Misa's Anime Adventures~

Well hey there~

I'll start by saying that I'm really excited about this post, and that it's going to be a little different from my usual. This post is going to be entirely dedicated to geeking out over anime. Uh oh looks like my inner weeb is showing.
Actually, even more unusual, I found that I had so much to write about, that I've decided to make this a two-parter. So, this post is part one. Part two will be a whole new post, and it's already in the works~

Over the past few weeks, pretty much the only thing I've been doing to pass time is watching anime. This is actually kind of weird for me. For about a year, I didn't really have much of an interest in watching anything. I just read manga. All the time. For some reason I just, couldn't be bothered with anime, I guess. I enjoyed reading much more.
A few weeks ago though, I found myself really super bored, and I suddenly had this urge to watch Ao no Exorcist. I've read a bit of the manga (although I can't remember where the hell I'm up to) and I'd always wanted to watch the anime. So, I sat down and started watching it. And I watched half the series in the first day. This is what rekindled my love for anime. Once I started, I couldn't stop. I scrolled through animefreak.tv and decided to have a look at all the series that I had been wanting to watch or was just curious about. I watched the first episode of all of them, and then grouped them into series I would continue watching straight away, and series that I will watch when I'm finished with the first group.
Now, let me just clarify; I DO NOT CARE about what series are new or old, ongoing or complete. I don't care about watching whatever is popular right now. I'll watch whatever the hell I want, when I want. Ok good we're clear.
For me, when it comes to choosing which anime to watch, it's down to a few main factors; if I'm reading/have read the manga, if I like the art style, or if it has been recommended and/or it's popularity. That isn't to say that I'll watch any series that's popular, but sometimes I'll be interested in finding out what the hype is about, you know. There's also some series that don't follow my reasoning, I'll just come across it somehow and be intrigued by it. But, as a general rule, those are the things that influence whether or not I'll watch a series. It may be just the one reason, or a combination of them.

Anyway, enough of that. So, what series have piqued my interest?
And, what do I recommend? (Not that you care but still)

Karneval (カーニヴァル) 

Actually, this is the one I want to talk about the most. If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know, Karneval has been the only thing on my mind, and the only thing I'll talk about. I am in love with this series. Don't bother sending help, I've drowned in it's glory and gone to heaven. I haven't been this into a series since Ouran High School Host Club. My wallpaper is Karneval. My iPod screens are Karneval. My Tumblr dashboard is Karneval. My brain is Karneval. I'm obsessed. I've been sucked in and there's no chance of ever getting out. I've already read all the currently scanlated chapters of the manga. I'm up to date with the anime, and eagerly await each weeks' episode. I can't get this damn series out of my mind. I was mainly drawn in by the art style, but when I read the plot I was beyond intrigued. The story is unique, and totally gripping. The characters, while a little eccentric, are completely believable and relatable. You care about these characters, what happens to them and how they feel. I can't put into words how amazing this series is. I wouldn't do it any justice with my nonsensical ramblings. Just, check it out ok. It's seriously underrated and needs more love. Also, the anime follows the storyline of the manga pretty much down to the last detail, so far. So that's pretty cool. But the manga has progressed much further than the anime, as far as I can tell the Smoky Mansion arc is going to be the story for the final episodes, so I'm really hoping there will be a second season (the first season is 13 episodes, with episode 12 coming out this week). If there is I will probably cry. I don't even think I need to say that I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend this series.

Junjou Romantica and Sekaiichi Hatsukoi

(I'm writing about them together because I'm lazy ok)

I know, you're probably thinking, where the hell has this chick been? Hiding under a rock? Rest assured, I've known about these two for ages. It's just that for a long time, I was fighting myself, I didn't want to admit that I was in fact, a huge fujoshi. But this year especially, I have come to love and embrace that part of me. So when I started watching all this anime, I naturally wanted to pick up Junjou and Sekaiichi. I've also started reading the manga for Sekaiichi, although I'll probably wait until I've finished it before starting the Junjou manga. From watching the anime, I just found myself more drawn to Sekaiichi. The characters, the plot... I just found everything more absorbing and believable. So I wanted to read the manga for that one first. Actually, I think that if you watch the anime before you read the manga, it's pretty misleading. Especially if you haven't heard of or seen the series before. The anime is pretty light and fluffy and you never really get to see all that much. Yeah, you see some kissing and some shirt lifting and stuff, but other than that it's mostly quite SFW. Nothing explicit at all. The manga, on the other hand, I would say is fairly smutty. Not overly graphic or explicit, but you do see a hell of a lot more. You actually get to see the characters doing it, it isn't just implied like in the anime. Of course, this wasn't surprising for me, I was fully expecting the manga to be much more explicit, as the first time I heard about these series was through manga caps from the sex scenes. That's the reason why I was so interested in the series (I know, I'm sick). But if you weren't aware that the manga was like that, and decided to read it after watching the anime, I imagine you'd be in for a shock. Whether it would be a good or bad shock is up for you to decide. I would 100% say good. Anyway, I'm completely uninvolved in any kind of anime/manga fandom, so I have no idea what the general consensus is, but in my opinion, Sekaiichi Hatsukoi > Junjou Romantica. Sorry not sorry. That's just how I feel. But I would highly recommend both series to anyone who is into BL. I would even go so far as to recommend it to someone as their entrance to the BL world.

