Shoujo – Page 5 – bluemist anime blog

REC

9 episodes, 12 minutes, impossibly short. Packs a lot of punch though.

Based on a manga of the same name, REC is a story about a guy and a girl who gets to live in one roof because of some circumstances. Fumihiko, 26, is a worker at a local sweets company, brainstorming ideas for promotion of goods. Aka, 20, is a newbie seiyuu (voice actress), loves Audrey Hepburn movies and likes to quote movie dialogue all the time. They get to live in one roof, but still confused as to what is exactly their relationship, they aren’t a couple after all. They get to work together for a snacks promotion in need of a seiyuu. Eventually they get closer, but reality kicks in, as their own respective careers either sway up or down. How will they handle the ups and downs of work, and the ups and downs of their own romance?

An anime about a budding seiyuu! I’ve seen anime about j-idols, singers and stuff like that, but never about a seiyuu until now. REC totally landed my interest, and the red-haired cutie Aka is a plus! While I can’t relate to her obsession for the late great Audrey Hepburn’s works, the way she modulates her voice when making a movie quote gets a 10 out of 10 in originality. We also see a bit of focus on the seiyuu scene, which is somewhat the same thing we see in the j-idol or music scene. Of course, voice acting is not just about anime, it’s as comprehensive as dubbing gets. From movies to commercials to even bishoujo games, seiyuu are there to lend their voices and spice things up. Er… I was rather surprised that they’d even deal with the bishoujo game seiyuu topic, quite boldly I must say (heck, a mosaic of a p****! and a sample dialogue of an H anime even!!).

Anyway, not even inconsistent animation can cover-up the cuteness of Aka. Must be due to her seiyuu… I mean, the real-life seiyuu who voices Aka. She is Kanako Sakai, and I must say, she’s rather cute herself too. She seems to be a budding seiyuu and actress too, having only REC and Magikano in her anime belt, along with made-for-DVD dramas, TV and radio programs, and a PS2 game. I wish her luck.

All in all, short but totally sweet. It’s an interesting story about careers and relationships. While short, REC delivers at a steady pace, no dull moment at all. I really wished it could be longer though. Oh well, a new OVA episode would be underway quite soon. Need more anime like this. Anime about seiyuu, that is.

Animax-Asiaâ€¦ Dubbed in English – Episode 8: More Pain

April 3, 2006

It’s probably final. Animax-Asia is now completely out of my system.

Practically, Animax-Asia is still here, on Channel 46 of my cable TV… but I don’t tune in anymore. This, despite a rather excellent lineup yet again. Also it seems like they tweaked a bit of their programming schedules. What was knows as Kids Hour is now named Girl Power (shoujo anime lineup), followed by Shonen Walker (shounen anime), Animania (probably mainstream), Megazone (semi-hardcore), and finally Super Maniac (hardcore). Oh, some animes in Super Maniac still is in English dub, so I wouldn’t call that as hardcore too much.

Some current anime highlights include the ever-popular Detective Conan, shounen classics Yu Yu Hakusho and Flame of Recca, shoujo classic Fushigi Yuugi, and a whole bunch of very recent anime, some of which other anime bloggers have been featuring for the past years:
– Emma
– Gakuen Alice
– Kino no Tabi
– Mahou Shoujo Tai
– Onegai Teacher
– Otogizoshi
– Twin Spica
– Windy Tales
– Zettai Shounen

Amazing lineup yet again… disappointing English dubbing yet again. This month we also have the CLAMP-crossover anime Tsubasa Chronicle, aptly translated by the channel as Chronicle of the Wings. Classy name, but I guess it’s a clear indication of English dubbing. You can’t escape English dubs. Oh, and next month we have the current king of shounen anime, Fullmetal Alchemist on queue. Still not sure if the English dub will be from inhouse Animax-Asia dubbers, or from Funimation in the US.

