spotlight: Natsume Yuujinchou (anime)

It's a wonder that I've even been trying to show my enthusiasm for blogging. I've been slacking off extremely for the past couple weeks-- past month, actually-- and had even disregarded the December spotlight.

However, with the coming of the new winter season in anime as well as my continued love for shoujo manga, I think I can manage to post a few things here and there for the sake of keeping this blog alive somehow.

To start the year off, my first order of business happens to be the first spotlight of the year. The Januaray spotlight goes to none other than one of the best anime series of fall 2008 and hopefully of the winter season in 2009.

***




I'm hooked on this particular anime for many, many different reasons. I truly do believe that Natsume Yuujinchou can easily be called a "diamond in the rough." It's also one of those surprising pleasures that you would have never thought you'd fall in love with.


As explained many times before, I picked up this anime series purely because I thought the poster was gorgeous. The summary seemed cliched, just like any other supernatural series, and I hadn't had much high hopes for it in the first place. But then, after watching the first and second episode, ditching it for a while and then picking it back up, I found how refreshing and mellow the series made me feel.

I fell in love with it and then I basked in the moment of knowing that a second season would be airing soon after.

This is a true episodic series in which every episode has a story of its own, which also pertains to the rest of the running story line. And everything just kind of falls into place neatly and nothing seems forced. If a filler had been interjected, I don't think I would have noticed. Because even as the series progressed in a nonlinear fashion, our main hero, Natsume Takashi continues to develop and continues to grow and continues to learn new things about hisself, about the world around him, and about his special ability.


I fell in love with Natsume Yuujinchou, despite my main genre being romantic comedies based around shoujo manga. Comedy meshes naturally with the drama, the melodrama, the supernatural, and the everyday slice of life elements.

Instead of being a supernatural series with a side of drama, comedy and adventure, Natsume Yuujinchou prides itself on the drama and slice of life areas, which just so happen to have supernatural, comedy, with a side of adventure and sprinkles of action. Natsume Yuujinchou is not flashy or fast-paced, and Natsume Yuujinchou does not force action or comedy.

In a sense, it depicts one specific kind of subject: "This is what your natural life would be like if you could interact with ayakashi." And then, "This is what Natsume Takashi's natural life is like, having always been able to interact with ayakashi." There is nothing thoroughly exciting and funny about being able to see these things, and we are shown this through the flashbacks and the emotional stress that Takashi-kun exhibits throughout the series. He is in contact with ayakashi every day of his life, every hour of every day, and everything is suddenly second nature to him. Like interacting with various people, Takashi simply ignores what he doesn't care to see and deals with what he thinks should be dealt with.

This life is not an adventure for Takashi, this is just how life is for him. And the series does well to depict how he comes to accept his abilities and the constant presence of ayakashi around him. Yes, he is different from others and because of this, he has been shunned and thrown from household to household. But somehow, Natsume Takashi has been able to manage himself quite well.

In other comments and posts around the anime-internet community, it has been mentioned that Natsume Takashi's personality is quite different from manga to anime. In the manga, I've read, he is more melancholic and less kind than he is in the anime. Frankly, I really do prefer to see a serene and good-natured Natsume Takashi over one who will brood and hate because of his lonely and tortured history. Somehow, it adds onto the wonder and amazement that is the anime of Natsume Yuujinchou; the character of Natsume Takashi makes the series such a hit.


Everything from his past history, his flashbacks, his insecurity, his sense of needing to know where he belongs, and his consistent state of kindness and serenity towards the world and the people around him despite all that has happened to him make him a very unique person.

And it is this part of the series that makes for an awesome beauty. The characterization of Natsume Takashi. He can be melancholic, but in a rather subtle way, and he can be a bit terse. But he is depicted overall as a very nice boy who cares about the people around him and cares about the welfare of any perfect stranger, be that stranger ayakashi or human. He is simply lonely and full of concern about what will happen to him and about all the people he may or may not trouble because of his ability to see and communicate with ayakashi.

