Back to peachykeylime's Profile peachykeylime's Profile

How life is a bejeweled treasure, laden with memories and beauty: sometimes it takes another person to make us realize it.

Story:
When I indulge in the seinen genre, I like to experience it with manga. There is a very special kind of feel to it, just like reading a book for which you hold fondness towards. No seiyuus to disturb the quiet and emotional atmosphere, no background music to annoy you distinctly, and the ability to go at your own pace, experiencing everything in its entirety. I was able to fulfill that need, and much more, by reading this exhilarating adaptation. The story- it is ... flawless. I'm not talking about originality or no fanservice or anything like that. You can read it, and feel like you're in the characters' shoes. It takes life, and turns it to a side we hardly touch. It is a raw, beautiful, twisted despair wrought into hope, and desire. The desire to take our memories, and add to them. The desire to see that same face every Thursday. In other words, the desire to live. Even if I'm not making sense now, you'll understand what I mean when you read this manga.

Art:
When opening up to the first page, one can immediately tell that the art gives way to a mature piece of work. The backgrounds are seen with ambient and filtered lighting, and it is easy to recognize the characters as being adults. The character design for Mutou Juri was the best one I have seen yet. Her long, slender arms are a characteristic of a pianist-which she is-and she has a kind of grace to her tall, slim figure and her mass of hair. The character expressions are also conveyed very explicitly without all the hassle of trying unnecessarily hard to infer what they are thinking. Every time the characters are shocked, it sends a brief arrow through my body. When they are happy, my heart feels warm. In simpler words, the art gets full points here.

Characters:
Each and every character in Our Happy Hours has a significant role to play throughout the course of the story. It is clearly noticed that their actions move the story along, and that if they were to do something other than what was staged, it would have drastically affected the plot and the conclusion. I also love the dialogue between the characters. The words they exchanged were very honest, and they moved me. The characters are also written beautifully. I never knew that a warden could be nice before. I just imagined them as cold-hearted, lifeless people who feed the prisoners and then take out their food tray when they are done eating. The aunt of Juri also served as the motherly figure she needed in her life. When the characters received whatever salvations they got in the end of the harsh series, I felt glad that they could move on. This means that I loved them and emphasized with them. Character development need not be mentioned, since real human beings are already changing in their short lives.

Enjoyment:
Honestly, whatever words I have spoken up until this point don't do justice to Our Happy Hours. There is only so much that I, an amateur reviewer, can say to express my whole-hearted love towards this manga adaptation. As long as you will read it and see the beauty in it as much as I have, then I shall be content with writing this review.

This might not be the best romantic comedy out there, in terms of both plot and characters, but it certainly has that essential element: funny romance of course! That's what makes a romantic comedy a fun watch, regardless of anything else.

Sound: 7 out of 10
Most of the credit here goes to the voice actors. One thing I really found unappealing while watching Kaichou wa Maid-sama was that the BGM came and went at random places. One scene, there will be music playing, but the moment the atmosphere changes, the music cuts off sharply. I mean, seriously?! There's no transition or anything, and ... they don't even handle the change properly. I get that there is a gag coming up but at least compose the music to suit this kind of progression! *Sigh* The opening and ending themes were...nice but average. I found myself skipping over them.

Art and Animation- 8 out of 10
The character designs were nice, and the art overall was not too painful to look at. We have some average background scenery with passerby depicted as blobs, but hey, average is better than humdrum. (Misaki in a maid uniform is cute. :D) Throughout this anime, there was sometimes really inconsistent animation. The illustrations would resort to signs with kanji script and the characters would dash in a straight line off the screen with a blast of smoke and dirt in their trail. Oh my gosh, how do you run without moving your legs?

Story:7 out of 10
The cosplay maid café was a minor setting amidst the romance between the student council president and a handsome stalker. The pacing in the beginning was really nice, until it got to the confession. (Maybe it turned bad before that part but I can't really remember.) After this point, it seemed like the two main leads were running around each other in different directions. I was so confused. They even conceived a love triangle on the fifth-last-episode and left it unfinished. That stupid guy still hadn't realized that Misaki was not for him, oh no. If they wanted to add the love triangle, they shoulda done it earlier or not at all.

Characters- 8 out of 10
And, of course, the characters were the ones that made it all enjoyable. We have Ayuzawa Misaki, the hard working student council president, who will do anything from kicking asses to locking boys up to maintain order. Then we have Usui Takumi, the mysterious but popular hot guy who finds out the president's secret. Just like the story, in the BEGINNING of the anime, their gradual chemistry was good. They had silly moments together, but Misaki turned to Usui whenever she needed advice, and they formed a friendship. After the confession though, Misaki shows her depressed side. I also blame Usui, for confessing in such a roundabout manner. Shame on you, Usui! As we continue further, Misaki starts to question the genuineness of Usui's behavior, and then BAM! A childhood friend appears, who is apparently a foodie, and finds out Misaki is the one. He has a backstory, but no development. No matter how slow their romance is, Misaki is still an awesome female character, and Usui is still awesome, and they are both hilarious, so I'm okay. Let's all laugh together!

