Squeaky Clean Anime Taste Test: WataMote Episodes 1-3 (12 Days of Anime 2014 Day 6)

I know, I know, I'm doing a Taste Test of a short anime! But the only reason I am doing so is...
BECAUSE I WAS CHALLENGED!!!

It all started when Glass Reflection started his "Review Week of Awesome," and he gave the "F**k It" rating to this anime. I posted a comment (Here's the important part: I skipped to the end of the review because I was busy, and soon after, I was specifically asked to watch the first three episode because "I can't form my own opinions." I later watched the entire review here) Here's the screenshots of the comments:

(I thought the first episode of Lucky Star was the most boring first episode I've ever seen in anime)

By the way, the original video was taken down, then re-uploaded.

So, as you can see, I was told to try the first 3 episodes before calling it a bad anime. And thus, this Taste Test.

Yes, WataMote, is a slice-of-life, but with a concept I don't think has been used to this extreme before. The story is quite simple. Tomoko Kuroki is an unpopular girl, sometimes referred to as a "mojō." She hoped that with entering high school, she would magically become popular. Well, she didn't, so using her "research" from otome games, as well as the almighty Internet, she seeks out ways to be popular, or at least get boys to notice her.

I definitely see the appeal of this anime, and the otaku references certainly got a laugh out of me. (The Death Note one was the best by far) But the problem with this story is, it was most likely made for all these otaku to reflect on their past experiences and laugh at themselves with retrospect. Instead, it brings up some not-so-good memories of my shut-in otaku self, and I know others have felt the same way when watching this anime. I'm pretty sure many of you reading this have felt the pain of a close friend who was once really dorky suddenly blossom and mature, while you stayed behind. Or get told off by a teacher really loudly in the middle of class because you forgot something. Tomoko is often put into embarrassing situations, and she is constantly feeling horrible as a result. This is where the "cringe" in cringe comedy gets put. And I'm not fond of those "awkward moments" in anime. At all.

As a character, Tomoko is probably the most relatable one I have EVER seen, almost to a scary extent. Some of Tomoko's spiteful lines she spouted off have come out of my mouth, or at least, brain, almost word for word. However, it's her motivation overshadowing her common sense that makes me think this show didn't treat her with much respect. Which is a bit of a shame, considering that they chose to make our recluse character a female, which doesn't happen that often in media. Tomoko legitimately has social anxiety disorder, and she cannot help that. The fact that this show tries to sort of mock that has led some people to dislike this anime. Tomoko's younger brother, Tomoki, is the brother character I don't think I've seen in anime before either. He's always annoyed, crabby, and doesn't like putting up with his sister.  The great thing about this brother-sister relationship is that it's very realistic. As I'm only three episodes in, there really aren't any more characters for me to talk about.

The art and animation never sticks to one style an entire episode. Sometimes this is to indicate Tomoko's fantasies, her nightmarish predictions of what is to happen next, or simply for the purpose of reference/otaku humor. Lighting also had an effect on the scenes, and a lot of times these polygons of light will fill a scene or set. Tomoko's fantasies are usually in a particular filter, while her nightmares have another. I like the character designs of putting marks under the Kuroki siblings' eyes to indicate that they're constantly under stress.

As far as dubbing goes, I was a bit skeptical when I found out Monica Rial was cast as Tomoko a few months ago. I thought, "She's a great actor, but only the directors at Funimation are good enough to utilize her talent to the fullest." However, she really worked well with the material she was given, and made her performance as Tomoko very believable. What Monica did better than her Japanese counterpart Izumi Kitta were the times when Tomoko was forced to interact with regular people. Aside from David Matranga as Tomoki, there were no other stand out roles in the dub, which was filled with Sentai Filmworks regulars. The Japanese version, however, made it sound, I want to say, a bit more natural. Izumi Kitta did a phenomenal job as Tomoko, and her performance shines the best when she's being her forever alone otaku self.

I did notice a little bit of 8-bit in the soundtrack, which I thought to be incredibly fitting, considering out main character is an otaku girl. The rest of the OST, however, is rather mundane, and comprised of those "little sounds" and "short repeated melody runs" that tend to fill up soundtracks of slice-of-life anime. The opening, on the other hand, is this awesome, really unique almost-hard-rock song that totally blows the rest of the soundtrack out of the water. The ending theme is alright, I guess.

