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Summer 2011 First Impressions: Yuru Yuri
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Synopsis: “The shoujo-ai series is about a group of school girl aged friends who end up taking over a tea ceremony room in the school that’s no longer used and form their own club, an “amusement club” as you may say.”
Thoughts: Similar to last season’s slice of life show A Channel but now with yuri elements instead of implied yuri elements. Of course having yuri elements does not make a show that does just about nothing to set itself apart from other moe slice of life shows any better. Yuru Yuri’s first episode is introduces the main four girls who go to an all-girls middle school. Nothing in this first episode of this show really stands out. The character designs are generic moe and are forgettable. The music is generic and forgettable. In fact, most of what is present in the first episode is forgettable.
Of course, there are some good elements to this show. While this is a slice of life show, there is comedy involved too and the comedy is quite funny. I have never seen a show do a bit on what makes someone noticeable and make it funny at the same time. The cast is also likeable as well, which is important for any moe or slice of life show.
The first episode of Yuru Yuri does not do much to set it apart from other shows in the genre. Those who like moe shows or even slice of life shows should give the first episode a watch to determine if they want to keep watching it or not. Those looking for something deeper look elsewhere.
Score 2 out of 5
Anime Therapy, Yeah Right!
Anime Therapy, Yeah Right!
A friend of mine was going to get married. Totally knocked over by this babe. He spoke in nothing but glowing terms & was bound & determined to spend the rest of his life with her.
According to him, you couldn’t find a more compatiple mate for him. So much alike, they were. Both PHDs & teachers. Both pretty much the same interests. He liked certain movies & shows. She liked certain movies & shows. He liked history. She liked history. He liked reading/litturature. She liked reading/litt. He liked girls. She liked ….. uh, yeah.
Her wires must have gotten crossed while she was engaged in correspondance as he ended up recieving a rather explicit letter intended for her “girlfriend”. In short, no wedding, gimme back the ring.
Two years down the road, he drops by to kill some time. I, being something of a sadist, figured he’d gotten over it, thought I’d spring a little something on him. I told him I’d found something he might be interested in & popped the disc in.
Dirty Pair Flash is a 90s reinvetion of the original 80s show/series by Haruka Takachiho. Two young ladies, Kei & Yuri, work for a contractural police agency solving crimes with LOTS of collateral damage, hence the name, Dirty Pair.
One of the three story arcs of the 16 ep series, Angels At Worlds End, involves solving a computer related industrial espionage situation at a planet wide theme park (For some strange reason it resembles Tokyo in the 90s. Why is that?) Along for the ride, is a young man (A computer systems tech/analyst.) named Touma.
In the fourth & least violent ep of this arc (Sparkling Flower Shop of Love) Touma becomes madly infatuated with Leena, a young lady he meets at a flower shop when he & Yuri duck in to get out of the rain. In his pursuit of her, she inquires more than once about his relationship with Yuri (Which is strictly professional.). This gets Touma even more fired up. It’s only toward the end the viewer finds that it’s Yuri Leena is “interested” in.
It was to this ep I clicked & we sat to watch. At one point, he asked if this had anything to do with him &, with a straight face, I promptly lied (I am an “actor” after all.). He sat there with a semi-puzzled look & every so often I’d peripherally see him glancing my way with a cocked eyebrow.
For most of the ep, it looks to be another of those dumb romance animes cluttering up the landscape. “Why on earth would anyone want me to watch this krap?” Why indeed. Heh, heh. I was inspired to do this by a former co-worker who once freaked out some poor soul with some yaoi hentai (gay anime porn).
Well, the end comes around & he’s there with a half frown/smirk on his face. He then busts out laughing along with the Kei character & her crude efforts to comfort Touma.
I was a bit concerned as to how he would take this, but, as he has a sense of humor, he took it quite well. At least it looked that way ….. I think.
Article copyright © 12-31-10 Jay Agan
This article originally posted at Jays’Tee Vee.
