#amagami SS

[romancemedia]

Anime Proposals

[sakasagami]

serizawaroom

[setteidreams]

✿ Amagami SS ┊ 159 sheets ✿

… a 2010 TV series with character designs by Hiroaki Goda has been added to Patreon.

[maidoftheday]

Today’s Maid of the Day: Kaoru Tanamachi from Amagami SS

[rangertycho]

Happy Kiss Day 05/23

[blueriest]

[figurecollection]

[anime-manga-forever007]

Amagami SS

[punderfulowl]

Top 8 Anime (That I've Seen) in 2022

Whew boy, I wasn't expecting last year to be such a whirlwind, but all that doesn't matter now when there's Weeb stuff afoot! For those who are unfamiliar, when I make an End-of-the-year list, I like to do so without handcuffing myself to JUST the releases of the previous year. If you are familiar, you guys know that I typically keep to the usual Top 10 (except that one year when it was 12), but as you can see, I only had time to fit in 8.

Rules:

- If an anime had already made it onto a previous list, a newer season can't make it on.

- I only keep to TV series, so no movies.

- No repeating franchises (i.e. if I saw two different Gundam shows in one year, I can only pick one).

- I'm skipping Honorable mentions this year.

8. Tales of Zestiria (2016)

Definitely not my favorite Tales story, but BOY was this show pretty to look at. Ufotable is what Ufotable does, I guess. Truth be told, I couldn't get into the game that this anime is based on, so I figured that watching the anime would be easier. And it was!

7. Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out (2020)

Ah, yes, one of those shows that upset Twitter. I thought this was an adequately told Rom-Com with our two leads having some decent chemistry together. Looking past the "controversy," it was a perfectly serviceable show.

6. Amagami SS (2010)

This was my surprise of the year. This Slice of Life Romance accomplishes a rare feat amongst its peers: Every girl gets a happy ending! You see, our male protag starts out depressed and lonely, develops a relationship with one of the girls over a 3 episode arc, and then starts all over again. Not only that, but during each arc, the camera shows how the other girls are living their lives and they do just fine without him. Maybe I'm not phrasing it the way I want to, but it's just refreshing showing potential love interests living fulfilling lives without Protag-kun. It does, however, lose points for having some questionable moments with its high school cast of characters. Based on a visual novel btw.

5. Komi Can't Communicate (2021)

I can't be the only one who rolls their eyes whenever a story about an average guy gains the affection of the most popular girl in school. I'm, of course, not rolling my eyes at the premise itself, but rather the quantity of stories like this. This story in particular saves itself by having our titular character stumble their way to success despite their crippling social anxiety. I find it both funny and endearing. I look forward to season 2!

4. Recovery of an MMO Junkie (2017)

Speaking of season 2, I wish this anime had one. I may have mentioned this before about a different anime, but I do find it to be a breath of fresh air whenever we have protagonists who are actually adults. A nerd in their thirties looking for love? Couldn't be me 🙂

3. March Comes in Like a Lion (2016)

I still don't know how Shogi is played, heck I don't even have a handle on Chess, but anyone who has ever seen March Comes in Like a Lion knows that's not why we're here. Again, not Shogi specifically, but knowing that people, regardless of age, have weight of some kind on their shoulders, it's such a shame that that weight is on a character so young. Expectations, anxiety, loneliness; all that can be overwhelming for anybody. I would definitely recommend anyone to seek this out. Bonus, it has music from Bump of Chicken!

2. Spy X Family (2022)

I'm sure most of you guys have seen this. You know.

I'm sure there's still plenty of people who haven't seen this yet. It's Everywhere. You guys STILL know.

This show was the right amount of wholesome I needed last year!

1. Mushoku Tensei (2022)

I would probably have to do some more thinking, but this might be my favorite isekai thus far. Has a well built world AND has utilized the whole reincarnation aspect better than most isekai anime. I would go into it more, but I think I'll make that its own post.

