Massugu Straight!

Gomen ne… minna… your seitokaicho is still out of action, just recovering from the flu… haven’t had much time to watch these new anime lying around… will be back in a couple days, I promise!

~~Seitokaicho.. Style!!~~

Before I start my customary post on Manabi Straight, let me update you a little bit on the other current anime’s.

Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora: What are we, up to ep.6 or something, right? It was disappointing for the first 3-4 eps., but now it is getting interesting. This is due to continued bath scenes between Setsuna and Kuu the emergence of Kuu as an integral part of the plot; I’ll save the details to you and not spoil everything, but hopefully they’re going somewhere good with this.

Saint October: I had thoughts about dropping this, but Misaki finally showed up, so I’m going to hang around and see where they go with this. Unfortunately, Kuro-loli-chan and Shiro-loli-chan are still as boring as watching Saturday afternoon TV.

One Piece: With Zoro and Usopp (Soge-king) finally separated, Zoro is free to fight Kaku and Sanji will take on the wolf thingie next week. Can’t wait for the devil kick (Sanji) and Zoro’s ashura mode!

Okay, on to the main topic.

Manabi Straight ep.6: As you may have noticed, Mikan-chan is getting an awful lot of air-time. In fact, I’m pretty sure she’s on more than Manabi. They might as well have renamed it to Mikan Straight. It’s not that Mikan-chan is a bad character, I love her as much as any of the group, but as a Manabi fan I am puzzled at the constant attention on Mikan-chan. *sigh* Oh well, at least Mikan-chan is giving us what we all want: more and more yuri, this time with Mucchi (who is super awesome).

You tell me if this is not yuri enough:

Another example that Mikan-chan is yuri to the max:

Ahh… we can always do with more yuri in this world.

And also more Momo randomness. Who can write their term-end exam with their head held up high? That’s what I thought. You go, Momo.

And your regular seitokaicho pic; Manabi FTW

~~Seitokaicho.. Style!!~~

A couple of interesting things happened in the ep.5 of Manabi Straight. One, the yuri-ness of Mei-tan is climbing quickly; that plus the already high tsundere factor leads me to believe that she will become the favourite of many (don’t forget Aya-sama’s voiceover too).

Example of Mei x Mikan-chan:

(Why would a girl blush when another girl sits close to you? Your answer: Mei-tan)

More evidence that these two have too much fun together (lol):

The second notable thing is how far Mikan-chan has come in a few episodes. She’s fast becoming my 2nd favourite, very close behind Manabi-chan ^^

Here’s Mikan-chan showing her wrath against Shimoji-sensei:

Mikan-chan: Hidoooooooi!! Shimoji no uragiri mono!! Yurusenai!! *loses balance and falls*

(trans: You’re so mean!! Shimoji you backstabber! I won’t forgive you!!)

Manabi Straight somehow really reminds me of Mahoraba; even though the themes are quite different, they’re both along the heart-warming, inspiring, all-that’s-right kind of stories, which I really enjoy watching. Hopefully this series will at least be as long as Mahoraba’s 26 eps.

Finally, a complimentary Manabi-chan pic.

~~Seitokaicho.. Style!!~~

A couple of new OP/ED singles came out recently, and being the big anime music fan that I am, it is my duty to have a listen and let you guys know what I think.

A Happy Life: Megumi Hayashibara (OP and ED for Manabi Straight)

The tragic passing of Ritsuko Okazaki in 2004 left the anime and seiyuu community in shock, and her loss is still remembered widely today. I, for one, was devastated when the news came; her talents will be missed. My favourite all-time anime song, nay, Japanese song, is from the Sister Princess 12 endings album, Sakuya’s “Romantic Connection”. It is with a bittersweet gladness to see her works are still being carried on today by none other than the queen of seiyuu’s, Megumi-sama. The OP, “A Happy Life”, is from an early album of Ritsuko-san, also called “A Happy Life”. As opposed to the original’s dreamy tone, Megumi-sama’s version is much more upbeat and happy-go-lucky. The ED, “Lucky and Happy”, is taken from the old anime Wedding Peach, originally sung by the 3 main characters. There’s also the original version but sung by Ritsuko-san herself, and it is very different in tonal qualities. The new version is also more upbeat and works well as the ED, though it’s actually slower in tempo.

Even without the sentimental value, this CD brings out some nice work by Megumi-sama, who admittedly hasn’t been too involved lately. Add on the influence of Ritsuko-san, and it pushes this over the top. Get this, and grab any copy of old Ritsuko-san’s albums if possible. I have every one except the second one; took me a lot of money (for online) and walking around Tokyo’s nooks and crannies to find these treasures. 5/5

Tokimeki Memorial Only Love 2nd ED, Himitsu: Makishima Yuki, Yoshikawa Yukiko, Fujita Saki

A few days after this new ED appeared on the latest episode of TokiMemo, the single comes out; if only all anime and record companies work that fast… ^^ The ED itself is quite good, better than the first one IMO. The c/v song, “Mafuyu no himawari” is a moderately fast, guitar-driven song, your normal pattern for a pop song. It is nothing out of the ordinary. Himitsu, the ED, is the one you want to listen to. Saki Fujita’s getting some good roles lately (Momo-chan in Manabi FTW ^^).

