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Slayers Return, also known as Slayers The Movie 2, is the second movie in the Slayers franchise. Animated by J.C. Staff, it was released in August of 1996 and has a runtime of just about sixty minutes. Chronologically, it takes place sometime after the first movie, Slayers Perfect.

The gist of the plot is that an evil organization called Zein is looking to obtain an artifact from a small village, Biaz. To that end they have enslaved the citizens of the village, and it’s up to Naga and Lina to save them – though of course Lina is mainly interested in fulfilling her own goals.

Slayers Return ... is a lot more enjoyable to watch than Slayers Perfect; it’s funnier, for one thing, and the character interactions are amusing to watch. There’s not much for character development – Lina, Naga, and the rest are pretty stagnant – but let’s face it, we watch Slayers for comedic moments and parody, and character growth is optional (though not completely unwanted). Thus, the lack of metamorphosis is not a bad thing at all.

The scriptwriter is nothing to sneeze at; while Slayers Return takes place before the animated television series, and is pretty much a part of a series of episodes involving Naga and Lina’s adventures, it can absolutely be watched as a stand-alone work. It makes no references to either the previous movies or OVAs, or to the television show. That being said, there’s nothing wrong with being familiar with the characters beforehand, and honestly, it would probably bolster your enjoyment of the movie a lot.

Technically speaking, the palettes used in Slayers Return are pretty dark. However, the animation is fairly fluid most of the time bar jitteriness during running scenes. Fight scenes themselves are pretty well-animated. There’s also a good amount of detail in many frames. Characters look just like themselves and the movie-only cast have pretty good designs.

Soundwise, the movie is fairly average. The OST is all right, though not very memorable in my opinion. It does its job for the most part. I will say I did like Slayers Return's soundtrack more than Slayers Perfect's. The movie features a vocal track sung by Hayashibara Megumi and Kawamura Maria. It’s entitled Just Be Conscious and plays during the credits. It's a very enjoyable song to listen to and it's definitely the highlight of the soundtrack. It certainly bolsters up the sound rating.

Overall, Slayers Return is a nice little standalone title that I certainly liked watching, and I’d recommend it to any Slayers fan.

Let's be honest: I'm not really a fan of sports anime. Or anything that revolves around sports. More to the point, I'm just not a very competitive person, physically. Give me an essay topic and I'll try my darn hardest to prove I can write better than my opponent. Give me some math questions, and I'll melt my brain from the stress of making sure I don't make a single error. When it comes to brain games, I am a perfectionist. But the moment I felt pressured to be better than my fellow ballet classmates, my inspiration and desire to go further trickled away and ... vanished. The moment I understood that my tae kwon do classes weren't just for recreation, they were for competing with my other colleagues, I just completely lost interest. It is not my forte, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. That's why I so very much wanted Chihayafuru to prove me wrong – to show me that sports anime can be just as good and captivating as any other despite my lack of interest in the subject. The show certainly started off with a bang.

The main character, Chihaya, is in high school. A meeting with a former elementary school classmate of hers prompts a flashback that extends across several episodes, detailing her previous history with this classmate and, more specifically, the start of Chihaya's passion for an unusual sport – karuta. Karuta not only requires physical prowess, it also requires you to use your brain, constantly: the basis of the game is the memorization of one hundred poems. Only fifty of these are used in any one game. The cards that are used by the players in karuta contain the second verse of the poem. To put it in a nutshell, a reader recites the first verse of a particular poem. You grab the card that has the second verse of that poem. It sounds simple, and in a way it is, but it takes a lot of training to become good at karuta.

I suppose you can guess why even I wondered if I would want to play karuta – the mental aspect interested me. Not only that, but I was taken in by the way the anime showcased Chihaya's love for karuta. In addition, I also liked that it touched upon different forms of love for the same hobby and passion: one of Chihaya's high school classmates is a girl named Kanade, who adores karuta, not because she is particularly competitive, but because she likes the poems, and the history and meaning behind each and every one. The variety and carefulness with which the anime presented its theme held my attention. I definitely found myself liking the characters, and by episode eight, I found myself cheering them on. Even the card game matches were exciting. I was nervous, hoping one of the main characters would win, hoping that things would go well.

But things started going downhill when I realized that, by episode twenty, I knew pretty much nothing about any of the characters. Let’s start off with Chihaya, the titular main character. She is obsessed with karuta. Part of this is arguably because it was the first hobby she actually started to like. As a child, her only dream was to see her older sister become a famous model, but a chance meeting in elementary school with a boy named Arata sparked her passion. Seeing how good Arata was, Chihaya wanted to be as good as him, perhaps even surpass him. Arata himself is a bit of a mixed bag. He is characterized as a stoic young man who has a similar passion for karuta, although he hasn’t been playing as much as he used to due to a tragedy in his family. Taichi is Chihaya’s childhood friend, and in elementary school, he used to bully Arata, but has since then formed a grudging respect for him. Then there is Kanade, a female classmate Chihaya and Taichi meet in high school, along with Nishida. I’ve already mentioned Kanade, and Nishida is an overweight boy who, similar to Chihaya and Arata, has a love for karuta.

“But senpai, you told me so much about those characters!” Yes, but did you notice that I didn’t include much of their personality traits? That is because they don’t have a lot. They feel bland and, ultimately, uninteresting, which is a huge problem in an anime that is more character-driven than plot-driven. The anime definitely does not spend much time fleshing out its characters. Some interesting sub-plots that were brought up at first – such as Chihaya’s awkwardness and inability to talk to her parents about her hobby – are ultimately cast aside later on as if they never existed. I would have liked to see Chihaya opening up about her passion, especially since she is supposedly so good at karuta and is progressing in all these championships and matches. What do her parents feel about her going on so many trips to play karuta? What about her sister? We’re not privy to any of that. Similarly, we don’t know anything about Taichi or Nishida’s familial life. Arata seems to live on his own, and the only thing we know about Kanade is that her mother supports her, if only because she is present at some of the karuta matches later on.

