Hotarubi no Mori e

To the Forest of Firefly Lights

This short 45min anime movie was sweet. I had wanted to watch it for quite some time but kept putting it off. Mostly because how I found it was in the form of a gif but the gif also showed me how it ended too so I guess it lost the pull for me to get around to it since I already knew how things would go.

In spite of that I thought it looked sweet so wanted to watch it some day and here we are. Did it live up to what I thought I would get?… no sadly. What I wanted from this film was to make me cry. I wanted to be drawn into the characters and story and then have a good old cry. This might have fallen flat for me because I knew how things went, but I think that even if I had gone in blind I don’t think it did enough for me to be invested enough to cry. I have seen so many comments though of people who love this movie and many have said they did feel emotional about it. Which is great, I’m glad it reaches people in that way. For me though I simply enjoyed a lovely story with a simple plot about a girl who meets a young man in the woods that wears a mask and their time spent together. So I still enjoyed it, just not to the depth I wanted to.

The story starts with Hotaru explaining through flashbacks about how she met a young guy called Gin in the forest one summer. She explains that she has been going to her uncles place over summer to spend time in the country. One time she gets lost in the forest and Gin leads her home, and their friendship goes from there. Gin tells Hotaru that he can’t touch her or he will disappear because of the curse placed on him as a baby. Despite this hurdle they still hangout over the summer time and we watch as their friendship slowly grows to something more.

I found that this anime was very sweet but not very deep. Which is fine. I just wished there was more interaction between Gin and the other spirits who live in the forest since they all seemed to love him so much. They simply pop up from time to time voicing their concern about the friendship between Gin and Hotaru and then leave again. I would have liked to have seen how Gin lives, how he survived, what he does when Hotaru isn’t around, all of that kind of stuff. despite not really knowing anything about him though I quite liked him and thought him way more interesting that Hotaru.

So if you want a sweet little friendship/love story then give this one a go. Don’t expect anything meaty though. The scenery is beautiful though and really adds to the tone of the film with its softness.

Enjoy

Noragami

I really enjoyed this anime. It took a while to get into to be honest and I definitely enjoyed the second season better than the first but overall I liked the story that this had throughout both seasons.

In the first series we get introduced to the characters. The opening scene shows Yato taking down a rather malicious looking monster that everyday people don’t seem to be able to see. He has a partner who can transform into a weapon for him which he uses to defeat the creature. After the fight, the tone shifts from serious to comical as Yato’s partner asks to be released from his services as his hands are sweaty and he’s nothing but a minor god with no shrine or followers of his own.

After that we cut to Hiyori walking with her school friends. They are engaged in small talk when Hiyori sees Yato run out in front of a bus and rushes to push him out of the way. She berates him for doing something so foolish as he stares at her in surprise, then points out that her body is lying prone in the street with her not in it.

We discover that Yato is a little know god who is trying to make it big and stand on top above all the other gods. To do this he’s wanting shrines and followers to worship him. After Hiyori’s accident, Yato meets her in the hospital (and we see she’s back in her body again)and tells her she is able to see the creatures from the “Far Shore” where the gods and phantoms reside and normal people from the “Near Shore”can’t see them. He also says that her body and soul are not as connected to each other as they were before so can become separated. On hearing this Hiyori demands to be changed back. And so their lives intertwine from there.

In episode two we get introduced to Yukine who becomes Yato’s new weapon to help him eliminate monsters. After these three join together, the anime takes a more slice of life approach with its story whilst slowly feeding in the overarching plot and characters as we go. Everything is kept pretty mysterious throughout the series though and nothing is overly revealed until the last few episodes and remains mostly slice of life until then. I didn’t mind this approach really but I was getting a little bored with their small personal issues that seem to drag on a little long.

Although the characters aren’t particually deep for most of the first season, I feel they develop more in the second season. Except Hiyori really but she’s been set up as the kind of third wheel character anyway and hangs around as the glue to keep them all together. She’s also there because Yato has promised to return her body to normal but they never really get to that at all so she just kind of hangs around. It actually reminds me of Ash and Misty’s reasons for traveling together in Pokemon. Misty’s following Ash until he pays her back for her bike which he destroyed but they never really get to that and Misty is just there tagging along.Anyway. Yato and Yukine though grow deeper and develop more which is nice to see.

