Anime blog that focuses on Yuri and School Girl Slice of Life Anime and Editorials
Anime adaptation of the Comedy Romance light novel series, Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu
In the past few weeks, I have witnessed a lot of bullying and name-calling shaming people who play or enjoy video games. It’s true that people tend to judge people depending on tastes and their hobbies such as people who like Anime since it’s a niche medium. Because of this, people who are not familiar with it will likely hold an ignorant, distorted or uninformed view on it and generalize them to a certain stereotype or label.
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After I shared my thoughts about Miyazaki’s remarks on otakus and the Anime Industry’s focus on that demographic, one of the comments caught my attention to write about this topic: Should you call yourself an otaku or even a gamer? (Image Source)
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At last, Haruka’s parents tests how strong the love between Yuuto and Haruka really is.
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As 2012 finally comes to an end, I felt that this year is rather subdued for Anime. Although there were some Anime that received some rave reviews that I didn’t watch, I was still satisfied by what I have already watched. Not only that, I only dropped one show this year compared to two in 2011. Still, there were some disappointments, which I want to go over.
For now, I will list my top whatever lists of best Anime in 2012 along with some disappointing/worst ones. (Image Source)
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This episode was so painful that I had to watch the rest of it at 1.5x speed.
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Make this stop! This drama is putting me to sleep…
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I’m dreading every moment of this considering how bad the second season was. Still, I’m obligated to finish it, which is why we have four original video animations to finish it. As a matter in fact, the original source material concluded several months ago, which can explain why they wanted to finish the Anime. Believe me, there will be a lot of fireworks going once this is done and it took only three years in the making to get here.
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I have always wondered about the themes Ore no Imouto covered since it was a topic that has been done in the past, but not well executed. Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu covered only the surface of the Otaku subculture but only to throw it out of the window in the second season.
While there are some resemblances of the two shows, they are significantly different. The difference between them is what I want to cover. (Original Image)
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A while back in June 2009, I wrote a lengthy editorial on how fanservice can ruin the overall story of an anime. Well, this becomes a reality with Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu.
I have watch both seasons and the first season was far better besides a few panty shots is that they focused on the over lining purpose of the story. Yuuto and Haruka sweet romance and also her Otaku interest. However, the second season lost it’s purpose completely. Like Kimagure said on Melative, “sweetness replaced by pointless fanservice.” The second season of Nogizaka Haruka just proved what I have said in my editorial I wrote in June of 2009 that adding lots of fanservice makes the over lining story alot worse than it would without the fanservice. All I got from this is more pantyshots, boob groping and other stuff that shouldn’t be in the anime. If I want to watch a fanservice-oriented anime, I would of watched titles like Ladies vs Butlers, Kampfer or even Chu-Bra! I bet one minute that 90% of the fanservice seen in the second season is not in the Nogizaka Haruka light novels (yes, the Anime is adapted from the light novel…)
The problem with the route they taken is that it’s completely unnecessary and the story can do better without it, besides the other flaws besides fanservice. I felt that Diomedea is trying to use fanservice to try to attract more audience to the show, at the same time, alienating its viewers who liked the first season and be constantly let down by every episode. If there is ever a third season, Diomedea better shape up and not add the fanservice and bring it back to what the story is intended to be in the first place because viewers aren’t going to take this excessive, overdone and redundant fanservice and panty shots anymore. There are already enough fanservice laden titles out there already, Nogizaka Haruka is a series that doesn’t need to go down that path too. We already have other anime that does that.
It’s pointless now to write about Episode 12, so let’s go to the final review…
The major problem beside the less focus on Haruka (more of a source material issue than the anime itself) is the fanservice… Fanservice everywhere, but not on the level of more fanservice oriented shows like Kampfer. Its plot and fanservice was alot worse than this. Gives Purezza a new meaning.
Some complaints on the Anime focusing on other character’s plots and not on Haruka… These plots were alright and not outright bad… Actually, they are good except that they are not about Haruka like in the first season. The good thing is that the plot wasn’t lame at all compared to Kampfer, which is a piece of s*** (no offense) and had a stupid plot filled with fanservice, but yeah.
