Anime blog that focuses on Yuri and School Girl Slice of Life Anime and Editorials
Well, this episode was pretty hilarious… Everyone thinks that Jin is gay for Daitetsu because Tsugumi let it slip. This cause everyone to think that Jin and Daitetsu is gay with strange reactions and someone handing Daitetsu a love letter. Funny stuff…
…
After finishing the first volume of Hayate no Gotoku (7 episodes), when I got to the 8th episode… I couldn’t believe what I have seen. This particular episode is named “Going to Hell in Cat-Ear Mode” or “neko mimi moodo de jigoku iki”. and guess what we see… Hayate in a cat girl outfit… It’s says what exactly on the tin!
…
Seitokai no Ichizon is one of those anime that you like or you don’t and is the black sheep of this season. People dismissed it as being a plotless reference show… or is it?
The anime proved itself to be a very enjoyable experience that have very funny moments and references that fit in nicely. In contrast to Lucky Star, Seitokai no Ichizon focuses less on the moeblob, high amounts of moe and Haruhi references that have been overdone. Seitokai had something that Lucky Star didn’t have… some plot and a male lead who wants to build a harem!
Content
Seitokai no Ichizon does not follow the light novel at all… well, some content came from the light novel, but it was a completely different experience. It seems that this kind of series are fit to be in Manga or Anime form than light novel form. The story of each episode consists of them doing stuff in the student council… except they don’t really work and talk about stuff, which can be on Anime, Manga, Boy’s Love, Gaming, H-games, Harems and etc. There are several references from notable anime like Suzumiya Haruhi, Lucky Star, Clannad, Higurashi, K-ON!, DragonBall, Full Metal Alchemist, Death Note and several others… and even visual novel stuff from Key for example (wow, I must be a Key fanboy at that moment) .
The more you know about other animes, the more you will enjoy it… although it’s subjective since you can still enjoy it without knowing all the references.
Animation
In contrast to Lucky Star, I liked the animation style of Seitokai no Ichizon more than Lucky Star for many reasons… It simply more appealing to the eye than Lucky Star and is more detailed… Of course, Lucky Star meant to have a simplistic style… but… your milage may vary on that one.
Characters
Most of the Student Council features mostly beautiful girls and Ken (also known as Key-kun, Ki-kun or Senpai) is the only male in the student council. He seeks to make the student council his HAREM… and also constantly annoying the others with his harem and bishoujo/H games fantasies.
Kurimu is the President and is very childish for her age and is the shortest. She reads children books (Red Riding Hood), eat “usa-maru” since it “taste like happiness” and works at a nursery just to act like a child. She is constantly teased by Ken because she looks like a loli and she is a pettanko, something she is NOT proud of. Kurimu helps Ken by suggesting him to play Bishoujo/H Games.
Chizuru is the secretary. Unlike Kurimu, she is tall and is well endowed, but she brainwashes Ken and Kurimu. She treats Kurimu as her sister and sometimes abuse her. However… She has a very cute side when she is dressed as a really cute sheep… and says Mokyu~… Something that everyone will go moe for… Chizuru heals Ken’s heart when they met in fall.
Minatsu is the Vice President and also a tsundere (with the addition of her twin tails). She is a tomboy and have great athletic skills and is into hot blooded, shouen action packed anime and manga. Minatsu tells Ken not to be lazy and work. She has a younger sister named Mafuyu.
Mafuyu is Minatsu’s younger sister and is the treasurer. She is a bishoujo, but is afraid of men, except Ken of course. She is into games and Boy’s Love. She imagines Ken with another male character she imagines, which causes Ken to go crazy. She also works on a gaming wiki, play games mainly on a Playstation Portable and operates a tsundere blog called “Organ Explosion!” Mafuyu helps Ken during the middle of winter in a chatroom (using the name Yuki) about her feelings and his. She eventually confesses her love to Ken, but is not willing to go on a date since she wanted things to stay what they are.
In addition… We have
Lilicia, who is the president of the Journalism Club and voiced by Noto Mamiko, which she had voiced Matsuri (sola), Haruka (Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu) and Kotomi (Clannad). Lilica writes tabloid articles on the student council because they don’t accomplish anything, except socializing and that she didn’t win a position. She gains interest in Ken after he said that the double-timing incident was true. She has a longer sister named Elise, which seems to like Ken and causes Kurimu to become very jealous… and being very mature for her age.