What is more, is that the love plot feels artificial. Watching the first episode, you can probably guess pretty quickly that Taichi has a crush on Chihaya. That actually develops a bit throughout the series, since by the last couple episodes, Taichi admits this to himself. Chihaya, on the other hand, has a long-standing crush on Arata. The problem is that there doesn’t seem much of a reason for her to have this crush. Don’t get me wrong: I’m all for unrequited romances, and to some extent I can sort of understand her idealization of Arata. But, it sort of loses steam when she emails him and texts him, and he never replies. Not even when he actually sees the emails. There is one scene where he asks Taichi to give Chihaya his cell phone number, to which Taichi responds that he should do it himself. But we don’t know anything about what happens after that scene. We don’t know how Chihaya got Arata’s phone number. The scene just sort of ends and progresses on to the next one. To put it simply, Arata shows pretty much zero signs of being interested in Chihaya. In fact, he has a closer relationship with Taichi than anything else. I’m honestly guessing that the second season will reveal that he has a crush on him.

Back to karuta, though, since that is the main shtick of this anime: the matches, at first, are interesting. However, later on, they get rather repetitive and predictable. You could argue that in a game consisting of two players battling one another, there are only two possible outcomes, but you could still make it more interesting. Chihaya is supposed to be a good player, but she is always so amazed and taken aback by her opponents that I wonder where all these good players were. Why were they hiding in the woodwork? Taichi’s matches were overall more interesting than Chihaya, mainly because he tends to keep his cool and focus on the match, unlike the main female protagonist.

Another thing that I take contention with is that Chihaya is in group A, the rank that composes the best players in karuta. We are told early on that it is very difficult to get into group A. Chihaya then gets into group A. She must be a really good player, right? Maybe, but we don’t see much of it. She commits so many faults, makes so many mistakes, and loses so many rank A matches that I find it hard to believe she could even obtain A rank in the first place. Maybe the point is to show that she is talented at karuta. That is fine and dandy, but if you tell me a character is good at karuta and then show them being completely flabbergasted later on, you are not doing a very good job of convincing me that they are worthy of being in the group with the best players. Taichi and Nishida are far more believable A rank material.

Arguably, the thing I liked the most about Chihayafuru is its focus on different ways you can enjoy karuta, and finding your own reasons to be passionate about it. These aspects are applied to karuta, and other sports by extension, but they certainly don't need to be. They can also apply to a whole lot of other things, such as hobbies, school, and, really, anything else you need or want to focus on. That was something I thought was really interesting, and it was a nice theme throughout the show as a whole.

Chihayafuru’s OST is nothing to really write home about; it’s there, and it works when it needs to, but I didn’t find myself looking up the soundtrack to listen to them again. The opening theme is YOUTHFUL, performed by 99RadioService; like the band name, it’s a serviceable OP, but not completely my cup of tea. I liked the ending theme a lot more – a song called Soshite Ima by Asami Seto. The seiyuu for the most part do a good job. I couldn’t really discern any voices I liked in particular, although I certainly recognized some of the voice actors and actresses.

The art and animation is really where the show shines; Madhouse always does a good job, and Chihayafuru is no exception. The colours are bright, the character designs are very likable, and the animation is fluid. There are occasions where CGI is used, but it is never jarring or distracting, and fits in well for the most part.

Overall, Chihayafuru starts out very well, but ultimately loses steam in the long run. I can’t say whether or not it’s a good sports anime as a whole, since I don’t watch many at all, but I certainly enjoyed it as long as it managed to be engaging for me. In the end, I’m not certain I would recommend it to those who want to try the genre out, so I’ll leave that to people more knowledgeable in other sports-oriented titles. It was good while it lasted and would have definitely benefited from tighter and more consistent storytelling, in my opinion.

Science-fiction has got to be one of my favourite genres. Some of my most beloved books are sci-fi, and it doesn't take much sifting through them to figure out what I like. I love the meshing of human and alien cultures; seeing how they interact with one another and how they compare and contrast is one of the most fascinating parts of those sort of books, in my opinion. Spaceship battles take a back seat – while they can be interesting, I have to be invested in the characters first. That's what psychology and the glimpse of a well-written and imagined society give me: grounds ... to care for the characters, relate to them, and become concerned for their fates. So when I heard that Seikai no Monshou, or Crest of the Stars if you prefer the English title, combined science-fiction, politics, and romance, naturally, I was sold. Unfortunately, the end result proved to not be so captivating.

The series follows the main protagonist, Jinto, and his tribulations as he deals with becoming a nobleman of the Abh empire despite being a regular human. For the sake of simplicity, the Abh are basically space elves, although it's stated that they were descended from humans many years before. The second protagonist is Lafiel, a princess of the Abh empire and a full-blooded Abh herself. Naturally, one predicts they'll get together, but this is presumably reserved for later seasons. This one mainly focuses on the pair as they find themselves in the middle of a war between the Abh empire and an anti-Abh sect of humans.

Jinto is a scholarly, reserved young man looking to fit in; Lafiel is a blunt but honourable young woman who also wishes to fit in. Both feel incompetent or useless in their respective societies and circles. As such, they are similar yet dissimilar, and that ought to be more than enough grounds for their interactions to be compelling and interesting. Unfortunately, they aren't; the way Seikai no Monshou pans out, their actions and turmoils are highly insignificant in comparison to anything else. I'm left feeling dysphoric and completely uninterested in what Lafiel and Jinto are doing – even bored. I usually have no problem whatsoever with slow pacing; indeed, I hardly notice it unless it is pointed out to me. Seikai no Monshou's pacing is almost as painful as trying to swim in molasses, and left me yawning distractedly as I wondered when the episode would end.