Give some credit when it’s due… this is a extremely sweet series mainly because of those Haruka and Yuuto moments. That alone is the major cause TV diabetes 1 in 4 males… The almost kiss is the biggest and cruel running gag of the season… but I approve Haruka fanservice… It’s a good mindless romance comedy, but you cannot expect much from it beyond it… thats all and certainly does not compare with Seitokai, which is a better comedy show material wise… IMO or even the plot-heavy romance titles.
With the Idol arc, Yuuto finally mans up… and now evidently in Episode 12, he actually said “take your clothes off?” Wow… and of course, Yayoi and Nozomi gets their butts kicked in the end.. It’s great justice, don’t you think?
Now moving on to the lack of Haruka. This is a big deal and a reason why this season is weak. Take this for example. Say you have a movie named Batman, but the movie have no Batman at all, but just Robbin filled with Fangirl stuff. Do you expect the movie to be good at all? The answer is no. This season suffers from this because of the reason mentioned.
Like always, Diomedea did a pretty good job with animating Nogizaka Haruka, so there isn’t really much to comment here, EXCEPT…. the excessive steam… Perhaps the DVD and the other broadcast will not have this?
Nothing have changed, except we are introduced to some new maids… including Alice-chan. Most importantly, Yayoi and Nozomi, jerkass managers who tried to take Haruka away, Touka, the most generic tsundere I have seen ever (with her plot having a uncanny resemblance of Hayate the Combat Butler!) and Himemiya Miran, the idol singer.
But then again, where did Haruka go in 6 of the episodes in the whole season?
While the content isn’t the strongest point of this season, the music still sounded pretty good… that no wonder it reached my top 6 on my Last.fm profile (no joking). The OP sounds more powerful and awesome than the last one, although the last one was catchy. The ED however, have them do some kind of new dance and also in super deformed mode… Well, yeah…
Also, the opening theme for the show within a show anime, Nocturne Girl Lacrosse Club also sounded good
For what I have seen, I only can give it a 81%, a B- (in actuality, a 78%, C+ if you really want to be a harsh critic) and I was slightly disappointed by the amount of fanservice, cocktease with the kissing and the lack of Haruka… The show had some strong points like music and most part animation, but content is lacking a bit underneath the fanservice and the lack of Haruka. The series IMO would have done better if they took out all the unnecessary and pointless fanservice… otherwise, it would have been better. Would I watch a third season? Maybe, but from watching this, I would have low expectations… which could mean that they would do better next time? Who knows…
Never trust the name Purity in a title ever… you know what that means now… More Fanservice and perhaps stop with the pointless arc sand focus what the show is actually about. ABOUT HARUKA AND HER SECRET GOD DAMMIT! Until next time….
and yes, I do approve of Haruka Fanservice… :p
8.1/10, B-
Actual: 7.8/10, C+
Yuuto’s pathetic self can’t get any worse when he actually believe the words Yayoi and Nozomi said and let them get away with their shenanigans with Haruka… They are trying to take Haruka away from you… are you possibly going to let them get away with it. The first half had him moping around… hopeless with depression. Mika and Shiina tries to help you and you push them away? There might be something wrong .
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2009 was a pretty dismal year for the economy in general, but not for Anime… I will be discussing several moments in Animes I watched that were good to the ones that are horrible. Let’s start with the bad, shall we.
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2009 was a pretty dismal year for the economy in general, but not for Anime… I will be discussing several moments in Animes I watched that were good to the ones that are horrible. Let’s start with the bad, shall we.
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When you think about idol, what comes in mind… The game iDOLM@STER by Namco? White Album? What? Yayoi, the “clingy girl” b**ch wants Haruka for herself to make her into a idol and she doesn’t want Yuuto in any part of it… Let’s try that again… She loathes Yuuto that much that she want to split the relationship between Haruka and Yuuto so she can have her to her self… Thats more like it…
Miran makes a reappearance in this episode and most likely in the next two episodes. Yuuto becomes a manager for her and we get some back stage appearance with Miran with her photoshots… There is one crucial quote she made about Yuuto which is apparently true.
