The season of Shoujo
I don't know when it happened but I find myself enjoying shoujo shows more and more these days, maybe it's just a phase...
Kamisama Hajimemashita
"Nanami Momozono is alone and homeless after her dad skips town to evade his gambling debts and the debt collectors kick her out of her apartment. So when a man she's just saved from a dog offers her his home, she jumps at the opportunity. But it turns out that his place is a shrine, and Nanami has unwittingly taken over his job as a local deity! "
Nanami Momozono, VA: Suzuko Mimori (Sherlock Shellinford, Himawari Furutani)
Main girl is most genki girl, just look at that face. She has a very upbeat personality and it really makes her fun to watch.
Tomoe, VA: Shinnosuke Tachibana (Minato Sahashi, Sana Hidaka)
Main guy is fairly interesting, seems to wear a lot of make-up though. Pretty funny to see him obey Nanami, given his personality.
Overall this show is pretty enjoyable, mostly for the female lead. Goddammit she's so genki. The side characters in this show are fairly uninteresting, but it's only been 3 episodes so we'll see how things progress.
The OP for this show is really nice, both in the song and visuals. I can't get over how genki Nanami is. ED is quite nice too.
Sukitte Ii na yo
"Mei Tachibana has spent her 16 years without making either boyfriend or friends. One day, she injures the most popular boy in school, Yamato Kurosawa, because of a misunderstanding but for some reason it seems that he takes a liking to her and one-sidedly claims that they're friends. Furthermore, he not only protects Mei from a stalker, he does it with a kiss…?!!"
Mei Tachibana, VA: Ai Kayano (Mayaka Ibara, Inori Yuzuriha, Muginami)
Main girl seemed pretty interesting in the first episode, but by episode 2 she'd turned into your typical love-struck female over the main guy.
Yamato Kurosawa, VA: Takahiro Sakurai (Suzaku Kururugi, Meme Oshino, Takashi Kamiyama)
Main guy is fairly uninteresting, as he's your typical "popular, cool, nice guy". I kinda hate the way he looks, his hair bothers me so greatly, like he's the 5th member of some boy band.
Overall this show is decent, it seems to fall into a lot of cliches (but let's be honest, how many shoujo don't) but from what I've read it actually has a lot of progression later down the track.
The ED for this show has the best music, but I'm probably just saying that because I like Suneohair. Ahh... Honey & Clover...
Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun
"Mizutani Shizuku is the type of person who only cares for her own grades. But when she accidentally delivers lesson notes to Yoshida Haru, he becomes convinced they are friends. "
Shizuku Misutani, VA: Haruka Tomatsu (Nagi, Rindou Ranmaru, Msyu, Anjou Naruko)
Main girl is pretty interesting, nothing special but she's done well. She's also very straight-forward and honest, something I've come to appreciate more and more in newer anime.
Haru Yoshida, VA: Tatsuhisa Suzuki (Yuuji Sakamoto, Eishirou Sugata)
Main guy is nothing special, but he's not uninteresting either. Probably my favorite visuals of all the male leads so far, goddamn did he remind me of Oreki when I first saw him.
Overall this is my favorite shoujo of this season, it's not that the main characters are the best, but the entire show overall feels more interesting, the characters interact outside of just the main pair and it makes for some interesting situations.
Ths show doesn't have a better OP than Kamisama Hajimemashita or a better ED than Sukitte Ii na yo, but that doesn't mean they're bad. The show is a lot more fun and playful, and both the OP and ED reflect that. With that being said, I quite like the ED, both visually and the song itself.
On a closing note, the clothing in Shoujo and Josei anime/manga is infinitely better than that of other genres. Everything looks so goddamn pretty.
P.S. did anyone else notice that all the females are blushing and none of the males are? hmm...
