anime ^^
1. IKOKU MEIRO NO CROISEE
Ikoku Meiro no Croisée Anime Review
Fish-out-of-water stories have a basic problem: they've been done to death. No matter how entertained you may have been the first time you saw a movie or series where someone had to adapt to a strange new world, by this point in your life you've probably seen it before and now it's dull. Oh, this person has to learn to appreciate a different culture, strange food and funny hats? You don't say!
Ikoku Meiro no Croisée (also called Croisee in a Foreign Labrynth), a fish-out-of-water story about a young Japanese girl adapting to life in an idyllic version of late 19th-century Paris, gets around this problem in two ways: 1) By having likable characters you really don't mind doing the same old thing with, and 2) displaying absolutely drop-dead gorgeous visuals.
Yune, our little Japanese girl (and quite possibly one of the most adorable anime characters of all time) travels from Nagasaki to Paris to learn about Western culture. Invited to serve as something between a maid and an honored guest at the metal crafts shop and home of the brusque Claude Claudel and his grandfather Oscar, she enjoys her new life in Europe while her roommates learn a little something about Japan as well.The stranger-in-a-strange-land antics have all been done before, but Croisee keeps your interest on the strength of its characters. Yune may seem like a stereotypically submissive Asian female at first, but it doesn't take long before you see the steel that gets into her backbone when it comes to something she wants- her desire to become more Western has an obsessive edge to it that's much more interesting than her cute exterior lets on. Claude seems like a very competent craftsman at first, but he also has his complications- his devotion to the quality of his work clashes with his devil-may-care attitude towards customer service, something that becomes a concern when a shiny new department store starts driving all the smaller stores out of business. Meanwhile, grandfather Oscar seems to be very popular with the ladies-more so than the handsome Claude, in fact. What's going on with that, anyway? Can't Gramps arrange a double date?
At the risk of sounding shallow, the first thing we noticed about Ikoku Meiro no Croisée is how amazing it looks; everything, from the architecture to the details of Yune's kimono, is sumptuous and detailed. In fact, an impressive attention to detail pervades the whole show; notice the difference between the deliberate way Yune walks in her Japanese sandals, versus Claude's confident swagger. While the show does sometimes indulge in some classic anime shorthand - such as Yune's great "Ewww!" expression when she tastes cheese for the first time- most of the time, the visuals are rich and sensual, like dark, sophisticated European chocolates. Even Yune's crop of short black hair somehow looks more interesting than you would expect.Croisee finds itself in a similar predicament to Usagi Drop, with which it shares vintage (both aired in the summer of 2011): while some will eat up all of the little details with a spoon, others will likely be bored at times. And rightly so- early on in the show, big drama constitutes Yune picking up an umbrella and following Claude out into the rain so he won't get wet. While there is certainly a plot, epic it is not. Someone without the patience for the show's easygoing stroll through character development may often insist that nothing is happening on screen, while the viewer who likes looking at details like how differently Yune's tiny hands interact with everything versus Claude's, will insist that there's always a lot going on. Neither viewer is right or wrong, but the fact remains that it takes a certain kind of viewer to enjoy this show without the word "dull" once coming to mind.
While interesting, the relationship between Claude and Yune might be off-putting to some; while Yune is 13 according to the manga by Hinata Takeda, she looks about 7 in the anime, and her relationship with 18-year-old Claude seems to be going in a romantic direction early on in the series. We had hoped to see things stay platonic, at least until a "and they lived happily-ever-after" style time-skip aged up Yune at the very end, but whether or not their relationship seems particularly romantic probably has as much to do with the viewer as the show.Another aspect of the show that some may find off-putting is the comparisons between Japanese and Western culture. Some might interpret the show as idealizing Yune and her values over the other characters, meaning that the show displays a message of Japanese cultural superiority. We felt that the episodes we watched were pretty even-handed in this regard (and that any idealization of Yune comes from the fact that she's the main character and thus meant to be admirable, not because she's Japanese), but it's definitely possible that the series' take on culture clash could rub some viewers the wrong way. Also, some pieces of character dialogue may seem stunningly racist, until you remember that this is a show set in the 1800's and such attitudes are only too realistic for the time period.
