Really, it’s not such a bad thing, personally, for me to be going quiet. Sure, having not much to say means that no anime has really struck me in an incredible way (or at least enough to make it out of my MAL mini-blog), but on the flip side I haven’t watched anything really bad of late either. It’s all rather ordinary and that’s welcome, kind of like how cars don’t routinely explode on my way to work or how my computer turns on every day without myself having to sacrifice a few virgins.

As such it’s kind of ironic that the thing that gets me back into the talking groove again is not something I’ve watched, but something I haven’t.

Where we last left off in regards to myself and Itazura na Kiss, I was standing on my chair screaming “F*** YES KOTOKO, YOU GO GIRL” in response to the 14th episode, much like another three-capital-letter blogger (OGT) whom I read frequently.

If you want to make your own imaginary graph and extrapolate how awesome I think ItaKiss is from my enjoyment of the first 14 episodes (and that is a lot of awesomeness), you would imagine it would be up there with the Tier 1 shows (KimiKiss, Kaiji, ef, etc) by now.

Instead, a rather peculiar thing happened, as you may have inferred, in that instead of being on a golden pedestal somewhere ItaKiss has found itself on the side of a milk carton with the caption “Have you seen my awesome?”

And while ItaKiss may be the blond-haired poster child for abandoned shoujo anime, Amber Alerts have been placed out for its brethren as well, those being Special A and Toshokan Sensou (Library War).

These are three anime I haven’t really been arsed to watch in the last two weeks, despite the fact that I’ve waxed at least moderate amounts of love for each of them on this blog before. The question is:

Why?

(Oh yes, and I do spoil ItaKiss and Special A through about episode 14 or 15, so play it safe as applicable.)

There are two major types of factors to examine in the so-called decline of the shoujo queens in my viewing list, internal and external, and for the purposes of keeping things mysterious and dramatic I’ll go with the seemingly more pertinent one first: what’s wrong with the anime themselves.

My problem with Itazura na Kiss is that it ended.

“Silly CCY, you must be a fool of monumental proportion,” you chuckle to yourself, “ItaKiss is only on it’s 18th episode of 25!”

And you would be correct, at least on the second statement. But listen to my rationale:

Itazura na Kiss opened with Kotoko daydreaming of being married to Naoki.
As of the end of episode 14, Kotoko is now married to Naoki in Canada, because if you get married in Canada, you get married in real life.

Show’s over, nothing to see here.

Now of course that’s a bit harsh, as most anime tend to have a recalibration of goals somewhere down the line, and I’ve always professed a bit of love for anime that don’t just stop dead once the main couple gets together.

But for some reason, ItaKiss already really feels like it has climaxed, like it has finished, like there’s not much else for it to accomplish.

Perhaps part of this is the fact that ItaKiss is, for me at least, exploring uncharted territory; I’ve never watched an anime where the main couple gets married more than five minutes before the end of the final episode, and so to see Kotoko and Naoki tie the knot barely halfway through is completely stunning (in the best of ways).

I’m hoping it’s just a perceived problem, but I’m beginning to see a bit of a “what now” dilemma when viewing the story. What can we have? Family problems? Relationship issues? Childbirth? Who knows – to be frank, for some reason, at least the 15th episode hasn’t grabbed me as much, perhaps because it falls back on Ye Old Standby of introducing some romantic rival who appears, takes a potshot at grabbing Naoki, and fades into the mist.

It’s not the worst of offenses, but the meager payoff of a short deredere Naoki moment all of a sudden is not cutting it, perhaps because since they are married, I expected the dynamic between the two of them to change more than a bit.

Maybe it has, and I’m not that observant, but in my mind, Kotoko has achieved victory, and so there’s not much else for me to be interested in from her side, unless something interesting happens.

And what else was there? The side characters in ItaKiss were always at the best passable and at the worst mood-killers. Kin-chan’s evolved a small amount, but still ranks on the ’stupid’ side. Especially so since the Engrish girl previously infatuated with Naoki is due to make a double switch with Kin-chan, previously fascinated with Kotoko, with the intentions of having a Happy Ending for Everyone moment, to which I respond 1) meh and 2) what about Kotoko’s cooler rival, Nadeshiko or whoever.