Take note, some English dubs come from official US dub releases from TV or DVD, but the vast majority of them come from Animax-Asia’s own in-house dubbing. Because of this, you hear the same voices in almost all anime! The whole channel sounds so freaking redundant. No, this is not the same as hearing [Yui Horie->horie-yui] in so many anime, this is a negative thing. You hear the same voice intonation, no modifications at all. Picture this: Sakura of CCS and Sakura of Ultra Maniac. They share the same English dub voice actress in Animax-Asia. While you can argue that they are both energetic mahou shoujo characters, you also believe that they shouldn’t sound the same (age, accent, etc.) Alas, they do in the Animax-Asia dubs. Multiply that with so many other characters sharing that same voice actress (that girl must be rich by now, starring in so many anime dubs), and you have a generic sounding anime channel.

Come to think of it, I’ve been complaining about it since day one! You must be tired of hearing me bash Animax-Asia for the entire duration of this series, so I’ll be giving more of its good points. First up, they added GameMax, a video game feature show. Very nice considering there ain’t much shows of that type out here. Animax Musix (jpop music video features) now has its own 30-minute slot, aside from the random ones in other slots. They finish the music video sometimes, and now even has a ‘fact bar’ at the bottom citing news, history, and other stuff about the artist featured. Great for discovering nice info about jpop, which I sorely lack nowadays.

Lastly, I had to tell my most important recommendation for this channel, and I hope that Animax-Asia hears this somehow (I’m a mere blogger though and my opinions are close to nil in terms of influence.) If they really want to follow their motto of “Anime for everyone”, and if they want to avoid rabid bashing from anime fans (include me in that partially), it’s very simple… show “both” a subbed and dubbed version of an anime. Okay, so you have a dubbed Cardcaptor Sakura at 4:00PM, why not show a ‘subbed’ Cardcaptor Sakura, at even an obscure time like 2AM or something like that? I’m sure all those kids who only want their anime in English/Taglish are already asleep by that time. Remember, Japanese otakus stay up in that time of night to watch their hardcore anime. If done that way, it may give a bit of positive rapport for the channel without hurting their… er… profit. You have a 24-hour anime channel. Know your audience, and use your programming effectively. You can profit more.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 1: The end of Animax-Asia? Too sudden!?->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 2: Cardcaptured.->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 3: Trying to Adjust->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 4: Towards the 1st Anniversary->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 5: I gave up on Animax-Asia->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 6: One year since->]
[Animax-Asiaâ€¦ Dubbed in English – Episode 7: Dubbed in Filipino?!?->]
[Animax-Asiaâ€¦ Dubbed in English – Episode 7.5: Initial D Filipino Stage->]
[Animax-Asiaâ€¦ Dubbed in English – Episode 8: More Pain->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 9: Now in blue->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 10: Fake Revival->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 11: Something New->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 12: Red with anger->]

April Anime Season (Spring 2006)

Time to cry again.

This is probably the season with the best lineup of potentially good anime I have ever encountered so far… and it came at the worst possible time… when I’m busy.

It has everything. Bishoujo? Check. Shoujo? Check. Sequels? Check check check. There’s something for everyone in this new season. Prepare to smoke your computer/TV/portable screens.

For the comprehensive list, go here and here.

Ah! My Goddess 2nd season – Oh my gawdness… I barely finished the first yet.

Ergo Proxy – Probably the front runner of this season’s action anime genre.

Finalist – From a Princess Soft game. More girls.

Fushigiboshi no Futagohime Gyu! – The cutest twin magical princesses in anime-dom returns for yet another year. I know who’s most happy with this.

.hack//Roots – Those .hacks were nice time wasters back when I had only a few anime to watch. If this turns out to be the same slow-poke, I’d drop it.

Higurashi no Naku koro ni – I’ve been hearing about how this is the second most popular doujin game ever made ([Tsukihime->type-moon] is the champ). It’d be nice to see why.

Inukami! – Probably a cliche, but nevertheless, cute animation design.

Joshikousei GIRLS-HIGH – If it’s about joshikousei, it must be good. Popular seiyuu are here.

