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Hidamari Sketch is sort of a cross between Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight and Lucky Star. One thing is to be sure: all of these titles center around high school girls living their daily lives (although Lucky Star advertises to a more general audience and Manabi Straight focuses a bit more on maturing). What makes Hidamari Sketch a little different though is the way the show comes across. The animators were obviously sort of unique in their thinking. It’s just sort of directed in a different sort of way. One might say arty, even. Which isn’t so much a surprise considering Hidamari Sketch takes place at ... a art school, Yamabuki Art High School to be exact.

Hidamari Sketch starts off with Yuno, who, mostly, is the protagonist, but mainly it centers around the four high school girls. There’s not so much of a story, as with all the other slice-of-life high school animes. You’ll get many a laugh out of it though, and it has it’s sweet moments as well. Some shoujo-ai is integrated in, mostly with Sae and Hiro, but it’s definitely not extreme, purely fluff, and it sort of depends on how you look at it. It could be just seem as a very caring friendship.

Speaking of the characters, they were all very likeable. Yuno is kind of the typical airhead who wants to do her best, but she seems introverted; Sae is unquestionably shy as well, blushing a lot (mostly due to Hiro’s teasing) but also levelheaded; Hiro is the gentle and sweet of the girls, but what sets her apart is her weight obsession: she’s constantly dieting and worrying about weight; and finally Miyako, certainly the most inimitable of the bunch, and also the most nonsensical. However, you don’t really delve into the characters lives or relationships that much, but that’s because the setting never strays away from the high school (besides the school trip and going shopping) and the Hidamari Apartments. Which is good, really, because it isn’t about their lives completely, it’s about their lives at Hidamari Apartments. You can’t forget their extremely silly teacher, Yoshinoya-sensei, and as she said in an episode, looks like she’s “enternally seventeen”. Seriously, how old is that woman?? Yoshinoya-sensei often dresses in various outfits which she insists, is most certainly not cosplay. Her childish actions provide a few laughs (and she always ends up being scolded by the frail eccentric principal).

The art, though not outstanding, is completely adorable and the animation is very creative. The angles it’s shown at, and the fast switching of the “camera” makes it more interesting. Also, what I really loved, was how they incorporated quirky things real-life photos, or the wiggling of Hiro’s wavy hair. The characters switch into chibi mode a lot, and their regular expressions are already adorable to begin with.

Oh, and I really loved the music. The opening and ending themes were so adorable! They contrast one another: the opening is peppy and chipper, while the ending theme is a little melancholic and has a sweeter, gentler sound to it. The seiyuu were wonderful, too, and all their voices were cute and fit the personality of the character, providing believable displays of vocal range.

You might think this is one of your typical high school girl lolicon sort of show, but I believe it goes beyond that, ranging from the wonderfully done animation to the relaxing feel to the show overall.

Emma is something you don't see every day. It's a shoujo manga, but it's based in early 19th century England, where social standing is considered irrefutable. So it’s a little problematic when maid Emma falls in love with gentry William, and vice versa. You can probably see the arising conflicts in this story already. What is so beautiful about this story is the way Kaoru Mori displays Victorian England so accurately. You can certainly tell she did her research, just by the way the characters act, especially towards William and Emma’s relationship. At any rate, the main plot of the story is the divergences towards ... a maid and a gentry together, which in that time, was absolutely not acceptable.

At times the romantic emotions are portrayed across to the reader as so strong and violent, and passionate. And yet other times it’s really just a sweet beating love between the protagonists, without becoming saccharine. Their struggle to be together makes their love all the more stronger as the series progresses, even though doubt and sorrows is felt.

The art is gorgeous. Just breathtaking. It is done with a crosshatch pen and ink style. The detail put into the large European buildings and landscapes are wonderful. I really love the expressions she put on the characters, and the flow of the panel placements, which is often quite slow as the characters’ countenance would vary. It really brings more to the story.

