bluemist anime blog

Cool and Spicy vs. Just Plain Spice

Shugo Chara 43 was awesome. So awesome, I don't know how they can top this afterwards. With the season ender fast approaching, the anime almost reaching the latest manga stories, and the announcement for yet another year, who knows what kind of Shugo Chara we'll see next. Some rumblings around the blogosphere about how this will ruin Shugo Chara because of filler, or about how happy they are that there will be more anime, or about how happy they are that there are more fillers, or maybe even about how happy they are that it will be ruined because there will be more anime and fillers, or maybe even about how happy they are that some people are catfighting about it, etc. Sometimes fangirls are scary, but then again I am too… I'm a "non-girl" fangirl.

So just a short snippet at this. If Cardcaptor Sakura managed to have awesome fillers, why not Shugo Chara? Full Moon wo Sagashite anime totally strayed from the manga plot, and that's still an awesome anime right? Heck, argue that Ojamajo Doremi is 95% filler, but that's the best (IMO) mahou shoujo around. So let's give those filler anime producers a shot at it before bashing around. But then again, I got reminded about how I stopped watching Pretty Cure after a string of non-interesting episodes, and I have a similar experience with Mermaid Melody. And we do already have examples of a string of average fillers within Shugo Chara itself.

What keeps me entertained about shoujo anime are primarily the characters first. The stories mostly become secondary to me. This is where most filler anime makers get it wrong. In fillers, they always invent new and original characters that just disappear after 1 freaking episode. Almost every shoujo anime has that kind of inclination, whether it's based on a manga or not. For a show mostly for kids, that seems to produce unnecessary clutter. You are made to care about new characters, only to realize you'll probably never hear about them again. What about doing the CCS way, make a entirely filler character (Meilin) that's ALWAYS THERE? Almost integral to the story (Shaoran's fiance and cousin), and many episodes related to her? Or why not build upon existing characters? Ojamajo Doremi succeeded in that arena.

So, with 50 or so episodes more for the next season, why not take advantage of already-established characters, filler or otherwise? I'm sure they'll find more stories about Rima's ongoing family problem. More antics of that Indian Prince whose name escapes me. Kukai's childhood friend returns? Or maybe a sub-arc with Utau getting pitted against that beautiful celebrity who got married to Amu's cousin? Remember the ballerina? The love rival? And how the heck did Nikaidou became just a mere happy smily teacher after his super-dark chara arc? I was half-expecting him to pop up being the cool pillar of sleazy looks when he may come face-to-face with Easter. Finally, I noticed Yaya is still under-established. How did she get her chara-nari without much backstory aside from her relationship with her baby brother?

And as a kicker, I thought the whole point of Shugo Chara is finding your naritai jibun/would-be selves? Reaching your dreams and aspirations? "Character Development" is the point, and somehow it shines whenever the manga story is in full gear, and dims when it comes to fillers. It looks like I'm still divided over the topic, so I'll end this with Utau and Amu-chan's awesomeness.

If you ask me, Utau WINS over Amu-chan in this one. Seraphic Charm is the awesomest chara-nari, and none of Amu-chan's 6 crazy variations can top that. Amu-chan can only muster to carry a helicopter, while Utau cleanses a thousand X Charas. I may not approve of the siscon (or maybe I do?), but if Amu is Cool and Spicy, Utau is… er… I can't think of any, so let's just go with:

SHUGOI!

Posted in Asides | 4 Comments »

Tragedy, Hope

Knowing about the true story of Sakura in anime form was unprecedented for me. Even if I had already skimmed the surface, I guess the tale can still be told effectively in another way. The most important part of the experience though, is that I can relate somewhat to the character. Yes, Yoshino Sakura's trials, tribulations and tragedies reflect my own set of current real-life problems. As a result, my heart breaks yet again for this fictional character, and in part, this fictional character gave me a source of reference, reflection and inspiration of myself.
(more…)

Posted in Da Capo II, Live | 3 Comments »

Boku wa Imouto ni Koi wo Suru

Boku wa Imouto ni Koi wo Suru

Koi Kaze not enough? Enjoy the dangerous world of incest with Boku wa Imouto ni Koi wo Suru.