WataMote is selling itself as a 12-episode chunk of high concentration cringe comedy. The problem with this type of setup is that the "comedy" may actually hit a little too close to home for much of the audience. Some people might watch an episode and walk away feeling better, and some may feel worse. Me, personally, I was actually split about halfway. For every time I thought I was looking into a portal of my past self, another time forced me to realize I am doing exactly what Tomoko is doing wrong. Now, if this anime was trying to get otakus to change themselves...well...that actually opens up another can of worms that I don't think I have enough time to discuss on this Taste Test.

As far as enjoyment goes, it was fine, but the show did have those moments where I just wanted to look away or mute the sound, just because the situation was so awkward. I will say though that the references made up for this show a lot more than it probably should have.

Now, you may not know this, but I have a policy about anime. No matter how bad it is, no matter how boring it is, I will almost never drop an anime (There are exceptions, such as Negima and the previously mentioned Lucky Star) I almost always plan on finishing an anime sometime in the future, whether that be in two days or two years. And it is this that forces me to watch the rest of WataMote. The question is then, of when I will get around to watching it. If I'm looking for a comedy, I might pick this one up. But I don't think I'm in that big of a rush to finish this, even though I've only got nine more episodes. As far as if I recommend this, I'd say watch it if you're prepared to feel uncomfortable at least a few times. This is not a show for regular people at all. 

If you like the sound of this anime, you can watch it for free legally here.

Cheers,

~Selena

Last Updated: 25 December 2014

Originally published: 19 December 2014

Christmas Episodes in Anime! (12 Days of Anime Day 4)

I realized the post I was planning on publishing today should be held off until next week. So, instead, you get this.
I'm making this post one step above TV Tropes' Christmas episode page in that I am telling you exactly which episodes they are. Hooray for Wikipedia!


Let's get an obvious one out of the way. If you're REALLY looking for an anime to put you in the Christmas spirit, there is no better option than Satoshi Kon's Tokyo Godfathers. Sure, it's a feature-length film instead of an anime episode, but it's far less darker than Kon's other work. Three homeless people find an abandoned baby on Christmas Eve, and they set out to find its mother, encountering many quirky characters along the way. While I actually didn't think this movie was that great when I first watched it, I don't think I've seen or heard of anything quite like it since regarding anime.


In a complete contrast to Tokyo Godfathers, episodes 28 and 31 of Hetalia: Axis Powers are short, ridiculous, and about as rudely stereotypical as the rest of the show. Episode 28 finds Finland dressed as Santa, while episode 31 has many of the countries being interviewed as to how they spend their winter holidays.


Episode 17 of Azumanga Daioh sees our 6 girls in plenty of Christmas shenanigans. (Sorry, on those I have not seen, I'll only provide a brief description, with the help of Wikipedia and TVtropes)


Episode 7 of the first season of K-ON! has a Christmas party for our moe-troop.


Love Hina has a 45 minute Christmas special. It's the first of only two TV specials, so it should be pretty easy to find.


Season Two, episode 19 of School Rumble is almost exactly what you'd expect from the series. Harima's rush to bring in a manuscript, curry, and misunderstandings.


Back to the cute girls! Episode 22 of The Idolmaster involves *sigh* all of our girls having a Christmas Party together.


I don't recommend you watch this, unless you've seen the entire anime already, but episode 12 of Chrono Crusade is a bit more plot-oriented than most of the episodes on this list.


Aaaaaand, we're back to the slice-of-life genre, where we see episode 11 of probably the most famous slice-of-life anime out there, Lucky Star.


Episode 13 of Kamichu sees a Shintoist trying to combat Christmas. *grabs popcorn*

And, that's about it from me! (Although if you REALLY need your Christmas fix of anime, I suggest you do a bit of research...)

Cheers,
~Selena

Last Updated: 17 December 2014
Originally Published: 17 December 2014

Free! Eternal Summer English Dub Cast Thoughts (12 Days of Anime 2014 Day 3)

I know it's been a while since the cast was announced, and we haven't gotten a dub trailer yet, but I would like to express some of my thoughts on this casting.
I will do this in order of when the announcements came out.


J. Michael Tatum as Rei Ryugazaki

Awwwww, double megane! I was hoping for Rei to be voiced by Chris Cason, because I was imagining Chris' Hanai (School Rumble) voice with Rei's face, and it all fit together so well in my mind. That said, however, I can totally imagine the Tatum with a ridiculously flamboyant and fabulous voice deserving of the character.


