With the gravity I’ve created for a situation like this, somewhat on purpose, somewhat or not, I suppose I should look back a bit on how this little ‘project’ (as I speak with my evil-genius mentality) has gone.

There’s definitely been a lot more participation – or honest attempts at – in the 12 Days countdown than last year, one that has probably seen the cynics in the crowd groan at how cluttered the otakusphere has suddenly become.

But luckily, the utter lack of controversial statements generated by this event seems to have kept them quiet. The most I’ve gotten is a few stray lines from lolikitsune chiding me for liking gleefully stupid shows, and that’s an honest opinion.

Because even if we disagree a bit on what was INCREDIBLY PANTSWETTING STOMACH-CHURNING (etc) AWESOME, the overall positive, warm mood is the same, which is rather fitting for the holiday season (and for keeping us sane in times like these).

And I think it’s accomplished something good; aside from jogging our memories about all the anime nearly set aside during the year – I know of more than a few that I grabbed from the cracks of my mind – I find that it’s a good form of viral advertising.

After all, I’m glad to see a few people have taken my typically overdramatic, hyperbolic rantings to be a strong reccomendation for a show; and I’ve had my interest peaked myself by more than a few (the multiple Genshiken citations, or even just a little thing like the Baccano! OP).

So I hope you all have enjoyed not just the twelve days most recent, but also this year (or section thereof) as an anime fan, or pretentious blogger, or search robot that surfs my site.

That said, let’s move to the final moment in the countdown…

12 Moments of Anime 2008
#01: KimiKiss Pure Rouge – 24

Hahaha. Did you expect that? I wonder if I did.

After all, it’s a moment from a show that I can’t even bear to rewatch anymore.

KimiKiss is funny like that, probably similar to School Days, in the questionability of its ‘9′ rating (essentially top tier) on my far-too-detailed rankings on MyAnimeList. Such of course is the problem of reducing a show to a number.

Objectively, KimiKiss was an exceptionally plain show, in that it was exceptional in both how plain it was and that the quality was exceptional as a result.

Subjectively, I went into what probably passes into my raving lunatic mode for KimiKiss, shipping couples harder than a Shugo Chara fangirl on crack (about now I should link back to my post praising Kairi).

Together, the two combined to make, when I look back at KimiKiss, an incredible emotion, that I doubt I can duplicate. KimiKiss sure doesn’t bring back instant pangs of feeling, the way that listening to Aozora or ebullient future does.

The ending theme, Wasurenaide, worked immensely well in the anime, but as a standalone, is just sort of a slow, touchy-feely song that might click, but only rarely. And the opening theme – aozora loop – is fairly forgettable altogether. A strike against it.

And really, would I say that Yuumi Hoshino is my favorite anime girl of 2008 – or of ever? Hah. ‘Favorite’ is a tough word to use, just like MAL’s ranking system, but Yuumi is probably fairly out-moe’d, out-story’d, out-emotion’d, out-god-damn-it-why-is-this-girl-so-likable’d by many from this year.

On the moeblob end, Kotomi Ichinose, Chinami Ebihara, or Haruka Nogizaka. On the serious (although still moeblob) side, Chihiro Shindou, or some of the old favorites from VNs of past. I’d probably even give Eriko Futami the nod.

But I guess the difference is, Yuumi fought from the losing side, and I know I’ll always stand up for a loser. (Which is why I have so much self-confidence, rimshot.)

Still I doubt that I will be able to, for a long time, again crank out 2000-word episodic posts to the extent that IKnight makes amusing literary reference to my shipping habits.

And that’s what really impresses me about KimiKiss. It really is, from the meta right down to the content, one giant, ridiculous crush. Maybe that’s why I got behind Yuumi in the first place, maybe I saw something from my past…

And, out of either awe or nostalgia, I treasure such insanities of the mind. It’s really a passion I don’t feel often enough as an anime fan, to the point where it almost seems like I’m searching for an anime to drive me mad.

Since I want an anime that can make me FEEL. I want an anime to consume me. Wny, I cannot tell for myself, and is probably the subject of discourse for some high-level philosophy class. All I can do is return to a quote I cited once before, by Michael of Like Water, an anime blog of times past:

“In the end, anime is a hugely personal entertainment medium. It caters to individual fantasies, and makes you believe that you are the center of the fantasy (exemplified by harem anime).

This makes it very difficult to “dialogue” on anime the way you might a good fiction novel, or the way you would a great movie. You wrap so much of yourself into the story and the characters that you feel like you have your own private world with these people, and it’s something that others can’t take from you.

This is why anime is so addicting, and why people who enjoy it tend to watch so much of it. Who doesn’t want their own special world that others can’t even comprehend or touch? We can share it to the extent that we say what characters we like, or what particular moments touch us, but we can’t really share the depth of feeling that draws us to anime because it’s something that lies deep in us, something that we let few people touch.”

So, perhaps KimiKiss struck a nerve, maybe the same one ef rattled, and the most I can do to explain it is to bring a line straight from a bad porno: I don’t know what this feeling is, but it feels so right.

My pursuit of that feeling is what makes me give KimiKiss the top slot in this list.

If I wanted to really romanticize it I would say that one can’t really tell when it comes – only when it is. I mean, I have certain triggers, but it’s not always as easy a job as pushing some buttons. I like to think that way, anyway.

So I treasure these moments, or at least look upon them very fondly in retrospect, even if I can’t always understand them.

After all, KimiKiss is something from yesterday’s me, and even if today’s me cannot feel the same, the two of us are still linked together. (We are after all, the same person, how pretentious do you think I am…)

And after all it’s quite possible that magic might return again, just like how again I fell for the shonen romances like Midori Days, so I hold these moments dear, as a symbol of what I was and what I may be again.

In the end, the amount of actual content in this post devoted to KimiKiss is surprisingly slim. Such a happening is probably a result of just how The Yuumi Fighto Phase has transcended any rational logic, and how long ago it was.

I mean, shipping is fun.
Romance stories with two balanced heroines are great.
Shy girls are adorable and awesome.
And as always, I like me a good, touching story.

So perhaps KimiKiss was just the culmination of a bunch of coincidental circumstances. Maybe it had some extra touch that really clicked with the me from early 2008.

Whatever it is, it set off a spark that, although now dulled for KimiKiss, undoubtedly burns in the form of a passion for some other anime.

In that case, Yuumi’s metaphor of the ‘baton pass’ is quite relevant in a meta sense, with KimiKiss passing the baton of intense fanboy passion to another anime, perhaps ef.

And while it’s not in the spotlight anymore, just like with old crushes, I can look back on KimiKiss with that special mixture of nostalgia, warmth, and confusion – although I think overall the blend is more positive in a situation like this.

KimiKiss – or maybe Yuumi – came, it saw, it conquered. And then like most dominant empires, it slowly faded away, picked apart by time and by ambitious successors. But its mark still remains.

Maybe not as personal as that of Five Centimeters Per Second.
Not as warm as that of Midori Days.
Not as mindblowing as that of Higurashi.

But, I never really lost myself in 5cm, or Midori, or Higurashi. At least not verbally. I was rocked by them, and I still am when I look back, but I never really got a chance to express that. Not in 80 (now 90) kilobytes of text (protip: three-fourths the length of narcissu) like I did for KimiKiss.

I think that’s worth something.

-CCY

(And I hope everyone enjoys Christmas, however they plan to, and I’ll see you back here tommorow for more fun…)

In the end, Owen is probably right. After how many thousands of words over the last five or so episodes riding the tide of KimiKiss, from the highs and lows of both the show’s execution and of my own personal Yuumi fandom, I’ve finally beached out on this show.

I say tide for a reason. KimiKiss isn’t a rollercoaster, per se. It doesn’t always leave you hanging on the edge of your seat, threatening to buck you at every turn like most visual-novel type harem/romances go. Rather, it really does feel like a relaxing trip out to sea, a place disconnected from yet not totally out of touch with the real world, in that style in which KimiKiss lets every viewer live out their idea of the ideal high school romance.

Indeed, my thoughts regarding KimiKiss itself have fluctuated like that of a schoolboy first falling in love. At the beginning I was sure I was smitten with it, that it would be the greatest forever, and indeed, we spent many great times together. But as time moved on there was that little nagging doubt, that ‘is it me or is it you?’ feeling. I still liked it a lot but it didn’t seem like it could be The One. In the end, we had to separate and head our own separate ways, something that I still approach with a bit of sadness, which probably is a bit contrary to everything about the show I’ve said so far.

In the end I find myself regarding KimiKiss much like others have, a show that bends the box but doesn’t break it, and more of a entertaining watch than a truly didactic one. There’s a bit of me that wishes KimiKiss could be more, as it really could have, but I’m not sure how, or in what way, as as much as I try to put it down and say it wasn’t incredible, my gut feeling keeps saying it’s something more.

It’s a strange show. It’s ambitious, yet ordinary, complicated, yet simple, unpredictable, yet not.

The one thing that I think KimiKiss really excelled in, though, was being very interactive-friendly (for lack of a better word), encouraging viewers to get out there, pick a side, and get into the show, something that will instantly make anything – any show, any work of fiction, any event – more entertaining and more fulfilling.

This is the reason I liken to KimiKiss to politics, except fun.

(Obvious spoilers after the jump, etc etc.)

Both KimiKiss and politics – ideally, anyway – are emotionally charged debates about quite relevant issues. What I like about KimiKiss, and what I hope about politics as well, is that there isn’t really a right and a wrong, that both sides can take something away from the struggle.

One can argue on the side of Yuumi, as I have so many times, and one could argue for Mao. The same goes for Asuka and Eriko.

And, like politics, some of the battles resulted in the complete crushing of the competition, despite the loud arguments of the vocal opposition. While it’s not the steamroller-fest that most Key anime turn out to be, it was quite apparent early on that Eriko would have no challengers, and it was a uphill battle to fly the Yuumi flag.

But of course, that doesn’t mean that it was time to roll over and die (despite much of the cast’s attempt to, metaphorically). Miracles do happen, infinitely small chances are not equal to zero, and for quite a while one could try to argue in favor of an Asuka x Kazuki, or Yuumi x Kouichi ending, if not on a logistic basis than on a moral one.

And while the other side may walk away victorious, I think there is a lot of sense to be seen on both positions, in how all the characters are in a sense perfectly imperfect, characters that are realistic and realistically flawed. They all have their charm points and their weak points, from both a objective and subjective perspective. And this is where KimiKiss shines.

Yuumi is naturally the first character I’ll take on. Nearly as highly divisive as Mao herself, Yuumi is, depending on your perspective, either the idealized lover, or boring background scenery. Her quiet, shy demeanor, love of fiction, and slow growth in self-confidence endeared her to many people. And certainly her hooking up with Kouichi early on in the show, in a two-way relationship, earned many fans to her side instead of Mao’s.

But instead, Kouichi turned to the cool ‘older sister’ type character and us Yuumi fans are left stranded at the fountain, alone. Is it time to grab the pitchforks and torches?

Oddly, no. For all her external charm Yuumi is honestly one of those characters that it’s very tough to give the OK to in terms of a long-term, and real-life relationship. She and Kouichi are odd complements, or rather, mirror images of each other. Both are rather shy, rather passive, rather submissive people, a type that often attracts similar types to each other, but also a type that doesn’t work well together.

It’s quite simple to see that Yuumi and Kouichi would probably never, ever come within 10 yards of each other or have longer than a 10 second conversation without bursting into flames of blushing and apologizing, without Mao and the crew stepping in. The two of them seem to epitomize the ideal high school relationship, the slow courtship and innocent love that every first-time romantic dreams of.

But it’s this stereotype that Kouichi and Yuumi are stuck in. Love is not just sitting there and dying your face a nice shade of red over a ice cream sundae with two straws sticking out of it – as cute as that sounds – but also bringing out the best in each other, of building each other up and living not just for each other – as Kouichi and Yuumi are apt to do – but for yourself.