Boku wa Imouto ni Koi wo Suru is a one-shot OVA based on a shoujo manga of the same title. It tells the story of a taboo incestual relationship of brother Yori and sister Iku. Yori is the first to break down. He starts to keep secrets and ignore Iku, and yet sometimes he's being too overprotective of her, even fighting someone in class who made her embarrased. Iku wonders why she's being mistreated lately. One night, Yori confesses to Iku, and of course rejection is abound, because it is indeed weird. Yori even realizes it himself, that this is wrong, but he can't stop his feelings towards his sister. He does a lot of things to make himself go the right path somehow, by planning to go to a faraway college to stay away from Iku, and even trying to have a normal relationship with another girlfriend. By this time, Iku herself is starting to waver her own feelings. She starts to become jealous of Yori and his girlfriend, and so she also developed feelings towards her brother.

Treading into dangerous territory eh? These are the kinds of stories that are very interesting to me because a person like me could barely understand the emotional pains of having this feeling. This is the kind of storytelling that makes the onii-chan complex seem light-hearted. Deep inside, the pain of an impossible relationship exists within the lovers involved. Yup, Yori and Iku, despite their extreme intimacy, continually remind themselves that this is wrong. Towards the end, they still try to find ways to move on and forget their impossible love somehow (through separation), and yet we still see a tease, because somehow it's very hard to let go.

There are scenes of intimacy in this anime, but nothing too graphic. The animation and color tone reminds me of Marimite, the atmosphere similar to fellow incest-themed anime Koi Kaze. This is well-animated and well-paced, staying true to many scenes in early volumes of the manga. Of course, other events are omitted. In the manga Yori and Iku are extremely intimate, they express it almost anywhere. I wonder when they'll be caught…

Anyway, I recommend you watch this with an open mind. In the real world people may be guilty of this, but while society abhors this, do not be discriminative. Love is really more complicated than we think.

Update: It's going to be a live-action movie! Boku wa Imouto Ni Koi Wo Suru the movie will be starred by Jun Matsumoto (of Gokusen/Hana Yori Dango fame) and one hawt babe Nana Eikura, a magazine model. Nice, I hope to catch it soon.

Posted in Live, Reviews, Shoujo | 31 Comments »

Playing a Bishoujo Game is Futility Project: To Heart 2 edition

bluemist's Ultimate "Playing a Bishoujo Game is Futility" Project

To Heart 2

Let's just end this once and for all!

What are you trying to do here?
I will attempt the impossible by playing through a bishoujo game… in Japanese.

Are you suicidal?
This is just because of the extreme urge to somehow play a popular bishoujo game.

You won't understand it at all!
Yes I know. For one, To Heart 2 is a Visual Novel. It has TONS of text which I won't understand whe way I am now.

But because this is an attempt at futility, I have some tricks up my sleeve:
- I have a walkthrough.
- I have 5% knowledge of conversational Japanese.

Using the walkthrough, I'll be able to get a proper ending with a specific girl… if I follow directions right.

And using my 5% Japanese words, vocabulary and sentence understanding, I may be able to understand the story.

This is ridiculous. You won't understand the story without the text. Besides, the player is YOU. You are supposed to be talking, but the talk is only through the text. The girls and other people may be talking to you through voice-overs, but that means you are getting half the conversation only.
Yes I will get half the story that way.

Enough self-talk. Let's see where this goes.

You will find my introduction and updates through the URL:
http://bluemist.animeblogger.net/toheart2/

Posted in Bishoujo | No Comments »

Konomi cameo!!!

Taken from Comic Party Revolution 7:

Another one!

Taken from Comic Party Revolution 5:

It's Konomi Yuzuhara! It's Konomi-chan! It's a major treat for the To Heart 2 fans. They even snuck the opening song of the game in as background music!

Just don't ask who the heck cosplayed it…

Posted in Anime, Bishoujo | 4 Comments »

To Heart 2: Last Review

FINAL THOUGHTS

I'm finished!!! Finally, after almost a month, I finished the Konomi scenario in To Heart 2! I never thought I would.

Anyway, my big hurdle was really the language barrier. Not being able to read the Japanese text, I rely and listen closely at what the voice overs are saying in their dialogue. Technically so many details may be wrong in the entirety of the feature, but as a whole all the things that happened in the scenario gives Konomi her necessary character development.

We see her as a fun, klutzy girl who seems always positive but has her share of down times too. She definitely loves her onee-san Tamaki. She is also somewhat superstitious, and likes to buy and give Takaki some charms and stuff like that. She's definitely a girl, and seeing her cry after her junior school graduation develops her characteristics of vulnerability as a girl. And of course, her "eheee~" habit makes her as cute-sounding as she is cute-looking.

