Aww.. so cute.

I love Eureka 7.

It’s one of my favourite series of all times and is the only mecha anime I know that doesn’t really concentrate on who has the bigger, more badass mecha and instead on the journey and growth of each character. Of course Eureka 7 had some great looking and kickass mechs, like Nirvash typeZERO’s final form.

Immediately at the start of Eureka 7’s movie “Pocketful of Rainbows” you can tell that it takes place in an alternate universe. It could be good or bad depending on how it’s done.

Everything went on smoothly and rather entertaining during the first third of the movie. Renton and Eureka’s personalities were slightly altered, but I must say I liked it better that Renton wasn’t so annoying and Eureka was actually kinda moe~

And then there is Nirvash and theEND as faeries. They look so cute and cuddly XD

But that’s where things started to fall apart.

If looks could kill…

The crews of the Gekkostate were a bunch of insane and paranoid 17 year olds trapped in the bodies of middle aged men and women due to faster aging due to the “Agony of Doha” incident. Anemone is an old lady and lover of the late Dominic hiding under Vodarac and I’m still trying to figure out exactly what part does she play in the story.

That’s the biggest flaw with Pocketful of Rainbows.

A lot of things doesn’t make any or much sense at all. The most confusing part is – what exactly happened at the end?

White version of Gundam Providence?

What exactly did Eureka and Nirvash had planned to do and what actually happened when Nirvash broke the huge Image right before being hit by the Hammer of God. The movie made no effort to explain any of these.

The only thing that’s certain is that Nirvash has left (and god knows whatever happened to theEND) and Eureka now has long hair and can’t speak.

I was left wondering whether Eureka’s memory were wiped out since it seemed like her memory could somehow alter reality to save Renton but that might not have been the case – I really can’t tell at all and it’s frustrating the heck out of me since I have no idea what the ending was supposed to be after spending almost 2 hours watching the damn movie.

Maybe it was something I missed, so if you know the answer, PLEASE TELL ME!

It’s like something major happened that ended the whole story but no one seems to know or care what it is. Oh god I feel like banging my head on the wall right now.

Honestly, I somewhat wish I never laid eyes on the movie but at the same time it would have been a waste if I had missed it. It’s great on some parts with a few interesting and fresh twist in the story. There were some touching moments as well, but nowhere at the level of the series.

Peter Pan and Neverland does not, I repeat, does not fit in well here. And apparently so does most of everything else Bones threw into the pot, especially the ending. The movie would have been much more tolerable and enjoyable to some extent if they didn’t screw it up at the end!

Naked long haired Eureka <3

If you haven’t watched it yet but plan to, be prepared to enjoy the first third of the movie, be touched and confused by the remaining and be utterly lost at the end and walking away with a bad taste in your mouth, but at the same time if you skip it, you’re also missing out on all the great parts of the movie.

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Rating: 8/10

The series started by showing 2 boys climbing up a slope with a third person watching quietly. Then the narration kicks in telling how Japan was invaded and lost its independence to the Britannian Empire. After the war, the two boys were once again shown to be in some sort of a camp, with the black haired boy telling his friend that he would take down Britannia.

Fast forward 7 years later, the black haired boy, Lelouch Lamperouge, is now a high school student. Apparently he’s pretty smart as well, being able to take over and win a losing chess match against a nobility.

At the same time, a group of terrorist had hijacked something really important from the Britannian forces. The 3rd Britannian Prince Clovis, ruler of the now Area 11 (Japan) and ordered to send out the Knightmare Frames to secure their stolen good.

I originally thought that the terrorists probably stole some new prototype Knightmare Frame (ala Gundam) but it turned out to be a chemical weapon instead.

The terrorist’s truck caught up behind Lelouch and Rivalz. They decided to take a short cut which caused them to end up crashing into an abandoned construction site. Lelouch became disgusted with how the passerby weren’t bothering to help out and decided to do it himself. However, as Lelouch climbed aboard the truck, the terrorists began to move again, causing him to fall inside the vehicle.

As Lelouch tries to think of a plan to get out, the connecting door opened and a girl went into the cargo area of the truck and took off in a Glasgow Knightmare Frame.

The other terrorist continues to drive the truck and turned into a tunnel. I seriously wonder if this guy have a driving licensed when he once again crashed into an underground tunnel.

In his half-dead state due to an earlier injury, he flipped a switch and caused the truck door to open. A Britannian soldier caught sight of Lelouch and the poison gas container. He sneaked up and easily pinned Lelouch on the ground. After a little struggling, the Britannian soldier recognized Lelouch and revealed himself to be the other boy with Lelouch 7 years ago, Suzaku.

The container suddenly opened, but instead of poison gas, a girl in strange clothes with green hair appeared instead. By this time another squad of the Britannian army had already arrived and the leader gave orders for Suzaku to shoot Lelouch. He refused and while he was looking over at Lelouch and the girl, he was shot instead.

The Britannian army was just about to shoot Lelouch when the truck driver flipped the other switch and self-destructed the entire vehicle.

When Prince Clovis heard of the explosion, he decided to permanently purge the Shinjuku Ghetto, leaving no survivors. Thus the massacre began.

Lelouch and the mysterious girl finally found their way out of the tunnel through a warehouse, but quickly hid when the earlier squad entered and killed off every living person in there, including a child. Just as they turned to move out, Lelouch’s mobile phone began to rang.

The leader fired a shot at Lelouch after securing the girl, but she struggled to get free and took the shot for Lelouch instead. However, just as he was giving up hope, something strange happened.

He heard the girls voice in his head, offering him a contract for the power of the Kings, showing a series of unknown images. He accepted it easily and began acting arrogant in front of the enemy squad.

Lelouch declared himself as Lelouch Vi Britannia and ordered the Britannian soldiers to die, to which they willingly obliged with a grin. Lelouch had gained the power of the Geass of obedience.

This part is rather interesting. As blood were spilled all over the place, some even splashing on his face, he began to look troubled and distressed, as if suddenly realizing he had caused the death of the entire squad. But just before the episode ended, his fearful expression turned into one of a devilish grin. While the entire episode was captivating enough for me, this was the key point that turned me into an instant fan.

Episode 2: The Awakening of the White Knight

Rating: 8/10

As Lelouch stared the the body of the girl, wondering what she had intended to do with him, a Sutherland Knightmare Frame blasted its way through into the warehouse to find the special troops dead and a single Britannian student in there. The Sutherland’s pilot demanded Lelouch to explain what had happened and threatened him by firing a few giant bullets.

Lelouch tried to use his powers and ordered the pilot to exit the Knightmare Frame, but found out that he needs to be in direct contact with a person in order to use the Geass. He quickly improvised by claiming to be a son of a Duke. Lelouch raised his hands and asked that his ID, located in his back pocket, be checked and requested for protection once he had been identified to be who he claimed to be.

The Sutherland pilot deactivated the Knightmare Frame and exited the unit, saying that she will check the ID herself. Lelouch quickly took the opportunity to use the Geass on her and took the Knightmare Frame.

Suzaku apparently had survived both the shot and explosion. His father’s keepsake had saved him from the gun shot. He was then given the keys to pilot a prototype Knightmare Frame by Lloyd, who up until now appeared to be the “mad scientist” of the series who is keen on collecting data for his latest toy.

Back in the hijacked Sutherland, Lelouch tries to gather as much outside information as he could and started planning his next moves. Using the 2-way radio he had obtained in the terrorist’s truck earlier, he contacted the female terrorist in the Glasgow and gave her instructions on how to escape, saying that she should follow his orders if she wanted to win.