NANA – If 2005 was the year of [Hanadan->hana-yori-dango], 2006 is the year of NANA. This is one of the biggest shoujo series of recent memory, and I am already excited since I am thirsty for shoujo already (too much bishoujo).

School Rumble 2nd Semester – Make way for the funniest school anime without Osaka-san! A definite watch!

Soul Link – NAVEL’s older game before their popular one [Shuffle->].

Strawberry Panic – I seemed to have learned not to skip a Dengeki G’s series, even if it turns out horribly average. There’s something in the way they draw bishoujo.

Suzumiya Haruhi – Late update… what the heck was I thinking? Leaving out the potential School Rumble counter-programming of the season? By Kyoto Animation no less!

Tsubasa Chronicle 2nd season – Must… not… miss… Sakura-chan.

Tokko – From the author of GTO. I miss that anime. I hope Tokko is as crazy/cool as that.

Utawarerumono – A classic game from [Leaf->leaf-aquaplus]. Please don’t let it be a [disaster->to-heart-remember-my-memories] on [rails->toheart2-review] again.

XXXHOLiC – Seems to be a two-punch for CLAMP this season. Nice. Hope to see more crossovers.

Yume Tsukai – Looks nice. I’ll give it a whirl.

To Heart 2

I was thinking all the while that To Heart 2 will be really good, considering that [Comic Party Revolution->], the other anime franchise of [Aquaplus->leaf-aquaplus], turned out rather well. But then the IMO horror that is [~Remember my Memories~->to-heart-remember-my-memories] still looms. That series not only had inconsistent animation, but a pace and story that I didn’t enjoy too much. This time, To Heart 2 more or less had the same problems, but not enough to call it a bad anime… or maybe… I’m biased?

I played the [game->toheart2], and featured it rather heavily, so there may be some personal biases of mine that will lead to the anime counterpart getting a more positive review from me. For one, I really love the mix of the all-new characters this time. The energetic [childhood friend->To Heart 2: Episode 1], the mature [onee-sama->To Heart 2: Episode 2], the soft-spoken [iincho->To Heart 2: Episode 3], the annoying [challenge girl->To Heart 2: Episode 4], the scheming [club president->To Heart 2: Episode 5], the weird [girl from outer space->To Heart 2: Episode 6], twins with [different->To Heart 2: Episode 8] [personalities->To Heart 2: Episode 9], and the ever-required [maid robot->To Heart 2: Episode 10]. While this cast sounds extremely cliche, the difference is in the moe~ factor. The To Heart 2 characters have the same cuteness vibe that made the original [To Heart->] so popular. The lead male character is also an improvement over other similar series. Takaaki is neither a Bakayuki or a Junichi, but if you ask me… he acts kinda gayish.

Now I’m gonna try to remove my bias. Technically, To Heart 2 the anime is created for existing and upcoming fans of the original game. Its premiere in the fall season of 2005 would coincide with the much-anticipated PC version of the game (it was originally on Playstation 2), [To Heart 2: XRATED->]. That said, and because you, my primary audience, is of the english-speaking anime community, many of you guys may be alienated when watching this anime. It is as if it pits you immediately into the events assuming you already know the game, or know of the first To Heart. Unfortunately, many of us can’t play the game because of the language barrier, and so some may not be able to enjoy it too much. Add up the fact that there are 9 featured girls in mere 13 episodes, and that makes them even less memorable.

Aside from the dilemma from non-fans of the To Heart 2 game, even the fans themselves are complaining. What they saw in the anime were very diluted, modified and condensed versions of each girl’s story. What took them about 5-10 hours to complete in the game, the anime finished in 1 or 2 episodes. The conversion quality left so much pain, as it wasn’t to the level that they expected. The most significant alteration to the original was the watering-down of the drama. The original To Heart 2 stories were heartwarming tearjerkers. Compared to that, the To Heart 2 anime stories seemed lifeless.