Greg Ayres as Nagisa Hazuki

At first, I wished that the roles of Nagisa and Aiichro were switched around. However, after Anime America Podcast published this video, I quickly warmed up to the idea.


Johnny Yong Bosch as Makoto Tachibana

Alright, I'll admit it. This announcement had me fangirling the most. First of all, I'm very happy Johnny is doing dubbing work for Funimation, which is in Dallas, and not just staying in L.A. (But I believe that's because he's done working on Bleach with VIZ.) I have great confidence in him to properly portray Makoto. Although I wanted Vic Mignogna to voice him, because I was imagining his Tamaki from Ouran voice, but less crazy, and sweeter, as Makoto. And here comes the fangirling: MY HUSBANDO. VOICED BY ONE OF MY FAVORITE ENGLISH VOICE ACTORS. OHHHHH MYYYYY GOSHHHHH.


Todd Haberkorn as Haruka Nanase

In my opinion, Todd is at his best when he's voicing characters with a screw loose, see Natsu, Death the Kid, and Italy, which is why I wanted him to voice Momotaro. But I'm totally okay with this casting choice, even though I wanted Haru-chan to be voiced by Micah Solusud... 

But I know Todd has the range to pull off this role, and the chemistry between him and Vic, who plays Rin, will boost this dub's quality.


Vic Mignogna as Rin Matsuoka

I would like to say at this point that I think those who started the angry petition to re-cast Rin were completely out of their minds, and Justin Sevakis does a great job explaining why here (It's the last question and response, and the forum posts are a good read too.) And whoever "leaked" the announcement, well, yours did look good...(I swear that photo up there is the legit one)

When I was thinking of who to pick for Rin, I was having a very difficult time, actually. I think Vic is a great actor, and I was greatly troubled to hear all of the initial negative feedback from the community upon this announcement being made. I have good faith in him to portray Rin very well.

Josh Grelle as Aiichiro Nitori

I actually think Josh could pull off Nitori's quiet and sweet disposition quite well, in fact. I'm also happy Josh is in this dub to begin with.


Jerry Jewell as Momotaro Mikoshiba

First, I don't think I've heard Jerry in a recent dub, to be honest. I'm still a little skeptical of how he'll do Momo's crazy personality, but I am happy he is finally getting the chance to exercise his range.


Ian Sinclair as Sosuke Yamazaki

I knew Sosuke had to have a super-manly voice, and in my ear fantasies, I thought Robert McCollum would fit the bill perfectly. But, Ian is a very talented actor, and I am perfectly happy with this casting decision.

Jamie Marchi as Gou Matsuoka

Unless Jamie really impresses me with her range, I am most skeptical about this casting decision. In the original Japanese, Gou has such a sweet and girly voice thanks to Akeno Watanabe. So I was hoping someone with an equally girly voice, such as Luci Christian or Alexis Tipton, would be cast. Jamie Marchi, however, seems to do more of those seductive, sarcastic, bossy, and brash voices. Only the trailer, though will cement an opinion from me.

Caitlin Glass as Miho Amakata, Chris Sabat as Goro Sasabe, and Robert McCollum as Seijuro Mikoshiba were all great casting choices. I can't really form an opinion on Clifford Chaplin as Takuya Uozumi, or Micah Solusod as Kazuteru Minami, as these guys are only minor characters.

Those were all of my thoughts of the Free Eternal Summer English cast, but now I want to know yours! Which role do you think was cast the best? The worst? Let me know in the comments!

Cheers,
~Selena

Last Updated: 3 January 2015
Originally Published: 16 December 2014

Studio Awards/Opinions! (12 Days of Anime 2014 Day 2)

In my 2 1/2 years as an anime fan, there are certain trends you notice regarding anime studios. This post can serve as satire, a noob's guide, a place for controversy, but I have just wanted to post something like this for a while (I've been mentally dong this thing for a while...)

Anyways...

Studio Infinite Pockets: Bones


Studio Infinite Pockets, Type-Moon version: Ufotable

Most Prolific: Madhouse

King of Mecha: Sunrise

Terrible Artwork: Artland (Ironic...)