Character development is splendid. Emma, as the protagonist of the story most of the time, was a good female lead, she was very likeable. She comes off as shy and introverted, and obedient as well, but as the story progresses she becomes a bit more strong-willed, and wants to face her conflicts instead of running away in fear as to hurting the one she loves. William is pretty likeable too, and he’s obviously very spirited in his love towards Emma in the beginning, and later does he realize the sacrifices he must make to make the love survive. However, I also liked Eleanor’s unrequited love to William, despite her being his fiancée for a part of the story. She was always giving more and more love to him, and got none in return, for he was only ever for Emma. The other, smaller characters had their quirks as well, such as Eleanor’s sister, Monica, who obviously adored her little sister to an extent where it could be considered a sister complex, and hated anyone who made her unhappy (namely William, but mostly for taking her away from him). There was also Hakim, William’s womanizing friend from India, who acts as a foil for William. In other words, he contrasts towards William’s character, causing the reader to plainly see William’s certain faces of his personality. Hakim was an interesting character, and added some sort of odd comedy to the story, with his elephants and harem of young Indian woman following him everywhere (who, if I recall don’t say anything at all throughout the entire story). Hakim also had feelings for Emma, but proceeded to encourage Emma and William when he found out their feelings for one another.

Of course, I enjoyed this series to a very high extent (though I suppose I wouldn’t buy them specifically, as I read them from the library and that’s enough for me). This is certainly recommended for the people who want a more realistic drama and romance, with believable characters and their prejudices. Emma, really, is one of the best romance manga I’ve ever come across, and I hope you’ll try reading it.

Myself; Yourself is the story of Sana and his four childhood friends, whom he gets separated with after having to move away. He comes back after about five years, finding some of his friends remaining the same, and others very much different. Though it might come across as a stereotypical harem, at a closer look much more is unfolded in the story. It’s a romance, but often steers towards friendship as well.

It’s not a bad watch, but I certainly can’t say I loved it. The plot was a little hard to grasp on what it really was. Through the first half of the series ... before it started going anywhere it was more like a weak thread of events. Some episodes were dramatic and interesting, but not all of the emotion seemed very real.

Character development was okay, but I really disliked the main character, Sana. That’s not very good when you’re watching a series: you don’t even like the protagonist. I suppose those type of leads I never really like, he just annoys me. Nanaka, too, the main girl, was a little irritating. She acted depressed and moody, and it doesn’t come clear until late into the show as to what her problem is. Mostly it just seemed like she was on her time of the month throughout the show, considering her emotions, which were all over the place. However, I did like some of the other characters, like the twins, Shuusuke and Shuri. They were very sweet towards one another… I was wishing they weren’t even brother and sister as I watched episode ten, but I won’t tell you what went on: you have to see for yourself! Generally the majority of characters seem stereotypical, except for Aoi, her character was pretty unique. She was very amusing. There is also Asami, a classmate of our characters’, who appears normal and helpful. However, it is not all what it seems with her, and I much changed my opinion of Asami later on. That was very surprising, and added a twist to the story. Lastly there’s Hinako, a young girl desperate to be referred to as mature, who gets infatuated with Shuusuke after he helps her out against some bullies.

The animation was fairly nice, and I liked the way the faces and characters were generally drawn. However, inconsistency often was portrayed in the animation movements, and it lacked fluidity. Some of the poses or stances they were put in, too, were awkward. The colors however, were pretty, and though it was definitely not outstanding it was all in all pleasing to the eye.

The sound was really nice, and I liked the opening and ending themes, enough to get both the mp3s, they're both very good and fit the anime nicely. Background music was standard, nothing that stands out, anyway. As for seiyuu, everyone did a fairly good job, with the right amount of feeling put into their voice. Sana’s voice fit him, as did the others. Aoi’s voice might be the most annoying, but I actually liked it, even though it’d be a bit hard to listen to, ahaha.. ha.

Myself; Yourself is nothing of great value, but it’s a nice show to watch. I wouldn’t exactly heartily recommend it, but try it out and see what you think. Obviously there’s mixed reviews, if you check out the reviews written prior to mine (and that’s a lot!).

I can’t believe I didn’t write a review on The Recipe for Gertrude once I finished! I really loved this read, and I’m not exactly sure why myself… its plot consists of a teenage girl named Sahara who meets Gertrude, appearing to be her age and a normal human, but actually is a 100-year old demon. He’s not just any demon either, he’s manmade, assembled of parts of other demons. Gertrude was risen with a spell (or “recipe”) that he is trying to search for to learn about and then demolish. Sahara soon befriends Gertrude, along with other two demons, and sets on an expedition ... for the recipe.