Music
Seitokai features a OP called Treasure, which sounds great… For the ED, there are several versions. One song called Mousou Fetish!, which is a cute sounding song which causes a earworm. The second is Ue Ue Shita Shita Hidari Migi Hidari Migi B A, a remix of Mousou Fetish with different lyrics and have a electronic feel… Funny on how they use the Konami Code as the title of the song. Lastly, we have Yurupa Wonderful, a hotblooded, rock remix with different lyrics. There are also songs with completely different lyrics for comedy effect. For example, Episode 11 with the president, Kurimu singing… with hilarious lyrics that can’t make you stop laughing… I am dead serious…
Overall, the songs sounded good..
Conclusion
Seitokai no Ichizon is one of the best comedies in the Fall 2009 season… Where Nogizaka Haruka Purezza fails, Seitokai succeeds… for some odd reason. Seitokai have some similarities to Lucky Star in terms of references, it’s no means the same since it’s all about harem, has a little more plot than Lucky Star and does not have too much moe and doesn’t go overboard with the damn Haruhi references (Haruhi is a bitch). The way they put the references made it so that it actually worked instead of putting it in random places. Most will find this anime very enjoyable, but for those who don’t like Lucky Star may not like it… so your milage may vary… but it’s a recommended series to look at if you not looking at too much moe and want a good comedy and/or mindless anime that you can easily enjoy…
Too bad there isn’t more… they should really make a second season, but the current trends how second season anime is run… I may think twice. :p
Verdict
Overall Grade: 8.79/10, B+
Attribution Information
Picture used in this post is made by まなK.
This is probably the last episode left… and it was great… well the show starts off with Mafuyu’s confession. She likes Ken, but not willing to date him since she wants things to remain what they are. Next, Kurimu asking them about the future… which leads us to ridiculous responses including Ken who wants to start a company making bishoujo games, thus mentioning the names you know… Key and Leaf… and they actually had it’s logo on the screen… crazy stuff.
Mafuyu goes crazy when Nakameguro (yes, he have the same name) that looks so much like a girl comes into the room, leading her obsession of Ken hooking up to him. This makes Ken very uncomfortable since he only likes cute girls and is straight.
Not much happened, but it was a pretty fun episode. Kobato gets to wear a waitress outfit that shoot moe levels up to the roof… and the outfit seems like something that CLAMP won’t come up with.
The story is pretty simple. Kobato decides to take a part time job at a bakery since she want to help out the nursery. Chitose finds Kobato a job at a bakery where she was introduced to Ueda and Yumi, who recently injured her hands. Throughout the episode, we learn that Ueda feeling uneasy and Kobato decides to investigate about it. Finds out that he wanted to hire another person thinking that Yumi is being overworked, but finds out that the injuries came from her trying to brake her own cake, which turns out good… Thus another Konpeito in the jar.
Overall, I got to say… It was a pretty fun episode… Kobato is an airhead as always… It seems all female leads in CLAMP’s works are airheads… Also, reminds me of that cake song. Holy cow… Not to mention, Kobato moe levels skyrocketed when she was dressed in the waitress outfit… not only that, her usual clumsiness brings it even higher… well yeah. Also, detective Kobato is pretty cute and also very funny.
Also, no new episode until another week… so you might be a bit disappointed… oh well.
8.7/10
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+
Well, this episode is just as funny… but what made it epic is… errr… Mafuyu confesses to Ken, which is totally unexpected… You got to remember this, Mafuyu is apparently the easiest girl Ken could get…
Besides from that, the episode starts with Ken (as Key-kun) talking to Yuki (Mafuyu) online and talking about his goal of being in the student council a year ago. Back in reality, they find out that Ken was sick, so they finally had a meeting without Ken. They talked about part time job like Chizuru working for a company and protecting a 1 million dollar yen check. Minatsu, baseball, Mafuyu working on her blog on games and boy’s love and lastly, Kurimu working at a nursery just to act like a child and then going out with Chizuru for a parfait.