As far as wacky personalities go Yato is definitely a favourite of mine. He can go from serious to bizarre within the same sentence and his expressions are just as changeable.

 

 

The overall plot surrounds Yato, a god of calamity, who’s past days of war are long gone and nobody remembers him much anymore. If a god is forgotten and isn’t remembered when they die they don’t get reborn. As opposed to the well known popular gods of money, or education and such, who if they die, get resurrected and get to live over and over again. Yato aspires to become well know and famous, but he must also face his past and the deeds he’s committed back in the dark days where he was considered one of the most feared gods of calamity to friend and foe alike.

Anyway, if you want to try an anime about a little known god trying to make his way in the world trying to achieve popularity and fans who will worship him by doing odd jobs for anyone who asks for a measly 5yen then this is it. And no job is to degrading haha. I thought it had a good mix of comedy and story, just be prepared for it to drag a little at the beginning but when it picks up it really goes all out so stick at it.

Enjoy

Himouto! Umaru-chan

So a little while ago I decided to take a break from my long, dragged out, filler-infested anime watching and decided to watch a quick funny one for something different (you guys can sympathise with that right?). I chose to watch Himouto! Umaru-chan. I picked it simply because I had seen clips for it that looked funny and also looked easy to watch.

Was it funny? Yes. was it as good as I had hoped? No

The story is about Umaru and her brother Taihei, who live together in a one room apartment. He works, cooks, cleans and supports them both. She is the model student at school, gets top grades, is kind, smart, and the most beautiful perfect creature anyone seems to have seen in their lives…. until she gets home and out of the public eye. Then she is a selfish, lazy, junk food loving gamer and Otaku who drives her brother mental with her laziness of most epic proportions and her constant demandings of him.

The most frustrating part of it isn’t her though, although she is an annoying character because she doesn’t really improve, it’s more him because he caves to her whinging which makes me want to strangle him screaming NO!

What dulled the repetition of their frustrating actions episode after episode  though was the fact that I could see qualities in each of them that I possessed and that somehow made things relatable enough that I became ok with it. I began to overlook their behavior in a way and see the funny sides to their antics which were actually amusing and I did begin to enjoy it.

I have a kind of love hate relationship with Umaru. I dislike that she is so mean to her brother even though he does so much for her. But of course without this quality we don’t have the show so its an essential piece of her.

Umaru has an indoor and an outdoor look depending on where she is and what she’s doing. Her public face has her looking properly proportioned like all the other characters and she looks beautiful. With her slobby, behind-the-scenes look when no one is around though, she is drawn in a chibi style and her personality also shifts. I really liked this. It showed a visual for how she was feeling which I thought was cool.

I love how Umaru thinks. When she’s out with her friends and she’s thinking of how much an item of clothing costs in terms of how many Colas she could buy with the same money really cracked me up. I love her lazy ass attitude, I love that when she wants to binge and be lazy, playing games, watching anime or reading manga, she goes all the way and does it right haha. Ultimate couch potato goals!

Her brother, Taihei, is a hard worker and tries his best to keep the household functioning whilst Umaru does her best to make things hard for him so he caves and she can get what she wants. He would be a fully functioning person and would do well in the world without Umaru around. But, his world would be colourless and boring without her in it I think. Despite her antics he cares about her and I think that’s sweet. My biggest gripe with him though would be that he lets Umaru walk all over him and I wish that he would just put his foot down and get some backbone. Other than that he does ok with life haha.

Throughout the show Umaru makes an odd collection of friends. There isn’t really any character development that happens as such but we get to enjoy the antics of all these personalities together. You’ve got all the typical types going on here, there’s the shy one, the crazy one that just pushes into their lives and stays, and the scary one. Their still fun though. Just don’t expect much outside of that.

I had hoped that there would be a bit more plot than what there was. To be honest this anime just rehashes the same thing over and over for a lot of the episodes. Umaru wants something, she can’t have it, Umaru gets made or upset, end of the episode Taihei caves in to be nice to her. I almost stopped watching it a few episodes in because I saw what it was going to be but I hate giving up on an anime so I kept going. No regrets, but its far from the deepest thing out there haha. Just a bit of fun.