Lots of Romances: Brains Base

Shadiest Studio: TNK

Worst Adaptations: Gonzo

Masters of Moe: Kyoto Animation


Least Consistent: Gainax


Kids Shows: Toei Animation


Long-Running Shonens: Pierrot

For the love of Sci-Fi and Clamp: Production I.G


Cleanest Character Designs: A-1 Pictures


Worst Character Designs: Deen

Shinbo's Head Tilt: Shaft


Shin Onuma: Silver Link


Tsundere girls: J.C. Staff


This was all I could come up with, but feel free to comment on some of yours!

Cheers,
~Selena

Last Updated: 28 December 2014
Originally Published: 15 December 2014

The Best Anime on Netflix Instant (12 Days of Anime 2014 Day 1)

If you're on vacation or break this time of year, and have a Netflix subscription, why not get away from all the cold and instead stay inside and marathon anime? So, get some snacks, a nice blanket, perhaps a hot drink, and be prepared for some awesome...

There are no movies on this list, sorry.

For the sake of people with different amounts of free time on their hands, this will be divided into 3 categories. Short, medium, and long.

First off, short anime. (11-13 episodes)


Puella Magi Madoka Magica 
Length: 12 episodes+Rebellion movie (Not on Netflix)

I've already reviewed this anime, and the good thing about Netflix is that their version is the fully touched up Blu-Ray release version, not the terrible TV version ones. It's actually one of the few anime series I've seen that actually comes close to its hype. A very wonderful magical girl deconstruction, it tells a great story, and wraps it up perfectly in a small, 12 episode package. But I won't exactly same the same about the Rebellion movie...


Princess Jellyfish
Length: 11 episodes

Josei anime is not very common. Which is a shame, because they can be sooooo good, without a lot of the superficial stuff shojo is known for. Princess Jellyfish tells a simple story of an apartment complex full of otaku women and a crossdressing male that enters their lives. Sweet, positive, and tastefully mature, Princess Jellyfish will even have the guys laughing from time to time.


The Devil Is A Part-Timer!
Length: 13 episodes

Sure, it's a fish-out-of-water comedy, but it sports a surprisingly good English dub, unique characters, and the comedy is actually refreshing compared to all those moe/ecchi-loaded otaku humor shows out there these days.

For those of you with a little more time and/or want to sink your teeth into a longer story, here I have the medium length shows (20-40 episodes).


Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann 
Length: 27 episodes (26, in my book, because episode 16 is an unnecessary recap episode)

From episode 1, this anime just swells in size so rapidly, no anime has matched it (though some come close) But this anime actually isn't as dumb as it may seem, there's some great character development and even social commentary wonderfully mixed in.


Death Note
Length: 37 episodes

Honestly, if you haven't seen this, put this RIGHT ON THE TOP of your priority list. Death Note is a constant cat-and-mouse mind game, but you never really know who is the cat and who is the mouse. Seriously, this is a must-watch.


Ouran High School Host Club
Length: 26 episodes

Having loved the anime so much that I went out to read the entire manga, this is probably my favorite romantic comedy anime ever. Bones made this anime look astonishingly gorgeous, and the comedy is suitable for both male and female audiences.

Lastly, if you've got a lot of time to kill, here are the long anime (around 50+ episodes).


Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)
Length: 51 episodes+Conquerer of Shamballa movie (Not on Netflix)

While its much better counterpart, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, is my favorite anime of all time, part of the reason I'm recommending the original series is because Netflix is missing the last 12 episodes of Brotherhood. Neverthelss, what original series does better is making the adventure feel more natural, instead of havng this massive influx of PLOT thrown at you every single episode, no matter how good that plot may be. The original series also sports one of the best "anime exclusive endings" I have ever seen.


Hunter x Hunter (2011 version)
Length: 148 episodes (Only the first 100 are on Netflix)

I know many people have seen this, but, for being the #4 highest rated anime on MyAnimeList (Yeah you read that right), I actually haven't heard a lot from the fandom about this anime. It's a tournament based shonen from the crater of Yu Yu Hakusho, I mean COME ON!

Fairy Tail
Length: 175 episodes (First 48 are on Netflix)

Yes, all three long anime on this list are shonen anime. But the reason I recommend Fairy Tail is its entertainment value. I don't recall ever being bored while watching this anime, and the strong sense of comradire between our four main characters is unlike anything I've see in anime. And these 48 episodes stand on their own quite well, actually. 

