‘Sphere to You
2. Atashi ni Todoke: Revving Up the Engine With a Little Paradigm Shift
3. The Soothing Chamomiles of Kimi ni Todoke and Toshokan Sensou

So I watched Miracle Train and something about it has been bugging me ever since.

The whole premise (or the lack thereof) of this show basically revolves around these train station bishies whose motto in life is: Bring back one lost girl into the light each day (or week, from our POV), so quick to assume that just because a girl is down and depressed, she NEEDS help. And not just any normal help, but that from a harem of bishies to aide her in her helpless state, like some stupid damsel in distress. FYI, I don’t need your help, inasmuch as I don’t need your protection.

FEAR MY ROD

And let’s get real here, if I were a girl who suddenly comes across this Legendary Miracle Train, on board are no one else but 5 guys who claim to be train stations (oh brother *facepalm*), one mysterious masked man and a loli, only two thoughts that can come to mind: (1) Holy Shi– Am I gonna get RAEPED (not to mention there are no security people around, or any other people outside this ‘mob’ who can help me!)?! or (2) They’re kind souls who were sent by the heavens to help a poor girl like me, my prayers have been answered! — more likely the first one.

While yes, statistics shows that acquaintance raep is more likely than stranger raep, this is a freaking special train we’re talking about, a train that could lead you just about anywhere, nowhere. And worse, there can be no way out of this train!

Yes, I know.

Remember kids, just because a guy is bishielicious and/or smexy and “kind” to you doesn’t mean he really is a kind soul. You’ll never know what runs in his mind. Be very cautious.

But hey, this is some crazy anime we’re talking about, which requires us to strap our Suspension of Disbelief gear in full throttle, so for the sake of “fun” and all that jazz, let’s just accept the fact that these bishies were sent by the heavens for ye poor weak girls.

Feel free to use me, but don’t fall ever in love with me.

Here comes another issue, though. After the problem’s solved, you’d think the guys (ok train stations, I stand corrected) will empower the girls such that they’d be able to solve their future problems by themselves and not depend on them, right? Like teaching a man how to fish for himself instead of just feeding him. Well, think again. Once they’ve solved the problem [of the week], they “bid goodbye” to the troubled lady with a “Come back if you’re feeling down *smile*”, as though they want these girls to forever use them as a crotch– I mean crutch. Shouldn’t they be saying, “We hope we won’t see you again here, woman!!1!!”?!

Shinjuku: Oi, stop blushing Shotadome, our cover will be blown!

So yeah, WTF, NO YOU, Miracle Train. Thank you for making me feel just how weak I am because I’m a girl. See, this is exactly why only girls are accepted in the Miracle Train, not because they’re special, but because they’re weak. Ugh. Or probably to cover up the real identity of these train station guys as homotrainsexuals *gasp* The troubled lady of the week is nothing else but a mere BL cover-up?! Or wait, is any cover up even necessary for that? Anyways. Damn series is getting into my feminist nerves.

P.S. Shinjuku and Roppongo are hawt. KYAA~ Even Shinn thinks so. From what I’ve heard, looks like Hinano and Aroduc’s got the hots for Shinjuku too, eh? zOMG we’ve got competition!

P.P.S. Looking forward to the day Kamen Conductor finally gets unmasked lol.

Related posts:

1. I Would So Ride The Miracle Train, If You Know What I Mean