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Anime/Manga Recommendations
As some of you know, I've been on the hunt for a decent shoujo manga for awhile now. And by "decent", I mean "readable". I don't have a lot of diversity in my manga fandom, much preferring shounen titles for their storylines and art. Most of the shoujo I've looked at has been so busy and flowery and girly I've been completely unable to read it. (A lot of people have recc'ed Fruits Basket, and indeed it was the first one I looked at, but looking at the manga literally gave me a headache).
So, it seems natural that the shoujo anime/manga I'd find completely addicting is actually a romantic comedy that chokes on its own meta-written parody :) I speak, of course, of Ouran High School Host Club. As cringe-worthy as the title is, it is SO WORTH looking up :)
The basic premise is this: Haruhi Fujioka is an academic scholarship student at the prestigious Ouran Academy, a place where wealth and pedigree are more important than anything else. While looking for a quiet place to study, she accidentally stumbles upon the Host Club, a group of six beautiful boys (each representing a stereotypical Hero Type) who exist for the sole pleasure of entertaining their equally snobby, bored female classmates. Initially taken for a boy, she accidentally breaks a vase worth 8 million yen, and in order to pay it back she becomes the club's errand boy. Somewhere along the line, the leader, Tamaki, decides to make their 'errand boy' into a host, taking him under his wing in the process. Tamaki is the last to realize Haruhi is really a girl, and appears to have a very obvious crush on her right from the start.
Hijinx ensue as the club bonds together, working to keep Haruhi's secret from the adoring girls that serve as their customers.
It really reminds me of a clever Regency romp, combined with all the big points of a shoujo manga -- reverse harem, Hero Types of all kinds (from Prince to Loli-shota), gender-bending, twincest, boy-love, guardian-ward, just to name a few. Plus the whole "rich" vs "poor" vibe played for highest humor.
It's very smart, though, taking on pretty touching situations in heart-tugging ways. The UST between Haruhi and Tamaki could be cut with a knife, but there's also explorations of the boys' friendships with each other, as well as where they stand within their social strata.
Looking for the anime was time-consuming, to say the least. I found the first couple of episodes @ Anime Viewer (which is where I originally found the Inuyasha episodes online), and I'll save you the digging by linking here. There are 5 episodes there, and then you have to go to YouTube for the rest.
Because the English dub is about to be released, YouTube is cracking down on the videos so you will have to vary your search terms a bit. There are 26 episodes in total, and I've managed to find all of them up to #18.
I think the anime is very clever, with lots of visual gags. The music is also superb, bringing in the fantasy/escapism element. Some of the visual stuff (especially with the twins' past) is just gorgeous. Episode #13 is a great mind-bending parody of Alice in Wonderland, to which I almost cried at the end.
I'm not someone who gets into the whole sub vs dub debate, but I have to say that the original Japanese voice track is 100x better than the English one. The English Tamaki is completely wrong for the part; if it's possible to overact a voice part, that's exactly how I'd describe this. Another important element is the use of honorifics, which is very uneven in the English dub. I say, either use them always or don't, not this halfway business like the dub has. For this anime, the titles are necessary, an over-the-top element that adds to the absurdity.
The manga is here. It's nice, but a bit hard to read online with all the tiny print. I'm hesitant about buying the "official" translation until I have a chance to read it, but Europe isn't exactly a hotbed of comic shops so I may have no other choice...Luckily, unlike Inuyasha, the English translations aren't so far behind the releases from Japan. There are currently 10 volumes available for this ongoing series. The manga appears to have taken a more serious turn as Tamaki's background is explored, as well as the burgeoning feelings between Tamaki and Haruhi coming quickly to a head.
A cookie to the first person to pinpoint my favorite character from the series, just from the first five episodes available from the German website :) It shouldn't be a tough guess LOL!!
Another interesting shoujo manga I've found is a short, finished work called Bitter Virgin. It's a great deal darker, but the story is very interesting, if a bit slow-moving. It features a Prince-type hero who unexpectedly falls in love with a very quiet, reclusive girl with a dark past.