As a reward for going under his command, Lelouch presented the terrorist group with a train full of Sutherland units. Even now I’m still trying to figure out where this came from, but I’m just guessing that those were the backup units for the Britannian army attacking the area and Lelouch had somehow managed to hijack its controls. However, Lelouch was particular about the female terrorist to continue in her damaged Glasgow unit to act as a diversion in his strategy.

It was also nice to see that Lelouch had not let the entire event go to his head. He realizes that human lives are at stake and that he needs to stay calm and collected in order for them to win unscathed.

And the strategy game between Lelouch and Prince Clovis began. Could someone please tell me where Lelouch managed to find all those chess pieces in the Sutherland? Because I’m pretty darn sure he wasn’t carrying any ever since he won the game against the noble way back at the start of the first episode.

Clovis called for a full frontal assault, causing the break in formation. Lelouch calls this the worst possible strategy for the enemy as it would allow his entire masterplan to be executed without a hitch and effectively taking out the entire Britannian forces in a single move.

In a desperate move, Clovis allowed Lloyd to send out the new 7th generation Knightmare Frame prototype, the Lancelot, piloted by Suzaku. This is the coolest mech in the series thus far, and only the Gawain is close enough to matching it in coolness.

The Lancelot is truly a powerful machine as it easily took out the terrorist’s Sutherlands and putting a huge dent in Lelouch’s strategy. Through its advanced system, the Lancelot was able to discover Lelouch’s hiding place and began chasing after him. Just as Lelouch was about to eject, Suzaku saw a lady falling down a crumbling building with a baby and decided that it was more important to save them instead of chasing after the terrorist commander.

Just as the Britannian forces was about to finish off what was left of the ghetto and the terrorist, Prince Clovis’s voice boomed throughout the area, calling for immediate retreat and offer aid to both Britannians and Elevens (remnants of the Japanese).

Back in Clovis’s mobile headquarters, he asked a soldier who was pointing a gun at him whether he was satisfied. It turned out that he was forced to recall the troops because of this man. When Clovis asked who he really was, Lelouch revealed himself by addressing Clovis as his elder brother. Lelouch greeted his elder brother by declaring himself as the 17th successor and 2nd in line to throne, Lelouch Vi Britannia.

Clovis was shocked and became pale as a ghost, claiming that Lelouch should had already been dead, to which Lelouch responded that he had returned in order to change everything.

Episode 3: The Fake Classmate

Rating: 8/10

Clovis tries to convince Lelouch to return to the motherland with him, but Lelouch refused by reminding Clovis of what had happened to him. Lelouch’s mother was said to be murdered by a member of the royal family although they made it look as if it was a terrorist attack. Clovis denied that he was the culprit. Lelouch then used his Geass to make Clovis tell him what he knows, and he named 2nd Prince Schneizel and 2nd Princess Cornelia, saying that they should know something about it.

Lelouch demanded to know if they were the mastermind. However, Clovis was unable to answer and Lelouch concluded that he really didn’t know anything about the incident. Once Lelouch deactivated his Geass, Clovis frantically denied that he had anything to do with the murder. He breathed a sigh of relief when Lelouch acknowledged that he was telling the truth, but even so he had no plans of letting Clovis go alive. Clovis begged to be spared, saying that they were still related even though they were only half-brothers. His plea fell on deft ears and the gun trigger was pulled.

Next day in school, Lelouch was surprised that news of Clovis death wasn’t announced. As he recalled the events from the previous day, he felt sick and threw up in the toilet, admitting that his nerves were still too weak for what he had done.

He was also surprised to see a familiar face in class and finally realized who the female terrorist he saw really was – Karen Stadtfeld. Daughter of an distinguished family, but has a weak body and therefore seldom showed up in class.

Using the power of Geass, Lelouch dragged the truth out of Karen about who she really was and she was with the terrorist group. Apparently, although her father was a Britannian, her mother was a Japanese, making her a half. Lelouch deactivated his Geass and walked away, but turned it on again on Karen to tell her not to talk about Shinjuku. However, to his surprise, the Geass didn’t seem to work anymore and Karen began to demand for an explanation to his questions.

Fortunately for Lelouch, Shirley called out from above to remind them that they are supposed to be heading for science class and Lelouch took the opportunity to take off.

In an unknown location, General Patre ordered a group of scientists to relocate and hide. Although the nature of the group is unknown, there were the containers similar to the one which was believed to contain poison gas, as well as clothes like the one which the strange girl was wearing. There were also pictures of the scientists doing experiments with that girl.

At home, Lelouch revealed that his ultimate goal is to create a peaceful world for his sister, Nunnally. The following day Lelouch experimented with the Geass and concluded that the Geass would only work on the same person once.

Karen began to develop suspicions about Lelouch. He realized this too and decided that its best for him to settle this as soon as possible. After class ended, he went up to Karen and said that he would like to have a word with her, to which she willingly obliged.

He brought her to the student council’s clubhouse but before they could start talking the rest of the council came barging in, with council President Mily thanking Lelouch for bringing Karen over. Lelouch seemed surprised as well and Milly explained that Karen would be a part of the council as a request from her grandfather, the board chairman of Ashford Academy.

Karen got drenched with the champaign Rivalz threw over to Lelouch and ended up in the showers. When Lelouch brought her a change of clothes, she asked him to hand her the pouch that was near the sink. As he pushed his hands behind the shower curtains, Karen forcefully grabbed them and demanded an explanation for his question about Shinjuku from before.

The bathroom phone rang just then and Lelouch picked it up. He passed the phone to Karen, saying that it was for her although he doesn’t know who it is. Karen was surprised to hear the mysterious voice that had led them in the battle previously, realizing that she may have made a mistake about Lelouch.

He had pre-recorded his voice and made Sayako to be his accomplice in fooling Karen using Geass.

The news also finally announced Clovis’s death, as well as the capture of a suspect – Kururugi Suzaku.

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First Impression

My initial thought after watching the first few episodes during my Code Geass marathon was that it looks like a Kira Yamato vs Light “Kira” Yagami anime. That, I like.

The Mastermind

On one hand, we have Lelouch Lamperouge (real name: Lelouch Vi Britannia), the genius who holds the power of Geass that allows him to control others.

Not exactly evil, but he would do anything in order to obtain his goal, even sacrificing others to make himself look good. He does most of his dirty deeds while in his alter-ego, Zero, a highly charismatic and mysterious person who leads the Order of the Black Knights – the allies of Justice.

Lelouch’s motivation is to create a safe haven for his sister, Nunnally, who lost her sight due to trauma and to seek revenge for his murdered mother. His true target was his father, the Emperor of Britannia.

The Ace Pilot

On the other hand, there is Kururugi Suzaku, the son of the last Prime Minister of Japan before Britannia invaded the country in order to capture the Sakuradite (a very precious raw material) mine.

As an Honorary Britannian working in the military, he was given a chance to pilot the prototype unit for the 7th generation Knightmare Frame (read: Mecha), the Z-01 Lancelot.

Lancelot almost seemed to be built specifically for him, as test results showed that he had the highest compatibility with the Lancelot among all the candidates to pilot the Lancelot so far.

Being a member of the Britannia military, his main enemy is the leader of the Order of the Black Knights, Zero.

What makes this confrontation between Lelouch/Zero and Suzaku even more interesting is the fact that they are childhood friends. Suzaku was eventually transfered to the same high school as Lelouch and his friends. Best of friends in school, yet bitter enemies in the battlefield. This did not change even after Lelouch discovered who was piloting the annoying Lancelot that keeps disrupting his plans.

Suspense!

Plenty of action and suspense in Code Geass. Most of the episodes also ends in a cliffhanger, which would have probably killed me many times over if I didn’t complete the whole series in a marathon.

