#it's a shojo if the lead roles were reversed

[redporkpadthai]

so i'm reading Yeonwoo's Innocence and it is just now occurring to me that his girlfriend and best friend are the same person. Like they look the same

[luffywhatelse]

In defense of Edward

Warning: unpopular opinion

Immediately after the proposal, an embarassed Winry starts blubbing about percentages. Ed laughs at the situation and it seems, as he himself says, that his worries are flying away. This is the moment. The moment when we see a reversal of the parts: it becomes clear that Ed's insecurities - in addition to the fact that he's obviously in love and that it's the first time he finds himself talking about his feelings with a girl (which is therefore completely and humanly justifiable) - were due to his fear that Winry wouldn't return his feelings. From the moment he receives the fateful YES at the train station, indeed, things change. His expression changes and even his face changes. He seems not only more happy, but adult, mature. He looks at her in the eyes, holds her tight. And it's WINRY who blushes, remaining dazed at first. SHE's embarrassed and surprised and it's HE who leads the game. So the roles have just become those of most shojo. This whole thing is a crucial moment for the couple's story, even if we won't see them further, apart in a photograph on the last page. Because I think, from that moment onwards, they can be treated like a classic perfect manga couple in which he is a man and she is his wife (although Winry is much more than that, we know). Just like an old-time couple, from the beginning she's a strong woman and a perfect wife (as Hughes also says) who supports her husband. I say all this because, knowing that we all love Ed, it seems to me that many people here continually slag off and belittle him by describing him as an inept who always waits - anyway, in any situation -for Winry's first move. When the first real move was made by Ed! And you say it all the time. Repetitively. I know that many others, however, agree with me. Ed grew up and becomes a man, certainly not all at once, of course. But little by little. There must be moments of embarrassment. But some of them will be embarassing for Ed and other situations will embarrass Winry. Fifty-fifty. Those two have grown together and will grow together; this is one of this couple's best things, why do you want to take it away from them and let Ed stay the teenager we saw during the series when there are so many details to show us how he's constantly changing? (And we have to thank Arakawa-sensei who created a more realistic character than any other shonen protagonist!!) In addition, to say that Ed is an incapable idiot in their romantic relationship is offensive to your (our) adored Winry, who would thus look like a stupid and a masochist. If this is the case, why should she stay with him? Because men are shit and she's satisfied with it? Do you think she's the type to settle? Or, even worse, one of those women who keep their husbands to make children ("because this is their role") or because they love their men so much that they can't leave them? I just can't imagine Winry like this. Perhaps you want to say that she also loves his faults but this thing doesn't come across at all when you make him look like a human wreck. Beautiful but useless without Winry. When we talk about love there's a difference between saying "she loves even his faults" and "she loves him despite his faults". Many of you choose the second one, I choose the first one. I mean, it looks like, according to this people, it's always up to her to do all the work, in any situation. It's not funny; it's boring. I think Ed must have his faults, like all of us. He's stubborn, nerd (like her), sometimes awkward and clumsy. But he's not a moron. He knows how to protect Winry and make her happy as a good husband can do, in every respect.And Winry demonstrates to know this thing very well (even when she metaphorically and physically appreciates his broad shoulders xD ). He can protect her physically and emotionally. She trusts him. With all her heart. Do you wanna say she's wrong? She's a very smart girl / woman and she's aware that Ed knows how to take his responsibilities and hold the reins whenever necessary.Among other things, Ed, apart from his situation with Winry (not at the end of the story), is NOT a person who suffers from insecurity. On the contrary, he's pretty confident, to the point of being often arrogant. Even in the eyes of Winry. He doesn't spare her his edgy jokes ("you should act more like a girl"). Of course, Winry isn't the type of girl to be intimidated and this has made her even more fascinating in the eyes of Ed. On the other hand, he's not an idiot who let her mistreat him all the time.The funny sketches in which she scolds him are necessary to entertain us and also to make them look like a real married couple, in a realistic way but always "manga style". And you know that well, the two of them are more like "shut up and let's fuck!" 😏 Obviously I don't want to attack anyone, I just wanted to say my opinion so far I have avoided voicing.

[recentanimenews]

Life After MMO Junkie: Our Top 10 Recommendations for Recovery of an MMO Junkie fans

With Recovery of an MMO Junkie coming to an end, many of you may find yourselves asking “where do I go from here?” We’ve put together a list of my top recommendations for the MMO Junkie fan looking for new material to consume. One aspect that made the anime truly unique was its focus on characters in their late 20s and early 30s, so many of these recommendations will involve more traditional high school age romances but I’ve tried to include something for everyone. Whether you’re looking for the gaming culture aspects of the story, the focus on Japanese work culture, or subversive gender themes, there should be something for everyone here. In no particular order, here are our Top 10 picks for fans of MMO Junkie!