And it’s that point that sticks me. Yuumi definitely improved as a character over the course of the show. Her gradual buildup of self-confidence, capping with that tear-inducing farewell in the final episode, is something that many people could learn from. But what is this a result of? It’s not really Kouichi’s doing, but more of her friends in general, being around the stubborn yet persistant Kazuki, the straightforward Mao (and to an extent, Hiiragi), and the ambitious frog girls.

By the end of the show trying to force Kouichi and Yuumi together is a bit of a square-peg-round-hole situation, more of the two of them (and a lot of crazies like me) trying to force themselves into being who they think they want to be, rather than who they really are. The two of them are just so used to ‘being in love with each other’ that they don’t really want to break things off for the better, until, eventually, one, maybe both, of them get an epiphany in the last episode, and we end up with the situation we really expected all along, Kouichi x Mao and Yuumi off to the side.

It’s probably the more justifiable relationship, as despite drowning in the waters of Kouichi x Yuumi shipping Mao probably is the better fit for Kouichi. Her no-nonsense, direct-to-the-point attitude from the early segments of KimiKiss is admirable, and despite her getting into serious drama waters with her being torn between Kouichi and Kai (going through a process similar to Kouichi clinging on to Yuumi, and vice versa), she does manage to lift herself out of it quite well. Kouichi could definitely learn a bit from her, although what he has to teach Mao is a bit questionable in itself.

Kouichi and Mao were friends first, something that might have off-put a lot of viewers who truly expected Mao to stay a third party instead of jumping into the Kouichi fray. But this is more of the way that things should be approached; if there’s anything to be learned from Kouichi and Yuumi, it’s that consciously trying to approach a relationship from the get-go with the intents of romance is quite the awkward and difficult task.

I find it a better belief to let deeper things bloom from lighter intentions, to let the feeling of love be more of an epiphany than a consciously applied label, and that’s why I can in the end approve of Mao and Kouichi’s relationship. The two of them interacted great together, joking, laughing, and having fun together, without having to consider each other a significant other. Doing so in the end was just the next step, a climbing of the stairs compared to the wall-climbing Yuumi and Kouichi underwent.

But, considering this, why did Asuka, who took much the same approach as Mao, fail in winning the heart of Kazuki? Why did Eriko’s blunt, confusing, and often nonsensical actions succeed in the end?

Aside from the fact that Eriko was, at times (such as episode 20), utterly adorable at times, it seems like a part of KimiKiss’s ultimate attempt at conveying a sort of moral, to give both sides of the story.

Despite everything I have said and will try to say, you can’t take one moral, one ultimate truth, and apply it to everything (or, conversely, distill anything down to one truth), every time. While Kouichi’s story embraced the slow and steady buildup of a relationship, Kazuki’s encouraged taking the leap across a giant chasm. It encouraged smashing the square peg into the round hole with a hammer, encouraged falling down and getting up.

And why? Because love isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer. Nice guys don’t always finish last and they don’t always stand on top of the podium either. KimiKiss tries to get a bit of this across, in showing the triumph of Mao and the fall of Asuka.

But on another note, it’s also the often-mentioned theme of ‘emotional honesty’ that drives this disparate conclusion as well. Asuka lost out because of how she never really considered Kazuki ‘like that’ until too late. Eriko had to overcome her self-denial of her feelings. And Kazuki, the bumbling yet unflinching hero, never doubted what he felt for Eriko, one of his true strong points.

This honesty encourages reflection, something that both Yuumi and Asuka perhaps did not do enough of. Yuumi kept telling herself “I’m with Kouichi, and that’s all that matters.” Asuka held strong to her passion of soccer, not letting lesser things such as emotion get in her way.

Eriko and Mao fell to these flaws too. Eriko continued to believe her philosophy of “people are alone,” and Mao tried to kill her feelings for Kouichi as being ‘off-limits’. But it could be argued that these two saw the light a lot earlier. Eriko and Mao saw the flaws in their logic, felt the true feelings of their hearts. So did, in the end, Yuumi and Asuka, but perhaps too late.

Perhaps life is just unfair. Maybe Asuka deserved Kazuki after all. But this of course, is a reality in themself, in that they can’t all be winners, kids. The hardest part of love is not, contrary to belief, spending forever trying to work up the urge to ask people out, but rather, sweeping up the pieces at the end and moving on when hearts are broken (perhaps a fear that drives anxiety of the former).

And for doing this so admirably, perhaps Asuka and Yuumi are the winners of this story after all, for having the moral and emotional courage to face the music, to get up, wipe off their clothes, and walk off. Tragedies (or rather, morally bankrupt comedic boat-fests) are created when people do what they think is the right thing and never let go of their affection, which only heightens the trauma when, like all things, their string of false hope comes to an end.

It’s a suitable contrast to Mao and Eriko, who went through an equal amount of change, but just happened to get rewarded more for it by the standards of romance story.

What can be said as one of KimiKiss’s greatest strengths is how really all the characters are ‘good’ in a sense, how they learn, grow, and change. These four have already been stated in numerous ways, but even for the males and other characters as well.

Kai, the also-ran who really deserves more coverage than this, is quite possibly the most ideal and most perfect character in the show, being criminally forgiving and understanding in the end (and sporting a bunch of talents). Kazuki never really lost the light, being true to himself about Eriko, although he did have his eyes opened to common sense a bit by Asuka. Kouichi, so passive and weak the whole show, finally makes a stand for himself in the end, and earns a little credibility back.

Nana and Narumi may be forever known as Those Stupid Frog Girls, but their drive in their other passion – udon chefdom – is admirable in their burning resolve and unflinching desire. Hiiragi, comic relief the whole show, was breathtakingly straight to the point in asking Kuryuu to the bonfire dance, and Mitsuki, despite missing the development I was hoping for, was great in dispensing sound moral advice.

It’s a bit idealized and all, somewhat like my review of this show, but there’s something for everyone in KimiKiss, a belief, an ideal, a lesson, from every character.

KimiKiss may not have a earthshaking lesson like some shows, but it combines these strong underlying tones with a compelling story, one that is always moving, but never rushed and nearly never still. It’s realistic delivery and down-to-earth tone will heighten its impact among many viewers, and from a storyline standpoint there’s always a few suprises and cliffhangers to keep viewers coming back, if not only to wave the flag of their favorite couple, of which there are many.

Maybe it’s not a show that’s ‘memorable’. There’s no shock ending (or really, any shock event outside of Kuryuu suddenly reappearing and hooking up with Hiiragi), no deep storyline, no moment of intense emotion. What works both in favor and against KimiKiss is that it’s utterly ordinary. For some, it may simply bounce off. But for those who it is relevant (high school students, romantics, etc.), it should be a engaging and deeply personal show, that will encourage the kind of debate and legitimate discussion that very few romantic rivalries can match (’Kyou is hot’ is not an argument, although it is nice eye candy).

I don’t think it ranks with the greats, the truly definitive works of its time. KimiKiss is rather more of a show that will soothe instead of storm, that will stir your soul a bit without breaking it, that gives off a warm, endearing feeling. It’s not a genre-breaker but rather a pinnacle of high school romance as it should be done. It doesn’t try to be anything else, because if it did, a lot of this show wouldn’t have the same effect and appeal as it does now.

KimiKiss won’t eat away at your conscience or cause you to have a major life epiphany, but it will cause you to think twice – at least briefly – about love, and it will give you a rewarding, feel-good story as well. And in the end,what’s wrong with that?

-CCY

(In the end, I didn’t talk a lot about what happened itself. I will leave it to the rewatch to see if any moments really stick out instead of just the overlying concept of the show and its characters. It’s almost strange to me, that the concept of the big picture lasts more than all the little pixels – story elements, plot points, etc. – making it up.)

(Well, Yuumi fought-o, and she lost. In the end, an expected outcome, but does the underdog in politics ever stop fighting even if they’re on the losing side? No, because they fight for what they believe in, not because they fight for what’s popular. Maybe I’m not as devoted a Yuumi fan as I first sounded, but I had every bit of enjoyment in taking the show with a clear goal in mind, paddling the boat instead of driving the waves.)

(I still need to watch 5 cm Per Second and Honey & Clover. Really badly now, to see what apparently are the true genre-defining romance shows.)

We’re just under the half-hour mark in terms of time left for the brilliantly normal and delightfully split-threaded romance KimiKiss, and still there is no end in sight, something that’s quite distressing given how much has to be done in how little an amount of time.

It’s a strange thing that reminds me of when I was watching Myself; Yourself a while back, yet this time coming from a show of much different style and feel. Whereas Myself; Yourself was fast and furious from pretty much the middle point on, KimiKiss has moved all the way from a crawling pace to a brisk walk. It’s kind of ironic, because even the characters in the show have a definite deadline on their time (with the end of the cultural festival marking many things), yet neither they, the animators, and arguably we don’t realize just how close things are to coming to a sudden stop.

Perhaps that’s something that’s significant of high school life as a whole, something that as a senior I can identify with, that creeping feeling of “the whole world is about to change upside-down and I’m still refusing to accept it”. Wouldn’t it be nice to be with your friends (and possibly, lovers) forever?

Of course, that’s not a reality, and so the sudden shift that’s about to hit at least half of KimiKiss like a out-of-control car clobbering a hot anime mom with two thousand pounds of plot is going to be something that will be wildly emotional, and different, if nothing else, to witness. We can be with KimiKiss not much longer than certain characters in it can be with each others, and so it’s time to look forward to a lot of coping and with any luck, one hell of an ending next week.

But until then, it’s time to fire up those analytical engines one more time as KimiKiss gears up for its final lap, and take a look at what business has to be done in the last episode of this anime.

Surely you didn’t believe that white flag was anything more than racing’s symbol to signify the last lap of a race? Surrender is the last thing on this uptight fan’s mind, even with the sink sinking, explosions surrounding the inevitable Titanic wreck of the Kouichi and Yuumi relationship.

It’s difficult to tell what’s going through Yuumi’s mind at this point, but it’s easy to tell that it’s something hard. She seems to be taking a route that might end up being more painful in the end in trying to wring every last drop of enjoyment from the cultural festival, making it one final memory between her and Kouichi before she is separated from him, both physically and likely emotionally.

Kouichi’s sudden consideration of Mao as a romantic object is something that’s far too apparent to Yuumi, and it seems like she will be the one in the end to back down. Things would be so much easier if Kouichi would admit this to himself and to Yuumi as well, but from both this episode and the preview, either things aren’t what they seem, or Kouichi too is trying to make his time with Yuumi drag out as long as possible.

It’s a sweet feeling but one that’s rather inconsiderate if not emotionally wracking. Like watching a close person lie on their deathbed, or perhaps on a lighter note, staring down a school project on a Sunday night, there is a large sense of finality overshadowing all else, one that can consume individuals who are not stout of heart. The mere presence of an event like this really distracts people from living for the now, instead causing them to worry about the future, yet many times it’s not something they can easily comprehend. It’s a paradox, plain and simple, and one that needs to be solved quickly.

Like in Kouichi and Yuumi’s case, it might be safer to put the blinders on, it might be better to try to stay on that path until the very end, but it will just end up in a case of delusion and one giant shock at the end of the line. In extreme cases such as those which would define the ranks of yanderes (girls gone crazy) for years to come, such ignorance of the truth has caused some rather messy – both emotionally and physically – resolutions.

Maybe this is boiling down to too simple and too blunt a message, but accepting the truth is what needs to be done here.

If everyone acted the way jaded anonymous advice givers on the Internet suggested (”get over her”, “just do it”, etc etc) it would be a much simpler show as Mao would have jumped Kouichi a lot earlier and Yuumi and Kouichi would have resolved their complicated true feelings a lot easier.