However, they forgot the stack of paperwork they had to do, so they try to find the approval stamp (no, it’s not the FLAT stamp) in Ken’s bag, which that had alot of weird stuff. The phone rang ann Chizuru picks up the phone and Ken told what happened. Kurimu and Minatsu panic about something said on TV (with Singapore and the earth being destroyed.) and he mutes the TV. Ken tells them where the stamp is and they finished the work when evening came, that Ken usually do. Mafuyu suggested to visit Ken at his house. They went to the store to buy some things, which Lilicia was. Lilicia follows them secretly, when the Chizuru, Kurimu, Minatsu and Mafuyu finds themselves talking to two men, who disapproves Ken. They end up being them up, since they said bad stuff about Ken. Eventually, the went to his house and were cooking. Ken wakes up and finds out they were there…
Overall, it was a pretty funny and epic episode… never knew Mafuyu would confess at the end… well yeah… Also, the ending theme for this episode was hilarious… can’t stop laughing…
Too bad there is only one more episode of this… it was a very good ride…
9.5/10
Another filler attacks, but a rather decent one to say. Especially on a hot summer day when in real life, it’s only 20 degrees out and freezing. Well, Kobato decides to go to the Nursery, Sayaka decides to tell a story when they are airing out the futons about Fujimoto’s childhood when her father takes him in since he was a orphan. We was a loner and the children didn’t like him because of it. One event changed everything when two guys looking for the soccer ball and one of the guy fell on the sunflower plant. This gets Sayaka upset and hey apologized. They left and Sayaka ties the plant up with a pole. Then, Fujimoto started to play a song on the organ and children was singing… This is when he started to warm up…
Unfortunately Iroyogi got exhausted from the heat… and while Kobato was walking back, Kohaku call her over to offer Iroyogi beer… yep and he was excited about that… The funny part when Kobato and Sayaka was airing out the futons is Iroyogi became completely dehydrated…
I find it funny how Fujimoto doesn’t want everyone to know about his childhood… but it was too late.. Well, you won’t get very far in life if you become a complete loner and not being able to communicate… it’s essential.. Although he isn’t that quiet anymore, he is still very anti-social and doesn’t have any friends… wow…
Got to say, it was a good episode… but what comes next?
8.7/10
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 .
…
This episode can’t get any funnier, but I will highlight the funniest parts. Kurimu start with telling a tear jerking story with a mother mouse giving all her cheese to her child that made her cry since the mother mouse died. Another instance when Mafuyu tells a story when she loses her memory and forgot all the sweet times spent with Ken. Ken says he loves her, but she treats him as a freak and when she regains her memory, he is dead? This causes him to complain…
However, Chizuru’s idea was alot more harsh. In her story, Ken was about to confess her love for Chizuko. When she came, she tells about her new boyfriend and how great and leaves. This leaves Ken crying. Another instance is when he leaves the school hopeless, a stack of books hit his head and he was put in a hospital with jhis memory lost. This left everyone but Chizuru crying… Then Chizuru gave another idea with Chizuko and Kenichi with old age, which Kenichi dies of something and Chizuko saying everything is her. This is where the funny part come when Ken, Minatsu and Mafuyu raged about Chizuru’s ending and Kurimu crying a puddle of tears. The most funniest line that came out of this:
Mafuyu can’t take that! Mafuyu will sue her.
– Shiina Mafuyu
There is always a minority of this tear-jerking story backlash like in this instance. I have seen it when Misuzu dies in the end causing some fandom rage and also near the end of Clannad After Story when they killed off Ushio… Fan dumb at full force… right?
Next, they perform their own tear-jerking story, but ended up being entirely funny because the way they done it… I couldn’t take their story seriously… Eventually, they gave up on it.
Soon, it was the end of the festival and… Chizuru is dressed in her sheep outfit again… Mokyuu~? Next, they have to go through a pile of lost items. When going through the stuff, Ken discovers someone panties… which caused everyone else to be disturbed… but he finds out that Mafuyu wasn’t wearing any…
Next, they worked quietly , except Ken who said a overly long monologue, which annoyed them… Next, he said something like a drama CD and another instance he mentions pokkoncho and Kurimu, Chizuru, Minatsu and Mafuyu start asking what is a pokkoncho with the Nico Nico Douga-like commenting in the background…Ken tries to change the topic, but they won’t stop asking…
This episode was extremely funny. I couldn’t stop laughing because the material was that good. It’s so sad I don’t know most of the references, but in the end, it was golden… This is probably the best slice of life comedy for the season and got better for the second half of the season… too bad there is two more episodes and I will pretty much miss it after once it’s done…
Don’t forget the Mokyuu~!
