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"Strong" FL who gets submissive yet denies liking the ML all the time, lot of arguing, pushy ML (which I like, even... but not in this manga, indecisive FL... honestly this is annoying. Very annoying.
Like, this really doesn't seem like a healthy relationship.
Do they even end up together? Because it just looks like a toxic relationship.
Ex. Naruse getting angry that Machida talked to... what's his name, the second love interest who clearly doesn't have a chance to begin with.
So, possessive ML and selfish FL who can't even decide what she wants.
The only good thing is that Naruse is handsome and the art style is very ... pretty, very 00s for sure.

But I'm still going to sell my volumes (it only recently started getting published there.) because this series is just, again, annoying.

A good manga which strays away from what made it such at the start.

Great 'rom' and 'com' parts, but they start to disappear after... some events. Which is where the story basically loses the 'com' part, with great comedy characters like Chika or Maki (my favs, btw) showing up less and less, and it focusing on drama - which is fine, but it shifts the tone of the story too much - + side characters when the point of the story was and should be Kaguya and Miyuki.

I can see why its liked and it's not *bad* but you should be sure about whether you're ... fine with the 'com' part of a romcom just... ending.

A classic, a perfect classic which is still deservedfully remembered today! One of the most iconic shoujo manga ever. Absolutely reccomended!

Warm and cute but with a lot of emotional moments which will make you teary and smile. Literally adorable, it may seem like a simple mahou shoujo manga - and yet has deep themes of love! Unrequited love, love of different ages*, love of the same gender, etc. Even minor characters like Sakura's classmates have time in the spotlight and get somewhat developed.

The art is perfect. Like CLAMP's may actually be my favourite artstyle. They're very very good at expressing emotions and scenery, like you ... can feel and experience the characters' emotions. Even if you don't like the shoujo style, you should definitely read it anyway. Because that's subjective, but CLAMP's drawings are objectively perfect.

*that is the only problem of the series, showing teachers in love with students. It's so easily ignorable though that it still deserves a 10 in my opinion, even if it would be better without such moments.

A manga full of very, very positive reviews. Which are deserved? Possibly. It does have some quality traits. I have to recognize it was wonderful if it was able to keep me reading for four volumes out of 12 (idk what chapter I'm at, since I am (well, was) reading the bunkoban version - but searching the discussione threads, it seems to be chapter 25) despite its flaws.

Let's start with the positives though. Bokutama (its short name in Japanese) is a story of reincarnation. Seven teenagers find out that they're the reincarnations of alien scientists with various ESP powers from a far away planet which ... got destroyed while they were investigating on the Earth, and have to come to terms with their past lives. It sure sounds like a dramatic masterpiece, doesn't it?

And it is - when it's about that. When it's about their discovering their identities - does remembering your past life mean that you are not the current you anymore? Will you reconnect with the other ones or try to deny and look at your current life? Bokutama even got some LGBT issues, which was great considering it got serialized in 1986. Enju decides to reincarnate as a male, Issei to be forever close - as friends - with her past love Gyokuran, even as just friends. And they are friends, as his reincarnation, Jinpachi, is male... but hetero. The former can't repress his feelings and is still in love with the latter, even if it is an impossible love as Issei was not loved even when he was Enju.

The art is gorgeous, if you're into old artstyles. There's a lot of detail (sure, not as much as modern shoujo manga) and even double spreads of space and stars can get emotional considering what they mean in the series. The problem is with the two main characters - Arisu, in the past called Mokuren, and Rin whose previous incarnation was Shion.

Arisu, our MC and supposed to have more traits than just "girl", with it being a manga written by a woman, is dumb as a brick - a squirrel may have a higher IQ than her. She is sixteen and after an accident where Rin regains the memories of his previous life, gets with him... a seven years old. A kid who along who manipulates everyone after regaining his memory (and his ESP powers) back.