The story, to me, is pretty original. It’s not like any manga I’ve read before, anyway, and I’ve read a lot. It never got boring, and to tell the truth, I believe it took me less than a week to read, or maybe at least a week and a half, because they all happened to be in the library at one or two times and I checked them out.

What I really loved, I suppose, as I trudged my way through the story, was how it focuses mainly on the relationship between the two characters. The emotions were there between them, and it was obvious they cared for one another, but it was somehow subtle as well. I guess because it was never too mushy, or really super-dramatic about them. All the characters were nicely-portrayed. Sahara is kind of refreshing for a lead, she’s not one of those perky let’s-help-people-and-save-the-world kind of girls. In fact sometimes she came across as sort of apathetic. The comic-relief characters Puppen and Marionette are very likeable, though my personal favorite was Gertrude. Incidentally, for some reason I always was wanting to learn more about the OCD book-keeper, a very minor character who appears later in the series…

The art is something you either like or you don’t. I liked it, but I can see how people would be put off by it. It’s flawed in the sense that it doesn’t flow well, and it’s sort of blocky, and certainly off the track of what most manga artists try to pursue to win the hearts of fans looking for the generic type of lovely-looking art. The lines are very sharp and clean. It’s kind of appealing and unappealing at the same time. It gets better as the series progresses, but it was of no problem for me, since I like the author’s style of art anyway.

I rate enjoyment as high, for I loved this series, and now, after writing this not very lengthy review, am eager to go read it again… actually, I may buy her newer series The Palate of 12 Secret Colors, or at least look into it. But that’s beside the point. The Recipe for Gertrude is likeable. It’s not loveable to all, but at least give it a shot and see what your opinion is.

So, Minami-ke Okawari, is, as anyone who watched the first series would know, a continuation of the original Minami-ke series. The first thing to be said is that it's not as half as good as the first season. The second thing to be said is that despite that fact, it's still very enjoyable.

I was following Minami-ke Okawari as it came out but I stopped around ep 4 and wasn't really watching it anymore. And with the first season, I searched for the new episode every week until the very last one. It took me a few months to get into Okawari to watch it, ... but once I started watching it again I realized it wasn't so bad.

One thing, I guess, is it just doesn't seem to have the charm the first one did. It's not as funny, I can tell you that. It has its moments, but some episodes in Okawari were just sort of mildly amusing.

The story and voice actors and character do not differ from the first, which is good at least. If you don't know, the story consists of three sisters living under one roof and their daily lives. And that's about it for the story and characters. It may sound boring at a glance, but it's done so well that it never drags.

However, the characters and story is not portrayed as well as in the first, so I give a little bit of lower of score than I did on the first season. The animation is very different, but I didn't find too much of a problem with it, though there's much more fanservice in this season which irked me a bit. Okawari's animation is not done spectacularly, but it is sufficent, and I liked how the kept the "regular to serious" style going in this season.

While I enjoyed it, I couldn't give it too high because at first I was struggling to watch the episodes and didn't even watch them as they aired each week. If you were a good fan of the first season this may come off as a little dissapointing. However, I was glad to embrace some more Minami-ke, and it is still a good series.

Well... mixed feelings on this one… I mean, I was expecting, considering it’s already just one episode, that it would be a bit longer than 8 minutes.

Mahou No Chocolate, or Magic Chocolate, is the typical story of a girl, crushing on a guy, who wants to ask him out. She’s given this chocolate believed to be magical and will allow her, upon giving it to him on Valentine’s Day, to win his heart. It’s plot was shallow and lacked greatly in any depth whatsoever, as did the transparent characters (there were few): Mami, the protagonist; Koko, Mami’s best friend; and Ishida, Mami’s desired ... love interest. And I suppose you can include Mami’s parents in the mix, or the loving fangirls of Ishida that you see for about 20 seconds as they eagerly shove their Valentine’s chocolate on him.