Of course, the other characters which had their share of character development in this scenario are the siblings Yuji and Tamaki. They are very comic siblings. How they punch each other with words or rather physically ups the comic humor a bit in the game. And Yuji serves as the crossover king, citing references to many of the other Leaf games including no less than the first To Heart.

Which brings me to this subject, a possible major flaw in the structure of To Heart 2. How come that all those girls do not remotely know each other? I know that Yuma and Manaka are friends, but that's just about it. Other than that, no rapport is seen between the other girls. Why is that? I would have wanted some kind of love triangle plot, or some petty fight issues between the girls. I haven't played the original To Heart game, but why do the To Heart girls know each other in both anime series? In fact, they know each other too well you'd think they're friends already. Is this an anime-only thing? Will we see rapport among the To Heart 2 characters when the anime arrives? I'll have to see about that. In any case, it is sad that the To Heart 2 girls have little or no relation to each other in this game.

That said, it really seems to be a straight-forward game. Follow one girl, discard the rest. But if you stray away from her scenario, you get the generic bad ending. Seemingly as simple as that. I guess what really matters here is the story rather than the gameplay. You could see yourself idling away with not pushing any buttons for a period of time, since the choices and place directions are few and far between. It isn't too hard to stray away from a girl's scenario either. Just pick the choices that attune to the character, and also go to places where you can possibly meet her. To Heart 2 is an easy game.

On to the technical aspects. For a visual novel or bishoujo game, the event CG is rather good. Only in rare instances did I see the character drawings to be inconsistent. If I'm right, there are a total of 227 event CGs in the game. Character and background CGs blend along well. There are a few special graphical effects seen though, like zooming in the characters, but there are lots of screen fading styles employed (if anyone is ever interested in those). The music is great too. Just recently I realized that many tracks in To Heart 2 are actually revivals or remixes of To Heart PSE tracks! This recreates even more the original To Heart feel, but unfortunately I have a "heard first" tendency, so I rather like the To Heart 2 versions more.

By the way, I am playing the Playstation 2 version of To Heart 2. Actually, there will be a PC port of the game soon, possibly featuring new characters and scenarios to the game. I'm thinking that I may update some parts of this project to include some new events in the PC Konomi scenario in the game, if they will exist (and if I get the game of course).

My many thanks to the people who supported this project. To the people to posted a comment, and also to the game players I (annoyed) asked to help me on this project. Thank you very much!

Well, until the anime or the PC version comes, I officially declare this project… COMPLETE!

Posted in To Heart 2 | 1 Comment »

To Heart 2 Review (Part 7)

Review Coverage: April 25 to 27, True and Alternate Ending

The end is here!

April 25
The entire Sunday has passed with Konomi still in the house. At night, she's about to go home, but first she tries to confess to Takaki. Well not quite yet.

April 26
Konomi picks Takaki up again in his house in the morning. After class, they go home together again. She seems to have a problem with some sort of practice. Takaki volunteers to help her, so that made her happy. Along they way, she tries to confess again, but she fails again.

April 27
This is the final fateful day. After class, we see Takaki, Konomi, Tamaki and Yuji together. The boys react on how how the weather is. Konomi suggests that they eat ice cream. Everyone agrees and so they go to the cafe. While Tamaki and Konomi gets to buy everyone the ice cream, Konomi's two friends arrive! It seems that they know about the sleepover events, and so they tease Takaki again about Konomi. On Konomi's back, Takaki reacts rather badly, saying that she's really just no more than a childhood friend, or a little sister. Actually, Konomi hears the conversation. She starts getting nervous, and was about to cry, and so she fled and went home. Takaki tries to follow her, but she first gets stopped by Tamaki. Tamaki now becomes his second conscience. So she tries to let Takaki realize his true feelings for Konomi. Is she just a childhood friend to him? Or a potential lover? Tamaki gave Takaki two choices:

I see her as a girl.

I see her as just a childhood friend.

The To Heart 2 game player now has a choice that leads to two different endings.

It's better for you to go to the page instead of me summarizing the two endings, so anyway go to each ending to find out!

To Heart 2: True Ending

To Heart 2: Alternate Ending

Posted in To Heart 2 | No Comments »