This was a bit late, but at least it's still January, right? Hopefully, I'll be in a better head space this year to make a full Top 10.

Make the best of this new year and stay safe out there.

[oneesanmarket]

Amagami SS Plus - Tsukasa Ayatsuji  - Gamers Kudo Wafta Release Commemorative Key Fair Purchase Bonus

Size:   W=297mm (11.58in)  L=420mm (16.38in)  

Price: 6€/11USD

(FREE STANDARD SHIPPING)

Units Available:1

(please send mensage or comment if you’re interested)  

[saskayzx]

Meghan Trainor - Last Christmas MEP | Visual Reality Studios

The crew at visual reality studios would like to wish you all happy holidays and best wishes for 2023. Join our community: www.visualrealitystudios.net

[romancemedia]

High School Romance Anime (2)

[anemoianarts]

Getting today's drawing session started with Nanasaki Ai since I hear it's her birthday

[nflstreetsanimereviews]

School Days Review

School Days is one of the most infamous anime series to ever air–from its inception, it has been considered to be one of the worst anime of all time. The finale, which had gruesome content similar to a murder that occurred the day before airing, was replaced with footage of pleasant and calming European landscapes. The early internet meme ‘Nice boat.’ would spawn out of this–it’s still synonymous with the anime to this day. There’s also this video and this video, which have stayed imprinted inside my head for more than a decade at this point. If you know, you know. Anyways, you probably already know about School Days, considering that it’s in pretty much any ‘Top 10 Worst Anime Ever’ list out there. I already watched School Days once a decade ago, giving it a 20/100. Considering that I was way more lenient on rating anime back then, that had to mean that I really hated it...which is a perfect reason to dive back in and rewatch it! 

School Days is a 2007 adaptation of the 2005 visual novel going by the same name. The anime follows Makoto Itou and his ‘relationships’ with Sekai Saionji and Kotonoha Katsura. Following the plot of a standard visual novel, Makoto’s choices advance the plot along. 

Visual novel adaptations have been some of the biggest hits this millennium–most anime fans think of either Clannad, Steins;Gate, or Fate/stay night when it comes to visual novel adaptations. Anime adapted from visual novels have also the unique option to have an omnibus format, which allows for the studio to adapt several arcs, instead of picking one and sticking with it–something that worked for Amagami SS. Of course, choosing this option forgoes almost any chance that your anime is considered a ‘classic’ in the wider anime community, but considering that Amagami SS was made to promote the Amagami visual novel, it does its job good. School Days takes the more traditional route for visual novel adaptations, choosing to adapt a single route…at least I think.

The first problem with School Days is that it seemingly doesn’t know which route to adapt. I know it’s common in a dating sim to bounce back between girls (or boys, or those in-between) until you find the one that you ‘like’ the most, but it’s jarring to see in animation. This leads to many continuality issues that disrupt the anime to the point where it’s unwatchable. Someone antagonistic towards Kotonoha in one scene acts friendly to her the next, only to be mean again in the scene after that. Makoto changes personality at will like he has multiple people controlling the thoughts (what little there are) in his head. Kotonoha is implied to be ‘popular’, but she only gets asked out by two boys, and seemingly has no friends other than Sekai, if you could call them friends. I don’t want to sound like CinemaSins too much, but for an anime that was adapted from a visual novel, it seems like they were winging it when it came to the plot. Like they wanted to include every girl that could be interested in Makoto, even if it made no sense relative to the plot. If Makoto was likable, the experience of having multiple girls like him would be at least bearable. But instead, we get stuck with what I consider one of the worst main characters of all time.

