bad luck party

Kimi ni Todoke - I’m Not Watching You

So last night I watched the REAL Pedro Martinez pitch in Game 2 of the World Series instead of watching this cute puppy Pedro Maru-chan. I know what a yucky cliffhanger episode 4 of Kimi ni Todoke ends on so I refuse to watch it until I have episode 5 handy.

Sometimes I think I prefer marathoning really good shows to watching them weekly. It allows for a depth of immersion that you can’t experience watching a show in half hour increments over a period of months. But there’s also something to be said for seeing something as soon as it’s aired and experiencing it in that contextual space and time with the rest of the community. I’d be curious to hear what your anime viewing preferences are… I haven’t fully unpacked the reasons why I watch certain shows the way I watch them, and others differently.

Shakugan no Shana S OVA - OMG Body Swap!

That’s a new one! Man, they sure are scraping the bucket for plot devices but it provided for a lot of Shana X Yuuji fluff - really that describes the entire episode - so I’m not complaining. It was quite cute to see Yuuji in Shana’s body noticing how fast she always runs despite being so small, and Wilhemina buying Shana a mountain of melonpan at the end because she (well, Yuuji) yelled “I love you Wilhemina!”.

I also got a kick out of Shana going hard as usual on the ice cream while in Yuuji’s body, resulting in him spending the ED credits locked in the bathroom. The seiyuus did a decent job of acting as one another - Rie Kugimiya’s half-hearted “urusai urusai urusai” was adorable as was Satoshi Hino’s rendition of her famous line. And I’m not gonna lie, I may have fist-pumped when Shana (as Yuuji) grabs Yuuji-Shana’s hand in front of that cow Kazumi. I kind of forgot that I’d missed these characters. I am looking forward to a third season a bit more now - c’mon don’t fuck this up!

Kimi ni Todoke - Squirmy

Squirmy episode as usual. Especially the last 5 minutes, going from squirmy-good to squirmy-bad back-to-back. The good: Kazehaya acting mecha mecha otoko-rashii (above) and guiltily but compulsively hiding Sawako’s brilliant smile from his classmates, out of a desire to keep her to himself. I’ll never be able to figure out why possessive boys are such a moe turn-on in shoujo manga, while remaining such a turn-off in real life. It’s one of those idealized teenage fantasies I guess, stemming from the desire of normal girls to be treated like princesses, put on pedestals and held precious in some way. It works in the land of high school love and shoujo bubbles. Pretty sure I was blushing during this scene.

And squriming obviously. Until we switched over to the bad: the beginning of my least favourite arc in this series, with the rumours spreading about Yano and Chizu at the end of the episode. I won’t spoil, but I will say that I hate any and all story arcs that deal with misunderstandings between friends. It just makes me so uncomfortable and upset until everything is out in the light and resolved. Next episode is called “Rumours” and I’m gonna hate every minute of it. But I also probably should admit that this rumours arc is the point in the manga where I first realized Kimi ni Todoke was a pretty special series. Up until this point things have primarily centred on the relationship between Sawako and Kazehaya like most romance manga. Getting into a plot that focuses in great depth on the growing relationship between the main character and her female friends this early is a pretty unconventional move for a shoujo title. Regrettably, most of the time “friends” aren’t too much more than plot devices or comic relief in romance manga (of the non-magical girl variety at least). Yet another reason I love Kimi ni Todoke.

Gokujou!! Mecha Mote Iinchou - WHAT. THE. FUCK.

New OP/ED credits for episode 28. I fucking lost my shit over this. You think the theme of the credits is going to be “MM3 at home” because it starts with a casual shot of Nishizaki looking cool reading a science book (Hanazawa Rui style) (P.S. the book actually says SCIENCE on the front), then cuts to Nami at home on the couch hugging a stuffed animal with a cake on the table in front of him. So I’m waiting for the final shot wondering “what are they going to show Toujou-kun doing in HIS spare time?” and the answer is THIS. Nishizaki reads books, Nami eats cake, Toujou runs around half-naked in fucking caves on fire.

Awesome. This show never fails to completely blow my mind.

(P.S. What’s the deal with all the live-action business in the credits? They actually have real dudes playing the MM3 guys now? Are they doing anything with that? I would totally watch a Gokujou dorama, lulz.)

