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Uta no Prince-sama was originally a dating simulation game which has been adapted into an anime and manga. It’s a reverse harem which is basically a whole lot of bishi guys, the main female protagonist and her one female friend who really has no point or purpose in being there asides from stopping Nanami from looking like some friendless loser.
So why a 6? It’s not that I hated this anime, in fact most people would thoroughly enjoy it, it’s not bad, but at the same token it’s not great. It has a lot of floors which I just couldn’t look past despite enjoying bishie’s.
First off the whole theme and feeling of the anime is off, it tries to invite you to this real shoujo loving land where the background music is lovey dovey piano pieces, the progression is slow and there is a lot of wide shots, yes its trying to build atmosphere. Yet it fails because as soon as we’ve settled into a shoujo feeling, sitting on clouds, sipping tea mood, we are hit with up beat pop songs, quirky actions from the bishie characters and what appears to be an attempt at a ‘cool’ anime feel.
This really shouldn’t have been done, the mixture of most of the time piano background tunes to pop songs is just really awkward, not to mention after watching the boring Nanami talk about her grandmother for the majority of a shot to suddenly swing to a joke being had by one of the male characters, just kills it. You can’t enjoy that joke because you’ve become so bored by Nanami.
They honestly should have cute out all the over the top shoujo feel and background piano tunes and shortened the shots considerably because a lot of the time while I’m watching Nanami seemingly do nothing I feel like fast forwarding anyway.
Why? Because she’s got to be one of the most boring, lifeless, spineless shoujo character’s I have ever come across. The writers attempt at a sweet, grandma loving girl is completely over the top, and in real life a guy wouldn’t take a second look at a girl who seems like such a blank book.
It really hit me how much I loathed this character in Ren’s episode, while he’s being a prissy weakling ripping his lyrics up into tiny little pieces of paper and letting the wind carry them off this high castle like balcony to the large garden of the academy. (Realistically speaking, such a gust of wind would carry those pieces of paper’s kilometres away...) Nanami perks up ‘I will go find your lyrics for you!’ is she STUPID?! That’s completely impossible! But hey, this is shoujo…nothing is impossible. She spends her whole night finding these pieces of paper until sunrise.
Was this meant to make me feel heart warmed towards her? It did the absolute opposite.
Now, there is a saving grace to this anime, because if I looked past the girl character I could concentrate on the bishi guys, some who are actually pretty damn hilarious. My favourite was instantly Ittoki, he was refreshing and hell we needed it after the first episode of Nanami! Then there was Shou the short and fiery fellow who’s always getting teased by his roommate Natsuki (obsessed with cute small things), who if you take the glasses off of turns into his dark side Satsuki. I adored these characters!
That said I found all the other guys either boring, arrogant or in Ren’s case a total loser.
The art is also pretty damn good, and despite Nanami having no personality to boot she’s good to look at. The artists obviously put a lot of effort into the background and the lighting. So it’s always very aesthetically pleasing.
Finally what kept me hooked asides from those loveable character’s I mentioned was the music! I really loved some of the tunes done by the idols and it left me wondering who sings them in real life. I did bob along in my seat to the songs and rewind to watch them again. I really love how each song matches that character who is singing it, and I always looked forward to the next idol’s song and seeing what they came out with!
Really sorry if this review upsets you hardcore fans, I’m just being honest with my opinions and justifying them the best I can. I will finish watching this series, for those three characters I adore and the idol music!
(But I really, REALLY wish they gave Nanami some kind of quirk!)
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I've recently finished reading Kekkaishi and it's the first shounen manga I've read by a female mangaka, the mangaka being Tanabe Yellow. The most outstanding thing about Kekkaishi is the story. Like other shounen's such as Bleach and Naruto it starts with the basis of completeing missions, finding out small truths and the spoof chapters for humour. Though throughout the process small hints of a bigger plot start to come out, keeping the reader intrested. Tanabe Yellow unlike alot of other mangaka's doesn't go off track, although she keeps up the twists and turns, constantly making the reader question whos the real evil guy or what's going to happen next. She sticks to the main plot, always answering questions before raising too many. Kekkaishi ends at 345 chapters, and I put this to the fact that she stuck to her original story completely, she thought Kekkaishi out impeccably well. This is what makes Kekkashi so enjoyable, its not long winded and confusing, and it has a plot it sticks to.

The Character's are likeable, especially Toshimori the main character, he isnt an unreasonable powerhouse. Infact he's actually pretty hopeless throughout most of the manga. He's a believeable character who the reader can relate to. His brash behaviour, obsession with protecting Tokine and love of baking cakes are just a few of his loveable characteristics.
Tokine the female lead of the manga is older then Toshimori, and completely his opposite, where he is brash, she is thoughtful. Where he is clingy, she is distant. But their relationship between eachother is one of the main things that makes kekkaishi so pleasurable to read.

The only thing lacking in Kekkaishi in my opnion is art, it's good don't get me wrong. But not as detailed and in depth as I would have liked. Up against other mainstream shounen manga's the art is just as good. Yet for such a different and out on its own manga like this, with better art it could become even more special.

Overall, if you're looking for something different, that will keep you hooked and won't leave you thinking 'what the hell' because it went off the track. Then kekkaishi is what you are looking for!! read more