Uta no Prince Sama

Genre: Romance
Age Appropriate: Any Age
Emotional Response: Fun, giggly, YAY
Notable Features: pop music, boys, coming-of-age, happy pulse
Language: Japanese
Length: 2 seasons, 26 episodes
Overall Recommendation: YAY!

"You're so cute. I'm just saying hello." - Ren


Haruka Nanami is a budding composer who barely makes it in time for the entrance exam of the exclusive Saotome Academy. Saotome Academy is a music academy dedicated to putting out idols. 
Nanami's girlish goal is to write songs for her favorite idol, HAYATO. She's a country girl, who hasn't realized that her idol has turned into something of a joke, but she'd determined to write songs he would sing. With drama here, and persistence there, Nanami meets the top six boy idol-potentials and knocks them off their feet with key pieces of advice and comedy. 

Otoya Ittoki is the overly positive nice-guy who falls for her immediately after they work together on the terms major project. Masato Hijirikawa is a very serious young man from a major family, who only shows his soft side to Nanami. Natsuki Shinomiya is an interesting cutsey, affectionate-to-the-max guy who has a secret evil personality that hinges on his glasses. Tokiya Ichinose is a mysterious young man with a cold attitude that comes through his music, and it's blocking him. He also has a deep, dark secret. Ren Jinguji, another boy from a major family, is a seemingly care-free person who has made it a goal to romance every woman. He called Nanami "My Lady," and often teases her with heavy charm. Syo Kurusu is a firecracker shorty with a little manly temper. Anyone he perceives a threat to Nanami risks being on the wrong end of it. To top it all off, Cecil Aijima is added into the mix in season 2. A magical prince of a far away land who comes to Saotome simply to be near Nanami, after meeting her on a class trip. She simply has a bevy of attractive, caring, talented men at her composing disposal.

This series is about bringing friends and rivals together into one cohesive group, and the work falls on Nanami. It focuses on their budding friendships, the obstacles they face internally and externally, and the idol-creating music that results.


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What started out as a super cheesy, pop version of Corda d'Oro, ended as a heart-racing round of girlish excitement! I watched al 26 episodes in about 3 days. I just couldn't stop. It all started because a friend posted a picture on her Facebook, and I wanted to know who to cute anime boys were. I actually listening to the end theme/concert of season 2 as I'm writing this. I didn't really love Maji LOVE 1000%, but Maji LOVE 2000% will not get out of my head - neither with the booty wiggles. Insert squee here.

It's not that this anime is completely perfect. I don't know that it would graduated to a Top level. It's like most romantic comedies. It's awesome, and I'd buy it, but I"m not nominating it for an award somewhere. At episode 8, I did make a comment that if you make it all the way to episode 8 without any magic stuff, you don't really need to add a a magical cat. That one magical component aside, all other magical-type scenes are easy to pass off as emotional representations rather than some sort of magical reality.

It might be awhile before I watch it again, but it will probably happen. Seriously, I loved it. I really did get the Happy Pulse that they talk about. I really needed a good mood and I certainly got one out of this series. I caution you though, this is a straight up chick flick. If you don't like squeeling, giggling, YAY, girls chick flicks, don't watch this. If you do, watch this! Right now! Seriously! I'm going to go listen to 2000% some more via YouTube.

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::sigh:: Special A

Happy 4th Everyone!

Air

Genre: Drama
Age Appropriate: Any Age
Emotional Response: Depressing
Notable Features: Dreams, mental health issues, dancing puppet
Language: English
Length: 12 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Nope

"I had another dream last night." - Misuzu

Air begins with a young, vagrant man looking for food and attempting to use his puppet show to earn some money. Mostly, he's rejected because his show just isn't that exciting. After wandering some, he takes a quick nap on the rock wall of a beach, and wakes up to a strange girl standing in the breeze. Her presence triggers a memory from his mother, and he ends up following her  as the story of the series.

Misuzu takes Yukito home with her, with a promise of food, and ends up keeping him around - despite his arguments that she shouldn't trust random strangers. He ends up staying with her, and her aunt, in t he shed and finds a job in their small town, helping around the office at the local clinic. The story is somewhat split up by two episode mini-dramas, each following a different character. While Yukito participates in each story, for the most part the people in town don't seem to have much of a personal connection with each other. In the end, each mini-drama adds a small piece to the end result.

