Kanememo

Genre: Comedy
Age Appropriate: Older Teens/Adult
Emotional Response: A mix between awww and seriously?
Notable Features: girls, yuri, adult content
Language: Japanese
Length: 1 Season, 13 episodes 
Overall Recommendation: Not so much

"But if it were hamster aliens..." - Kana

When Kana's grandmother dies, she jumps to the wild conclusion that she will be taken away with her grandmother's things when the movers come. Her response is to pack everything she can into her backpack and run away from home. After wandering the streets for awhile, she doubles back to a strange newspaper, with strange employees, and takes a job as a newspaper girl. The position doesn't offer much in pay, but does offer room and board. The assistant chief, or "Chief," is a grade schooler with a strong arm and a secretly soft heart. She allows Kana to work there after hearing she has no family, despite being underage for working without permission.

The other employees are comprised of four other young ladies, all significantly older than Kana (around college age). Two of the young ladies are in a odd, yet loving, relationship - with one being a bit obsessed. The third is a bit tomboy-ish but lots of fun. The fourth is a creepy moe pervert obsessed with getting her hands on Kana and/or the boss. Frequently, their shenanigans lead to a pay cut. Combined with her school friends, a competitive newspaper girl from another store, and her memories of her grandmother, Kana navigates her new independent life while learning a wide variety of life lessons.

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Kanamemo was a mix of funny and disturbing. There was a lot of potential in the beginning. I

particularly enjoyed Kana's strange moment of obsession with hamster aliens. While I enjoyed it at the beginning, mostly by ignoring the wierd parts, eventually the story just got kind of old. At least, what there was of a story. I tried to ignore the pervy, pedophilic Haru, and was successful for the most part, but there were times when I just wanted to punch her in the head - much like the other girls would do. It's not so much the perviness as the creepy choice of girls.

At first, I did think I was going to like it. Unfortunately, there was nothing in the story except the minor plots per episode. I can definitely appreciate a coming-of-age story, but there is usually come sort of conflict/resolution part of a story, and this seemed to be missing everything. Maybe it would've been different if the show was longer than 13 episodes. I guess, I wasn't that impressed. The final episode was really cute, so I'm glad I suffered through it so I didn't feel like it was a total wash. I don't think I would stop someone from watching it - and while the characters are a bit tasteless, all nudity is covered by funny censor bubble animals - I just wouldn't recommend it to someone.

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Eeeee!: Maid Sama

Koihime Musou - Shin Koihime Musou

Genre:Fantasy/Comedy
Age Appropriate: Adult
Emotional Response: OMG, I can't believe they just said that. HAHAHAHA
Notable Features: travelling fighters, pseudo-nudity, yuri
Language: Japanese
Length: 3 seasons, 36 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Heck Yeah

"Fight with Rin Rin!" - Rin Rin

Koihime Musou is a comedic historical fantasy, centered around a time when travelling fighters roamed the land. The series follows a small group of ladies travelling with Kan'u (Aisha), the Black Hair Bandit Killer. She runs into different girls at different times and they frequently travel with her for a few episodes or so, before going their own way, and eventually show up again later. The primary exception to this rule is Rin-Rin, her little sister sidekick. Rin Rin appears in the first episode as an orphan in a small town, who tweaks Kan'u's heartstrings. They make a vow of sisterhood and agree to travel together for all time.

As the series progresses they pick up some very important friends, many part ways, and some seem to stick around for good - particularly Sei (aka Butterly Mask) and Shuri (a child genius obsessed with knowledge). The groups interactions frequently involve the lords of the land in a variety of situations (most of whom are very interested in the ladies for multiple reasons). Every once in a while, the stumble upon a male character who effects the story in some way, but never becomes a main character. This series is all about the ladies - both their relationships, and their ability to kick butt.

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This series is ridiculous!...in a good way. The outrageous yuri is hilarious everytime it comes up. As long as a little girl love isn't an issue with you, watch it. It took me awhile to get through all three seasons, but it was worth it in the end. It was totally unexpected. I thought it was going to be some sort of martial art epic fighting drama-type story, and what I got was a historical fantasy yuri comedy. No complaints, though. I'm always up for a good laugh. So much for attempting to squeeze a little variety in what I was watching.

I highly recommend it if you need a laugh. There is some pretend nudity, with carefully placed steam and light streams, and some "omg I can't believe they're showing that even if they're not really showing that" moments, so this is not for the kiddies. I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable watching it with my parents. I might blush. Still, worth it. I'm smiling right now just typing this because of the funnies running around in my head.

Not all of the storyline is important, so don't expect some emotional breakthrough drama that changes you life, but that was fine with me. Unfortunately, as with all series with sequels, the fun goes down a little bit. A lot of the yuri jokes fade away, which is okay but they don't replace it with anything. The third season has the real action, if less fun comedy. It wasn't a struggle to watch, so I enjoyed it tot he end, if at varying degrees.This series gets my stamp of approval.

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Where am I?: Amnesia



I'm going on a camping trip this weekend! There won't be any internet available, though, so, I won't be posting anything for Monday. My bad.

YuruYuri

Genre: Comedy
Age Appropriate: Pre-teen
Emotional Response: goofy girls, girl crushes
Notable Features: young girls, school related comedy, lack of presence
Language: Japanese
Length: 2 seasons, 26 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Ok, I guess

"Akarin!" - Everyone

YuruYuri opens with a storyline about Akari, a young middle-schooler starting a new school year. She comes with new friends and old. Right away, the series goes into her lack of presence. There is a new girl, who is a first year, who describes her as invisible. As the series moves on, it becomes apparent that the series is more about the friends as a whole. The four main friends Akari, Yuki, Kyoko and Chinatsu - are a part of the Amusement Club - a club that has no real focus outside of hanging out. There is the occasional attempt at doing something, but it often just leads to comedic situations. The series is primarily shenanigans, in and out of school, between the girls. There is some rivalry between the VP of the School Council and the Amusement Club, but turns out shortly that it has more to do with a crush and/or competition than anything malicious. The key to YuruYuri is the Yuri part. The series is full of girl crush triangles, including two fantasizing twins. There aren't any male characters at all! At the bottom of the storyline, and girly fun, the series is really about Akari and her battle with her self-esteem.

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YuruYuri is cute. There isn't any real substance at all, though. This is part of the reason the synopsis isn't very long. I don't really mind watching something fluffy after a few serious anime, but this was too fluffy. I didn't get enraptured by it at all, and had to force a few episodes down my throat. Actually, that sounds a little harsh. It really was cute. And the comedy bits where they're expression their crushes for each other are pretty excellent. There is plenty of innuendo and sparkly fantasy moments, but nothing blatantly inappropriate. I didn't have any laugh out loud moments, but maybe a headsmack or two. Things I did enjoy: Yui's little sister. She's adorable. It wasn't really to my taste, but if you don't mind the girl-girl crushes, it's probably not a bad series for a middle-schooler. If there is any type of moral to this story, it's about self-esteem. In general, though, I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone, unless they specifically asked for something like it. It was ok, I guess.

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Here fishy-fishy!: My Bride is a Mermaid