Whew! That's all from me! (Applauds self for publishing this on time...sort of)

What are some of your favorite anime series on Netflix Instant?

Cheers, 

~Selena

Last Updated: 14 December 2014

Originally Published: 14 December 2014

I will (try to) do 12 DAYS OF ANIME!!!!!

I KNOW, I KNOW, I'M NOT DEAD!!!!

First and foremost, I would like to apologize for my lack of blogging recently. I've been over-piled with work, and lacked motivation to write any reviews or even Taste Tests (even though I've sampled quite a few shows.)

BUT THAT ALL ENDS! Because from December 14th until Christmas Day, I will post something on this blog! *Gasp* Yes, I'm jumping on the bandwagon, and I know I'm not a vlogger, but still, I think you guys deserve a stream of content from me after my unannounced hiatus. I'm NOT, however, sticking to a particular theme, or reflecting on this year's anime, because I don't really watch simulcasts. I'm going to post ANYTHING related to anime and manga.

So, what can you expect from me during these days?

-At least one review
-At least one Taste Test
-At least one Tops list (I'm thinking of renaming that...)
-Something a bit along the lines of #EducateAnime
More, More, More...

So, yeah. Gonna start getting posts ready.

*Looks at pile of work*

Yeah, I'll just see how his goes.

Cheers,
~Selena

Last Updated: 10 December 2014
Originally Published: 10 December 2014

2,000 Pageviews!!!

Whooooooo!!!! This time it only took about 3 months to get another thousand pageviews!

I am VERY grateful to everyone who has seen this blog, and I am happy that my advertising has payed off (especially at Geek.Kon!)

Still, I am always open to any intelligent feedback on my posts and how I can improve the quality of my posts and this blog.

Here's to another wonderful 1,000 pageviews!

Cheers,
~Selena

Oh, and Happy Halloween!

Last Updated: 31 October 2014
Originally Published: 31 October 2014

Squeaky Clean Manga Volume View: Natsume's Book of Friends Vol. 1

Ahhhhhh! It's been forever since I published something manga related!!!

So, how exactly did I end up picking this up? Well, I was browsing the manga section of the library, when this caught my eye; something new. And I knew that the anime adaptation of this is somewhere in the top 30 on MAL, so that had me interested. So, what did I think of this volume?

We are introduced to a character I initially thought was a girl, Takashi Natsume. The reason I thought he was a girl was I thought his name was Reiko, which is actually his grandmother's name (she's important). His whole life, Takashi (he's referred to as Natsume in the manga, which I found to be very confusing) has been able to see yokai, spirits/monsters of Japanese folklore. (Gee, how many times have we seen this premise?) He then accidently releases a cat yokai, who informs him of his grandmother's "Book of Friends." It contains the names of all the yokai she met, and having these names, she can give them any order and they will obey. But yokai are after Takashi for their names, so he decided to return all of them, though doing so takes a great deal of energy.

What I found unusual about Natsume's Book of Friends is that this is a shojo series, but so far, has no sign of romance anywhere. This is evident in that Takashi is the only main character, while the others merely appear in their respective chapter alone. Sure, we do get some implication of possible recurring characters, but it was so focused on Takashi doing his "job" that it felt like I was watching the younger sibling of Mushi-shi. And like Mushi-shi, Natsume's Book of Friends took an episodic approach, something that manga-ka Yuki Midorikawa stated had never done before this. Episodic manga and anime tend to not sit very well with me, and this held true while I was reading this. Sure, there are implications of themes and ideas that stemmed from decent writing, but the manga focused more on "how to return the name" instead of fleshing out its potential for a quiet but powerful philosophical series. I just couldn't get attached to the story or characters, which usually is my problem with episodic manga and anime.

Takashi Natsume so far seems to have the personality equivalence of a loaf of bread. He's useful and necessary, but he's lacking in the personality department. Sure, he's smart enough to figure out the "little mysteries" associated with returning the names, but this doesn't equal a personality. Plenty of smart characters in anime/manga have personality traits other than their intelligence (Light, Lelouch, Ed Elric). Being taken in by distant relatives of his, he has to keep his new duty a secret, but that just seemed cliché to me instead of adding to his character. His "Sensei" Nyanko (the cat yokai) is also only hanging around because he wants to eat Natsume after he's returned all the names, so this didn't help his likability. These two have a very strained relationship, and I'm skeptical that it will change, really. I really don't think I need to mention any other characters, just because I know so little about them so far. This is not a character driven story, and that's a bit of a shame, because being character driven is usually the saving grace of an episodic anime/manga for me. 