Couple that with inconsistent animation, incomplete stories, and confusing [timeline->toheart2-timeline], the anime is disaster on rails. Thankfully it had some nice bits here and there. For the fans, they have seen the To Heart 2 girls [interact->To Heart 2: Episode 7] with [each other->To Heart 2: Episode 11] like never before, because in the game they barely even know each other. Also, having all the original seiyuu in check for the anime makes it pleasant-sounding. Music is forgettable but not annoying, and the OP/ED is quite good.

Overall though, maybe it will be just the fans who will enjoy an anime like To Heart 2. Anyway, the best episode to watch is the [12th one->To Heart 2: Episode 12], and I can say you could even see it standalone (not watching the other eps). Continue it with the [last one->To Heart 2: Episode 13 (Final)] for the open-ended conclusion, and you have the 2-episode Konomi OVA. That’s my recommendation if you don’t want to waste time. There are many other bishoujo-game based anime better than this (Stripey has a nice top 20 list). My other recommendation is to play the game somehow. You’ll feel the moe~ factor better over there.

Da Capo Second Season

It’s always hard to have a sophomore outing. It always gets compared to the first. The entire Da Capo game franchise seemed to escape itself away from this dilemma, by bombarding the audience with all things Da Capo. With the possibly annoying array of versions, revisions, sidestories, and fandisks of the [Da Capo games->Circus] alone, coupled with multiple manga and anime serializations, comparing each is no use. Just enjoy the Da Capo mythos. But in case of the anime versions, we need to look at the [first season->da-capo] as reference to Da Capo Second Season, because it is not a version or revision of the original, it is a sequel.

With DCPS ending, the Da Capo anime has now become the longest running anime franchise of the bishoujo game genre. 52 episodes of fun with rainbow-colored hair and cute girls. Each season had its own unique share of positive and negative traits, but overall a worthy watch, especially if you had been looking through your mountain pile of Da Capo games. And the heat rises further, as Da Capo Second Season adds more girls into the already crowded fray of multiple hair colors and different personalities. You’re really bound to like at least one of them. The main guy actually has a literal change of character art in the new season, but who cares about the guy anyway?

Ironically, one new main character didn’t actually come from the games. Aisia, a new girl with mysterious powers, was derived from a manga serialization called Da Capo Second Graduation. The other new characters came from the Da Capo Plus Situation game. Some DCPS characters actually didn’t make the cut, one is really missing, one remains a cameo, and another one… hmm… let’s just say that ~~she~~ is there but not really.

The story carries over from the first season, two years later. The mysterious power within the cherry blossoms are gone, main girls Nemu and Sakura are abroad, and all seems certain that [Kotori->da-capo-kotori-shirakawa] (arguably one of the most favorable Da Capo girls) will take the limelight and shine. One problem though, Aisia steals the limelight more often than not, plus with (ooh spoiler) Nemu and Sakura returning once again, it is now a whole new battle for the love of this one boring male lead.

I hope to fully put the entire season in perspective, but really, everything that happens in Da Capo Second Season involves Aisia. I hope I was correct in saying that. Even when there were episodes that feature the other new characters, Aisia plays a vital part in each of their stories. This I think is where the second season is weak as compared to the first. There is little room for character development or focus for all the other girls. While you may argue that some have already developed (because of the first season), for an anime of the bishoujo genre, characters are more important than plot. I would have preferred more Mako episodes myself. Along with character development, Aisia was granted the key to open the door of the main plot of the second season. What convenience, Aisia gets all the attention. As I said, viewers may think that this season is all about Aisia AND Kotori (as implied in the OP sequence), but it turns out that Kotori stays to be coincidential rather than central to the plot.

In any case, Da Capo Second Season as a story is an excellent follow-up to the first Da Capo. It raises a lot of questions to the conclusion of the first season, and answers them one-by-one. The first season’s ending did have some logical and moral faults, and I was glad that DCSS transcended beyond the original content toward a more “true” conclusion this time around. But with Aisia getting more screentime, I figured that they never needed a entire length of 26 episodes in order to explain the point. If anything, I really hoped that more focus should have been dealt on the new DCPS girls and Kotori herself. It doesn’t need to be this focused on Aisia alone. I admit, Aisia rocks, but alienating fans of all the other Da Capo girls… a no-no.