Kimi to Boku. (君と僕。)

I remember my Japanese student from last year really liked this series. And now I do too. Pretty much whenever I ased her what she was watching or reading, her response was 'Kimi to Boku~'. I asked her what it was about, and she sort of explained it to me the best she could. I gathered that it was slice of life about five teenage guys, and honestly I thought it didn't sound that interesting, and didn't plan to watch it. Then one day me and my friend were making her a... present, of sorts, by photoshopping our faces onto photos of things she liked. I suggested we do Kimi to Boku (and no, I won't show you the finished picture it's too omg). Anyway, we google searched it, and I found myself really liking the art style and character designs. So, I later went and looked into a little more, and decided to add it to my list. One of the best decisions I've ever made. I am so glad I changed my mind about it, it is absolutely fucking hilarious. Also, with so many fantastical series out there, a slice of life like this is really refreshing. It's totally relatable, but still one of the funniest anime I've seen in a long time. Personally, I think that it's really hard to pull off slice of life without it being boring, but this series has it down. Even though the demographic is shounen, I think almost anyone can immensely enjoy this series, and for that reason I highly, highly recommend it. Seriously, watch this series. It will be the most fulfilling thing you'll do all week. I promise. 

Togainu no Chi (咎狗の血)

Here's some dark BL. I'm aware that this anime is based off the video game, which I REALLY wish I could play. Actually there's a lot of BL games that I'm so desperate to play. I am really liking this series so far. The art style is really cool, and the story is dark and twisted. With all the fluff that I read and watch, it's good to have something serious, where the characters are thrown into the depths of despair and have to crawl their way out. That may be an exaggeration, but you know what I mean. I'm up to a point where something really fucking unexpected just happened and then the episode ended, so I'm sort of nervous excited to watch the next one. That happens a lot in this series. Expect the unexpected, to say the least. I don't want to say more until I've finished it, so I'll leave it at that. I highly recommend this, especially if you're tired of typically fluffy BL and want something edgier. 

Gravitation (グラビテーション)

Then there's Gravitation. Some old(er) school shounen ai. It was... put simply, it was okay. The characters kind of annoyed me. Ok, they really annoyed me. I thought I would totally fall in love with Shuichi, but I was just irritated by him all the fucking time. I also thought I would like Eiri, but he's a total jerk. Not even the tsundere kind of jerk, he was just a straight up dick head. I didn't even like Shuichi's friend, who's name I don't remember right now. I didn't like any of them. I found it hard to connect with any of them. And that is a huge, huge negative for me. If I can't connect with a single character in a series, then that is a problem, and usually means I won't like it. Not to mention the art is pretty bad... I feel like this was done on a budget. I may be wrong. It's probably just that it's old. But I still didn't like it. That promo pic up there is pretty misleading, the characters don't look that good in the series. I don't think I'll bother reading the manga for this one, although I have already read some of the super extremely graphic, explicit R-18 doujinshi based on it (although I believe they're by the same author as the original series). Actually, I didn't know the two were related until  after I had started watching the anime. But, you don't exactly read that kind of explicit smut for the 'plot', do you... So I feel obliged to read the original manga that this anime is based from, just in case it's better. I'm not sure though, because this anime really didn't do it for me. Maybe I'll read it if I get realllllly bored one day. As for recommending it, in short, no. I don't recommend this anime. It's really frustrating and I consider it a waste of time. Read the manga, it's probably better. 

Gakuen Alice (学園アリス)

This is one that I've been reading the manga for a long time, I was just too lazy to watch the anime. Also, from just looking at promo pics for the series, like the one above, and stills from the show, I absolutely hated the art style. I think this is the main reason why I avoided watching this one for so long. When I saw it for the first time, I was actually really angry that they had even bothered to make it. I mean, Higuchi's artwork is absolutely beautiful. It's flawless. Her character designs are so well done, and cute. Then I saw this and I was like, you've got to be kidding. Look at what they did to her gorgeous characters! The cuter ones, especially, like Mikan and Luca. They're not cute at all - they're ugly. I apologise if that seems harsh, but it's just my opinion. Ranting aside, I've only watched the first episode, and while I'm still not crazy about the art, it does look better in motion. I'm going to keep watching it soon. I'm curious to see how closely it follows the storyline of the manga. I can't imagine it will be too different. I'm really wondering what arc they'll use as the finale, too, as there's so many great, suspenseful arcs in Gakuen Alice. I can't really make a recommendation yet, as I've only watched one episode, but the manga is so good I'm going to recommend it anyway.

