Ranked #2059

Meine Liebe Wieder

It's not Shonen-ai. It's not a romance. It's not action. There is no magic or monsters. What it is, is a quasi-historical drama/mystery/Bishonen-fest in the requisite elite prep academy in the fictional Kingdom called Kuchen.

Meine Liebe Wieder continues where Mein Liebe left off, manages to be a bit better but still fails to live up to its tremendous potential. None the less, I liked it. There is a certain seriousness about it and it poses some deeper questions arising from the clash and a blending of traditional and modernist views of society, social rank, pride, and honor prevalent in post WWI and pre-WWII Europe. . . . . if you take it with several very large grains of salt, that is. It is Anime after all. Clothing styles are more late 1800's but the mixing of horse drawn vehicles, automobiles and zeppelins, and absence of electricity, is actually fairly believable. There is angst aplenty, conspiracy, dirty politics, double dealing, power plays, and more, while the beautiful young men work to keep one member of the group from being expelled, another from being taken to task for something far worse, and well, generally saving the kingdom as a whole.

The sound track for MLW was, thankfully, better than the first but still far from good. The OP and ED, although better than the first, still fails to match the mood of the story.

The settings are beautiful. A moody pallet sets an atmosphere for mystery, the character designs are great, and the story is fast paced. The characters behave in a solemn, aristocratic manner appropriate to the time and place. There is verbal fencing as well as that with swords. As stated before, I liked it but, as enjoyable as it was, it left something on the table that I think was plot and character development. I give it an 8 because it is better than a seven. read more