Re: Anime comments


to ranma@ml.usagi.org
from Albert Lunde <Albert-Lunde@northwestern.edu>
subject Re: Anime comments
date Thu, 3 Apr 2003 20:57:36 -0600
>> Maison Ikkoku which IMO is the finest of the romantic comedy genre.  
>> Maybe a little dated with regard to animation, but for me, the story 
>> and all it has to offer is timeless...  and I'm quite pleased that 
>>it is FINALLY coming to DVD.
>
>      ::hiroshin looks around expecting to see Albert Lunde pop out from 
> nowhere::  Maison Ikkoku, to me, is considered a classic!  Of course the 
> animation is a bit dated, the series run was actually during around the same 
> time as Ranma 1/2, in Japan, wasn't it?  ::knows he's probably wrong on this 
> one::

Not sure _why_ you'd expect me, but I was busy with a reorganization
at work.  I _am_ another Maison Ikkoku fan. I'll have to check the
copyright dates.  Takahashi-sensi kept Ranma 1/2 going a pretty
long time in manga: I think it finished in early 1996, well
after MI was finished (indeed not long before the first VHS
volume of MI appeared from Viz.)

Google is your friend:
<http://the.sunnyspot.org/manga/mi/takahashi.html>
This page quotes an interview from 1989 saying:

"_Maison Ikkoku_ ran on TV from March 1986 until March 1988" [...]
_Ranma 1/2_ began TV broadcasting this April and seems destined to 
settle in for a long run.

The impressive thing about Maison Ikkoku is that it is a fairly
faithful adaptation of the manga plot with little filler, and the
series in both anime and manga has a progressive plot that builds 
through the whole series to a satisfying ending.

US companies, Viz in particular, don't know how to market a 96 episode
anime soap opera...

> =====
> Ai Yori Aoshi, Kimagure Orange Road, Chobits, and Hand Maid May are all fun 
> to check out as well.  Inu Yasha is also very good.  Mahoromatic is also fun 
> as well...  ^_^
>      I've heard of Ai Yori Aoshi, but haven't seen any of it, yet... Same 
> thing with Hand Maid May... Damn my broke a$$...

Hand Maid May is good if you can ignore (or enjoy) some needless
fanservice: it's got comedy and romance, though it's also got plot
holes you could drive a truck though. I've heard bad things about
a second OAV series (which is really not the same characters).

Ai Yori Aoshi sounds good, but is just barely going commercial in the US.

I don't think anyone has mentioned a personal favorite of mine:
Marmalade Boy. Three seasons of episodes, though about a half
of the anime is filler. (But most the filler is relatively
well done.  I think the American characters look like elves,
but that's the result of the art style.)

I'd rank Maison Ikkoku, KareKano, and Marmalade Boy as
my personal favorites, among romantic comedies, with KOR
being a close runner-up.

Love Hina is a more recent example of romatic comedy, and is
a reversal of the MI setting: instead of the ronin falling
for the manager, he _is_ the manager. The author credits the
influence. The Love Hina manga is closer to straight romance than the
anime. The anime producers compressed some details, played up
the physical comedy, and used more gimmicks to advance the plot.
(Though I wouldn't call the manga realistic either.)

There have been various series based on bishoujo games that have
elements of romance. "To Heart" video works for me as a very understated
romance, though others find it slow and boring.

Kanon is another recent example, though it seemed too episodic
and mysterious to be a sucessful romance: it tries to leave
things up in the air so long that the resolution at the end
doesn't entirely make sense to me.

I'd mention other series with elements of romance:

Himichan's Ribbon is a magical girl show, but it's got a solid
romance running though the whole series. In many ways it's also
a realisic picture of junior high life in Japan (modulo
the magic) (She's mostly not saving the world).

Nurse Angel Ririka SOS is a sweet, dark magical girl show,
with a romantic triangle in the midst of everything. I used
a fast-forward on the transformation sequences but I got
hooked before long (She _is_ saving the world.)

"The Blue Green Years" - Mizuiro Jidai is a nice romance, that 
establishes the primary couple in the first episode, and goes
from there. Also junior high. The Technogirls have done a couple of
volumes, but I got the series on Japanese DVD when it was
recently reissued, and am in the process of watching the rest
in Japanese.

Wedding Peach is another magical-girl-saving-the-world from
the creators of Sailor Moon. The evil menance is not as well
done, but the romances are more interesting than Usagi/Mamoru
(or even Usagi/Rei ;)

Did anyone mention "Oh My Goddess!": one of the more long-running
examples of what I call the "Magical Girlfriend" genre.

Also in that vein is Video Girl Ai, and Mamote Shugogetten.

You might even count 3x3 Eyes, though it's got a lot of horror and
action mixed with the romance.

-- 
    Albert Lunde          Albert-Lunde@northwestern.edu (new address)
                          Albert-Lunde@nwu.edu (old address)


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