MY Love STORY!!

One of the most feel-good romantic comedies in anime and potentially the planet earth, MY Love STORY is a great substitute for MMO Junkie’s relentless positivity. Takeo Goda is a tall, muscular high school student with thick eyebrows. He’s a romantic but his pursuit of love is constantly foiled by his best friend Sunakawa. Takeo’s size makes him intimidating to the girls of the school while Sunakawa’s legendary good looks attract everyone to him. That is, until Rinko falls in love with Takeo after he saves her from a groper in a train. What follows is the story of Takeo and Rinko awkwardly navigating love through mutual support and with the help of their friends. The series avoids many of the romantic comedy anime tropes, focusing on real-life challenges like first kisses and Valentine’s Day instead of romantic rivals and mysterious childhood promises.

Princess Jellyfish (manga)

Perhaps the most similar premise to MMO Junkie of all these recommendations for its focus on NEET culture and gender subversion. Princess Jellyfish is a romantic comedy telling the story of Tsukimi, an artist and jellyfish otaku living in the Amamizukan apartment building, a women's only dorm populated by NEET women. She has a fateful encounter with Kuranosuke, a beautiful woman who she discovers is actually the cross-dressing illegitimate son of a Tokyo politician. He takes an interest in the residents of the dorm, despite having to keep his gender under wraps to avoid violating their “no men” rule and offers aid when they find themselves fighting to keep their complex from being demolished for redevelopment. The manga won the Kodansha Award and has an anime adaptation with a live-action TV series on the way!

ReLIFE

Navigating modern work culture and the pursuit of personal happiness are a constant presence in the background of Moriko’s online questing and awkward romance. ReLIFE puts a laser focus on that struggle. It’s protagonist Arata Kaizaki quits his corporate job after 3-months and is unable to find new work besides a part-time position at a convenience store. He’s approached by a mysterious man who wants to make Kaizaki the test subject of a new government program known as ReLIFE, using a special medication that will regress his age 10 years and place him back in high school with the intention of allowing him to more successfully navigate that formative period of his life and fix what’s ailing him. The story has its share of surprises with other ReLIFE participants and some subversive elements looking a modern corporate culture in Japan that resonate with Moriko’s own falling out with her job.

Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun

Another high school romantic comedy that plays with genre conventions, Chiyo Sakura has a crush on Umetaro Nozaki and, in the process of attempting to ask him out, ends up discovering his secret life as renowned shojo mangaka Sakiko Yumeno. Somehow she ends up working as his assistant filling in beta and reining back his outlandish story ideas while trying to sort out her feelings. This anime is a bit more slowburn, falling back on the “will they won't they” formula common in shojo manga with Chiyo’s struggles to confess her feelings to the oblivious Nozaki. For all that, it keeps things relatively stress free by putting you in the lives of a growing cast of eccentrics with some attachment to shojo manga, either as artists or real-life stereotypes.

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid

A less obvious candidate for MMO Junkie fans is this reverse isekai LGBT romance between a woman and her dragon who is also her maid. Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is the same kind of goofy, loosely animated romcom with an equally charming cast. Although Moriko and Kobayashi are outwardly dissimilar, with Moriko having quit work at the beginning of the story and Kobayashi intensely involved in her job to the detriment of her personal relationships, both have issues with intimacy and self-image that they struggle with in the face of unexpected romantic interest and overcome their own loneliness by discovering a place in a group of eccentrics. Dragon Maid is a heartfelt and happy story with moments of soft introspection that ground things, it's just a bit pervier.

Tsukigakirei

A sleeper hit of this year, Tsukigakirei is unusual romance for focusing on a mutual crush between two middle school students. Much like MY Love STORY, the story focuses heavily on firsts and discovering what love and being in a relationship really mean. The big MMO Junkie connection probably comes in the social anxiety experienced by the two leads, Kotaro and Akane. In addition to learning about relationships for the first time, the story observes their slow progress in learning how to communicate with one another and express affection. In the beginning, they’re only able to open up and be themselves over the chat application LINE but are overcome with awkwardness and uncertainty in person. It’s a story of discovery and reaching out to one another, motivated by love and the desire for self-improvement.

Chihayafuru

This may be my most unique recommendation and one I make precisely because it is so unique, much like MMO Junkie itself. Both josei series are difficult to codify using more popular anime storytelling tropes. Where MMO Junkie has its more middle-aged focus and quirky construct for introducing its romantic leads, Chihayafuru is part drama, part romance, part sports series. Chihaya Ayase is introduced to the traditional Japanese card game karuta. The story focuses on her quest to improve at the sport and rediscover the boy who showed her the world of karuta. This may be a bit of a stretch but both stories leave the feeling of coming from outside normal conventions of their genre.

