Girl Anime and other fun.
Mar. 26th, 2006 07:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieNext week is going to be crazy at work, so the post volume is going to be unusually low. (Half the flist groans in relief).
But I am all about the giddy because we bought our plane tickets to Japan today!
Anyway, on to the lengthier topics of the post. Which is the fact that I finished Pretear earlier. And that I started watching Peach Girl (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
katranna groans), which is a good thing as I can only watch RahXephon with Husband.
Peach Girl. The plot (so far) is pretty simple. Momo is a high schooler whose tan, sun-bleached hair appearance makes people think she is a play girl. That's not true as she only used to be on the swim team and tans easily. Momo's 'friend' Sae always goes for what Momo wants, so when Sae asks who Momo likes, Momo (who likes the quiet, good-looking Touji, someone she's known for years), points her finger completely randomly at some guy in the hallway to get Sae off track. The guy she points at is Kairi, the attractive school flirt. Sae makes her move (of course) but Kairi sees right through her. And he also decides to chase Momo because hey, she likes him, right? So she should totally be easy to date, right? It's part mischief, part easy attraction (she's cute after all) but Momo is NOT interested. She thinks.
So far, I saw one ep of (let me know if you want to know where to dl) and while it won't make me rave about its artistry or complex concepts, it's girly fun. I like the animation well enough, the colors and the backgrounds, and to my relief, Momo (the heroine) while tanned , does ot have the slutty clothes and excessive make up she does in the covers. I like her, as she is strong and assertive and not a weepy useless shy mess. I am also rather giddily amused by Kairi, who has plenty of charm and is tongue-in-cheek funny and hot at the same time (and a bit too interested in sex, heh). You know those broody, Brontean heroes? Well think polar opposite. And when he teases Touji. Whoa. I do wonder who the girl in the pic is because that's one of the few times he was serious.
Re: Pretearautumnflame was right. As soon as Sasame went evil, the whole show went downhill from pervy and girly to making little character sense. In fact, this was the biggest problem with Pretear. You couldn't imagine the characters as living, breathing human beings outside the confines of the story. They were puppets pulled around by TPTB without inner consistency. This was the biggest, glaring difference between it and Fushigi Yuugi. In the good anime I've seen so far, you got the sense that what you were watching was a window into a continuing world. The world of the story and the characters had long, complicated existences before the time of the story and will continue to do so after. This was clearly not the case here. Not just because character motivation was shoddy, but because world-building was non-existent. What is Leafenia? Who lives there (surely it couldn't be just the seven knights). What did the knights do before they became knights? Do they have families? Hobbies? How come the families of the youngest ones were OK with the kids traipsing arounf fighting? Also, why did the Big Ebil come to that small town Himeno was living with as opposed to somewhere more important, like Tokyo? Etc. None of them were answered.
And Sasame's going evil? Silly. In theory, the whole 'he loved her silently and then had to fight against her and now he can't take it any more and snaps' would make a cool story. If they gave any hints beforehand that is. Also, the fact that he persists even though she tells him she doesn't love him and she is just using him (in a lovely s&mish scene where he is brushing her hair and she cuts his cheek with her fingernails. Ouch) makes me wonder about his tendency for self-punishment (in a better story, I would say it's because he feels so guilty about not helping her the last time). And of course, Takako herself is a fruitcake, as she realizes she really loves him after he dies protcting her. And then she is all over him. You mean his giving up his calling and all his friends wasn't good enough proof? And putting up with wearing matching clothes? (now you know she is evil)? She clearly has a thing for unavailable men and if she only made up her pea-hen brain 16 years earlier, none of this drama would have been necessary. Also, I think her moaning about being alone and no-one loving her is undercut by the fact that:
a. she is trying to destroy the world. That makes potential friendships akward and
b. she has a gorgeous, cool guy madly and conclusively in love with her. Instead of bitching, she should just make him prove his love by cleaning her house, taking her batty relatives (if she has any) for dinner etc.
But that's all right because at the end, Himeno learns to pret by herself (considering what preting is, ROFL) and saves the world. By the way, I know a few people on my flist don't like Miaka. Be that as it may, Himeno's Mary Suishness dwarves any problems with Miaka, IMO. The cute costumes, everybody weeping after she saved the world etc etc. Actually, it's a good thing I think Mary Sue is an inapplicable term to author's own creations, otherwise most of teen fantasy (Harry Potter included) would have a Mary Sue protagonist. Of course, the difference between a fantwit author and JKR is writing nuances and skill and subtlety, but I wonder if it has anything to do with the whole process of growing up and growing into things. Did this even make any sense?
