"Chihayafuru 2" WTF Is It About? "Da Capo III" Episodes 4-6 and "Maoyuu Maou Yuusha" Episodes 4-6 Thoughts

So with +8 anime to keep up with (and also my recent conclusion of both seasons of To Aru Majutsu no Index), I have fallen a little behind on my anime posts. To spice some things up, I am going to talk about my experiences with three very different anime. The one I hate (Da Capo III), the decent one (Maoyuu Maou Yuusha), and the one that covers something I don’t give a damn about but still like the characters (Chihayafuru 2).

Brace yourself for the super skinny but big breasted boring characters. Boobs...IT'S PLOT RIGHT?

So let’s talk about Da Capo III first since someone actually took the time to leave a comment on my previous post. So far six episodes have rolled on by and not one has kept me interested for more than two minutes. I do not know why so many people are just raving how awesome this show is when the only redeeming qualities are the animation and the music. The show is god awful boring because nothing happens….NOTHING. Every scene just consists of Kiyotaka talking to possible romance option #1; five minutes later we now have Kiyotaka talking to all possible romance options in the club room. This would be fine if we had some character development going on but every conversation is just a static progression and nothing important comes out of it. I want to like the characters I really do but since Rikka and Sara are the only female leads that have been somewhat explored, it’s kind of hard to root or even care for the others. The music however is another story entirely. I absolutely love the music they chose to put in the anime because it is so fun to play on top of. In fact, if the music wasn’t so good I would have dropped the show. The only reason I still watch the show is because while I watch some static characters, I can play along to the songs on my guitar. So yeah I will definitely buy the OST but there is no way I will financially support the anime itself. If you are looking for a school romance try Clannad or the Amagami SS series.

MORE BOOBS...ERRR I MEAN PLOT!

Now for the decently interesting Maoyuu Maou Yuusha. Last time I spoke out how the initial episodes make the anime feel like a spiritual successor to Spice and Wolf; that statement unfortunately praises this anime too much. Six episodes have now completed and unfortunately it is starting to drag. The main hook-line-and-sinker for me initially was the character development between the Demon King and the Hero. The show unfortunately separates the two after the initial episode and it is not until episode six that they reunite. Another issue is the pacing of the show; one second it’s spring and a conversation later it’s winter…? There is so much time skipped that I started to feel a little detached from the world the anime was trying create. I know that the whole purpose was to show how the Demon King’s plans were working out (with the crop rotations) but fast forwarding too much will leave an undesired effect on the audience. Another issue is the blatant fan service surrounding the Demon King. There isn’t any nudity or suggestive themes but the whole G cup bouncing physics is starting to somewhat get in the way of the mood the anime is trying to set. But one thing that cannot be overlooked is that yes this anime has striking similarities to Spice and Wolf; economics and trade play a huge role, the wise non-human female character is very clever, and a slow developing romance between both main character slowly pans out. These are all things that made Spice and Wolf so enjoyable but it will take a lot more than these traits to pull this anime out of the small rut it has dug itself into.

And finally the anime that brings in a sport that likely 90% of the world has never even heard of; Chihayafuru 2. This season of Chihayafuru picks up directly off of where the previous one left off so there shouldn’t be any confusion if you haven’t watched it in some time. The show does a pretty decent job of giving a very short explanation of what has been going on but you really do need to watch the first season to get the full entertainment value out of this show. The show revolves around a card game called Karuta which is a fast paced game that utilizes the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu poems as a reference point. Each player has a stack of cars (the poems) that they lay out in any particular order they see fit. The object of the game is to match up the correct poem’s read by the reader before the enemy player can. Cards are won when a player reaches out and grabs (or in anime fashion bash the card clear across the room) the correct corresponding card with the rest of the poem being read. So yeah sounds interesting right?...no it’s really not but the show makes it interesting which means it’s doing a great job. If you look at different anime in the past, you will find many of them make certain sports look way too fun and interesting. Tennis had The Prince of Tennis, baseball had Major Season, racing had Initial D and Capeta, and the pastime of beating the crap out of people was glorified in the Dragonball series. 

If this show doesn't make you want to go buy a racquet, then something is wrong with you.

By far one of the hardest working protagonists I have ever seen.

What each of these anime (including Chihayafuru) has done is make the subject matter very interesting. Even if the sport being showcased somehow didn’t appeal to you, the characters started to grow on you. If you have seen any of the Major seasons then you know how charismatic Goro is. Even if you did not like baseball, Goro made you want him to succeed. If you did not feel anything for Goro and his dream then you have no heart. This is exactly what Chihayafuru is also riding on, the likeability of the characters to present you (the audience) with a story based around something that normal people would not care for. I have kind of rambled on how sports anime work and not how and why Chihayafuru is worth picking up. What I can tell you about this anime is that you will like Chihaya, Taichi, and the rest of the Karuta club because they all have ambitions and in typical anime fashion will do anything necessary to make them come true. I promise to actually get in-depth to what is going on in the show in a later post but I thought I would at least explain why you should give this anime a shot. Most people read the synopsis and pass it off because they think an anime based on a card game would be boring to watch. I strongly encourage that if this show interests you that you start on the first season as this season directly follows the events from the first.

"Amagami SS+" Anime Review

***This is a spoiler free review***

Some words of advice, if you decide this is an anime you wish to watch, I STRONGLY encourage you watch its first season, Amagami SS first as it will add to the overall enjoyment of this season.

Amagami SS+ is the continuation of last season’s Amagami SS. It is a direct sequel and follows roughly the same episodic format of its predecessor. Each female lead is given a two episode arc that once completed, goes back to the beginning of the timeline and focuses on another female lead. These episodes are meant to provide closure for last season’s episodes as not every female was given a canon ending.