Of course, this isn’t going to happen, which is what gives KimiKiss an edge of complexity. Nobody – especially not hormone-charged teenagers with as much experience as a generic RPG hero after the opening cutscene – can act with that almost machine-like emotional sense. I mean, just look at me, wearing my Yuumi baseball cap and sporting my Yuumi fanclub uniform and waving my Yuumi flag shouting stupid things like “YUUMI FIGHTO!”.

It would be frankly disturbing if anyone could be that coldly logical about dropping relationships especially at this stage. Although sometimes it’s really gut-wrenching to see how Mao has somewhat accidentally, somewhat purposely lodged herself between Kouichi and Yuumi, it’s really exactly how’d you’d expect a realistic high school romance to turn out, with that fine-tuned conflict between “what is right” and “what I want”. Hopefully, at the end, there will just be some meaningful resolution to this story, just like I hope there will be a meaningful resolution to this long rant.

Speaking of being coldly logical Eriko is demonstrating the other side of the coin, as while Kouichi and Yuumi are busy ignoring the truth, Eriko is actively fighting it in trying to distance herself from Kazuki like she originally did. All these new revelations in the form of her feelings for Kazuki are something that frighten her as much as Yuumi is distraught about Mao, except the rival in Eriko’s fight is not Asuka but herself.

Eriko sets Asuka up as the “better” choice for Kazuki in the previous two episodes, but that is rather just a misrepresentation of her own fears, and her own paranoia of becoming warm to the world. The part of her that is resistant to change is rejecting Kazuki, in the same way that protective parents become agitated when their child first starts going out with the opposite gender.

There’s that sense of losing familiarity, of change, and as mentioned before, change is scary to people. Eriko used her ice queen shell as a sort of protection, a two-way mirror between her and the world. Both could see either other, but neither could effect each other. Kazuki took to that barrier with a sledgehammer (which actually describes him in a lot of ways, including his density regarding Asuka) and put a hole in it, one that Eriko is suddenly trying to patch up.

The other side to Eriko’s withdrawal could be another issue regarding the unfamiliarity of love. Since it is undoubtedly her first time, she really has no idea what to expect, something that clashes strongly with her analytical mind. Her definition of love is highly bound by what she observes of it what she hears and what she reads, and when she does actively strive for Kazuki she tries to meet these rigid definitions of love.

Similar to how an anime fan might wonder where all the heart-throbbing, full-body-blushing, and romantic violin music is when they encounter their significant other (potential or otherwise), Eriko is throughout confused by how subtle at times love can be. Eriko could very well be playing by the wrong book (hey, does that sound familiar?), and, seeing how her feelings for Kazuki don’t match up, rejecting Kazuki (or her feelings for him) as ‘wrong’ or ‘imperfect’.

This of course might be striving for a bit too much order in her life, as arguably Eriko and Kazuki have some decent dynamics with each other, and can definitely teach each other a thing or two, having an important contrast that can make a relationship fulfilling and rewarding. While it might be unfair to turn Asuka down based on the inroads Eriko and Kazuki have made, in the end an Eriko x Kazuki ending is fully justifiable.

How we get there is a strange question; it might come down to Kazuki playing the naive but strong-willed idiot again and knocking some sense into Eriko with a killer monologue, since Eriko seems to be running away from herself again at the end of episode 23. (Although, the first time I looked at the final scene, I asked aloud, “Why did Eriko jump out the window?”)

Asuka might have a chance to do what she did earlier in the show and help these two together, but I think she did a lot for herself in her emotional confession scene (completely ace, by the way, I could not have asked for her to react better) and for Kazuki in showing him where his heart needs to be, and this is likely an issue that Eriko and Kazuki need to solve themselves. At this point Asuka is down to scoring one for the gipper in the Kibina soccer team or whatever, but hey, not everyone needs love (even if they do deserve it) in the form of a person; it’s easy to see Asuka’s other passion of soccer being rewarded equally.

Touching on what’s going down between Kouichi, Yuumi, and Mao in the final episode is something that you will notice that I haven’t really mentioned, if only because at this point it is fully all over the map, not least thanks to Owen’s prodding and musings (linked above).

The logic bets on a Mao ending, at least in part – she was the one there for him as a friend from the start, and she will have to be the one there for Kouichi when Yuumi is finally gone, and he is left in despair as shown from the preview. Most everything in the series, one way or another, is beginning to fall Mao’s way.

The heart hopes for an outside bet on Yuumi pulling off a Tokimeki Memorial finish, if only because she still has refused to let go, and since Kouichi looks to take Yuumi’s departure really hard. Reasonably, Mao could convince Kouichi that the one he wants is Yuumi, not herself, pulling off a stunning double-reversal in the closing moments.

The conspiracy theorist says, what if neither happens? Owen might almost be on to something, considering how Kouichi looks in the preview to be in one heck of a deep funk, one that can’t be solved by “I love you, now be happy k?”. It seems awfully melancholy for Kouichi to realize he missed two chances, but there could be a non-ending another way, a sort of “time goes by” – to steal a song from the show – theme where perhaps Kouichi loses in the small picture, but realizes that this is not the end for him in any means, as Mao and Yuumi will still be there with him in some part…just not in the way you would expect.

And the clock watcher says, where is the time for all this? It can be assumed that both the Kazuki and the Kouichi conclusions will take equal amounts of time as things are nothing close to finished on either end, but it feels like it will be a large crunch for space with all the revelations, emotional monologues, and afterthoughts to be done. It’s a point that worries me because the show has been distinctly slowing down in the last few episodes, storing up energy for one final soul-rocking event, and if KimiKiss goes down with bullets still left in the chamber, it will be an awful waste of great potential.

The optomist sees no reason to start doubting now, at least, but with the scope of KimiKiss being great as it is it will be something to behold if it all can get worked out in a reasonable manner, that is, without shipping half its characters off to the green room never to be seen again.

Speaking of, let’s go over a few of the side characters before closing this out.

I’m not sure how anyone could pass up Kai at this point, he could easily have landing a starring role in any number of shoujo romances with the amount of sheer perfection he is pulling off. He’s musically and artistically talented, he can cook, he has a cool but not cold demeanor, and he’s easily understanding, forgiving, and emotionally strong. I’m not sure why he’s being characterized as this all of a sudden, unless we’re really supposed to hate Mao for ditching him in favor of the more typically weak harem-lead-type Kouichi, but it really makes me wish for happy endings for him.

Hiiragi and Kuryuu…are you kidding me? Maybe I was hoping too hard for Hiiragi to get his loose ends tied up too, to lift him up out of comic relief status, but it was kind of dissapointing that Mitsuki continues to get passed over completely in favor of bringing Lay Down The Law girl back from episode 2 to jump Hiiragi. Did the order for KimiKiss call for a tsundere or something, and the animators just forgot to stick her in for 20 episodes? At least they didn’t stuff her into Kouichi or Kazuki’s box.

And the Udon Association is a good example of how characters can succeed without being romantically or dramatically involved. Perhaps it was not as interesting to see their cooking ability evolve, pushed by their desire to be great chefs, but I still gained a smile out of seeing the grandfather’s approval of the Ultimate Udon. It’s all good…at least until they start pulling out those frogs again.

-CCY

(Incidentally, if kissing was equated to sex in a less tame show, as mentioned by a commentator in another post, would Asuka suddenly laying one on Kazuki be the equivalent of her coming to his door in a lace nightgown and shoving him into bed? Ooh, that’s going to earn me another lifetime sentence to hell.)

(Do I still believe in the cause? I don’t know, but I will still shout YUUMI FIGHTO to the end~)

(Oh yes, and, I know you’ve seen this already somewhere, but in case you haven’t, there’s some “by bloggers, for bloggers” Anime Blog Award event going on, so please do participate)

Perhaps I’ve compared KimiKiss and Kaiji one too many times for two shows which couldn’t be more opposite in genre and tone, but once again the former surprises me with how much, speaking both outside and inside of the show’s context, it handles itself in a manner that’s almost, if not completely, not unlike that of Kaiji, in how it messes with the outcome and the characters.

Quite simply, in KimiKiss around the halfway mark or so the outcome of the show becomes fairly obvious, although to this episode it’s not set in stone, an issue that has popped up in Kaiji every now and then, when the drama is muffled a bit by the issue of not being able to kill off the main character. It’s not a deal-breaker, given that a lot of the fun in both shows is to figure out how the characters get from point A to point B.

Additionally, KimiKiss offers up a little more unpredictability, but it still would take a bit of insanity to go and argue against the relationships that seem to be developing.

But still, to quote Kaiji himself, “You have to be deviant, or else you can’t kill the devil!”

Whether it be as a viewer or as a character in a show KimiKiss really does almost play out like one long, protracted game of E-Card, perhaps a testament to that game’s representation of society. As the rounds begin to run out on KimiKiss the tension continues to increase almost unbearably, and now with just two episodes left, it’s easy to see who has the advantage, but just as easy to see how the tide could turn in an instant…

The difference between in theory and in practice is widely known, and to be entirely fair, while I continue to claim an outside shot for Yuumi time and time again the chance is next to nothing that she’ll walk away tops, especially given the way the anime has presented itself.

Still, the chance is not zero and that is the situation that leaves us guessing time and time again that just maybe – maybe – a miracle can be pulled off. That’s exactly the situation of the Slave in the game of E-Card; having a technically possible but quite monumental task to pull off (playing one card from his hand of originally five on the same turn his opponent plays another one card of five), the situation looks horribly bad, but with a little planning, a little hoping, it can be done. There’s nothing to lose, so why not?

Of course, the odds are not as simple as a straight 1 out of 25 chance (or 1 out of 16, 1 out of 9, etc. as the cards decrease) as the game is largely mental and isn’t so much a game of chance as a battle of minds, and analyzing the little details and notes in KimiKiss is every bit as vital as it is in E-Card, as all clues, big and small, can add up to the big picture.

Admittedly, KimiKiss is probably less actively trying to trick, backstab, and cheat us with the hints it drops, but the harem genre only needs one counter to the playing-it-straight defense and its name is Canvas 2, so definitely don’t count your chickens before they start flying.

(Wait, a different reference, but in any case, a light break before we get started with the real nitpicking… do try to take the following post in a sane manner without any S&M overtones.)

Asuka is the true Slave of the two battles, more of an underdog than Yuumi and, yet, the one with more power to change. Although she walked into an early trap and wasn’t really playing the game for Kazuki in the beginning, she is really beginning to understand how to play now, and with her opponent Eriko distracted, all the initiative falls to Asuka to make a move, and quite possibly pull off a stunning upset.

Granted, that’s mildly way the hell out there considering that Eriko and Kazuki have already kissed and embraced moreso than any other couple so far this anime, but it really did almost feel like a strange turn of the tide after episode 22. Eriko should be steamrolling by now, should have left Asuka flattened, but yet, somehow, she’s vulnerable and left an opening for a surprise attack. Since, y’know, Kazuki’s still too naive to figure out in the slightest that Asuka has the hots for him.

This is the pressure for Eriko of being on the Emperor side and playing first. She knows she’s got the better odds, she knows all she has to do is play the game-ending card and she’s won, but there’s still that one thought in the back of her head that gives her pause, that keeps her from finishing the job.

That thought is Asuka’s feelings and her own self-doubt, and in a high-stakes game like this there’s no way she can ignore those roadblocks on her path to victory. It’s tough to figure out which one is paralyzing her more in the 22nd episode – she went from cold to smiling to doubting faster than ever believed possible – but clearly there’s a sudden change of heart for her, which is providing for some final drama in the Kazuki triangle.

Will the tide swing in the thrilling conclusion for Asuka? I’m going to finally have to shut this one down, much to the chagrin of many Asuka supporters. Rather, I see this development not as a way to stall for time, or a hint at an Asuka reversal, but rather as the last obstacle for both Eriko and Asuka in terms of completing their character development.

Eriko has been praised for her dropping of the ice queen act in favor of a more open, friendly persona, but it’s easy to see that such a large change isn’t something that can happen easily. What likely fueled her distancing of herself from friends and classmates was at least a tinge of either cynicism or inferiority complex; she didn’t want to deal with other people, one way or another.

