Recently watched this. Been not watching nay kdramas due to lack of good ones. Picked it up somehow and liked it. Maybe on a friend’s recommendation. Hyun Bin after a long time. he looked a lot bulkier here. But sam charisma and charm and cheeky smile. He played the stoic role of being the martial artist here. The girl is the chaebol and maybe even arrogant “princess” trope. I like how the roles were reversed and the scene with the mother in law really made me laugh. “This is where they either throw water or money “. Made me want to go back and rewatch Secret Garden. One of the best KDramas imo. ( Minus the ending ) – Gender reversed from this drama and also a Gender-Bender drama body swap in general. Man, kdramas had so much soul back in the day. such great writing and plot points. They used to capture the human essence so well. Even the side characters were less of side characters and more auxiliary characters. I mean who can watch that drama and not remember Osca? But then again I guess the wife of the army chief in the village sort of played that role. Over all – Crash Landing though produced by Netflix and is more modern, still has a solid storyline and still keeps the human element alive – something that makes Kdramas what they are. Secret Garden though – Ha ji won and Hyun Bin nailed it. I would watch it just for them – if not for the absurdly hilarious storyline.
I liked this show. I watched it twice! I mean, Henry Cavill was the perfect casting! And siri is just as old as she is supposed to be! The only casting choice that can be criticized is probably that of Yennefer. I mean, she doesn’t exactly fit the Scandinavian mold of the other characters, but this show made everyone so diverse. And after I watched the passion in her eyes, the fire in her acting, the sheer intensity of her persona… I do not think she should be discredited for how she looks. She knocked it out of the park – she is my Yennefer now.
I am glad they cast someone young for Ciri. Princess Cirilla should be child. Not a young hot teen that is a possible love interest for Geralt and rival for Yennefer. Ciri is the adopted child of both Yennefer and Geralt, who both want a family of their own. It fits perfectly since Yennefer is always looking for her legacy, wants a child and cannot have one. This child of surprise is better as a child. Freya Allan was perfect in this. Her storyline as a princess who needs to be rescued also made sense given how young she was. Obviously I am looking forward to what they do with her powers in the next season.
The other thing I loved about the show was the time jumps. I absolutely adored it, given I had no idea about it. I know some people complained about it, but it was like a nice twist! It made watching the second time, all the more fun! Not only were episodes not in chronological order, but even events within an episode were decades apart sometimes. I hear they will tone it down for the next season. That may be good, but hope they can have other interesting plot points to drive this forward.
The characters are really relatable and like-able. Not to mention I watched every version of “toss a coin” remix on youtube. So catchy. And Jaskier is funnier the second time around. The Jinn episode was my favorite by far, followed by the Striga, Yennefer’s transformation, the Dragon one and finally, the very last one. Even the one before the last one. so yeah pretty much all of them. 😛
After the void that was left in me by FireFly – I decided to indulge in classic tales. FRIENDS. and of course had to follow it up by HIMYM. I am writing them together because of the obvious parallels and ironic disparities!
We all know the similarities of the two shows. Friends who live above a Bar/Cafe – meet regularly and discuss life’s various conundrums of the early twenties and thirties. Career, relationships, friendships, bosses, dates..Stupid bets and heartwarming “I will be there for you ” moments are plenty in both shows. As are, I will steal your girl, or catching feelings for a friend! Let us discuss the fan parallels and paradoxes~
There is the Nerd aka great family man/father figure – Ross <=> Ted. Our favorite dinosaur guy from FRIENDS and Architect from HIMYM both have the most unstable relationship curve in the show. Both are nerds and love to story-tell and both want their own families. While HIMYM is about Ted, Ross is just the on – and – off beau of FRIENDS’ real main character – RACHEL.
Wild card Phoebe with a dicey past and short attention span and random antics is rolled into Barney. Barney – also is the mirror of another character from FRIENDS – everyone’s favorite philanderer Joey. Barney is the dude that has game. And while Joey was the player level 10 Barney takes this trope to hilarious extremes. So extreme that it is not realistic and therefore is funny. Unlike Joey though – he has the most character development in the whole show. Something that was perhaps given to Chandler and to a lesser extent – Rachel on FRIENDS. So Barney starts out as a Joey, but somewhat goes through a chandler like phase and ends up as his own very very iconic character of Barney Stinson from HIMYM – an unparalleled and unique role that possibly only he could have pulled off the way he did. Needless to say he is my favorite and is almost the REAOSN why I rewatched the show – Twice. Just for him and his silly hopeful romantic childlike antics.
