A weekly look into American otaku culture

“My name is Asami. I am a 17 year-old high school girl. I’ve kept this a secret from everyone, but the truth is that I’m married. My husband, Ichimaru Kyousuke-sensei, is a physics teacher at my high school.”

While it sounds more like the title of a hentai show, Okusama wa Joshikosei (My Wife is a High School Girl) is actually the best shounen romance show to come out for a number of years now. The show’s plot is just like the title says, a high school girl is married to her physics teacher. Now upon hearing that, you might be thinking, “Hey, that’s not right!” And indeed, you get that feeling when you first start watching the show. After all, the girl is only 17 and the teacher is 25. It makes you wonder just what kind of a scumbag would possible take advantage of his students like that.

But then about 10 minutes into the first episode, you find out that Ichimaru is actually the sweetest guy in the world. He really does love Asami very much, and he would never even consider taking advantage of her in any way. In fact, when he married her, he signed an agreement with Asami’s father never to have sexual relations with Asami until she graduated from school. Ichimaru abides by that agreement, and considering how hard it is not to give in to sexual temptation, the viewer gains respect for his character and never doubts his intentions. It’s still a mystery at this point just how they fell in love with each other and how they came to be married, but I’m looking forward to seeing that in a future episode.

But this is a show made for boys, and therefore you have to put a lot of sex into it. As it turns out, the perverted one is Asami herself. Since her husband is not even allowed to give her an intimate kiss, the young girl becomes sexually frustrated and begins to daydream about how she will finally lose her virginity to him. In many of the episodes, she schemes up some ways to convince her husband to do it. Cooking a wonderful dinner for his birthday… offering to wash his back for him… but the plan usually backfires on her and nothing ever comes of it. But still, the male audience is treated to plenty of sexy fan service in each episode.

Another thing that I’m a sucker for would be great theme songs, and Okusama has them. Every time I listen to the first line of the OP, I know that I’ll be singing it to myself all day. “Labu Labu, chi chi chi, La-la-la, chu chu! Kyutto shite n’ ha-ah-pi!” I dare you to give this one a listen and not have it stuck in your head. This cute and poppy tune sets of the mood perfectly for the sweet side of the series. To counter that, the EP perfectly represents the sexy side. It is a very seductive song about being “your kitten of love”, while added very sexy pictures of Asami for eye-candy.

In my few months of blogging, I have never had the privilege to talk about a series as good as what I present to you today. The reason why anime is such a joy to me is because of all the magic and deep meanings expressed in just a medium of entertainment. But it takes a truly great work of art to really blow me away, and when it does, it fills me with such emotion and happiness that I remember just why I became the otaku that I am. Kamichu (short for “The Goddess is a Middle School Student”) is such a series. It’s so filled with magic and meaning that I consider it one of my favorite series of all time. Why? Well, let’s see…

“Mitsue-chan…”
“Hmm?”
“I became a god.”
“What kind?”
“I don’t know, it only happened last night”
“Have an offering”
“I don’t need it.”
“Well, gods can’t be picky.”

Yurie is a sweet but very shy middle school girl who, like the dialogue says, became a god. While this might seem like a strange thing to the most of you, in her world it is a fairly common event. Exactly what does she do now that she’s a god? Well… she doesn’t quite know yet. But her friends gladly offer her advice as to how she can use her powers. Going for the superhero approach, they come up with the name “Kamichu”, “Kami” as in god and “chu” as in middle school. And so Yurie takes a deep breath, and like a Dragonball character mixed with a Pokémon, screams out, “Kaaaaaah, Miiiiiiiiiii, CHUUU!!!” While the effect of the yell is only a little wind at first, it ends up becoming a huge typhoon. Now she has to use her unknown powers to fix the mess that she accidentally created.

The biggest thing that one will notice about this series is that the setting appears to be the day-to-day normal life in Japan. However, the outrageous notion of being a god is no big deal, and many non-human spirits roam around and cohabitate perfectly with humans. While many are turned off by the oddness, I find it’s clever and fun. Since the characters take gods and spirits so casually, eventually so does the viewer. It’s really a pleasant world to enjoy.