I don’t even consider you as a guy, so it’s fine.
– Himemiya Miran
Apparently true since he doesn’t fight against Yayoi and defend Haruka, his girlfriend… What would a guy do if another man hits on your girlfriend… Of course, you would defend her… but apparently not so with Yuuto because he is way too nice… Being nice is a good thing, but you must do all means necessary to denfend your girl before someone go take her away… I’m sure you don’t want that.
Besides the behind the scenes with Miran and the Anime recording, we get another reference… The N’s which is basically Noto Mamiko & Gotou Mai & Shimizu Kaori & Ueda Kana & Satou Rina and Yuuto voices as a Lizard and he gets a servenior, which he intends on giving to Haruka… but… yep, the evil managers. Miran almost revealed about Yayoi, but probably much more in the next two episodes.
I have the feeling that Gentou should send his Hell Hound and infiltrate the whole building with soldiers with M5 surrounding it… If that were to happen, that will teach that b**ch a lesson…
In a side note, Yuuto does what Mika suggested and uses a chocolate bannana with Alice-chan licking it for more innuendo… but that did not go well for Ruko and Yukari…
I see some people complaining about the series because it’s not focusing on Haruka’s and Yuuto’s romance officially… I for one think that this series is rather enjoyable, although not the best in terms of content compared to the first season… but it can’t get any worse than Kampfer…
8.2/10
Haruka asks Yuuto on a official date after 20 EPISODES?! What do you mean? Are those dates on Akiba, the Christmas party at Yuuto’s house and the place where Haruka’s mother and father went to on New Years Day, are those dates… Not according to Mika since she considers them only to be outings…. ouch… I thought by now that they would have gone out on a date…
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This time it’s a Mika centered episode and yes, it’s the last of the episodes that don’t focus on Haruka and her secret (which so far about 4 episodes in the season don’t have her in the spotlight, which some of the complaints are coming from.)
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I have completed the first season nearly a week ago and it was a pretty good concept of a story which is pretty unique. In this story, they took a extraordinary nice guy and a high class girl who have one major flaw of being a otaku. That is just the surface of the story since Nogizaka Haruka is not entirely about otaku subculture in shows like Lucky Star. This twist, however makes things more interesting, but is it well executed? Let’s find out, shall we?
The story is a typical romance story… a ordinary guy meets a girl. However there is a big twist in this story. Nogizaka Haruka, an ojou is the most unattainable girl in school with rejections up to the triple digits. Yuuto bumps into Haruka in the library after Yuuto returns the book and the magazine she took out revealed her secret, her love for Anime and Manga, which is viewed negatively for people of her class. However, Yuuto accepts her secret and will keep it as a secret. Throughout the series, the relationship between Haruka and Yuuto builds up with some help of Mika (Haruka’s sister), Nanami and Hazuki. Also with that, another girl is thrown in called Shiina which Yuuto accidently bumps into which causes her to gain some kind of a romantic desire of her becoming his boyfriend, although Yuuto only seems to like Haruka.
The series itself throws some references to other anime. The most references shown is Shakugan no Shana.
What this anime tries to shows the sad realization of how Otaku are viewed in real life. In real life, Otakus are viewed negatively because Otaku means house in Japanese, meaning that people who are otakus spend time watching and obsessing over anime, manga or playing games/visual novels and never leave the house, meaning that it can cause a lack of social skills. This is viewed when Yuuto tries to over up Haruka’s secret when a comiket catalog falls out of her bag when she fell and her father, Gentou which does not want her daughter to watch anime and read manga, but eventually allowed with the help of her mother.
There are some fanservice moments in Nogizaka Haruka, but nothing too excessive.
Diomedea did a pretty good job with animating Nogizaka Haruka, so there isn’t really much to comment here.
