Now that all of the new series this season have aired, it’s time to go over my thoughts on each one and decide what to watch. I have seen at least one episode of every series listed below, but most of them have gotten 2 or 3 episode views before I came to my decision. I have excluded sequels of series that I have not seen since I would not be able to follow what is going on.

Ano Natsu de Matteru

I was expecting Onegai Twins, but I got more Onegai Teacher than Twins. That’s not a bad thing though, the light humour and lead-in to love triangles (or other shapes) is what makes the series entertaining. I’m wondering if any of the old characters will make cameo appearances in this series. Quite a few people seem to be saying that it reminds them of Ano Hana, but I don’t see any relation.

Status: watching

Another

For a while, I thought Another was going to be a boring horror wannabe, but then there was a scene with a close-up of Misaki and the lights actually flickered! That was the scariest thing I experienced that day, so I think it’s a sign I should keep watching. Things also started picking up a few episodes in, though I’m still waiting for the protagonist to do something.

Status: watching (for now)

Area no Kishi

Sports anime isn’t really my thing, and this just seems like an average one at that.

Status: not watching

Black Rock Shooter

It seems better than the OVA, but still, 5 minutes of BRS with the remaining being some schoolgirl drama is not the way to go about this.

Status: not watching

Bodacious Space Pirates

I was expecting some ecchi stuff given the premise, but the anime is actually heavily character and story focused with lots of room for development. The decisions and actions taken by the characters are very practical and thought-out (except hiring a school girl to be a captain). Considering the director is Tatsuo Satou, I expected nothing less.

Status: watching

Brave 10

This one seems very close to Hakuouki Shinsenguki Kitan but without the yaoi overtones. I probably would’ve enjoyed it in my younger days (plenty of action, cool characters, and 1 damsel in distress), but I’ve outgrown anime that’s strictly shounen now.

Status: not watching

Busou Chuugakusei: Basket Army

Kids with guns trying to act cool is not cool.

Status: not watching

Daily Lives of High School Boys

I’ll admit that some parts of this anime are pretty funny. The downside is that other parts are totally awkward and just plain wrong. Two guys making their friend dress up as a girl? That only happens in girls’ fantasies and is not something I want to see. If this is what all-boys schools do to people, I’m glad I didn’t go to one.

Status: not watching

Gokujou

An anime that makes a point about drawing attention to how a girl’s boobs are hanging out of her shirt and spends an episode showing her running around without panties can’t possibly be worth watching.

Status: not watching

High School DxD

It’s not as cliché as I thought it would be, but there are still boobs everywhere. High School DxD can be described as softcore porn with a plot.

Status: not watching

Inu x Boku SS

The nine-tailed fox guy is a bit annoying, but Ririchiyo is sooo cute. I also think she looks cool in demon form. If they do this right, I think they might be able to keep me watching just because of one character, like what Gosick did.

Status: watching

Kill Me Baby

The jokes seem like something that should be funny, but I did not laugh during when watching this series. I did choke on a chocolate when Kyubey made a cameo appearance.

Status: not watching

Nisemonogatari

I thought there would be a heavier focus on Karen and Tsukihi, but Koyomi Araragi still seems to be the main character. I’m not complaining though, I like him and we get to see more of the other characters as well.

Status: watching

Papa no Iukoto no Kikinasai!

I’m on the fence about this one. The pretense seems like it’ll lead to a taboo relationship, but episode two was slightly emotionally jarring and was reminiscent of the beginning of Usagi Drop. At this point, the series looks like it’s focusing on family and the trails of growing up, but it could easily turn dirty as indicated by several questionable scenes.

Status: watching (for now)

Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki

I don’t know what’s going on… I see little entertainment value and no educational value in this series.

Status: not watching

Recorder to Randoseru

Nothing really appealed to be in this series. Having a running gag of an elementary school boy that looks like and adult and a 17-year-old girl that looks like a child can only go so far.

Status: not watching

Rinne no Lagrange

I loved the opening, but the story seems dull even with aliens and giant robots.

Status: not watching

Senki Zesshou Symphogear

I thought this would be like a Macross clone, but I was surprised to see them kill off one of the main characters in the first 15 minutes. This could either be an excellent plot device or a horrible decision. The animation is horrid at points, but the music and possibility for yuri is keeping me going.

Status: watching (for now)

Thermae Romae

The series is very amusing, but watching a bunch of old guys in the bath is not my cup of tea.

Status: not watching

Zero no Tsukaima F

Louise is as adorable as ever and it looks like the story will finally wrap up everything. I’m hoping for another ending like the one in season two here.

Status: watching

Including Guilty Crown, Last Exile -Fam The Silver Wing-, Mirai Nikki, and Shakugan no Shana Final from the previous season, my watch list is now up to 12 series. I typically don’t go over 7 at a time, so I’m blaming the high number of series on there being a lack of anything truly outstanding this season and a ton of shows that have very close entertainment values. It’s hard to drop one series and keep watching another if they’re all about the same.

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Awards

Each season, I pick three series that gain a little recognition. One title is recognized for being so bad that I would not recommend it to anybody, one is recognized for being very under-rated or overlooked by many anime fans, and one is recognized as being potentially the best series of the season.