One of the main problems the series has is that we have little to no reason to empathize with the main characters, partially because we hardly know anything about them. They simply react to the situations they are put into; as viewers, we feel detached from the action. To make matters worse, the anime pushes too many ideologies and too much information on us to be realistically manageable. This is usually achieved by a narrator at the start of each episode, reciting some explanations or historically significant event that seems, at the very best, loosely connected to the episode itself. I have no problem with politics and intrigue; in fact, I think it can be fascinating if done well, but Seikai no Monshou makes no effort to connect us to the information it is spewing at us.

Let's get a book as an example, shall we? C.J. Cherryh's First Contact series is, in a superficial way, similar to Seikai no Monshou (part of the reason I was so eager to start the anime in the first place). The books are centred around a human male protagonist and his experiences and trials as he learns to coexist in a completely alien culture. Politics play a large role in this series, but it is interesting, because the main character is involved and affected by the goings on around him. Not to mention, he's also a pretty capable politician. Seikai no Monshou doesn't do this. Instead of making the main characters a part of the intrigue, allowing us to learn with them and make connections with events ourselves, we are treated to a cheap form of exposition that does nothing at all to make us empathize or sympathize with, well, anyone, really. There is far too much “telling” me things, and not enough “showing”.

Luckily, episodes 9 and up are far more interesting and engaging than the previous ones. The sole reason for this is that Lafiel and Jinto actually get a bit of a breather and are able to interact with one another. In addition, they commingle with other people and have to figure out how to survive on a planet occupied by an army who does not like Abhs. That isn't to say that they didn't interact with people before; it's just that the majority of them were Abhs, and most of the interactions took place in spaceships. The problem, then, is that Abhs just aren't very interesting. I considered if this was because the Abhs can be thought of as quite “alien” and thus inaccessible, since they think vastly different from us lowly humans. However, upon further examination, I realized that this was simply not true. Plenty forms of fiction can make aliens different and perfectly strange, but still interesting. Thus, one's indifference to the Abh race can only be constituted as a product of poor writing.

Despite all this, when the anime skips all the dreary exposition, the battles in space that just feel like a time filler, and the dull character interactions, it can actually be pretty good. It does a decent job of building up a general idea of the atmosphere in the first two episodes, and, as stated before, the final four to five episodes are truly enjoyable and do make me more interested in the rest of the series. Overall, though, it would be best not to get your hopes up too much. It's a childish and draggy show at its core. Hopefully, the remaining seasons will redeem it. Since the anime was adapted from novels, I imagine that they handle the topic and plot far better.

Seikai no Monshou's soundtrack is quite good. Composed by Katsuhisa Hattori, it is very orchestral in nature and feels very “classical”. The opening theme is especially worth mentioning; it is a purely instrumental piece that is very pleasing to the ear and gets you excited for the episode to come, at least for the first couple times you hear it. The rest of the soundtrack, while more than satisfactory, tends to feel out of place in the grand scheme of things. It's rather as if the anime tries to feel more epic and sophisticated than it actually is. The ending theme is highly reminiscent of a ballad. Called Ushinawareta Aozora and performed by TimeSlip-Rendzvous, I personally wasn't too fond of it, but it's an acceptable bit of music. As for the voice actors, I didn't particularly find vexation with any of them, but I wasn't blown away, either.

Sunrise's artwork is honestly very hit-or-miss. The colours are typically bland and not all that eye-catching. There are scenes where the drawings are beautiful, but those are fairly few. More often than not, the characters look awkward, overly kiddish (and by that, I mean the art makes it seem like the anime's demographic is six year olds), or just plain deformed. The spaceship designs are pretty nice, though. Simply put, the art does its job, and while it's mediocre at times, it can occasionally impress.

Overall, Seikai no Monshou is an acceptable science-fiction show, and while it certainly won't have you on the edge of your seat, it's all right if you want to whet your appetite for aliens. What it doesn't offer is strong character relationships or an interesting plot, but it's all right for what it does. You could certainly do worse. Who knows, it might be the prelude to a truly epic tale that blows all the competition right out of the water – but for now, it's a pretty lacklustre start for the series as a whole. Tentatively recommended.

It's always a big letdown when highly-anticipated sequels end up being less than what you were hoping for. Such is the case with O.B., also called Occupation to Beloved, by Nakamura Asumiko. This manga is the sequel to Sotsugyousei, which is the sequel to Doukyuusei, and it starts off with the full expectation that you have read these previous works. Thus, it's advised that you do.

Why, exactly, am I so disillusioned by O.B.? Its prequels were slice of life manga, detailing the growth of the two main characters as they came to terms with their relationships and their desires for the future. O.B. promised, ... in some regard, to be something similar. I don't mind fluff, and I don't mind a lack of drama. What I do mind, however, is cliches and silliness in a manga that I had come to know did not contain any of them.

What lack of originality am I speaking of? Well, for one thing, of course one of Sajou's presumably straight male classmates develops a crush on him. Of course. Now, this isn't something that is hard for me to believe; what is merely annoying is that of course every vaguely important character is gay even if they didn't realize it at first. Not only is this trope overused in the yaoi genre, it's also predictable and boring. I wouldn't have been half as annoyed if the character brought to focus had been female, and I wouldn't have been annoyed about this at all if this plot aspect wasn't used in the first place. It literally does nothing to further the story whatsoever and ends up feeling like filler.

What's worse is that O.B. doesn't even focus on its previous main characters all that much. I like one shots as much as the next person; they can often be cute, interesting, or just plain good. That is not the case if I don't care about the characters or like them at all. The manga's only saving grace regarding this aspect is the fact that it brings in characters from previous volumes that I actually was curious about. However, the one shots also bring completely minor characters into focus – characters I had utterly forgotten about and, to make matters worse, did not come to enjoy reading about.