The battles between Knightmare Frames, especially when the Lancelot and Gawain is involved, are action packed and full of explosion. But not all the action and suspense are found in battles.

Lelouch/Zero is a great strategist and it really shows as he plans his moves a few step ahead of everyone else. The feeling of suspense here is quite similar to what I feel with Death Note.

If anything can go wrong, it won’t. If nothing can go wrong, it will.

Sounds a bit contradicting, but true. Zero’s plans almost never fails. Even when it does, he can quickly come out with a new one that would allow them victory, or at least a safe retreat.

However, even Zero slips out sometimes. And when he does, it will go to the worst possible outcome possible. And the worst thing happened when everyone thought it will end up alright.

Design and Animation

Since the designs are done by CLAMP, there shouldn’t be any doubt that it’s top-notched. Sunrise took extra effort to ensure that the final designs and animation were done as closely as possible to the original designs by CLAMP. The result, gorgeous looking artwork and animation by Sunrise.

Storyline

Quite unpredictable, especially when Zero is involved. No one can ever tell what he’s trying to do and he never reveals everything until the last minute. The way the story unfolds builds up the suspense and with answers, came more questions to carry the plot on.

There really isn’t any mercy or holding back. When they set out to kill, they kill, regardless of consequences. Reality can be harsh and Code Geass portrays that quite well.

Soundtrack

I only really like FLOW’s Colors among all the OP and ED themes. The OST in overall is pretty good, especially during intense parts. I’m gonna need to get my hands on the entire OST XD

Conclusion

All in all, this is definitely one of the best anime I’ve watched in a while and I can’t wait for the new season. Things probably can’t get any worst for Lelouch and Suzaku, but I have a feeling that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Code Geass episodes review can be found here.
Click here to get Code Geass goodies!

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• Midori no Hibi Episodes Review I: Episode 1 – 4
• Midori no Hibi Episodes Review II: Episode 5 -8
• Midori no Hibi Episodes Review III: Episode 9 – 11

Midori no Hibi

Episode 12: Sudden Farewall

Rating: 8/10

Kouta tried to convince Midori to let her mother know about what’s going on, but Seiji refused on her behalf, saying that Midori herself is troubled by this as well.

And one of the shamans that Midori’s mother invited seemed to be the real deal, saying that Midori herself did not want to return yet. Even if he was to forcefully return Midori’s spirit, the same thing will happen all over again. It’s best to let Midori find what she truly wants and then return on her own. I remembered reading that Midori actually did return to her real body a few times in the manga, but quickly went back to Seiji’s right hand again each time.

Midori seemed to be really bothered about what Kouta said and Seiji only made things worse for her. It seems to me like Seiji was actually trying to convince Midori to want to return to normal in his own way.

After Seiji went to sleep, Midori completed the muffler she was making and put it over Seiji. Then she started to wonder if it really wasn’t her own fault that she ended up that way, and whether it was okay for her to stay that way. Seiji woke up a bit later to find that his right hand had returned (and I quote “What the hell is this?”) and started to panic when he realized Midori is missing.

Seiji tried to convince himself that it was all for the best and that he should be happy. Midori would be happy to return to her own body too, right? Despite that thought, he got easily upset at even the smallest things and even ditched school that day. Instead, he went on a shopping spree for everything porn and had Miyahara carried a huge backpack full of it around as he continues to shop for even more.

They met with another group of delinquents while walking on the streets who had been waiting for him. They were the same ones who Seiji had beaten up the day before at the bowling alley, but this time there were more of them. Seiji told Miyahara to run and keep his new collection safe as he released all his pent up anger on the delinquents.

Miyahara ran into Ayase as he was running away and told her about what happened. By the time Ayase reached where Seiji was, he had already taken care of all the delinquents although he was bruised as well.

Ayase began to pour out her true feelings for Seiji and finally confessed to him how she truly feels.

Episode 13: Our Days

Rating: 8/10

Seiji rejected Ayase with the excuse that he can’t seem to think about it right now, but Ayase told Seiji that it’s probably because he already likes someone else. He said that even though he always thought of Midori as being noisy, but when she was no longer around all he could think about is her. Ayase then explained that its probably because he doesn’t know how he truly feels about Midori.

When Kouta came to see Midori, he found out that Midori had no memories at all about what had happened to her. She totally forgot about how she had been Seiji’s hand, but said she felt all warm and happy inside. Kouta was torn about whether or not he wanted to tell Midori what had happened, fearing that Midori might decide to return being Seiji’s hand and fall into a coma again.

Seiji went home that night and began to notice how much Midori had been a part of his life and was given a surprise greeting from his sister, Rin. She noticed that Midori was no longer on Seiji’s hand. When she found out that Midori had probably returned to her real body but Seiji did not go and look for her, she gave him a beating and took his allowance as usual. She also took away the hot spring buns she brought as a present, saying that it was supposed to be for Midori, to which Seiji had no reply.

He also found Midori’s little diary underneath the muffler she made for him and read through it.

Seiji appeared in front of Midori’s house the next day but chickened out the last minute and turned to walk away when he heard Kouta calling out to him. Kouta explained that Midori had woke up in her real body but when Seiji asked Kouta to hand over Midori’s diary to her, he asked Seiji why wouldn’t he hand it over to her personally.

Seiji seemed shocked when he heard that Midori had no memories of what had happened. Kouta tried to persuade Seiji by telling him that she still wanted to be by his side, but Seiji said its best that she doesn’t remember anything and tried to leave. Midori heard Kouta calling out to Seiji and saw them both outside the gates of her house.

A flood of emotions came over Midori, who suddenly felt like she had lost something very important, and wanted to return to that time when she felt really happy once more. But her mother told Midori that she cannot return to that world, and that if she doesn’t do anything in this reality nothing would change. Midori seemed to have made up her mind and quickly rushed out of her house.

Kouta directed Midori to find Seiji and stopped her mother from trying to go after her. Midori went to all the usual places where she used to see Seiji, but had absolutely no luck, and sometimes just passing by each other without noticing.

Seiji, on the other hand, roamed all over town reminiscing about what had happened through Midori’s diary. He was obviously very depressed as well.

As fate would have it, Midori finally found Seiji at her special fountain overlooking the city. She gathered up her courage and walked up to Seiji, who was really more surprised to see Midori then she would have thought. Took her a while to actually say it, but Seiji responded in kind with a smile. They really looked like they were about to embrace each other but it started to snow and they ended up looking at the falling snow instead.

“And they live happily ever after… The end…”

Well, at least it sure seemed that way

Click here to get the entire set of Midori no Hibi DVDs

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• Midori no Hibi Episodes Review I: Episode 1 – 4
• Midori no Hibi Episodes Review II: Episode 5 -8

Midori no Hibi

Episode 9: Takki Days

Rating: 7/10

Takamizawa has been haunted by blurred images of Midori in his mind ever since he lost his memories about her. He went crazy trying to remember what those images were and bumped his head on the closet, knocking down a few items that was on it, one of which is a memory card with the words Midori on it. He finally remembers who Midori was after viewing all the photos he had taken before of Midori that was in the memory card.

Seiji came out of the supermarket grumbling about having to eat tofu steak until he receives his allowance when he felt like he was being followed. He quickly turned around and chased after the culprit and sure enough, there was Takamizawa secretly following him and taking pictures of Midori.

Takamizawa explained how he got his memory back and even showed them his new homepage dedicated to Midori. Apparently the homepage was quite popular, with over 500,000 hits already. Seiji was impressed, but at the same time he also went berserk, threatening Takamizawa to close it down. If you asked me, he was a bit overprotective here Why would he care so much when Midori hasn’t even objected to anything yet? On the contrary, Midori seemed to like it.