Rotten Egg (Worst Series) Award:

Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki

Children’s shows are typically very simple and offer some insight into life or provide something educational, Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki does not. Unless you have a thing for round cats, I don’t see the point of this show.

Pearls Before Swine (Most Underrated Series) Award:

Inu x Boku SS

I was originally going to give this to Bodacious Space Pirates, but it has been generally well-received and more people seem to be talking about it, so next in line was Inu x Boku SS. The series got off to a very dull start, but it is showing more potential by developing Ririchiyo’s character and forming stronger bonds between her and the rest of the cast. The strange side-characters and introduction of an antagonist is also helping this series shine.

Diamond (Best Series) Award:

Nisemonogatari

The winner of this award should come as no surprise to anybody. Nisemonogatari is a feast for the eyes, provides plenty of humour, and has a character to appeal to almost everyone.

Related posts:

1. Winter 2011 Anime Round-up
2. Summer 2011 Anime Round-up
3. Fall 2011 Anime Round-up

Whenever you talk about anime, and in particular, the anime fandom, the term “otaku” almost always comes up. Those new to the anime scene have probably been bewildered by the conflicting uses of the term, so I will try to clear up some of the confusion here.

The reason why it is difficult to grasp the meaning of “otaku” is because there seems to be two main definitions that contradict each other. In Japanese, the word evolved into slang to describe people obsessed with a certain hobby, not necessarily related to anime (ie: military, idols, games). Calling someone an otaku in Japan was similar to calling someone a geek in the 80′s, before it became cool for everyone to call themselves a geek as they do now. It’s mainly used as an insult and conjures up images of smelly, fat, pedophilic men that may or may not be child killers (a famous string of crimes from 1989 is to blame for that).

How would you feel being around this man?

For a time, use of the term otaku in and out of Japan was consistent with the Japanese slang meaning. However, over the last two decades, the usage of ”otaku” in the English-speaking anime community has changed from the Japanese meaning. A vast majority of people outside Japan now consider the term to be synonymous with being an anime fan and take pride in calling themselves otaku. This idea was promoted with events such as Otakon, publications such as Otacool, and TV series such as America’s Greatest Otaku. Nowadays, seemingly everyone with even a remote interest in anime calls themselves an otaku.

Words do change and gain new meanings over time though, and right now otaku is at the end of a transition phase. Otaku is a lot like the term nonplussed, which has gained a second meaning opposite to its original due to incorrect usage by the masses (fyi, nonplussed is the perfect word to use to confuse people). So many people have embraced the new meaning of otaku and use it to describe themselves that they outnumber those that still view it as an insult. Even in Japan, which was seemingly immune to changes to Japanese words used in English, has gained a new perspective on otaku thanks to the huge Densha Otoko movement (a romantic story of how an otaku won the heart of his beloved, based on real-life events).

With this in mind, I advise using the term with caution. A lot of anime fans still think of the negative meaning when they hear otaku. I try to avoid the term as much as possible because of its double meanings, but if you decide to call someone an otaku, make sure they don’t view it as an insult. As for calling yourself an otaku, just make sure the people you’re talking to consider an otaku to be just a fan and not some guy married to his 2D waifu (which could make a conversation very awkward).

For a more descriptive history of the term ‘otaku’ and its evolution, visit the Otaku Elimination Game’s explanation of it. In case their site goes down, I have also saved a text file.

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This post is part of the Guide to Anime project. For more guides on various topics related to anime, check out the project page.

Related posts:

1. Guide to Anime
2. Guide to Anime – School Harems
3. Overthinking Anime

A Taste of Animethon (ATOA) took place this here in Edmonton this weekend and I took this opportunity to try out some event photography. From the last Animethon, I learned that I needed a good flash and a wide-angle lens to better deal with the conditions at Grant MacEwan (the place where Animethon and ATOA is held). I have neither and I didn’t want to spend $500 on them so I borrowed some equipment instead. I used a Canon T2i with a 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM lens and 430EX flash. It was my first time using this set-up so it took a while to get used to and some pictures didn’t turn out as well as I wanted, but some of them still worked out. Anyone who is here just for cosplay pictures can scroll to the bottom.

In case you didn’t already know, ATOA is a mini-convention with almost everything that a regular anime convention has, but toned down.

Despite being a mini-con, the registration desk was still pretty big, which is great since no one likes waiting in line.

The Community Corner was set up in the cafeteria of MacEwan. It’s basically a big gathering place for people.

A lot of people go to anime conventions to buy stuff, so vendor halls/rooms are always popular.

The usual stuff like manga, DVDs, plushies, and posters were on sale. There was also some artwork and buttons being sold at some booths. There was nothing I wanted that I didn’t already have so I left empty-handed (all because of online shopping).

The card gaming and video gaming rooms are always jam-packed with people so it was great that they got such big rooms this year.

I went to a few panels, such as “Name That Tune” and found them entertaining. They generally seemed to get one or two dozen people coming to see them. I also sat through a bit of the showing of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. It was interesting to see all the anime start playing by itself in all the rooms without anyone having to look after it.