The thing that makes reading O.B. worth it is the sprinkles of sugary sweetness that Sajou and Kusakabe haul about with them. However, it's a pretty bad sign if the side characters get more development and insight than the main characters. We leave O.B. knowing nothing new about either Sajou or Kusakabe; but we do get to know Satoshi and Hibiki a little more intimately. Other than that, that's pretty much it. I will give O.B. credit for giving Sajou and Kusakabe's side of the story a bright conclusion – although it's somewhat similar to Sotsugyousei's ending, anyway.

One positive is that, at least, I've finally figured out what word I want to use for Nakamura-sensei's art style: minimalist would be a grand adjective for it. It's still the same, stylistic, wispy art we grew familiar with in the previous instalments of the series. Backgrounds are generally minimal. There are some panels where it's difficult to figure out what is going on. There are occasions where the anatomy just looks really, really off.

In the end, O.B. is disappointing if you're hoping for anything new regarding the previous series' main characters, but if you're interested in Hibiki and Satoshi, who made brief appearances in the spin-off Sora to Hara, it might just be worth the time spent.

A pretty common complaint about romance anime is that the romance aspect – that is, the main attraction of the show – is slow to develop and the characters take an eternity to get together. Oftentimes, we have drama and comedy taking up screen time of what could be couples fawning over one another and going out on dates. To some people, that means that the bulk of a romance anime is filler, with the characters only getting together or confessing in the last few episodes – and sometimes, not even then! (Kimi ni Todoke, anyone?) Then came along Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji, where ... the main characters get together in the first episode – oh, no, wait, I'm mistaken. They're actually faking it. Sorry to get your hopes up! But wait, there's more. They do drop the faux couple act later on...it's just a matter of whether or not you'll have the patience to actually stick with it to the end. And I'm not promising you'll enjoy it, even if you do, for the simple fact that it takes some amount of distance to like this anime.

Shinohara Erika is a bit different from the usual shoujo main character. She's simple-minded and dense, true, but she also has an enormous yearning to fit in with her peers. Additionally, she's not afraid to tell a lie to do so. Erika wants to be accepted and loved so much that she is quick to fall head over heels for anyone who shows even the slightest bit of kindness to her. She's very gullible and very eager to please. That actually makes her a somewhat well-rounded protagonist; at least she's well-developed enough that she is believable and even understandable. I'm sure we all know someone who is a little (or a lot) like Erika in some ways. What is a bit less believable is her single-minded, almost self-destructive thirst to be accepted, but hey, there are people like that, too.

Sata Kyouya, on the other hand, adopts the persona of a “kindhearted prince”, when in reality he's a cold, sadistic individual. Calculating and observant, he's the sort that likes to know he has complete control of himself and his surroundings. He doesn't really understand emotions or romance, mainly because, as a child, a particular event caused him to become extremely closed off and reproachful of anyone who tried to get close to him. While it doesn't excuse his actions in any way, shape, or form, it definitely helps one understand his actions. There's almost nothing sadder than a home that lacks a mother, and that lack of presence is felt. Over the course of the anime, he becomes less of a cold bastard and more simply a reserved, introverted individual. In that regard, he's a bit original, even though he does display some tsundere traits.

So, what brings this unlikely duo together? During the first day of high school, Erika meets two girls in her class. Desperate for friends, she nearly trips over her own two feet to integrate herself into their group. This entails being “just like them” and having a boyfriend of her own. A few months into the semester, though, her newfound “friends” are already beginning to smell her lie – especially since Erika doesn't have a single picture of her boyfriend to show them. One day, Erika sees a cute guy on the street and decides to take a picture of him, playing him off as her boyfriend. Only problem is that the guy she takes a picture of happens to be the “prince” of her school, Kyouya, and her friends recognize him almost immediately. This leaves her no choice but to ask Kyouya to pretend to be her boyfriend. He agrees, but for a price: she has to be his “dog”.

I ought to be shaking my fist, right? I ought to loathe this anime along with the likes of Itazura na Kiss, Diabolik Lovers, and Mitsu x Mitsu Drops, right? Problem is, I don't. It takes a particular person to laugh at the jokes and humour in Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji, and a particular viewpoint, and if you fit neither, it's safe to say you'll hate this anime. However, this anime is a lot more tolerable than those of the same ilk – for one thing, Kyouya isn't a psychopath like Irie Naoki of ItaKiss. He's not doing the things he does because he genuinely wants to hurt her, he genuinely has no understanding of the fact that she's affected to the extent that she is. In fact, by the end of the anime, it's made pretty clear that he's trying his damned hardest to break down his own inner walls and inhibitions and be more affectionate to Erika. He just doesn't know how, darn it. I'm not the greatest at showing my emotions, either. I can hardly blame the guy. I'm betting he's an INTJ. We INTJs always have problems with those flimsy, abstract things.

Now, I'm not excusing his actions, and if I were Erika's friend, I'd tell her to break it off with Kyouya. But Erika herself doesn't seem to want to. She's given multiple opportunities to break it off with him, and never takes them. Even when she's been separated from him for days, she still decides, of her own volition, to go back to him, because she still likes him no matter what he does. As she herself states, she likes him because of who he is, and changing even a single part of him wouldn't make him the same person anymore. If he makes her genuinely happy and he isn't forcing her to be with him, then who I am to judge? I certainly can't go about forcing my ideals on others.

Plus, let's face it: not everyone's perfect, and not everyone is going to know exactly what's right and wrong to do in a relationship. The anime is basically the beginning of their adventure with something called “dating”, and forgive them if they don't know how to swim in deep water right away. Also, believe me: Kyouya's behaviour toward Erika gets a million times better in the manga, especially when you compare him to the first couple episodes of the anime.

If you don't have a sensitive skin and aren't the type to go social justice on everything, even the moments where Kyouya “scolds” Erika can actually be fairly amusing. At least, I found myself chuckling a few times upon my rewatch of the anime. In any case, there are times everyone has disagreements, and our main characters are no exception. Of interesting note is the fact that the anime brings up morals and conduct quite a bit, and really likes to pose the question of what is or isn't all right to do. Of course, one's mileage may vary, and the point of the matter is that there are different ways to approach love and romance, and making mistakes is fine so long as you realize what you're doing wrong and try to fix it. Neither Kyouya nor Erika are innocent in this regard. Erika, for her part, has a highly rose-coloured view of love, and Kyouya has a fairly negative impression of it. And Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji is what you get when those extremes clash.