But what is also very pleasing are the characters, particularly our protagonist, Yurie. My history of favorite anime characters includes Shinobu from Love Hina, Nodoka from Negima, Yuri from Ichigo 100%, and Aoi-chan from Ai Yori Aoshi among others. Basically, I’ve always liked the sweet, shy, and cute girls in anime (and in real life as well ^^). So it’s a pretty big deal when I believe that Yurie is the sweetest and cutest girl ever in anime. Her short hair and roundish head are adorable, and her shy mannerisms and frequent blushing facial expression just melt your heart. But the biggest winning point for her character would be the voice acting, done by the 18-year-old actress, Mako. Mako is a member of the J-pop group Bon-Bon Blanco, but this is her first time at voice acting anime. Well, she fits the part perfectly, using her voice to add a whole other level of cuteness to our young heroine.

And yet behind all the magic and cuteness lays the work for some very deep storytelling and symbolism. I recently talked to a member of my extended family about religion in anime. He is a professor at a famous religious college in America, and he specializes in Japanese language and culture. He recently showed Miyazaki films to his students to show its Shinto and Buddhist themes and symbolisms. Well, I can’t wait for him to see Kamichu because Shinto isn’t just a theme of the series, it is the series! I wonder how he would interpret it. If you want to learn more about Shinto (and I suggest you do for watching this series), check out this Wikipedia entry.

But even beyond the religion lies a completely different take on human life. One thing they make very clear is that Yurie is in middle school - they even put that in the title! What so significant about being in middle school is that it’s the time for change, which all of us painfully remember as adolescence. Yurie becoming a god is actually a symbol for her going into womanhood, which includes all the confusion and awkwardness one can expect. It’s a theme used in previous anime works like Kiki’s Delievery Service, SaiKano, and the whole magical girl genre in general. In each one, a young girl struggles to control her budding powers, which is an obvious symbol that I’m surprised is not mentioned for often. Such is the case the Yurie, and I’m looking forward to see how this girl eventually discovers her own identity as the series continues.

I can’t stress enough how much I love this series. This world in which the gods and spirits of the Shinto religion exist is very fun and entertaining, the main character is an absolute sweetheart, and the series also has some really in-depth symbols that I love to find and admire. But most of all, it’s just the magical feeling I get from watching it that really makes me enjoy this show so much. My motto for this website is that “we all need to escape into fantasy sometimes,” and that’s just so easy to do with Kamichu! (^_^)

I like the fact that the Japanese have four different seasons for anime. Just as one group of series ends, another begins. And the summer heat also brings in some very hot anime too! And as I’m seeing some of these screen caps for all these new series that started in the past couple of weeks, my list of “must watch” shows has gotten pretty long. So throughout my summer schedule, I’ll be bringing you a sample of what’s out there, JASCII-style! First up will be a show that’s been out for a little while now, but has also been making quite a buzz, Zettai Shounen (”Absolute Boy”). But judging from the first episode, this buzz looks like just a fizzle to me…

With the first episode being titled “The Beginning of a Depressing and Strange Summer”, this series starts off very strange but not quite so depressing. A young boy of divorced parents spends the summer living with his father in a boring town. But after a little while, he discovers something very unusual going on around there. Namely in the form of a cute little boy, floating orbs of light, and flying toys. You are kinda thrown in the middle of the situation with absolutely no information or narration as to what’s going on. The first time I watched this episode, I thought that the boy’s mother had passed away so now he was living with his father. I would recommend reading Matt’s post to get some background on the series translated from the show’s website.

The pacing of this series is very slow, which may turn off a bunch of people. The combination of the speed and lots of cicada sound effects become very reminiscent of the early episodes of Evangelion. Also, the character designs, color, and voice acting are all pretty dull. Hopefully the story becomes more exciting in future episodes because so far I would have to consider this one of the most boring anime I’ve ever seen.

One theme I do like, though, is that there are lots of animals shown through out this series. The boy’s father is a vet and has a fascination with with cats in particular. So you’ll see plenty of cats around, along with dogs, cows, and even snakes. Then, in the previews for the next episode, the animals (in very cute voices, I might add) talk to and tease each other about themselves and what’s happening next episode. A very, very cute way to end such a show!