And now that she’s actively getting out there, and, y’know, having fun, she’s wildly out of her element. It’s something that doesn’t feel right to her, that makes her uncomfortable. Maybe she feels it’s too good to be true, the fact that she’s finally able to smile and laugh with everybody else, like she wished to since she was a kid. She still has a feeling somewhere deep inside her heart that this isn’t where, or who, she should be.

This is doubly compounded with that sense, time and time again, that her relationship with Kazuki isn’t deserving. Like she said before, the forced nature of it just doesn’t feel natural, and goes against what perhaps is a more ‘real’ romance in her eyes between Kazuki and Asuka. Even though Eriko and Kazuki have been through so much more and so much better than their slow, awkward start, Eriko does not feel this, and can only think how a romance that started like this cannot end well.

These two feelings are forcing Eriko back into her shell, where she feels comfortable away from the world, and finally smashing this shell once and for all, with the help of Kazuki, her friends, and most of all, herself, is the step that Eriko needs to – and very much will – take in the last few episodes.

Asuka has a much longer, if not less complex, road in front of her as well. Her feelings for Kazuki, especially in their undelivered state as it is, will not go away, and it’s easy to see in her demeanor on and off the field that these thoughts are absolutely consuming her.

Ironically enough, despite being the polar opposite of Eriko, Asuka’s happy-happy state is just as much of a hiding spot for Asuka’s true feelings as Eriko’s ice queen mode. Like Eriko, Asuka is a fiercely independent person and can’t stand coming to others for help. It’s admirable in that she still does interact with and help others, and show her true energy and passion through her sport of soccer, but when it comes to herself Asuka just continues to feed herself and others lies.

I can’t help but think from the hints in this episode that Asuka and Eriko’s situations are intertwined beyond just being involved with the same guy. Both of them really do have a surprising amount in common, despite dealing with their inner problems in different ways. Eriko, who perhaps got the better deal in the end here, might end up making a full circle and complete her character evolution by helping up the girl who originally extended the hand to her in patching amends between Eriko and Kazuki: Asuka. It certainly would be a sweet way to tie up the loose ends between the two of them… not to mention the fact that Kazuki isn’t going to catch on any time soon.

Or, would the correct thing for Eriko to do be to march to Kazuki and tell him, “Asuka wants you. Do something about it,” and let him field the issue? It only seems right that Asuka’s feelings go heard after so much pining, even if it is a sort of fruitless confession.

Either way, although the competition for Kazuki, barring a bizarre shock ending, is essentially over, there’s still some ends to be tied up with the conflicted Eriko, the distracted Asuka, and too-much-like-a-normal-naive-harem-lead Kazuki. Sure, the show might be moving a bit slowly, but at this point it’s less action and more reaction, watching the waves settle and seeing where all the pieces land, and that’s still something quite intriguing.

The Mao and Yuumi battle is one far more murky, and one that is at this point just perplexing.

Mao’s on the Emperor side with an obvious advantage and Yuumi’s on her last legs, yet neither character has laid down the killer card that they possess, instead passing up opportunity after opportunity. Perhaps this is what the chairman in Kaiji meant by a battle that is no fun, since both particpants are too scared, or at least, too conflicted to make a move.

What move Yuumi can make at this point is unknown; all the signs point to her on the downfall, yet she and Kouichi continue to drag out their relationship, as viewers wait for an implosion like that of Koko’s in Da Capo II. Certainly Yuumi looks resigned to failure, but the crying Yuumi we saw in the preview turned out to just be a tearfully happy Yuumi having a farewell party thrown for her, and she still can’t bring herself to ask whether Kouichi is serious about Mao… so is it possible Yuumi is still in to win?

Mao continues to cement her lead in this episode by thinking very kindly of Kouichi on her own; the fact that she’s finally got her own legs and control of her own life could have pointed to her being over Kouichi but instead it seems more like she’s gotten back on a stable mental state, and now it’s just Kouichi’s turn to realize his feelings. Not to mention, all the talk from the frog girls about “Kouichi and Yuumi staying together forever” seemed awfully foreboding in implying the opposite.

Even though Mao and Yuumi have done their fair share of deluding themselves as well, what makes this triangle different from Kazuki’s is that Kouichi takes a much greater role in his own fate … although, he hasn’t been doing much recently. Kazuki spent a lot of time being pinballed around by Asuka and Eriko but Kouichi is mostly the one in control of his relationships now, being about on par with the shy Yuumi and gaining an advantage over the emotionally-troubled version of Mao. It’s certainly his choice to make between the two of them, and a choice that he’ll have to make soon.

Kouichi is being painfully harem-lead typical by refusing to realize the truth, in both clinging to the past in Yuumi and ignoring the present of Mao; it’s been said before how she really has helped him during her stay at his house, and truly she is quite deserving, after it all.

It seems to all come down after the school festival when Yuumi takes her final walk with Kouichi. It seems almost painful that the two of them haven’t faced the facts, whether to themselves or with each other, especially with considering how sweet and idealistic this relationship was earlier compared to its almost forced state now (although certain Makotos and Takayukis would be lucky to have a relationship this pure), and hopefully the two of them can send it off with some meaningful and heartfelt closure.

It’s tough for me to analyze the Mao / Yuumi situation at this point simply because of this point as well, that Yuumi hasn’t given up the ghost yet, and by extension neither have I. In the end I’m still a Yuumi fanboy through and through and I can’t decide whether letting her hopes live is a gift from heaven or some form of cruel torture, as I can’t imagine how Yuumi is going to face up to the words that she doesn’t want to hear…

Unless, miraculously, she pulls it off in the end. The question is, would that end be truly rewarding, forced, or a simple impossibility? There’s one way to find out – remember, they call it a miracle because it has a chance of happening…

-CCY

(YUUMI FIGHTO! Standing aboard the sinking ship until the very end~)

Ignoring the fact that I seem to be mixing up two entirely different card games (and neither of the ‘children’s card game’ variety) the action at the final tables in KimiKiss seems to be heating up (or at least, not cooling down) as the final cards begin to play out.

It’s easy to see who are the leaders here but in the world of gambling and of romance it’s easy to turn the tables with just a few shock twists, so don’t get too comfortable yet.

At the Kouichi table it’s been a tough fight between Mao and Yuumi all evening, with Yuumi taking the early lead but losing it late on some unlucky deals, as Mao has come on strong with some excellent strategy. It’s easy to see how her short stack has affected her attack plan, as she’s been letting Mao walk over her all night, and once again she got led into an easy check-raise by Mao, hiding pocket queens to Yuumi’s eight-nine suited with a five-queen-ace rainbow on the table. It’s a huge pot and one that might just determine the fate of this game, and while Mao’s got the clear advantage here it’s easy to see that Yuumi could pull this one in a pinch with an inside straight. Not to mention, we’ll see if one can get the other to fold first…

Over at the Kazuki table Eriko’s been wiping the floor with Asuka all night and going into the next hand it’s going to be near-impossible for Asuka to make a comeback being so far down on chips, but with any luck maybe she can pull out a few wins in order to make it competitive.

We’ll find out when we come back to the World Series of KimiKiss, brought to you by the Udon Association – “At Least It’s Not Those Damned Frogs!(tm)”

(The analogies for KimiKiss, they just keep coming…at least I can speak poker better than politics.)

KimiKiss didn’t deliver much in terms of huge shocks like the last few episodes have done but it does do a lot for cleaning up some of the ends of the show as well, as lining up the dynamics of both the Kouichi and Kazuki triangles for one last shot.

Surprisingly enough the Kazuki side is continuing to keep my interest despite being 99% concluded after last episode’s eMOEtional Eriko / Kazuki scene, with a nearly perfect full circle to the relationship between Asuka and Kazuki on the soccer team.

In the past, Kazuki, who was hopelessly infatuated with Eriko, couldn’t keep his mind on the ball, constantly flubbing blocks and passes, and it was up to Asuka to get his head back onto the ground where it belonged. Now, Asuka’s the one being eaten alive by Kazuki pairing up with Eriko, and hopefully it’s time for Kazuki to step up to the block as a friend to bring back the confident, no-worries Asuka that endeared herself to so many viewers in the past.

It seems one of the most plausible ways Asuka can get a ‘good’ ending short of scoring the guy herself – which seems a nigh-impossibility at this point – to bring the relationship between the two of them back to where it belongs, to two friends united with a common passion. Some might say that unfortunately, this passion is not each other, but rather soccer.

Like I mentioned last post in the season review, love shouldn’t always be an all-or-nothing gamble, and Asuka’s story could hit all sorts of meaningful morals if they could end up getting that across in the end. It’s already the famous adage of ‘too little too late’, far too apparent to many in love, a testament to clearly establishing your position and intent, and hopefully now it can add a message of how, in the end, love isn’t everything. Kazuki can still be there for Asuka and vice versa, just not as lovers. It’s certainly important to learn that, especially as unfair as it can be for someone like Asuka, the end of love is not the end of the world.

Seeing Eriko smile is still a heartwarming experience, even for a born-again Asuka supporter watching the ship crash and burn, and the gradual evolution that she has gone through really is something. A lot of people, especially disillusioned ones, could sympathize with her initial cold attitude of “people are alone” and her calculating, emotionless analysis of life, and her realization that, hey, there’s fun out there, and smiles to be had, through the undying persistance and energy of Kazuki, is another great story. As much as I would like to pan it as typical, if it’s a story that one can connect with and enjoy, there’s no harm in seeing it done again in a slightly different way, as long as it’s still good.

(Anime spelling annoyance #12: adding “-em” instinctively after “har”.)

As usual Mao and Yuumi’s intertwined stories, while maybe as not as empathy-appealing as Asuka’s or as mind-melting as Eriko’s, were entertaining in the fact that they invite a lot of discussion of what the hell is going on here. It really was strange in episode 21, how after chasing after Kouichi indirectly, directly, or superdirectly (no, that’s not a word) for quite a bit now suddenly the both of them do an essential about-face, pushing Kouichi towards the other woman in that self-sacrificing way that only anime romance battles tend to have.

It’s tough to tell really whether either Mao or Yuumi are being honest to themselves by trying to step out of the picture here; obviously both of them want Kouichi, and normally it kind of comes down to one of them wanting it more, but with both of them backing down before their move to another house, it’s tough to call who will make the first step here.

Mao, of course, has the obvious advantage as she, for sure, cannot claim she has no feelings for Kouichi (as evidenced a few episodes back), as well as the fact that the show seem structured to support her. She arguably could have the more valid claim to Kouichi here, and since she’s actually going to remain within travel distance, it’s possible for her and Kouichi to get together, for sure. This of course, hinges on her to stop trying to force Kouichi and Yuumi together at every opportunity.

But why is that a bad thing? Surely Kouichi and Yuumi is the ideal high school romance, that every teenager would dream of? And it is. But you all should know how fickle high school love is ~ to be fair it’s much easier to separate Kouichi and Yuumi than Kouichi and Mao, both emotionally and physically. It’s tough to really justify the pairing of Kouichi and Yuumi other than “well, they like each other, and they’re very sweet together, so it’s good.” But really, what have they done for each other, how have they supported each other over the months? It’s almost like love for the sake of being in love, and that’s something I’m tentative about.

Certainly a long-distance relationship a la TokiMemo is possible and it’s quite likely that I’m overlooking a lot of dynamics between the two but, right now, they are the weaker link, sadly enough. I still plan to remain a Yuumi supporter until the bitter end, if only because of the sheer sweetness and idealism of sure a relationsihp – and let me say, they sure are torturing a lot of people by dragging out that end – but it’s really becoming more and more clear that I should start filling out her paperwork for the Nayuki Club.