He manipulates and gaslights the same Arisu he is supposed to love along with everyone else, pretending to be Shukaido, a character who got reincarnated into Fuyuhiko - as Shion was dark skinned and got black hair as the latter, while Shukaido was blond and light skinned like Rin - by blackmailing him. We see his backstory - he suffered a lot, but comes off as mostly just... edgy, even then.

Do note that him being edgy is not be a problem, actually! He's hot, no denying that. A typical handsome tsundere & edgy boy that we all love. (well, maybe not all. Personally I do.)
Expect that his past doesn't excuse the one thing that completely ruins a 10/10 masterpiece and makes you throw it away, disgusted.

That is, the romanticization of rape. Shion rapes Mokuren, and it is clearly described - you can't deny in any way what it was. You may expect Mokuren/Arisu to get with someone who loves her instead like Gyokuran/Jinpachi instead of her abuser, who hates her during all the story and "deflowers" her (she is seen as pure and sacred because of her particular powers that make plants grow), but nope. We are supposed to see it as a good thing and forgive him because of his tragic past. Gokuren is even happy afterwards (while screaming <<No!>> and <<Stop!>> the whole time) because now she is "human" and not pure anymore.

Some may be able to ignore the rape and pedophilia, and in general how toxic those two's relationship is as she gets manipulated in both lives. I can't, and it's even sad because it excels in everything else. Arisu realizing how wrong this was, not falling in love with her literal abuser would make you say "okay, it got such themes but they're clearly shown as bad". Instead, in the sequel she and Rin were respectively twenty-four and sixteen when their son and new protagonist was born. Yeah.

The romcom for every weeb which will make you think "wow... wish I had a relationship like them" - if you don't have one already! If you like Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun this is the perfect manga for you.

Three couples of otakus, all with different dynamics and personalities in a kinda-episodic series. The author clearly knows what shes writing about - otaku culture like videogames, manga, anime, cosplay, BL, etc is portayed so realistically.

It doesn't have much romance and it's mostly comedy - which while may be a negative to some, it definitely makes the romance chapters a lot more impactful, where the relationships of ... the three couples grow a lot. They all have different ways of showing their love - like Naru and Hirotaka's awkwardness, what with it being his first relationship and her first one where she doesn't have to hide herself, or Kabakura and Koyanagi's constant bickering which actually makes them love each other even more as they can reach their loved one half-way through.

And all of them grow thanks to the other, like Ko starting to develop friendships and growing more thanks to Nao.

There's also parts that make you think a lot. Should you hide your being an otaku, your hobbies and passions in general to seem "normal" to the others - like Naru and Kabakura do, or will you accept yourself? Probably not as the series shows us, with the main cast finding a friends group with their interest - but it does make you think, what will society think about your hobbies? Luckily, being an otaku is becoming more and more accepted.

Let's hope everyone reading (me included, ahah...) will get a cute and wholesome relationship like Wotakoi ones!

The so-called tear-jerker of the century, Ano Hi Mita Hana etc etc... or just, AnoHana.

Everyone considering it such-an-unique-masterpiece made me somewhat hyped to watch an anime with such a legendary status. I had it in my plan to watch for years but never felt in the right mood, and took the plunge since it was among the anime in the Summer Challenge interest stack.

It is a story about grieving, about the loss that mentally scared our protagonists up to this day after Menma's, the dead girl in question, death. And her sudden appearance as a ghost, which only the main character Jinta can see.

Let's say ... first that it is not *bad*. It is not *good*, either. It *works*, you know? It just, works. That is, depending on what you mean with works. Making you cry at the final episode? Sure, it did that, yes. Making you cry in general? I can count on one hand the other times I cried while watching AnoHana - maybe twice or thrice.

It starts strong, and makes you think it sure lives up to the title. And then, very, very quickly, starts to drag on. Ignoring how completely brainless both Jinta and Menma are, only thinking of making her pick up a pen and write to prove her existence near the end of the series, just... none of these characters gets any development, or is likeable.