So other than the few annoying things in this show, it actually has some really funny moments. And after I got over my frustrations with the characters personalities, sat back, and enjoyed the show for the simple story that it had, I actually enjoyed it. So if you like the idea of a crazy girl living the ultimate life of an Otaku and having her brother wrapped around her finger, and being obsessed with Cola and chips, anime and manga, gaming and sleeping, then you might enjoy this one. It has its charm, but also its frustrations depending on how you see the show for yourself. Give this slice of life comedy a go if you want something light and easy to watch.

Enjoy

Death Parade

This is one I’ve recently finished and has left me unsure about what it was trying to achieve. This appears to be an original piece of work  airing in 2015 with no manga preceding it which is kinda cool. On the whole though I thought it was average, still good, but average, I found myself disappointed that there wasn’t more too it. I was hoping it was the kind of anime that would take me into a really dark world which they could have so easily have done with the set up they gave themselves with the first episode. As with most anime I don’t often read reviews for them before plowing straight in. I tend to just read the blurb for it and decide from that or off a friends recommendation about whether I’ll watch it and choose for myself whether I liked it or not. The reason for this is just so I can make my own mind up as to whether I like a show or not without someone else’s reasons in my head.

The most annoying thing about this anime is the potential it had. Based off the first episode, which is quite psychological and dark, I figured it was only going to get more intense from there. Unfortunately most of the other episodes are a bit milder after that. Sure it still has its dark moments no doubt, but the overall tone for me compared to that first episode was slightly lighter. It’s like they second guessed themselves as to whether doing a whole anime that dark was a wise move or not. Like I said though it definitely still has dark elements throughout it. Since it is an anime about human nature you get to see some screwed up people come through Quindecim Bar.

The story for Death Parade is about a world where human souls come to when they die and get judged. Judging these souls will determine whether they get sent into the void (Hell) or are reincarnated. We follow one Arbitrator, or judge, called Decim and his assistant as they attempt to decide peoples fates by making them play games with high stakes to determine whether they reincarnate or die for good. Decim runs Quindecim Bar and is its bartender as well. Interesting little side note, Quindecim Bar sits on the fifteenth floor in the world it resides in, and the word “Quindecim” in Latin means 15.

Even though this anime didn’t go as deep, broody, complex, and as messed up as I was hoping there are still things that I don’t want to ruin for you if you are going to give this show a go. As such I want to refrain from saying too much that would ruin the amount this anime has going for it. They go for the whole mystery box approach and you have to keep watching to piece together all the reasons things are happening the way they are and such, I just wanted more of that than what I got I guess. Despite its faults, I still enjoyed this show. I liked the characters, the backgrounds, the concept, and to a degree the ambiguity.

The ambiguity of the show was for me quite interesting. I could see how it would confuse or annoy people, but for me with this particular show I found I enjoyed it. For example, when a decision is made determining the destination of the souls at the end of the game they play, you are not always given an explanation for why that decision was made that way. At first it was frustrating because I wanted to know why, just tell me already, give me some exposition. But then I started thinking for myself as to why the decision was made, and it became interesting (still confusing sometimes though). It made me think that perhaps everyone who sees this anime views it slightly differently with their own views and thought processes and reasons as to why things are happening the way they are. Just an interesting thought of my own, might just be a lazy bad anime haha but I’m choosing to look at it differently.

Anyway, enough rambling, on the whole I thought it wasn’t terrible but there are many plot holes you could pick at with this one. So if you want to try an anime that that is a bit psychological, has some physical abuse in it and is a touch dramatic then give it a go. But if you get hung up on small details which bug you if they don’t all make sense then you might get annoyed with it perhaps.

Enjoy

Shinryaku! Ika Musume

Squid Girl

Squid Girl was something really random that I came across in the form of a 5min clip. I thought it was odd but cute so I wondered what the rest of the anime was like since this clip had no speaking in it. Turns out this was a 12 episode anime that came out in 2010 and focuses on Squid Girl, a creature who has decided to take it upon herself to invade the surface world. She has become fed up with our littering and pollution of her home world and thinks that conquering us will fix the problem.