Now, for the (semi) easy part. The art looks, I don't want to say sloppy, but...Natsume's Book of Friends even looks like the aforementioned Mushi-shi. The faces are simple, the backgrounds both realistic and surreal, and the designs of the yokai are very unique. I do, however, like Midorikawa's style of drawing hair, and Nyanko's small form. Midorikawa seems to be very fond of using the angry-vein makrks, but I guess this helped show the strained relationship mostly between Takashi and Nyanko.

So, what do I think of this volume? Well, I was kind of disappointed, but I might check out the anime, seeing as it's gotten a lot of positive feedback from the community, but I'll probably be skipping the first 4 episodes. Do I regret reading this volume? Of course not. But I'm probably not going to be picking up the second volume at all.

I would REALLY appreciate feedback on my posts and how to make them better!

Cheers,
~Selena

Last Updated: 25 October 2014
Originally Published: 25 October 2014

Squeaky Clean Anime Taste Test: Danganronpa: The Animation Episode 1

I said something earlier about not doing first reactions on short anime, didn't I? Well, this here is a different case (heheh) because I'm watching one episode a week of this with my school's newly reinstated anime club. Since 13 weeks is a good long while, I think this deserves a taste test. Okay?

We start off our story with our bland *sigh* main male character, Makoto. He seems to have a personality equivalent to that of Yuki Amano from Future Diary, being somewhat wimpy but determined to protect the girl he loves, who he actually just met. Him and 14 other gifted students enter Hope's Peak Academy, only to be trapped inside, and the only way out is to murder one of their classmates and to get away with it. The principal of this school, a demented stuffed bear/robot...thing Monokuma, seems to only have one purpose for this death game: despair. From what I've heard, this is actually a very poor adaptation of the original game, but because I don't plan on playing the game, I will somewhat disregard this when writing my full review. All the other characters have some sort of special talent that got them invited to the academy in the first place, whether it be academics, sports, or performing arts. Hopefully, this anime will establish the personalities of at least some of the characters in the anime.

The animation was done by Studio Lerche, who is actually quite new, and their only other notable work is another video game-to-anime adaptation, Persona 4. I guess I can't give too much credit for the character designs to Studio Lerche, but they are very unique. However, I will say whoever designed the characters was either a) determined to make each and every one of them look unique, or b) was ridiculously high. The set pieces all look fine, as there's nothing really exceptional about them.

For some reason, there is no dub out yet, even though it's been more than a year since this anime first aired. I'm assuming Funimation only has streaming rights to this and not a home video one. The Japanese voice acting is fine, but I will give special mention to the voice of Monokuma.
On the music side, both the opening and ending themes are quite unique, but seem to need an (ahem) acquired taste (I put that in italics because I'm not sure how else to word it.) AGAIN (ahhhh!) I didn't pay much attention to the OST, so no comment from me there.

Overall, I think this anime is going to suffer many of the same problems that Future Diary did (weak protagonist, a somewhat nonthreatening death game, horrible ending) but I did find myself at least somewhat engaged during the episode, but only because I was expecting a death right away, which did not happen.

So, those are my thoughts on the anime so far! Yes, I will review this when I finish it, so don't worry.

Cheers,
~Selena

Last Updated: 21 October 2014
Originally Published: 12 October 2014

Squeaky Clean Anime Review: Fruits Basket

I...have...sooooo...much...homework...

To be honest, when I first read the description of this anime on Netflix, I thought it sounded really stupid and childish. Oh, how I was wrong. How wrong was I? Let's find out!

Synopsis: Tohru Honda is a recently orphaned 16-year-old girl who now lives in a tent. One day, she's invited to live with the Sohma family, which includes her classmate Yuki. But the Sohma's have a secret: If any of them are hugged by someone of the opposite sex or are under a great deal of stress, they transform into the 12 animals of the zodiac. *hiss* Oh, and the cat. As Tohru meets all the different members of the zodiac, she also learns the darker sides to the Sohma curse but still manages to touch and change the hearts of all the Sohmas she meets.