My other favorite character from HIMYM is Robin. I identify so much with her. From her upbringing to her tomboy-ness in adult life – everything resonates with me. She is ME!! And barring the Last episode – she gets the BEST Ending in any show ever! Lol Barring the last episode – mind you. Robin is the female protagonist of HIMYM. Very clear from the fact that there is only one other female character and as relatable as she may be and respectful – she is still just a side character – mainly due to her arc being pretty well set with little room for further character development. Robin does have some growth – though not to Barney’s scale, but she does. She is Rachel and Monica together in a way – and yet not quite – she is quite different and unique and well, cannot really be compared to any of the girls on FRIENDS, who are all quite …well ..girly!
I think that pretty much sums it up. Lily is the motherly Monica, and Marshall is Chandler after they get married – and Rachel / Robin the female protagonist falls for the player Joey/Barney in this universe and they have the happily ever after they were always meant to have after the rollercoaster courtship and painful cat and mouse they played out for two seasons. I literally wait for the last two seasons of HIMYM when the romance unfolds and I turn off the TV once FRIENDS has gone past season … 8 ? or 9? Can’t remember – one of those many times Ross and Rachel get together. Those two have NO chemistry. And yet NPH – not even a straight man – can romance the very happy single mom ( now married ) Cobie in a way that beats any anime/any Kdrama I have ever seen. Yeah I will watch FRIENDS for the mindless laughs and stupidity – but I will watch HIMYM for the feels. 🙂
yay for Barney Robin and the best Rom Com show of all time!
Yes I know this blog isn’t meant to include non east asian entertainment, but if a show is this good, can it really be left out? The only regret I have about the show, is not enough people know about it, or that it has only one season. Disney, who now owns Fox could easily make a remake. But the question is, will Firefly be the same show, without the same cast? Not by a long shot. So, even though the cast is still around… it is now 20 years later.
So to start off, this is supposed to be a Space Western. So, humanity is in space, but paradoxically their weaponry and clothing style is very Industrial age, still. I guess this concept was made popular by Star Wars. Honestly though, as amazing as those first 3 SW movies were, I will take one season of Firefly any–day. But setting is not the most unique thing about it. It just helps as plot point in some settings, but it could have been anywhere. I believe space ships merely serve as a Pirate ship analogy with the ability to land anywhere must faster. Because the future, ya know.
But if space cowboys ( read cowboy bebop which was also popular at that time ) was overdone… then this show was LIGHT YEARS ( no pun intended ) ahead of its time. Because It took some then existing frowned upon social norms and turned it upside down. Maybe thats why it was under-appreciated. I mean, this is nothing short of a masterpiece of storytelling. There is not one dialogue that is extra, cringe worthy, or out of character. Maybe I am biased because it does not promote toxic masculinity. To explain, let’s talk about the characters.
The FIRST thing that caught my eye – was the mechanic. She is Kaylee. AND a country girl with an accent. Who isn’t some prim little nerd either. A woman tech is amazing, and she even had feelings! whoah! Zoe – she is the captain’s right hand woman. She is tough – and well, more the stoic trope of tough women in shows – but she is married – to someone who is her polar opposite. The show handles the delicate chemistry between the cap’n and Zoe and wash with such dexterity and taste that I was … just won over.
In fact, one after another, every episode, just kept me winning over. There was so much winning… I mean, they took a traditionally frowned upon role of a prostitute and made it the most honorable person on the ship. Because companions, as they were called, get to chose who they service. And they are trained and revered – almost Gheisha like. And they could’nt have cast her better than Morena Baccarin.
There is also Simon the doctor and his sister the psychotic genius who is so vulnerable, the preacher and then the most traditionally masculine guy with the feminine name – Jayne. But his toxicity is kept in check by the Cap’n all the time, making him not the normal – but the opposite of it somewhat. The Captain himself is a brains before brawns kind of guy. Charming with solid values, I would say Jack Sparrow but more respectable.
When I was introduced to the show by my bf – I was told – he is the most handsome guy I will ever see. I was laughing. He was not wrong. I am sorry – a young Nathan as Malcom Reynolds is what I needed in my life and I did not even know. I thank my bf every day! And the sexual tension and chemistry between the Cap’n and Inara – omg – fuel for fanfiction for days. In my eagerness I watched the movie for some closure, but alas, it did not give me, what Code Geass the movie or cardcaptor sdakura the movie, did.
And so, I will eternally be craving and dreaming about Malcom and Inara – my new favorite OTP. I mean. Summer Glau kicking Reaver butt is cool and all, but the movie was too rushed. I needed more buildup. But her, I am thankful to get to see them again, and say goodbye to what will be my most favorite television series of all time. Someone, PLEASE remake this! I heard there is a comic …maybe I will do what I do with Animes that don’t get a *cough* Yona *cough* second season…and just read the manga. Torture.