Jintan - A shut-in who is traumatized by his mother and his love's death. He is supposed to be cool and a leader for some reason, but we don't see much of it. This doesn't exactly come from a genius, but he must be legit stupid. Still not over a dead girl, doesn't think for eight (8) episodes of a way to make the others notice her.

Anaru - Selfish and unlikeable, she wants to realize Menma's wish just so she can replace her in Jinta's heart. Not interesting in general.

Poppo - Doesn't do much and is the typical funny, big and loud comic relief. Which is good I guess considering the other characters.

Yukiatsu - A guy traumatized by his childhood crush's death (because everyone is in love with Menma there), who's way of healing is... *checks notes* cross-dressing as her, keeping a wig like her hair on a broom and sniffing it while talking with it, and trying to get with Anaru as a replacement.

Tsuruko - The one I dislike the least, which doesn't mean much with such a wonderful cast. Her whole character is about how she is in love with our so beloved cross-dresser.

Menma - The great and perfect girl which everyone loves. Why? We don't know and are never shown that. Even more airheaded than Jinta, and somewhat annoying, but she's excused for still basically having a child-like mentality.

There's not much development or any reason to care about these characters, at least to me. Most of the time, it felt like the show was throwing a "tearful" moment to tell (or order) us, the audience, to cry. And I like melodrama a lot - but AnoHana's feels just too forced, too unnatural.

The art and the soundtrack are great, though. You really can't say much negative things about them if any. And some episodes like the first ones or the last one (why, let's be nice and include even the tenth episode too) are actually nice enough, even managing to make you tear up somewhat. These reasons are why the rating is a 7 and not a 6.

It's just dragged down by it's characters (which are the most important thing in such an anime...) which, while kinda work enough for the sake of the story, are completely unlikeable. And being too long, and yet too short at the same time. It should've either had less episodes with everyone confirming that Menma is there earlier, or more and take the time to develop everyone more. Maybe even start with two or three episodes of them as kids and showing the day of her death along with the events leading to it, so the audience can get more attached to the characters.

Action. There's a lot of it, for sure. Or better said - it's the only thing going for this movie.
Let's start with a little synopsis, though. Spriggan is about Yu Ominae, a 17 (because of course, it's a shonen manga's adaptation afterall) years old members of an organization called ARCAM, which retrieves ancient artifacts to prevent them from being used for... destroying the world.

A cliché old story, which can still be done well... that is, if that was what the movie focused on.
Expect, it only focuses on fighting scenes. Which is not a problem itself, if there's enough time to still have a well-done ... story, but this is just not such an example.

But said scenes are done *very* well. I'm not a sakuga expert, but everyone can see how good they are and how pretty it looks as a result - the one and only Katsuhiro Otomo worked on it.

The story clearly suffers because of all the attention paid to the animation, though. Bland, boring characters - If we can even call them such, since they're basically plot devices. - without anything making you even remember about them. The MC, Yu, has a bit of a backstory, but it's still not enough to make the viewer care about him.

It tries to throw a "deep" plot with religious symbolism like Noah's Ark, and even "ecologist" bits in 90 minutes. It seems the manga it comes from has many small episodic arcs with no connections with each other (expect, well, having the same protagonist.). Then why not doing a series with like, say, three (?) episodes to each arc instead of this rushed mess?

It's rare, very rare for movies that try to fit too much into so little time to become something good, something you'd recommend to others, something worth watching. It got the production going for it, though! Again, the animation is very very good. I haven't seen and don't know how good the Netflix ONA version is since the CGI is off-putting for me, but the movie's 90s artstyle (may be a bit biased though.) still holds up today. That's just how 90s anime are probably.

So it is probably a 6 out of 10. Nothing to write about home and to suggest if you want a good plot - but if you want something cliché to turn your brain off while watching and maybe doing something else, with pretty animation and just looking for some cool fights, it's perfect for this job.