Since this is only a twelve episode anime, we don't have that many side characters. They are mainly Sanda Ayumi, Erika's best friend; Marin and Tezuka, the two girls Erika meets in her class; and Takeru, Kyouya's friend from the middle school era. Of course, there are other characters as well, but they hardly get enough screen time or development to be considered truly important. A couple are only introduced for one episode and then forgotten. That being said, that doesn't mean the other characters develop at all. They're static. Marin and Tezuka are introduced as two girls who constantly talk about their boyfriends, and that's who they are in the end. Sanda relentlessly offers Erika advice and informs her that she is a masochist for putting up with Kyouya's behaviour – that doesn't change, either. Takeru is introduced as a guy full of a manly sense of justice, and he doesn't change one bit. That doesn't meant they're bad characters, though, since the majority of the character development comes from Erika and Kyouya. Mostly Kyouya.

The opening theme is a vaguely catchy number by SpecialThanks, called LOVE GOOD TIME. The vocalist has a somewhat slurry, “rock and roll princess” sort of accent that immediately reminds me of Full Moon wo Sagashite's openings (both of which are by THE*SCANTY). The song itself is rather upbeat, but not necessarily memorable, apart from the singer's voice. The ending is Ookami Heart, sung by Oresama. It's pretty average stuff as well. The whole soundtrack is just quite mediocre; while I didn't notice any overly obvious usage of repeated tracks, there were several moments where I found myself thinking, “oh, this sounds just like a theme I heard in ___”. In short, while the music isn't extravagant, it does its job just fine. The Japanese voice actors are pretty good. They really fit with the characters they were meant to represent.

The art is nice and clean. Typical shoujo fare, really. The guys are good-looking and the girls are cute. Sparkles and bubbles abound. When the animation isn't focused on those, it's pretty fluid. TYO Animations does a pretty good job! Thankfully, there isn't a surplus of chibi/super-deformed segments, which jives just right with me, since I'm not usually overly fond of those. One interesting thing to note is that Ookami Shoujo tends to animate talking heads over backgrounds during extended character interaction scenes. By that I mean, if two characters are sitting at a table and talking, often, the “camera” will display a wide, blurry shot of the scene, and the busts of the characters will be added over top. Something similar is done with extended walking or travel scenes; just the legs of the character in question are shown while the scenery changes. Just something I noticed.

Overall, while Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji definitely can provide entertainment, laughs, and “the feels”, it's definitely not for everyone. Kyouya's initial behaviour most certainly comes across as overly brusque at first. Take it from someone who was agonizing for hours over why she thought Ookami Shoujo was all right, though: he does get better, a lot better. As does the anime. Episode 8 and up ought to be pretty easy to get through, in fact, especially episode 10, which is probably my favourite, and really recommended if you want to see how tolerable the anime gets as a whole.

TL;DR: Watch at your own risk and don't be afraid to leave your overly quick conclusions at the door.

The Slayers Special OVAs were released between July of 1996 and May of 1997. Three episodes were made in total. Overall, they are unrelated, short snippets into the lives and adventures of Lina Inverse and Naga the Serpent. Being a prequel to the previously released movie, Slayers Perfect, it is assumed the events disclosed occur, well, prior to the movie. An exact timeline is anyone's guess.

The first episode starts off with Lina discussing a rather pressing matter with a sorcerer named Diol – specifically, turning Lina into a chimera. For unknown reasons, it seems that Lina breached the subject in the first place, but ... now that she's seen what the man plans to do, she wants out. Naga enters the picture, and things grow a bit more complicated. Will Diol succeed in turning Lina into a chimera? Well, obviously not, but it's still amusing to see the events leading up to Lina being rescued by Naga, even if she did manage to completely misunderstand the situation.

The second OVA concerns Lina and Naga taking on the task of assisting Jeffrey Mailstar with “becoming a man”. No, not in the way you might think, thanks to Naga's rather questionable choice of dress, but to help him become a full-fledged knight. This naturally entails defeating heinous enemies. The catch is that Jeffrey makes a very ineffectual knight; indeed, he's the sort that you probably shouldn't trust to carry a plate, given how clumsy and absentminded he is. How on earth will our favourite sorceresses succeed in completing this task? It may very well be as daunting as saving the world.

The third and final episode introduces us to the legend of Shazal Rugandy, a magic user who supposedly created a mirror called the Shadow Reflector. Capable of making exact copies of anyone reflected in it, with the exception that they will have the opposite personality of the person replicated, Shazal sealed the mirror away, never to be found. Until recently, when clue of its whereabouts was discovered. A thief has stolen the information, however, and it is up to Lina and Naga to stop him from taking over the world with shadow copies – and they'll get a reward in the process.

Lina and Naga are, once again, the protagonists. Lina is much the same Lina we've come to know and love: feisty, cunning, and exasperated by her rival's antics. Despite first appearances, we actually do get some more depth from Naga, mostly due to increased screen time. I managed to grow attached to her over the course of watching the specials and I would definitely not be averse to learning more about her. As Naga herself puts it, she holds “a supreme sense of superiority and extreme self-confidence”, and those aspects make her rather endearing.

Any side characters that dwell within the OVAs are memorable if only for their absurdity and hilarity. Most are defined by single, shallow character traits and used for laughs, whether they're getting their derrières proverbially handed to them by Lina or Naga or wreaking havoc all on their own.

Like the movie, the Slayers OVAs are animated by J.C. Staff. Unlike the movie, though, the OVAs use brighter and more pleasant palettes. The animation also seems to be just a bit more fluid and graceful.