I also enjoyed the theme productions to this series as well. The OP is a catchy cute tune. The visuals show different characters and things from the show, but with very bold outlines. My first impression was that it looked like a cell shaded video game. The EP is sung by one of my favorite Japanese artists, Masumi Ito. With past works such as “Azumanga Daioh” and “Magical Meow Meow Taruto”, this singer has a very unforgettable voice that I just find to be so cool.

So to sum up, Zettai Shounen is a sci-fi series that is so deep into it’s own mystery that is is hard for it to become entertaining or even interesting. However, I did like the animal theme and theme productions. And if the buzz is any indication, it seems like this series’ storyline will eventually pick up the slack that the first episode is having. But as far as this initial impression goes this boy is not quite as absolute as many say it is.

You know, considering that my target audience for this site would be college-age male anime fans, it’s not going to be too often that you will see me write up any series that are made for little children. That’s not to say that they’re bad. In fact, I actually like a couple children’s anime shows like Hamtaro and Magical Meow Meow Taruto. But in general, these shows are too filled with frills and fluff to keep my attention for long, which is okay because they are for children after all, not myself. But there’s a show in particular that’s been buzzing around the blogging community that I had to check out. And behind all the frills and fluff comes a number of things that really do make this series enjoyable to even the college-age male anime fans.

Fushigiboshi no Futago Hime (”The Twin Princesses of the Mysterious Planet”), takes place in a world in which the sun is located in the center of the planet. The several kingdoms on this planet rely on this “Sun’s Blessing” in order to keep the world peaceful and prosperous. But when this light begins to weaken, it’s up to the twin princesses of the Sun Kingdom, Rain and Fine, along with their little elf-like companion, Pumo, to save the planet with their magical princess powers. But do the most un-princess-like princesses in the Mysterious Planet’s history have what it takes to do it?

Okay, so the story isn’t really that exciting to me. It seems that in each episode the princesses encounter someone who’s not quite performing “up to par” and they fix it. A princess too scared to dance? A cook who can’t make his rice spicy enough? A fire dragon with a bad cold? Just one magical girl transformation sequence and the problems are solved. Thus teaching the kids that if you just can’t do it yourself, magic will always solve it. But then again, I guess all fairytales are like that, huh?

Once you get past the simple storyline, you really do have a good show. First let’s look at the eye candy here. This show, like all other kiddy anime, is cute. Really, really cute. How cute is it? Well, I was fortunate enough to have my girlfriend watch most of the first episode with me. The way she reacted to the cuteness should be an accurate representation. And so here’s this show’ss performance on the Jenn’s Squee-scale.

So there you go. This show earns a rating of a very large “EEEEEEE!!!” on the Jenn’s Squee-scale. I believe we have a new record here.

But there is one thing that made me squee too, and that would be Princess Leonne’s ears. You see, I grew up with two pet cats. I used to find it so interesting the way that their ears would flicker when even the slightest thing would touch them. I could easily amuse myself with testing out this very cool reflex of theirs. So the first time I watched Candidate for Goddess on TV, my heart was won over by the cat-girl protagonist and her identical ear flickering.

So it’s because of her flickering animal ears that I completely fall in love with Leonne. It’s not very uncommon to be attracted to such a thing either. Recall the first episode of Inu Yasha and how Kagome spent quite a long time flickering Inu Yasha’s doggy ears. I believe that this is just another anime ideal that satisfies the pet-lovers out there.

Another big surprise with this series is the comedy. This show has some very funny moments that made this blogger crack up even after watching it several times. I particularly love the random outbursts such like this:

“You’re Pumo?”

“TELL US! TELL US! TELL US NOW!”

I also enjoyed the music and visuals of the OP and EP. I’m surprised you don’t see more dancing in other series during the theme songs. I mean, you got the music, go get that those feet moving. The OP is very catchy and upbeat, featuring the royal family step-dancing, the other princesses doing some kind of para-para thing, and the twin princesses shaking their booties at one point. The EP gets a little classier with the girls doing some ballroom dancing to slower music. For some reason, it vaguely reminds me of “Watashi no Tamago”, the EP to Dragon Half, except the princess EP is little more elegant and a lot less on crack.