This anime has a special place in my heart. This anime gave me Princess Rue. The persona I adopted for all my online accounts for a while. At the same time, I watched this anime at the saddest, most disappointing time in my life. So I don’t think I can watch it without being a little sad. The story itself is very Hans Anderson – and definitely NOT a fairy tale ending. Thankfully its not a complete tragedy – but the premise is quite sad still.
The story has a very inception like flavor – a story within a story – you don’t quite understand where the story ends and real life starts. Is everything a story, and they all characters? Is the story still being written? What is real? Is she a duck? Or a girl with a curse? Is Fakir the knight? Did Mytho kill him in his story? How does he live outside the story … Is Rue really related to the Raven? The world building is very strange indeed. I mean, this is a magical girl story so trippy you wish it were simpler. Every episode features a famous classical musical piece, with the world renowned Swan Lake being the background music for the Season 1 finale – for you classical music fans.
The animation is completely contradictory to the dark undertones as well. It is Amazingly Cute, extremely Kawaii and squishy – almost like a children’s tale. Mytho has a kind heart – he is sensitive and honorable. He would be the type of guy who is in touch with his feelings … if he had them. Get it!? and he is the polar opposite of Fakir – The resident Tsundere. Then there is the female Tsundere – Rue and the cluelessly pure and innocent protagonist. Girl who is a ballerina and also a duck who can become a magical princess – out to restore the Prince’s heart but cursed to never confess her feelings or else she will vanish into a speck – little mermaid like and won’t be able to save her Prince charming. Yet is she meant for him? Such Hans Anderson vibes, I hate it.
I have not been able to bring myself to watch season 2 yet – for the second time. I will update when I do.
What drew me to this anime was the art style. I mean 11/10 UNIQUE! Aesthetically pleasing, colors schemes amazing, lineart so FRESH and everything is just so CUTE! So yes you can tell right off, this was shoujo. Perfect! But I was pleasantly surprised with the added bonus of having it be a Romance Anime too! And not just any kind, but a tough/bad guy trope who is very confident and forward – with a shy yet not so weak girl – perfect again. This is exactly the type of shoujo manga I would read. I am glad such stories are given the anime treatment. 🙂
But let us not forget the premise is SUPERNATURAL! I mean what an amazing premise to have plot points revolving around. Pure romance can run into the danger of repeating existing stories. But with ghosts… ha! While this is not the first love story between human and non human – Inuyasha and Kamisama already exist – but this is different. Hanako likes Nene right at the start – and his covertly sly yet somehow overt confession is very appealing. I guess he is my type. That would be me as a guy. I love him.
Nene and Hanako are not the only charmers in this show. The host of other characters like Kou Teru Aoi Sakura are all amazing. They do their part and they are every bit unique and are wonderful as supporting cast. I usually don’t like the second guy, but my, Kou and better yet his big bother…oh my. Even Sakura’s guy – whatshisname…is it bad I actually WANT this to become a reverse harem? Never seen so many delectable male characters.
Hanako would rule supreme, but somehow his being a guy from the 70’s is a bit off putting. I find everything about the pre 1990s a bit off putting. Nothing about the people, their personalities or style appeals to me. I only wish Hanako would be a modern day murderous yet charming dead bad boy. But hey, that old school uniform though – Enough of me thirsting. I think this anime has GREAT potential both as Romance AND as supernatural. And I cannot wait for Season 2. I think it will be amazing when complete. Cant wait for the triangle. Cant wait for the rival.
This was an interesting anime to watch. On one hand, the animation is amazing. Made by the same guys that made Fate Babylonia. Cutting edge, high def, and super detailed. shadows on point, shiny lineart, movements are slick and smooth. This is a sci-fi mecha anime. More shounen than shoujo but props to have equally important female characters with very minimal fan service if any. It is a tricky show to analyze.
My first thoughts I remember, was that this show was very pervy. I mean, the cockpits. The requirement of a stamen and a pistil, and the way the girls have to be positioned and become the FRANXX and how the boys have to be paired with them and then control them to control the FRANXX ..I mean insinuations galore. however, not one pervy scene. Not one shot from a weird angle. Even Code Geass had some of Kallen and C2. But this show dealt with such a sensitive and quirky subject matter very tastefully.