Did I sound like I had a horrible time with this anime? Well, sorry, some people have to be critics sometimes. Kaichou wa Maid-sama is really funny and sweet, and I laughed out loud more than ten times, trust me. The elements of the genre are not to be diminished, but greatly mixed in with this really enjoyable anime. To conclude, I give the anime Kaichou wa Maid-sama a score of 8 out of 10. FINALE

Full of mirth and passion! Love Live! made me grin from root to seed and had me anticipated about something other than food. Yes, I swear by my marmalade that that is true.

Sound- 9 out of 10
Since this is an idol anime, the music and the sound are one of its crucial parts. Well, how should I put it- the music gave me happy vibes. I was compelled to jump up and dance around my room every time one of the songs came up, and they are idol songs, which is a little bit strange. First off, I feel ... that a lot of idol songs are "meh"; uninteresting, shallow, are so passionate and remarkable that they are out of my league, even if the singers are only a few years older than me. How would you know what a great future feels like, when you are a newbie and most of your happiness is superficial? That was the thing. The songs in this anime weren't superficial. They were wonderful and realistic, and made me feel like I could relate to them. Secondly, the voice acting was vewy vewy cute, and the way the characters sang the songs made it convincing that they were the ones singing the song. The BGM was punctual, and the OST was very satisfying. So, this anime already fulfills the sound category.

Art and Animation: 9 out of 10
The art is fantastic! It is nothing close to moe- not all of the characters are flat-chested, but there is no ecchi-type fanservice either. For the concerts, the outfits were very fashionable and stylish. The companies also gave the characters day to day outfits, besides their school uniform. Colorful and energetic gym outfits, simple yet sophisticated night clothes- sometimes their hairdos changed! The animation was varied and very steady. However, there is one complaint that I had. Was there 3-d animation in the dance sequences? It certainly looked like there was. Now, you're probably wondering, "What was wrong with the 3-d?" Hehe, nothing; I'm just kind of sentimental toward them. The 3-d had perfect timing with the regular animation, and there was nothing inconsistent about them; I just feel awkward about CGs unless it's Disney Pixar. I'm sorry!

Story- 9 out of 10
"Otonokizaka High School has recently had a status quo of lesser high school students willing to enroll in it. Due to this, it is going to close once all the current students have graduated. A group of girls are against this, and so they all want to do something to prevent it from closing. What do they decide to do? Become school idols to attract popularity to it!" As you can see right now, this plot is nothing out of the box and typical for a slice-of-life and music anime. On the other hand, that is not all it is. The characters face actual and realistic problems obstructing the path of their goal, and at times they don't get what they expected. While watching this anime, I never felt that their successes were patronized, and that their hopeless incidents were not dire enough. I was always anxious about what would happen next, and felt that the resolution was wrapped up nicely after I finished watching it. Oh, and how I was sad about finishing it.

Characters: 9 out of 10
This was probably the most enjoyable aspect of Love Live! for me. Honoka was a really passionate, energetic girl who reminded me once again that hard work pays off. Umi-chan acted like the elderly sister for Honoka and Kotori when they first started becoming school idols, setting a work schedule for them and checking if they were still following their diet. Honoka tackles every problem that comes in her way with a fiery spirit, yet she still has her flaws like everybody else. The characters developed throughout the series, and they were all especially likeable, even if Nico did annoy me sometimes. The characters upheld the spirit and passion in this anime, and each episode never failed to bring a smile to my face. They shall forever remain in my girly heart, Amen.

I'll tell you right now: if you didn't enjoy this show in any aspect, then you can never become a fairy, even if you do save your virginity until age 40. Who wouldn't smile once during this show? After I finished Love Live!, I cried out with the same devotion that Joan of Arc had bellowed for Jesus before she was finally reduced to ashes. I cannot tell anyone how spritely I felt during this endearing viewing session, and if I will ever have the same feeling again for any other idol anime I watch. FINALE

“So why did you want to kiss me?"
"We're friends aren't we?" Callum shrugged.
I relaxed into a smile. "Of course we are."
"And if you can't kiss your friends who can you kiss?" Callum smiled.”
― Malorie Blackman, Noughts & Crosses

Aqua Blue Cinema is as pure as innocence and fresh blades of grass, soaking in crystal clear water.
Story:
The story is very simple. Yui, an actress, and Tae, who is older than she looks, meet on a small cliff facing the shore. After Yui falls of the cliff into the sea, she loses her necklace, which was given to her by an ex-girlfriend who she really ... loved. Yui blames the incident on Tae, and so Tae must work as her assistant to pay for the necklace. As they interact with each other, each girl learns more about the other.
Art:
The characters are drawn very simply, but the art gives off the impression that Yui is an adult and that Tae is in junior high, when really they're not. Even though they're drawn ordinarily, they still look nice, and their body proportions are realistic. (Sorry if that sounded wrong, I didn't mean it that way.) The backgrounds are light and as ordinary as the characters, but it makes everything so much easier to look at.
Character:
The characters are nothing outside- of- the- box, but there is effective character development in this series. I think Tae and Yui are great together, and I like both of their personalities. Yui is easygoing and natural at acting, and Tae is so cute and gullible, but still tries to work everything out.
Enjoyment:
Combined with the epilogue at the end, I could say that I enjoyed this series since it was so innocent yet so simple when describing the relationship of a movie star and high schooler, set in a realistic environment with a realistic conflict and moderate amounts of drama and slice of life.