So, I get the feeling that ItaKiss is good enough concluded there as is, at least while there is other stuff to be watched.

What about Special A, then? The perennial underdog to ItaKiss, while S.A. was never a standout star in its own right, the exceptionally likable character of Hikari, combined with a lovesick hero and a decent sense of humor made it a worthwhile watch at most times.

Indeed, when I last left off S.A. at the end of episode 15, I was proclaiming that it might have a chance to overtake ItaKiss if it didn’t make the same mistake of falling into a predictable groove.

And perhaps the problem here too is that I haven’t given it the chance it deserves. I’m a bit suspicious of it after all – it’s a good fluff watch, but like a NASCAR race, I quickly get tired of watching things go around and around in circles with nothing happening.

Because, after all, it’s been, what, 15 episodes, and only the slightest of development between the main couple of Kei and Hikari? In an episode or two, all the side pairings are fleshing out nicely, keeping my overall opinion of the series positive, despite my lack of an urge to view it; but Kei and Hikari are moving forward at about the pace of a catatonic snail with the equivalent of two broken legs. And it bugs me.

Perhaps this is because I do like Kei and Hikari so much individually as personalities, but less so as characters. They are fun, enjoyable, cute, whatever – but are they deep? Do they grow? It’s tough for me to tell, and with every passing episode I worry that S.A. is going to fall into that aforementioned trap of “don’t pair up the main couple until the end” that is so buzz-killing.

So I’ve left S.A. on the backburner as well, if only to keep ItaKiss company. It’s true that I have delayed S.A. a bit only because I felt that of the two shoujo shows, I should watch the “better” one first, and since I haven’t felt in an ItaKiss mood in a while, S.A. has been stuck in place.

But really, perhaps the thing I am waiting on the most is an explosion on the frontlines, a declaration from one of the raw watchers that This Episode Is Awesome, to give me motivation to power through S.A. and reach the good stuff.

As for Toshokan Sensou…it’s really very rarely that I can say this, but I have no excuse.

Perhaps the one factor I can cite the easiest, that’s out of my control, is that my usual download place (since my computer’s torrent speed is horrid) only carries the 300+ MB version of Toshokan Sensou, and really, nothing will make me fork out twice the usual hard drive cost for an episode, given how much of a packrat I tend to be.

And that’s really it, in terms of the show’s problems. I can’t complain so much about the show – maybe it is a bit of Toshokan Sensou’s fault that it’s a jack of two genres, master of none, but I think the overarching theme in this whole problem is that I’m having a bit of pilgrimage of sort, that’s taking me away from the shoujo genre for once:

If you recall correctly, I have hinted or perhaps stated at one point in this blog that I am of the male gender.

Now of course, there are a million different differences that two people of the same gender can have, but I imagine that still, if you took a bunch of male anime fans and placed their genre preferences on a chart, you’d notice a serious trend.

And while I may try and try to shove myself into the relative minority (although not an absolute one) of guys who really do enjoy shoujo work, in the end, something as simple as a shonen romance-comedy can grab me better than anything else.

This was demonstrated to me when one of my friends (ironically, female) tossed me the Midori Days manga and said “Read this, it’s good.”

Naturally, I was skeptical, one, because she had recommended titles that weren’t the most appealing in the past, and two, because I’m horrible at manga. The forced pacing of anime works much better for me, preventing me from skimming past important material and adding extra nuance.

But right from the first page, Midori Days had me hooked, to the extent that I read 40 chapters in a single sitting. It really was, one of my first instances of being absolutely enraptured in a long time.

In a sense, it was one of those works that just clicked. The characters were excellent, the story didn’t fall into too many filler pits, the comedy was on its game, everything. I might almost say it was like being whisked back in time to my simpler days as a kid, reading D.N.Angel and other works in the library.