In lighter side character notes, it doesn’t look like much else is happening on the alternative romance front. The mad yuri lovin between the Udon Sisters has yet to come to pass; perhaps it was eschewed in favor of a slight flash of siscon when Nana woke her brother Kazuki up. Mitsuki and Hiiragi still seems too long of a short, with Hiiragi getting slotted into the comic relief character with a side of ‘convienent disturbance’ when he interrupts Yuumi’s horribly slow (but normal by romance standards) attempts to ask a probing question of Kouichi. I still think Mitsuki deserves more than a mention of “oh I have a fiance and I don’t know if I love him or not”, but Hiiragi doesn’t seem to be in the field at all.

Kai looks happy in his independent but-much-less-ice-queen role, and to be honest, if he’s a musician and an artist, he shouldn’t be able to shake the girls off his tail if he tried.

Oh, and Hardcore Strict Class Rep is back from the way-early episodes when I thought she was a contender for Kazuki as well, except with that possibility removed, now she’s demoted to a one-sentence entry. Quite a few side characters are popping out of the woodworks for quite possibly what might be one of the last times before the obligatory wrap-up scene; it’s time for Asuka and Yuumi (or, just maybe, Mao) to face their fates in an emotionally charged final few episodes … let’s hope all that starts well ends well. Save the tears for a more aptly named series …

-CCY

(IKnight beat me to the Kaiji 22 post and did it quite well, so I’m going to let him corner the market in manly for now.)

(YUUMI FIGHTO!)

You know an episode – or perhaps, a show – is good when your soul is so sufficiently rocked that you can’t come up with a sufficiently interesting one-liner for it, outside of a self-referential, fourth-wall-obliterating, H2O-referencing sentence that seems to drag on and on because no one had the heart to stand up and put an end to the piece of work that’s quickly becoming a paragraph.

But, perhaps more coherently, there’s one thing that’s definitely clear, and that is that the twentieth episode of KimiKiss and Kaiji utterly floored me. I’m not sure if it’s the actual merit of the show or just a logical short-circuiting caused by sheer fanboyism but either way the events that went down in each respective show contributed in massive part to moving the story forward, answering old questions and posing new ones, and that, combined with the sheer emotional rush of each show – one might say, equal and constrasting amounts of moe and gar – made them quite the stand-out pieces.

As such I really couldn’t find a way to combine a summary / analysis of both of them into one coherent post, especially in regards to a unifying topic, so I did the next best thing – create a little mini-series for the two ‘episode editorials’, “20/20 – Perfect Visions”. The 20/20 part is pretty straightforward, being the aforementioned episode number of each series. Perfect Visions sums up my thoughts on each episode, in that they were quite the wonder to see, as well as a pun; if you recall, 20/20 is what is considered ‘perfect vision’.

In all honesty 20/20 is actually just ‘perfectly normal vision’, but from that angle, perhaps you can consider that these episodes aren’t the be-all, end-all, if-you-saw-25-minutes-of-anime-this-year award winners, but rather just relatively fantastic pieces, with a few flaws characteristic to something with less than eagle-eye vision. Then again, being a glasses guy myself, and enjoying KimiKiss and Kaiji a lot, 20/20 isn’t anything to scoff at.

First up of two is KimiKiss, where the metaphoric friction between the main relationships is just beginning to heat up. The two male leads, Kazuki and Kouichi, are coming down to a choice…but will it be them making the decision? Or will the female fighters, or the male spoiler, Kai, have the final say? Paths continue to cross over as time waits for no one…it’s time to take action!

(Psst, 3000 words. I don’t know how I did it either.)

I think the thing that surprised me the most about KimiKiss 20 is how much it turned upside-down my views on some of the characters, and yet, confirmed my suspicions about them all along. In a way, it’s exactly what I would have expected from the essential climax in the Eriko x Kazuki relationship, among other things, yet, it didn’t quite play out Just As Planned.

In a way, it actually is kind of like Kaiji, come to think of it; there are some facts that can be taken for granted (here, Eriko’s victory, there, Kaiji, y’know’, not dying) yet there always seems to be one Element X that comes out of left field with terrific force. It’s probably one of the best models for fiction, if perhaps not on a quality level, then from a viewership level. You give the viewers what they want, what they expect, and then you tempt them with another morsel on a string to somewhere else, for them to discuss about and salivate over until next week.

It certainly works in a show like this, where it doesn’t feel like it’s a mind screw (”It was a peaceful day in Happyland…and then they all died. Bad end.”) for the sake of mind screwing, but rather, just an irrational decision that results as a character comes to their wit’s end. (Another parallel with Kaiji, but I digress.)

The big revelation here we’ll get to in a second; first I would like to take a minute to honor some of the well-done moments that were a bit less shocking.

Random, non-related eyecatches to break up the walls of text. PS2 Mock-up Art: Because Danbooru doesn’t have fanart of male characters.(tm)

First off, Kai. The episode started off in high gear when he avoided wrecking his character. It sounds negative, but really, he worked himself into a corner at the end of last episode by following Mao, considering that he knew she liked Kouichi, and that the two of them had ‘broken up’ – if they were ever really together. All he could do to avoid being consumed by fan rage (not to mention, in-story repercussions) is act as the helpful friend to Mao, guiding her and getting her back on track out of her depression…and…well…he did that.

Actually, Kai pretty much nailed a flawless victory in his scene here – although, sadly, it might be one of the last scenes we see him in. A romantic – or more accurately, a shipper – might find Kai’s victory to be a hollow one, considering he had to concede his feelings, but in terms of character development Kai’s improved like almost no other character in the show. It’s tough to tell, considering that he’s still relatively quiet on the exterior, but he’s much more a ’strong and silent’ than a ‘cold’ character now.

Before, Kai was what I would imagine a lot of teenage delinquent-types would be; someone who is cold on the outside, but secretly begging for attention inside. He got that attention in the form of Mao, and spent a long time chasing after her, quickly outpacing her in developing feelings. Eventually, though, he realized that, more important than relying on someone, was standing on his own feet, and, if his speech is anything to go by, he’s doing that and more now.

To be honest, it’s a bit forced, as an AnimeSuki forum poster put it. It’s too perfect, Kai’s too kind, too smart, too quick to change. Maybe that’s true. Maybe it’s too easy for Kai to say “I’m better now.” But, I don’t mind it. People can be like that; for every person out there who waffles and angsts, there’s one who can make snap decisions, that can find the revelations, that can find their true self. (I think I’m reaching into Shugo Chara territory there – isn’t it funny how these things come together?) Kai might have just finally discovered himself, after great lengths of soul-searching through his music and delinquent phase.

The one thing that really saddens me about Kai though, is the paradox he worked himself into. Even this situation is a no-win. Either he can go after Mao, and destroy his reputation, or he can support Mao, which increases his likability among the fans, which makes us in turn hate Mao instead for liking the quickly-becoming-oblivious Kouichi. Isn’t it sad, Kai?

On the Kouichi front, it was rather light, to be honest, barring the last minute of the story, but what I saw of him didn’t help to allude the fears of a massive wreck later down the line. What’s a bit irritating about KimiKiss is that both its male leads are at least a subset of the stereotypical guy you’d see in any shonen romance/harem, and thus, inferior to cool, spicy Kai. Kouichi, playing the ‘confused nice guy’, isn’t someone that elicits a lot of ire from me, likely because I see a lot of myself in him (see, the cheap appeal is working. silly shonen romance.), but his actions are rapidly becoming frustrating.

Maybe it’s just fair for him to be so fixated on Mao after her shock confession just a few episodes back, but Yuumi seems to be quickly fading into the background, something that’s surprising after all the attention he paid her, especially before he began going out with her. Maybe it’s that old trait of humans, to desire most what they don’t have.

But on track, Yuumi is forced to take nearly all the initiative in the relationship, asking Kouichi to hold hands, among other things. Kouichi is just too busy evaluating the situation to pay attention to what’s right in front of him, and his density level is increasing faster than ever.

It’s clear that Yuumi is unsettled about Mao rocking the boat, and Kouichi is unable to grab the cluebat swung right at his face in this episode, when she trails off with “Do you…” – ‘like Mao’, or perhaps ‘like me’, both very dangerous questions in this situation. It’s part Yuumi’s fault as well for stopping herself short in that query, instead continuing to subconsciously reassert to herself that everything is fine, but Kouichi can’t let things like this go.

Yuumi may be getting ready to dissapear soon, moving away after the cultural festival, but I severely doubt she’ll leave without a final conclusion on whether it’s her, or Mao, for Kouichi. It’s a time bomb waiting to explode and Kouichi’s doing nothing to defuse it.

Pouring gasoline on the fuse is Mao, who hits the Shock Value Jackpot of the day by announcing (well, sort of), that she plans to move out of Kouichi’s house. This is really strange, but seems to be the result of her taking Kai’s advice to “stand on her own legs” to heart, and deciding to distance herself from Kouichi. After all, she realizes that Yuumi laid first claim to Kouichi, and she is kind enough to respect that distance…in sanity, anyway. It’s clear that her sudden romantic feelings for Kouichi have troubled her, and, like any form of love, have driven her to do some rash things that she is beginning to regret, and it remains to be seen whether it will have a lasting effect on the both of them.

Suddenly, looking at it from this perspective, the Yuumi and Mao battle has been blown wide open. Mao continues to be the leader, holding both the childhood friend title and closer, perhaps more valid, ties to Kouichi, but the way she’s handled herself in the last few episodes puts into question whether she really is as much of a lock as she first appeared.

The strikes against her are actually quite many. The fact that she’s really rushed into her sudden crush for Kouichi seems to point out that these feelings might be a bit too strong to be what one might term true love; her fervor and her troubled attitude about Kouichi seems to hint that it just might be that she’s deluding herself into thinking that she really wants Kouichi. More than Yuumi, Mao seems the type that could really be happy as just friends, like she was for over half this show. And with now both of the heroines getting ready to head far away from Kouichi, that issue is nearly neutralized.

But, this can be easily countered. Yuumi can’t be considered any more a true love candidate, having only known Kouichi for a little while, and only having spent time with him for even less. And her moving away is much more permanent than Mao’s moving away, considering that there’s still time for the unstable Mao to be re-persuaded. And all this trouble about Mao could just be a setup for the “I’m here for you, after you were here for me” role of Kouichi.

After all the panicking, all the cries of how the sky is falling, I find myself doubting my previously-surefire bet that Mao’s got Kouichi locked up. None of the characters in this triangle seem sure enough of themselves or their feelings (this must be why Kai dropped out) that I can get a good enough read on them, and so, I think the decision will come down to the very end. I no longer can really tell if it’s Mao or Yuumi – my gut feeling says Mao, it’s the typical choice, it’s the rational choice, it’s the choice that the storytelling, if done normally, would lead to, but something tells me Yuumi isn’t exactly going to limp to the finish here as Mao looks to possibly take herself out as well. It’s probably my inherent wish for the ideal high school romance, the sweet, cute Yuumi to triumph in the end, I have no doubt of that, but I think there just might be real reasons out there that we could see one final reversal of momentum…

Meanwhile, on the Kazuki front, Asuka doesn’t realize she’s already dead.

It’s rare that we see not one but two applicants for the Nayuki Club in the same show but it’s pretty clear that Asuka is a fan favorite, and watching her finally begin to put her gears into motion in embracing her feminine side must be nothing short of heart-breaking, especially how it came after the tearful embrace of Eriko and Kazuki.

What can Asuka do? Her ‘too little, too late’ situation mirrors Kai’s, except, impossibly, she’s worse off at the current moment. Kazuki has shown time and time again, powerfully, that he – will – not – back – down from his feelings for Eriko, and she herself is beginning to crack that “I don’t need people” wall she built, and this just leaves Asuka locked out. She’s too nice for one final, emotional push, yet she feels to strongly to go “ok, we can still be friends.” Again, it’s another parallel, this time with Mao, in that the feelings here were those of friendship turned into love, except here Asuka isn’t on top.