But the thing that I have to really express is just how wonderful the fansubbing is on this show! It’s done by a newcomer to the fansubbing community, Fushigiboshi☆Subs. Okay, so what the group lacks in name creativity, it makes up for in content. The subs are very sleek, sophisticated, and dare I say, downright sexy.

Okay, okay, enough of the joking. Fushigiboshi☆Subs is actually my fellow anime blogger, Matthew. Considering that he was the only one doing it and it was his first time fansubbing, I really didn’t expect it to come out so good. Well, shame on me for ever doubting him! His subs are as top-notch as his website is. The biggest thing I’ve got to commend him on is the fact that he subtitled the advertisements at the end of the OP and EP. I have never seen that done before, and I’ve always wondered just what the hell they kept on saying over and over again. So I really have to give it up for that!

The only criticism I have to give Matt would be the color-coding of the text. I was never a big fan of it when other groups did it. I just think it’s a waste of time, too gimmicky, and I end up ignoring it anyway. But when the color changes right in the middle of the line, it does become very distracting. With fansubs people should be more focused on the show then the subtitles. So this is just a little suggestion for next time from me, but ease up a little a on the coloring. Otherwise, I think this is one of the best subtitling jobs I’ve even seen. Fantastic job, Matt!

So sum it up, being that it’s a show made for children, the storyline is very simple and full of frills and fluff. However, there’s no way that you can resist the absolute cuteness of the characters. Older anime fans can also appreciate some very funny moments, a fun and catchy OP and EP, and the bliss that is Leonne’s flickering ears.

Ladies and Gentlemen.

I present to you the best quote to have ever been said in an anime.

Episode 23:

Episode 24:

See, didn’t I tell you that the afro revolution has begun? With a series based on ridiculous comedy, Yakitate can find ways of making the most stupidest little things funny. Hearing Tsukino say “A-afro Brothers!” in English is definitely the moment I loved the most in this double episode.

It’s a good thing that they had both episodes in one this time, because I don’t think I would have been able to handle waiting any longer to see the end of this tournament. If there’s something I gotta give this series credit for, it’s that they don’t drag the story on and on like most other “competition anime” will tend to do. If you look back that the 24 episodes we’ve seen so far, they did manage to squeeze in quite a lot of storyline into it.

The first episode was yet another setup for the final. It ends with the arrival of Kawachi sporting the ‘fro. They really don’t explain how he got it, but I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough. The 2nd episode delivers with the start of the match, the judging, and the happy results. I guess you can consider that a spoiler, but like you couldn’t tell that Azama was going to completely kick some ass?

What amazes me is how this simple show is able to keep all their jokes and gags so very fresh each time (pun intended). I mean, the reaction to Japan #44 was so funny that it leaves me to wonder just how they could top something like that? In fact, that’s even a joke in this episode as a crowd gathers at the tournament to ask the very same question. The answer came in the form of a cute peacock, which is so random and out of nowhere that you can’t help but to laugh your ass off.

So I’m very satisfied with a happy ending to the longest saga so for this series. I’m still very worried that they’ve reached such a high point in the comedy that they will never be able to reach it again. But I have a feeling that this show will have plenty of surprises left to completely blow us away.

Guess who’s back?
Back again?

Yui’s back!
Tell a friend.

Guess who’s back? Guess who’s back? Guess who’s back? Guess who’s back? Guess who’s back?

Okay, well maybe for just a cameo. But still, it’s just another positive thing to add on to the best episode so far in this series.

And I apologize, don’t expect to see another Eminem reference in this blog ever again.

Yes, I did go a little screen cap crazy with this one. It’s a shame that the video quality is so poor with this series.

This episode showed a lot of what makes a good shounen romance so good, sexual tension and lots of fanservice! The stage was set for all the directions in the Ichigo compass* to finally meet each other, and they even added a really hot schoolteacher for good measure. Let’s see… bikinis, loose summer outfits, big breasts in your face, more bikinis, implied lesbianism, nose bleeds, nude bathing in the hot tub, and then finally falling out of one’s robes… yeah, there was defiantly a lot to go o_O over with this one.