It was here that I discovered that I could never really escape my roots – not that I was trying to at all, but in the sense that even though I can enjoy such complex, deep, or maybe just feminine works today, something simple, a bit crude, and straightforward still can capture my heart.

And so, for a bit, the dramatic relationship tumblers and the complex relationship webs took a back seat in favor of a more uncomplicated pleasure, the simple entertainment of rooting on the underdog girl in love, being viscerally thrilled by fight scenes, or just laughing at a ridiculous situation.

In the end, does Midori Days have something ItaKiss, S.A., and Toshokan Sensou do not?

For all I know, no. As I was searching for the words to describe Midori Days, the more and more I realized it was almost like a shonen version of Special A. Maybe a different setup, but the same mechanics of confess-fail-repeat aren’t lost there. Nor the “fighting for the underdog” feel in ItaKiss.

Perhaps Midori just has a special spark. Or maybe the stylistic differences between characters and their portrayal in shoujo and shonen works are different.

But in the end, I think it’s all just phases. Right now it’s time for the revival of the uncomplicated shows, the ones where you can just enjoy without having to write a 2000-word dissertation. The Mission-Es, the Midori Days, the Nogizaka Harukas.

The other deserving – the S.A., the ItaKiss, the Toshokan Sensou – will get their time soon enough, being of no less worth.

-CCY

(Oh, and speaking of reading in the library, I found a volume of the Shugo Chara manga in my local public library the other day. I had a major fangirlboy moment, especially since I was blaring Black Diamond through my earphones when I spotted it.)

Following the two-and-change shoujo shows in this season has been an interesting look at the sort of evolution this genre has undergone in the 21st century.

There are distinct kinds of styles found in these shows tailored for the female audience – although they still manage to find a large audience for both genders with their emphasis on the emotional and with their sense for gender-neutral slapstick conversational / slapstick humor.

Itazura na Kiss is a throwback to the old days, the anime of the early 90’s built off of manga even older. (Perhaps that’s because it actually is such a well-aged title.) It has a very strong romantic undertone to it, featuring the ever-popular tale of a prospective couple shoved in close quarters. Like many shows of this day, the lead girl is unmistakably the main focus, as she tries to work her way into the heart of the male lead. This is always a large part of the story, with the emotions of the male lead often obscured from view; although, there is always time for more side characters and their stories.

Special A is the new-age shoujo, one with a more balanced feel to its mix of comedy and romance. In here it’s not so much about life lessons and love as much as it is simply having fun; being patently ridiculous in the name of hilarity is all part of the equation. There are interludes for sweet moments, but not even all of these are serious. The story is quite often episodic, with morsels of plot scattered among challenges or events of the week.

Just over a week ago I pitted these two shows against each other after their third episode and declared Special A to be the show with the better start. It was more amusing and had a more appealing cast; although, I declared, when they both stopped spinning their tires and started moving forward with the plot, Itazura na Kiss might be able to make a comeback.

Two episodes later for the both of them I’ve got reason to think just so, but don’t count the comeback done just yet; a new show’s entered in style, smashing through the proverbial glass windows, and it’s name is Toshokan Sensou, i.e. Library War.

Toshokan Sensou at first glance is hardly a shoujo show at all. Anything which has ‘war’ in the title, and features footage of uniformed soldiers engaged in firefights would appear to be much more appealing to adrenaline-filled males.

But look past that and you’ll see an equally engaging second side revolving around the life of Iku Kasahara, a female enlistee in the Library Task Force. Her business relationship with Instructor Dojo, someone who might have a bit more for her that what it seems, and the amusing breaks for slapstick comedy in this show, are definitely enough to flag this down as a show with more than a moderate feminine spin. (This, backed up by the fact that Toshokan Sensou has been serialized as a shoujo manga.)

As we approach the halfway mark for some of these shows on their one-cour (~12 episodes) schedule, it’s time to reevalute the worthiness – as one not quite humble blogger will gauge – of these shoujo-styled anime, in the quickly-becoming infamous fashion of the Series Showdown comparisons.