As per usual, the ending theme is sung by Hayashibara Megumi, and it is called Kagirinai Yokubou no Naka Ni. It's a good tune that I wound up listening to all the way through for all three episodes. The third special has not only one, but two insert songs. The first one is called Run All The Way! and the second one is called Touch Yourself. Both are performed by Hayashibara Megumi, and once again, they are both great songs.

I'm not exaggerating when I say I don't really remember the rest of the soundtrack – I don't. Truly, the only saving grace Slayers' music has is Megumi herself. Again, she does a great job of voicing Lina. I really loved Kawamura Maria's role as Naga – she's oddly endearing and hysterical all at once. Her laugh is nothing to sneeze at and I can certainly see why she would have trouble breathing after recording certain parts of the first OVA.

If you stumble upon Slayers with the hopes of getting some mind blowing revelations about human nature or something of the like, I'm sorry to say that you'll be quite disappointed. The Slayers franchise is primarily comedic, and that's exactly what you will get. The first and second episodes are especially reliant on repeating gags, although they never get boring or seem out of place. As a final note, while the stories in these OVAs are self-contained and bear no connection to one another, it is still advisable you watch Slayers Perfect/Slayers: The Motion Picture beforehand. Overall, the Slayers Special OVAs are a welcome addition to the franchise and well worth the time of fans or newcomers to Slayers.

Suki♥Doki is a shoujo manga written by Yoshi and drawn by Watanabe Ayu. Yoshi is the very same person who brought us such excellent pieces of work as the Deep Love series, Dear Friends: Rina and Maki, and Motto Ikitai. All three took peeks at the human condition and psychology, and had fairly interesting stories to tell (if sad). Is Suki♥Doki any different? Well, that's up to you to find out, dear reader.

This manga contains two stories. The first is the titular Suki♥Doki, which concerns a young high school girl named Emi who falls in love with Takeshita, a boy at her school. He ... seems like the perfect guy anyone would dream about. He almost fits the bill, too – except he's a notorious play boy. At first, this tale seems to depict a typical, senseless girl chasing after a handsome heartthrob who only looks at her in her dreams. The difference is that Yoshi is behind the story of this manga. If you read with a critical eye, you'll notice that Takeshita is merely playing Emi herself as well. She throws herself at him and she's freely available to him whenever he wants, because she'll lap up any smidgen of attention he bestows upon her. Why should he toss her aside when he can encourage her instead?

In essence, it's the same sort of story as Itazura na Kiss (wherein the male protagonist uses the girl), except the romance here isn't played straight and there's no verbal abuse. Rather, it's all in Emi's head, as it is pretty obvious Takeshita is just using her and the whole shtick is completely one-sided. In that regard, I suppose the manga does deserve some respect for depicting that sort of relationship, although that doesn't mean it was any more pleasant to read. All the characters were rather static, so there isn't really much to describe in terms of character development.

The second story is called Koibana: The Ex-Boyfriend and is a welcome change to the first one. The main character, Maho, has difficulty forgetting about her ex-boyfriend, Shun, who broke up with her via text message while he was on a road trip. To that end, she sleeps with men who remind her of him, only to wind up broken-hearted because of her actions. She slowly begins to realize that her best friend, Shunsuke, likes her for who she is and decides to explore her feelings for him. While the plot certainly isn't anything mind-blowing or spectacular, it is still a pleasant read that manages to bring my overall opinion of the manga up. Unlike Suki♥Doki, the characters actually do undergo a modicum of character development, even if it is minor.

Watanabe Ayu's art is very typical of the shoujo demographic. If one were to put a few of her panels beside any generic manga, I doubt I'd be able to tell if the artists were different people. The lack of stylization in the shoujo manga world makes me just a bit sad.

Overall, while not Yoshi's best work by far, it's still an acceptable read when you're bored with absolutely nothing else to do. It is not, however, a very good introduction to Yoshi's writing, and I highly recommend checking out Deep Love, Dear Friends, or Motto Ikitai if this is your first foray into his writing.

Sotsugyousei is a yaoi manga by Nakamura Asumiko, and is a direct sequel to Doukyuusei. As such, it's naturally pertinent for you to read Doukyuusei before progressing to Sotsugyousei.

Needless to say, we are reunited with Sajou and Kusakabe, as well as Hara, for some more shenanigans regarding their relationship. Yes, our two main leads are still very much in love and still very much pushing forward. What Sotsugyousei does differently from its predecessor is that it sheds a small amount of light on the difficulties of being a gay couple in Japan, although probably not as seriously as it could have. It is still a ... lighthearted, pleasant story at heart, with a bit more plot that manages to raise my opinion of this instalment as a whole.

There isn’t much to say about the art. It is the same as it ever was – stylistic, original, pretty, but still lacking in details. The anatomy is a bit weird in some places. I will say that the backgrounds this time around seem to be a bit more fleshed out. Speaking of fleshed out, both our mains as well as Hara-sensei get some development. Kusakabe and Sajou are in the midst of growing up and deciding upon their career paths, and the manga attempts to shed light on their issues and troubles as they do so. In essence, it is more of a coming of age piece of fiction than Doukyuusei was. The prequel was more of an introduction to our primary characters. Now that we know them well enough, the real meat of the story can begin. We have a new character by the name of Tani, although he’s more like a side character than anything and has a completely nonexistent character design. He’s obviously just there for comedic purposes. Hara gets some character development (or rather, we as readers are able to understand him better), and he comes off as much more likable than he did in Doukyuusei.

Neither Sajou nor Kusakabe are just hormonal teenagers looking for love. They have dreams and aspirations and they support one another in aiming for them. They make sacrifices, like in any relationship, but they understand what the other person wants, for the most part, and they don’t attempt to hold each other back. The manga ends on a high note, a truly wonderful one I might add, that left me feeling happy for the characters but sad that the series had come to an end. Well, there’s still the sequel and the spin off, so I guess it hasn’t ended just yet. I’ll have to hunt those down soon.