In a perfect world, one would be hard pressed to find such an optimistic person who has gone through what Natsume Takashi has gone through. But it is this type of person who allows the viewer a sense mysterious hope that not all views of life are filled with drawbacks and malicious evil. There is always a silver lining.

Natsume Yuujinchou is a wonderful and lovely series. And if you think I haven't boasted enough about it, then you haven't read my thoughts on the first season. Another written post for the second season may enter into this blog as well as soon as I finish watching it.


Throughout this post I have mentioned only the series itself and the main hero. I have made no mention of the fat cat, which is also a significant factor to the series. Of course, I feel like the anime really fluorishes because of its tone and it's slow paced storytelling. The characterization of Natsume Takashi is wonderful, and the supporting role of Madara/Nyanko-sensei is a must as the cat actually gives Takashi the hope that there is somewhere he belongs and someone who will always be with him. The introduction of each ayakashi and their episodic storyline can be touching or amusing, and they all add onto the greatness of Natsume Yuujinchou.

Natsume Yuujinchou is probably not for those who seek shounen adventures and the like. But I definitely recommend this series to anyone and everyone who just wants to sit back and relax with a good series. It is a series that needs to be felt rather than rushed through, and I enjoy watching the entire series slowly by episode as it seems only right to feel at ease when watching such a serene series.


Indeed, as the first spotlight of 2009, there is no other who could take the place of Natsume Yuujinchou, the unexpected treasure of 2008's fall season and the looked forward to love of 2009's winter season.

spotlight: Seiko-chin to Seishiro-kun

Due to my obviously likely nature at slacking off, the spotlight for November has been randomly chosen by way of "Hey this sounds pretty neat to share with the public!" Yea, I'm lazy, but I haven't even really had time to sit and make sure my feet are intact before getting up again.

Anyway, in all honesty, this particular post is really more about the latest chapter of Lovely Complex that I have been able to view as a fan.


Volume 15, chapter 56 is a special chapter of Lovely Complex dedicated to a short side story about Kotobuki Seishirou, otherwise known as Seiko-chan, and his cute little love story. Now, no Lovely Complex plot device is without some shocking, lulz-inducing twist by the ending. For those who haven't gotten that far yet, I will not give out the twist, but I assure you, by the end of the chapter, you will either be guffawing with laughter, or you will simply drop your jaws, too amused to even make a sound-- much like me.

As a brief cap, chapter 56 of Lovely Complex begins with cute little Seiko-chan looking extra sparkly and who "seems to be in love at the moment." We all remember that when Seiko expressed interest in poor A-chan long ago, it was quite difficult for the little midget not to succumb to Seiko-chan's "pheremones." After all, even though Seiko is really a boy named Seishiro, dressed as a girl and acting like a girl, he is definitely cuter than a lot of other girls.

This time around, Seiko has set his sights on another boy who stepped up and helped him out at the train station when he was being harrassed. Completely prepared to confess this new love, Seiko had even bought all new clothes and a thank you gift. Unfortunately, as biology dictates, it seems that Seishiro has finally become more male when his voice changes to a deeper tone. Because of this, Seiko believes he is disgusting and so has lost all confidence in confessing his love.


The plot of the story, of course has an interesting twist in the end in which we learn that the voice change had nothing to do with puberty, but in fact was really just because Seiko had had a cold. The surprising twist in the end is much more fun when found.

I really had a good laugh for this particular chapter, and it made me think of just how much I really admire and enjoy the presence of Seiko-chan in the storyline of Lovely Complex. Since the beginning, while my own ideals aren't quite that open yet, Seiko has proven to be a very courageous and beautiful person. After all, in today's society, there are still so many taboos and social restrictions and whatnot that make it hard for people to openly express their own likes and dislikes when they stray from what is believed to be the set "norm."

Kotobuki Seishiro is a boy, but he has always felt like he should have been born a girl. He loves to dress in cute clothes, wear his hair in pretty styles, and when placed within a group of girls, there is no telling that he is a boy at all. Seiko falls for those of the same gender, and his initial appearance in Lovely Complex was the means for Risa to realize that she was in love with Otani as well and that she shouldn't let trivial issues misguide her own feelings.