Despite this, I really enjoyed the run. Character animation looks more consistent, the background music again memorable, and excellent songs again coming from no other than [Yui Horie->horie-yui] (Kotori) and yozuca* and rino/CooRie.

If anything, this may be the real time to close the huge Da Capo franchise. Onwards to DC II perhaps? I think it has already proven its point, each character strong enough to remain a bishoujo anime icon. If you can stomach the barrage of Aisia-only goodness, Da Capo Second Season is a worthy watch.

This is a [Summer of Bishoujo->] feature

Project Hiatus 2: Cardcaptor Sakura

Before bluemist anime blog @ animeblogger.net, and before the old bluemist anime blog (gone now), my very first web project was a relatively unpopular Cardcaptor Sakura fansite, called the bluemist cardcaptor sakura anime reference. As you can see, it’s also gone now and incomplete. After having this anime blog, I never got to finish that site.

Maybe it was boredom or a change of hype, since I was more into [ToHeart2->], [bishoujo games->summer-of-bishoujo] and [live-action->live] stuff last year. Nevertheless, Cardcaptor Sakura remains and still is the very root of all the anime evil that I’ve been writing about up until now. Yes, being my personal best anime EVER, I blame Cardcaptor Sakura for my anime fandom, and I realized that it is somewhat a necessity for me to finish what I have started, that old site itself.

I decided to do this now since I am not quite active in the latest anime season anyway, because of lack of interest for certain new anime. I also decided to finish that CCS unfinished business, in order to move on to some… er… bigger, [MORE IMPOSSIBLE->doremi] stuff very soon. I’m also predicting that real life obligations will take more pieces of time away from me yet again.

And so in line with this, I will be putting this blog on a certain semi-hiatus state. Updates may be few and far between again, just like [last time->project-hiatus], whenever I just feel like it. I’ll be doing the CCS site and this blog in a more casual manner, in the hopes of fitting into my busy schedule.

Actually, I’m still debating on whether to incorporate my CCS site into this anime blog as a project as well. It may be too much work, but it should be perfect for my [Retro->] status isn’t it?

In any case, that’s it. I’m still here, but I’ll be less active… as if I am active at all. Bye for now.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A’s

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A’s

Still nothing lyrical about it, but it was a nice ride.

This series which was a spinoff to a Triangle Heart game has just started to live a life all its own. With all new character additions, and a plot that is just as exciting, Nanoha’s world is getting more vibrant. This new season begins some time after the first ([Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha->]). Nanoha and Fate have since become very close friends, and with the backing of the Asura crew, we see more focus on the workings of the Time-Space Administration, rather on delving on just Nanoha.

This makes it seem as if the first series was an introduction to our main character, and then the second series expands on the idea by making it more of a team effort. Yup, Nanoha has her new friends and allies join her. Or rather, Nanoha joins the crew in yet another mission. Well, they need lots of magic firepower after all, because the new enemies are quite plentiful too. A certain book called the Book of Darkness is bound to cause havoc around the magical dimensions again, and it needs to be stopped. The knights who protect the book is composed of three hawt girls and a familiar. The master who is supposed to control the book is actually this frail but cute girl named Hayate. Despite Hayate being the master of an evil book, she is this kind and sweet girl who tends to the knights, and even consider them as “friends” instead of slaves.

See a pattern again? Yup, in almost the same story setup, the enemies in Nanoha A’s are given more than enough backstory to make it seem that they will also be powerful allies in the end. In the first series, some enemies become friends, and so this will not be a big surprise the second time around. We know that cute Hayate and the gang would eventually be on Nanoha’s side, so all the viewers need to do is enjoy the ride on how they get there.

It does have its usual share of plot twists and stuff like that, but the best thing about this new season are the fight scenes. Yup, this is an age in which even young witches use brute force ([moetan->] quote). The Nanoha series have lots of surprisingly awesome action scenes. Nanoha A’s has tons more of them, but eventually it withers off as the plot starts to thicken. Near the end of the series, it becomes some boring firepower festival, in which all the characters show off their uber-magical powers. Heck, it even becomes videogame RPG style, with magic spells being blown to the enemy one after the other (there’s even a healing spell lol). Well that’s just a nitpick, as Nanoha A’s boasts awesome animation in some of the other fight scenes.