Now this is a great plan in theory, but unfortunately for our heroine-of-the-deep there are many obstacles in the way of achieving her goal. Firstly, when she steps into a beachfront diner and declares it to be her base of operations from now on people barely pay her any mind and tell her to help wait on tables which she gets roped into doing. After realizing she’s being sidetracked, in a fit or rage she breaks part of the wall of the diner (with one of her 10 tentacles that act as her hair) and now has to keep working to pay it off. Secondly, she has a very short attention span which mean she never gets far in accomplishing anything before finding something else of interest and then being sidetracked from that too. Thirdly, Chizuru… she’s scary.

I found this anime funny at first but even before the 12 episodes were up I was getting kind of bored with it. It was still cute and amusing but not much out of day to day life happened with was a bit dull after a while. Bear in mind, I’ve only seen one out of the 2 seasons so if things pick up in the second season I don’t know. I have a feeling it will be much of the same thing though so don’t have a huge interest in continuing on with it at this point.

What I did like about it was all the squidtastic ways they slipped in words to do with squids in the form of word play and puns. All the titles of the episodes have been altered this way, even the way Squid Girl speaks is in this manner, things like, “what the squid are you doing?” or “I don’t squidding understand.” Most of the time is sounds like she’s swearing but using a censored way of doing which I think is absolutely crack up. Squid Girl is a very naive girl and knows little to nothing about the surface world so it’s fun to watch her discover things. My favourite character would have to be Chizuru who works at the diner along with most of Squid Girls other friends she makes. Chizuru is a sweet harmless looking girl with a mild manner about her… until you cross her, wreck the diner or scare away customers, then she becomes something else entirely and it’s so cool!!!

So if you want to try a cute little slice-of-life anime with characters who enjoy life and find themselves in the occasional random situation then give this a go. It is a surface deep watch (oh my gosh, see what I did there, amazing) so don’t expect to much other than some laughs and you should enjoy it.

Enjoy

Sakamoto desu ga?

Haven’t you Heard? I’m Sakamoto

The other day I finished watching Haven’t you Heard? I’m Sakamoto which came out this year in 2016. I don’t try to keep up with what anime is out in the current season really and since I struggle to endure the painful week to weekness of the one episode at a time kinda deal, I tend to wait until it’s all out and then gouge myself lol. This anime I could cope with going week to week because it is episodic and isn’t the type to leave me on a cliffhanger or any such thing. Besides I think if I tried to binge watch this one I would have gotten bored part way through. It’s only a short 12 episode anime but personally I feel that if it had gone on any longer it would have really outstayed its welcome.

In small doses this anime was quirky and fun. I enjoyed its randomness and bizarre moments, its impossible scenarios or really weird WTF situations. It was an enjoyable 20min a week where I could zone out and have a giggle.

Most of the episodes are broken up into 2-3 short stories and revolve around Sakamoto and the friends in his class throughout their first year of highschool. Sakamoto is really eccentric but it seems like he’s barely aware of this trait which makes things all the more amusing. During the first episode it becomes very clear that Sakamoto is very popular with the girls who all think he’s that perfect blend of cool, handsome, and smart. He seems to be able to find his way out of situations in the most bizarre of ways. The boys hate him because he’s popular and set about trying to find ways to humiliate him to bring him down a peg or two. Sakamoto always ends up coming out looking even cooler though, and in the most effortless way possible. He doesn’t seem to realize he’s popular but at the same time dodges all the girls as needed, he will stand up for the weak and bullied people, and generally just achieves impossible feats while looking absolutely cool and flawless haha. The scariest thing in this anime is Sakamoto’s friend’s mum who is in love/stalking him. I have no idea what she plans to do if she catches him though but my imagination was going to a very bad place, it was actually a really creepy episode.

Amusement is very much the reason I kept watching this show, it offers no more than that. So if you need more than that to keep you watching an anime this one may not hold your attention long. I think you will pretty much know if you are going to like this anime after the first episode or two.

Enjoy

 

Hellsing and Hellsing Ultimate

I have recently finished the Hellsing series, making this the first horror anime that I’ve seen. Yay for milestones haha.