But I am all about the giddy because we bought our plane tickets to Japan today!
Anyway, on to the lengthier topics of the post. Which is the fact that I finished Pretear earlier. And that I started watching Peach Girl (
katranna groans), which is a good thing as I can only watch RahXephon with Husband.Peach Girl. The plot (so far) is pretty simple. Momo is a high schooler whose tan, sun-bleached hair appearance makes people think she is a play girl. That's not true as she only used to be on the swim team and tans easily. Momo's 'friend' Sae always goes for what Momo wants, so when Sae asks who Momo likes, Momo (who likes the quiet, good-looking Touji, someone she's known for years), points her finger completely randomly at some guy in the hallway to get Sae off track. The guy she points at is Kairi, the attractive school flirt. Sae makes her move (of course) but Kairi sees right through her. And he also decides to chase Momo because hey, she likes him, right? So she should totally be easy to date, right? It's part mischief, part easy attraction (she's cute after all) but Momo is NOT interested. She thinks.
So far, I saw one ep of (let me know if you want to know where to dl) and while it won't make me rave about its artistry or complex concepts, it's girly fun. I like the animation well enough, the colors and the backgrounds, and to my relief, Momo (the heroine) while tanned , does ot have the slutty clothes and excessive make up she does in the covers. I like her, as she is strong and assertive and not a weepy useless shy mess. I am also rather giddily amused by Kairi, who has plenty of charm and is tongue-in-cheek funny and hot at the same time (and a bit too interested in sex, heh). You know those broody, Brontean heroes? Well think polar opposite. And when he teases Touji. Whoa. I do wonder who the girl in the pic is because that's one of the few times he was serious.
Re: Pretear
autumnflame was right. As soon as Sasame went evil, the whole show went downhill from pervy and girly to making little character sense. In fact, this was the biggest problem with Pretear. You couldn't imagine the characters as living, breathing human beings outside the confines of the story. They were puppets pulled around by TPTB without inner consistency. This was the biggest, glaring difference between it and Fushigi Yuugi. In the good anime I've seen so far, you got the sense that what you were watching was a window into a continuing world. The world of the story and the characters had long, complicated existences before the time of the story and will continue to do so after. This was clearly not the case here. Not just because character motivation was shoddy, but because world-building was non-existent. What is Leafenia? Who lives there (surely it couldn't be just the seven knights). What did the knights do before they became knights? Do they have families? Hobbies? How come the families of the youngest ones were OK with the kids traipsing arounf fighting? Also, why did the Big Ebil come to that small town Himeno was living with as opposed to somewhere more important, like Tokyo? Etc. None of them were answered. And Sasame's going evil? Silly. In theory, the whole 'he loved her silently and then had to fight against her and now he can't take it any more and snaps' would make a cool story. If they gave any hints beforehand that is. Also, the fact that he persists even though she tells him she doesn't love him and she is just using him (in a lovely s&mish scene where he is brushing her hair and she cuts his cheek with her fingernails. Ouch) makes me wonder about his tendency for self-punishment (in a better story, I would say it's because he feels so guilty about not helping her the last time). And of course, Takako herself is a fruitcake, as she realizes she really loves him after he dies protcting her. And then she is all over him. You mean his giving up his calling and all his friends wasn't good enough proof? And putting up with wearing matching clothes? (now you know she is evil)? She clearly has a thing for unavailable men and if she only made up her pea-hen brain 16 years earlier, none of this drama would have been necessary. Also, I think her moaning about being alone and no-one loving her is undercut by the fact that:
a. she is trying to destroy the world. That makes potential friendships akward and
b. she has a gorgeous, cool guy madly and conclusively in love with her. Instead of bitching, she should just make him prove his love by cleaning her house, taking her batty relatives (if she has any) for dinner etc.