Takamizawa agreed to close it down, but only if Seiji would help him with some work. He also promised to pay Seiji for it, so Seiji was all for it.

Seiji and Midori ended up at a comic convention, where Takamizawa had a booth waiting to sell Midori dolls. Small demon Midori-chan is my favourite among the bunch XD

Seiji resisted at first but quickly changed his mind when Takamizawa mentioned that he was going to split the profits with him. However, he wasn’t very enthusiastic and no one came over to their booth. Midori then volunteered to help draw attention by pretending to be a doll herself, which proved to be successful as they quickly sold out after that.

The crowd then started to bid in order to buy the final “original” Midori doll left, including a celebrity actor. Of course, it was impossible for Seiji to sell off Midori, and he started saying that Midori is not for sale at any price and that she is precious to him. Touched, the entire crowd applauded him for being such a true doll mania (even a God!?) and took a picture together much to Seiji’s objection.

Now that Seiji has money thanks to his “job”, he happily went to the supermarket once more to buy some real food but was scared away by a creepy looking Takamizawa. Seems that Takamizawa fell in love with someone and wanted Seiji to help him out. Seiji refused but changed his mind again after being persuaded by Midori. He sure changes his mind a lot if you ask me

Much to Seiji and Midori’s surprise, the girl that Takamizawa likes looks exactly like his favourite Marin-chan doll. After some thought, Seiji decided that they need to help Takamizawa to fail in order to protect the poor girl from being victimized by Takamizawa.

Seiji had Takamizawa dressed up like a Yankee-style delinquent, believing that he would scare the girl away. But his plan backfired completely when the girl actually thought Takamizawa looked cool. Seiji decided to use his final resort. He disguised himself as a gang member and approached Takamizawa, hoping to scare him away instead, but to his surprise, Takamizawa stood his ground to protect the girl.

Seiji thought that maybe he was wrong about him and decided that he would lose to Takamizawa. But instead of losing to Takamizawa, Seiji got bashed up badly by the girl, who appears to be an even bigger delinquent that Seiji. Takamizawa realized that the girl was nothing like his beloved Marin-chan and ran away but the girl continued to chase after him.

Episode 10: The Distance Between Hearts

Rating: 8/10

Ayase was invited by her friends for a gokon at a karaoke box, a group date where girls and guys get acquainted. When she arrived she was shocked to see Seiji and his friends there. In order not to let them realize who she was, she put on a hat and glasses to disguise herself. I’m simply amazed that they did not figure out who she really was. Even Seiji thought that Ayase was the type of girl he’d like and got really excited.

Seiji signaled Miyahara who then suggested that they play the King’s game (it’s a game where someone becomes the King and whatever he says must be followed). He randomly called out person A and D (who were actually Seiji and Ayase) and ordered them to eat a chocolate stick from the opposite ends. The idea is after they’re done eating, they would end up kissing each other. Seiji looked real vicious as he chomped down the chocolate stick as quickly as he could, but ended up receiving an uppercut from Ayase as he almost reached his goal.

While walking to school the next day, Seiji was complaining about what had happened yesterday when he suddenly felt that someone was yet again following him from behind. This guy must really have a good sixth sense since Midori’s childhood friend, Kouta, was indeed tailing him secretly.

It’s kinda funny watching Kouta trying to be brave but ended up being more afraid. After school Kouta continued to stalk Seiji and everytime he walks up right behind and tries to speak, he got left behind. But he finally gathered enough courage to speak out louder to get Seiji’s attention.

Kouta tried to convince Seiji to follow him to Midori’s house, but Midori prompted Seiji to refuse. Despite what Kouta says, it’s pretty obvious that he likes Midori, and Seiji could sense it as well especially when he went all red when Seiji asked him about it.

Episode 11: Fated Reunion

Rating: 7/10

Midori stood by the roadside waiting for Seiji to appear. When he finally came around the corner, Midori’s face lightens up but quickly turned gloomy as Seiji continues to walk pass her. She had lost her courage in the last minute again.

Seiji was getting frustrated revising for his exam the next day and suddenly had an idea. He would play a game with Midori and then when he wins, he would have her do the test for him. But he lost 3 times straight in a row and had to do what Midori wants instead.

Midori wanted Seiji to say he likes her, even if he didn’t really mean it. Seiji tried to force himself to say it, but just couldn’t do it and brushed it off for later. It’s interesting to note that he couldn’t say it to Midori for some reason even though he’s done it countless times before with other girls. Perhaps its because he knows that this time Midori really does like him and somehow feels embarrassed and awkward.

Back at Midori’s house, her mother has arranged for monks, shamans, and the likes to try and wake up Midori. Kouta was against the idea, but Midori’s mother said she would try anything at this point.

Ayase once again comes up with a new plan to win over Seiji, the “lovely note proposal” plan. She was planning to give Seiji her notes for the exam on a notebook decorated with hearts. Unfortunately, Seiji didn’t even take notice of what she was really trying to do and her plan failed once more.

Kouta, inspired by Midori’s mother’s words, decided to try to convince Seiji once more to try and wake Midori. He bumped into a group of delinquents outside Seiji’s school. He mistook them for Seiji’s friends and said some stuff which he really shouldn’t have said and ended up getting dragged away by them. Kouta really has a wild imagination and a big mouth for such a small boy for his own good.

On the way back from school, Seiji walked pass the fountain that was a special place for Midori. Midori started to recall the last time they were there and said she wished they could stay like that forever. Seiji replied that they could come anytime, which left Midori very happy.

Seiji went to his usual place for lunch. He started to complain that the service was slow when his food finally arrived but quickly become all lovey-lovey when he saw how cute the waitress was.

Seiji turned all lovey-lovey when he saw the cute waitress…

Just as Seiji began to dig in, Miyahara came and told Seiji about Kouta, he quickly took off to their hideout, which is an abandoned bowling alley that’s pretty much in ruins. Seriously, I can’t stand Kouta and the way he talks. Someone needs to beat some sense into the boy. Luckily for me, the delinquents put a tape over his mouth which stopped him from speaking.

Seiji appeared and took off the tape (nuuu!!! why’d you do that!?) and started to fight the delinquents. This bunch seems to be tougher as they were able to stand Seiji’s punches and even pushed him across the lanes. Kouta tried to help but was pushed down instead, knocking his head in the process. Midori couldn’t take it anymore and took up a nearby bowling pin and helped Seiji take care of the delinquents. After the fight was over, Kouta saw Midori on Seiji’s right hand while he was still dazed from the fall and fainted right after.

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• Midori no Hibi Episodes Review I: Episode 1 – 4
  

Midori no Hibi

Episode 5: The Power of Love

Rating: 7/10

Seiji was late for school. The gym teacher was already closing the gate when Seiji was approaching. Seiji jumped over the gates and landed one of his foot on the gym teacher’s face before running off to class.

While Seiji was taking a leak in the toilet, the gym teacher knocked the door open and pulled him out so that he could use the toilet instead. Angered, Seiji gave the door a kick, knocking the door off its hinges, falling directly on to the teacher.

During gym class, the students were playing volleyball. One of the smashes hit Takamizawa on the face, and he somewhat faintly recalled about Midori.

Since Seiji couldn’t use his right hand, he had to skip gym classes. The gym teacher, clearly unhappy, made Seiji do push-ups with only his left hand. Back home, Seiji ordered for pizza and took a drink from the fridge. He mistakenly took a bottle of his sister’s sake, got drunk and was knocked out. Midori decided that he would help Seiji with housework while he was unconscious. However, things got out of hand as various people arrived at his house. I seriously pity how Midori drags him around the house lol

Seiji woke up feeling all fine and rested the next morning but Midori fell sick instead. Seiji skipped school to stay at home and take care of Midori the whole day. It seemed that Seiji skipped the next day as well.