Taishou Yakyuu Musume - Marathon Baseball Girls

Well I said I wanted to watch it. I didn’t plan on watching all 12 episodes in a row but heck, this was a great show! I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to judging from the blogposts I read while it was airing last season, maybe as a result of seeing it all in one go so it never lost momentum. Even the “filler” episodes (street batters, the movie shoot, training camp) contributed to plot and character development. This might actually be the first baseball anime I’ve watched (still haven’t gotten around to Oofuri yet though) where you get a glimpse of the unique personalities of ALL NINE PLAYERS. No funny-nosed or squinty-eyed extras at the bottom of the batting order! Ouka-kai is pure killer no filler!

Set in mid-1920s Japan, Taishou Yakyuu Musume is about a group of 14 year old girls forming a baseball team in an attempt to prove to one girl’s fiancee that he’s a chauvinist dumbass. (He tells her women belong at home, and since he plays baseball she decides to take up the sport and challenge his school’s team to learn him good.) It’s your standard scrappy-little-team-with-a-lot-of-heart story, all about friendship and hard work. That kind of thing gets me EVERY time. But the period setting fills it with loads of character in the little details - from arranged marriages to old-fashioned names, the juxtaposition of Japanese and Westernized clothing, the American exchange teacher Anna Curtland (kind of anachronistic or was she supposed to be a missionary?) and the flagrantly ubiquitous “girl crushes” between team members. This all sounded a bit gimmicky to me when I was reading about it on other blogs but seeing it fit together it definitely creates a sense of era and charm.

From style to substance, there’s even some decent baseball strategy courtesy of resident meganekko right fielder Kawashima, and later from newspaper club president and stats scout Noriko. It’s hardly Tom Tango but combined with all the time-outs between pitcher Akiko and catcher Koume it keeps the games from getting stale. And of course, I loved it for the occasional touch of romance too - Koume and Saburou (her fiancee/the apprentice at her family’s restaurant) were so, so cute. Even Iwasaki, the original chauvinist, turned into quite the dashing, upright young man by the end. Ain’t nothing like a sports romance anime to make me forget about schoolwork for an afternoon! Ughhhhh

Kimi ni Todoke - Best Show This Year

Okay, so we’ve only seen the first episode so far and maybe I’m biased since, as I’ve mentioned, I am an absolutely MASSIVE fan of the manga this is based on. But how stoked are you for Kimi ni Todoke?

It’s got a sparingly simple shoujo art style - adapted faithfully from the manga - complimented by beautiful watercolour backgrounds, so it looks very different from your standard fall season fare (think Bokura ga Ita for comparison). Lots of super-deformed caricature faces too so get used to that. Especially where our fantastically unique female protagonist Sawako is concerned - since her naivete and straight-forward nature make her the source of most of the series’ comic relief.

The scene above is a favourite of mine for a couple of reasons. Kazehaya stumbling upon Sawako earnestly chewing on her hair trying to look scary as a ghost for her classmates’ test of courage was a hilarious moment. I think I even wiped away a tear again (I know I did during the manga) at the point where Chizu and Yano toss Sawako a drink to thank her for her hard work - such a simple gesture of acceptance but so meaningful for a girl who had no friends until that point. And of course, the part where the always-confident Kazehaya gets flustered about the way Sawako is looking at him in the dark and the conversation they have about it (“Don’t make me say it”) made every girl in the world’s heart beat a little faster. Thankyou shoujo manga, for giving me the dokidoki I need in my life.

Cross Game - New OP/ED!?

Well, new ED at least, with a couple of new shots in the OP. Like the one above. Pretty exciting to see Akane and Azuma taking a bigger part in the credits! The new ED especially is full of angsty shots of the love triangles between Kou/Akane/Akaishi and Azuma/Aoba/Kou. This show is heating up like a Koshien summer. It’s almost scary how fast they’re burning through the manga material.

And speaking of Koshien summers, goddamn was I envious of Risa watching the game on her cellphone in this episode! I wish I could watch baseball (or live tv in general) on my cellphone! I also wish I could watch Japanese koukou yakyuu games instead of scouring gaijin blogs for information on high school teams! Ugh, I guess if I want either of those things I’d better just up and move to Japan eh?

Gokujou: Mecha Mote Iinchou - Road Rash Moteko

Oh Mimi, you are my absolute hero and role model. I am writing this blogpost in tribute to your awesomeness. I wish I could be a moteko like you, but I doubt you would ever end up with road rash all over your face from drunkenly horsing around with boys behind a Wendy’s at 4am. Then again, part of the reason I love you is because you are able to give the best ultra-positive fashion and love advice to all of your girlfriends while somehow not having your own shit together whatsoever (re: Toujou-kun). Which sounds eerily like somebody else I know. Props respect to Kitagami Mimi, kyou mo perfect desu wa.