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I really enjoyed the theme music for this series. It was pretty, and often triggered an emotional response. Unfortunately, that was pretty much the only thing I liked about the series. I can't say it wasn't well done, in some respects, but it was so slow. I think I liked episode 8. I've been through plenty of stories that are sad, melancholy, depressing...etc, but there is always a little something here or there to help me through the pain.

I don't expect, or want, happy endings and cheery stories every time I watch a new series, but I also don't want to force myself to watch something because there is no relief from the oppressive sadness. I've had Air on my list to watch for weeks, and it kept getting pushed aside for something more bearable. The writing was fine, the music was nice, the art was normal, but I just couldn't handle it in any constructive way. I'd be willing for someone to disagree with me, I suppose, and I won't argue that it's "bad," as much as not worth the effort. I just don't think it should've taken me over three weeks to force myself to finish. The final episode did strike a chord with me, but I would've survived without seeing this. Not recommended.

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Um: Uta No Prince Sama

Haganai

Genre: Comedy
Age Appropriate: Teens
Emotional Response: LOL, feel good
Notable Features: high school, social ineptitude
Language: Japanese
Length: 2 season, 26 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Definitely

"Poopy crappy hag!" - Sister Maria

A geek, perverted scientist, dirty blonde thug, and a prima donna girly-girl walk into a common room...and The Neighbors Club is formed. Kodaka is a young man in high school who has transfered in as a Sophomore. His dirty blonde hair, and stern features have created rumors around school that he is a hardened thug, with various exploits under his belt. The other students hide in fear from him, and take every situation out of context. The beginning of his friend-less salvation starts with stumbling onto Yozora, a social outcast girl, who has an imaginary "air" friend named Tomo. After a conversation about their mutual inability to make friends, Yozora creates the Neighbors Club, putting a subliminal-type message on the flyer. The point of the club is to practice being "normal" and making friends for later.

As the flyer is seen by other stranger teens, the most popular girl in school pops up, with great drama, wanting to learn how to make friends. Apparently, her issue is being so popular that no one actually wants to like her. The pervy scientist is a girl Kodaka saves from a faint, and a young man joins the club after deciding that Kodaka's reputation means he's awesome. Yozora, being the evil prankster that she is, convinces Yukimori (said young man) that in order to be more manly, and therefore closer to Kodaka's example, he must learn to brazen his manliness out through counter-intuitive actions - basically, she convinces his to dress in drag for the entire series. The club advisor, Sister Maria, is a super-genius Sister who didn't really know what she was going into, and her arch-nemesis ends up being Kodaka's younger sister who is obsessed with a vampire anime character. Haganai follows a variety of interesting situations that occur as a result of their misguided activities for being more friend-friendly, and the interactions between the group's various frenemies.

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Haganai was a feel-good, funny series that really lifted my spirits a little bit. I'm glad that I decided to give it a try. After watching the first two episodes in English, I was disappointed to find that it was seriously only the first two episodes that had been dubbed. It was funny enough to keep moving, though. The series was fully of awkward characters, and in that way it reminded me of when I was around that age. I don't think I specifically identified with any of them, but the feel was just right. The series itself didn't seem to have any major developments, or conflicts, which may make this review portion a bit boring, I suppose. It was pretty much solely focused on character development. So many high school series have odd attachments to them, and this was straight-up comedy without magic, androids, or gratuitous nudity.

There were a few great LOL moments. There is one scene where the group is on a roller coaster ride that made me cry with laughter. It was in season 2, though, so you'll just have to wait to get there. There was some incidental fan service, but after High School DxD it was practically childish. I have so many favorite characteristics for each character, but I think I really enjoyed the middle schoolers the best, probably followed closely by the cross-dressing cross-dresser. I'm not sure it's really up to a re-watch status, but I would definitely recommend it for someone looking for an easy laugh.