Seiji went back to school after Midori recovered and the gym teacher made Seiji do 100 chin-ups on the poll if he wanted to get credits for that class. Seiji managed to do 99 chin-ups with only his left hand but slipped on as he tried to do his hundredth. Luckily for him, Midori went up and grabbed the poll to help him do the final chin-up.

Episode 6: Shiori’s Love Love Battle!

Rating: 7/10

Shiori’s father and step-mother is going on a family outing, but Shiori says she doesn’t want to go because he wants his father, with his newly wed wife, to have some quality time together. And so she went and got Seiji to keep her company for the day instead. It’s quite obvious that the real reason she didn’t want to go along with her parents is because she was being stubborn about her new step-mother.

Ayase caught glimpse of Seiji and Shiori together and started following them from behind, fantasizing about how Seiji might prefer younger girls and getting all worried and flushed. After taking pictures together, Shiori pulled Seiji into the arcade, where Rin happened to be playing a game of mah jong.

Shiori challenged Seiji to a versus game that looked a lot like Street Fighter. Seiji lost easily since he could no longer use his right hand. However, he started giving instructions to Midori that helped level the playing grounds a little, but it wasn’t enough. Just as Shiori was about to give Seiji the finishing blow, Seiji’s character suddenly began attacking ferociously and defeated Shiori. Shiori jumped up to congratulate Seiji, only to find that he was flat on the floor and Rin had taken over his place.

Rin took the opportunity to torture Seiji to coach Shiori on how she can win Seiji’s affection. What surprised me wasn’t the fact that she had a little girl doing all those weird stuffs, but the fact that Shiori actually went along with it! She even got Shiori waiting for Seiji in the bath!

Midori suggested that Rin might be behind it and Seiji immediately went to confront his sister. In a drunken state, she revealed Midori to Shiori, who then fainted. Fortunately, Seiji managed to convince Shiori that she fell unconscious in the bath and she had dreamed the whole thing up.

Shiori’s step-mom came to pick her up but she refused to go back at first. They got into an argument and Shiori finally let out her true feelings. Her step-mom couldn’t take it anymore and gave her a slap for spouting nonsense, and explaining that she really only wanted to get along with Shiori. Shiori finally realized the truth and became much more friendlier with her step-mom.

Ayase finally picked up her courage to invite Seiji for a movie date. Seiji, being oblivious as he is, fell for the oldest trick in the book about her friend who couldn’t make it for the movie.

Episode 7: First Date

Rating: 7/10

Ayase spent the entire night devising a plan for the date that would help her win over Seiji. Seriously, who is she trying to kid?

Her first plan, the “dress well” plan, failed almost immediately.

Her second plan was the “doki-doki cling” plan, where they would go through an extremely crowded street. Ayase would pretend to trip and fall right into Seiji’s arms. Instead someone bumped into her, and she ended up hugging a Colonel Sanders lookalike statue.

Third plan – “Get his heart by clinging” plan. Ayase had memorized all the best times for the 4 screaming opportunities, but apparently Seiji had better timing. The first chance failed because Midori screamed and startled Ayase. The second chance failed too as Seiji bent down to pick up his falling bottle. The third time was another miss with Seiji stretching back yawning. The fourth and final chance was a no-go as well with Seiji sneezing. Even Midori was beginning to feel pity for Ayase.

Ayase tried to touch Seiji’s hands but instead she was touching Midori instead. Seiji began to panic and quickly pulled over the hand of the old man sleeping on Seiji’s left side and put it over Ayase’s hand so he could pull Midori out.

After the movie, Ayase invited Seiji for dinner and he agreed. But before they head to Ayase’s place, she wanted to do some shopping first – for some new swimming suits. Too bad for her that Seiji rather fill his stomach first rather than watching Ayase putting on different swimsuits.

They were walking through the park on the way to her house when she turned around just in time for the lights to come on, a truly romantic scene indeed… if she didn’t freak out when Seiji pointed out a bug on her shoulder.

In the end, she decided to use her final strategy. Her “You must take responsibility” plan is to tempt Seiji to peek while she’s taking a bath and having him to “take responsibility” over what he’s done. Seiji walked up to the bathroom door as she hoped, but instead of opening it, he told Ayase that he’s smelt something burning. Ayase had completely forgotten about the dinner on the stove and quickly ran out of the bathroom without putting anything on, saw Seiji outside and fainted.

By the time she regained consciousness, Seiji had already left. He left a note saying he’s eaten and left, and told Ayase not to overwork herself. Ayase went all red when she realized she wasn’t wearing anything before and now she’s wearing her clothes. HmMmMm…

On the way back, Midori asked Seiji to bring her to a place that’s special to her. Seiji refused at first but after Midori promised to make him some burger when they got back he totally went for it. After all, even Seiji couldn’t eat burnt stew it seems

Episode 8: Right Hand Seiji

Rating: 8/10

Seiji woke up after being called by Midori a few times and when he opened his eyes he saw a giant Midori staring down at him. He had become Midori’s right hand!

Okay, something obviously wasn’t right here. First of all, Midori’s real body should be at her own home. And where was Seiji’s real body if he had become Midori’s right hand? Anyone could easily guess that this was all part of a dream sequence, especially when the same scenario repeated itself later on, but from Midori’s point of view, doing what she feels like instead of what Seiji would rather do like in the previous scenario.

Seiji’s POV:

On their way to buy clothes for Seiji realized how much Midori must have suffered hiding in bandages. At the doll shop, Midori started to have fun by putting on many different costumes on Seiji. While Midori was busy finding new costumes for Seiji, he noticed another guy slipping his phone under Midori’s skirt and taking pictures. He was about to lose it when Takamizawa caught the guy instead. He then realized how helpless and inconvenient it must have been for Midori as his right hand before.

Midori’s POV:

Midori got second thoughts as the door to the shop slide open and she saw it full of guys checking out the dolls and accessories. She started walking away and told Seiji that she would buy some materials and make new clothes for him instead. While they were talking, Iwasaki, a classmate of Midori, came up and literally pulled Midori away for a drink. While Iwasaki was talking about what has been happening lately, Midori realized that time continued to move for everyone even while she was stuck being Seiji’s hand (not that she would really complain actually) and started to cry. Seiji told Midori to go after her friend after she’s left and when Midori ran out of the cafe doors, the alarm rang and both Seiji and Midori woke up.

Back in reality, they both went about the morning as usual, washing up and having breakfast. That night, Midori was acting a bit weird and when Seiji asked about it she mentioned the dream she had. Seiji said he has the same dream, that he also knew some of Midori’s feelings and told her to not be bothered by it.

After Seiji had fell asleep, Midori wondered to herself why she had cried and what she planned on doing by going after Iwasaki. I would probably guess that she subconsciously realized that she can’t stay on as Seiji’s right hand forever and that she actually yearns to return to her normal life, but at the same time, she doesn’t want to leave Seiji’s side.

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Originally I had intended to squeeze all 13 episodes review into a single post, but I wasn’t happy with how it turned out when I was about halfway done. So I’ve re-done them to be more in-depth, but because of that the length also increased a lot. Therefore, the reviews will be split into 4 separate posts; it will become a series article instead.

So here’s part 1.

