hontou ni » OtoBoku

Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru 13

Zyl — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 16:32:00 +0000

Even though this episode needed more Mariya, I still enjoyed it immensely and screamed with laughter almost every other minute. The Super Deformed mode was sustained really well and this episode firmly establishes this type of SD-mode as OtoBoku's calling card. Favourite parts included the title of 'Tsunderella', Takako getting struck by lightning, the pixellated Takako-tentacled scene, every scene with Shion in it (like her hair capture, unga-unga dance, magical battle with Kei and Michiko and not least that really HAWT WTF nekkid fan service scene - see Omni's post - she'd give Mariya and Takako a run for their money anytime!), the forest full of flying Kanacopters and the giant cats. While I would have liked to see the Mariya vs Takako rivalry develop, this episode was thoroughly enjoyable silliness. Looking forward to the next season!

Hontou Ni anime skirmishes 2006

Zyl — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 10:50:05 +0000

Stripey and I often have quite different anime diets, it's not unusual for one to have never seen a series that the other considers a favourite. But as we like to discuss anime, over bowls of minced pork noodles or ramen when I'm back in Singapore or via Skype when I'm not, there are constant battles to influence each other to watch this or that anime series. 2006 has been no exception. Looking back, it seems that Stripey patiently practises an attritional strategy while I prefer to strike hard at his weakest points to secure swift and decisive victory.

This year has been an exceptionally good year for some of Stripey's longstanding machinations. Firstly, his efforts to get me to watch Kanon. I had resisted his advocacy when the Toei version first aired as I disliked Toei's art style intensely. However, its "sad girls in snow" motif was sufficiently interesting to keep the tanuki's insurgency alive as I do like bittersweet melodrama. Its popularity also gave Stripey's campaign added staying power as I encountered references in many anime blogs and web comics like Fred 'Piro' Gallagher's Megatokyo. When it was announced that Kyoto Animation was in charge of the remake, victory finally arrived after four long years as I had enjoyed Fumoffu and Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Though I'm not blogging Kanon, I'm still enjoying it - Mai x Sayuri FTW! Ahaha~

Another sustained Stripey effort that finally came to fruition was my recent devouring of 2004's Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and 2005's A's sequel. The buzz around StrikerS (where they are no longer loli, phew) was the context upon which the initial trigger was finally activated, namely Seaotter's entry for the Riuva motivation poster contest. Even though I do like hawt yuri pr0ntasticism (the Kannazuki/StoPani School), I prefer implied yuri (the MariMite School of Yuri Fandom) partly because there's an exceptional tenderness to the way yuri relationships are developed that seems to be quite rare in anime BGR these days. Of course, I'll be cheering for Nanoha x Fate in StrikerS while categorically asserting that Chrono x Fate siscon is soooo not gonna happen.

However, Stripey guerilla tactics don't always work. Operation Yoake Mae Yori Ruri Iro Na never got off the ground; his efforts to preach about the series over Skype have repeatedly collapsed into uncontrollable sobbing, repeated orzing and incoherent babbling about cabbage. *Zyl shrugs Zaku shoulders* Currently, tanuki insurgents are being inserted for Zero no Tsukaima, Asatte no Houko and Souko no Strain but a threshold of sufficient interest has yet to be reached in any of these series.

Parallel to HiME Miko Mashiro to Otome Brat Mashiro LOL

I've had some limited success in getting Stripey to watch Black Lagoon and Sumomo mo momo mo but his interest has been limited to the episodes focusing on Gretel and Iroha respectively; my surgical strikes have thus failed to cascade and create the momentum for the rest of these series. Magikano was a peripheral battle field since I still haven't even watched this series at all. But the observed response to the One Screencap Strike provided some pretty solid reaffirmation for the hypothesis first proposed by Ender in Jul 2005.

Stripey had held out for a surprisingly long time against Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru. This was a tad unexpected as I thought that Horie Yui in the starring role would reel him in faster than you say, 'Trap.' However, it was precisely because Horie Yui's character was so lovely as Mizuho that Stripey feared that he would suffer the crisis of sexual identity that flows from adherence to the Kurogane Doctrine. He's since fallen in love with all the girls and the male lead of OtoBoku's cast and has joined Jason Miao and company on an Egyptian river cruise, hoping that their repeated chanting of: 'I don’t care anymore. Just shoot me. No way there’s a penis on this. None. I won’t accept it (repeat)' will result in Ep 13's revelation that Mizuho really is a girl. Either that or they'll hijack Sora's ship from Kashimashi and arrange for Mizuho to have a little accident.

I was thinking of putting up a whole series of OtoBoku HCGs that display Mizuho's manliness, mainly to hear what kind of justifications that will be put up to maintain the current state of cognitive dissonance. But given my own anime predispositions, it would be just sooo awesome if Mizuho is Kashimashi-ed and then both Mariya and Takako eventually decide to continue loving the now female Mizuho anyway. Awesome. And though I am looking forward to our 2007 skirmishes, there's still plenty of common ground between us, such as: Mariya x Mizuho FTW!

Otome wa boku ni koishiteru ~ A lovely end

Stripey — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 18:51:22 +0000

Not the end Zyl had hoped for

Just a couple of posts back, I voiced my emphatic support for Mariya and would accept nothing except a Mariya X Mizuho end. That very night, FEEL came along with ep 12 and corrected my tunnel vision. Otoboku was never about the love rivalry between Takako/Mariya in a generic harem setting. It is a beautiful tale of self-discovery and maturing shoujo hearts as Mizuho nurtures all around while growing himself.

One of Otoboku's major strength was that it NEVER lost sight of this theme as reflected by its streamlined storytelling. The first 8 character-centric eps may feel like mandatory filler-ish character arcs in every eroge conversion but it was not until Mariya's arc that we see clearly Mizuho's tremendous growth through all these. These eps served not only to amplify the cast's charms but more importantly, culminated to Mariya's own love admission as she was forced to reassess her relationship with Mizuho. The story then builds on Mariya's discovery as she goes on to enlighten a confused Takako on the true state of her affections, having emerged from a similar crisis herself. And as Takako sheds her dogmatism and learns to follow her heart in the final dance, my resolve for a Mariya end weakens. Incredibly, in just one ep, Takako propelled herself to be on the same standing as Mariya to be a worthy suitor for Mizuho's hand.

The series closes on the same theme that threads the series. We see Mizuho dancing with all the girls whose lives she had touched and the memories of the trials that changed them; precious lessons in life that they would carry out into the world. We also see Takako/Mariya's senseless feud now taking on a real purpose as both have finally admitted their affections for Mizuho. The true rivalry begins only now. Indeed, a beautiful end where every character attains a milestone in their character growth.

So, after seeing the lovely end, I realised my foolishness for wishing a 'conclusive' pairing. There is just insufficient basis for a choice as of ep 12. Mizuho never looked at Takako/Mizuho romantically and forcing a choice upon him in the final ep would be contrived and unnatural. I also thought it was wise that his true gender was never revealed to the rest of the cast/school as it would open a hole in the plot that would require an additional 2 eps to mend; something the series could ill afford given its emphasis on Takako/Mariya in the finishing installments.

All in all, Otoboku, especially its ending, exceeded all my expectations and is one of the most coherent anime works I have seen. Don't even get me started on how lovable the cast is, that'd take another 2 posts. Highly recommended to those who love a well-weaved tale with endearing characters.

Looking forward to the DVD ep 13 in Apr 07.