I started out really liking the original Hellsing series was 13 episodes and came out in 2001 sporting some pretty awesome characters. With this series coming out before the manga was finished though it deviated, including an anime-only villain and ended completely different to the actual story. I’m not really a manga reader though so I’m going off what others have said when I speak about things to do with the manga. I found that about halfway through I personally started getting confused with what was happening, it seemed patchy, and like it was trying to show something off amazingly but it was kinda coming out average. I wasn’t really understanding any of the motives for why people were doing what they were doing and aside from the main cast nothing and no one seemed very memorable. Having said that though it interested me enough that I wanted to see it through (in the hopes it would get better again and I could figure out what was happening) and also watch Hellsing Ultimate.

I found out about Hellsing a while ago and whenever a poll for “Who do you think is the most awesome character and who could trounce all the other characters on the list?” came out, Alucard was usually on the list. He kept popping up and I started thinking about who this crazy cool dude was. Then I saw a clip of the fight between Alucard and Luke Valentine, after that I just had to watch it.

I personally liked Hellsing Ultimate better. It’s a 10 part OVA series that came out also before the manga finished but had an unusual release date of 1 to 2 episodes a year, starting in 2006. This production went through 4 studio companies over a period of 6 years. The animation is so much better, the story makes sense, and the villains are horrible, I hated them, which was great for a change (I tend to think the bad guys a pretty cool haha). I found this revamp portrayed characters better, relationships between characters were done better and more in depth, and it was by far more gory which was kinda what I was wanting, (I mean if your gunna watch a gorefest go all the way right none of this halfway business). The first few episodes are  very similar to the first few parts of the original Hellsing series but after that, instead of deviating, they keep close to the story as intended by the manga. It’s just badass! Alucard the vampire (Dracula backwards OMG) is definitely the most badass thing about this anime and pretty much the reason I wanted to watch it coz he’s just so cool. His student Seras is also pretty hardcore by the end of it too which is awesome to watch.

 

The story opens with Seras the police woman  on a mission with her squad to investigate a series of homicides revolving around this town and the priest that was there. When they discover the priest is a vampire and was turning the towns people into ghouls they get attacked and Seras gets taken hostage. Enter Alucard. He’s been sent by his master who runs the Hellsing Organization, their job is to defend England against all supernatural threats to the country. The priest, seeing Alucard, used Seras as a human shield to try and bargain for his life. Alucard having no other way to kill this vampire other than shooting through Seras gives her a choice; she can either get shot and die as a human or have him turn her into a vampire after he’s shot through her. She chooses the latter, and we begin our journey learning along the way with Seras about this world, vampires, the Hellsing Organisation, and of course more importantly about Alucard.

This anime is pretty much filled with gore, blood, action, horror, violence, vampires, ghouls, psychos, and physical /sexual abuse so definitely not for everyone. I could only watch it in small doses just coz it’s a lot to take in, especially in Ultimate where the episodes aren’t normal length but range from between 45-70 min each so it can be a bit of an overwhelming experience.

So if that’s what your into or want to try you guys should definitely give one or both a go. I don’t regret watching the original Hellsing anime, I feel it gave me a greater appreciation for Hellsing Ultimate, but you don’t necessarily have to watch the original in order to understand the OVA series. Some people have said they prefer the anime series to the OVA’s as well so it’s really up to you as to which one you may like better. Please be aware though that I personally would never show this series to a child or young person due to the content.

Enjoy

 

Yu Yu Hakusho

On my quest for anime back in the early days, I came across Yu Yu Hakusho. It took me ages to finish it since I dropped it about two thirds of the way through and didn’t pick it up until years later but I still enjoyed it.

Yu Yu Hakusho came out smack bang in the middle of the Dragon Ball Z series, airing from 1992-1995, and was probably trying its best to jump on the band wagon of DBZ‘s success. It was definitely not as well known as far as I know but it seems to be doing all right these days with ratings and stuff. I feel, compared to DBZ which is all bright colours, large flashy power-ups and lots of yelling, that Yu Yu Hakusho decided to take things a bit slower and include a bit more character development. This may have been to its detriment at the start since it takes a while to pick up some speed and kids get bored easily if there isn’t enough happening. By the time I found it though I think I was mid-teens and could appreciate waiting for things to ramp up a bit more.

Even though it may have come out as a sort of copy of Dragon Ball Z in a way, it definitely has a nice plot going on and characters do develop along nicely. I kind of liked how everyone didn’t just all of a sudden become strong but that it was actually a journey you took with those characters and it was then rewarding when they finally did achieve things.