Seiko is very open and honest about himself. Even when made fun of, he can still smile and act cute like the best of them.

But when the "voice change" incident occurs in chapter 56, Seiko feels disgusted. He decides that he has no choice but to be a man now and forces himself to become Kotobuki Seishiro. Unfortunately, this plight is still overcome by the fact that Seiko loves cute things no matter what and cannot stand to be uncute at all.

So who is Kotobuki Seishiro, really anyway? Within this particular chapter, we get to see the male version of Seiko-chan-- which I bet fans have always wondered about. He is loud, obnoxious, and he's extremely depressing. Because as Seishiro, he just isn't the same Seiko-chan we've all come to know. He's unhappy with this transition and it isn't until Risa convinces him that Seiko-chan should never change.

***

As of the posting of this monthly spotlight, I am a little shamed to admit that next month will be extremely slow or even non-existent in the anicabyss blogging unit. My attention has not only been drawn away by other things, but my work hours seem to be never-ending and with the holidays coming up, there are way too many things to focus on.

In December, I will try what I can to post about certain anime and manga, but I make absolutely no promises. It will be a skimpy month, but my focus will be on at least one spotlight, and hopefully a featurette or editorial to finish off the year.

Due to all the above reasons, this was probably one of the worse spotlights I will ever create-- but don't hold your breath on that claim. For those who care, thanks for enduring my skimpy blog up to this date.

I will continue to improve, but I also plan on cutting down my blogging for a while.

spotlight: Kyoko-sama's dark magic... or just a favorite pasttime.

In keeping with the broadcast of Skip Beat!'s anime adaptation as well as my love for the almighty Kyoko-sama and her wild, extraordinary, wonderful, demonic personality, this month I would like to make mention of a particular item that I'm sure all Skip Beat! fans want a piece of.

In Volume 2, Act 15 of the manga, we are introduced to the infamous Ren and Sho voodoo dolls -- handmade by Kyoko and all accessories come separately.


As a part of her grudge at its best, Kyoko is extremely focused on doing whatever it is she can to take down the two men she finds that she scorns the most in her life. While Ren eventually becomes a respected senpai as an actor and as a person to her, there is no doubt that Kyoko had harbored no good will towards him in the beginning. As for Sho, there is no need to emphasize the hatred seething beneath Kyoko's determination to beat the man at what he does best.

Not only are posters tacked up in her room of the two men (size according to her level of hatred) but Kyoko has presented to the fans her very own handmade voodoo dolls. In essence, these are merely a form of hobby she does to relieve stress when she's caught in a corner.

In Volume 1, Act 3, page 16 of the manga -- yes, I am down to the detail -- we first see Kyoko sewing her first voodoo doll after witnessing the beauty of all the other auditioners for the talent section of LME. (Also see above for anime adaptation scene.) Because of stress, she pulls her borrowed sewing kit out and begins to make a voodoo doll, muttering something to the extent of needing someone's strand of hair for the thing to work. It is because of this that Kanae mistakens her for the "lost" Maria's mother and throws the child mercilessly at her. And it is because of this that Kyoko gets to make her first impression on the equally morbid and twisted young child.


In Volume 3, Act 16, as a ploy to "lure" Maria, the problem child and Takarada Lory's granddaughter out in order to help with a slight issue in the acting section of LME, the Kyoko handmade voodoo dolls are employed. It is here that we are introduced to the "Ren scared stiff of Kyoko" doll, the "Ren surrendering to Kyoko" doll, and the "Sho crying to Kyoko to admit his crimes" doll. There are many others, but either I've missed them or they have not made their debut.


Nonetheless, it is quite a wonder that Kyoko could do so much with just pictures and cheap fabrics and materials -- since she has no money. On top of that, the way in which she so carefully details each outfit on the dolls is extremely amazing to anyone who sees them. To Kyoko, this is just a way to relieve her stress and present her superiority versus Ren and Sho. She has absolutely no idea how strange or incredible it is that she could even get the fabric and the design of the dolls' clothes so exact.


