Re-reading your favourite manga that you haven’t touched in almost 7 years is like meeting an ex-classmate, or ex-classmates of yours that you haven’t seen for twice or half that time. One part of you wonders if they’ve stayed the same, one part wonders if you’ll recognise them, one part wonders if you’ll be able to talk as casually as you did all those years back, and one part, if you’re thinking about a particular female classmate, wonders if she’s grown up from that adorable girl you had a big crush on back then. My reunion with Love Hina was like that, only with less stiflingly dapper outfit and more pleasant recollection of memories.

softly dreaming, never drunk

The number of posts don’t seem to be letting up any time soon. Ditto this. While I’m officially semi-tired of all the true tears discussion that’s been going on as of late, I still consider it to be awesome even if I’m kind burnt out from people talking about it — you know what they say about too much of a good thing. When was the last time something from this maligned genre provoked so much discussion and dissection, on such a rich level, too? I can understand the rationale behind Shinkai not making that leap from movies to a TV series, if only somewhat.

It happened previously to me with ef, and I don’t know why getting burnt out on discussion about a good anime happens, because it technically shouldn’t. Maybe everyone’s already repeating what I already know, and I can’t be arsed to comment, even if I’ve read their posts. Maybe I like talking about a series better when it’s indie, although that wouldn’t explain Clannad. Maybe I need to read less blogs, even if this goes against what I believe about reading more. But I digress.

This rather lengthy dialogue I had with Mike of AnimeDiet was conducted last Sunday, under the guise of dissecting what I felt was the core theme of both kimikiss and true tears, and what makes them such a powerful experience: character inconsistency, and the difference between what a character feels and what he or she subsequently demonstrates. That part’s still there, but it’s buried in a plethora of other stuff, all of which I came up on the fly. The second half of this dialogue is linked to at the end of this post.

A short update for those of you who were wondering where my blog went, and why Sasa’s feed was flooding AnimeNano earlier: Ikimashou.net is currently in the hands of a squatter, no thanks to the registrar screwing Randall over by conveniently “forgetting” to e-mail him about the domain lapsing. As a result, everything broke, and he’s fighting to get the domain back now. In the meantime, don’t bother updating your links, unless you feel like changing them later on. If this Dasaku.net domain turns out to be permanent, I’ll be using a different subdomain name to go with it in good time.

I don’t know if anyone’s noticed, but Hirose looks a lot like Yuki Nagato

A reference-laden quote needs a little something to give it context, and considering how I’ve learned to not look at harem and its deriatives with derision anymore (I credit CCYoshi partially for that accomplishment, who, coincidentally, has an awesome new blog over at Mega Megane Moé — we’re hosting buddies now!), it seems all the more apt.

Make your choice, adventurous Stranger;
Strike the bell and bide the danger,
Or wonder, till it drives you mad,
What would have followed if you had.

This is, of course, the premise by which I’m watching the more “dubious” picks this season. Considering how subs are going to be and have been frighteningly efficient due to the alliance of m.3.3.w + BakaWolf + Ayako, passing up on what could be the ef of Winter seems patently obtuse. I mean, all the cool kids are doing it, so it should be fine, right?

Then it’s all tears and drama. Two series with real — and by real here I mean being born to the exact same set of parents and sharing substantial genetic make-up — incest that I know of have all manner of hysteria in their veins. While I haven’t read or seen Angel Sanctuary and are therefore unable to personally vouch for that one, reading Koi Kaze moved me beyond measure for its realistic and uncomfortable portrayal of that six letter word which also happens to be a popular fetish.

Now, before anyone accuses me of being pro-incest, I find my sister as attractive as I do other men (hint: I am straight) and sympathise greatly with those afflicted by it in real life. Neither will you find me separating my future children from each other as they grow up during their formative years due to how the Westermarck effect and genetic sexual attraction provide scientific explanations as to why it happens.

You could say that incest and to a lesser degree, twincest, are as much a part of harem anime as the moe girls and other stock archetypes are. The pseudo-oniichan has been around for ages; I choose to bring this up due to how M;Y has been handling the subject matter this time around, and its subversion of what is an often used and abused trope means that the episode, in addition to resolving two sub-plots, also shone as a result of its excellence.

Or, black holes and revelations, which is my take on how Myself; Yourself is going to resolve itself. Trust Muse to know better. I read three dissenting opinions on M;Y today, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s an inevitable by-product of blurring the boundaries of the genres, which also means it absolves itself of any blame if that’s the case.

This season holds a record for most renai/visual novel/dating sim adaptations not behaving like a typical adaptation of its make should. There’s the excellent and emotive Clannad. The maligned yet deep ef. The vanilla and pristine kimikiss. M;Y differs in that the game will be released soon, making any comparisons to the source impossible. Unlike the other three, M;Y has an advantage for being devoid of any expectations whatsoever; unfortunately, this works for and against it.

Personally, as things stand right now I don’t see it attaining an outright good/bad consensus. Not like that’s a bad thing given how a lot of the best shows out there lack unanimous acclaim, or how lowest common denominators are usually the only means by which an anime attracts the most praise, but it’s not a good thing either. You could call it schizophrenic, indecisive, or bad planning. I prefer to use what might seem to be a misogynistic analogy.

The basis of harem is pretty simple — one guy, a lot of girls, and plenty of rabu-rabu hijinks in-between. This, unfortunately, is as easy as saying that the basis of shounen is this guy who discovers a drill-shaped key his inner powers one day and goes on to pierce through the heavens save the world. Or saying that the basis of shoujo is throwing one girl into the midst of 10 or so pretty guys and having her come off with her one true love, or that the basis of slice of life is that NOTHING HAPPENS.

what Konata said about tsunderes having twintails was true

There’s been more of that “balanced” talk around this season more than any other this year given how the harem/bishoujo shows have a strong showing, and for that reason alone I decided to dedicate a post to four shows in said genre, namely Myself;Yourself, Blue Drop, Kimikiss Pure Rouge, and ef.

My reasons for watching harem are twofold: Firstly, the networking aspect. I’ll never write off entire genres by virtue of common sense and not wanting to be like the other bloggers whom, despite not being entirely sound in their reasoning, I read to keep me grounded in terms of bias, and not wanting to preach to the converted. It also helps me keep in touch with other excellent bits of writing I wouldn’t be able to understand fully otherwise, like harem overlord CCYoshi or super siscon Stripey.

Secondly, it’s a motivation out of academic vested interest. Like how I won’t really be able to appreciate Nanoha for being a mix of the shounen and mahou shoujo genres if I haven’t had prior experience with both, so does harem and bishoujo help me appreciate Shana for being a mix of shounen and harem. While it’s convenient, I don’t think I have to settle for second-best while trying to go about being acquainted with what the genre has to offer, so here’s an initial assessment of what Autumn’s got to offer.