The story starts of with Yusuke, we are told that he is the punk in school and gets into fights a lot. Episode one opens with him dying after pushing a child out of the way of an oncoming car and gets hit himself. He is given the opportunity by the spirit realm to take a trial and come back to life by hatching a demon egg. If the egg feeds off too much evil in his heart the demon will hatch and devour him, if it feeds on the good in his heart he passes and gets a second chance at life. Yusuke eventually becomes a spirit detective for the spirit realm and it’s his job to protect his city from demons. He ends up making friends along the way and growing more as a person.

This was  a nice punch-them-up kind of anime but it doesn’t go about things quickly so patience is probably required to get through the whole thing. I enjoyed most of the series except the majority of the Chapter Black Saga, just thought it was kinda meh until things got interesting again at the end. It does get repetitive though since it really is solely a martial arts, tournament style anime. I also wished they would have done something a bit more epic for the final arc (like it looked as if they were building up to) but many aspects that could have been so great kind of dialed themselves down or just petered out with no proper explanation, and overall it just went in a more samey kind of direction. Despite being disappointed by that I still enjoyed it. Kuwabara’s voice also pissed me off to no end but we can’t have everything now can we.

So despite the couple of niggles I had with it overall I’m glad I watched it. It may not have been as popular as some other shows but it still has a lot going for it and is enjoyable if it’s your kind of anime. So if martial arts, demons, abilities, tournaments and all those good things in life are your thing then check out Yu Yu Hakusho and see how you go. I hope it’s one you like.

Enjoy

K-On!

I thought I would take a break from some of the long-running anime I’m catching up on and whatnot, to watch something a bit more fluffy looking, easy, and short. I saw someone going on about how much they loved this show, and while I think they love it in a rather obsessive, unhealthy kind of way, the show itself looked cute so thought I would still give it a go.

K-On! was enjoyable. I found myself enjoying the antics these girls get up to and seeing them try to juggle club activities with the rest of their schooling. This anime is a more plot based anime compared to Lucky Star in that it actually has a plot haha. The girls goal is to become a successful band, but often find themselves distracted by other things in life and the anime simply follows them along for the ride. They do get quite good though and I enjoy the cutesy songs they write and perform.

K-On! came out in 2009 and finished in 2011, has 2 seasons and a movie, along with a few DVD specials to look out for. Throughout the anime we watch the girls from joining the school right through till graduation. The story opens with the Light Music Club that is struggling to get members for the new school year so they don’t have to disband. Yui, our leading lady, has just joined the school and is in her freshman year. She is pretty ditzy and lazy but due to her school requirements that say she must be part of a club she picks light music because she thinks it’ll be easy. Unfortunately for her she doesn’t even know how to play an instrument yet so has to learn from scratch. Their days during club activities are spent drinking tea, looking after their pet turtle, not practicing, going on “training camps” that turn out to be mostly just vacations, and generally enjoying life to the fullest.

Season 1 has only 13 episodes while season 2 has 27 including some bonus episodes. Since season 1 covered 2 years at the school in only 13 episodes it felt rushed in places or that some things were glossed over. Where as season 2 only covered their final year in twice as many episodes so they could flesh people out a bit more and have a bit more fun with the story. Both seasons are great though.

I liked all the characters really but one of my favourites is definitely their teacher Sawako. I don’t want to say too much about her because I want you to discover her for yourself and like her without me blabbing everything. She has the best character development I feel, we find out about her past and what she was like and who she is now. We also see some great personality traits that make her unique and memorable. Actually I feel that all the characters have good unique traits that keep them all separate and different from each other which I found has kept them memorable. I love watching how they interact with each other and how they can convince more reserved friends to get on-board with a crazy idea, or how they play around acting silly, it’s cute. Since it is Slice-of-Life, I think its important to keep the characters interesting or special in some way since the rest of the anime is usually just normal life. Which lets face it isn’t that interesting, we get enough of that in the real world and we want to see something else. But if it’s coupled with great characters we can stay engaged with it and enjoy it just as much a other genres.

If you want to see K-On! please go into it knowing it’s nothing too serious but is cute and fun. Take the journey with Yui and her friends and follow their life through their school days and I hope it gives you a bit of a laugh.