As the story progresses, Kyoko rarely pulls out the voodoo dolls for anything other than to talk to them or pretend that they are talking to her. Especially with the Ren doll, as she grows to respect him more and more, she often pulls out a submissive Ren doll just for the purpose of imagining what he would say to her during certain situations. Sadly, Kyoko is a very good judge of character during the present story line, because she is really good at knowing what it is that Ren would say to her and usually she's right.

The dolls are an essential part of the storyline, not only because I think they're kind of cool, but they bring to Kyoko a very good ally in her plight.


Takarada Maria is the granddaughter of the president of LME and until she met Kyoko she felt that she could never trust adults at all. Kyoko straight forwardly treated Maria like she would treat anyone else, not mattering that Maria is just a child and definitely not mattering that Maria is the granddaughter of the company president.

Sharing a love for the "dark arts" in the doll's items, Maria easily showed herself upon seeing all the Ren dolls, praising them for their attention to detail. She then gets into a deep discussion with Kyoko about the different types of dolls that can be used and reveals that she's been trying to make Ren fall in love with her with various types of dolls.

Kyoko, of course, uses her dolls for the sake of cursing Ren and Sho. On a side note, it mentions in one scene of the manga that Kyoko will work on her dolls whenever she is feeling particularly stressed.

Handcrafted wonderfully, I'm sure everyone would love to have a submussive Ren or Sho doll. I'm almost tempted to google such items to see if any company has decided to manufacture these dolls. I'm sure a lot of fans would do the same.

So why are the voodoo dolls created by Kyoko-sama the spotlight for October? There are a plethora of reasons.

Kyoko has too many traits about her that I want to talk about from her personality to all her little crazy, quirky actions. If I wanted to do a spotlight on her, it would take a long time to accumulate all of her qualities on paper. And also, I want to leave all of that for a feature piece in the future. Make no mistake, I would probably do a spotlight on Kyoko and there is a possibility that I would do it next month or the month after. I love this girl a lot just because of how strong and innocent she can be.

But I ran out of time because the end of the month is drawing near and I really couldn't think of a good spotlight for this month. And then I decided on writing one over a particular item in a manga or anime and the first thing I thought of that stood out were the dolls.

A wonderful idea if I may say so myself. And along the way, it is October and Halloween is coming up soon. While voodoo dolls cannot be counted as items for the holiday, they are nonetheless something associated with the dark arts, which in turn can be associated with Halloween. Good twist, no?

Anyway, of all the quirky Kyoko habits, I found this one to be one of interest. Just the amount of work and detail that go into making her dolls is a wonderful feat. I often tell myself that Mogami Kyoko is not as simple as she always seems. There is just so much to this girl and Moko-san is right to fear her.

As an afterthough, I look forward to seeing the actual dolls in animation soon.

*All photo's credited to Skip Beat! and its creator Nakamura Yoshiki.
*Anime screenshot taken from Skip Beat!'s second episode.

spotlight: Sheet no Sukima (manga - mature)

A little late, but here it is, the spotlight for this month that I'd been putting off because I couldn't really figure out what I wanted to write about it.


Warning: Even though this post does not contain anything fairly explicit in terms of adult themes, the manga mentioned is indeed filed as smut mature. Also, this post even makes mention of such things as sex and may offend those who do not take kindly to open mention of mature themes. Please proceed if you are okay with reading about smut.


Ahem... First of all... yes, I do read manga that is a little adult in nature. I indulge because I can.

But aside from being a little smutty, showing some nudity as well as some intense X-rated sex love scenes, the artwork, story, and complete feel of this particular manga by Yoshihara Yuki is actually very beautiful and cute. First and foremost, the work by Yoshihara Yuki, I've noticed is romantic comedy. The smut is just an added bonus to us obsessed fangirls...



Sheet no Sukima is a collection of six short stories that contain romance, comedy, intimacy, and even some angst and drama. But I make no mistake when I mention that the manga doesn't go out of its way to display sex, sex, and more sex as the main part of the stories. In fact, the way the stories flow, love scenes are weaved in as if they were just another part of a couple's intimate life. Because, after all, even though I'm a one hundred percent virgin in RL, I understand that sexual intercourse is a fairly natural part of life.