Fairly good, worth a listen. 3.5/5

~~Seitokaicho.. Style!!~~

Saint October ep.5: So it’s getting a little dry, but kawaii Kotono-chan’s loli-ness is (barely) keeping me in Saint October. Basically I’m just waiting for the appearance of Misaki (she made a 2 second appearance this episode) to see if she can save the series; if not I might considering dropping this one. The plot moves too darn slow, there are no battle at all (a couple of “judgment” slashes by Kotono-chan = win), and the character interaction is pretty flat. If I wanted to see 3-4 loli looking girls with mahou shoujo elements, I’d rather re-watch Renkinsankyuu, at least it has Aya-sama lol. Honestly, I like Saint October and all, but so far it just hasn’t been able to stand out. Ahh… Kotono-chan, please make this interesting enough for me to keep going.

Shiro-loli: “Oh, Kuro-loli-chan, I’m so useless and I fight with nunchuks.”

Kuro-loli: “Aww.. Shiro-loli-chan, at least your hair accessories are kawaii.”

This conversation may or may not have happened during the anime.

~~Seitokaicho.. Style!~~

Just had a chance to read the first volume and a little bit of the second volume of Manabi Straight. I have to say, the anime is sticking pretty true to its roots, but maybe it’s just me, but reading the manga seems even funnier if that’s possible. I don’t think the anime included this scene during Manabi’s class introduction:

translation:

Manabi: “My motto is… Massugu Go–!! ouch! *hand hits table*

Everyone: “Nice to meet you!”

Manabi: “Same here!”

Notice Mikan-chan’s amusement when Manabi hits her hand. Meanwhile, Mei-tan is her usual tsundere state, Mucchi laughs along, and Momo is dozing off. Shimajima-sensei drops a sweat. Somehow it just seems real to me, that with her usual force of the arm-raising, she’s bound to hit something, and it happens in a funny way.

There are tons more examples to show, but I’ll save those for another day. There’s your Manabi x Mikan-chan scenes, nearly a chapter (in vol.2) about Mei-tan x Momo (yes, you heard me, let’s keep our fingers crossed this will appear in the anime ^^). I know Manabi is the main character of the show, but all 5 of the girls have their unique personalities that are all very lovable in their own way, so I’m having a tough time deciding my favourite; oh well, I guess it’s not a big deal to like all 5, ne?

~~Seitokaicho.. Style!!~~

Not wasting time to cash in on Haruhiism around the globe, our good friends at Lantis regaled us with two more new character singles after the success of the first five (Haruhi, Yuki, Mikuru, Ryoko, and Tsuruya-san). They are Kyon’s sister and Emiri Kimidori. Allow me to say a few words on the two.

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi Character Song Vol.6: Kyon’s sister

Personally, I enjoyed the presence of Kyon’s sister in the anime (as did everyone in the anime, except Kyon); she’s about as kawaii as they come. Seriously, how does Kyon have a sister like her? My opinions aside, this CD was a disappointment in the Character Singles lineup. They only gave Aoki Sayaka two songs, one being the obliged Hare hare yukai (ver. ~Kyon’s sister~). Her original song was average at best; the Hare hare yukai rendition pulls this CD back up to a passing grade in my book.

One you can avoid, unless you’re a total sucker for loli’s like Kyon’s sister. 2.5/5

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi Character Song Vol.7: Emiri Kimidori

Now this is more like it. You could make the argument that Emiri only appeared in one episode and was a minor character without much importance, but hey, Lantis milked out the Tsuruya-san version of the CD (the best out of the 7 released ones) and they seem to know what they’re doing. Anyhoo, Emiri has one original song, “fixed mind”, which is IMO the second best character song, behind Tsuruya-san, or Yuki Matsuoka’s “Megassa Kouki shin”. Yuri Shiratori + dreamy tone FTW. A similar dreamy tone is used for her arrangement of Hare hare yukai, which is fun and refreshing to listen to.

This one is a keeper. 4.5/5

Apparently, there will be the 8th and 9th installments of the series, and the males finally make their appearance, being Kyon and Koizumi-kun. We shall see what they bring to the table.

~~Seitokaicho… Style!~~

My lifelong dream of owning a blog on Animeblogger.net has finally come true! Okay, it’s not a lifelong dream, but it’s still a pretty big deal. I had a short-lived blog on blogspot, but the anime community is so much larger in here, so it wasn’t hard for me to let that go and start things anew here. Heck, I’ve already made some friends in the IRC channel and that’s more than I did back on blogspot (viewership = 0).

I, Manabi, will uphold the ideals of AB.net as the Seitokaicho and make this community a better place and I will not let my love for Manabi Straight influence me in any way.

I, Manabi, promise to update the blog regularly or else face the ire of my fellow bloggers.

With that in mind, I, Manabi, hope that one day I will earn your well-deserved admiration and respect.

I will and am doing my best to try to spread the word about Massugu Straight!, and I would appreciate nothing more if you would let others know of its existence. There is much more to come, you will not be disappointed. And just so you know, I’m not only blogging about Manabi Straight… (though it sure sounded enticing), there will be many other anime/manga entries up soon.

One last word, thanks to Maestro for his support and approval for me to set up this blog, and also thanks to those IRCer’s who’ve helped me and given me advice, you know who you are ^^

~~Seitokaicho.. Style!~~