9.4/10
Fillers galore, we are yet hit with another filler episode. While not having reading the manga since I don’t really have the interest to do so, it was a good episode, but there are some flaws and pretty much cliched.
This episode starts in the start of summer and Kobato wants to go to the summer festival while she was bathing Ioroyogi. The flier flew off and somehow Natsuki got it and Kobato finds her with it. She hands it back and notices that her hands mere a mess. Natsuki gives a cloth to Kobato to clean her hands. Then, another girl Yukino trips and falls onto the ground while she uses her cellphone and they left. Kobato forgot that Ioroyogi was still wet and she squeezed the water off him. He was angry and about to spit fire, but couldn’t. While Ioroyogi was drying, Fujimoto told where that girl’s school was which was a all girls school. After she goes there and watch through the window, she finds Yukino and Natsuki, but gets caught by a teacher. Kobato runs and hide in the bushes and Yukino finds her while trying out a camera. They went to the pool area where Natsuki was working and handed back the towel…
Why do I need to tell you this… Well, the rest of the story is about Natsuki’s and Yukino’s friendship becoming distant ever since Yukino started to act strangely. In the past, they had matching phones and they needed a way to tell the phones apart. They got their charms and they exchanged it (Natsuki gets a snowman and Yukino a watermelon slice). With their friendship distancing, Natsuki decided to work harder in school. Not knowing that Yukino was working in a part time job to buy a new camera and finally got the money to buy one at a sale, Kobato goes to the mall and she finds Natsuki looking at the two other girls and Yukino. Without thinking, Natsuki said something that she didn’t intend to say, but it was hurtful.
You guys are so stupid! Even photographs that just mimic an advertisement can be seen as pretty good, so alot of people are mistaken about good photography…Even though you’re an amateur with no talent, you pretend you’re a pro. You’re pathetic
-Natsuki
That moment pretty much sums up this episode… Well, the accusation of Yukino being a poser is pretty lame, don’t you think. Also, the charm which Natsuki was panic about when the charm is missing go through the trash and with Kobato taking notice of it, helps her but finds it near a bucket… HOW DID IT GET THERE? It must be some kind of magic since it couldn’t walk off like that. Natsuki finds it and Kobato takes a picture of it and sends it to Yukino. When Natsuki meets Yukino, she reveals that she kept her charm on a necklace… thus their friendship is healed and Kobato gets another konpeito.
Although this episode is not that bad and was good… it was pretty much cliched… How many shows employ this kind of plot? Does anyone know. Another complaint I am hearing that Kobato is butting into others people’s problems, although it’s the thing she does best, or she wouldn’t be healing these people.
Another thing that bothered me is Yukino using her cellphone during class. Why would you use a cell phone during class? It seems like alot of teenagers in high school spend their time texting on their phones secretly during class while the teacher is teaching and high schools usually ban cell phone use… In college, they don’t even care, but it’s quite risky since you might lose important information on a topic. Yukino did not realize that using a cellphone camera will make a noise… I noticed all Japanese mobile phones does that, except my iPhone 3GS since I can turn off that sound by turning on the silent switch. A great way to get caught easily…
Is this the last of the Fillers? Who knows, but they aren’t that bad considering that I haven’t read the manga or have any interest to do so.
Not to mention, Kobato looks really cute in her new outfit, especially in her yukata…
8.8/10
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
Episode 8 is really Nyandaful cute. Why? It contains a really cute kitty, which Kobato tries to take care of and also try to find a home since pets aren’t allowed in the apartment. However, this brings trouble to everyone when she tries to find a home for it and soon the Chi twins tries to help. Who wouldn’t want to keep a kitty that is so cute!