The cosplay contest was probably one of the bigger, if not the biggest, event at ATOA. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the number of contestants. I believe there were more cosplayers in the audience than in the contest. I was also frustrated with the lighting in the room where the contest was held. Behind the cosplayers was a bright white light, there was no light above or in front of them, and there was a dim yellow light over the back of the room. That resulted in some pictures where the subject was almost black on a white background. The obvious solution is to get some light on the cosplayers (ie: flash), but having heard that using flash during a performance or presentation is poor etiquette, I was hesitant about turning it on.

I managed to play around with the settings to get something visible.

But changing the camera settings wasn’t enough

I eventually decided to just turn on the flash, but I’m still  not happy with how these pictures turned out. I had the light pointing up, but because of the slant in the ceiling, it was bouncing more back at me than the cosplayers and I didn’t want to point it directly at them.

I still enjoyed the contest though. We got to see the bouncer strangle the MC at the end.

Now for what most people are probably looking for: cosplayers in and around the halls of MacEwan. These are just some random cosplayers that I found throughout the day.

Madoka from Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

I didn’t even notice this girl was using a bubble gun when I took this picture.

This isn’t cosplay, but these two asked me to take their picture, so I did. They look like a cute couple.

I think there were a few other Pokemon around, but I couldn’t find them.

I was half expecting there to be a Charlotte cosplayer to go with any Mami cosplay, but I didn’t see one.

This is the first time I’ve ever seen anyone cosplay as Astroboy, which is awesome.

This guy has the best cosplay ever. I love Prinnies and you’ve got to respect anyone willing to wear one of those full body costumes knowing how hot they get inside.

I was surprised to find a Mirai cosplayer here. Danny Choo has gained enormous popularity since 2006, but last I remember, his fanbase was largely based in Asia and the U.S. west coast.

That wraps up all that I did at ATOA. It was fun for the most part, with the only real disappointment being the lack of participants in the cosplay contest. I was happy to see that they had done away with the trouble of having people play DVD’s in each viewing room by having it all done automatically, and that large rooms were set aside for gaming. Looking at my pictures, it seems I still need to learn how to take them under artificial lighting and take a lesson or two on composition. Hopefully I can improve my photography before the big convention in August.

Related posts:

1. A Taste of Animethon 2011
2. Animethon 15
3. Animethon 18

It’s hard to deny that anime has good music compared to other animation. For example, I don’t think a song from Spongbob Squarepants or Ben 10 would ever make it onto the Billboard Charts, but you often hear of anime music reaching the top 10 on Japan’s equivalent Oricon Charts. With music oriented anime like K-ON! achieving huge success, that got me thinking: does music affect the popularity and success of an anime, or conversely, does an anime affect the popularity and success of a song?

In a recent post, I listed 10 anime series with good music that made it onto the Oricon Charts. Most of these series were very popular when they aired, but it’s hard to determine if that was soley because of the music or if the anime was already good. Ideally, to figure this out, we would need to put a crappy anime on the market with good music and a good anime with bad music, then watch the Oricon charts. Unfortunately, I don’t know any pop stars or anime studios that would help me, so I’m settling for the next best thing: watching Senki Zesshou Symphogear.

Now Symphogear isn’t an ideal “crappy” anime since it does have a unique setting and yuri overtones (who doesn’t love yuri?), but it lacks in other areas including plot, direction, and animation quality. At best, Senki Zesshou Symphogear can be described as average. It does have something going for it though, good music.

Now that’s what I call quality!

Nana Mizuki, who voices one of the main characters and sings the theme song for Symphogear, is a popular singer in Japan and her songs commonly rank in the Oricon charts. In 2009 her album “Ultimate Diamond” topped the Oricon Album Chart, and in 2010 her single “Phantom Minds” topped the Oricon Singles Chart. It would be surprising if her music didn’t reach at least the top 50 in a weekly ranking.

Fortunately, we don’t have to wait to see the results of combining Symphogear with Nana Mizuki’s music. Her single “Synchrogazer”, which contains the opening theme song for the anime, has already reached the number 2 spot on the Oricon Weekly Singles Charts. This could be an indication that a less successful anime has little impact on the popularity of music, but what about the reverse?

After airing three episodes, Symphogear has received a weighted rating of 7.10 by over 2000 viewers on MAL and is the 5162nd most popular anime on the site. A rating of 7.10 on a 10 point scale might sound high, but that’s actually mediocre by MAL standards. Judging by peoples’ opinions on Symphogear, it seems that having good music will not save an anime from mediocrity.

I can’t say that this is true for all anime, but in terms of Senki Zesshou Symphogear, it appears that the popularity of the anime and its music have little to do with each other. On the other hand, I do know people *cough* myself *cough* who have finished poor anime because it had good music.

So what’s your take on anime and music? Would you watch an anime just because it has good music, or would you listen to a song just because it came from a good anime? Do you think that the two can help each other gain greater popularity? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment.

