hontou ni
4Jan/066

SHUFFLE 19-21

Enter SHUFFLE!, the series to topple Da Capo's reign and displace Kiminozo to 3rd place on my HGTA chart.

Meet Kaede, the tragic heroine who made it possible with her story-arc (ep 19-21).

Kaede brings to mind Sakura (Da Capo) and Mitsuki (Kiminozo) because she along with these female-lead senpais belong to that exclusive class of unforgettable anime characters instrumental for creating the powerful drama that sets these series apart. Personally, I deem these girls to be some of the saddest characters in anime haremsphere (yes, even Mitsuki who has my pity for finishing with Takayuki). My heart bled profusely as Kaede sat sobbing on Rin's bed, devastated that (in Zyl's Nuclear War terms) her desperate 'final strike' did not move Rin. (Although methinks Mitsuki-styled "Ultimate move" works better with comatose competition or rival-away-at-nursing-school.... arrggghh! If only Kotori asked Junichi instead of the stupid mirror this question in ep 1?! Anyway I digress.)

SHUFFLE continues to surprise me with a deviation from the seemingly designated girl (just imagine Kaoru finishing the series with Tina instead of Aoi in Ai Yori Aoshi) and having a harem lead with a backbone. Ep 19 clearly shows Rin to be not a mere hero but almost a martyr for Kaede. But therein also lies the question, is Rin's godly compassion for Kaede borne of brotherly love, incredible altruism or something else? Personally, given the circumstances, I find it hard to accept Rin's fierce, instinctive protection of Kaede to be based on mere siscon sibling love. Could the long years of cohabitation regelated Kaede to 'sister' status? (Of cos that never stopped anybody, see Da Capo for details.) Or did the years of abuse scarred him so bad that he could never truly love her unreservedly as he could with Asa? Sigh, either way, it’s a love lost and it really breaks my heart to see Kaede bawl again in ep 21 as she embraces he who could not reciprocate her feelings. Somewhat reminds me of the bittersweet recharge-hug Sakura gave Junichi in the final scene of Da Capo; a parting gift, the consolation prize.

School idols don't seem to be in favour with the anime gods nowadays. Anyhow Kaede joins Kotori in the ranks of rejected campus princesses and while I seriously doubt SHUFFLE will get any better than this, I'm looking forward to the series closing with my favourite SHUFFLE girl. Go Asa-chan!

Related posts:

  1. SHUFFLE 05
  2. SHUFFLE! 05
  3. SHUFFLE! 01

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  1. Zyl
    January 4th, 2006 - 09:08

    Certainly the Kaede arc really raised the dramatic quality of the series and for that, the anime script writers deserve all the credit since although the history was in the PC game, it wasn’t developed to its logical conclusion shown the anime – with Kaede having a nervous breakdown when Rin chose someone else.

    Also while I don’t dislike Kaede, her past abusive behaviour towards Rin was repulsive and her insidious emotional blackmail of him (“Rin is the reason why I live.” = “You better not abandon me for another girl or else goodness knows what I’ll do to myself.”) caused me to lose a lot of respect for her – though that recovered somewhat (but not completely) with her eventual acceptance of Rin x Asa and Rin moving out showed that she did grow and mature as a character.

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  2. cyw1988
    January 4th, 2006 - 09:13

    school days anybody??

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  3. Mentar
    January 4th, 2006 - 10:24

    Sorry, but no, not for me ;)

    Shuffle has way too many major plotholes in my book to come even close to KimiNozo’s class. Several more or less unrelated sad short stories no good anime make in my book. Even the drama climaxes felt a bit ‘strange’, for example Kaede’s resolution. Where KimiNozo offered two wonderful final allegories in the childbook stories, Shuffle has… well, nothing really. Kaede accepts her sad fate and that’s it. Duh. Is anyone even still thinking about Sia, Nerine and Primula?

    Also, Asa’s finish. Don’t get me wrong, I love her character, I rooted for her all the time while I was certain that she had no chance in hell – and now, to my utter amazement, she made it. That’s the one redeeming aspect of Shuffle, the unpredictability. But I can’t overlook that Asa’s stubborn refusal to use magic is very unconvincing. She doesn’t want to make Ama sad by using magic and thus turning into a demon? She would prefer to DIE? That would make Ama any happier?!? (While we know that she wouldn’t want anything more but seeing Asa live happily?)

    That’s the reason why even though I enjoyed Shuffle alot, I wouldn’t rate it in the top group (KimiNozo, and a bit behind this, Kanon and MAYBE with alot of goodwill, DC).

    All only IMHO, of course ^_^

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  4. Stripey
    January 5th, 2006 - 01:21

    Zyl: Haha well school idol or not, we both know that Kaede is not wife material. However she does break character molds and I really love her for that. It’s been a while since I’ve seen some one so refreshing in the harem scene. Childhood fren turned violent avenger turned Mahoro. Man haven’t seen that one before :P Despite her extreme personality she comes across more human than the rest of the girls.. (well then again it may be cos she’s the only pure-bred human in the harem cast :P )

    cyw1988: oooh haven’t caught that yet… is it on your top 3 HGTA charts? :)

    Mentar: Great to see Kanon on your list! Kanon would be a 5th for me even though I love its story over say Da Capo. And wow Tsukimiya Ayu…. another of Horie Yui’s lovely avatars… uguu….. Unfortunately I found Toei’s execution of Kanon fairly poor despite fantastic material to work with, I would love to see Kyoto Animation do Kanon instead.

    Personally I thought the main strength of Shuffle is how the plot manages to thread all the girls together, working out a solution for all (though some more satisfying than the others.) Given that there are 5 girls involved I’ll say that’s quite a feat :P And the girls stick around and continue to influence the plot despite having their arc resolved lending more credibility to the series. I rem Mai almost totally dropping out of Kanon after ep 5. And Mako (DCSS) relegated to wallpaper after her ep (ep 12 or 13?) I guess Kiminozo has a edge in this sense since the series only really need to balance 2 girls (Poor Akane wasn’t even considered to be in the race.. sob :P )

    I also thought SHUFFLE has more to offer since it has a good mix of comedy, angst, action and witty dialogue. pity no siscon Just as I have placed DC over Kiminozo because it offered more as an entire package, I found SHUFFLE a lot more entertaining than Kiminozo and for that matter, DC.

    Although I do wonder if I would change my tune if I were to re-watch Kiminozo again :P

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  5. KSamurai
    January 13th, 2006 - 21:15

    Wahhh, just picked up this series all in one go and damn its what I seriously love about anime! Just surprising how much a different direction a series can take when it steps up a gear.

    The first 10-12 episodes was typical of your standard anime but after that I just could keep my eyes off this anime (watched all the rest of the episodes one sitting, almost 5-6 hours….. not recommended ^^).

    I probably wouldn’t of picked up this series if I didn’t read about it on your blog sites after this I’ll definally thankful that I do. Great reviews! One for the must buy list if I have the money :)

    Probably guessed I’m an Asa fan as well :) Don’t suppose you could find any more good images of her??

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  6. Stripey
    January 16th, 2006 - 07:21

    Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for your kind words :) Sadly much as I proclaim to be an Asa fan, I don’t have a decent gallery of her pics at all. :) However, may I direct you to fellow HUGE Asa fan just might have something…..

    Zyl; brother, Asa pics? :P

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