Midori no Hibi

Episode 1: Right-Hand Girlfriend

Rating: 8/10

The episode starts off showing a girl, Midori, looking across the train station platform, or more particularly, at Seiji. The next scene shows Seiji in his delinquent mode, taking out an entire gang all by himself with his “Devil’s Right Hand”. It was then revealed that Seiji never has any luck with girls, having been dumped at least 20 times. As he was being frustrated in his room for not having a girlfriend, a girl suddenly appeared on his right hand.

Midori then introduces herself as someone who has had a crush on Seiji for the last 3 years. But neither could come up with how Midori ended up as Seiji’s right hand. Seiji brought Midori to her place and was shocked at her huge mansion. Seiji rang the bell, pretending to be a friend of Midori but was quickly turned away by the maid, saying that the young mistress had left on urgent business.

Two girls approached Miyahara claiming to be Seiji’s fans. Miyahara called and told Seiji about the two girls, and Seiji immediately rushed home. Excited, he quickly wrapped Midori in bandage and told her to keep quiet.

Seiji thought he had it made and invited the two girls in when they arrived, without Miyahara. One of the girls asked to be excused to go to the washroom, and while the other girl distracted Seiji, the first girl tried to attack him from behind. Midori saw this and jumped out to block the attack, smashing the wooden sword in the process. Reality hit Seiji as he frantically tries to remove the bandage to see if Midori was ok, totally ignoring the two girls, who were actually the girlfriends of the gang that Seiji beat up earlier.

Seiji picked up a knife, looking all scary, and scared the girls away. Seiji used the knife to remove the bandage and was glad that Midori was alright, telling her to speak up the next time something happens instead of keeping quiet.

Episode 2: Our Memory

Rating: 8/10

Midori wakes up early next morning and decided to make breakfast for Seiji while he’s still sleeping, completely forgetting that she’s attached to Seiji and drags him around the house. Midori seems to be pretty accustomed to being Seiji’s right hand as she helps him put on his right shoe.

As Seiji makes his way to school, Midori pops out with a brand new dress that reads “I love Seiji” out of thin air. Seriously, where does she have the space to hide all these.

At school, a rumor had spread that Seiji injured his Devil’s Right Hand when he punched through an incoming Yakuza car. Seiji screamed at Miyahara for spreading such rumors which led to a minor confrontation between a Seiji and Ayase.

During recess, a group of delinquents from another school came trying to pick a fight with Seiji. Since he is unable to use his right hand, Seiji decides to avoid the delinquents. Ayase stepped up against the delinquents thinking she could handle them like how she handled Seiji earlier, but was dragged away by the delinquents instead. They were just about to reach the school gates when Seiji came to Ayase’s rescue.

After school, Seiji had planned to try going to Midori’s house again, but instead found himself heading off to save Miyahara who was kidnapped by a bunch of delinquents. Ayase saw what Seiji was up and decided to chase up to give him a piece of her mind about fighting. Seiji arrived at the designated place, but did not fight back as the gang bashed him up, eventually boring them away. When Miyahara asked why he didn’t fight back, Seiji replied that its so that the delinquents would no longer go to their school and bother anyone. Ayase overheard this and was touched.

Seiji and Midori ended going to Midori’s mansion after school the next day. The maid was about to turn Seiji away again but Midori’s mother recognized Seiji from the many pictures Midori kept in her music box and invited him in. Turns out Midori’s real body was in a coma.

Seiji suggested that Midori try and make contact with her real body and see if she would return to normal, but when he pulled back the blanket they both realized that Midori’s real body wasn’t wearing any clothes. Embarrassed, Seiji closed his eyes and stretch his right arm out so Midori is range of her body. As Midori bumps into her boobs, her mother and maid returned and saw what appears to be Seiji taking advantage of a comatose Midori. It was really funny watching an army of maids chasing after Seiji.

Episode 3: The Day of Discoveries

Rating: 9/10

Seiji received his allowance and was counting his money very happily when Midori realized something was burning in the kitchen and pulled Seiji away. And guess who appeared while Seiji was having breakfast… his older sister, Rin. She’s a true horror alright, she managed to sniff out a woman.

Seiji asked what she was doing there and she quickly responded by grabbing the envelope full of Seiji’s allowance. Seiji tried to get it back but was easily pinned down by Rin. She pulled back Seiji’s right hand to mock him about his Devil’s Right Hand, but turned all white when Midori greeted her. Seiji quickly grabbed the envelope which slipped from Rin’s hand and declared his first win against his sister.

Despite saying that it’s unbelievable, she quickly accepted the fact that Midori had become Seiji’s right hand. If Rin could easily take on Seiji who can take out an entire gang, I’m seriously afraid to think of her true strength… Rin locked Seiji in another wrestling move and Seiji would have probably died if they didn’t get interrupted by Rin’s old gang.

Rin then declared that Seiji would be treating everyone to the hot springs and before Seiji could object, she landed a kick flat on his face, which effectively KO’ed him. Seiji woke up sitting behind one of Rin’s gang member’s bike on their way to the hot springs. After seeing how happy Midori was with the trip, Seiji decided that it wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

During dinner at the hot springs, Rin and her gang went crazy on the alcohol while Seiji struggles to eat using chopsticks with his left hand, all the while hoping that the night would end without any incidents. Unfortunately for him, the gang members started performing, but it wasn’t satisfactory enough for a drunken Rin. That’s when all hell broke loose as she revealed Midori to everyone.

Everyone thought Midori was a doll and began poking and touching her. Midori tried her best to endure the situation, but Seiji snapped and the entire gang started fighting amongst themselves as Rin snores away.

Early next morning while Seiji was washing himself in the bath, Midori volunteered to help him wash his back. As she did so, the sponge fell from her hands and she used the towel wrapped around her body as the sponge instead (the lucky bastard!).

Rin showed up much to Seiji’s surprised. They happened to be at a mixed bath so both males and females share the use of the hot springs. Midori asked Rin about Seiji when he was a child, and she revealed that he used to be a pacifist, always avoiding fights and conflicts. It was then that Rin trained Seiji to be a fighter even to the point of hypnotizing him to make him believe that he was the man with the Devil’s Right Hand. She seemed rather good at what she does, it only took a week to completely transform Seiji. Although he lost his first fight, he was never bullied ever again.

Midori was extremely happy that she had learned more about her beloved Seiji, although the same can’t be said for Seiji himself.

Episode 4: Secrets Exposure!?

Rating: 7/10

Seiji and Midori was eating banana-chocolate ice cream when the ice-cream fell on Midori and dirtied her clothes. Seiji brought Midori to find new clothes at a dolls shop. It was like heaven for Midori, with all the cute dolls clothes but it was hell for Seiji with all the guys in the shop. Afraid that he might meet someone he knows, he ushered Midori to be quick, but Midori was more interested in playing around and trying out the many different costumes in the shop.

A voice called out Seiji’s name from behind and when he turned around he saw someone who was a complete stranger to him. His nightmare came true when the stranger introduces himself as Takamizawa, who is actually Seiji’s classmate.

Midori continued enjoying herself behind Seiji. When Seiji told Midori to stop it and keep quiet, a curious Takamizawa crept closer and closer, urging Seiji to show him what it is he was hiding. Seiji panicked when he recalled the many bad scenarios he thought up just a few moments earlier and knocked Takamizawa out cold.

The next day in school, Takamizawa slipped a note to Seiji, telling him to meet at the roof during lunch to talk about his right hand. Seiji was certain that he knew about Midori’s secret and was ready to take Takamizawa out on the roof, but it turns out that he just wanted to see the “doll” on his right hand.