Related posts:

1. Spring 2009 Anime Watchlist
2. Nopy’s Top 5 Anime Openings
3. Anime Blog Carnival – What Makes A 10/10 Anime?

A while back, I was compiling a list of the most powerful books in anime. I didn’t get very far because quite frankly, there aren’t many popular examples. Instead, I had another fun idea: who in the world would be most suited or likely to possess the most powerful books in anime? A few days later, a huge news story swept the Korean peninsula: Kim Jong-il dead from a heart attack. For one of the most popular (not in a good way) villans of our time to die of a simple heart attack sounded suspicious to me… like something out of Death Note, wouldn’t you say?

If you haven’t heard of a Death Note before, see the below image for a run-down of how it works:

Obviously, the easiest way to kill someone is to write their name and wait 40 seconds for them to die of a heart attack, which is exactly what happened to Kim Jong-il. The world may think that Mr. Kim died of naturally, but that’s exactly what people thought when Kira started his purge. So the question is, who was it that used the Death Note? An impoverished North Korean? a maligned South Korean? Kira himself? To answer this question, let us consider another high-profile death in the past year: Osama Bin Laden.

Everyone has heard the story of Osama’s death, a group of America’s top Navy SEALs (the cream of the crop if you will) crossed into Pakistan in the dead of night and stormed into Osama’s fortress home and killed everyone in sight. They then disappeared into the darkness with their trophy and zero casualties without anyone (except for 1 Twitterer) having a clue as to what just happened. Sounds a little too perfect, wouldn’t you say? Almost like someone had a Mirai Nikki, or Future Diary, to tell them exactly what to expect.

Now, who would gain from these two high-profile deaths? None other than one of the most public figures in the world, U.S. president Barack Obama. Am I saying that Obama has a Death Note and a Future Diary? In a word, yes. Some of you are probably wondering why he didn’t use the Death Note on Osama if he has one. Let me ask you this: has anyone actually seen Osama’s face under all of that facial hair?

What about that crashed helicopter during the Osama raid? Future Diaries exist in order for their owners to fight against each other. If Osama had a Future Diary, he could’ve taken down one of the helicopters, but was out-witted in the end. Proof of Osama possessing a Future Diary lies with the fact that he was the world’s most wanted man for nearly a decade.

But wait, what does Momoka have to do with all of this? Well, if Obama has a Death Note and Future Diary, it’s entirely possible that he also has Momoka’s Diary, which has the power to alter fate.

To see when he used Momoka’s Diary, we just have to go back to his election campaign. Here was a relatively young black man who no one had heard of (at least not where I live), and he somehow managed to become the first black person to become president, not to mention the 5th youngest. Until that point, America seemed destined to be ruled by old white guys, so it’s not hard to believe that Obama used the power of Momoka’s Diary to alter fate and change destiny.

One big question that comes to mind after considering the possibilities is: where exactly does Obama keep his Death Note/Future Diary/Momoka’s Diary? Just think of the one thing that Obama always has with him: his BlackBerry.

As seen in Mirai Nikki, it is possible for a Future Diary to take on the form of a cellphone, so why can’t a Death Note or Momoka’s Diary? In fact, why can’t they all three be combined in a single godly device?

This makes Obama the most powerful person in the world in more ways than one, and he knows it. Just take a look at all the pictures he has with apples:

Of course, we all know the relation between apples and power:

—————

This conspiracy was dreamed up by a crazy anime fan with too much time on his hands. Any relation to true facts and/or real objects is purely coincidental. You’ve got to admit though, a BlackBerry that combines the powers of Momoka’s Diary, a Mirai Nikki, and a Death Note would be pretty awesome. To get all of the references, please watch Death Note, Mirai Nikki, and Mawaru Penguindrum, all highly recommended by Nopy.

Related posts:

1. The Death of “Kawaii”

I’m sure you’ve seen a few of these posts around by now, but if you haven’t, du5k from One Minute of Dusk has come up with a blogging carnival with the topic of “What Makes a 10/10 Anime?”

A 10/10 rating can mean a lot of things to a lot of people, but here’s a rundown of how I use the 10 point rating system:

Score of 10: perfect

Score of 9: could’ve improved in at least 1 area

Score of 8: overall great

Score of 7: enjoyable

Score of 6: average

Score of 5: meh

Score of 4: bad

Score of 3: waste of time

Score of 2: caused me to rage

Score of 1: should not exist

What we’re focusing on today is what exactly is “perfect”? I’ve thought about this for a while, and I’ve come up with this short list of what the perfect anime needs:

• decent production values
• likeable characters
• constant attention

Sounds simple, but lets consider each item separately.

Production Values

This might sound shallow, but I will not watch an ugly or cacophonic anime. I’m not asking for sexy character designs like in Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai or stunning scenery like in Makoto Shinkai films, but I expect some amount of effort to be put into the animation. The same goes for the sound; a series lacking any music or sound effects hardly seems like something with much thought put into it.

Likeable Characters

Having likeable characters is something that every successful anime must have. Not every character has to be liked, but there must be at least one that a viewer can sympathize with, ogle at, or laugh at.