Enjoy

 

Lucky Star

Lucky Star is an interesting anime. It has no plot really. No conflict. No bad guy. No point. What it does have though is relatability to a degree. The little conversations that they have that we may have thought about too, or things that happen to them that we snigger along with because they’ve happened to us too.

It took me three attempts to watch Lucky Star despite the fact that I own it on DVD. I bought it because I liked the first couple of episodes and was so determined to watch and like the show. I always ended up distracted away from it though or wouldn’t feel like watching it and I think it’s for the sole reason that not enough happens to keep me engaged with it.

I liked the characters and I loved the conversations they had. We have four quite different personalities going on in this group and I liked seeing how they interacted. But even though listening to a great discussion is all very well and good, 24 episodes is a lot of time to fill and have your audience wanting to come back for more. Because this show didn’t have much more to it than making normal life seem a bit more humorous and interesting I thought there was a slight imbalance. Ultimately though I personally liked the show.

My favourite character,and probably most people’s as well, was Konata Izumi. She is a gaming, anime and manga loving Otaku and throughout the show she references various anime including Yu-Gi-Oh, Dragonball Z, Pokemon, Sgt Frog, and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (both characters are actually voiced by the same voice actress). She is an easy-going girl who hates to study, often copying her friends notes for tests. Despite being on the lazy side she is good at athletics but will not join any of the athletic teams because it would interfere with watching her favourite anime. She plays online games right up until she has to study and will cram for exams by pulling all-nighters. Even though she can come across as being a selfish individual she really does care for her friends.

Kagami Hiiragi is Konata’s opposite in some ways. She is a hard worker and studies well to get good grades. She gets annoyed at Konata quite a lot when she will cram for tests and still get good marks or when she will talk about her lazy habits, gaming, or anime interests. Having said that though Kagami likes gaming too. She likes to eat snacks but then complains she needs to lose weight, and she likes to read light novels. Guess she just has a way better work ethic and is good at time management. She can seem intolerant of others and talk to them in a quite matter-of-fact way but she genuinely does care for her friends and joins in with their antics all the time.

 Tsukasa Hiiragi is a clutz and an airhead. She is very sweet, cute, innocent, quiet, friendly, and is also Kagami’s twin sister. She doesn’t understand complicated conversations so doesn’t really follow a lot of what’s going on but she tries her best. She doesn’t retain information very well so isn’t that great at homework or academically gifted at all and she will often ask for help with homework from her sister. She finds it hard to get up at a set time, doesn’t have a great sense of humor, hates conflict, and is quite shy too. However, she excels at home skills unlike Kagami, and tries her best in what ever she does. I find her very cute and relatable in some ways as well.

Miyuki Takara is an intelligent girl and is known for being a walking encyclopedia with whom you can ask anything and she will know the answer. She has terrible eyesight and has a fear of putting things in her eyes. Miyuki is clumsy, she will often walk into things or fall over. She is forgetful, for example she will heat up a drink and put it down only to have it go cold so she will have to heat it up again, repeating this over and over. She hates dentists but seems to need to go quite often because of her naturally bad teeth. She is a very well-mannered, smart, pretty girl and often gets asked to help her friends out with their homework.

At the end of an episode is a show called the Lucky Channel. A short two minute segment where the child idol Akira and her assistant Minoru discuss the episode and the characters in the main show. Mostly though, the show becomes a shambles as the two end up arguing. Akira puts on a front of being a cute young girl but in reality as soon as she feels threatened or annoyed she reveals her trueself to be a horrible mean-spirited person and in no way wants Minoru taking any of the spotlight from herself. A line from her Wiki entry described her perfectly as being a “deep voiced, violent, chain-smoking, selfish-cynic of a burnt-out entertainer on the brink of becoming a has-been.”, wow, they really nailed her in one sentence. I think she is meant to represent how Japanese idols feel who’s popularity is always threatened by the next cute thing coming along.

In all honesty, it isn’t the most riveting anime around but I quite enjoyed it for a change of pace. I did cry in one episode though that I thought was really sweet so it definitely has its moments. So I obviously felt engaged enough with the characters to feel empathy and cry. It comes down to if you simply want to see an anime that pretty much only has interactions between four people based in a school and home life situation. That’s all it is.

Enjoy