Midori agreed and they tried to fool Takamizawa by having Midori pretending to be a doll. And Midori sneezed, sending Takamizawa into a frenzy. Luckily for the duo, Takamizawa believes that it is part of the gimmicks of a foreign made doll and immediately asked for its maker. Seiji refused to answer and took off, leaving Takamizawa on the roof.

That didn’t hamper Takamizawa’s spirit though, and he came up with different tricks to find out and stalked Seiji wherever he went. When Seiji realized they were being followed, he quickly took a corner. Midori insisted on taking a peek beside the corner and came face to face with Takamizawa. It wasn’t long before Takamizawa realized there wasn’t any seams on the Midori puppet and blackmailed Seiji to do as he says.

Takamizawa got Seiji to meet up with him after school the following day. He brought custom made outfits for Midori and has her wear them as he took pictures of her among some flowers. Takamizawa tried to convince Midori to become his right hand instead, but she said that it was impossible, and that she already loves Seiji. However, she still considers Takamizawa as her friend.

Then Takamizawa took out some embarrassing and revealing costumes for Midori to wear, scaring her away. Takamizawa continued to approach Midori and Seiji, who could no longer take it, gave Takamizawa a backdrop, which apparently gave him amnesia and he no longer remembered anything about Midori.

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There are only 13 episodes in Midori no Hibi, so it was rather short but sweet. I might go for the manga next. But anyway, on with the review for the anime.

What is it about?

Sawamura Seiji is a well known delinquent with his famous “Devil’s Right Hand”. At 17 years old, he has never had a girlfriend before in his life and had been rejected at least 20 times. Most people feared him for his reputation as “Mad Dog Suwamura”. While he was being frustrated about not having a girlfriend in his room, he shouted out that anyone would do as long as he can get one. That was when a girl’s voice was suddenly heard, happy to hear Seiji’s words.

Seiji was panicking badly when he heard the voices and was almost shocked silly when he discovered a girl had replaced his right hand. The girl was none other than Kasugano Midori, a 16 year old girl from another school who has had a crush on Seiji for 3 years.

Although she was very shy and had no self confidence in her real body, she became quite open and upbeat while being Seiji’s right hand. She sometimes pulls of crazy stunts for Seiji’s sake, such as helping him fight other delinquents who were after Seiji.

Midori’s real body suddenly fell into a coma and when she woke up she found herself as Seiji’s right hand. However, she seemed less surprised as Seiji as she quickly adapted and happily accepted the fact that she was now a part of Seiji.

The plot…

Midori no Hibi is a romance comedy as Seiji goes through his daily life with Midori as his new right hand. Because he could no longer fight with his “Devil’s Right Hand”, he tried to avoid unnecessary fights not just because he couldn’t use his right hand anymore but also to keep Midori safe.

Even though Seiji often acts as if he doesn’t care about Midori, deep inside he actually does care and often look out for her especially when she’s sick or when she’s troubled. However, much to Midori’s dismay, he can be quite oblivious to the fact that Midori is really a girl who likes him even though she had become Seiji’s right hand.

Midori likes Seiji because she says that Seiji is really a kind person who has a big heart. While the other students sees Seiji as just a delinquent, she understood that Seiji doesn’t pick his fights just because he wants to, but rather because he has to in order to protect others. Midori also personally witnessed some of these events as she was together with him.

Throughout the series, Midori also discovered that Seiji wasn’t as unpopular with the girls as he thought. There were a few others who liked Seiji but he just never took notice. Midori often gets uptight and frustrated as she watches the other girls trying to make a move on Seiji although he continues to be clueless.

The characters…

The anime put a lot of emphasis on Seiji and Midori with other characters making very little appearances except for maybe Ayase, who has a crush on Seiji as well after he saved her from a bunch of delinquents. Another memorable character was Seiji’s older sister, Rin, although she only appeared in 2 episodes. From what I’ve gathered, the manga gave a lot more emphasis on side characters compared to the anime. But it’s not really a bad thing as it allows the relationship between Seiji and Midori to grow at its own pace and drawing in the other characters only when they need to be there to further move their relationship.

Conclusion

I really should have watched Midori no Hibi sooner. Maybe it’s because no one has really recommended the series to me before so I never really bothered, but it would have been such a waste if I hadn’t decided to pick it up suddenly.

The ending was awesome as well. There are really only a few anime where I feel that the ending is good, and Midori no Hibi is one of them. It leaves the viewer satisfied and content. I wouldn’t spoil it here but I would rate the final episode 9/10.

It’s not as crazy as Ranma 1/2 or Love Hina, even though the idea of having a girl becoming a part of your body is crazy in itself, but it’s still full of entertainment and laughter. If you’re into sweet, romance-comedy, Midori no Hibi is definitely for you.

I would probably be doing a single post review of every episode of the series instead of putting them into a Weekly Review. It might take a bit longer to do since I’m way behind on my reviews after my week long vacation and I wouldn’t want to pack too much into a single weekly review as well. Not to mention it would be much more fun this way since I did finish the series in a single marathon. Watch out for it!

If you’re interested, you can grab Midori no Hibi here.

** Update – You can now read up on my Midori no Hibi episodes review here.

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The Host and Co-Host of Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso

The MC for the event was none other than Shiraishi Minoru aka Taniguchi. Yes, he’s also the same Shiraishi Minoru from Lucky Star. The co-host is Megumi Matsumoto aka Kunikida.

The show is divided into 2 parts. In the first part of the show, the entire cast of Suzumiya Haruhi was brought on stage and introduced. Sugita Tomokazu (Kyon) appeared on-stage cosplaying as Char Aznable.

Kyon is… Char Aznable!

The best entrance belongs to Matsuoka Yuki aka Tsuruya, who started to laugh in her trademark (note: evil) laughter from all the way behind the stage until she appears.

“HA HA HA HA! Nyoron! Tsuruyan des~u!”

Even if you don’t know what the seiyuu looked like, it is very possible to guess who is who simply by looking at their actions. The hyper-active Aya (Haruhi), the calm and collected Minori (Yuki) and the bubbly Yuuko (Mikuru). Sugita, on the other hand, did the unexpected and came out as Char Aznable.

It’s Yuki, Kyon, Haruhi, Mikuru and Koizumi on stage!

The director, Tatsuya Ishihara and character designer Shoko Ikeda was also called on stage. Some of the most memorable scenes for each character is then shown and discussed. You would need to be able to understand Japanese to fully understand what’s going on here, but even with my limited knowledge, I was still able to pick up the gist of things.

After that the cast did a skit.

Is it just me, or does Sugita seems to be hiding something under the Char wig and the hat he’s wearing now? Hmm…

And there’s even Mikuru Beam…

The Actual Concert…

Is where the real fun begins. The concert portion of Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso started off with Mikuru with Koi no Mikuru Densetsu. I’m not sure if she’s doing it on purpose, but she can’t really sing. But if she’s doing that deliberately, then she’s a real good actor. Otherwise, it’s still good, because we’re talking about Mikuru after all

Mikuru complete with a maid uniform…

I’ve seen many of Hirano Aya’s pictures and videos, but she has never been so hot before.

Hirano Aya as Suzumiya Haruhi doing the Bouken Desho Desho

“DID YOU CUM TWICE?”

Yes, you probably read that right… It said “Did you cum twice too? Feel so dirty!!! I need a tongue bath!”

And just look at the back of her shirt…

While I can’t make out the exact sentence, the final word is definitely “F*CK!!!” Seriously, what was she thinking!?

Minori’s performance was one of my favourite in the entire concert portion of Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso, especially with her Yuki, Muon, Madobe Nite.

Minori has an awesome voice and she’s gorgeous to boot!