Constant Attention

Unlike most people, I don’t use “story” as a measure anymore, instead I consider how long an anime can hold my attention. If a series can keep me glued to the screen through all of its episodes, it has earned the right to be ranked 10/10. A slip-up or two would still keep a series ranked at 10, but if I find my mind wandering while watching, or I find myself pausing episodes as things come up, then that lowers the score. This means that an anime with no story (ie: slice of life) can still receive a perfect score, and series lacking in some areas can also have a chance as long as something else is there to keep me interested.

The List

With that said, how many anime titles have I given a 10/10? According to MAL, out of 336 completed titles, I have given 10/10 to these 22 (and I highly recommend them):

Bungaku Shoujo

Bungaku Shoujo: Memoire

Cardcaptor Sakura

Cardcaptor Sakura Movie 2: The Sealed Card

Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie

Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai

InuYasha: Kanketsu-hen

Kanon (2006)

Kimi ni Todoke

Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica

Martian Successor Nadesico

Martian Successor Nadesico: The Prince of Darkness

Mawaru Penguindrum

Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion

Pale Cocoon

Seitokai no Ichizon

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu

Toradora!

Tsubasa Chronicle: Tokyo Revelations

Welcome to the NHK!

More on What Makes a 10/10 Anime

Bloggers from the sites below are all participating in this carnival and I encourage you to visit their sites to see what they have to say about what makes a 10/10 anime.

One Minute of Dusk - Read du5k’s article

Anime B&B - Read Marina’s article

The Otaku’s Study - Read Sam’s article

Anime Viking - Read Marow’s article

Draggle’s Anime Blog - Read Draggle’s article

Hachimitsu - Read Mira’s article

Ace Railgun - Read Ace Railgun’s article

Leap250′s Blog - Read Leap250′s article

Mainichi Anime Yume - Read Yumeka’s article

Lemmas and Submodalities - Read SnippetTee’s article

Ephemeral Dreams - Read Ephemeral Dreamer’s article

World of Yamaguchi Hoshiko – Read Hoshiko’s article

Listless Ink - Read Yi’s article

Ambivalence, or is it Ambiguity – Read @fkeroge’s article, Read Valence’s article

Deluscar – Read Kai’s article

Related posts:

1. Guide to Anime
2. What Would You Like To See on Nopy’s Blog?
3. Overthinking Anime

Back in 1997, visual novel producer Leaf released their third visual novel series, To Heart. The title proved to be extremely popular, and two years later on April 2, 1999, the To Heart anime adaptation was aired on Japanese TV. This was the beginning of a brand new genre in anime: the school harem.

While there were already plenty of love triangles in anime, To Heart was the first to introduce 11 different girls in a school setting with which the main character could end up with. The sheer number of girls vying for one guy’s affection and the fact that it all takes place in school was what led to the term “school harem”. The golden age of school harems can be considered as the years from 1999 to the mid-00′s, and ended at the start of the moe boom. Popular school harems include To Heart, To Heart 2, Kanon, Da Capo, Shuffle, and Clannad.

All school harems are presented in a round-robin format with the main character spending some time with each of the girls before moving on. Each girl usually gets a 1-2 episode arc with the main character depending on how long the series is. In that time, he will learn about each of the girls’ pasts and their current problems. By the end of each arc, the main character will have solved the girl’s problems and moves on. The last girl that the main character gets to is usually the one he picks as his lover. The only instances where this is not true is if he picks no one (known as a ‘bad end’), he picks all of them (known as a ‘harem end’), or if everyone dies in a bloody mess (known as ‘nice boat’). The last two possibilities hardly ever happen.

It’s not only the female:male ratio that defines the school harem, but the type of girls that make up the harem. To Heart could be considered a model for all school harems to come since its cast covers all of the basic character types. Below is a list of the most commonly found members of school harems.

The Childhood Friend

She is usually the first girl to be introduced in the series and is initially the closest girl to the main character. Examples include Akari from To Heart, Nayuki from Kanon, and Kaede from Shuffle. They are always cute and friendly towards the main character but don’t usually break the “just friends” barrier. The childhood friend is not often picked in the end.

Female Best Friend

If the main character has a childhood friend, there’s a good chance that she has a loud and out-going best friend that secretly likes him. Examples include Shiho from To Heart and Asa from Shuffle. The female best friend usually breaks up awkward silences between other characters and is always seen with a smile on her face except during her arc.

Shy Lonely Girl

The shy lonely girl is present in every school harem that I can think of. Like her title suggests, she is timid and does not have many friends either because of her personality or an ability that she possesses. Examples include Serika and Kotone from To Heart and Primula from Shuffle. This type may be combined with another type such as the tomboy (ie: Mai from Kanon), adding to the loneliness aspect. Abilities that cause them to become isolated can range from psychic powers (Kotone), powerful magic (Primula), seeing ghosts (Mai), or just plain being really smart (Kotomi from Clannad).

Lolita

There is often one female character which is younger or appears younger than the rest of the harem, this is the lolita or loli. Examples include Rio from To Heart, Makoto from Kanon, and Primula from Shuffle. One of the interesting things to note is that the loli may just appear/act childlike but in fact be the same age or older than the main character. The loli is not likely to be chosen by the main character.