She tried many places, including the nursery. Kobato actually brings it there and all but one of the kids enjoyed him… Why… He had cat allergies… (does this remind you some other anime about cats?) and to the point where Fujimoto say to Kobato is that she is only bringing trouble by bring the kitten in and should of left it alone. Ironicly, Fujimoto helps find a home for the Kitten by telling to one grandmother that Kobato helped her with the crying baby by singing a song. Chi twins and Kobato when they got back to the apartment decides to give the kitten to the grandmother since her grandson enjoys animals and don’t have cat allergies. With this, the Chi twins had the feeling of sadness of missing the kitten… Who wouldn’t since noone want to really part from their pet they beloved most.
They insists on Kobato singing the same song that she sung before and she accepts and sings… Oddly enough, the twins went to sleep and Kobato receives more konpeito… two of them… but Ioryogi having to deal with the kitten gives her a 0, although she is excited of getting it since it’s just as round the bowl the Kitten was using and he actually makes it her grade, which causes to complain…
Domoto makes an appearance again and tries to help, but this time, Fujimoto helps out… This make me think that there is some kind of love triange with Domoto and Fujimoto with Kobato in the middle of it… Oh, this will be interesting if this was actually a romance anime, but it’s not really…
8.9/10
Episode 9 is a mix of serious and funny moments and focusing more on Chizuru.
…
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…
…
Sorry for the delay… but you can never be late for Kobato, can you?
Continuing Kobato’s quest of getting more konpeito, she finds out from being a dojikko with the paint and spilling the paint all over the place that she got Fujimoto angry again… Fujimoto always seems to be one of those characters that get mad easily and Kobato takes it the wrong way when she calls him mean for not helping the girls at the university. Whoops!
Why in the world sould Fujimoto bail out irresponsible college students that go off and party and not do their homework or take notes? I wouldn’t and he is right… but it seems that Kobato takes it the wrong way and saying it’s right for people to copy your work so they can get a better grade… What ever happened to Academic Integrity? Hell, my university won’t allow me to get bailed out for being absent most of the time… No way jose… You earn your grade… so remember college students or students that will enter college next year, YOU have to earn your grade and no one is going to BAIL you OUT or you might get caught cheating! It’s not fair when students get bailed out when I have to work my butt off to get the best grade, but it happens… However, Domoto, the nice guy he his (way too nice than Yuuto from Nogizaka Haruka) and let others take advantage of him and Kobato okays that…. Wow… that is messed up, but it’s better than having a jerkass like Shute Shutherland…
On a side note, the robots from Chobits makes a reappearance since Episode 3. The funny thing is when the children play hide and go seek with them… one girl don’t know which one and as a result, she got found. =O
Besides the pet peeves with someone actually bailing out students and Kobato saying that it’s okay to do so, I find the episode rather funny… and cute… Kobato may as well be the biggest dojikko out there… more so than Yui from K-ON!
This reminds me of something… I have finals coming up in a few weeks. =o
8.7/10
What sorta interests me about this anime is pretty much the third episode of Nogizaka Haruka Purezza, although the parody of a episode is similar to Hayate no Gotoku, but the original always a bit better. Touka and Nagi, ironically is voiced by the supposed by the Queen of Tsundere, Kugimiya Rie, the voice of other famous loli-tsundere characters like Shana, Louise and Taiga.
From watching the first five episodes of Hayate no Gotoku, it was pretty entertaining comedy. Hayate, a unlucky, ordinary sixteen year old boy is forced to work since eight years old since his irresponsible parents and he ended up getting fired because of his age. Knowing that his parents sold him to some “very nice people” (actually a Yakuza, Japanese mafia) and he runs away. He ends up in the park and sees a little girl and then confess to her with his intentions to kidnap her, but that girl actually took the confession seriously. He tried his plan, but failed and collapses. A woman gives him a scarf and he wakes up. He finds out that Nagi was kidnapped, so he took the woman’s bike and cases after the kidnappers and eventually saves Nagi, but he was injured and he was treated at Nagi’s mansion where his wish comes true, he gets a job as Nagi’s butler. He becomes officially a butler after proving himself by defeating the robot, although he ended up getting electrocuted and having to be treated again.
