But I think I recently found another series which mirrors the emotional onslaught of Clannad...but does it in another way. Whilst Clannad deals with more...imaginative or dream-like subjects like Japanese legends of spirits, The Pet Girl of Sakurasou is rooted deeply within real human experiences...so real, in fact, you cannot but feel for the characters. (Well...unless you are one of those ivory tower kids who lived your life eating from diamond-studded silver platters...Why don't you go and watch Ouran to learn some decency before coming back here.)
Granted, the fan service in this show can be a bit too much SOMEtimes (NOTE episode 7 bath scene...skip 10:30 - 12:25 if you want to escape the worst of it...but you will miss the humorous dialogue)...but the humour in this show are beyond gold, and they don't always rely on near-naked situations...Many of them rely on clashing personalities of the characters, the best being Sorato with his sister Yuuko and Mashiro. Watch until Episode 10...and guess where the show would go next (hint: its way more depressing AND inspiring.)
Ok, Sakurasou review time. It's a series that BEGS for a sequel (because it was so good), but is already complete in its story arcs. It follows characters who live in Sakura dorm, a place where the high school they attend would separate 'problem' students from the regular dorm. What we get is a group of students who are unique, quirky, likeable and RELATABLE, and we get to experience their everyday struggles.
So about these characters...one is a hyperactive, bright girl who lives and breathes animation, plus a young, celebrity artist who might be brilliant with a paintbrush, but useless at everything else. Among them are 3 more: a normal boy who was placed in Sakura dorm for keeping cats (against school rules); who fights with jealousy and envy when he witnesses the geniuses around him at work. Another is somewhat a playboy who wants to live up to his true love's high achievements before admitting that love, and a workaholic (but otherwise still normal) girl who wants to become an voice actress.
Ok, I separated the main cast into 2 main groups...because the series relies on this skill/ability distance between them to deliver the story: one which centres around the conflict between 'talent' and 'hard work'. The former group are geniuses in their craft, all of which are born with talents; the latter group being those who wishes to achieve their goals through sheer will. Life is unfair to them, as their hard work were repeatedly ignored, this being completely relatable to me.
Life is not fair. True words that no one wants to believe, and work hard to avoid submitting to; the raw human emotions of jealousy, doubt and fear of failure are all dealt with surprisingly objectivity and no-so-heart-warming ways in this show, but enough amount of silver-lining around these sickening grey clouds were provided to allow us some breathing room for hope to prosper (urgh...I think I just vomited at my own words).
What I find most striking about this series is Mashiro: the genius artist. Her character as a quiet girl with an born inability to properly express her feelings, makes it even more touching when her usually expressionless face leak tears, or a tiny twitch of her lips, which soon reveals a smile.
For that perfect final cry-fest...just you wait till episode 23.
Personally, since I have no knowledge of the Japanese language; save for a few phrases that are all too commonly used in anime; I have no reliable ground to judge the Japanese cast: but I can confirm that all the voices gel well with their respective characters; the emotionally distant Mashiro to the hyperactive Misaki. Perhaps the only disappointing aspect is the rather conventional rom-com/SOL soundtrack, which, while served their purpose, does not attempt to do anything more; something I demand for all film music and series soundtrack.
Animation in this series is sort of like Clannad-lite...but its unique colour palette of more bright colours and sequences of blending animated oil PAINTINGs are absolutely PERFECT. If you split the art & animation into different aspects for more fair judgement: what this show truly excels at is when comedy comes into question: a great show of unrestrained hyper-active character facial and body language truly makes those scenes enjoyable to watch. Background art is standard fare. With more regular scenes such as talking heads and walking, animation quality tends to dip down; albeit barely registering to a regular viewer to become an nuisance.
I recommend this series with the same enthusiasm as Clannad/After Story; both masterful in their own ways; yet both are impossible to rate above one another for me.