Animation runs quite consistent, which is a great plus. Fanservice becomes a minimum for this second series, which is good considering I was quite annoyed with it in the first series.. The OP is quite laughable to me, because it reminded me of certain Gundam Seed opening sequences. Heck, I can even replace the Nanoha A’s OP song for a Gundam OP (try it on Invoke, it fits too well) and laugh out loud. The other music are quite nice too.

The very end of the anime came as a disappointment, not because of anything bad, but because it may have closed the possibility of yet another season to come. Of course, it’s not final, but I really hope the Nanoha series continue. This is one sequel that is up on par with its original counterpart, and it’s kinda rare to see that kind of consistency. Yup, it still has me screaming ‘sequel!’ at the end. Cheers for more Nanoha!

Ns’ Aoi

Ns’ Aoi

Usually I follow only the highest-rating jdorama, but since this season’s #1 jdorama doesn’t seem too interesting to me (it’s the overworked story of Saiyuuki), I’m gonna pick some less popular series that may have potential. Pretty girls are a plus.

How about a pretty nurse?

Ns’ Aoi seems to be based on a manga, which I don’t think has been licensed nor translated. If anything, I can say that this is an equivalent of your usual “great teachers” (GTO’s Onizuka and Gokusen’s Yankumi), except that she’s a nurse in a hospital. Misora Aoi is a newbie nurse at this hospital. All seems fine, until she realizes she has some problems with many of the staff there. As an institution, this hospital has some interestingly weird “politics” going on. And that sometimes saving lives doesn’t seem top priority. As our idealistic main character, Aoi-chan goes to great heights and performs duties beyond what a nurse is set out to do, all for her patients.

Nurse me too! Ehem… err…

Ishihara Satomi topbills this drama, and is one hawt girl indeed. Nothing else seems to be special, so I’m not expecting big things.

AOI-CHAN OF THE WEEK
Ep 1:

Ep 2:

Ep 3:

Ep 4:

Ep 5:

Ns’ Aoi Bishoujo Tracker?
Hmm… never thought I could see some remnants of [Densha Otoko->densha-otoko-bishoujo-tracker] in this series… remember this guy?

Nurse and other figurines… an otaku in a hospital

Is that a magazine front page of the horrifying Amenaideyo anime?

Showing off his kawaii Nurse-chan again

Ojamajo Doremi Naisho!

Ojamajo Doremi Naisho!

Ahh… Ojamajo Doremi. Of all the anime in the world, this is for me the most elusive anime that I may never, ever completely enjoy. With no less than 200 episodes, most of it already lost in time, someone like me living in the remotest of areas would consider getting an episode of this a monumental effort. Since this kind of anime is rarely a fansubbing favorite, only a few subs of Ojamajo Doremi exist (thanks to those fansubbers btw). And since this series is quite old already, I cannot find anything else, not even raws. But no, nothing is gonna stop me from continually searching for my most elusive anime ever. Unknown to many, Ojamajo Doremi is one of (if not) the longest mahou shoujo (magical girl) anime series ever. And despite its seemingly unpopular status outside of Japan, I can consider this one of the best anime ever made… even with the limited number of episodes I watched.

An excellent example of this would be the latest season, called Ojamajo Doremi Naisho. For a little background info, there are five seasons of Ojamajo Doremi. The first four seasons ran for almost a year each (50+ episodes), and the latest season ran for 13 episodes. While it is the latest season, Naisho’s timeline actually runs between the third and fourth seasons. Not that it matters though, because what Ojamajo Doremi offers is not a big plot… but a “big heart”.