Stuff OtakuAnthony bought this week May 6th
Kanokon: The Girl Who Cried Fox DVD Complete Series:
Plot Synopsis: “Kouta, a country boy who lives with his grandfather, is moving to the city to attend high school. Changes come with his new home and new school, but nothing could have prepared the gentle young man for girls, specifically a bombshell fox spirit named Chizuru! As if her aggressive advances weren’t enough, he also catches the attention of a frosty wolf spirit named Nozomu.
Kouta is dragged into supernatural events as a result of his contact with the two girls, and his school life only gets more chaotic by the day. But with a girl who gives “foxy” new meaning and another howling after him, things are looking up for his love life.”
Now I bought the first volume of Kanokon back last summer. Of course Media Blasters had to go cancel volume two and three later in the year instead option to go with a complete series set. Now I should be mad because I have a single DVD that I cannot sell. But, I am not upset. I did enjoy what little of the show I watched so I wanted to add this to my collection.
Kanokon: The Girl Who Cried Fox DVD Complete Series can be purchased at Right Stuf
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Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl DVD Vocal Collection:
Plot Synopsis: “Hazumu was a shy boy who enjoyed gardening, collecting herbs, and long walks in the mountains. One day he finally worked up the courage to confess his love to Yasuna, but she rejected him. Depressed, he wandered up Mt. Kashimayama, the place where they first met, to reconsider his feelings. After getting lost, he wished upon a shooting star and received a bizarre twist of fate. Now he is a she, and she stumbles headfirst back into social life and relationships only to find that the entire landscape has changed!”
I rented this show a few weeks back and I liked what I saw. I heard that the series was getting a dub some months ago and I decided to jump at the chance to get the new release
Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl DVD Vocal Collection can be purchased at Right Stuf
Anime Review: Blue Drop
Anime loves to experiment with genres, and it’s quite common to see an anime that combines aspects of many different genres. Higurashi (When They Cry) is an example I love to use in this case, as I feel that it creates a perfect balance and blending of both moe and horror. Who would’ve thought that could work? Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out so well. Blue Drop attempts to be a crossover between slice-of-life and sci-fi. It’s an interesting and fairly unique concept that I could see working if executed properly. Blue Drop, however, fails to do so.
Five years ago, the residents of Kamioki Island were mysteriously massacred. Mari Wakatake, the only survivor of this incident, lost her memories, and has been living with her grandmother since. Mari is forced to transfer to a new school by her grandmother, much to Mari’s resentment. In the new school, she gives her classmates a cold attitude, and is even more upset when she meets Hagino Senkouji, who upon meeting Mari, immediately tries to strangle her. It is soon revealed that there is much more to Hagino than meets the eye. Essentially, Blue Drop tells two stories: The slice-of-life story about Mari’s school life and the sci-fi story about the mysteries surrounding both Hagino and the destruction of Mari’s hometown five years ago.
This would work if the two stories were related to each other in some way, but they aren’t. The show is littered with awkward “genre shifts,” where, for example, we’ll go from an epic sci-fi battle to a scene about girls preparing for a school play. Even then, the sci-fi aspect isn’t all that great, as most of the scenes consist of little more than just simple dialogue, where not much really happens. There are some good battle scenes, but they don’t come in until the second half of the series, and even then they are few in number. As for Mari’s school life, the pacing is overall very slow, but it was at least interesting enough to keep me watching the show.
What I liked about this show are the characters. Mari’s got that tsundere-ish personality that I enjoy so very much. Hagino’s a very mysterious girl, and trying to find out what her deal is kept me interested in her. Overall, the story is actually pretty good, I just wish it were presented better. This is another series where I feel that if it were less episodes, it could have been free of pacing issues. However, even at only 13 episodes, the story still seems very stretched-out.
Blue Drop is good if you think you can stand the awkward genre shifts and don’t mind slow pacing. The entire series is available from Sentai Filmworks at an affordable price, so I would say it’s at least worth checking out, as you won’t have much to lose if you don’t enjoy it.
Blue Drop is currently on sale and is licensed and distributed by Sentai Filmworks. Also available at TheAnimeNetwork.com.
ENJOYMENT – Interesting enough
RECOMMENDATION LEVEL – Probably not
REWATCH VALUE – Probably not
Janai
Antz
OtakuAnthony
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vtine
matty
machineslife
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