The characters in Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu is what you expect from a romance comedy, but not so much. I will talk about the most important characters, but besides from those, Nanami and Hazuki, Nogizaka’s maids who seems to be shown most of the story and help with Haruka and Yuuto and also help stop Gentou before his wife comes. Another is Ruko and Yukari, who seems to be alcoholics and finally, Haruka’s parents, Gentou, the hot headed father and Akiho, the seemingly beautiful, despite her age and intelligent mother.
Ayase Yuuto – The seemingly, extraordinary nice guy who seems to understand everyone’s feelings… This is somewhat the departure of the losers and jerks that are typical in harem/romance comedy anime, but there are some flaws that are more apparent in the second season with his character. Also, his personality seems to be more of a gentleman, although his class is lower than the jerkass Shutto, which in contrast is a spoiled brat and causing him at sometimes, being unworthy for being Haruka’s boyfriend, although he overcomes it, but the notion of him being a lower class than Haruka will be stuck in his mind for some time.
Nogizaka Haruka – The moe ojou and also have a terrible secret of being a Otaku, which is viewed negatively, especially in the higher class she is in. Haruka seems to be a very sweet character, which mainly causes most of the terribly sweet moments between Haruka and Yuuto. Although Haruka is really smart and is top of her class, she is somewhat a dojikko.
Nogizaka Mika – Haruka’s younger sister, but seemingly dirty for her age and already talking about sexual stuff? Mika in comparison is more easygoing and not as naive as Haruka… and even calls Yuuto, “Onii-chan.” It makes me wonder.
Amamiya Shiina – The second girl in Yuuto’s love triangle, although Yuuto does not have any romantic relationship with her and her being only a friend. With her bumping into him causes her to have a romantic interest with Yuuto.
The music from Nogizaka Haruka was pretty good… We are presented with a pretty catchy opening theme which seems to have a fast pace and a ending theme with maids (seriously, who doesn’t like maids). The extra image songs not played in the anime sounded pretty decent, so no complaints.
The first season of Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu is a pretty good watch for those who are sick of a indecisive harems and romance comedies filled with too much fanservice and a jerky male lead. For those who are looking for a deep romantic story or a non-cliched romance anime, you may come off disappointed. Nogizaka Haruka is a pretty good comedy romance anime in my opinion so far… but I would say since I haven’t watched other yet.
Once you finish with the first season, I suggest taking a look at the second, although it’s somewhat weak in content and have a little more fanservice, but you may find it just as enjoyable.
8.72/10, B+, Outstanding
This image is from here
Although they somewhat up the fanservice, it’s away from the usual Haruka-Yuuto development and Shiina was given some screen time… Too bad it was too late since Shiina have no way in hell that she will win over Yuuto’s heart although some people perfer her to be the girl that Yuuto should be as a couple instead of Haruka…
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Now it’s Haruka’s birthday which she have on her private island… but how this effects Yuuto personally since he is a class lower than Haruka or will love prevail even though there are class differences.
Also, this is also a beach episode… can’t have an romance comedy without it.
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We are so close to see Haruka and Yuuto kiss on the lips… but failed again… They seem to like pushing this longer…
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Continuing onto the first season, we finally arrive at the cultural festival… and they decide to do a Cosplay Cafe… how great… =p
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Thought it would be a mediocre season… For the most part, this is true since there isn’t much to see, but I did managed to pick up a few series that interests me, but I’m hoping to add two more at least by the end of next weekend when I post the second part. I was orginally going to post a Midseason report next week, but since Kobato. Ep 5 is not airing this week, I decide I would since I have nothing else better to do at the moment.
Note that this does NOT cover series that are not airing… meaning Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu First Season, Kannagi, sola and Air will not be in this impression.
Series that is covered is:
Kampfer
Kobato.
Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu Purezza
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Haruka is on the sidelines again, but Yuuto spends more time with Alice-chan… and also a unexpected guest arrived that happens to be someone that was at Haruka’s birthday party in the last season.
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Episode 7 is the continuation of the cliffhanger in Episode 6. and Gento finally flips out when he found out Haruka’s secret and go using his private army in trying to get her back which pretty much ends in a epic battle… or not… Episode 6… Mika going out on a date with Yuuto… and she’s only 14?!…
I know…. I know…
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