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NEXT!: Air

High School DxD

Genre: Fantasy/Comedy
Age Appropriate: Adult
Emotional Response: Hilarious and Exciting
Notable Features: high schoolers, demons, angels, high nudity
Language: Japanese
Length: 12 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Totally (but only if you like that sort of thing :D )

"Ahh...I wanna squeeze some boobs." - Issei

Issei is a young, perverted high school boy, obsessed with breasts. After entering a school that was previously a all-female institution, his two naughty friends and Issei find themselves surrounded by beautiful girls, but are blocked by their own sleazy personalities. When Issei is suddenly approached by an unknown young lady, asking to be his girlfriend, he can do no other than accept. Somehow, after a lovely high school date, his new friend Yuma is turned into a fallen angel! So begins Issei's involvement in a three battle between angels, fallen angels and devils. Issei grabbed a flyer that summoned Rias, the president of the Occult Club, who saves him from a mortal blow and she brings him back to life as a devil. He's now a servant of her house. In this series, Issei has to battle with his own high school hormones, his new powers as a devil, and the bad guy fallen angels and other devil houses.

After becoming a devil, Issei becomes friends with the rest of the Occult Club - a front for Rias' devil servants within the school. The members are a variety of female types with different personalities, and Issei enjoys them all. There is one other male in the group, the most popular pretty boy in school, who earns Issei's resentment for his popularity, but also earns his respect in battle together. Each member is representative of chess pieces in their abilities - Queen (Akeno), who has magical abilities, Knight (Yuto), who has amazing sword skills, Rook (Kaneka) with super strength and defense, and Pawn (Issei) who has virtually no chess-like powers but can "promote" in enemy territory. Near the beginning there is a new addition - Bishop (Asia). Asia is a former Sister, who is saved by Issei from a terrible battle between fallen angels, a stray exorcist and the team. She joins the team with Twilight Healing - the ability to heal even devils. With their team complete, the group is set up to battle anything thrown at them.

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Let me get this out of the way first - omg fan service. There is a lot of gratuitous breast appearances in this series. This is not the same as Girls Bravo, where everything was just

incidental nudity. This is pretty obvious. If that is something that you can't handle, just skip it. Otherwise, this series is great.

I really needed something comedic this week. I definitely got what I wanted. I knew it would be funny and after the first episode, I knew it was going to be full of nudity. What I didn't expect was to be so emotionally involved. After the first few episodes, it feels like they threw in the fan service because it was expected, not because it was a focal point. After seeing past that, the story is pretty excellent. I was cheering for Issei the whole time. It was at least in part cheering for the underdog. His abilities are pretty abysmal compared to his compatriots, but his enthusiasm seems to make up for some of it. The last few episodes I was clapping along, and at one point a little sniffly. Really, I loved it. I might scoot this up to at least the Top 10 (which now needs to exist). I really was surprised at how much I loved it. I know I enjoyed Heaven's Lost Property, but I didn't inhale it the way I did this.
Highly Recommended. I might even watch it again in the future. I cannot wait until Season 2 comes out later this year. I'm super excited to see where the story goes.

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Boost!: Haganai

Time of Eve

Genre: Sci-Fi
Age Appropriate: Any Age
Emotional Response: Huh
Notable Features: androids, human conditions
Language: Japanese
Length: 6 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Not for me

"Just follow the rule." - Nagi

Time of Eve centers around a high school age boy living in a futuristic world where humanoid-androids are house servents and workers as a normal part of everyday society. The news talks about different issues in the background of episodes and often hits on social aspects per episode. One of the major themes is the relationship between humans and androids, both negative and positive. Those humans moving toward the side of androids being considered more human are even called android-holics.

Rikuo, the main protagonist, follows his android one day, after discovering an interesting anomoly in her travel log. He, and his friend, Masaki, find themselves inside a coffee house where the rule is no discrimination between humans and androids. While in the outside world androids have rings floating above their heads to signify their status, inside the cafe no one has any identifiers. The boys find the whole process very controversial, and find themselves learning more each time they arrive.
Each character finds a different path in their understanding of android/human, human/human, and android/android relationships.

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Time of Eve feels like a mix of AI and I, Robot. Partially because of the human characteristics given to androids, and partially because of the result of those characteristics. It was a truly intriguing series, but I'm also glad it was short. I found myself struggling to watch multiple episodes in a row. I think, perhaps I would've been more likely to watch this for someone else. I don't think I would've chosen to continue it for my own personal interest in a regular situation. Or, maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it. I can think of a few of my friends, who are more sociologically inclined, that would really enjoy the commentary present about the human condition combined with technological morality issues. It was done really well, but it just wasn't my particular cup of tea (pun not intended, but why not?). I guess, the only disappointing thing that I found, in general, is that the ending was a little lame, but I should've expect much out of a 6 episode series.

