Review: Midori Days

Synopsis

Seiji is a high school student who's feared by his classmate due to his rough appearance and tendency to get into fights. This is extremely frustrating for Seiji because he really wants a girlfriend, but that's impossible when all the girls are afraid of him. Just when things look hopeless, one day Seiji wakes up and finds out his right hand has been replaced with a girl named Midori. This girl is actually his secret admirer and they get to know each other as they try to get Midori back in her rightful body 

Thoughts

So yeah, this anime is a bit on the strange side. At the root of it all, it's you typical rom-com; boy meet girls, they go on some wacky adventure, and they fall in love. But this show adds a interesting twist in that Seiji and Midori get to know each other, while she is literally his right hand. They are really cute together but the whole hand thing kind creeped me out to the point that I felt like a wasn't completely for the two as a couple at first. But as time grew, I began to like them more and more. I thought it was endearing how the couple starts off as one sided. From the get-go, it's Midori who likes Seiji and even though Seiji is desperate for a girlfriend, he's hesitant to just go with the situation because, well, she's his hand. You actually get to seem them fall for each other, in a genuine way. And even Midori, who is obsessed with Seiji to begin with develops more authentic feeling for him as the anime runs its course. My favorite thing  about the anime though had to be Seiji. I always tends to fall for the hard on the outside, soft on the inside characters but Seiji  goes beyond that. It's not like he's tsundere; his character is just misunderstood. Yes, he fights and sometimes gets mixed up with the wrong crowd, but it's never really his fault. He's always standing up and defending people, but it mistakenly looks like senseless fighting. And I think it's really interesting how when Midori replaces Seiji's hand, it just happens to be his right hand; the one he fights with. It almost seems like there is some type underlying "violence is never the answer" message in this anime,  I just can't fully pinpoint it.

On thing I really didn't like about this anime however was the random nudity. I understand that because Midori is Seiji hand, something is bound to slip every now and then but the nudity just seemed too intense for such a easy going show. It wasn't bad enough to get me to stop watching, it just seemed out of place.

Overall this anime get two thumbs up from me just based on the fact that it was able to pump life into your basic romantic comedy plot and I definitely think it is worth watching.

Watamote Episode 3: “Since I'm Not Popular, The Weather's Bad”

Watamote Episode 3

     So as I stated in my First Impression video of this series, I like it for it's slice of life aspect and this was  reconfirmed in this most recent episode. Clearly this anime is not plot driven; all though Tomoko's ultimate goal is to become popular, she only works at it a little at a time. Because of this, the episodes pacing can be slow at times. For example, in this episode, we watch Tomoko go through an awkward day followed by a desperate attempt to become sick, so she won't have to go to school for a while. Although the plot sounds lackluster I actually enjoyed episode 3 because of Tomoko. She's extremely relate-able and the situations she facesin make me both laugh out loud and want to crawl up into a ball because I've been there. My favorite part had to be the scene where she's hiding from the rain under a bus stop.

Tomoko and some acquaintances

No Tomoko, you don't just tell people
you're sweaty.

 I could literally feel how nervous she must have been trying to make small talk with those boys. And although her attempts were hilariously wacky, I felt her pain of desperately trying to talk to someone, but not knowing what to say. I just wanted to jump into the computer screen and be yell, "Tomoko, No!!!!" The best scenes are always ones where Tomoko's in an uncomfortable situation because they manage to be funny and sad at the same time. In fact, scenes like this are much funnier than the anime references, which I could honestly do without. Now, don't get me wrong, I do get why they are included. 

"Tomoko" Kusanagi

After all, what would an anime about an otaku be without references to the anime world? Not to mention, it's refreshing to see the references include more recent anime such as Kuroko no Basket. But I just feel they could be more discrete, or at least blend with the story better. However, I have to admit, I was totally fan-girling during the Ghost in the Shell scene.

Prince Tomoki, who was sick this episode
but you could hardly tell because he
always looks like death.

     Now, as much as I love Tomoko, the highlight of this episode for me was her brother Tomoki. Once again he was bitter. Once again he was irritated with everything. And once again I loved it. This may sound weird, but I just love the fact that these two siblings rarely share heart felt moments. Call me a pessimist but I feel like it puts a final realistic touch on this show.

Overall, I thought this episode was cute, but sad, and a bit boring at times. 3/5

First Impression: Watamote

Synopsis

Watamote is an anime that follows Tomoko Kuroki, a young otaku who is about to enter high school. Tomoko is extremely excited about her new high school life as she believes that upon entering high school she'll become popular. However, she soon finds out that she is awkward and unsociable as ever and the story follows Tomoko in her attempt to improve her social status and image.

Thoughts

Even before watching this show, I knew that I would most likely love it. While there has been many anime to feature the lives of otaku in the past, this is the first I have seen in which the otaku in question is female. I was curious to see how this character would be depicted and how well I, as girl who was super anime obsessed and awkward growing up, would be able to relate to her. After watching the first couple episodes of Watamote I can honestly say Tomoko has become one of my favorite anime character to date. Tomoko is weird, a bit perverted, silly, self-conscious, sincere and the ridiculously awkward situations she encounters on quest for popularity are so painfully familiar that I don't know whether to laugh or curl into a ball. From her attempt to avoid classmates she see outside of school, to her "realization" that she might not be as pretty as other girls, this anime could very well be an animated remake of my middle school and early high school life. I think what I like most about Tomoko and this series is the fact that, it's not like Tomoko is ashamed of her otaku lifestyle. While trying to become popular, she still watches anime, plays video games, makes geeky references and jokes, and finds comfort in her obsession. However, she also has a desire to be accepted by and interacted with her classmates, who don't seem to share any similar interest. It's funny, but at the same time heart-breaking watching Tomoko try to step out of her shell  to make new friends, only to comeback bitter and defeated when things go wrong. It's like one minute, you see that vulnerable side of her that longs to make friends and grab the attention of boys, but then, a wave of self doubt will splash over her, and she'll act like these things aren't worth her time to try to save face. However, despite my "deep" analysis of this series, I have to mention that it's really funny and even if you can't relate to Tomoko (which...like...how?) you'll at least get a good laugh. All in all it's definitely going to be a show I'll stick with.

The references and parodies in this anime are one of the best things about it

Tomoko's attempt to be "beautiful"

Sometimes Tomoko be sipping on that haterade (also LANGUAGE!)

How Tomoko imagines high school life will be

#about me

Attack on Titan is BACK!!!

Levi's Excited. Are you?

  Remember that one time, I used to review Attack on Titan? Yeah me neither. [Post Ends]

     Just kidding, Just kidding. Way back when Attack on Titan started, I did some episode reviews because I instantly fell in love with it! However, I fell way behind in the episodes so I just gave up. [I know, I'm just so dedicated, right?] Anyway between it's spring season and it's new summer season I was able to catch up on all the episodes, and now that I'm all caught up, I decided to take another crack at it. This means I will now be doing weekly episode recaps of both Free! Iwatobi Swim Club and this . This will probably get tricky when school starts but for now, it's pretty easy to manager. So let me leave you with my reviews of the to most recent episodes.