So, it seems natural that the shoujo anime/manga I'd find completely addicting is actually a romantic comedy that chokes on its own meta-written parody :) I speak, of course, of Ouran High School Host Club. As cringe-worthy as the title is, it is SO WORTH looking up :)
The basic premise is this: Haruhi Fujioka is an academic scholarship student at the prestigious Ouran Academy, a place where wealth and pedigree are more important than anything else. While looking for a quiet place to study, she accidentally stumbles upon the Host Club, a group of six beautiful boys (each representing a stereotypical Hero Type) who exist for the sole pleasure of entertaining their equally snobby, bored female classmates. Initially taken for a boy, she accidentally breaks a vase worth 8 million yen, and in order to pay it back she becomes the club's errand boy. Somewhere along the line, the leader, Tamaki, decides to make their 'errand boy' into a host, taking him under his wing in the process. Tamaki is the last to realize Haruhi is really a girl, and appears to have a very obvious crush on her right from the start.
Hijinx ensue as the club bonds together, working to keep Haruhi's secret from the adoring girls that serve as their customers.
It really reminds me of a clever Regency romp, combined with all the big points of a shoujo manga -- reverse harem, Hero Types of all kinds (from Prince to Loli-shota), gender-bending, twincest, boy-love, guardian-ward, just to name a few. Plus the whole "rich" vs "poor" vibe played for highest humor.
It's very smart, though, taking on pretty touching situations in heart-tugging ways. The UST between Haruhi and Tamaki could be cut with a knife, but there's also explorations of the boys' friendships with each other, as well as where they stand within their social strata.
Looking for the anime was time-consuming, to say the least. I found the first couple of episodes @ Anime Viewer (which is where I originally found the Inuyasha episodes online), and I'll save you the digging by linking here. There are 5 episodes there, and then you have to go to YouTube for the rest.
Because the English dub is about to be released, YouTube is cracking down on the videos so you will have to vary your search terms a bit. There are 26 episodes in total, and I've managed to find all of them up to #18.
I think the anime is very clever, with lots of visual gags. The music is also superb, bringing in the fantasy/escapism element. Some of the visual stuff (especially with the twins' past) is just gorgeous. Episode #13 is a great mind-bending parody of Alice in Wonderland, to which I almost cried at the end.
I'm not someone who gets into the whole sub vs dub debate, but I have to say that the original Japanese voice track is 100x better than the English one. The English Tamaki is completely wrong for the part; if it's possible to overact a voice part, that's exactly how I'd describe this. Another important element is the use of honorifics, which is very uneven in the English dub. I say, either use them always or don't, not this halfway business like the dub has. For this anime, the titles are necessary, an over-the-top element that adds to the absurdity.
The manga is here. It's nice, but a bit hard to read online with all the tiny print. I'm hesitant about buying the "official" translation until I have a chance to read it, but Europe isn't exactly a hotbed of comic shops so I may have no other choice...Luckily, unlike Inuyasha, the English translations aren't so far behind the releases from Japan. There are currently 10 volumes available for this ongoing series. The manga appears to have taken a more serious turn as Tamaki's background is explored, as well as the burgeoning feelings between Tamaki and Haruhi coming quickly to a head.
A cookie to the first person to pinpoint my favorite character from the series, just from the first five episodes available from the German website :) It shouldn't be a tough guess LOL!!
Another interesting shoujo manga I've found is a short, finished work called Bitter Virgin. It's a great deal darker, but the story is very interesting, if a bit slow-moving. It features a Prince-type hero who unexpectedly falls in love with a very quiet, reclusive girl with a dark past.
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Thanks for the other recs though :) I'll check em out when I get some reading time!
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I really need Ouran High School Host Club right now, because its so silly and absurd and escapist. It's a nice balance to the angst and depression I've had going on for the last couple of weeks. Sometimes, you just need a mood-lightener, you know? :)
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Alright - must do work. Lata gator!
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Considering my absolute shit mood of late, I've been overdosing on it LOL. Can you guess which is my favorite character? :)
No worries on the drabble...but glad I made you think!