Then Hirano Aya returned on stage… in what at first appeared to be lingerie…

Actually… it might really be lingerie…

Yuki surprised me with a great performance. Natsuko, on the other hand, was great with her voice as Ryoko but her singing was only so-so. But the song was kinda catchy, though. Still, no complains here it was still fun

ENOZ – God Knows

You know what would have made this scene perfect? A pair of bunny ears…

Like so…

A comparison between the performance of God Knows in Suzumiya Haruhi, and the Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso that was portrayed in Lucky Star -

After performing God Knows, Aya goes on to introduce the band members, just as Haruhi did in the anime, before performing their next song, Lost My Music.

The Guys…

Ono Daisuke wowed the crowd with his flashy moves. Granted, he’s not a great singer, but he has great moves!

And we finally get to see why Sugita has been hiding his head under wigs and hats…

OMG! It’s… KYON!

The fans went nuts when he first appeared, chanting his character name in unison. I’m not sure if he’s playing some part of his character, but Sugita seems pretty stiff and uncomfortable during this performance. Aya, on the other hand, was a natural.

And IT happened… The Hentai Trio

Minoru cosplayed Haruhi…

I think I may be traumatized…

Self-declared, the Hentai Trio…

Introducing the Hentai Trio:

• Hentai #1 – Sugita
• Hentai #2 – Minoru
• Hentai #3 – Daisuke

I have no idea what they were trying to do, nor do I think I would want to know…

Hare Hare Yukai

The girls came out for another song before the finale.

The finale, the epitome of Haruhiism, the moment all devout Haruhiist present had been waiting for… The Hare Hare Yukai…

The Hare Hare Yukai

Watching the dance performed in real life by the cast… priceless…

And the final part of the dance…

Pure satisfaction.

Encore! Encore! Encore!

The fans screamed for an encore, and an encore they get. The encore was the TV version of the Hare Hare Yukai, with Sugita and Daisuke joining the girls. The giant screen also showed the full animated dance as well.

Everyone was now in more casual clothing as well.

Everyone getting comfy in casual clothes

You can see the animated version of the dance on the giant screen

… and FINISH!

End of Show

It actually got quite emotional towards the end of the show.

A job well done!

Minori asked for silence as she delivered a special message from Yuki… “Daisuki…”

Hirano Aya got over emotional and broke out in tears.

Aya was so moved, she broke into tears…

When it’s her turn to speak, she once again gets emotional and sobbed through her thank you speech. I think she tried to put the blame on Kyon for teasing her too

Aya’s speech is easily the most touching moment in the entire event. I felt moved as well even though I only understood about 70% of her speech. A truly great end to a truly great event. I seriously hope the event would repeat in the future and maybe to attend it in person if possible as well.

Backstage…

Tears are still flowing… Sobs could still be heard… Aya was really in an emotional fit.

… and Sugita/Kyon continues to tease…

I’ve said before, I would rate this 12 out of 10. A must have for any Suzumiya Haruhi or Hirano Aya fan. Wait, let me rephrase that. You cannot call yourself a fan unless you have this! This receives my highest recommendations!

If for some reason you have not gotten your hands on this, do it now! Grab Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso!

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I expected Lucky Star to be a load of pure randomness, somewhat like Azumanga Daioh, and was pleased to find out I was right. Azumanga was ranked in my top 10 list of funniest anime, and of course I hoped that Lucky Star would be just as good, if not better.

First thing I noticed was how I find the opening song and sequence to be rather annoying. Not as much as Azumanga’s, but still annoying. However, that annoying op would soon be very catchy and I find myself listening to it over and over by the 3rd episode. Damn…

There’s plenty of food talk in the first episode. Plenty of it. It’s so random, yet unlike Azumanga, isn’t exactly pure nonsense. In fact, I begin to realize that that’s how we would usually end up talking about when a few friends get together for fun – random talks about anything and everything.

Going a little further, Konata is revealed to be an anime fan and a gamer, playing both consoles and MMORPGs. I’m not sure how true is this, but based on my own observation, majority of anime fans are also gamers, and many people I know are both fans of anime and MMOs (me included). If you’ve checked out my weekly review #6 here, you would have realized that I find many scenes, behaviors and responses in Lucky Star to be very familiar. It was at this point that I told myself, “Yes, I know I’m going to like Lucky Star…”

Thoughts

Lucky Star is definitely for fans of both anime and games, with many references and parodies, whether direct or indirect, to other popular titles such as Suzumiya Haruhi (both Suzumiya Haruhi and Konata are voiced by Hirano Aya), Full Metal Panic, Newtype magazine and games such as Street Fighter and MMOs. And how often do you have a teacher who plays the same MMO as you do and is even part of your party?

The episode is usually only about 20 minutes long, with the last 3-5 minutes showing the Lucky Channel show, some sort of an after-show for Lucky Star. The first time you watch this you would be greeted by a typical “I’m so cute” character who later on shows her true personality, which is anything but cute.

You will also never hear the same ending theme twice. For the first 12 episodes, the ending theme would be a random anime song being sung in Karaoke mode by one or more of the 4 main characters. Some of the more notable songs are Dragonball’s opening, Doraemon’s theme and Monkey Magic.

The Characters

The four main cast are Konata, Kagami, Tsukasa and Miyuki. Konata is the main character of Lucky Star and the crazed anime/game fan who apparently picked up her habits from her father… who actually plays age-restricted dating sim games in front of his young daughter. Konata is portrayed as very “under-developed”, being short and … flat… and stuff…

Next we have the fraternal twins, Kagami and Tsukasa. Despite being twins, their personalities could not be any more different then they are right now.

Kagami is your typical tsundere (check here if you don’t know what tsundere means) who also acts as the tsukkomi (a serious character). Kagami, also sometimes referred to as Kagamin, is very hardworking and usually excels in her academics. Even though she constantly complains about Konata, she does try to look out for her and even offered to help Konata with homework. She also likes to play games but is often frustrated because she could never win Konata. Kagami is my favourite character in Lucky Star so far

Then we have her younger twin, Tsukasa, which is the complete opposite. Friendly, clumsy and lazy, she probably fits in better as Konata’s sister. Tsukasa is also very gullible and ends up as the joke on many occasions.

The last of the main 4 character is Miyuki. Miyuki is pretty, smart, good natured, friendly, thoughtful and very polite. She’s also clumsy, has terrible vision, bad at cooking, and many other weaknesses which Konata considers as “moe points”.

Parodies

So far I have seen 2 major parodies of other anime being played out in Lucky Star. There are actually plenty of parodies, but these 2 are the ones that stood out the most for me:

• Suzumiya Haruhi
• Initial D

While there are plenty of Suzumiya Haruhi references throughout Lucky Star, there is one particular episode where Konata cosplays as Haruhi at work. This was especially interesting to watch since both Konata and Haruhi are voiced by the same seiyuu, Hirano Aya, and during that episode she kept switching her voice between Konata mode and Haruhi mode. They also got the same seiyuus for the entire Suzumiya Haruhi cosplay cast for that one episode.

During one of the earlier episodes, there is a short scene that is a parody of Initial D. The cup of water, the track, the script and the character design of the spectators were similar to Initial D. The group that did some of the opening songs for Initial D, Noisy Tribe, also performed the background song that was being played during the scene.

Recommendations

Watch this if you like -

• Anime
• Games
• MMORPGs
• Suzumiya Haruhi
• Full Metal Panic Fumoffu!
• Hirano Aya
• Laughing
• Azumanga Daioh

I can only think of good things for Lucky Star and don’t see how anyone could not like it. You might not get addicted to it like I did, but I’m quite sure everyone would enjoy the style of randomness that somehow can relate to all of us.

Grab Lucky Star

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