Story: Fruits Basket takes a very slice-of-life approach to telling its story, with each episode being rather self contained. Often times, an episode is spent getting to know one of the members of the Sohma family (most often a guy, you know, because of the whole Tohru-hugging-them-thing to reveal what animal they are.) There are your standard slice-of-life episodes, including a hot springs, school festival, and Valentine's Day episodes that we've all probably seen many times before. But this isn't a bad thing, as characters are developed and moral lessons are taught basically every episode of Fruits Basket. This wasn't just a tack-on, because it never felt forced or dumb. Instead, I found myself smiling uncontrollably at times while watching this anime, and other times in a state of awe or loss. I've mentioned before in my reviews that I don't really like episodic shows. But I think part of the reason Fruits Basket worked for me is because I went into this anime with barely any expectations. It's because of this method of storytelling that I don't consider this anime AS MUCH of a shojo as others would say, to be honest. The comedy is actually fairly innocent, with only a sprinkling of sexuality here and there. It's rather light, without it being the focus of the story, and it's primary niche is its quirkiness. There's also plenty of drama and depressing, thought-provoking moments in Fruits Basket, so not everything is bishis, rice balls, and comedy routines. I thought the drama was handled really well, and was entirely believable, instead of it all feeling superficial. Overall, because of how Fruits Basket handled its' story, I would actually recommend this to be the first shojo anime anyone watches. But a bit of advice here: skip episode 22. It was such a pain to watch, personally, and I don't think it added to the story that much. The ending I found to be interesting, actually, in that is followed the manga instead of diverging off, like what Ouran did.

Characters:

As usual for slice-of-life and shojo anime, Fruits Basket is a very character-driven show. Every character is unique, has their own quirks, and a different problem in their life. The cast of Fruits Basket is actually rather large, but to me, it didn't feel like the characters were based too much on common archetypes of shojo anime. All these beastly boys and girls revolve around our protagonist Tohru Honda, who's sweeter and kinder than a teddy bear decked out in pink ribbons holding a basket of Mars Bars. Her desire to improve the lives of everyone around her is matched only by her desire to not be a burden to anyone. This may make her come off as a cookie-cutter or annoying character. I didn't think so, because she's not perfect; she has her own problems. There'a a certain joy I got out of these characters simply by seeing a character come back after their respective spotlight episode. It's the feeling of character relationships growing and changing that often brought each episode to a close, and very often made me feel extremely satisfied, just by seeing these characters interact. What Fruits Basket tries to emphasize with its characters is that no one is perfect. Characters still have flaws, even after Tohru manages to change their hearts. One thing I noticed about the characters in Fruits Basket is how a lot of them can pull a 180 character flip rather quickly and frequently. Yuki? Check. Kyo? Check. Kagura? Check. Hatsuharu? Oh yeah. This is mostly for comedic effect, but is occasionally used for drama and character development, like with Momiji or Kisa. And when the show does this, it's GOOD. I found myself holding my hands to my mouth from the shock of back-stories and thoughtful words that came from these characters' mouths. But I can almost guarantee to anyone that there will be a character you will love, and one that is absolutely annoying. I've heard from the haters of this show complain about all the characters being annoying, and to be honest, sometimes I can see where they're coming from. The only reason I can understand this is because of the character that was annoying for me, Hiro Sohma. Even though he did change a little for the better, this kid is almost as much of a brat as Aloise Trancy. (And he even looks like him)

Art: 
It pains me to say this, but there isn't anything that great about the art in Fruits Basket. But this is probably due to the fact that this anime was made back in 2001. From what I've seen, Studio Deen has only recently made anime with decent artwork, such as Hetalia and Is This A Zombie. All the character designs are very simple, but at the same time, classic shojo. The distinguishing feature of the characters is almost always the hair. The art is a bit different than the manga (which I am reading, actually), which must have come as a bit of a shock to those that watched Fruits Basket when it first aired. The color pallet is very muted and pastel, with probably the brightest thing being Kyo's hair. The use of exaggerated backgrounds during comedic scenes added to the effectiveness and appeal to the comedy. The set pieces have a hand painted look to them, but not so much that it is blatantly obvious, a la 1994 Sailor Moon. Overall, the art is a bit dated, but at the same time has aged surprisingly well. The simple sweetness of the art perfectly compliments the nature and tone of Fruits Basket.

