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elabyLately I've had a hankering for brainlessly entertaining girl-centric anime. Well, the brainlessness wasn't a necessary element, but complexity wasn't either. Sometimes I just want to watch cute girls being cute, and if it's got an added bonus of a compelling intelligent plot (hi there Madoka), so much the better. OMG SO, SIDE NOTE: The Puella Magi Madoka Magica anime is coming out in the US in February of next year! And I think the manga is licensed by Yen Plus, who does a fabulous job with translation in my experience. Double excitement!
I watched a bunch of episodes of Hidamari Sketch (hidamari = sunshine, or a sunny spot), which really takes "brainless" to heart, although it's adorable and fairly entertaining. It's about four girls living at an apartment associated with the art school they go to. And that's about it; in the half-dozen episodes I watched (maybe closer to ten?) nothing more went on. They hung out, they talked about school and art and other random subjects. The main character got sick once, which was the most interesting episode, as the whole thing was essentially a weirdo fever-dream. They're all sweet to each other and I ship two of them, but hell if I can remember what their names were. It reminded me of Lucky Star in that it followed the characters' everyday lives and conversations with no plot thread running through, but it wasn't particularly funny and it didn't have the anime subculture theme or memorable characters that Lucky Star did. Hidamari Sketch is cute, but I don't feel compelled to watch any more of it.
A few weeks ago I ran across another series, YuruYuri (Easy Yuri, yuri = girlslash), and it's the same genre of show only much better. I actually found it pretty hilarious most of the time. YuruYuri is, again, about four girls' everyday lives at school, but there's a kind-of-sort-of plot. The four main characters are members of the Entertainment Club (in which you pretty much hang out and do whatever you feel like) and they're squatting in the room formerly occupied by the Tea Ceremony Club, which was disbanded. Their occupancy is always in jeopardy, and they occasionally clash with the Student Council. Each episode has a coherent storyline, which is more than I can say for Hidamari Sketch ^^;;
The humor banks on two things: silly yuri jokes and self-satire. The silly yuri jokes don't bother me, even though they do descend into (tame) fanservice once in a while, but the real gem here is the self-satire. The main character, Akari, is like so many others: she's late for the first day of school (complete with toast-in-mouth running), she's sweet and energetic and bewildered by innuendo. In other words, she's the default anime heroine. And about halfway through the first episode, the other girls - who have much more interesting personalities - observe innocently that they've forgotten she was even there. They then proclaim her "lacking in presence" and try to come up with all sorts of ways to make her a more interesting main character XD Their brainstorm results include "Makes the sound effect 'akarin!' whenever she does something", "Can turn invisible", and "Boob missiles" (this last from Kyoko, arguably the REAL main character, a doujin artist and magical girl anime fan who provides most of the above-mentioned innuendo). In all of the following episodes, Akari's usual introduction speech ("Hello, it's time for YuruYuri!" etc.) is interrupted in some way so that she never gets to finish it. When she tries to do the standard "On my first day of middle school..." recap in the second episode, somebody steps in front of her or otherwise blocks her from view in every frame. And along with this running joke, which is carried through the entire 12-episode series, the characters make fourth-wall-breaking comments all the time (such as, "What, you mean this is the only screen time I get all episode?!"). And when characters fantasize, they usually do so in a completely different animation style, depending on the particular fantasy. It's wacky, but not in the same way that shows are wacky because they want to play it safe and are afraid of edging into weirder, more adult humor. It's not quite as clever as Excel Saga, but the last scene especially gave me the same making-fun-of-anime-clichés vibe.
Akari is, as she's supposed to be, fairly boring, but Kyoko is a riot and her best friend Yui, your usual short-haired brainy voice of reason, is very endearing and likable. The fourth member of the main cast, Chinatsu, is a pink-haired lookalike of Kyoko's favorite magical girl and has a major sempai-crush on Yui. Kyoko, of course, wants into her pants because she looks just like Magical Witch-Girl Mirakurun (although it's implied that Kyoko's more serious feelings lie elsewhere). The Student Council Vice-President is a classic tsundere who's in constant academic competition with Kyoko, who, in spite of her failure to study, manages to get the best grades ever. She secretly wants to be better friends with Kyoko, much to the delight of her constant companion, Chitose, who ships them like whoa. Chitose is soft-spoken and bespectacled and slightly odd in a floaty, dreamy way. She reminds me a little bit of Anthy, if, you know, Anthy got nosebleeds every time she thought about Juri and Shiori.
So, in spite of the occasional panty joke, YuruYuri is really funny and quite often heartwarming (for a few seconds, before everyone's like "OKAY ENOUGH OF THAT TIME FOR MORE SILLINESS"). I heartily wish there were more of it. It's also got the catchiest opening and ending songs that I've heard in ages. Yuri yura-ra-ra-ra yuru yuri...
For yourbrainworming edification, the YuruYuri opening and ending songs. Note on weirdness: The quality isn't great on the opener, and (for some bizarre reason) it's "flopped" - like, somebody mirrored it so the things that happen on the left side now happen on the right, and the text is backward, etc. - but in the HD version on YouTube that's the right way around, the music timing is off. And the music timing is what makes it.
Sorry about the frame on this one. The only other version I could find is flopped too e_e WTF, I mean really. Also sorry about the lack of translation. They weren't translated in the episodes either.
I AM SUCH A NERD BUT OMFG THEY'RE SO CUTE. HAND-HOLDING. (Are they totally catering to my demographic, or what? I think, in reality, they're probably not catering to lesbians who like cute little maybe-more-than-friends, but I can pretend.)