The show also takes place in the context of Japonism, or European culture's increasing level of fascination with Japanese art and aesthetics during the time period. Alice, a privileged, card-carrying Japan-lover who fusses over Yune more because of what she is than who she is, reminded us of some obsessive otaku in this day and age who idolize Japanese culture without seeking genuine understanding. Intentionally or not, it gives the show another dimension; there are a surprising amount of parallels between the relationship between Japan and the West in the late 19th century and the early 21st. For more on this topic, check out Roland Kelts Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded The US.As it stands, the show is at its best when Claude, Yune and Oscar are sitting around the table doing very little other than being charming. Sure, giant robot fans might not find this to be their cup of (Japanese or French) tea, but when the show makes doing nothing look this good, it's hard to imagine anything else we'd like to be doing more than simply watching it.
Reviewed by Karen Gellender, November 2011
Below: Scenes from Ikoku Meiro no Croisée .
Ikoku Meiro no Croisée Website Links:
Ikoku Meiro no Croisée Official website (Japanese)
Ikoku Meiro no Croisée Scans at AnimePaper.net
Ikoku Meiro no Croisée entry at MyAnimeList
La Croisée dans un labyrinthe étranger (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
Ikoku Meiro no Croisée (TV) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
Wikipedia entry for Croisée in a Foreign Labyrinth
Below: Promotional illustrations for Ikoku Meiro no Croisée .
|  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
If you've never read anything bigger than a manga or a magazine, Gosick is a great light novel to start with. It has the mystery and suspense of Sherlock Holmes wrapped up in a sweet candy coated shell of our main characters, Victorique and Kazuya. Normally, Victorique and Kazuya are stuck in their private ultra-elite school, Saint Marguerite Academy, but Kazuya was able to ...ummm... negotiate a day away from school out of the town's lead detective for both of them. Technically, he blackmailed him by threatening to tell everyone that Victorique solved the case but let's not dwell on the small things. In any case, since they were able to get out and the detective ended up being too busy to keep an eye on them, they decided to take a dead woman's invitation to go on a luxury cruise. The ship's name kept bothering him though: The Queen Berry. Victorique doesn't care; she just wants to know who would invite a dead woman to a cruise. They're both bored and they would only get more bored sitting around waiting for their babysitter to come back so off to a luxury cruise they go. 
Once they got on the boat and set sail, Kazuya's memory comes back. The Queen Berry sank ten years ago; they are on a ghost ship! Horror stories about this ghost ship have been floating all around school since the day Kazuya started. Classmates have said that people have been killed on that ship but when police were sent to investigate, no bodies were found. The entire ship was booby-trapped but before the police can make sense of anything, the ship started taking in water and sank. No one knows how many people were on the original Queen Berry the first time but this time, there's twelve people and all twelve are going to die unless Victorique can piece together all of the chaos around her into the truth of what is happening to them. 
Even if Victorique can piece everything together, Kazuya has to keep both of them alive long enough for them to get off the ship and tell the authorities. As the third son of an Imperial soldier of Japan, Kazuya has always lived in the shadow of his father and his brothers, questioning if he will ever have enough strength and muster to protect anyone. His job is not that much easier considering Victorique seems to be an itty-bitty porcelain doll of a girl. Small for her age and hidden from the outside world by her family since birth, Victorique is physically and emotionally as small and fragile as her brain is huge and complex. It's a little strange that a tiny girl like her smokes a pipe, too. Rumor has it that her mother is nuts and her family is deathly afraid of her as well. 
Lucky Star is indeed a sensation. It made the New York Times 10-best selling manga list, and Bandai had to just perform a second printing of the first book in the series, as they totally sold out.