Sword Art Online

Now let me explain. Although the conditions under which Kirito and Asuna meet in an MMO in Sword Art Online couldn’t be different than those of Hayashi and Lily, the two couples definitely have a lot in common. While the quests in SAO are life and death affairs, Kirito and Asuna have a mutually supportive relationship with both characters playing proactive roles and offering mutual support. It’s a good ship. If you’re into MMO Junkie for the gaming culture elements, there are plenty on offer in SAO. While the series movies into more action and intrigue-related subplots as it progresses, the first arc has a laser focus on Asuna and Kirito’s budding romance in a unique and deadly world. If you wanted an MMO Junkie with higher stakes, you’ve come to the right place!

Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches

If you love stories where everyone but the main characters are aware of their mutual affection, welcome to this quirky high school comedy featuring the protagonist Ryuu Yamada, a delinquent and outcast who finds himself in the middle of a magical conspiracy in his own school. Seven female students have magical powers that manifest when they kiss someone. He discovers this by accidentally kissing one of the school's top performing students, Urara Shiraishi and learning she has the power to swap bodies. He quickly discovers that, despite her achievements, his perceptions of her perfect life were way off base. The story explores themes of agency, loneliness, obligation, and the personal struggles and lives individuals people keep hidden behind their public face.

Sakura Quest

Although not a love story, Sakura Quest is an anime about working women that takes a deep dive into some of the social issues of MMO Junkie. Its cast is a group of misfits trying to hold up the failing economy of a town in rural Japan. Each harbors their own troubled past and personal struggles with the current economic environment and modern work culture. The anime offers an uncomfortable perspective of the victims of modern progress an all-too-real look at people who just aren’t sure what they can do to find meaning and prosperity in their own lives. The possible motivations for Moriko’s own rejection of modern work culture and retreat to the comfort of the virtual world play themselves out several times in this series. It doesn’t offer many solutions and may not be as upbeat as MMO Junkie, but is inspirational in its own way, showing characters trying, failing, and trying again.

I hope you’re able to fall in love with one or more of the series stories the same way we fell in love with Recovery of an MMO Junkie. If you find one of these filling that Moriko-shaped hole in your heart then please share it with others! If you’ve got your own recommendations, please share them below!

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Peter Fobian is an Associate Features Editor for Crunchyroll, author of Monthly Mangaka Spotlight, writer for Anime Academy, and contributor at Anime Feminist. You can follow him on Twitter @PeterFobian.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[phoenixotaku1990animeversem-blog]

Series: Hana Yori Dango

Other Titles: Boys Over Flowers

Genre: Drama, Romance, School Life, Shojo

Series Run: 51 Episodes (aprox. 22 Min per)

Distributors: Viz Media, Discotek Media

Requested By: Janie

  I make no secret of the fact that I am a hopeless romantic who has a taste for the dromatic.  So, when the lady of my life requested that I review one of the few anime she has seen within the genre I was ecstatic.  Moreover, the fact that it is a shojo in a high-school setting made me wax nostalgic about our own romance so I was all-in.  While I don’t regret my gunge-ho approach to this series there were some moments that went way over the line of what was acceptable and made this an uncomfortable watch. But I will address that later in the review.

On a personal note, Dear I hope you like this one.

The Story

Hana Yori Dango is a school-life anime surrounding the exploits of Tsukushi Makino, a new student at Eitoku Academy who happens to be of lesser means. Desiring nothing more than a low-profile existence among the upper-crust of society Tsukushi’s world is turned upside down when she encounters an elite clique of popular men known as the F4. From here, she begins a chaotic, fish out of water story where the boys are constantly involved. In the midst of this, she manages to fall for two of the Flowers Four creating a romantic triangle with two distinct flavors.

The first relationship is your standard aloof love interest angle with Rui Hanazawa. I like the quiet, kind, artist, nature of the character and his dynamic when opposite Tsukushi elegantly done despite the lack of dialogue between them However, this ceases to be when their growing relationship is subvert by his returning flame, Shizuka Toudou. While Shizuka was a welcomed addition providing exposition on the F4’s history, a humanizing character for the group as a whole, and a sort of guide for Tsukushi she felt more like a protagonist in her own right rather than a supporting character. But, by far, the worst thing the writers of the anime could have done was use the sympathetic character to remove Rui as the love interest for the secondary alternative.

The secondary Romance begins with the leader of the F4. Tskasa Domyouji. To say that I despise this character is a gross understatement. His personality shifts between childishly lording his status over characters to picking on Tsukushi to being uncharacteristically nice to her. Worse yet he seems to have an almost incestuous fixation with his sister who happens to look like our main heroine. As if to feed into the creep factor he holds her down and nearly RAPES her in an early episode.