I watched a bunch of episodes of Hidamari Sketch (hidamari = sunshine, or a sunny spot), which really takes "brainless" to heart, although it's adorable and fairly entertaining. It's about four girls living at an apartment associated with the art school they go to. And that's about it; in the half-dozen episodes I watched (maybe closer to ten?) nothing more went on. They hung out, they talked about school and art and other random subjects. The main character got sick once, which was the most interesting episode, as the whole thing was essentially a weirdo fever-dream. They're all sweet to each other and I ship two of them, but hell if I can remember what their names were. It reminded me of Lucky Star in that it followed the characters' everyday lives and conversations with no plot thread running through, but it wasn't particularly funny and it didn't have the anime subculture theme or memorable characters that Lucky Star did. Hidamari Sketch is cute, but I don't feel compelled to watch any more of it.
A few weeks ago I ran across another series, YuruYuri (Easy Yuri, yuri = girlslash), and it's the same genre of show only much better. I actually found it pretty hilarious most of the time. YuruYuri is, again, about four girls' everyday lives at school, but there's a kind-of-sort-of plot. The four main characters are members of the Entertainment Club (in which you pretty much hang out and do whatever you feel like) and they're squatting in the room formerly occupied by the Tea Ceremony Club, which was disbanded. Their occupancy is always in jeopardy, and they occasionally clash with the Student Council. Each episode has a coherent storyline, which is more than I can say for Hidamari Sketch ^^;;
The humor banks on two things: silly yuri jokes and self-satire. The silly yuri jokes don't bother me, even though they do descend into (tame) fanservice once in a while, but the real gem here is the self-satire. The main character, Akari, is like so many others: she's late for the first day of school (complete with toast-in-mouth running), she's sweet and energetic and bewildered by innuendo. In other words, she's the default anime heroine. And about halfway through the first episode, the other girls - who have much more interesting personalities - observe innocently that they've forgotten she was even there. They then proclaim her "lacking in presence" and try to come up with all sorts of ways to make her a more interesting main character XD Their brainstorm results include "Makes the sound effect 'akarin!' whenever she does something", "Can turn invisible", and "Boob missiles" (this last from Kyoko, arguably the REAL main character, a doujin artist and magical girl anime fan who provides most of the above-mentioned innuendo). In all of the following episodes, Akari's usual introduction speech ("Hello, it's time for YuruYuri!" etc.) is interrupted in some way so that she never gets to finish it. When she tries to do the standard "On my first day of middle school..." recap in the second episode, somebody steps in front of her or otherwise blocks her from view in every frame. And along with this running joke, which is carried through the entire 12-episode series, the characters make fourth-wall-breaking comments all the time (such as, "What, you mean this is the only screen time I get all episode?!"). And when characters fantasize, they usually do so in a completely different animation style, depending on the particular fantasy. It's wacky, but not in the same way that shows are wacky because they want to play it safe and are afraid of edging into weirder, more adult humor. It's not quite as clever as Excel Saga, but the last scene especially gave me the same making-fun-of-anime-clichés vibe.
Akari is, as she's supposed to be, fairly boring, but Kyoko is a riot and her best friend Yui, your usual short-haired brainy voice of reason, is very endearing and likable. The fourth member of the main cast, Chinatsu, is a pink-haired lookalike of Kyoko's favorite magical girl and has a major sempai-crush on Yui. Kyoko, of course, wants into her pants because she looks just like Magical Witch-Girl Mirakurun (although it's implied that Kyoko's more serious feelings lie elsewhere). The Student Council Vice-President is a classic tsundere who's in constant academic competition with Kyoko, who, in spite of her failure to study, manages to get the best grades ever. She secretly wants to be better friends with Kyoko, much to the delight of her constant companion, Chitose, who ships them like whoa. Chitose is soft-spoken and bespectacled and slightly odd in a floaty, dreamy way. She reminds me a little bit of Anthy, if, you know, Anthy got nosebleeds every time she thought about Juri and Shiori.
So, in spite of the occasional panty joke, YuruYuri is really funny and quite often heartwarming (for a few seconds, before everyone's like "OKAY ENOUGH OF THAT TIME FOR MORE SILLINESS"). I heartily wish there were more of it. It's also got the catchiest opening and ending songs that I've heard in ages. Yuri yura-ra-ra-ra yuru yuri...
For your
Sorry about the frame on this one. The only other version I could find is flopped too e_e WTF, I mean really. Also sorry about the lack of translation. They weren't translated in the episodes either.
I AM SUCH A NERD BUT OMFG THEY'RE SO CUTE. HAND-HOLDING. (Are they totally catering to my demographic, or what? I think, in reality, they're probably not catering to lesbians who like cute little maybe-more-than-friends, but I can pretend.)
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no subject
Date: 2011-10-16 02:12 pm (UTC)I miss fandom, too, but don't seem to have the energy/interest to seek any out right now.
Are those girls the seiyuu for the show? They're adorable!
no subject
Date: 2011-10-18 12:04 am (UTC)Hmmm, what else? I haven't watched much besides Madoka lately XD Nothing new, anyway. *asks Rachel* Bleach is REALLY GOOD. I think you would like it a lot. Baccano is cool too but I think it needs to be watched all at once with a lot of brainpower involved XD I need to get more than just the first DVD.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-18 12:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-17 01:51 am (UTC)One of the main girls reminds me of Madoka.
Both themes are kind of annoying imo, but I preder the ED over the OP :P
no subject
Date: 2011-10-17 02:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-18 12:02 am (UTC)Also, the songs are fun. Not annoying.