K (K Project)

I was super interested by the art style for this series. Seriously, the character designs are flawless and the backgrounds and everything are just omfg perfect. I'm working through it, and it's really quite a captivating series. I'm only up to episode 6 right now, but I'm really liking it so far. I'm very, very curious about it, so when I get time (hopefully within the next few days) I'm hoping to finish it. I don't want to say too much, because I really think you should watch it. I'm not worried about this series letting me down, I know it's only going to get better. So yeah, even though I've only seen a few episodes, I can already recommend it. Yeah. Those few episodes were THAT good. 

Kimi ni Todoke (君に届け)

I'm also reading the manga for Kimi ni Todoke, and I have to say that I absolutely love it. It's just so damn cute. It's probably one of the best shoujo mangas that I've read in a long time. It's so atypical, but still perfectly shoujo-ish, if that makes sense? I don't really know how to explain it properly, but I just really enjoy this series for various reasons, alright. Sawako is so lovely, isn't she? Actually, I think I love all the main characters in this series. And the artwork is beautiful. I've only watched the first episode of this, but I will watch the rest very soon. I can't wait. I know for a fact that I can already recommend this series, highly, especially if shoujo is your thing. But I think that the characters are relatable to everyone, so no matter who you are, I think you can enjoy this series. 

Psycho-Pass (サイコパス)

This one is REALLY intriguing. The plot sounds so complex, like it's a series that's really going to make me think. The first episode had such an impact, I was really impressed. I'm really looking forward to watching more. Often though, I find that I don't feel like watching really serious, dark stuff, so I'm going to have to wait until I'm in the mood to watch it. It's not a bad thing, because when I feel like watching stuff like this then I'll watch for hours. I don't really know much more about it other than the plot summary on Wikipedia, and I don't want to know more yet (spoiler, you know), so I can't make a recommendation just yet. But I get the feeling it's going to be quite draining mentally and emotionally. In a good way, though. When a series has that much of an impact on your state of mind, you know it's damn good. Check back in when I've finished it, yeah?

Kuroko no Basket (黒子のバスケ)

The view I have of this series, based solely on what I've seen around the internet, is basically 'who hasn't watched this'. Well, I haven't, yet. I've only watched the first episode. Honestly, it isn't typically the kind of series that I'm into (I'm not hugely into sports series), and from the first episode I'm really not sure if I'm going to enjoy it or not, but I've decided that I will give it a proper go. I may end up really liking it. Actually, I found out about it through other people's ships (boyxboy ships ofc) and the pairings and stuff on Yaoi blogs. So I'm looking forward to being able to make my own ships for this kekeke sorry not sorry. I'm sure it's a very good series, and I'll definitely watch it soon. It seems like it will be quite funny, though, so that's always a plus!

Uta no Prince-sama (うたの☆プリンスさまっ♪マジLOVE1000％)

 Ehh... I'm not really all that into this series. Other than the damn stupid title (like seriously), it's just really not that interesting. I guess I was expecting too much when I first started watching it, because of all the hype around it, so I was really disappointed by this series. I'm almost finished with the first season, and I honestly don't think I'm going to bother watching the second. Hell, I don't even know if I can be bothered finishing the first. I don't really know how to explain what it is about this series that I don't like. The characters aren't believable at all, or, for the most part, likeable. Other than Ittoki (I tend to fall for characters like him a lot), I don't find myself drawn to or liking any of them, particularly. The plot is... well, what is the plot? You tell me. It's boring, and to me, it feels like there isn't one. I'm sorry, but this one was a big miss for me. I will admit that there are a few moments where it becomes quite tense and suspenseful, and I think these moments are the only reason I've watched as much as I have. But I've pretty much lost all interest in this one. If I'm wrong, and it does get better, then please tell me and explain it to me. I want to like this series, but I can't bring myself to like it yet. I will also admit, that I do get the damn closing song (what is it, Maji 1000% LOVE or something?) stuck my head ALL THE TIME. It's seriously annoying. Especially considering I don't really like any of the characters singing voices. I mean, I don't hate them, but I don't like them either. I'm sure they could have found some better singers, considering these characters are supposed to be idols. But this could just be me being picky. Anyway, in terms of recommendation, I would hesitate to recommend this series to someone. I'm really leaning towards not recommending it at all, but in the end I guess it depends on what you're usually into and what you're looking for. I want to say that if you usually go for fluffy, light hearted shoujo then you should watch this, but I'm a mega shoujo nerd and I didn't even like it. So, I'll say, if you're looking for a typical reverse-harem, simple series to watch casually, that doesn't require much concentration, then you should watch Utapri.

That's all for part one of my anime adventures. Wow, this turned out long! I enjoyed writing it though, so I suppose that's the important thing.
Part two will be coming hopefully sometime within the next week, so look forward to it, ok! Or not. You don't have to. It's up to you. But I'd be really grateful if you did!

Now Playing - ヒーロードールTV (Hero Doll TV) by 時空アンドロイド-PIECE- (Choujikuu ANDROID-PIECE-)