But my take on the subject is really better off left for some other post not related to anime and more for some unrelated, controversial website.

Within this little gem of a oneshots collection I was graced with three romantic comedies and three not so comedic romances.

First off, Sheherazade and the title oneshot Sheet no Sukima are my personal favorites of the entire collection. Yoru no Bannin is also a cute little story, but different from the rest of the oneshots, it does not contain an ounce of smut at all. Kizuato, and Izayoi are both much shorter one shots that each have quite a surprising twist in the ending two pages that you would have never guessed. Blanc is a bit more twisted in nature with no actual surprise plot or endearing romance, and is probably just a filler with smut on another controversial topic. Of the latter three, Kizuato has a rather sad ending that moves your heart-- even if only for a second.

So why is this particular manga the spotlight of this month? I had so many spotlights planned, but all-in-all, I could not resist making Sheet no Sukima the gem of September.

Basically, I just loved the romance and the comedy within the first three oneshot stories to death. They were funny at the right moments, romantic at the right moments, and Yoshihara-sensei doesn't go overboard trying to cover the panels with nudity or explicit material.

Altogether, the collection is a wonderful, beautiful read. I simply just enjoyed it so much that I just had to give it a special post. And a spotlight seemed perfect.

I plan on writing an actual thoughts with short summaries over this manga, so I won't try to give too much away.

But if I wanted to point out one scene within the manga that I thought was absolutely breath-taking, it would surprisingly have to be a certain love scene in the first oneshot, Sheherazade. As I am trying to keep this blog a little more or less not above X-rated, I can't post this particular scene as a picture and I mention it so that others may see for themselves if you happen to be little offended by mature content.

But after reading over the manga for the second time mainly for the story itself, I sat and stared in some sort of entranced way at one particular scene of the main couple sitting together nude about to slip into another night of passion. The background is completely black and the flower effect is drawn around them to add onto the beauty. Even for a love scene it was quite beautiful and I couldn't help but to just "look" at it and think: "Wow! This is gorgeous!"

In a weird way, it totally overshadowed the fact that the main couple would soon end up making love in the next few panels and that the manga itself included smut. The scene was just plain and simply beautiful.

In the end, the more I think about the manga, the more I felt that it deserved a good mention. Because it contains explicit material, and because Yoshihara-sensei is mainly a mangaka of the adult genre of romantic comedies, anyone who isn't open to such types of manga would probably miss out on this collection of oneshots, and thus miss out on the first two commendable stories, Sheherazade and Sheet no Sukima.

The characters are created uniquely, and Yoshihara-sensei has a good eye for handsome manga men and beautiful manga women. Most importantly, amidst all the shoujo manga that focus always on high school students and their loves and such as well as the taboo on "sex as high school kids", Yoshihara-sensei focuses more on those men and women who have already stepped into society as adults with careers and don't make such a big scene about sex being taboo.

Aside from being enraptured by Sheet no Sukima, Yoshihara-sensei has become one of the few liked mangaka I've found. Aside from her pretty character designs, her comedic timing and the way in which she artfully portrays the humor is very enjoyable. Although unfortunately, like all shoujo manga, Yoshihara-sensei's stories also base themselves around the nice, calm and level-headed male and a rather crazy and hormone driven, ditzy female.

But I digress.

Sheet no Sukima is absolutely a wonderful experience. Forget the fact that it is labeled as smut or mature! Forget the fact that some taboo themes occur in two of the six oneshots in this manga collection. Even if the first three were the only oneshots of the collection that I read, I would be completely satisfied because they are, as mentioned already, first and foremost romantic comedies.

I highly recommend this collection of oneshots to anyone who doesn't mind a little nudity and a little bit of adult material. And sooner or later, I also plan on writing a thoughts post on this manga.

But here you finally have September's gem spotlight.

spotlight on: Nakahara Aya

As a tribute to few of the wonderful things anime and manga which stand out to me on occasion, the spotlight feature was decided on when I planned this blog. Basically, there are a lot of notable people, situations, manga, anime, characters, etc., etc., and so on that catch my attention and pester me until I realize just how awesome that particular thing is.