All she can really do is wait for the other shoe to drop – what we’ll see here could be her inflicting some drama on herself – although, this would be rather pointless considering not much will change – but more hopefully, a lesson learned and time for some serious epiphanies. Asuka is a strong character, and it’s surprising to see such an emotional weak spot in her, but what probably she could learn from this is to be more honest about her true feelings. She continues to deny it to others, and only just recently admitted it to herself, and so again it just hurts too much to see it happen to a deserving character like her.

So, the question is, is Eriko deserving?

It’s still a tough call. Asuka can get railed on all she wants for not admitting her true feelings, but Eriko is unquestionably worse in that regard. How many times did she turn down Kazuki? How many times did she try to end things, try to shut herself down? That she wasn’t able to, that may say something about her true character, but the amount of denial she went through doesn’t put her close to the sympathetic appeal of a character like Asuka.

So, from a moral standpoint, why does Eriko deserve the victory? Why, after she played with Kazuki’s heart like a ball on a string? Why, after she tried to distance herself from people so much?

It’s probably a feel-good story if anything else, from both sides. Eriko is the girl that I’m sure you have met, in someone else or in yourself, the person that tries to be hard, tries to be cold, and unfeeling, but really more than anything just harbors a hidden desire to be loved, to be cared about, no matter how much they push something like that away. Kazuki is the dunce, the well-meaning person who doesn’t know what they’re doing but will try their hardest, earnestly, to achieve it, without giving up. Together it’s a combination that defines the term “opposites attract”, in how the two can bring out the best in each other; Kazuki brings out the real person in Eriko, and Eriko teaches Kazuki to be more resolute and decisive. It can’t be denied that the two of them have a sort of chemistry.

And so it’s with a tinge of regret that I state that I do really endorse the relationship between Eriko and Kazuki, despite how much I like Asuka. It’s the difference between driving a Lotus and driving a Lexus; the two have drastically different appeals and images, but am I going to complain if I’m behind the driver’s seat of either? Never. The only thing is, you don’t feel sad for a car you don’t drive. Someone else will take it. But Asuka, it’s clear that she really does deserve someone to bring out her romantic side as well, but in a show like this with a small amount of guys, where will that person come from?

(Asuka x Kai? Shippers, make it happen.)

What’s really surprising about KimiKiss as it builds to a climax and approaches its conclusion is how much the stories of Kouichi, Kazuki, and, in a sense, Mao, overlap, intertwine, and parallel each other. It was shown in the beginning of this episode how a lot of characters were beginning to take the advice of others to heart. And the characters in the two main love polygons have a surprising amount of parallels with each other. Mao and Asuka are both ‘friends first’ lovers who spent a long time before realizing their feelings. Eriko and Kai were the outcasts, wanting to be loved, at times denying their true selves. Yuumi and Asuka are the ones who just might be too late in realizing the truth.

It’s really a story with a surprising amounts of twists, tales, and lessons to be gleaned from it, and that’s what really enchants me about KimiKiss. It’s a sweet romance and a sad one, a peaceful romance and a conflict-filled one, and above all, it’s down-to-earth, something that any budding romantic could connect to and enjoy.

-CCY

(YUUMI FIGHTO!)

(Also, it must be noted that Eriko’s “Oh my God, it’s Kazuki” nervousness induced a moe short-circuit on par of being locked in a gym storage room with a tsundere. I’ve always though Eriko was incredibly attractive, even if Asuka did have more merit.)

Sometimes it seems that everyone’s favorite high school romance has more in common with American politics than the date of the week where important stuff happens (this being the usual time for the fansub release).

The fight is intensifying on both sides, in this case over the hearts of Kouichi and Kazuki, the male leads, with two vastly different situations shaping up as we come into the closing quarter of the show.

Kazuki represents the Republican party, a battlefield that looked to be intensely fought over in the beginning, but now is just one that’s quickly becoming sparsely populated. Technically there are still multiple candidates left in the field but it would have to take some serious deluding at this point to believe in any other than the one that’s in the lead – with one of the main contenders seemingly dropping out and endorsing a rival, it seems almost a done deal.

Kouichi and the Democratic party has the tougher choice, a straight-up dogfight between two evenly-matched characters that may be similar in viewpoints but worlds apart in appeal. The innocent schoolgirl romantic seems to be the more charismatic of the two as the childhood friend has made a few missteps on the campaign trail but arguably up until recently it was a relative dead heat. Now, however, the pendulum of momentum is really beginning to swing and there’s one that ends up squarely in the lead, barring an unexpected surge.

So, who’s going to take the win? Eriko or Asuka? Mao or Yuumi? Will Kai, the underground favorite, play a role in stealing away hearts? Can the third-party nominations of Hiiragi and Mitsuki do anything other than get laughed at again? All this and more spoilerific commentary after the jump.

(Note: I’m really bad at politics.)

Pre-jump obscurity aside the end results seem all too apparent for me, and to be fair I would have to side with a lot of the fans out there and disagree entirely with the outcome. Mao and Eriko seem locks after the happenings of the previous episodes, something that worries a die-hard Yuumi supporter and won-over Asuka convert like me.

So, why Mao? Mao vs. Yuumi is probably the more interesting duel of the two at this point in the show, if only because Yuumi actually has a faint chance standing up to Mao due to her ‘first love’ pedigree. This is what interests me about Kouichi’s story in an objective, analytical, fourth-wall-smashing way in that both Mao and Yuumi show signs of the character traits needed to win in a harem dogfight.

Yuumi’s got the advantage of the ‘first strike’ on Kouichi, and a on-screen lip-lock, something that most shows take very seriously, lest they want to sit next to KimiNozo and School Days on the drama train. The all-encompassing ‘first love’ is an equally powerful weapon on her side, although it’s not absolute. Still, it’s pretty well shown that she and Kouichi have spent too many happy moments together, learned too much from each other, been there too much for each other to break up now.

Except for one big strike against her, and that’s the talk of her moving away. Long-distance love has worked before, in the case of Tokimeki Memorial, but here it just seems like a clever way to remove her from the story. Based on recent developments too, it seems her dependence on Kouichi in such a situation would be lessened, with the promise of Mitsuki (who is suddenly important, in a way) and the Udon Girls to keep in touch with her. There’s a feel of ‘gently letting her down’ here, which is really the only way they could detach Yuumi from Kouichi, since she’s become too endearing to have her character smashed to pieces by an “Oh, I like Mao now.”

Speaking of the devil, Mao started the race for Kouichi extremely late; all her fooling around with Kai led many to believe she truly didn’t have romantic feelings for Kouichi after all, but, as shown, her childhood-friend nature shone through, and now she’s left in a precarious situation. She’s done quite possibly everything she could wrong in this show, from stringing along the wrong guy’s heart, to recoiling in fear instead of going on the attack, and not to mention, completely flubbing her confession in episode 18. Yet, somehow, she ends up in front.

I’d like to blame it on the ‘childhood friend’ trait and end it as that but arguably Mao has merit as a lover for Kouichi, beneath all the crashing and burning she’s been doing recently. The two of them have shown an ability to get along very well in the past, laughing and smiling together and being great friends, instead of awkward lovers. This is the pivotal contrast between Yuumi and Mao for Kouichi, in that Yuumi has always been stamped with the ‘love-love’ label since day 1, and so he’s been approaching her differently, one might say, the wrong way.

As Eriko concluded in the 19th episode as well, love can’t really be forced, and while Kouichi and Yuumi aren’t exactly trying to put square blocks into round holes, it’s clear that they’ve been treating their relationship as a romantic one first and foremost. Personally, I like this, I like all the sappy first loves of teenage romance, all the excitement of a first date, or the first time holding hands, or the first kiss, but in the real world it’s probably not best to focus on such a thing as the primary objective, as it’ll just lead to a lot of awkwardness, stumbling, and full body blushes.

‘Friends first’ is a good way to go, evolving love out of a more benign relationship, instead of jumping in head-first, and this is what can really make an ending between Mao and Kouichi work. They’ve been there for each other before, and it’s just a question of them putting aside the inherent awkwardness of the romance being between the two of them (instead of having Kai, or Yuumi involved) and really finding out how they truly feel.

Also, the whole ‘movie is about a pair of childhood lovers’ thing doesn’t exactly hurt Mao’s cause.

Eriko has pulled out the ‘childhood friend’ card at the end as well, something that should all but clinch her victory, although Kazuki and even Asuka herself are fighting for that cause. It turned out that Eriko had always sort of admired, or at least envied, the happy days of Kazuki, Kouichi, and Mao’s youth, and her experimenting with Kazuki may have been in part a subconscious – if not intentional – urge to discover that sort of happiness.

It looks like Kazuki is getting hammered down left and right here by Eriko’s rejections, first with her ending the experiments and then with her ignoring him, or spouting nonsense about how ‘it’s not going to work’, but these denials only serve to make Kazuki more interested in her, and I truly doubt that Eriko means what she says either. She’s visibly flustered (or what passes for it) numerous times with Kazuki, whether it be the hide-and-seek kiss, or the avoiding of eye contact after he confesses in ep. 19, and it seems that the greatest obstacle between making this relationship work is not Asuka, but the barrier that Eriko has put up in her own heart. It just seems to be a matter of wearing that down, with the ever-famous anime brand of “persistence gets the girl”.

Asuka probably isn’t as far down as I put her; she may have less of a chance on paper, but subjectively she’s a fan favorite and much more deserving of Kazuki (disregarding elements such as the merit of having a weak-minded boyfriend such as him). She’s stuck in the same situation as Yuumi, having perhaps stronger feelings, realized ‘first’, but ultimately looking to get trumped by a ‘childhood friend’ card; the two of them only know their loves from high school, although in Asuka’s case, unlike Yuumi, that’s more than enough.

Asuka is really a lot like Mao, minus the flirting and the childhood friend bonus. Both of them are really friendly with their guy counterpart, to the point where they’re not really viewed as romantic interests at all. She seems to have just discovered how she really feels, to the point of sharing an awkward moment with Mao about kisses, but she still hasn’t taken any action yet, something that really damages her cause.

Kazuki is the type that needs to have things drilled through his head with a baseball bat, and Eriko’s blunt style of acting has all but won him over, while Asuka’s subtle hints and glances haven’t done anything to advance her status. She seems to be falling into that infamous ‘friend prison’ that guys the world over curse at, and the most she can really do is either a superficial confession, or, more likely, a relinquishing of position to Eriko.

To be fair, Asuka seems to be the type that would be happy as just friends with Kazuki, once she gets her romantic desires sorted out – it’s the old ‘if my beloved is happy’ gambit being put to work as she tries to get Eriko and Kazuki to make up (and, eventually, out) with each other, sacrificing herself for the good of others. This, however, only has the effect of riling up the fans more, since Asuka’s selflessness just increases the worth of her character. Her relationship with Kazuki might just end up being a character-building lesson, contributing to the theme of ‘too little, too late’ that seems to be prevailing throughout the show.

Yuumi is discovering too late that Mao’s in the game for Kouichi too; while Mao is discovering that fact too late herself. Eriko is realizing too late how far she’s come with Kazuki, who is too late in making a play for Eriko, while Asuka doesn’t find her true feelings for Kazuki until, yup, too late. Yet, why do Kazuki and Mao look to make away the winners here, while the others can only reflect on their defeat? Such is the question of life.

And Kai deserves a section of his own for the situation he’s gotten himself into. His paradox is the toughest one of all – he clearly has feelings for Mao but at this point it’s utterly impossible for him to do anything good with it; he knows of Mao’s feelings for Kouichi, and either he would be uncaring if he pursued her anyway, or Mao would be hypocritical if she dropped Kouichi to go for Kai again. He can only play the support role, shoved into even tighter of a corner than Asuka has. It’s not like he needs a chance to redeem his character, but it will remain to be seen if he can affect Mao somehow, and show how he’s learned to give up on people too, considering how hard he went after Mao at the start.

