Happy Valentine’s Day! Did you heart skip a beat giving chocolate to someone? Did you enjoy a romantic dinner and movie perhaps? I didn’t, oh the joy of being single. So enough of me and on to why you come read this page, anime! Being it is Valentine’s Day I figured I could throw up two reviews (one from the fall) that I find cute and funny. I also decided to just give a general score on anime now, I feel giving a rating to each category isn’t always fun and can get a bit repetitive.
Title: Kaichou wa Maid-sama!
Genre: Comedy / Romance
Review Score: 9
Aired: April 2010 – September 2010
Review:
So you guys get back to back series I really love. Kaichou wa Maid-sama! is built around student council president Ayuzawa, Misaki. She is president of a school that used to be an all boys school that just recently turned co-ed. Do to the recent merger, there are still far fewer girls surrounded by a relatively over the top group of guys. Misaki feels she needs to protect the girls from the boys both as the president and personal experience. Among all of the girls, Misaki is known throughout the school for being a man hater and is called the demon president.
Enter in Usui, Takumi the pretty boy who is super popular among all the female students. He carries a very passive and calm appearance, however deep down has started to fall in love with Misaki which turns his interactions with her in to teasing. What preempts this interest is Usui stumbling upon Misaki’s job working as a maid in a maid cafe. SHOCK! Why does the straight as a board president work in such a place? Simple, her family is poor and she helps her mother by working here. Upon learning her secret and some of the story that lies behind her nature, Usui takes it in as his own secret and so their story starts.
This story is just as cute as it is funny. The cat and dog game between Usui and Misaki as the series progresses never got old to me nor her tsundere type attitude she carries. The supporting cast I found interesting and each sub arc was entertaining and funny. I enjoyed watching the relationship between Usui and Misaki develop all the way through the final episode which I thought was super cute. I would highly recommend this anime if you enjoy a light hearted romance.
Title: Kamisama Hajimemashita (Kamisama Kiss)
Genre: Comedy / Romance / Fantasy
Review Score: 8
Aired: October 2012 – December 2012
Review:
So here we are with another comedy romance. The Fall 2012 season had few romance aimed anime that felt to properly offset the action/drama releases. From the get go I started to love this story, they don’t spend much time building up some sappy past and simply explain it in about three minutes.
In short Momozono, Nanami is homeless after her father leaves her. Since no one is there to pay the bills she left without a home sitting on a bench in the park. While figuring out what to do, she “helps” a man stuck in a tree due to a “dog”… Nanami shoos the dog away. The hearing her story tells Nanami she can live at his old house due to him taking a trip. Upon arriving at the… shrine Nanami comes to learn the man had just given her his land god duties and she is officially a god. Working at the shrine are two helpers and the land god’s familiar, Tomoe. Tomoe is your standard super good looking guy, but with a bad attitude. Upon learning that Nanami is the new caretaker, Tomoe leaves her and goes back to the land of the gods. Nanami follows to retrieve him, which turns more into her yelling at him. Stuff happens… she gets in trouble… Tomoe comes… she kisses him which makes him her familiar now and the story starts.
You spend most of this short series watching Nanami come to terms with her feelings for Tomoe and her trying to become a proper land deity. As they spend time together Nanami develops feeling for Tomoe who promises to stay at her side, always. The words can be misleading as is Tomoe pledging as a familiar or as someone who also is coming to fall in love with her.
Kamisama Kiss does a great job of merging the story of Tomoe’s past (which effects his ability to accept humans… mainly Nanami) and the development of Nanami as she learn what it means to be a land deity. The series may feel a little slow at times but I personally felt the speed of the story perfectly matched the tone. I felt the supporting cast was great, introducing other deities who live on earth as well as giving a little bit of competition to Tomoe. I also love the opening song, it fits the anime perfectly. I really did love the art style for this show for both the characters and backgrounds. I felt the ending of the show was satisfying and completely happy with it ending at thirteen episodes believing they did a wonderful job. If you love the romance / comedy genre with a kick of the supernatural you will really want to check this series out