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| I love anime more than Madoka loves doing special appeals in Aikatsu! |
For ages I've wanted to
do an extended version of the Watching section of my weekly What AreYou Reading meme, which includes all categories of activities that
I've done in the past week, but it's only now I figure out what to
do. These posts will include why I'm watching certain anime (if there
is a reason...) what I love about it and what I'm looking forward to.
At least that's my current aim-anything can happen! Please note there will be some spoilers so that I can chat openly about the anime.
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| I think of the moon whenever I think of Ramadan because the month is a lunar month! |
At the moment I'm trying
to finish some anime by June, because Ramadan starts early June, and
that's a time where I try and eliminate reading and watching stuff
with romance in and anything that is slightly mature in content, and
which has themes that are a bit dark. This is my personal choice, and
it means I get to watch some anime which I specifically ignore until
Ramadan. Naturally I can watch what I like after dusk, and I will be
getting my Aikatsu dose before bed, but generally I find it easier
not to watch certain shows for the entire month.
Love Live is a current
favourite, and one I'm finishing before June. Originally Honoka
sets up an school idol unit to save her school from closing by
encouraging more students to apply. The first season of 12 episodes
focuses on that goal, with the group expanding to 9 very different
girls. Once the group take off in popularity they strive to enter the
music competition Love Live, but unfortunately events occur which
stop them from competing.
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| Happy Honoka! |
I remember seeing this for the first time
and being utterly devastated the girls couldn't achieve their goal.
However, the second season of 13 episodes sees Honoka not only as
student president (an unimaginable scenario given how different she is
to the former student president Eli who is conscientious and
dedicated)
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| Eli serious before she joins up |
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| A relaxed Eli! |
but she reforms the group Muse as there is a 2nd Love Live
show! There are laughs and tears as the girls go through various life
events while reaching for their dreams. I adore the costumes for
being cute, and the music of the songs (not always keen on the
lyrics), and for Honoka's bubbly go get them personality, as well as so much else which I'll speak about another time. I'm starting the 2nd season very soon!
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| Arise, the top school idol group who Honoka & friends compete against |
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| Not sure if this scene is from the anime or just artwork, but I adore Kobato's frilly dress & matching parasol! |
Another anime I'm hoping
to finish is Kobato. Full & accurate summary is here from Wikipedia.
Kobato is a sweet, perky, cute yet naïve girl who has a contract: to go
to a certain place, she must fill a mysterious bottle with people's
"healed hearts" to do so. However, the restriction is that she must
finish before the four seasons end. As Kobato attempts to fulfill her
mission, she is accompanied by Ioryogi, a spirit in the form of a dog
plushie. Because Ioryogi is responsible for a punishment that has been
applied to him and his friends from the spiritual world, he must guide
Kobato and ensure that she succeeds her mission, so that he and his
friends might return to their true forms.
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| Kobato with the other main characters |
I absolutely
adore the cute style of this anime-I'm hoping to start collecting the manga in a few months too! While there are many light moments as
sweet, often naive Kobato does her best to help others with their
problems, there is a dark undertone that explores the less happy side
of life.
Sometimes I can only watch 1 episode in a day because I get
so emotionally caught up in the story that there is only so much
darkness that I can handle. I hope this anime has a happy ending!!!
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| Kobato is best when she is happy! |
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| The main girls in Clannad |
The other anime I'm
talking about today is Clannad (including season 2 Clannad After
Story). I am addicted to this 24 episode (each season) anime which
pulls all my heart strings. It is full of mega cute lovable moe
characters with gorgeous hair and such compassionate personalities
(some are well hidden). It is a love story, but the sweetest one
ever.
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| Nagisa getting a dango toy present from Tomoya |
Nagisa and Tomoya go from being at school to being married.
They never kiss! Their romance is sweet because thy are so shy. They
eventually hold hands, and anything else is off screen.
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| This is once they are married - they don't share the same room to sleep before then (yay!) |
There is
nothing inappropriate, there is no innuendo, it is a clean romance.
It is so sweet because all the characters go through insanely tough
times. Nagisa has a mysterious long term illness which is nice to see
in anime because it's something I can relate too all too easily.
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| She doesn't complain, pushes herself to her absolute limit and then collapse. Not a good pacing strategy, Nagisa! |
You get to see her frustration when not being able to graduate, and
the kindness of her friends who prepare a special graduation just for
her. Be warned here is lots of heartbreak which makes me cry my heart
out, that's despite knowing what happens at the end of the second
season!
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| I get teary whenever she is sick and has to rest in bed. |
I love how much Nagisa's parents make me smile, with
continuous events that are funny becaude they are done so often (such
as Akio forcing down Sinai's terrible bread creations that noone else
can or will willingly eat).
I love the link to Kanon, an anime by the
same company with similar cute characters and complex plot, as is is
explained as being in another town. I was going to read the manga
this month, but being the Japanese version it will take a while, and
I'm fangirling over Nagisa and her passion for the super cute Dangos,
so I'm going to watch both seasons by the end of the month somehow. This has fast become an anime I have to watch regularly, and alongside
Aikatsu (more on that in another post) is my top anime of all time!
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| Nagisa's dango family! |
I hope you enjoyed
learning about the anime I'm currently watching! I hope to do the
next one very soon!
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| Nagisa and Tamoya with their little girl Ushio |
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