Oh my, where do I start? For first-time watchers, they may be skeptical on picking this up because it runs in the middle of a series, but Ojamajo Doremi as a whole excels in full-fledged characterization. Watch one episode of Ojamajo Doremi Naisho, and you more or less get to know about each main character already. Watch another, and you see one of the characters being fleshed out further. Watch yet another, and you enjoy so much of Ojamajo Doremi overall because of its appealing characters. Character development is an immense factor in the success of this anime. And not only those main characters (the pretty witches) get their development, but various supporting characters as well.

The strongest part of Naisho (and any other Ojamajo Doremi season for that matter) is how endearingly heartwarming each episode is. Even if each episode you watch has a different story and features different characters, they make it oh so memorable. Each story, no matter how frantic or comedic or depressing, is very very good. Ojamajo Doremi Naisho has a specific theme, in which they delve on some characters’ “secrets” (hence Naisho). Well I wouldn’t say some should really be considered big secrets, but these stories feature many events from the past, and how they learn from those events.

Remember that this is a mahou shoujo series, and yet it veers away often from magic being central to a story. It extends its moral values to more than just using magic to do something special. Sometimes I imagine that this anime can veer away from magic completely, because it is all about our life. All the happiness, sadness, complications, and simplicity of life, being channeled through various heartwarming stories.

This series particularly has a interestingly dramatic theme to it despite the relative fun. Some stories even end up with some of the characters crying. Moreover, seemingly mature themes like the life’s complexities, and even death, is being dealt with. It is something you really won’t expect from a mahou shoujo series, plus considering this is an anime aimed for kids. It is rare that an anime of this kind can be this moving. It’s easy to make viewers laugh and awe, but it is hard to make them cry. And yet Ojamajo Doremi can do that, and more. Because it mirrors our lives, viewers can relate, reflect, and learn. Entertainment that transcends beyond entertainment.

I won’t talk about the cute characters and animation, the memorable music and songs, or how the voice acting fared. It is enough for me to say that Ojamajo Doremi Naisho entertained me to the brim, sky is beyond the limit. It is enough for you to know that I highly recommend this anime, whether dubbed, subbed, or otherwise. It will be remembered forever in my heart. I’d love to watch it all over again (I don’t usually repeat anime I already watched, so this is a rare exception). Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be going treasure hunting for more Ojamajo Doremi.

2005 Personal Statistics

2005 WATCHED
Aah, look at this pathetic list. While it pales in comparison with everyone else, it’s already a huge number considering my busy schedule. If I include all the other (backlogged) anime I watched from previous years, I think I average 2 episodes a day in 2005. Not too much, but if you think about it (over 700 episodes!), it is rather too many. What more with others?

I will do more reviews as time goes by. Watch out for them.

Carry-over to 2005
Gundam Seed Destiny – backlogged (figured it’s a total waste of time)
[Mai-HiME->]
Naruto – backlogged (stopped after the chase Sasuke arc, not because Sasuke is [gay->sasuke-girl] though)
[School Rumble->]

Winter 2005
[AIR->air-tv]
[Mahoraba->mahoraba-heartful-days]
[Mahou Sensei Negima->]

Spring 2005
[Comic Party Revolution->]
[Futakoi Alternative->]
[Fushigiboshi no Futago Hime->]
[Gokujou Seitokai->] – backlogged (due to subs)
[He is My Master->]
[Tsubasa Chronicle->]

Summer 2005
[Da Capo Second Season->]
Ichigo Mashimaro
[Kamichu!->]
[Paniponi Dash!->] – backlogged (due to subs)
[Petopeto-san->]
[Shuffle!->shuffle] – backlogged (waiting to marathon)
[Suzuka->]

Fall 2005
[Animal Yokocho->]
[Canvas 2->]
[Mai Otome->]
[Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A’s->]
To Heart 2

OVA AND OTHER
[Air Movie->]
[Boku wa Imouto ni Koi wo Suru->]
[Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan->]
[Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children->]
[Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu->]
Itsudatte My Santa
[Kujibiki Unbalance->]
School Rumble OVA
[Uta-Kata OVA->uta-kata]

JDORAMA
Gokusen 2
Densha Otoko
Hana Yori Dango