Tomboy

The tomboy is pretty straightforward – a girl that acts more masculine than feminine. Examples include Aoi from To Heart, Mai from Kanon, and Tomoyo from Clannad. Tomboys do have a feminine side though, which usually doesn’t show through until their arc. During and after their arc, tomboys exhibit more feminine traits compared to the beginning of the series. They almost always excel at some type of sport.

The Unique One

Almost every school harem has one character which doesn’t fit into the typical harem cast. She helps make the title different from all the rest and sometimes ends up being chosen. Examples include Multi (a robot) from To Heart, Ayu (a ghost-type thing) from Kanon, and Erika (a non-biting vampire) from Fortune Arterial.

Male Best Friend

Surprisingly, despite being known for their 1 male, many females formula, many school harems actually have a second male character: the main character’s best friend. Examples include Masashi from To Heart, Itsuki from Shuffle, and Youhei from Clannad. They never get any of the main harem girls and are mainly present to provide advice and support for the main character. They are also sometimes used as comic relief.

There are a number of other character types present in school harem anime, but I think the above list covers the big ones that are present in almost all series. The above mentioned character types may also exhibit any of the known deres, such as Kaede from Shuffle, who is considered yandere. By combining different roles with the dere personalities, you end up with the vast array of harem characters that you see now. If you have any questions about school harems, feel free to ask in the comments.

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This post is part of the Guide to Anime project. For more guides on various topics related to anime, check out the project page.

Related posts:

1. Childhood Friends in Anime
2. Guide to Anime
3. Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi Review

Everyone goes through the “newbie” phase when they start anything and it can be a very discomforting experience, especially if you’re a newbie to anime. With words such as “kawaii”, “moe”, and “otaku” to name a few, learning the anime lingo can seem just as hard as learning a new language, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately, there is no comprehensive guide to help you figure out what exactly defines a character as “moe”, why there’s so much hype over some pieces of plastic, or why anime characters have such big eyes. Well, Tsurugiarashix and I aim to change that, but we need some help.

There is no one better to explain different aspects of anime and its fandom than experienced anime fans. Fortunately, there is a group of anime fans willing to write and share their thoughts on different anime-related topics: ani-bloggers.

This is a call-out to any and all ani-bloggers to make your mark on the aniblogosphere and help compile a comprehensive guide to everything related to anime. If you have a blog, it’s easy to participate, just write an article (or more) on a topic of your choice that helps explain the what, how or why of anime and/or its fandom. As with the History with Anime project, send either Tsurugiarashix or I a link to your post and we will add it to the project page. All that we ask for in return is a link to the project page somewhere in your post so that people can read up on more topics.

In the event that someone has already written an article on a topic you wanted to cover, don’t feel that you have to write something else. Having different articles on the same topic is encouraged; after all, if you want an expert opinion on something, you always call up multiple experts.

If you want to submit an article but don’t have your own blog, you can still participate. Send me an email with your article in a Word file and I will post it on my blog with links back to your profiles (such as MAL, MFC, Twitter, Facebook, and G+, but no commercial links).

We will be starting things off with a few posts in the next couple of weeks, but we can’t cover everything ourselves. Below is a list of the topic ideas we have come up with and anyone is free to take them.

Genres

• Romantic Comedy
• Mecha
• Action
• Mahou Shoujo
• Harem Ecchi
• Psychological Thriller
• Slice of Life
• Hentai
• Science Fiction
• Mystery
• Fantasy

Character Archetypes

• Tsundere
• Yandere
• Dandere
• Kudere
• Loli
• GAR
• “I was a regular teenage boy until…”
• Moeblob
• Bishoujo
• Bishounen

Anime Oddities

• Ahoge
• Chibi Characters
• Childhood Friends
• Accidental Boob Grabs
• Zettai Ryouiki

Source Material

• Manga
• Visual Novels
• Games
• Eroge
• Light Novels
• Original Works

Anime Fandom

• Conventions
• Cosplay
• AMV’s
• Doujinshi
• Fanart
• Figures
  • Scaled PVC Figures
  • Resin Figures
  • Nendoroids
  • Figmas
  • Revoltechs
  • Fansubs
• Inserting random Japanese Words

Anime Studios

• Gainax
• Kyoto Animation
• Gonzo
• Studio Deen
• Sunrise
• AIC
• Brains Base
• Bones
• Xebec

Anime Through the Years

• 1960’s
• 1970’s
• 1980’s
• 1990’s
• 2000’s

Other

• Visiting Japan
• Learning Japanese
• Drawing Anime/Manga
• Fanservice
• Useful Terms
• Target Audiences (Shoujo, Seinen, Shounen, Josei)

Related posts:

1. Overthinking Anime
2. Anime Rewrite

10. Inori Yuzuriha (Guilty Crown)

I’ve always liked pink-haired characters, and when I first saw Inori in Megami Magazine, I knew she’d be more than just looks. Not only can Inori sing, she knows how to use a pistol and can take out a pair of guards in a heartbeat.