Nakamura-sensei panders to some of the fangirls with some shorts that contain good old-fashioned fan service. They pose some cute or comedic value but otherwise do very, very little to further the plot of the manga. In addition, MAL classifies Sotsugyousei as a “yaoi”. According to the current organization of the site, that means that there’s sex in it. Yeah, there is some toward the end, but it’s not explicit in any way, thankfully (or unfortunately, depending on what you’re looking for). They also don’t go at it like rabbits, unlike in a lot of yaoi manga. Not that there’s anything wrong with having a high sex drive, you know, but these characters just feel very realistic with how delicately they breach the subject in and of itself. It probably helps that they are both fumbling virgins.

All in all, it feels like the author of Sotsugyousei is very respectful with her treatment of the main characters of her manga. It’s still a slice of life and a drama, like its predecessor, but it’s a more involved one and a more mature one, only fitting since the characters are older. It is definitely a treat and very much recommended for anyone interested in a yaoi manga that is actually good.

If you were a bully, would you try to change who you were? If you were a victim of bullying, would you forgive your assailant? Koe no Katachi (literally translated “The Shape of Voice” in English) by Ooima Yoshitoki details the story of Ishida Shouya, and his growth from a savage terror in elementary school, concerned only with satisfying his own need for stimulation, to a young man with concern and empathy for those around him.

We’re first introduced to Shouya as a child, performing a “test of courage” with his friends. You see, dear reader, Shouya is afraid of boredom. School is boring, stagnating is ... boring, living is boring, so he has to do something to cut through that cloud of drivel. What does he do? He jumps off of bridges. He pours salt on slugs. He eggs his two best friends on into getting into the same sort of trouble that he does. Shouya is a problem child, and this is made very clear from the very beginning of Koe no Katachi. When he meets Nishimiya Shouko, a deaf girl who transfers into his elementary school, he does not treat her like a person – he treats her like a tool to alleviate his boredom. He yells in her ear, pours dirt on her, and tosses out her hearing aids, not thinking for a moment that she is just another human being. No, she’s an alien from the planet Nishimiya, and she doesn’t understand human speech.

Still interested in this manga? Hopefully, you are. The first part of Koe no Katachi is written so realistically that we can only feel hatred for Shouya as he goes through the motions of his existence. His behaviour toward Shouko and his sudden realization that what he has been doing is wrong is portrayed so masterfully as to be simply exceptional. This primarily unlikable child, Shouya, is the main character of this story, and this story is about his redemption as he transforms from a bully into a good human being. We watch him as he ruins his life, and we watch him try to build it back up again. His development is handled marvellously. His desire to better himself and help his mother (as well as Shouko, when he encounters her again later on) is commendable, and his ability to face the facts and stand his ground despite the shame and hatred he feels toward himself is nothing short of amazing.

However, since Shouya is the narrator of our story, he is also an unreliable one. We don’t learn much about Shouko due to his influence. Now, some people may complain that it is because Shouko is poorly developed as a character. I disagree. I think it is more because we see Shouko through Shouya’s eyes, and Shouya himself doesn’t know very much about her. The only thing he can see is her expressions and what she says through her hands. That is all we can use to infer how she feels and what she thinks. And, for the most part, she is very expressive. It isn’t too difficult to guess what her emotions are based on the way her eyes blaze or which way her mouth curves – up or down. What about the more intricate thought patterns, you ask? Well, that’s all up to our own interpretation, and Shouya’s, too, which is where we begin making mistakes, and where the majority of the problems our hero faces stems from.

We have the same amount of information about the other characters in the manga (of which there are numerous), but these characters speak with their voices, which is why we find them to be more readily understandable (and Shouya as well, by extension). None of the characters fall into regular tropes such as tsundere or yandere – although it could be argued that Ueno has traits of both – and they all feel like very real people. They are likable and dislikable just like regular old individuals. Some of the most important characters we come across are Ueno Naoka, Kawai Miki, and Sahara Miyoko, all of whom were Shouya’s classmates when he was a child.

Ueno, at first, seems like a fairly pleasant girl, until we learn how bratty and spoilt she is. She joins right in with bullying Shouko, and indeed doesn’t seem to grow up, as she carries her hatred with her all the way into high school. While she is definitely a dislikable character, she is a well-crafted one. She understands her flaws and she wants to change who she is, but she doesn’t know how to and isn’t sure how to move forward. Moreover, her own motivations trump any sort of misgivings she has for her own behaviour, and while she may do a lot of things wrong, she also does some things right. She is forefront, honest, and blunt. She speaks her mind, and in some ways is a true driving force for the plot later on.

Kawai may be kawaii in appearance, but personality-wise she is anything but. Giving off the façade of a well-to-do honour student, Kawai breezes through life by doing whatever best benefits her and her vision of the world. While not as influential a character as Ueno, she certainly has her part to play in Koe no Katachi, as you’ll see once you read it. Sahara is a shy bookworm sort of character who warms up to Shouko the best in elementary school, although her attempts at making contact are ruined by peer pressure and psychological abuse. She is one of the characters who truly tries to make Shouya portray how much he has changed as a person.

The rest of the haphazard group is composed of Nagatsuka Tomohiro, Mashiba Satoshi, and Nishimiya Yuzuru. Nagatsuka wants to become a movie director, and his attempts at making a movie are what draw the characters together in the first place. Mashiba is one of the people Nagatsuka drags in to his dream. Yuzuru, meanwhile, is Shouko’s younger sibling, and enjoys taking pictures.

No character roster of Koe no Katachi would be complete without naming Shouko and Shouya's mothers. Both are very well designed characters, Nishimiya especially, and they both showcase different forms of love to their children.