I mentioned last episode about how Junpei was driven by love and not lust… well, no normal healthy teenaged boy could resist all this sex being thrown at him. So he joins with the perverts in drooling over the girls or listening in on their sexy conversations, but he never “crosses the line” with his perversion unless he is literally thrown into it by the other guys (which makes up some of the funniest moments in this episode). But still, Jumpei feels more guilty about it then aroused, therefore you still can’t help but to still like him. He’s still a good guy, as they make clear at the end with how much he cares for the ill Satsuki.

So this was a really fun episode that shows off all the positive things about the Ichigo series. It reminded me a lot of the OVA episode. I hope that the rest of the series continues to be just as exciting as this.

IS IT SUMMER YET?!?

*By the way, the reason why I called it a compass is because all the girls are named after directions. Satsuki is North, Yui’s South, Aya’s East, and Nishino’s West. Furthermore, Junpei’s name means, “Center.” You can clearly see what they’re getting at with this. So when you see directions and compasses in this show, you’ll know why.

Well, there was really nothing to report so much with this episode. Pretty much just setting the stage for the start of the finals. So instead I’m going to provide screen caps and rant about a very serious and devastated topic in the anime world today…

As you can see in the screen caps, it seems like we’re about to see a lot more afros in this series future very soon. However, this isn’t really to much of a surprise. After all, anime and the afro has have quite a long history together. What? Don’t believe me? See for yourself!

As you can see, that’s quite a timeline of puffy hair. But I think that we can all owe it to Nabeshin, the pioneer of the ‘fro in anime. Just what does the afro offer to these anime heroes?

• Provides storage to hide objects such as weapons for a sneak attack.
• Big hair takes the attention away from the big eyes.
• Makes you look taller and therefore more threatening
• Tickles your opponent if they get too close
• Will make people mistake you for Shaft, and nobody f****s with Shaft!
• Practically a helmet because of its cushioning
• If you wake up and forget to fix your hair, no one will notice!

We are in the afro renaissance, my friends. And the best is yet to come. Spike TV has announced a joint project with Gonzo to adapt Takashi Okazaki’s manga Afro Samurai. And who do they have lined up for the lead role? Samuel Jackson.

Samuel

“Muthafucking”

Jackson!

Damn, son. Samuel Jackson playing an afro-wearing anime samurai… I think my dreams have finally come true. If someone were to ask, “Hey Scott, if you had a chance to make the perfect anime, what would it be?” I would have to say, “Well, how about a series where Samuel Jackson plays an afro wearing badass samurai? Oh, and add some cute girls too for him to accidentally walk in on at the hot springs.” Well, I guess I can’t get everything, but this is still pretty damn cool.

Prepare yourselves… the afro is taking over. And I have a feeling that we will all be conquered by its big, hairy glory.

Back from the convention, and time for me to get re-acquainted with my good friend, Ichigo.

“Satsuki, you see, a few days ago… My parents bought me a video camera for Graduation. I was happy, and I wanted to film a lot of things. So I when I saw you there, I thought it was nice, so I started filming.”

You see, one of the reasons why this series is so good is because Junpei is a really nice and caring guy. He’s not going after these girls because he finds that strawberry panties are sexy. He saw a girl so beautiful that it hit him right in the heart. It’s not lust that drives him, it’ love.

However, the guys that are driven by lust and perversion make great comic relief, and I think they do better in the anime then the manga. Junpei’s ugly friend Komiyama has been great since the very first episode, but this time we’re introduced to the perverted Hitoshi. It must have something to do with the voice acting, or maybe the animation just breaths life into these hollow characters from the manga

And along the same lines, Satsuki also improved over her manga counterpart. She was always my least favorite of the Ichigo girls. To me, she just didn’t seem to be nothing more then a big breasted slut. Constantly hot-headed and flaunting her sexuality at Junpei. It even seemed to be torturous at times with how close he actually gets to having her.