9. Ohana Matsumae (Hanasaku Iroha)

Hard work and determination can go a long way in life, and Ohana certainly proves it. Her spunky and lovable personality bring her in at number 9 on my list.

8. Tsugumi (Guilty Crown)

I admit that Tsugumi may not be the most memorable character, but she’s a super hacker, wears nekomimi, is a cutie, and offers some nice fanservice. What more could you ask for?

7. Yozora Mikazuki (Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai)

A few of the things that I like about Yozora are that she is strong-willed, a leader, and her best friend is an air friend. Honestly, it’s hard not to like a character that’s so serious but still manages to crack you up with her crazy ideas.

6. Kyouko Sakura (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

Kyouko’s hardline attitude towards the other magical girls isn’t something you normally see in female characters. I applaud Kyouko for going with the cool and collected fighter image and breaking the traditional cute and sometimes whiney/obsessive stereotype associated with magical girls.

5. Erio Touwa (Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko)

Slightly awkward and funny characters are always good in my book, and you can’t really get more awkward than Erio. What would you think if you saw a walking futon, who claims to be an alien, gobble up a slice of pizza? On a slightly more serious note, I admire the effort that Erio puts towards developing human relationships after years of isolation.

4. Victorique de Blois (Gosick)

Victorique is a perfect combination of brains and princess-like features. She proves her intelligence by solving mysteries that have left the police dumbfounded, but at the same time, she plays the imprisoned damsel in distress. Her beautiful long hair and chibi-face top off her character.

3. Mami Tomoe (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

By now, everyone who watches anime should know what happened to Mami, but that’s not the reason I like her. If you saw her battle scenes, then I’m sure you’d agree that she is awesome!

2. Kobato Hasegawa (Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai)

I don’t always go for loli characters, but when I do, I go for the little vampire with the devilishly cute “evil” laugh.

1. Yuno Gasai (Mirai Nikki)

As I said before, I like pink-haired characters, and when you combine that with the ultimate yandere, you get the number 1 spot on my list. Kaede Fuyou had long been my favourite yandere anime character, but this year she was overthrown by Yuno. Not only is she smart, pretty, physically fit, hard-working, and a good cook, she will also kill (literally) for love. How many people can say their girlfriend/fiancée/wife would do the same?

That wraps up my picks for this year. As you can see, a few series had multipe characters make the list, proving that a largly female cast does work sometimes. If you think I missed a certain character, feel free to leave a comment.

Related posts:

1. Nopy’s Top 10 Anime Girls of 2010
2. Sping 2011 Anime Round-up
3. Nopy’s Top 5 Anime Openings

Since the end of Mawaru Penguindrum, I’ve seen a lot of people say things along the lines of, “this anime sucked, there was no real story and no explanation whatsoever.” OK, comments may not have been that extreme, but you get the idea. I actually thought that the story was great, and no great story holds your hand through the end. With that said, it’s understandable that there would be some confusion with regards to Mawaru Penguindrum. To try to dispel some of that confusion, I have outlined some of my observations and conclusions here. It is by no means complete and I can’t guarantee it’s what the writer had intended, but it’s how I viewed the series and why I enjoyed it.

I have structured this post so that observations and explanations of small details are listed first. In the conclusion I explain how I viewed the series, and you can just skip to that part if you aren’t interested in the details.

Warning: Do not read further if you have not completed Mawaru Penguindrum (or Revolutionary Girl Utena). The topics that I cover below will spoil the entire series and assumes that you have seen every episode at least once.

The Thread of Fate

As I mentioned in my review of the series, Mawaru Penguindrum is based heavily on classical Greek plays, but it also includes traditional Japanese beliefs. One of the beliefs that the Greeks held (and was present in their plays) was that the power of fate, or more specifically, The Fates was absolute. The Fates spun threads that determined the length of a person’s life and the paths they would take. The outcomes predicted by the threads are impossible to stop or reverse, as proven by failed attempts by tragic heroes in Greek literature.

In the very first scene of the first episode, Shoma’s dialogue states how he hates “fate” because it sets everyone’s future on a predetermined path, making God rather cruel. He ends by stating that they didn’t have a future, alluding to his and Kanba’s inevitable demise. This is a clear reference to the idea that one’s fate cannot be altered no matter what you do.

Further reference to the inevitability of predetermined fate is made using the Red String of Fate in the ending credits. The Red String of Fate is widely known across East Asian cultures as a thread that connects two people who are destined to be together (usually lovers). Red threads are always shown to be connected to Himari somehow in the ending credits, implying that whoever is at the other end is closely tied to her and they will never be apart. This is why Himari’s dialogue in the final moments of the last episode state that she loves fate.

So with everything set in stone, and at least Shoma’s lack of a future confirmed in the first episode, why even watch the series? To give a simple explanation, consider the story of Oedipus Rex, who was told by the oracle that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Based on the inevitability of fate, everyone already knows that he will do exactly as the oracle foretold, but it’s not the ending that entertains, it’s the path that Oedipus took to get there.