This manga is riddled with hints, foreshadowing, and seemingly insignificant or confusing phrases and expressions. Certain heart-tugging events that may leave you stunned and at a loss for words may seem very natural and even inevitable when you take into account the main character’s lack of understanding of the situation and the cryptic messages we were privy to earlier. The second part of the manga, detailing Shouya’s growth as a person while he tries to make amends to Shouko, mixes the genres of drama, psychology, and slice of life together in a wonderfully immersive tale. The third portion of the manga is just as well-written, if more drama-filled than the relatively tame second part. Nothing changes the fact that the author seems to have a very good understanding of the mind. While she certainly could have made this manga darker, it is very good for what it is, and realistic enough that it doesn’t need anything more depressing to be considered a masterpiece.

Ooima Yoshitoki is a very good artist. Koe no Katachi has stellar art for a manga published on a weekly basis, with very few inconsistencies and no deterioration in quality that I have been able to notice. Both characters and backgrounds are detailed, and each character has a distinctive design to make them stand out from the rest. Characters are actually fairly realistic looking apart from Nagatsuka. Screentones are used to their full potential and there are definitely no cuts and corners taken when it comes to the artwork.

What can I say about Koe no Katachi, in closing? It was certainly an amazing ride and I’m glad I came along for it. While it does have its issues here and there, one must take into account that this is the debut work of a very young author. It is truly an exceptional manga with the subject matter it tackles and the quality it is written, and I wholeheartedly label it a must-read for anyone interested in literature in general. Remember, kids, no matter what mistakes you’ve committed in the past, if you regret them and see them as they are, you’re a good person. Don’t be afraid of facing your fears, because that is only the first step of the journey you’re about to take. Growing up is a painful process – but we all have to do it. And at the end, you’ll reach a door. You know what you’ll find behind that door? Your future, yours to take into your own hands, as bright as you are able to make it. You can only help yourself as long as you are alive.

I tend to stay away from BL manga, primarily because of that completely ridiculous notion that I should apparently find guy-on-guy rape titillating. So when I stumbled upon a manga that contained yaoi but, to my knowledge, none of that garbage, I naturally became quite excited and couldn't help but jump straight into it. Doukyuusei is a shounen-ai manga (or yaoi, if you prefer to call it that way, as I do; there isn't any sexual content, for your information, although there are some kiss scenes) by Nakamura Asumiko. The story follows Kusakabe Hikaru and his meeting with Sajou Rihito at the all boys' school ... they attend together, and the development of their relationship.

The main issue with Doukyuusei's first chapter is that we are thrust right into the story. This leaves us feeling disoriented with the setting and the characters. We aren't even sure who the main characters are at first and who is narrating the story, nor are we given an introduction to tell us what our primary protagonist's name is. What makes things even more confusing is the odd way the dialogue is organized. It is quite difficult to discern who is talking and following conversations is nearly impossible the first time around. The panels are quite haphazard and it definitely isn't a manga for the type of reader who doesn't think, not because of its deep subject matter (it's quite simple, really) but because of the abstract way it is constructed. Time leaps are pretty poorly written, and, overall, piecing out how events take place is more a matter of figuring it out from characters' conversations than actually seeing them happen.

Well, that all sounds pretty negative so far. And I even gave Doukyuusei a pretty good score. Is there anything positive to say about a manga that is more abstract (and not in a good way) than anything in its method of storytelling? The good news is that the majority of the issues I've outlined are mainly in the first chapter. The subsequent instalments are far more comprehensive and pleasing to read. Perhaps the author was trying out a new style, or perhaps I got used to the way the manga was written. Either way, I very much liked reading Doukyuusei, flaws and all.

It doesn't really have an over-arching plot, aside from the unfolding of Sajou and Kusakabe's love affair. It is a slice of life told mainly from either of their viewpoints, with a one time dip into the mental processes of Hara, their music teacher. That doesn't change the fact that Doukyuusei is absolutely, incorrigibly, completely adorable. It's a very light manga, and while there is the occasional teasing of deeper psychological issues, it's mainly fluff and the perils of growing up and figuring out what you want to do that the manga focuses on. Despite not being particularly jaw-dropping or amazing, it's definitely a stellar manga for a genre rife with cliches and general unpleasantness.

The characters are very much human, both likeable and irritating at various moments. We may not learn a lot about them and there may not be a lot as far as development goes, but they feel realistic. Reading the manga, we discover their quirks and thoughts and personalities, even if their backgrounds are only revealed little by little. Neither Sajou nor Kusakabe feel typical to me, so I don't think they're all too cliched. They may seem like your standard yaoi leads to those who are more seasoned with the genre, however. Kusakabe is a fairly happy-go-lucky student who is a part of a band. Sajou is a serious, studious young man who consistently has quite good grades. The only problem is that he's pretty bad at singing. This is the aspect that draws our two main characters together, just by chance.

Since Doukyuusei is a romance, it is important to know that their relationship rolls along at a pretty even pace. It doesn't seem forced, nor does it play out as simple pandering. It's a quiet sort of relationship shoved forward by raging hormones. The characters are pretty comfortable with the relationship as is, even if Sajou is quite endearingly awkward about it. It makes sense given his natural inclination toward introversion, after all, and it's not as if he's completely against his relationship with his classmate. He might be an awkward turtle, but the romance is consensual, a nice change for the subject matter.

This brings us to the art. Nakamura Asumiko's drawing style is highly stylized and original, and almost immediately recognizable. It is pretty, but somewhat difficult to get used to at first. While not necessarily detailed, there is a certain artistry to the wispy, pencil-like strokes that make up the drawings of her characters. The backgrounds, however, are rather lacklustre in comparison. Sparse and only vaguely detailed, if even that, the cream of the crop is definitely Nakamura's character designs, which are fluid and original.

Doukyuusei is a short yaoi manga well worth your time, even if you're not usually into the genre. As I mentioned before, it doesn't have any themes of molestation or abuse between Sajou and Kusakabe, and it is definitely a fresh, welcome addition to the genre.