It’s virtually game over at this point, with all the pieces irrevocably in motion, and it’s just a matter of seeing if it all plays out the way that it looks. Mao and Eriko nearly have it locked but it’s not unheard of to see a crash on the final lap, and certainly Yuumi and Asuka could be worked to be just as worthy heroines and victors. I know I will stand behind them with everything I’ve got.

-CCY

Related KimiKiss Reading:
- Stripey supports Mao, go flame him has some viewpoints from the other side of things, the merit of the guy instead of the girl. Also, his commenters spawned some of my thoughts.
- Hinano went on a rant against pretty much all of the characters, and again, her commenters had some interesting discussion.
- Aroduc’s got a great episode summary, among other things.

(Now I’m split on whether Hiiragi deserves to hook up with Mitsuki or not; I still want some conclusion on her ‘arranged marriage’ thing, but Hiiragi’s ‘Film Club’ tirade was mind-grating.)

(More of these two, please.)

A while back, I wrote an article about how true shoujo (girls’) romance shows, replete with shiny sparkly slow-motion pans of blond-haired pretty-boys, were lacking compared to the Marmalade Boys of years past. They seemed to be slowly fading out of favor; whether it was overcrowding due to more male-orientated “moe shows” (less of a genre and more of a giant classification) or simple dissapearance due to change of taste, I was unsure, but the fact was, they just don’t make romance stories truly aimed at just girls anymore.

With some coincidental genre-talk crossfire going on around other places, combined with my following of 2007 hit Nodame Cantabile, I began to think a bit again about the status of girls’ romance. Nodame Cantabile definitely had the feel of a show that could masquerade as being such a type of show, yet it also was decidedly different from the typical fare that occupies the genre. And what of KimiKiss? It’s a show that, despite being so much ’seen before’ material, defies classification by typical means, being neither guys’ harem nor girls’ romance.

These may be but two shows but to me they signify pretty clearly the direction that romance shows are heading. They may not be as popular as they used to be, passed up in favor of more pandering harem shows (not indicative of the harem genre as a whole, I must note) or the ever-strong action / mecha favorites, but what’s left in the romance corner is truly a distilled and refined version of what both guys and girls have come to love in love stories.

Maybe I’m biased. KimiKiss and, more recently, Nodame Cantabile have been two exceptionally strong and balanced anime, not straying too much toward any major cliche or fan-pleasing trap. What really intrigues me about these shows is that – at least in the case of the former – they’ve drawn a varied mix of audience, both male and female, which I thought was pretty rare. Visual novel type-romances like Clannad or Da Capo tend to turn off female viewers with heavy-handed harem or sad-girls-in-stuff elemetns, while magical girl-type romances like Shugo Chara and Nanatsuiro Drops lean too far towards the straightforward and sappy side for guys. Naturally, there are exceptions, especially in anime-blogger land where people aren’t afraid to think different, but KimiKiss surprised me with how much fervent discussion and praise it’s recieved from just about everybody.

Especially since, at first glance, the formula of KimiKiss seems like the kind of thing you could take out of a “school romance 101″ book. Take one girl, energetic and cheerful, who just transferred into her old high school. She lives with her childhood friend, who she jokes around with and teases a lot. And at school, she meets a stoic, but soft-hearted guy who slowly but surely falls in love with her. How exciting – but wait! She’s conflicted, as she suddenly experiences feeling of jealousy when the childhood friend – someone she thought was just that – goes out with another girl. Who to choose?

Or, take a guy, much the same build as the first, except perhaps more brash and outspoken. He mopes around wishing he had a girlfriend, until one day, a cool emotionless girl randomly kisses him. Score, but wait! He’s friends with a girl on the same sports team as him, and she just might sport feeling for him after all. Who to choose?

If you deconstruct it and take it as its lowest level in stereotypes, it definitely shows KimiKiss as something less than it truly is; the first situation is straight-up girls’ romance, and the second straight-up guys’. Nothing incredibly exciting. Yet, when you put these two situations together and add a little glue, it works great. How?

Likewise, analyze Nodame Cantabile. It’s a show about a serious and critical male music student with great conducting ambitions, the manic and strangely unique female pianist he meets, and all the cast members in between. So, who’s the audience here, or even the genre? It’s incredibly tough to tell, as both genders score major points here. The story revolves around the male character – score one for the XY chromosomes – but he’s a handsome bishonen-type idolized by all the women – leaning towards the XX. The strange cast, full of pseudo-traps, fangirls, and otherwise distinctive people, contains character types that, lacking in moe and, sometimes, sanity, seem to fall towards something seen in a girls’-orientated show. But the strangely dramatic past of the male lead, and the way in which girls just magically come on to him in a non-fangirl way as well, seems to tilt it back towards the male side.

And undoubtedly there’s more, as well as stuff falling squarely in the middle as well. Nodame Cantabile and its audience really can’t be classified as a single genre – it’s slice of life yet romance, romance yet comedy, comedy yet drama. It almost is like some of its characters in that it’s ambitious to be everything, to do it all, and in mixing two different styles and elements together it creates a concoction that just might be strangely pleasing to both.

Now this ‘you got your Reese’s in my peanut butter; you got your peanut butter in my Reese’s’ situation is quite strange to me, if only because logically, the mix of subtle tropes and styles of approach from two distinctly different romance anime types should spoil it all. I should hate all the ’squee’ moments of Nodame Cantabile, and female bloggers should hate the way in which Eriko comes on to Kazuki (or, alternatively, Mao to Kouichi, but everyone hates her for that now). Yet, for both, it ends up working, the styles reinforcing instead of destroying each other.

As Kyon says, “Why? Naze?”

Both of these shows share a tone that many shows – romances, as we’re on this topic – lack these days, something that can really pack a punch to any viewer, and that is the “down-to-earth” feeling of them. I enjoy my harems with astral projections, magical elf-eared girls, and sword-wielding flaming deities, but it’s much trickier for a ’suspension of disbelief’ show like this to connect with the viewer, the strongest weapon that any anime has.

Despite having slightly unrealistic premises or character archetypes, Nodame Cantabile and especially KimiKiss in practice actually have some of the most realistic characters and stories yet. Maybe this is because nothing really ‘happens’ in these kind of shows. I mean, there’s no evil threatening to take over the world, no impending crisis, no one’s dying of magical AIDS, nothing. Both are just stories of high school and university students living their normal lives together; their normal lives may contain some interesting events, but one gets very much that sense of ‘it could be you or me’.

The characters, much the same; Kouichi and Yuumi’s idealistic first-love relationship, Kai’s struggle to understand and communicate women, Mao’s conflict between the easy and hard ways out, Chiaki’s hard-nosed and uncompromising drive, they’re all realistic portrayals that reflect the ways of thought that actual people go through. They make mistakes and fall down; sometimes they get up, sometimes they get kicked on the ground, but in the end you get a sense of growth of the character as they fight through their tribulations, as opposed to many shows where the change is “OK, now I don’t love him as much as before because I had to let some other girl win”.

This emotional development is something that we see occasionally in the finer visual novel adaptations – ef had great insights, Myself;Yourself and Shuffle! might surprise you – and it’s pulled off brilliantly in these two examples of more straight romance as well.

In the days of past, many shoujo romances survived off of melodrama – the soap operas of shows like Marmalade Boy staggered the mind with love triangles in which everybody was connected to someone else, and possibly their non-blood-related sister. The ‘evolution’ that I stated of in the lead-in is the a somewhat lighter, more personal feel to these kinds of romances. There is more of a focus on the ’self’, a character development that goes beyond getting over relationships and romantic urges, the slice-of-life elements are played up a bit more, the show as a whole feels a bit like a candid video, where there doesn’t always have to be an impetus to be doing something out of the ordinary, but rather, simply making slow progress towards a goal, seen or unforeseen.

Quite simply, the slow-paced, down-to-earth girls’ romance has become something that can really be enjoyed by both genders, with not a heavy leaning towards any one form of pandering. And I commend it for that; just like the harem genre itself, there will always be extremes at any one end of the scale, but largely the content of the shows is drifting towards a more wider-appealing middle ground, the mystical jack of all trades that can create a heartfelt story that appeals to any budding romantic.

-CCY

(Yes, technically, KimiKiss is a visual novel adaptation as well, but it really doesn’t feel like it in the typical ‘harem’ connotation of the word. It’s about as much a harem show as NanaDrops was an ero-show.)

(At this point, Yuumi >> Mao, which…bodes poorly for me. Jury is still divided on Asuka vs. Eriko. The jury must also note that there is a disproportional amount of dirty Kimikiss artwork on Danbooru, which probably proves a large part of this editorial wrong.)

1/28/08: Episode 16
Show ▼

1/23/08: Episode 15
Show ▼

1/20/08: Episode 14
Show ▼

Click here for more information on Track Two.

-CCY

And now for the Slowpoke news: we’re in the winter season.

I’m still stuck in the past, not because of any traumatic accidents which have permanently scarred me and/or my memory, but because the fall season is arguably a much more robust season than the winter ones, at least in terms of new shows.

Especially for a visual novel slash romance slash restricted rock-paper-scissors fan like me, there were a lot of shows that were very appealing; many of them, despite being in tried and tired genres, brought a lot of fresh concepts to the table.

And what’s interesting about this, is that unlike in the summer season, a lot of the most promising shows didn’t close out at twelve episodes. Those that did, were strong shows, no doubt, but many more than that have been promised at least 20-odd episodes, double the goodness if they can keep the pace up.

As such, the winter watchlist is turning out to be strangely familiar. There are plenty of carryover shows on the list, and those that are new shows to 2008 are mostly sequels in some way or form (Zoku SZS, Minami Okawari). Not to leave a bad impression of the winter season – but there aren’t any names of new shows that really stand out from it.

This doesn’t equate with ‘no good shows’, per se – some of my favorite fall shows have been ones that have been completely off the radar – but going off the blog reactions so far, there hasn’t been a standout show that absolutely blows people away, that came out of nowhere and delivered the awesome. Undoubtedly there probably will be, but for now I’m content with surviving off both fresh old shows, and some true classics that are burning a hole in my DVD collection. Today, I’ll take a look at what we have to expect from some of the shows coming into their second cour in 2008.

Shugo Chara!
Understandably, Shugo Chara! was a show that wasn’t exactly on my radar when the season started. Even if I was born and raised on Cardcaptor Sakura, magical girl shows aren’t always my cup of tea, and I usually rely on feedback from other blogs to pick out the subsets of this genre that would be my type. In that sense, I’m a sort of elitist for magical girls – I tend to prefer only the ones that have an appeal to both genders, those that carry ‘feminine’ traits such as romance and a lowered focus on action, yet don’t come off as too girly. I do have a pink tolerance still, despite all these years of anime watching.

Anyway, Shugo Chara! got a surprising amount of good feedback from placed that I read a lot, namely Jeff Lawson’s and Owen’s locales, and so it was an essential “here goes nothing” while I was scraping the bottom of the barrel one day. As has been detailed, the first few episodes were a bit too pink for my tastes, but contained enough interesting stuff to keep my interest, so I forged on; and man, am I glad I did.

It seems a bit pretentious to both proclaim it the next Cardcaptor Sakura or even compare it to that show at all, considering how times have changed a lot in the 21st century, but there’s no doubt that Shugo Chara! has the potential to be THE magical girl show of this decade. I can’t speak for other popular shows, such as the PreCure series or whatnot, but certainly SC seems to have the wide appeal and fanbase to make it big.

The animators seem to know this too, as the show has been slated for one of the longer continuous runs in recent memory, topping 50 episodes, and this is something that, naturally, is good and bad. The good is of course more of what we love, more of this show and it’s entertaining character dynamics. The bad is that, since there doesn’t appear to be a huge amount of content for the manga, there’s going to end up being a lot of filler in the show, ergo, not as much of the entertaining character dynamics. (Not to mention, it’d be a pain to blog.)