Story: 7/10
Amagami SS+ tries very hard to provide appropriate closure to each character’s romance, but some come off too forced due to the restricted two episodes per character. An example is from the ending of Haruka’s arc where Junichi makes a very bold confession that I believe no human would ever attempt. I also found myself reverting to my old preferences of character choice from last season as I still found Haruka way out of Junichi’s league and Sae was still a pill to listen to. There are however some really great moments such as Ai’s ending and Rihoko finally manning (err womaning) up to confess to Junichi. The season does have arcs that outshine others but overall it’s enjoyable across the board.

Animation: 8.5/10
The animation is a step up from last season as the production values have been very kind to the overall visuals of the show. Each character seems more defined and much more attractive to see. Backgrounds are drawn very well and each setting is very detailed.

Sound: 7.5/10
Once again the voice acting is very well done by the Jap cast. Each female lead is voiced by the same actor as before and retains their individual quirks that made them lovable in the previous season. My gripes still remain with Sae as she is just a pill to listen to for over 40 minutes. The opening song is very catchy and well done. Music during the episodes fit well and provide adequate atmosphere.

Characters: 9/10
There is not much I can say that has changed in the character department from last season. I still loved all the characters and they act the same as the previous season. I have newfound respect for Rihoko, returning ughness for Sae, and a liking for Haruka’s outgoing personality. Each character’s personality is unique and a joy to watch fold out. The male lead Junichi is also more likeable in this season as he seems more approachable this time around.

Overall: 8/10
Even though I ended up scoring this season with a score lower than a 9.0, I still found myself really enjoying the closure provided for the entire cast. Every arc was fun and enjoyable to watch and I cannot wait to go back and re-watch the first and second season in the future.

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This season really kept me interested and I am glad that all the characters finally received an appropriate ending. I really wish they would make more anime in this format from old VN games...

"Amagami SS" Anime Review

***This is a spoiler free review***

Story: 9/10
One of my favorite genera for any form of entertainment is romance and when romance is done right, it can be a beautiful thing to encounter. There are however discrepancies between romance anime as some borrow too much from each other and thus become 'generic' or 'stale'. What Amagami SS has done may be too direct of an adaptation from a video game but I beleive that something amazing has been done. Amagami SS takes our male lead Jun'ichi on a trail to relieve his broken heart with many different females to chose from. Where this anime sets off on a different path than others is instead of choosing one female and leaving out the others or in quite the opposite form a harem, the story will reset itself after one successful life has concluded for Jun'ichi. It is quite literally like a dating game in the aspect that you are resetting and starting over. This might be a turn off to some people as each arc covers 4 episodes, resets and starts again but for me it worked very effectively. You might be thinking, "Well that's awesome and everything but wouldn't this fail if the characters were not interesting?" The characters will make or break the show for some people as it is entirely up to them to make the show interesting to the audience. I found myself liking all but one of the female leads so in mathematical terms, I liked 5/6th of the show. Each arc is much different in the way the story is approached. One of the arcs had the narrator and the main character conversing together while another arc had a more serious tone. You can quite literally just watch the arc of your favorite character and end the show there.

Animation: 7/10

The animation is about average but stays constant throughout the entire show. Although night scenes seem to stand out more, every arc has the same amount of detail as the one before or after. There are moments however that really shine when they need to such as the moment when Jun'ichi conquers his fear of heights with Kaoru on an observation tower. When the scene continues, it begins to snow and the artwork is stunning. These momentary moments however great do not make up for the sub-par animation the rest of the show presents. The character models are quite good as each female lead has a distinctive look and style that is not repeated for any other characters.


Sound: 6.8/10

The sound is not amazing but gets the job done. Each part of the city is matched with the correct sounding background music that sets the tone for the scenes. The voice acting (Jap. Dubbed) is fairly good with each actor matching the characters well. There is one character however that I just could not stand and thus ruined that particular arc for me.

Characters: 9/10

What romance feeds off of are the characters and how well the audience feels the characters worked with each other. Since each character arc only lasts four episodes, there is a very limited amount of time to set up a back story for each female and make it believable. Every lead in this show seemed like they would actually fall for Jun'ichi and did not seem 'fake' at all. Each character also had their own unique personality which for the most part I loved. Haruka is the school idol and beauty, Kaoru is the childhood friend that has a kinky attitude, Sae is the typical super shy girl that talks with a very soft voice (the character I could not stand), Ai who is the Moe swimmer, Rihoko who is also Jun'ichi's childhood friend has a happy and aloof outlook on life, and Tsukasa who I cannot talk a lot about without spoiling anything. Each character offered something different than the rest.

Overall: 8/10

It's a romance anime biased off of a PlayStation 2 dating sim that in my opinion was done very well. The characters were designed and voiced just right and offered six different high school romances that I loved. It is very hard for me to choose which arc I liked the most which makes it very good overall. To be able to distinguish which part of an anime you like the most is not necessarily a good thing in my opinion. To have an entire show be interesting from start to finish is a pretty hard thing to come by and thus is why Amagami SS receives a 9/10 from me. I strongly recommend this anime to all romance geeks out there. The whole time warp thing that happens at the end of each arc might turn off some watchers but I think if you stick with the show you will not be disappointed. The show is super accessible to anyone as you have a choice of what romance to watch.

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Not my favorite anime of all time but I really did like how they went about splitting up the time given to each character. Glad they didn't mess with the source material and make it some harem messy crap thingy...