The monthly spotlight can be a tribute to anything in the anime and manga world. In fact, there are a plethora of spotlights I've been planning already, but here is the very first one. There is no limitation to what the spotlight can be and I don't even really have a set guideline for how to draft this particular feature.

All in all, I just happen to find something of interest and end up favorite-ing it to the point of obsessive love and doting. It's quite fan-girl-ish and very appropriate for an otaku's anime and manga and shoujo demographic blogging experience.

But anyway, enjoy...




I know very little about this infamous mangaka except that her creation of 'Lovely Complex' is probably one of the best contributions to shoujo manga (and the manga and anime world) ever. As per Nakahara-sensei's Baka-Update's page, I know only that she is female, born on July 28 and loves to read manga as a hobby. A list of her manga can be found there as well.

My personal favorites include (but not limited to):
1. Lovely Complex
2. Hanada
3. Tokimeki Gakuen Ouji Kumi
4. Nanaco Robin

Granted these are all not completely translated and made available to us westerners, I still found what little of Hanada and Nanaco Robin I've read very enjoyable. I think I've basically loved everything of hers I've seen so far.

Her artwork isn't at all ordinary when I compare it to others. Granted, it's not the most beautiful, but it is very pretty. Her bishounen's are gorgeous, her girls are delicate and pretty-looking, and her characters aren't over exaggerated.

The storylines of her manga are very... "real life"-like, is how I want to put it. Her characters can range from all sorts of different personalities: cool, ditzy, rough, weird, cute, and most importantly, REAL.

I absolutely love how her main female characters are not distinctive of how the majority of shoujo heroines are stereotyped. They don't have to be utterly cute and beautiful 100% of the time to be lovable -- a la Koizumi Risa.


As a repeat, 'Lovely Complex' is a prime example of how the main characters are not the normal shoujo manga romance couple. On a physical sense and on a personal level, they look anything but like a couple in love. They are not lovey-dovey all the time, they spend their dates insulting and making fun of each other, and as their trademark, Risa is even 16 cm taller than Otani by the end of the series.

Unlike other shoujo manga heroine, Risa doesn't sparkle with a flowery background and neither does Otani. Risa is not cute by any manga standards, but has her own beauty and charm. She is a very pretty girl with a gorgeous personality. Otani does not fit the description of a bishounen by any standards because he is short and he is NOT charming nor is he handsome. He is good-looking in his own way and has that hidden heart of gold that makes him so likeable. This couple is not typical of cute shoujo demographic romance couples, but they work out very well because of all the development put into bringing them together, and because of their own unique personalities.

As another example, her volume of oneshots, Himitsu Kichi consists of stories with very oddly paired couples. So as not to spoil the surprises, I won't summarize any of the three oneshots I've already read.

Nakahara-sensei has excellent comedic timing and it shows in all of her works, especially in Lovely Complex. She doesn't exhibit slapstick, laugh-out-loud, make them spurt milk out of their nose comedy like most of this genre do. Her comedic presentation is very subtle and weaves itself smoothly into the storyline, making you just stop and think and then laugh out loud when you realize what's going on -- all in the same split second. Sarcasm and the element of obviousness is a huge factor in her works, and she will even throw in a lot of unexpected surprises that just makes your jaw drop.

You will end up commenting, "Huh... that was really funny." And then you will laugh about it and think about it more. No matter how many times you read her manga again and again, those same comedic moments never cease to amaze you.

In the end, for me, it is mostly her storylines and her comedy that make me love her so much. Although Lovely Complex is her most popular, I think the rest of her manga should also be given a chance to shine, because ultimately, they will outshine a good majority of the shoujo mangaka out there.


As an end of post note, I had recently read the first story in Tokimeki Gakuen Ouji Kumi and found it to be one of my most favorite oneshots. I can't wait to read the rest of it and, as another side note, this particular first story will be given a post of its own. After all, the two main characters are also atypical shoujo manga protagonists.