If you’re wondering why I gave the animation a higher score than it appears to deserve, it’s because the animation, though at first glance it would seem terrible, is actually done solely by Anime Studio Pro (this anime was produced by an independent anime studio, Ishikawa Pro). Obviously it would be much more difficult to animate on that compared to something used by nondependent animation companies. However, no matter the animation tools, it does not make up for the lack of good character and story. It’s just the characters are so typical and unoriginal. I feel more could have been put into it.

If you’re looking for something light and easy to watch, or if you’re simply bored, than go ahead and watch it, it’s not very long anyway. If you’re in the mood for something deep or high quality, though, this would not exactly be the right choice to make.

I just sort of randomly requested this from my library on a whim, knowing what it was about but not quite sure what to expect.

Tokyo Godfathers is the story of 3 homeless people: a tranvestite, a runaway teenager, and an ashamed father. On Christmas Eve, they encounter a baby in the trash that was seemingly abandoned by its mother. The soon began to take care of it, some more eagerly than others. However, taking care of this baby allowed them to remind them the reality of their situations, and what to maturely do about it.

The one thing about the story and that it ... was very realistic. The characters were really believable. There was no one overly perky or unrealistic, they just acted and talked like regular people, and that was pretty refreshing considering all the generic stereotypical characters that are often seen.

The characters' relationship with one another was interesting. I think they could all relate to each other, the fact that they all had nowhere to go, and no one to be with expect themselves, and also that they had done something that had landed them in their situation.

Animation was very well done. Nothing exactly stood out, but the movements were fluid, and everyone in the screen was actually moving at the same time.

While it's not the best anime movie you'll ever sit down to watch, it's a nice story with some lessons to be learned, and it was very entertaining.

My favorite genre of anime has usually been either slice-of-life or romance. This is no exception. It is one of the best romance anime you’ll probably ever see. What makes it so good, is that all the human emotions in it… they seem so real.

Story

Love is the main part of the story. Any type, you name it: confused love, selfish love, unrequited love, and just plain love. This is such a dramatic anime, but what happens to the characters makes it very realistic. Frustrations of feeling alone, the pressure of everyone around you, the anxieties of where you’ll be in life, are all things the ... characters have to deal with as the progress through the story. It’s one of the sweetest romance stories I’ve come across, actually. There’s no fanservice, rarely a peverted thought. Only the heart-wrenching and bittersweet notion of love.

Art

The art, I thought was gorgeous. The animation went long so smoothly, and I loved the color choices, everything looked like watercolors. I also really liked the way the eyes looked, especially of Hagu. They were very pretty an dmade her look doll-like.

Sound

The sound was great. The ending and opening themes were nice, even though I liked the first ending better than the second ending. I still liked both. The background music was sweet-sounding, a lot of piano music was used of the opening.

Characters

The characters are all believable. I ended up disliking some and rooting for others (which is partly why the ending left me dissatisfied though it was predicable). Yamada’s unrequited love for Mayama was understandable, but irritating that he didn’t love her back. I realize you can’t force yourself to love someone. But maybe this is one of the realistic aspects; there are not always happy endings. Anyway, I liked most of the characters. Morita and Yamada were my favorites, I think. Morita is just so unique. It makes me wonder what goes on in his mind. As for Yamada, I felt sorry for her and I kept wanting her to end up with Mayama throughout the series, even though it was easy to see early on that it was sort of hopeless. Takemoto is basically the protagonist, since he narrates the most, even though the story doesn’t focus entirely on him.

Enjoyment

Okay, this took me a while to get through. I started it around in December and I’m just now finishing it in May. Still, just because I took it slowly doesn’t mean it was boring for me. I really did want to finish it, and I’m glad I did because it was a thoroughly enjoyable series.

Overall

This was a very great series, portraying realistic relationships between ultimately believable and likeable characters. I loved it.

I’m wondering why I haven’t written any reviews for this, seeing as it currently lacks any. Crescent Moon is undoubtedly one of my favorite manga, and to tell you the truth, when I first picked it up and read the first volume, it confused me and didn’t like it at all.