Lucky Star
There is no clear cut storyline to Lucky Star so please don't expect them to graduate from high school at the end of the anime. The way Konata-chan is, I'll be surprised if she'll ever graduate. Skirting by life with the minimum requirements, Konata plays the days away and enjoys every moment of her life. I think what she wants to be when she grows up is a professional video gamer; she's beaten everyone that ventures into their hometown arcade already. If there is a way to cut corners, she'll find it. She's proven that cramming actually works and gets better grades than working hard at it like Kagami, Tsukasa's fraternal (maybe identical) twin. Brains is nothing compared to brawns, because brawns can always beat brains into submission. Society's opinions don't matter either because all society ever does is put boundaries on everything. What fun if there to life if we are all bound by something? 
Yet, Ohana adjusts to life in Kissuiso very quickly, and the whole Dickensian vibe quickly disappears: Madam Manager isn't nearly as cruel as the early episodes suggest, and Ohana's job is something she enjoys, rather than servitude. Her co-workers, colorful characters in their own right,, quickly become her friends. This change makes the series a lot lighter in tone than we were anticipating, but it does feel somewhat like a bait-and-switch after the first few episodes (and the fanservice-filled third episode is a notorious low point; we just tried to forget that it ever happened.)
The weakness of HanaIro is that its attempts to manufacture conflict often fall a little flat. Many of the problems the staff at Kissuiso face spring from misunderstandings and faulty assumptions, meaning everything could be solved very easily if they all just sat down and had a proper conversation from time to time. While there is some genuine drama in the show, a lot of it feels painfully forced. It's not until the end of the series that the problems the Kissuiso crew is dealing with seem to be even somewhat proportionate with the amount of angst they cause. We couldn't shake the feeling that, barring very few characters, we were dealing with an incredibly immature group of people who wouldn't know what to do if they had a real problem.
And yet, for all its faults, HanaIro provides some genuinely satisfying moments that made us want to forgive its excesses. Rare as they are, any exchange between Sui and Satsuki had us riveted, and despite being the oldest, Sui seems to go through the most character development of anyone on the show. Interesting questions about parental expectations run throughout the entire series: Is Satsuki wrong for disappointing her mother by completely abandoning the family business, or is the fault Sui's for putting that expectation on her daughter to begin with? Has Satsuki learned from her mother's mistakes by letting Ohana go her own way, or is her lack of expectations for her daughter actually more harmful than Sui's uncompromising ideals?
All in all, HanaIro is a mixed bag, with consistently gorgeous animation and a few great, though sorely underused supporting characters elevating it from average slice-of-life fare to something a little more nuanced and interesting. Though we occasionally felt like the staff at the inn needed an ounce (or a bucket) of common sense knocked into them, the fact is that we did enjoy our time at Kissuiso, and even Ohana being Ohana didn't stop us. Currently, all 26 episodes of Hanasaku Iroha are available streaming on Crunchyroll.
Combining "It's a Wonderful Life" with "The Twilight Zone", Kyon, who constantly complains about the hassle he had to deal with, is forced to suddenly wake up in a "normal" world where his closest friends don't remember him. While the entire effect "works," much of the experience is aided by the viewer's loose familiarity with the mythos. Sure, they explain "everything," but understanding who the characters are, makes their parallels richer, more enjoyable.
Though, at a staggering 160 minute length, this movie is long. The pace is deliberate, and really paints the isolation the characters feel. While highly intentional, it doesn't alter the chunk of change the viewer invests. Covering the events of an entire novel, there are several mini-climaxes that mildly mar an otherwise brilliant film. Of course, this is understandable, and Kyoto Animation paid attention to painstaking details.
Of course, Kyon was very lucky: the girl that he talked to was Haruhi Suzumiya. She is the god that doesnít know that she is a god. He had to go and open his mouth to sarcastically suggest that she start up her own club because sheís bored with all the other normal clubs in their school. Before he knew it, Haruhi took his suggestion to heart and went around school appropriating club members. Yuki Nagato was the first to be recruited: Well, recruited is a word that will be use loosely. Yuki was quietly sitting in her Literary Club room reading when Haruhi decided that the room is now for her club and Yuki is going to be a member. Mikuru Asahina and Itsuki Koizumi were next in line for recruitment and, last but not least, Kyon had to join so that the other members do not get tortured too much by Haruhi. Just like that, the SOS Brigade was formed to ìsave the world by overloading it with funî and, of course, search for the strange things in the world.