Except wordy, y’know, but that shouldn’t be a shocker.

Lightning Round – Word Association

Broken
Special A: Records.
Toshokan Sensou: Windows.
Itazura na Kiss: Kin-chan.

Education
Special A: Elitist group of smart students spends budget on boat parties to keep the proletariat dumb.
Itazura na Kiss: Study session orgy with entire class hosted at one student’s house, remains worksafe somehow.
Toshokan Sensou: Bald cult group gets schooled.

Fathers
Special A: Voiced by squeaky females.
Toshokan Sensou: In the green room.
Itazura na Kiss: Comic relief.

Tsundere
Toshokan Sensou: Guys. (Of the protective variety.)
Itazura na Kiss: Guys. (Of the cold variety.)
Special A: Guys. (Of the protective and cold variety.)

Round 1: Male Lead Battle Royal
Special A: Guy (Kei) likes girl, secretly. To show this, he kicks her ass ten ways from Sunday in various competitions. Slowly, he stops being flirty and starts becoming overprotective and jealous of other guys.
Toshokan Sensou: Guy (Dojo) likes girl, secretly, kind of, sort of. To show this, he assigns her to menial duties which don’t involve getting shot in the back. Slowly, he stops underestimating her and sees how similar she is to his past self.
Itazura na Kiss: Guy (Naoki) hates girl, openly. To show this, he acts like a jerk around her. Slowly, he stops being a jerk and starts acting cool and flirty around her. Finally, someone gets it!

Advantage: After the first few episodes, I wanted to rip Naoki’s throat (among other vital organs) out, a sharp contrast to my enjoyment of the coy, flirty Kei. But more and more I’m beginning to this that was just me getting played just as ItaKiss planned, as I’m beginning to enjoy the way Naoki is beginning to resemble old Kei in the way he acts and messes with Kotoko. Naoki isn’t an unrealistic character by any means either the way he slowly warms up to Kotoko, and he helps make ItaKiss a more full show, to the contrast of the almost too-lighthearted Special A.

Meanwhile, Kei’s been going downhill as we see the dark side of him in recent episodes of Special A. It’s the converse way of approaching things, in portraying a character as perfect, then revealing their dark past. It’s worked before, but watching Kei be so immaturely jealous of obvious non-contenders like the student council president hurts. There’s probably also an innate level of realism in his rapid mood swings regarding his not-obvious-at-all longing for Hikari, but I’m not feeling it as much as Naoki now that Kei has lost his sharp witty edge.

Dojo is kind of a non-participant here and in Toshokan Sensou; although he is the closest to a destined guy the series is going to get, the attention is unmistakably around Kasahara. He has recieved proportionally less screentime than the other two male leads, perhaps because he keeps assigning Kasahara to different roles in different situations. Still, there are some strong scenes involving the two of them, and it was touching seeing him relate Kasahara to his past self, showing his understanding of both her and himself and revealing his rationale for assigning her such demeaning roles.

Overall, this one’s going to – yes, I said it – Itazura na Kiss, mainly because me liking a character and me thinking a character is a good one are two separate battles. Speaking of…

Round 2: “Have Your Kamina Glasses Handy” Manliness-Sustaning Ability
Toshokan Sensou: Gunfights. What more do I need to say?
Special A: Flowery backgrounds, but played off for comedic effect. Enough slapstick to convince people you’re watching a school life.
Itazura na Kiss: Look out, cold distant male lead! Glomping, hearts, and putting-on-lipstick-in-ending ensues.

Advantage: The easy choice for those not confident enough in their ability to stomach pure shoujo sappiness is Toshokan Sensou, although a show like this could turn either way in terms of actual shoujo content. Special A is a good middle ground for those who want their romantic parts and longing stares diluted with heavy doses of comedy. Itazura na Kiss is a no-holds-barred shoujo, right down to the dated art, but it still pales in comparison to the shows that can make spider webs out of relationship charts.

But really, you watch anime, it’s all hentai anyway, why do you worry about a little girliness?

