HaNaYaMaTa

HanaYaMaTa is one of the cutest Moe anime I have watched in ages. Set in modern Japan it is about a group of jr. high aged girls who all are awkward or lonely somehow finding one another and finding confidence and happiness through yosaki dancing. Throughout the story the young characters collect their confidence while facing various trials.

One of my favorite parts about this anime was that the art style was GORGEOUS. Vivid pastels and beautiful backgrounds made for a stunning mix.

The end of the anime actually brought me to tears. It had such a touching sentiment of the meaning of friendship... a sentiment I have never really fully gotten to enjoy the feeling of like people often express feeling. I am glad it was only 12 episodes, it went to all the basic young girl trope locations (hot springs, beach, bathtub, school roof, karaoke) and anything more might have been over doing it.

The World is Still Beautiful

 The World is still beautiful is a female character centric fantasy anime, with very serious tones covered up by comedic moments. It centers around a young girl being sent by her father to marry a King. A very powerful king. (OK stop reading here if you don't want spoilers)

The  anime does an incredibly good job at focusing on the struggles of a royal person's life. The main female heroine, Nike comes from a laid back secretive country where it is always raining. Her people have magical weather powers, and are some of the only people in the world with magic. She travels to the land of the Sun King, to be his wife(which it later turns out was not suppose to happen) and finds herself betrothed to a dark boy with the soul of a man, who has let hatred swell over his heart. She spends a good portion of the anime showing him the meaning of beauty in the world.

One thing I really like about this anime is that it shows the unromantic sides of being royalty. The stresses of being relied on, the people trying to prove you wrong constantly, even the sadness of two people in love when they don't get to see one another because of other responsibilities. 

The funniest characters are probably the circle of old delgate men, who are lechers and think that they should be involved in everything. They are the comic relief that brings a giggle to your mouth even in the most serious of episodes.

In the end I really enjoyed this anime, because it tells the tale of a light hearted loving girl being forced to face acting like a royal delegate, and a serious heavy hearted boy finding joy in life. Like any healthy relationship, they balance each other and become a wonderful unit that is to be admired.

Clannad: Tomoyo Path

 Well THAT was an emotional trip. Clannad. The game that can make the most hardened warrior sob in their blankies. Well I can't say that Tomoyos route is an exception.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I started this route quite a while ago, and only just now finished it because for some reason I had it in my head that I would not enjoy this route. I had it wrong. Tomoyos story is touching and heart warming and leaves nothing to be desired.
The romantic aspects of it happen rather suddenly to be honest. One moment we were friends having lunch the next we were kissing. She comes to my home every morning to fetch me and drag me to school on time. My best friend and I are famous for being late and she is insistent that we come on time.

There is humor interlaced into the story, as she has a slight obsession with beating my best friend up, and a huge part of her plot is her abusing him for being an annoying prick.

The depth of the story comes when Tomoyo admits to you that she comes from a broken family where everyone is cold and unloving towards one another. They are family in name only, and she seeks the ability to smile and feel joy with her little brother. A little brother that because he was so miserable at his families lack of love tried to kill himself. She wants his first day at highschool to be a truely happy one with no tears, and is striving to be the student body councilor in hopes of saving the Sakura tree lane that they have to travel to on the way to school.  The feelings that flow through my body as I relate to her sadness at her family being cold and Tomoya(the main character)s equal sadness at the lack of his families love.  On a personal note my partner and I are both not close to our families. Events have happened that have left both of us feeling cold and alone in this world and like Tomoyo and Tomoya we realized that happiness and family is about the people who make up your family who are even just friends. Not the people who raised you.

The most heart wrenching part of this story for me is when Tomoya starts feeling depression over the fact he is stagnating and Tomoyo is popular and going to succeed his utter dispair at the fact and knowledge that she will graduate and leave him behind and that everyone will leave him behind took me to the moment when I was 18 and all my friends left. My best friend Ali was going to school and so was Janna, but there was a moment when Ali's parents divorced and the one thing I thought would stay constant. Ali's little brother Evan, left with her mother to Missouri. I was left feeling utterly abandoned and alone in life. I made terrible decisions trying to cure that sadness. Unlike my life, Tomoyo comes back and tells Tomoya that being without him was not worth the success to her and that she loved him. They end up back together.

 Before I play the next route on Clannad I think I will venture on to Tomoyo After and play my way through it at least once. Wish me luck. I am looking forward to the hentai elements that Clannad lacks and Tomoyo After offers :-p

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun

I watched this anime with the same enthusiasm I watch most Shojou anime. Which is actually quite a bit. I was hoping for a complicated romantic story with interesting characters and a thrilling plot. That is really not what I got. This anime almost qualifies as slice of life. It has no really defined ending. The plot arches are not wrapped up at the end of the anime. It feels a bit too much like just a blip from real life... but not really at all.

It is very hard to relate with the main character. Yes she is driven, but she is constantly succeeding and getting her way. Being the top person grades wise at your school is just this unheard of idea for me.

The secondary main girl was much more interesting.She was beautiful and hated guys for noticing this in her. Underneath her looks she really was a nerd, popular on BBS and good at working with technology and with that she didn't care about school (much more like a real girl IMO!)

Overall I give this anime a 2.5/5 stars. It was beautiful. It had potential. But it just fell short for me.

Usagi Drop

Usagi Drop has got to be one of the sweetest anime I have ever watched. It evokes emotions and feels every which way.  If you can make it through this anime without feeling anything you probably are the coldest human on Earth. No, seriously.

As someone who was adopted, and has spent most of my life feeling unwanted this anime absolutely hit home.

There were a few things that irked me. For one the opening sequence was pretty boring. I am a big sucker for a good opening. And this anime did not have a good one.  The music is not that exciting in the opening either.

But the actual anime is beautifully animated. The character interactions are adorable. If all children were like the little girl in this anime (or Nanako) I might be actually willing to consider having a child one day. *sighs* alas most kids are rotten creatures. I know I was.

The dynamics between the grandson and his very young aunt who he is taking care of are adorable. I love how he had never had to worry about anyone other than himself and suddenly finds himself having to open his eyes to a whole new world of caring for this little girl.

Solid 5/5 I wish they would make a 2nt Season to cover the rest of the Manga... Which goes into the little girls teenage years.

Trigun-Anime

Finally finished watching Trigun, after oh. You know... 14 years of being an anime fan girl. Talk about being behind the curve...

I watched this anime several times as a girl. But never to completion. My friends would rant and rave about it. But all I ever really saw when I tried to watch it as a girl were guns, ugly girls and an ugly planet. I never saw deeper into the story line during that part of my life.

Spoilers Ahead
So Tom finally made me finish it, and this anime did a good job making me hate humanity. Pretty much the entire anime is about a creature trying to save its race, which is enslaved to humans. And his naive brother foolishly protecting the very creatures who are destroying their own species.

I liked Knives. I can see good in other characters, but it hurts me how overpoweringly stupid the good characters tend to be. Good for the sake of good just gets other people killed. If your entire race was being killed off/enslaved by another... wouldn't you want to kill them and hate them?

Disgaea Anime: Or WHY DID YOU FUCK YOUR OWN STORY UP SO BADLY?!

I really was offended that they changed the story so much from the game. There was no reason to. NONE. The game slowly develops characters, they change over time. Some characters are introduced late, and leave soon, but are still dear.

In the anime they introduce all the main characters in the first two epiosodes. WHY!? They did not need to be introduced so soon. They even left out one of the most impactful lines of the game. For no good reason. Instead they just added needless stupid filler.

Son, I am disappoint.

 Final question. Why did they add an ENTIRE character who was not in the game!?!??