But when I watched this episode… I actually started to like her. It’s the way that she accidentally slipped out a confession like that to Junpei that finally gave this girl a heart. She seemed a little shocked at first, but when she finally realized it, she was so happy and open with the idea. She really likes Junpei, and you gotta give her credit for that. Unlike other characters…

I’ve been having a little debate with Mina over the flaws in Aya’s character, and this just proves it more. It’s okay to shy about things, but Aya is just way too much of a mystery for me to handle. I’ve read 14 volumes of the manga, and I still don’t have a f***ing clue just what that girl is thinking about! But in a way, this is the fault of the artist. Yes, it’s not like she’s the only girl who never admits that she likes Junpei, but at least you’re able to step into the minds of the other girls to see what they really think. The artist never does so with Aya. The only clues that she gives are either really ambiguous or becomes entirely contradicted not long afterwards in the storyline. So maybe this whole series is just one large set-up for her grand confession. But Christ, is it worth over 15 volumes of waiting?!?

So I think I’m just going to have a little section devoted to initial impressions of the newest fansubs out there. Shows that I don’t particularly want to commit to reviewing on a regular schedule. So today I finally got to see another title on my “to watch this season” list, and I actually enjoyed it. If you want screens and what not, check out my man Jeff’s coverage of the series. As for me, here are my impressions of Gokujou Seitokai.

There was one word that kept on racing through my mind as I was watching this- “Azumanga… Azumanga… Azumanga…” There’s just so much. The animation, the style, the humor, it all screams “AZUMANGA!!!” However, it falls short of being as good as that series. Why?

The puppet.

The puppet is the most butt-ugly thing I’ve ever seen in anime, and I’ve seen a lot of ugly things. Jim Henson must of waked up one morning with a nasty hang-over, looked at his design sketches from the night before, and go, “What the hell was I thinking?” as he threw it away. Then somehow these Japanese guys found it and said, “Wouldn’t this be a great character in an anime?” And it wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for the fact that the series revolves about the damn thing. Eww…

But now that I’ve vented about my disgust for the puppet, let me get to the positive things about this show, cause it really is good. The humor is just wacky enough to translate well with the American audience. It was very weird at first, but I found myself laughing hysterically at the antics of the main girl and her puppet counterpart. All the voices and character designs (of the human characters, at least) are extremely cute and really stand out. I found myself very happy while watching this because of that.

But it’s not something for everyone, as noted by the fact that my girlfriend turned it off after the first 10 minutes. I guess you really have to be in the right mood for something as wacky as this. But it was still a good series that I plan to continue watching.

Well, I finally got a chance to watch He is My Master. For those of you who have been following my blog, you’ll know that I’ve been bitching about how no one’s been fansubbing it. Well, three weeks later, someone finally did. So now I finally get to see the latest work from my homies over there at Gainax. I liked it, but I still have some very mixed feelings that need to be worked on.

Good: The character designs are the cutest I’ve seen since Koge Donbo. It takes Moe, adds in a little bit of Lolicon, and increases the Kawaii-ness 10 times over. I absolutely love it! Something this cute should be considered a safety hazard since it can rip my heart right out instantly.

Bad: besides the for Moe cuteness they randomly mix in cartoony cuteness. Particularly with the alligator… it reminded me of the American children’s cartoons from the 70’s, and not the cool ones like School House Rock. Sure, it’s a little funny, but I can’t really say I like it so much.

Good: The fanservice is very pleasing, and not just visually. Sure, the whole cosplay thing is appealing, but the reason why there are so many “maid” series out there is because men love to be served by women. Of course, tell a girl in reality to do all the housework, and you’ll get a big slap on the face, and rightfully so! But anime is an outlet for us to escape into fantasy and enjoy such pleasures, which is very good and healthy. So this series does a great job in “serving” the fans in that respect.

Bad: The male protagonist (or in this case, antagonist) is an asshole. He’s a perverted and manipulating son-of-a-bitch that I just absolutely hate. Sure, it’s a break from the anime convention of having a nice guy as the master. But in this case, change is not good! >:o

So again, very mixed feelings on this show, but I think the goods outdo the bads. I’ve decided not to pick this one up for blogging since there’s enough blogs already out there covering it. But I am looking forward to seeing the rest of the series. ^_^