Towards the beginning of the show, it was a teenage love triangle, with lots of drama, your average emo male protagonist, who is hyper sensitiuve and withdrawn and yet have girls fighting over him ( reminds me of Mytho from Princess Tutu with Tutu and Kraehe fighting over him ). The female protagonist is a fine sample of a woman however. She is not weak. She is in fact the alpha female and almost in danger of being treated like an outcast or being bullied. But her aura, and her confidence and her strength – and her focus on Hiro – prevents the story from going that way. Also because Ichigo is quite honorable and Hiro protects 002 with everything he has.
There is one segment where Ichigo the second heroine decides to become that annoying one that tries to get between the two mains, like I have seen in so many shows. That was painful to watch. But thankfully, the main hero, has more backbone than his predecessors and That misunderstanding is quickly put to rest and we can all move on from pettiness and jealousy which was thankfully never meant to be the highlight of the show.
The whole show has amazing fight and battle scenes. They initially fight beings called Klaxosaurs. and eventually VIRM. They tried to throw in a dark turn in the story by trying to give us a backstory to the Klaxosaurs as being the original inhabitants of the planet who were driven underground by humans ( typical ) and were only fighting in self defense against the humans who were harvesting magma energy ( which was sort of a living entity it was implied ). But it still sort of fell short. Well, maybe not to anime beginners. I have seen so many animes, such plot twists are expected and their absence makes it dull.
The reveal about the true nature of the Nines, Iota aka Zero Two would have been more impactful had they not made the last surviving KlaxoSapien to be some sort of Queen Bee Princess. One that looks like a teenage girl at worst. I wish it was something more believable. Something that looked less human too. I mean if they were going to clone her, they may as well have made her a mutant. And it would have made the show more impressive to older audiences. I have seen similar themes in animes like Blood+ and it blew my mind then where the heroine and the villainess were almost one and the same entity. Red vs Blue, good vs Evil. Why is blue always the evil? I wonder about the color symbolisms in Japan. Anyway, the nice difference in this tory is that the two girls do not fight each other. This is a nice theme I am seeing lately in animes and I am all for it.
The sci fi setting was also not that impactful. It was a terrible future of immortal but sterile humans living within “plantations” being controlled by aliens. I started watching the show because people were talking about how the show made the word “Darling” famous. But though it may stand out in Japanese I didn’t find it that impressive in english because …meh. its a stupid word. I wish it was a foreign word. Something exotic, like something Japanese. lol I mean, her name is ZeroTwo, but I wish that was a Japanese word like “Ichigo”. I guess this was the bit that was “lost in translation”.
Zero Two was a fantastic female character. Strong and beautiful. Don’t give a fuck – confident woman, Not intimidated but intimidating others. Hiro on the other hand – was …well, such a drag. A whiny, emo crybaby at best. Exactly the kind I cannot stand. if annoying girls are the worst the male counterpart would probably be guys like Hiro. Due to the stupid emo ending, what started as a brilliant sci fi with lots of secrets and mysteries to reveal and mess with our minds, ended as a meh slice of life to me. Sadly.
started watching this ghost hunters type anime. Did not even know about it till I saw it recommended in the shoujo category! ( no idea why ). Surprisingly, Funimation had it. I must say, for a 2006 low budget anime, its not bad to watch while doing other things. The jump scares are few and far between and the stories are sometimes creepy but mostly childish. I did not get the same chills I get when watching actual ghost hunt documentaries on TV. But I must say, it was quite entertaining still. My favorite story being the bloodstained labyrinth. Very horror game ish. The main character certainly has more secrets that we will never know due to there being no more seasons. And I also wish the main protagonists were Not teenagers but were young adults instead. It would have been more believable. Anyway, one interesting thing I saw was that they had every kind of spiritualist they could think of. From all religions. This anime reminds me of Enma Ai and her story. But jigoku Shouji I believe was more impactful in the stories it told. It was less about ghosts and more about the dark side of the human heart. She was pretty gorgeous though, and he red hibiscii were striking!
Meleancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi
Moving on to another “supernatural anime” is this one. May I just say, I am sorry I even decided ti watch it. I am sorry that I decided to write it. It is the worst anime I have ever watched. Really. I did not think that I would ever find one like that. What can I say, it is the most boring. The main protagonist is the most annoying and in general has no real story – just one annoying reason after another as to why we must hate the entitled little princess who thinks everything must be about her. I really don’t know why it was ever famous to begin with. The animation is good, and one character was cute, and was voiced by Johnny but even the main guy was getting on my nerves and he was supposed to be the normal one. I heard the movie was good and I tried it, and though I have not finished it, I can’t say it will be any better than the show. Bottomline, no one should have to watch it.