Well, that's what Haruhi thought SOS Brigade was formed to do. In reality, SOS was formed to keep an eye on Haruhi so that she doesn't destroy the world. Yuki is an android sent by the Integrated Data Entity to gather more data about Haruhi. They want to know the extent of her powers and whether or not they can save the world if she decides to start everything all over with a clean slate. Mikuru is a time traveler. Everything about her mission other than her being a time traveler is classified information so we donít know which organization, if any, she represents or what her goal is in observing Haruhi. Itsuki is an ESPer with an organization called "The Agency", and he is sent to keep an eye on Haruhi's mood swings because that will be ultimately what decides the universe's fate, they believe. 
It's a story the grabs the reader from page one, taking you through a dizzying maze of plot twists, always keeping the reader on their toes-never quite knowing what's coming up next. The beautiful illustrations convey the sense of urgency and scope of what Daisuke must face. He's challenged every step of the way-from his dealings with friends and family, to his internal struggles with the ghost of Dark. 
Now of course, Risa is in love with the elusive and sly Dark, but not with Daisuke, and when Daisuke tries to make her fall in love with him, all it ends up doing is transforming him into Dark! And it gets even more complicated from there. Don't miss this exciting and romantic comedy-adventure shoujo series based on the international best-selling manga series by Yukiru Sugisaki.
Kamichama Karin is the first Shoujo (Girl's) manga by Koge-Donbo (whose previous work includes PITA-TEN and DI-GI CHARAT). It's a wild take on what happens when a schoolgirl goes goddess. Let's get deified! 
In a physical family structure, siblings share half your genes, and what about if you are an identical twin, then isnít that even more special, and genetically homogenous? Twin siblings Tsubasa and Arisa are separated by their parentís divorce, though they stay in touch with letters. 
This volume begins a dark tale of exploring teenage issues of trying to cope; it explores the aspects of being in the popular crowd as well as being ignored by a larger group. This is a more serious topic that is quite different from the authorís other lighter products, Wild @ Heart, and Kitchen Princess. 
Of all the men she hates, she hates Takumi Usui the most. She doesn't want anyone from school to know that their council president is a maid and guess who just waltzes in as a patron? He doesn't tell anyone about it though; he just shows up day in day out during her shifts and watches her. He's so much so a regular "Master" at Maid Latte that he saved up enough store points to take a picture with her in her maid outfit. Talk about blackmail picture... To make things worse, he took her number one spot in having the best grades at school and he is the most popular guy at school with the boys and the girls. Misaki is not petty but she just doesn't like to lose to a guy that makes her feel inferior. In her words, "It feels like while I'm frantically running my hardest... You've already sailed through the same stretch, outrunning me easily. And every now and then, you turn around and taunt me."
How can she really hate him though? He is the only guy in school that isn't afraid of her and actually tries to get to know the real her: the Misaki Ayuzawa that isn't the ball-busting President strutting around school, torturing all male students, and rescuing the girls in distress or the Misaki Ayuzawa that isn't the cool, strong-willed maid that does her job but does not give her loyalty to any Master who hasn't earned it. He was the only one that noticed her getting sick and was around to catch her when she passed out. He was the only one that noticed the psychos that were watching her and still worried for her even though he knows she can probably take care of herself. And what man is ever willing to jump off a building to protect your secret? Sure, he'll lie, cheat, threaten, and occasionally dish out money to protect it but how many would jump off a building, hope to grab onto a tree to break his fall into a small fountain just to pick up the blackmail picture that you think could ruin your life?
Himeko's sweet sixteen turns sour when a mysterious mark appears on her chest, proclaiming her the Solar Priestess and harbinger of the eight-headed beast. And then things get distinctly darker from there. To make matters worse, her best friends are battling for her affections - as well as against the pull of the heavenly bodies that prophecy their own involvment in the world's end. 
AKU TAK TAW INI APA xd
BalasHapus