Animation: 
As I've said before, animation is not usually the highlight of a shojo anime. Fruits Basket is one of Studio Deen's classic titles, and as I said above, they still aren't the best when it comes to animation. Animation is usually kept to a minimum, and sometimes small motions are repeated or go through loops. However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing this time and is a bit understandable, as I believe Fruits Basket was animated at least partially with traditional cels. There are your typical anime shortcuts for emotion or action (anger veins, speed lines, the river of tears, many arms and legs while running, etc.) But the exaggerations are a good part of what made the comedy funny, and I just can't imagine Fruits Basket without them, really.

Voice: 
Like I often do, I'm recommending watching this anime dubbed, partially because Yuki sounds nothing like a guy in Japanese. Yes, you have Laura Bailey, Eric Vale, and Jerry Jewell (common Funimation leads) as Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo, respectively, but I didn't really recognize anyone else on the cast list. Which is good if you often associate English voice actors with their other roles in anime. Many old dubs are associated with being cheesy, but Fruits Basket is a bit of a different case. Either I didn't mind the cheesiness, or the anime was very often cheesy so the script went well with the anime. Probably a mix of both. Chris Sabat pulled off a flawlessly flamboyant Ayame, Kent Williams a cold-but-kind Hatori, and John Burgmeier was outstanding as the perverted, but fatherly Shigure. I think everyone pulled off their roles well, though some of the actors or actresses fell a bit short when it came to the drama moments. But I think this dub worked very effectively with the comedy, and that is enough for me to call this a good dub. There isn't much about this dub that can be called "outstanding," but there's nothing wrong with it, either, so if the sub and dub are equal, I always choose dub.

Music:
The opening and ending themes are both quiet, simple, sweet, but overall unremarkable. They're easily skippable, unless you like that sort of thing. A lot of the OST is as quirky or fun as the characters. Other times, the tracks were just "little sounds", simple melodies, or just piano pieces. Now, none of these tracks are bad, it just sometimes feels like the OST isn't there, really. It seemed to me that the only purpose for most of the OST was to make the slice-of-life sound very cute and fun. However, I give the OST points for being unique.

Execution:
I can't judge execution for Fruits Basket as much as I can with other anime, simply because of my lack of expectations when I started. If you're looking for a full-on shojo romance anime, you may be a bit disappointed with Fruits Basket. Thankfully, I did not have this mindset or expectation while watching this anime, so I thought the slice-of-life was handled and worked really well. And it wasn't just about the pretty boys, I also thought the balance between the comedy and the drama/character development was really great as well, giving Fruits Basket a lot more substance than if it was just a plain slice-of-life. This anime works perfectly fine as a shojo, but I consider this anime the kind that will cheer you up and put a big smile on your face. Fruits Basket is the kind of anime where you just watch one or two episodes after a long day, instead of marathoning it on the weekend.

My Enjoyment: 

There were plenty of times in Fruits Basket where I could not stop smiling. And when the show did get serious, I felt myself really sympathizing with the characters. Sure, there were a few annoying characters, but thankfully, I can count them on one hand, and they didn't show up often in the anime. Fruits Basket is my second favorite shojo anime of all time, but I think that's because I've seen more bad ones than good. It's mainly because of this anime that I don't consider myself a slice-of-life hater, a sort of beacon of past glory, in the sea of moe girl slice-of-life that occupies much of anichart every season. So, other than a few hiccups,and this was all due to personal taste, really, my enjoyment of Fruits Basket was very consistent.

The Score:

Averaging the eight numerical values for the categories listed above, I give Fruits Basket a 7.1875/10 and my orange flag. If you like slice-of-life but don't want all the characters to be moe girls, this is the perfect anime for you.

Story: 7.8 Characters: 8.5
Art: 5.6 Animation: 5.3
Voice: 7.2 Music: 6.2
Execution: 8.4    My Enjoyment: 8.5

For similar anime, I suggest the popular shojo Ouran High School Host Club. It's another reverse harem that's also a slice-of-life with great character development by means of a unique female protagonist changing the hearts of the people she meets. If you want a shojo that's short and more supernatural, I suggest Kamisama Kiss. Hey, it has the same director as Fruits Basket!

NEXT REVIEW: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann *cracks knuckles* *puts on fabulous red cape and sunglasses*

Last Updated: 15 Oct 2014
Originally Published: 11 Oct 2014