While he does mature throughout the series the and eventually becomes worthy of the love interest role the aforementioned moments irredeemably corrupted the character to such a degree that I cannot stand his on-screen prescience. Even after he redeems himself by softening up I still detest the character I am supposed to root for. In short I found him to be a pretty face with little more than a base understanding of social functions that was easily overshadowed by almost every other character.

this brings me to the side-characters which can be summed up in the phrase as bland as white bread. In fact, the only two character’s whose names I remember without consulting MyAnimeList ar Soujirou and Akira and their main functions were to act as the F4’s exposition and voices of reason. Otherwise, every other character in the series is a direct embodiment of their trope. The childhood friend is a cookie-cutter childhood friend. Tsukushi’s family seems to be the clich�� poor family composed of the overbearing mother, the pathetic father, and the annoying little brother. After that every other character just blends into the background until they decide to cause trouble or just randomly speaks up. To remind Tsukushi of her place.

The focus on the pauper-versus-prince wealth disparity that persists throughout the series is a glaring weakness in storytelling. While this is a universal plot element that transcends its medium it actually weakens the relationship building aspect of the show. Combine this with the night-and day dynamic between Tsukushi and Tsukasa and the viewer gets a dysfunctional relationship that feels forced and unrealistic. Sure, one might see it as a clear case of opposites attract but, Boys Over Flowers executes this poorly.

Thus I come to the shows worst flaw of this entire narrative. its execution If the story of an independent woman finding herself in a high-society prep school featuring a cast of bishounen men is familiar to you have likely seen a reverse-harem anime in the last 20 years. While the show’s formula is well-trotted ground for many anime fans at this point the story’s progression is painfully slow providing the viewer with very little pay-off. For any romantic plot steady character growth and interaction is key. Hana Youri Dango’s characters grow at a snail’s pace making its run a slog to get through.

Style:

Alongside the painfully weak story Hana Yori Dango suffers from an eye-ruining animation style that seems to be a halfhearted attempt to simply colorize the cells of the original manga. While the muted colors and stark background would have translated well to the manga format the same cannot be said for animation. In fact. I found the lack of vibrancy and life in some scenes to be somewhat distracting at times. Aside from that character movements seem a bit stiff which forces some of the dialogue-heavy moments feel more like poorly animated GIFs rather than properly animated sequences. But, discounting my nitpicking, I feel that character and background designs are beautiful when assessed separately as portraiture.

Sound Design:

Much to my delight, Hana Yori Dango scores highest in the category of sound design. Unfortunately, this applies to the series’ soundtrack rather than its vocal performances. While they can be taken separately, I feel the two are inexorably linked and aides the viewer in suspending their disbelief. For their time, the talent did a passable job of bringing the characters to life. But, it is important to remember that the 90s were an awkward time for anime dubs and this anime suffers greatly from the growing pains of the time. Thankfully the music does a great job of distracting us from the flawed delivery.

For the most part, the music of Hana Yori Dango does quite a bit to amplify the high-society feel of the show. The opening and ending themes are light and airy J-pop pieces that connotes a relaxed and energetic tone. This does a great job of setting the tone as a slice of life piece. Intermittent pieces like Tomaso Abononi’s Symphony No. 5 adds depth to the upper-class feel of Eitoku Academy. Together, classical and popular styles fill the gap created by poor voice acting. Sadly, it isn’t enough.

I watched the series in its English dub as distributed by Viz Media as instructed by the one who requested this review. While it was nice to hear popular 90s era voice actors like Micheal Adamthwaite and Stephen Park in the roles of Tsukasa Domyouji and Rui Hanazawa I feel that Kelly Sherodin was completely miscast as Tsukushi. This led to my great dismay as her pronunciations of the name Rui as Luis grated on my ears. Alongside this, some dialog was stiff and stilted leading to an overall flat delivery. The lack of compelling delivery forces me to dislike the dub but only slightly.

Recommendations:

I do not usually give my recommendations separate from my conclusion but since the following are TV dramas rather than anime I feel obligated to break form and inform you as to the existence of two great shows.  If you wish to see this concept done  properly I point you to the Taiwanese Drama Meteor Garden as I believe the acters Vic Zhou and Jerry Yan provide the best characterizations of the two male leads.  While the Karean variant has its merits, I find it slightly less appealing.  Still, feel free to check both out for yorself as this is a matter of preference to me.

Final Thoughts:

In conclusion I feel that Hana Yori Dango suffers from a lack of proper execution. But, it is still a salvageable piece. In many ways it is the progenitor to great series in its genre and I encourage fans of pieces like Ouran High School Host Club to check this out, The dub is currently licensed by Viz Media and is available at Rightstufanime. Please feel free to enjoy Boys Over Flowers and stay tuned here for more reviews.

Anime Review: Boys over Flower Series: Hana Yori Dango Other Titles: Boys Over Flowers Genre: Drama, Romance, School Life, Shojo Series Run: …