What, personally, deserves the most focus is the quickly-shaping romance tetrahedron of sorts, forming between Amu, Tadase, Ikuto, and Utau. Of course, saying this is a bit simplified; Amu’s torn between the goodly Tadase and the dark Ikuto, Tadase’s smitted with Amu’s transformed self, Ikuto’s busy being the guy equivalent of tsundere (Shiraishi’s “cool-dere” comes to mind), and Utau is mysteriously possesive a la Primula (that suddenly explains a lot for Stripey’s fandom of Utau), and all these facts add up to make the romance side of this story a bit more appealing than your standard ‘will-she-won’t-she’ love story.

The magical girl elements of SC are a bit overdone, personally, as Amu seems to be able to hax any X Character into submission without barely breaking a sweat, but this might just be the show’s way of deemphasizing these aspects in favor of it’s stronger romantic and slice-of-life elements.

So what’s to look for in the upcoming episodes of Shugo Chara? To be honest, I’m worried that the answer is ‘not much’ – different shows handle their mid-sections in different ways, but Shugo Chara! has a lot of time to burn, and so it might not be doing much in the way of developing character relations in the near future. Hopefully it will be like many recent shows and not delay the love confessions until the end.

Although, regarding that, what’s really keeping me interested in this anime (aside from denying cute traps) is that I can’t really decide who Amu’s going to ‘win’ at the end…presuming she does at all. Both Tadase and Ikuto have their appeals, both to Amu and to the viewer, and it’s not as clear-cut as other shows which one will end up being the ‘main’ guy. Tadase is undoubtedly the more traditional choice, being the good guy who fights along her, but Ikuto’s been getting a lot of attention recently, and being the somewhat rebellious yet soft-hearted personality he is, I can’t help but root for him.

Oh, and the mysterious evil motives of Easter, I suppose I have a little vested interest in; who knows if it will be some typical “parents vs. kids” endeavor or not. I can’t get a lock on this either.

Shakugan no Shana II
Shana II was not exactly the most popular anime around the blogosphere recently, having eschewed it’s action and love-triangle aspects for more of a repetitive drama that failed to be really engaging. But with the recent episodes having kicked the series full throttle ahead, it might be time to pick up interest in the show again.

For me, Shana II has always been a show that was sort of a bread-and-butter watch – something it would be a little painful, other times a little more intriguing, but most of the time it was relatively typical supernatural-action-romance fare, with the action part just getting into gear now. However, with some of the plot points that I think lie ahead, both involving a few Torches (accidental spoilers, whee) and the story of Pheles and the Reiji Maigo, Shana II might have an opportunity to prove itself more than that, and show that the hype for this show isn’t just irrational love for melon-bread-eating tsunderes.

In that regard, it might have actually been a wise decision in the end for the beginning parts of Shana II to be so slow; it could be considered that the animation team was merely getting the filler out of the way so that the rest of the show can be exciting from here on out. Maybe not a good business decision, but if it holds true it will be promising for the second half of Shana.

As for what will happen in what episodes remain, I don’t really know. I’m really unfamiliar with this series as a whole, and so what I can say is that there will be a lot of fighting, a few romantic scenes, and a lot of terminology spamming to come. It’s pretty cut-and-dry that Shana and Yuuji are into each other, but I can’t decide whether we’ll get true confessions and conclusion with this season, considering the retcon we got this time. If there is enough material for Shana III, that aspect might just be held back on. Kazumi doesn’t look like she has much to go on; we already know she likes Yuuji, and now she’s in that limbo between backing off and going on the attack, neither which would really suit her. As such, I think all she’s good for so far is some romantic insights, what with her virtues of patience and all.

And so my hopes for this show lie with Ike for reasons too numerous to count. He’s your glasses-sporting “just as planned” smart guy, he’s gotten shafted through the whole cultural festival arc, and he seems pretty level-headed and likable as a whole. Not to mention, he’s shooting for the moon in going after Kazumi, who even he knows prefers Yuuji; he’s effective working off a rationale of ‘well Yuuji likes Shana, so someone’s got to be there to catch Kazumi’.

I really hope he gets his fair share of screentime considering how much he’s been made fun of recently, as I think he could be a really strong character. I’m hoping they have time to fit him in among all the more standard storyline fun with the green-haired ladies.

Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji
I think I will forever tout this as the reason why blog hype is important; I would not go within a million miles of a show featuring ugly men (and no moe girls) fighting it out in rock-paper-scissors, yet undoubtedly some of the latest arcs of this show have been nothing short of stunning.

It’s funny; what makes this show work is that it’s not pure macho, nor pure mindgames, but sort of a mix of both, and then some. There are moments that make you think, there are moments that make your blood boil, and sometimes, there are even moments that make you tear up. Sometimes, there are all three at once. I mean, for the love of whatever deity I worship now, I thought Aozora was going to start playing during Ishida’s scene in episode fourteen. It was absolutely wrecking, in that way that made you contemplate the nature of man while crying manly tears and shouting “ISHIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”.

Kaiji rivals the best of the visual novel genre in having disturbingly touching insights; while those deal more with the romantic irrationality of man, Kaiji goes more into the nitty-gritty stuff. The difference between the haves and have-nots, the wants and want-nots, how everyone is selfish in being kind and kind in being selfish. (A bit of a stretch, but I heart parallelism)

And it’s a great mix of predictability and unpredictability as well. You know that Kaiji isn’t going to win millions every time soon, but you know they can’t quite kill him off either. You know that he’s going to work his way out of this hole somehow, but fall back into another. It keeps the mind racing, and to be honest, I still don’t know how the Brave Men Road is going to come out. We know he’s not doing to die. So what is he going to do to get rid of the money? I’m guessing give it all to Ishida’s wife, because there’s got to be another yakuza-sponsored game on the horizon; the other aspect that keeps it interesting. It’s that ‘what will they think of next?’, both in the fourth-wall and in the storyline sense.

It’s that strange mix of disgust and delight when you see the shoving in Brave Men Road, that puts you disturbingly close to the action, in a similar position as the ‘rich bastards’. It’s eerie in a sense, how unwittingly we are becoming like them, being the viewers watching something like this for pleasure. It ties you into the show like what nearly no other show can do, and so that’s why I can reccomend Kaiji as one of the top shows – especially if you hate moe – of the fall season.

KimiKiss Pure Rouge
For as many times as I’ve used this phrase, KimiKiss is one of the shows that I think could most fit the idea of being ‘unpredictably predictable.’ It’s a very vanilla show in a sense, one that’s refreshingly down-to-earth and real, and at first the romance seemed pretty much a straight shot. It could be easily seen how Kouichi will be with Yuumi, how Mao will end up with Mai, and how Kazuki will snag Eriko.

But, since this show is so multi-threaded, it’s easy to see how these threads will intertwine as well. The show seems to be dropping plenty of hits of possibly tying Mao and Kouichi together. Plus, it’s tough to tell whether Asuka or Eriko is the true girl for Kazuki.

Let’s go with the latter first. Eriko is probably the more likely shot – on-screen kisses aren’t taken lightly these days, and it seems all too sensible to have the romance with Kazuki be the thing to introduce Eriko to the world of emotion – I would say break her out of her shell, but Owen has another way of putting that.

Still, like in Shugo Chara’s similar dilemma, I can’t help but root for Asuka, the underdog here. It just seems wrong that the one who seems to be more passionate will lose, although I think that instead of Asuka winning here, she will just get some major development instead. She seems the strong, fiercely independent type, and she could definitely learn how to fly on her own with her love for soccer instead of Kazuki.

Mao and Kouichi’s situation is even tougher to call. Certainly it seems like it would be impossible to break the romantic bonds between Kouichi and Yuumi, given the collective amount of time they’ve stared at each other. And certainly it seems hard to split Kai and Mao, who seem the reverse of the Eriko – Kazuki situation; Kai is an interesting character, the ‘frequently misunderstood delinquent’ type that’s cold, but has a big heart.

But there still remains that possibility that Mao and Kouichi will in the end, be together; after all, she had to come back from France for a reason, and the anime has certainly dropped more than a few hints. I could see how Kai could live independently, like how Azuka could. And Yuumi could – could, the imperative word – be removed from the story with her moving away.

But that’s the catching point, that it would just seem too sad for her to be alone; she doesn’t look like she has a fallback, she seems much more emotionally invested in Kouichi. Enough to nearly clinch the ‘with enough effort, you’ll win’ romance award, but not enough to go yandere. So somehow I think Kouichi and Yuumi is the most likely combo, which will probably set Mao up with Kai. I wonder, if maybe Mao will be the one who has to understand who her true feelings are for.

(Oh, and don’t leave Hiiragi and Mamiko Noto out of the picture, either.)

There’s a lot to think about for such a simple-looking show, which is why KimiKiss is one of the strongest romances running so far. I look forward to seeing how it can do so much with so little in the future.

Clannad
Visual novels are probably the toughest shows to predict for, which is why I enjoy them so much. Others may not be as fond of the wild, rampant plot twists and overly idealized characters that these shows frequently make use of, but this is probably an issue of cliche more than anything else.

The visual novel genre is full of them, with childhood friends left and right throwing themselves at some undoubtedly bland guy. That’s probably part of the reason why I’ve always been a fan of the Key shows – AIR, Kanon, and now Clannad – because they do things differently.

Yeah, a lot of things are the same. Everyone’s still love-love toward one guy, and most of them have a history with him, but it’s not always about that. Clannad is a show that feels more balanced – it’s not just romance, but it’s comedy, it’s not just about the girls, it’s about Tomoya as well, and when it is about the girls, it’s more about them discovering themselves rather than their affections for Tomoya. In that sense it really is a show that anybody can enjoy.

The beginning episodes and the Fuuko arc were a great representation of this; people left and right both enjoyed the comedy, and when it came down to things, spouted fountains of tears at her story. Despite its somewhat derivate roots of Ayu, Fuuko’s arc managed to work well because it wasn’t just straight Tomoya – Fuuko interaction, but since it also involved Nagisa both helping them and helping herself.

Nagisa’s probably the reason why Clannad works, in that despite her soft, pushover personality she’s a very strong character all her own, and a great complement to Tomoya. She’s not one-tenth as adorable as Kotomi or Ryou, but that might be exactly the reason why: she’s more of a real character, with real thoughts and emotions, instead of a cardboard moe cutout. Yet she doesn’t renounce those roots either.

Recently I think the anime has slumped a bit with Kotomi’s arc – I love her character, her story’s interesting and all, but it’s just so typical. I think any visual novel anime could pull the ‘reclusive childhood friend with dead parents’ concept off, since it just seems so perfect storm, the sort of dream that any lonely guy would wish to have, to be the only one there for a girl like that. Clannad needs to be different.

Luckily, I think we’re getting into the best parts of the show, with what arcs we have left. Despite not knowing anything about the show, I have high hopes that Fuuko and Kotomi, as interesting as their arcs may be, will be utterly shamed by the powers of the three (four) girls remaining.

Tomoyo’s always been a riot in character, and she looks to have the story to back it up, if it involves her trying to change the way she’s seen, like it sounds so far. It’s definitely potential for her to develop a lot on her own, into a strong person.

Kyou and Ryou are perhaps a more typical bunch but one I’m much more willing to fall for than Kotomi. Kyou is a great personality, with her light-hearted, flirtatious attiude absolutely captivating, combined with more of a sisterly love for Ryou, equaling something fierce. Ryou, well, she’s a mix of Shiori and Tsukasa, and that I’m willing to overcome any sense of logic for. I just wonder what their story could be about, and that’s what really interests me.

And of course, we’ll close with Nagisa, where it really could go any way in the world. Whether they expand more on her story or Tomoya’s story, them or their parents, the real world or the imaginary one, time can only tell. I can only hope it will be legendary like everyone is making it out to be – right now, it is a good show, but the potential astounds me.

-CCY

Looking forward…