Starting out with the story: Mahiru is a young teenage girl who, after suffering reoccurring dreams, she comes across the Lunar Race, a collection of not-so-seemingly mythical creatures who claim that she is the descendant of the princess, and these bandits need her help in recovering the teardrops of the moon, their lost source ... of energy. Slowly Mahiru comes into closer terms with the Lunar Race and helps heal the rift which has formed between these creatures and humans. The story by itself is even a little confusing, but it shouldn’t be too hard to understand. What makes it hard, too, is the panel layout of each page. The balloons often collide and the panels mix, and it goes at a fast pace. However, once I read volume one a second time, I all of a sudden really started to get into it.

The story is pretty original, for one thing. It’s not some mahou shoujo thing where the girl is all of a sudden summoned to save the world (though I don’t mind those sort of stories). All of the characters I either really liked or just didn’t care much for. Mahiru is your average orphaned teenager that lives with her aunt… sort of. People say that when they touch her she brings them good luck. Mahiru often finds it annoying how people are relying on her for their good fortune, but she isn’t bad-tempered and kind of just goes along with it. She’s sort of klutzy, but not overly so, and more than ever she wants to be of help to the Lunar Bandits. At first she’s not so keen on the idea, but after a while (and actually it’s not a very long while) she really is in desire to be of use to them.

Speaking of the Lunar Bandits, the first one you meet is Nozomu, the blonde-haired smooth-tongued vampire of the lot. He comes across as facetious, but can be genuinely caring. The others soon follow, Akira, the happy-go-lucky werewolf, Misoka, a calm and collected fox demon, and lastly, Mitsuru, the tengu. Mitsuru hates Mahiru when they first meet, or rather, he’s scared of her. When Mahiru touches Mitsuru, as he’s unable to willfully control his power, he changes into his true form of a tengu. He’s very short tempered and irritable, and most always keeps his distance, but his affection for Mahiru and vice versa grows throughout the story (which, incidentally, was definitely one of my favorite aspects of the story- I love romance!).

The art is very pretty. It’s a little different, and definitely not among mainstream, so it might be displeasing to most people, but I actually like it a lot. The perspective the author uses is nice, the expressions among the character’s faces. Backgrounds aren’t beautiful, but they’re well done.

If you were thinking about reading this and are put-off, or you’ve tried it and given up, you might want to try it again. Sure, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, and frankly I’m surprised I like it myself. But sometimes you need to give something a second chance. For my overall scores I don't think I can give anything higher than a nine, but I don't think it deserves worse or better. Try this one out and see if you like it.

I remember a few years ago I sat down and watched a bit of the Di Gi Charat anime, because I’d seen the manga at bookstores and I knew Koge-Donbo (one of my favorite manga-ka) and played a role in its production. The only thing I remember thinking about it was “what in the world is going on here??”

Di Gi Charat was originally a mascot for the store “Gamers” in a part of Tokyo called Akihabara. The character Di Gi Charat (or Dejiko) and her little friend Puchiko appeared in From Gamers in a comic strip illustrated by Koge-Donbo called “Gema Gema”. The character was ... recognized by a TV producer and soon it was set out to be an anime series which also started a Di Gi Charat manga.

Reading Di Gi Charat Theater: Dejiko’s Summer Vacation supplied such a good history description I finally understand what Di Gi Charat is even all about. Basically Summer Theater has an opening story by Koge-Donbo, and follows along with other artist’s takes on the characters in their stories, and in between stories are a little “Artist Talk” in which the artist of the story prior talks about their favorite character. The main characters of the Di Gi Charat are Di Gi Charat, a hybrid-cat eared alien girl who recently descended to Earth to become a star and ends up working at Gamers, along with her small, sharp-tongued companion Puchiko. She doesn’t speak much, but when she does, nothing particularly nice comes from her mouth. Dejiko’s rival, Rabi-en-rose (real name Usada Hikaru), who worked at Gamers before Dejiko arrived, won’t stand for some short green-haired punk getting in her way of stardom.

I remember a couple years ago I was wary about reading anything Di Gi Charat related because the whole idea of having so many different artists work on it, and not just Koge-Donbo, confused me. Now I understand it though, and it makes a whole lot more sense. After reading Summer Vacation I think I will go try the anime once more, and not to mention the regular manga.