Given the brevity of the series, it's a pretty short review. If you liked AI and I, Robot - or any similar movie/series - then I would definitely recommend this. If you didn't really care about them, then I wouldn't recommend it.

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Order Up!: High School DxD

One Week Only!

No, really. 

When I first started, I was devouring anime like kettle chips (I like kettle chips, haha). As I started to open up my genres I realized that I couldn't keep up that schedule. In an attempt to control myself, I decided on only posting twice per week. Do you know that posting twice a week can get a little ridiculous? Apparently, according to my friends, I've been unusual in my multiple postings per week. So, I'm going to give once per week a try. I know, for sure, that this will at least allow me to see 2 season series in a healthier pace. If this will make you cry (figuratively or literally), leave a comment I guess. 

Please look forward to Time Of Eve on Thursday. Posts will be on Thursdays each week. 

Thanks! 
Mini-Geek Girl

Heaven's Lost Property - Mirror Review

Here is the mirror review I promised you! Below is a review of Heaven's Lost Property from a completely different perspective. I think he did a pretty good job!


Genre: Sci-Fi, Action

Age Appropriate: Late Teen, and Adult

Emotional Response: LOL, OMG, and sadface

Notable Features: Awesome battle scenes, astronomical levels of fan service

Language: English dub

Length: 2 seasons, 26 episodes, 1 feature-length film

Overall Recommendation: What are you waiting for?!

"This smells like tasty!" -- Delta (Astraea)

Tomoki Sakurai craves only one thing in life: peace and quiet. So when Ikaros, a type Alpha Angeloid, falls from the sky and comes crashing (quite literally!) into Tomoki's life, peace and quiet are nowhere to be found!

The series follows the adventures of the New World Discovery Club, a group of Tomoki's friends and classmates, as they deal with the daily challenges of high school and seek to unravel the secrets of the "New World," a mysterious black hole that appears in the sky. Ikaros falls from the black hole and imprints upon Tomoki, who becomes her "master." Tomoki, who is quite the little pervert as we soon find out, quickly manages to get himself in trouble with Ikaros' power to grant his every wish. More Angeloids eventually show up, and we find that each one has a different personality, special powers, and abilities -- and they're on a mission to kill Tomoki!

As the series progresses, we find out more information on just who (and what) the Angeloids actually are, the truth about the "New World," and what it all means for the New World Discovery Club.

Action, adventure, and many more Angeloids await in Heaven's Lost Property, Heaven's Lost Property: Forte, and Heaven's Lost Property: The Angeloid of Clockwork!

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I'm going to break from the traditional plot summary part of the review and focus on what I actually thought of the series as a whole:

First off, there is a LOT of fan service throughout this series. And by a lot, I mean gratuitous amounts in almost every episode, so be prepared for that. Tomoki is quite the little pervert -- something this is definitely reflected in many of the running gags in the series, from an airborne flock of panties to a panty-clad robot that can transform into a motorcycle, to Tomiki's various plots to see the inside of the girls' changing room. The end result is hilarious and sooooooooooo bad at the same time. I felt guilty for laughing at first, but when it quickly became apparent that the series wasn't about to tone down the level of fan service, I gave up and just went with it!

Moving on to less perverted aspects of the show, the music in this series is absolutely phenomenal. It's a great mix of quiet and introspective melodies along with supercharged battle themes that literally made me bounce around in my seat.

The storyline for the series achieves a nice balance between laid back episodes that focus on comedic aspects and themes along with the more plot-driven "serious" episodes. Each and every episode has its place, and they all add up to the benefit of a greater payoff in the more climactic scenes. There is some great character development for many of the characters (especially the Angeloids themselves), although some of the secondary characters remain pretty two dimensional -- however, that isn't something I noticed at the time, and doesn't detract from the series as a whole. I found myself very emotionally invested in the characters, to the point where I had to watch "just one more episode" (and another, and another!) when it came to cliffhangers.

Final thoughts:

- Made me wish I'd taken home economics in high school

- You'll never look at a watermelon the same way again

Overall, I loved the series, and can't wait for Season 3!
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How did that work for y'all?: Time of Eve