But that's all right because at the end, Himeno learns to pret by herself (considering what preting is, ROFL) and saves the world. By the way, I know a few people on my flist don't like Miaka. Be that as it may, Himeno's Mary Suishness dwarves any problems with Miaka, IMO. The cute costumes, everybody weeping after she saved the world etc etc. Actually, it's a good thing I think Mary Sue is an inapplicable term to author's own creations, otherwise most of teen fantasy (Harry Potter included) would have a Mary Sue protagonist. Of course, the difference between a fantwit author and JKR is writing nuances and skill and subtlety, but I wonder if it has anything to do with the whole process of growing up and growing into things. Did this even make any sense?
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no subject
Date: 2006-03-27 03:00 am (UTC)Bob smiles for DM
My wife and I will be going back to China at the end of July.
Bob
no subject
Date: 2006-03-27 04:16 am (UTC)And oh how the wailing and crying of the last episodes made me want to choke a bitch. I wasn't sure whether I was going to go after Himeno or Takako or one of the screeching step sisters, but someone was going to pay (and I was taking the bishies, as a brooder and an intellectual make a nice set of bookends and there's plenty of me to go around).
Pretear is a nice little bit of fluff if you want to kill some time, but I'd never go out and buy it.
Also, I just bought Peach Girl, so it's on the list after I finish Trinity Blood. Of course I'm also trying to rewatch Kenshin, Last Exile and finish off GetBackers, Inuyasha, Mars Daybreak and Saiyuki Reload, so it might take a while.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-27 04:38 am (UTC)And China sounds really cool!
no subject
Date: 2006-03-27 04:40 am (UTC)Peach Girl is a nice bit of fluff. It's not amazing or anything but it's girly and cute and Sae (the antagonist) makes me want to kill her, but that's OK. And it doesn't meander much.
What is Sayiyuki Reload about?
And Trinity Blood is on the list after I finish RahXephon, Peach Girl and FMP. I also have aout 30 Kenshin eps left. So much anime, yay!
no subject
Date: 2006-03-27 06:45 am (UTC)Because Himeno was talking about her (Himeno) being alone but now she is macking on a hottie. Sister hates to think of anyone having anyone else IMO. Ugh.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-27 12:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-27 01:09 pm (UTC)This is only 25 eps long, so the pace will be good (and the three eps I've seen so far bear it out). I can't think of many stories that need more than 20+ eps (I liked Kenshin and Fushigi Yuugi which had more, but that's an exception. I tried Marmalade Boy, which was 70+ and gave up by ep 20 because the pace was glacial).
no subject
Date: 2006-03-27 01:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-27 01:21 pm (UTC)How do I know they ended it the same way? I checked the ending of the manga to see I'll like it, and then I checked the ending of the anime last night. I am so lame (and it was cute and sappy :P)
no subject
Date: 2006-03-27 01:35 pm (UTC)Got to visit Mom and Dad and all the other relatives
Bob
no subject
Date: 2006-03-27 01:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-27 02:19 pm (UTC)What is Sayiyuki Reload about
It's the second part of the Saiyuki series, followed by Saiyuki Reload Gunlock. I really enjoy the anime, but the manga is actually better. It's about four men, one a half demon, one an exiled god, one who's a human turned demon after he went nuts when his lover was killed, and one is a degenerate Buddhist monk. Humans and demons were getting along until the second wife of the great late demon lord decides she's going to rewake him and take over the world, causing most demons to go crazy and start killing humans. Sanzo, Goku, Hakkai and Gojyo have to travel west to stop him.
The strength of the series isn't really the story since it's basically them just travelling, but the character studies of the guys are great. Sanzo smokes, drinks, cusses like a sailor, and is tempermental, but he's also an extremely powerful Buddhist leader, no matter how heretical he may act. He also wasn't always that way you find out a lot later and holds himself responsible for his Master's death. Hakkai is sweet, polite and the rational thinker of the group, but he's a full demon after he killed 1000 demons on a rampage to find his lover who then promptly killed herself when he found her since she'd been raped and was carrying a demon lord's child. She was also Hakkai's sister, to make things ever weirder (the anime never says that though, the manga sure does). Gojyo's brother killed their mother after she attacked Gojyo when he was little. Goku was kicked out of heaven and doesn't remember that he was responsible for killing the first incarnations of Sanzo, Gojyo and Hakkai. They're all extremely screwed up men. I adore Sanzo (you might see him as the gun toting blond in some of my icons).
That was a lot of explaination for a short question. Especially since I don't think you'd like it all that much.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-27 11:33 pm (UTC)