The episodes were pretty funny and had several references to other anime and also a complete parody of the typical action shouen anime, although there isn’t really much action to be seen and it’s mainly for comedy purpose. Oddly enough, although Hayate is pretty strong, his appearance looks vastly young and rather effeminate, a main reason why Nagi and Maria would eventually dress him in feminine clothing… (haven’t got there, but it would be pretty funny.) Like always, Nagi is a uber tsundere paired with her twin tails… more so since she is voiced by the tsundere queen. The animation was good, so I have no complaints about it…
Would I continue…. Yes, I probably would, but I would get the DVDs first before continuing, but would I blog it… Not so much since the number of episodes are pretty big (52 episodes) and it would take alot of work to blog it.
Episode 8 was even funnier than the last… and Ken seems to become even more indecisive than ever and Elise-chan, Lilicia’s younger sister, which was sent for her evil scheme of writing libel about the student council, but it sorta backfired.
…
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.)
…
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…
…
Well, this episode was really funny in a sense… not because it shoved references like Lucky Star did with going overboard and putting it in random spots, but actually made it work so it is funny. This is basically an episode where Kurimu decide that the whole student council should go on a summer trip to Tokyo by a overnight train. However, what the girls packed show a lot about their personality and interests. Minatsu hardly packed everything, Mafuyu packing all her game consoles (which looks like a computer, a Wii and a Playstation 2) which makes the suitcase very heavy and also her favorite treat that seems to heal her HP, Chizuru have a completely normal suitcase with her belongings although Ken thought there was something dangerous in there and lastly, Kurimu with a bag full of toys.
Night time came (Ken being chained and blindfolded) and Chizuru does something to Kurimu before she goes to sleep and Minatsu can’t recognizes Mafuyu without her ribbon on her head which causes Mafuyu becoming upset and relating it to a RPG she is playing. Chizuru goes to sleep, but she sleeps without anything on which makes Ken goes crazy.
Next morning, Minatsu wakes up and finds that Kurimu was missing, but actually sleeping with Chizuru. She also finds that Mafuyu spent all night playing with her Playstation Portable. The train announced that the train arrived at Tokyo and after they got there, they spent the whole day in the hotel room because it was too hot outside and night time came and they decide to tell scary stories such as Kurimu ended up getting murdered with knives(does this reminds you about a very familiar sound-based visual novel named Higurashi?) which scares the heck out of her. Kurimu not wanting to hear any more of these stories decides on catchphrases for each person and they cosplayed which was the most hilarious part in this episode.
Not sure about the cosplays though, but here is what they dressed up as:
Kurimu – Some kind of robot
Minatsu – Some classy dress
Ken: Maid uniform and some wacky shouen hairstyle
Mafuyu: Some school uniform
Chizuru: A Sheep… Errr… mokyuu~ (So Moe!)
The funny thing is that Chizuru after they got back still dresses in that outfit saying mokyuu~. I guess she does have a cute side of her after all. =p
The episode itself is the best I have seen so far in the whole season… the references are better executed in this one and it was very funny in many instances… Too bad some people have already wrote it off already even though it have gotten better… and you can never forget the Mokyuu~ so moe…
9.2/10
Oh god… Seitokai no Ichizon is funny in a very weird way… that I can’t stop laughing… Mostly with Episodes 4-5 with all those anime references… most notably the K-ON parody… that pretty much cracked me up and also with Mafuyu’s boy’s love story with Ken and Ken wanting Minatsu cooking breakfast for him in a naked apron, accidentally seeing Kurimu in the shower, Chizuru asking him to put suntan oil on her and Mafuyu tripping and saying she isn’t wearing underwear. (Ken must be one perverted person and very desperate to get his so called harem, lol).
Episode 5 made it even funnier… Ken is forced to wear a blindfold which he can’t take off which makes him come up with weird imagination and ecchi stuff… and somehow his blindfold came off and he saw them in swimsuits which makes him crazy…. and have him locked up in the locker.
We also get to see Minatsu with a different look.
Episode 6 is again with more hilarious moments… but a sad realization that Minatsu and Mafuyu are going to transfer… at the end of the school year… or who knows….
Overall, the series gets better by time goes on… I can’t see why some people are giving negative opinions about it, it’s pretty good mindless, lighthearted comedy… Atleast they haven’t go overboard on the Haruhi references… but Seitokai no Ichizon works alot better in Anime and Manga form than the light novel, I have to admit….
Episodes 4-5: 8.3/10
Episode 6: 8.5/10
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.
…
Notifications