Makoto is fundamentally an unlikeable character. There are no redeeming qualities about him, with Kotonoha and Sekai having feelings for him for really no reason other than the plot demanded it so. His character is the representation of the teenage male’s id taken to its extremes. The disconnect that unsettles me (and many others) is that he seemingly gets rewarded for this behavior. While others may temporarily be disgusted by his actions, he nevertheless gets wanted more by more girls as times go on. The ‘love triangle’ between Makoto, Kotonoha, and Sekai is especially puzzling. We don’t even get to see any build-up of a relationship between the three. Makoto and Sekai are seated together and instantly become best friends. Makoto somehow attracts Kotonoha by gawking at her while on the train. Both girls recognize that Makoto is a moron, but both delude themselves into thinking that he’s a ‘good guy’. He’s a horndog and a huge loser. He has no personality, which typically would make it easier to ‘self-insert’, but who the hell would want to self-insert as Makoto? He has all of the worst traits a young man could have. It’s hard to watch someone who sucks as a person get rewarded for said suckiness. I have a feeling that Makoto can actually be a good guy if you tell him to in the School Days game, but the anime seldomly shows him being anything other than a villain–by the time I got to see him do something commendable, it was far too late in the game for me to ever change my mind on him.

There’s also the problem with Sekai–the anime starts with her pushing Makoto and Kotonoha together, but even before they ‘get together’, Sekai develops feelings for Makoto (for whatever reason). Still, even when it looks like Kotonoha has little interest, she pushes them together for seemingly no reason. Like she just wants to let herself suffer? And it’s not just a one-time thing–Makoto often puts off Kotonoha, and instead of thinking ‘maybe those two aren’t as good matches as I thought’, she thinks ‘I’ll keep pushing those two together even if it clearly isn’t going anywhere’. Then she sits and gets sad about it, like Makoto and Kotonoha, who have NO charisma together, is ‘meant to be’  That’s your own damn fault dumbass! And it’s not even like Makoto doesn’t ‘like’ her–it took him all of about five minutes of ‘practice’ with Sekai for him to cross the line and force himself on her. What I’m really mad about is that there’s no build-up to Sekai having feelings for Makoto. She just instantly does, and yet pushes him away at the same time. This whole love triangle doesn’t have to exist. It shouldn’t exist. I didn’t want to use this word, but Sekai’s ‘dilemma’ is the second most hamfisted thing about this anime (the first being Makoto’s existence). 

At times it feels like I’m watching two different shows. In the anime, no one actually knows who Makoto is dating. Apparently, to everyone in the anime, it looks like Sekai and Makoto are lovers, even when reality, Kotonoha and he were (at the time). All of this could be solved with one simple “Who are you dating?”, but that makes too much sense I guess. It doesn’t even get asked until the second half of the show. Instead, you have to watch Makoto’s classmates continuously assume who he is dating, and watch him do nothing to clear the situation up since he’s a huge piece of shit. The fundamental lack of communication skills that all characters in School Days have compounds the many other issues with it. Makoto’s non-commitment, which is in character with his lousy self, opens a myriad of issues concerning other characters. Sekai, who at least feels some guilt about her flings with Makoto, doesn’t help the cause either, insufficiently pushing Makoto to cut things off with Kotonoha. You would think that Makoto’s cowardness would turn off Sekai–it would be a huge red flag for any self-respecting person–but not for Sekai apparently! Kotonoha, for all of her timidness, does try her best…it takes her half the anime to tell other classmates about her and Makoto’s ‘relationship’ through, long after Makoto’s infidelity ramps up.