(Note: above statement may contain libel.)

Round 3: Female Lead Battle Royale (with extra-fancy e)
Toshokan Sensou: Energetic, outspoken, well-meaning girl competes to save books.
Special A: Outspoken, well-meaning, energetic girl competes for superiority over the school’s resident number one student.
Itazura na Kiss: Well-meaning, energetic, outspoken girl competes for the heart of the school heart-throb.

Advantage: While all three main girls have a large amount in common in terms of characteristics, it’s not such a bad thing as all of them are doing excellent jobs holding up their respective shows. They all represent the strong, smart and soft-hearted character shoujo stereotype that makes feminists happy and makes for great characters, in that they can alternate between comic, emotional, and reflective personas almost on a whim.

Hikari of Special A will take the prize here for the most enjoyable female lead; perhaps this is a bit of a bias, but her hypercompetitive attitude and always optomistic, upbeat personality exudes charm and charisma, and even if she is a bit dense and exaggerated, she’s still all manners of fun.

Kasahara from Toshokan Sensou is equally admirable, in the way she stands up for what she believes, and stays calm under fire, both literal and proverbial. She definitely has a lighter side as well, as seen in her enthusiastic yet remarkably candid discussion with Tezuka in episode 4. But, perhaps since Toshokan Sensou has so many other intriguing characters, she doesn’t stand out like Hikari does.

Kotoko’s a mixed bag. At times she can deliver the best insights, or bring the most powerful emotions, both as a result of her obsession with Naoki. But on the other hand, sometimes she just seems like your normal ditzy, comedic female heroine who doesn’t stand out from the crowd. Overall, I would rate her as a character who is likable, although not all that unique. Like Naoki before, she does have potential though.

Overall: Although this comparison may be a bit on the short side, each one of these series has inspired me at least at one point to write lots and lots of words on them. To take an excuse, each one of them, as originally mentioned and hinted at, has really a style of their own, and even though they can all be stamped with the same general genre, they all have different appeals and drawbacks.

Special A is one of the weaker shows overall at the moment, suffering a weak fourth and fifth episode after an amusing start, seeming to prove that it can do comedy a lot better than it can do emotion. The serious aspects of the last few episodes seemed a bit tacky and flat, and even the humor was hit or miss, but I wouldn’t count this one down yet. The cast as a whole is quite likable, with a wide range of personalities, and there’s certainly a second chance for redemption once Hikari and Kei realize their feelings for each other – assuming it isn’t at the very end.

Toshokan Sensou is a great show, one of my overall favorites of this season. This is more due to the fact that it is a jack of all trades, though, than its merit as a shoujo. Rather, it does shoujo quite well, and does action quite well, and with these two magnitudes combined it is great. I wouldn’t reccomend it for those looking for a sweet love story alone, but for anyone looking for a time that is simply entertaining and enrapturing, I wouldn’t look any further than this. The action does a great job of leaving you on edge, and the everyday elements of the show both amuse and provide more things to talk about – for example, Tezuka’s asking out of Kasahara, or Kasahara’s backstory with her family and friendship with Shibahime.

Itazura na Kiss, though, finally, as everyone else has been saying for a bit longer than me, is walking out of here king of the sweet stuff tonight. Naoki is an annoying character at first sight, but can still manipulate both the viewers and Kotoko, and in the end can offer up a few insights consistent with that of a distant, but not emotionless character. The scope of the anime, from what has been spoiled of it (perhaps an unfair advantage) is impressive, and the fight of Kotoko is admirable to watch. It’s a bit frayed around the edges with a somewhat ridiculous side cast and a tinge of unrealisticness (among more realistic elements, anyway), but it’s my go-to this season for a warm, bubbly time; although the quick laughs of Special A or the overall entertainment value of Toshokan Sensou shouldn’t be underestimated either.

-CCY

(It feels like a really tiring, summer day today, and I think my post reflects it. Makes me want to go try Aria again…)

(Also, thanks to Cameron for the link to my previous Shoujo Showdown post)