Tragic Heroes

One of the defining elements of Greek plays is the presence of a tragic hero. As the name implies, you need a hero character, but he must have the following traits:

Hamartia - a fatal or tragic flaw (Kanba’s love for Himari)

Hubris – extreme pride or arrogance (Kanba)

Anagnorisis - a sudden realization (Shoma’s realization of their fate)

Peripeteia - a reversal of circumstances (Kanba turns into the antagonist while Shoma leaves his role as bystander)

Nemesis – inescapable fate (Kanba and Shoma do not have a future, as stated in the first episode)

Catharsis – cause an extreme change in emotion towards him from the audience (who didn’t feel sad when the brothers disappeared?)

Interestingly, no single character contains all of these traits (not all are necessary), but Kanba and Shoma combined do cover all the bases. This is probably due to them sharing the apple and tying together their fates.

Tragic Villans

Interestingly, hamartia can also be found in the villan, Sanetoshi. His kindness towards Himari was what caused his downfall. He was the one that sent Himari’s scarves to Double H, causing them to visit Himari’s house and passing along their new album, the last phrase in Momoka’s spell, to Ringo. Honestly, I don’t remember seeing any hints of Sanetoshi’s fate, but I could just have missed them.

Momoka the Witch

One burning question that plagued my mind during the series was who or what was Momoka, and how did she gain such power? The closest explanation I’ve come to is that she is a witch, much like Anthy, the witch in Revolutionary Girl Utena. Both Momoka and Anthy sacrifice themselves in order to protect the one(s) they love, but never complete their goals, leaving them cursed. As to how Momoka came to possess a diary that can transfer fate, I’m still stuck on that one.

Yuri and the Chisel

The episodes about Yuri were easy enough to decipher. As a child, she was repeatedly raped and beaten by her father until Momoka saved her. The pounding of the chisel represented the pounding of another long hard item. I don’t think I need to explain why this kind of trauma would make Yuri go yuri.

Tabuki and the Elevator

I explained this in my review of the series, along with other topics not mentioned here.

Apples

Everyone knows the significance of apples in literature as a symbol of knowledge and power, but also one of sin and punishment. Kanba and Shoma shared an apple, implying that they shared the same sin (and therefore must share the punishment). As for what the sin is, I can only guess that it was the knowledge that their parents were going to carry out a terrorist attack and their choice not to do something to stop them.

Why Penguins?

Based on the last episode, we can assume that both Kanba and Shoma died as children, leaving Himari the only survivor of the Takakura family. From various flashbacks in the series, we can also assume that a family trip to the aquarium was Himari’s last fond memory with her brothers, possibly causing her to associate the two things that made her happy, her brothers and penguins, with each other. Penguins are also cute and look more human than fish.

As many people have pointed out, the penguins are used as a representation of Self as defined in Jungian theory. They revealed the inner emotions of the characters through visual riddles, much like the Double H ads on the train.

A Train Ride

If nothing else, this is one thing I am absolutely sure of. Considering the major similarities between Mawaru Penguindrum and classical Greek plays, it’s not far of a stretch to relate the train rides to travelling down the river Styx (heading to the afterlife). After more thought however, I realized that the constant imagery of travelling on a train referred to something else: Night on the Galactic Railroad. You can read up on the story here. It is considered a classic Japanese novel and is known throughout Japan; there is even an anime loosely based on it called Galaxy Express 999. Throughout the series, Kanba, Shouma, Himari, and Ringo are seen riding an empty train car, heading towards the final stop, which can be assumed to be the afterlife. If you’re wondering why Himari and Ringo are still alive if they were riding a train to the afterlife, keep in mind that in Night on the Galactic Railroad, Giovanni rode the train to the last stop, but was never dropped off in the afterlife, only accompanying his friend to his destination of fate.

Further attempts to tie in the relevance of Night on the Galactic Railroad to Mawaru Penguindrum are made in the final minutes of the last episode. As the ghosts of Kanba and Shoma walk past their old home, Kanba specifically mentions the name “Kenji” and his thoughts on death. Well, Kenji Miyazawa just so happens to be the name of the author of Night on the Galactic Railroad. Coincidence? I think not.

Conclusions

In my view, Mawaru Penguindrum was a merger of a classic Japanese novel with the elements that helped make Greek plays popular even to this day. Much like Night on the Galactic Railroad, Mawaru Penguindrum follows a dream-like setting in Himari’s imagination. When Himari lost her adoptive parents, we can assume that she also lost her brothers at the same time or soon afterwards. What we are seeing in the series then, is the adventure that takes place after death. It is in death that Kanba and Shoma found purpose in life, leading them to find true happiness without altering their fate. The different arcs like Ringo’s arc, Masako’s arc, Tabuki’s arc, and Yuri’s arc can be seen as different stops or adventures along the railroad to the afterlife.

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I know some of you still have a lot of questions, but I don’t have the answers to all of them, and I’m too tired to write about the rest (it’s almost 3am and I have to head out of town today). If there’s enough interest, I may write a second post detailing other aspects of the series.

Disclaimer: These are my personal views on Mawaru Penguindrum and may not necessarily agree with other interpretations of the series.

Related posts:

1. Mawaru Penguindrum Review