While the consensus about School Days is that it’s a bad anime, the opinion on whether it’s ‘so bad it’s good’, ‘bad on purpose’, or ‘straight-up unwatchable’ is dependent on the viewer. The first two opinions pop up a lot more in the reviews of it on AniList than I originally thought–with multiple reviewers giving School Days a positive rating not despite its terrible flaws, but because of its terrible flaws. To them, School Days is a guilty pleasure. Something that is meant to be mocked at, like how people watch The Room. I don’t share this opinion, since I find that School Days lacks any charm that makes it likable. It’s hard to derive anything other than disgust while watching it. It’s more like watching your wife cheat on you for four hours rather than watching a shitty b-movie. There’s little funny about it, even unintentionally. Giving it a rating boost solely due to it being ‘so bad it’s good’ is a bit silly, but at the same time, I understand that ratings are: subjective; and based on quality AND how it makes you feel. It wasn’t intended to evoke this reaction…at least not in this fashion. This brings me to the second opinion–that School Days is the ‘deconstruction of the ecchi/harem/rom-com anime genre’. I find this observation absurd. Just because an anime is terrible enough that it enlists a negative reaction in almost every viewer doesn’t make it thought-provoking in the good sense. One reviewer that shares this view states that “You feel uncomfortable watching School Days because the anime exposes the harem genre for what it really is - a misogynistic fantasy world.” Yes, it’s common to feel uncomfortable watching School Days, but to say that it’s ‘exposing the harem genre’ is foolish. Keep in mind that School Days is an adaption of an eroge–one that contains multiple sex scenes and fanservice, just like the anime. There’s no hint of introspection in any fanservice in the anime. Hell, we see fanservice of Sekai at her worst moments. School Days ‘exposes’ the harem genre like Grandma's Boy ‘exposes’ stoner culture. Clearly, School Days does evoke much thought out of its viewers, but pretending that it was the emotion the anime was going for, and not a byproduct of it being such a mess, is naive. Sometimes a spade is just a spade.

I tried my hardest to keep this spoiler-free, but due to the nature of why the anime is known, you probably already know how School Days ends–it would be silly to pretend most people reading this didn't. With that in mind, I’m going to talk about it in the spoilers below:

School Days famously ends with Sekai killing Makoto, and then Kotonoha killing Sekai. While Makoto did have it coming, there’s little to no payoff in getting to see it. It took eleven episodes for anyone to recognize that Makoto’s not a good person…by that time, I was already sick of this show and would’ve dropped it if not for the sake of this review. Perhaps if Makoto was ever shown as a good person in the first place, it would have some pull. But Makoto was never a good person. Instead of School Days being a tale about how anyone has the potential of becoming evil, you instead just keep saying “yeah, no shit moron” to yourself for twelve episodes. Breaking Bad worked so well because Walter White was originally a do-gooder under-paid Chemistry teacher–someone that viewers could empathize with. There was never a moment in School Days where I felt any empathy for anyone (other than Kotonoha). Everything about School Days makes the viewer feel disgusted. Some praise School Days for this. I think this is nonsense. While I think adapting a bad ending is quite a cool idea, the execution results in some of the worst anime I’ve ever seen. I have no reason to care about any of the characters–even Kotonoha, who can be easy to be sympathetic to at times. Makoto is such a huge piece of shit that I believe that Kotonoha, along with every other girl in this anime, is too good for him. There’s no actual tragedy because anyone with a pair of eyeballs could have seen this coming. There was never a point where Makoto was ‘good’. There’s little comfort in knowing that Makoto gets stabbed by Sekai when it took about eleven episodes to have anyone even recognize that he’s a piece of shit. You could’ve watched The Room twice in that time!

Some may say that going through this slog is worth it for the ending–while I’m glad Makoto gets what he deserves, it isn’t worth watching 4+ hours of the absolute worst shit I’ve ever watched. It’s so much worse the second time around. I have no idea how I was able to stomach this in two days the first time I watched it. School Days is pretty much unwatchable. To say that it’s ‘so bad it’s good’ would be doing a disservice to shows that actually are. There’s no reason to watch this ever. This is the type of stuff they torture prisoners at Guantanamo Bay with. Only watch this if you want to inflict psychic damage on yourself. If you want to watch a parody of the harem rom-com genre that’s actually good (and funny), check out The World God Only Knows.

/100

[visualharddrive]

Amagami SS+ plus Visual Fanbook

[easel-eisel]

idea: vtuber with the level of design of like. amagami ss. at most kancolle