Here to pay homage to the best Ending song in any anime ever. 🙂 Close second would be GetBackers. 🙂 Which I am also watching again. So stay tuned for an updated review after 10 years! So getting started with KH.
I started watching it, because I wanted a shoujo anime to fill the gap Yona had left in my heart. So from an unrequited love from the guy ( Hak ) to Yona, I went from an unrequited love story from the girl (Nanami) to Tomoe. A Youkai turned familiar to a human deity – nanami.
Its lighthearted, and animation style is reminiscent of Kaichou wa maid sama. Tomoe being the white haired demon Tsundere. Has all the elements of a great shoujo. Especially the fact that it is Nanami, that realizes she likes him first and decides to confess – was a refreshing change for me. Its normally the other way around for most shoujos and I find it more relatable.
I must say the characters are charming and the storyline is unique enough with new elements of god-familiar elements to make me keep watching. But I could NOT help but notice the awful resemblance to a certain other youkai – human relationship, where the guy is ALSO white haired. Inuyasha. The OG white haired demon boy – a very good boy! lol (Sit boy!- anyone?)
To complete the resemblance. Both demons have a past lover who seem to be unattainable and someone who is far better than the protagonist. Kikyo in the former case is the same as Yukiji. They server the same purpose. Similarly, Kagome is a descendent of Kikyo and so is nanami. Eventually of course, both protagonists become the last lover of the handsome youkais.
Now I wosh I had not watched teh OVAs because tyey literally skipped to the end and I felt like I was missing out and jumping to the end and felt rushed and felt like there not enough buildup to Tomoe’s feelings or realization of his love for her since 500 years or even his memories and the revelation and all that …but oh well. It is what it is. I should have read the manga, I hope they do not treat Yona the same way.
This anime looked like it belonged to the Fushigi Yuugi era too. Funny how I seemed to have been watching such similar animes, one after another. I actually could watch Fushigi Yugi if I wanted to as well on Crunchy roll, but I think what I once though as cutting edge art now seems a bit dated to me! But this is about Escaflowne, so let’s discuss.
Two things sum this one up – Steam Punk Mechs and Tarot cards. Actually this anime has so much tarot information that I bought a deck myself. And battle mechs. But not electronic ones. Mechanical ones. And operating on the hearts of dragons. This story takes place on a distant planet called Gaia which is more like an alternate medieval earth where Atlantis existed and the people from Atlantis had wings and were called Draconians. And weird machines that people build all Studio Ghibli like.
If Akatsuki no Yona was a parallel to Curious PLay / Fushigi Yuugi, then Escaflowne is similar to Ninja Senshi Tobikage. Other than the fact that both involve giant mechs and take place on a distant planet, there is one girl and two guys this time. One of whom is regal and handsome and you would think would be the main protagonist. Allen is basically a male princess Romina and for a brief amount of time does have Hitomi’s heart. Just like Romina did with Joe.
Now Van, is Jenny. Plain and regular and while by no means weak, he simply isn’t as regal or as handsome as Allen. His love however is true love and that’s who Hitomi chooses in the end. Now, we do have somewhat of a similarity with Princess whats her name who also liked Allen, just like Icelander. But unlike Icelander who had gone over to the enemy side, in this story it was Allen’s sister, and princess whats her face remained a nice person till the end. She even married someone else and gave up Allen. Also, Van’s brother was revealed to be one of the bad guys – a very stars wars style. But he was redeemed in the end – he was a draconian after all.
Allen of course is a philanderer with an illegitimate child with the Princesses’ elder sister so nothing quite like Romina in that respect. But outside of the romance aspect, the mechs were nice. The drawings cool. But the episodes were quite disconnected. It was hard to follow sometimes. I noticed this in Lodoss as well, and gave that up and I am not sure if this is a characteristic of old animes or just these handful few.
Every now and then there was profound wisdom in this anime. I forget now but some of the lines spoken sometimes were straight out of a psychology book. Stuff it has taken me years to realize. So definitely has a good message. Hitomi is not completely annoying and helpless, in fact she is an athlete herself. But she does not have any powers except to have a sense of what is to come from time to time.
There was a scene with a nuclear blast as is typical. There is a Fate altering machine, there are lots of visions, myths, legends, and Atlantis, in fact lots of material for world building that I felt was not explored to the fullest capacity. Overall, I guess it was one to keep watching, because the characters were quite endearing, the drawing styles were cool and the story was unpredictable and reminiscent of the old animes I have seen. But quite forgettable. Music was not noteworthy either and well, that’s about it.
I do wish they had fully explored the development of the relartionship between Van and Hitomi because when they finally got together I felt nothing, It felt quite abrupt and awkward actually.
Monogatari 