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)

If you liked this post, try...

• April 29, 2008 -- Shoujo Showdown! Special A vs. Itazura no Kiss, expounded to painful length
• May 3, 2008 -- [Rapidfire] Fanime, blogroll upkeep, Toshokan Sensou

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 10th, 2008 at 5:57 pm and is filed under Itazura na Kiss, Series Showdown, Special A, Toshokan Sensou. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.