Who Did Underdog Remind You Of Anime
What's Your Biggest Guilty Pleasance?
Now, right out of the gate you might be asking, "what is a "guilty pleasance"? Is information technology a testify you beloved that you acknowledge isn't specially great? Is it a show you love that everyone else demonstrably hates? Why should anyone feel guilty well-nigh enjoying annihilation at all? Nosotros're definitely non here to answer that question - we asked our editorial team to tell us their biggest "guilty pleasure", following the elementary guideline "a flawed show yous love anyhow". Pretty simple, right? Don't forget to tell united states of america yours in the forums!
Theron Martin – My-Otome
Of the hundreds of anime titles that I own on DVD and/or Blu-Ray, there are nearly a dozen that I rewatch in role or in total on at least a yearly ground. Of those, the one that'southward probably held in the least regard is My-Otome, a kinda-sorta sequel to the well-regarded My-HiME which substantially reincarnates most of the original cast into unlike roles in a mail service-apocalyptic future while too mixing in numerous prominent new characters. Though popular enough that it garnered both prequel and sequel OVA series (both of which have also been released in u.s.a.), information technology'due south never gotten the acclamation that its source series did, and objectively speaking, I can understand why; 2 of its pb characters, Arisa Yumemiya and Princess Mashiro, can exist grate-on-the-fretfulness-level annoying (the former peculiarly in the English language dub!), many other new characters aren't as endearing every bit they're supposed to exist, information technology has some stupid naming conventions in places, it's far from a stellar artistic achievement, and it has some potentially squicky romances. And yet despite all of its faults I still go along coming back to information technology.
One of the chief reasons why is that I have e'er found the reimagining of the carry-over characters and their new roles to be amusingly inventive; in fact, in that location are several that I like better in this version than the fashion they are in My-HiME. The underlying sense of chiliad drama in the story has also ever absorbed me, and that is supplemented profoundly by one of the truly cracking examples of anime grapheme growth: as unlikable as Mashiro is early, seeing her grow out of being a spoiled princess who's little more than than a joke and towards existence a proper and responsible ruler is quite heartening. We also can't forget the killer Yuki Kajiura soundtrack, one which I have fruitlessly been seeking for years at present. (I couldn't even find it on my trip to Japan last year, though I came close.) And information technology does have some fairly precipitous action scenes and quite funny omake, too.
So yes, it'south far from being the greatest anime series out at that place, but it's still ane that I quite enjoy.
James Beckett – Twin Star Exorcists
Twin Star Exorcists has many problems. As of this writing it is forty-2 weeks into its 50 episode run, and for every success it's had there accept been just every bit many rough patches. The production values are incredibly inconsistent, ranging from being occasionally quite excellent to sometimes downright terrible, with nigh of the episodes falling somewhere in between. While originally fairly faithful to the manga it is based off of, information technology has fatigued a lot of ire from fans due to its inclusion of, amid other things, an anime-simply mascot graphic symbol, and original arcs that have come to completely overtake the story in its dorsum half. The show'southward pacing has been inconsistent at best, with every good string of episodes being separated by filler that only occasionally passes muster. If I'm being honest, it'due south kind of a mess, and the many people who dislike have very valid reasons for feeling that fashion.
So of form, I love this show, in spite of its numerous flaws. There are multiple reasons for this, some perfectly logical, others purely rooted in emotional attachment. It holds a special place in my heart every bit the beginning series I got to review for Anime News Network, and then much of my growth as a writer and a critic can be rooted in covering this ugly duckling of an anime week to calendar week. I've also always been attracted to underdog stories similar this one, and I find myself rooting for the serial to live up to its potential, even when it constantly trips itself upwards in the process.
If I'm existence completely honest, I'm also only a sucker for sappy romance, and Twin Star Exorcists has it in spades. Over the course of my many reviews for the series, the one constant joy that the show has provided is in watching its protagonists, Rokuro and Benio, abound upwards together, and somewhen grow to love each other. The initial premise had a lot of potential to be off-putting, what with the ii of them beingness destined as teenagers to eventually ally and sire the savior of all Exorcists; in spite of that, though, the two form a bail that is not only sweet, but earned. Over the course of the last year these two have shared their trials and tribulations together, and they've supported i another through everything, be it the mundane worries of sharing a domicile together or the more pressing issue of saving the globe from evil demonic forces. I've found many romances in this medium to feel somewhat trite, oftentimes even artificial, so to encounter a relationship that feels and so unexpectedly real has been a genuine care for.
True, maybe I'm a fiddling biased, since I'thou recently married myself, and therefore much more susceptible to this kind of lightheaded YA romance. I will fully acknowledge that. However, I honey Twin Star Exorcists, warts and all, and I'one thousand glad to have followed it for the last year, through thick and thin. Do I feel guilty for loving it and then much? Maybe. Exercise I regret it? Admittedly non.
Sam Leach - School Rumble
Okay, that might not be how opinions work, merely out of all the shows that I love from the bottom of my middle (mostly activity stuff like One Piece, DBZ, and FLCL) School Rumble stands with the best of 'em. I've watched the 50-some episodes about seven times through its entirety and it manages to get me choked upwardly and teary eyed every time. Something near this serial and its bandage speaks to me on a weirdly spiritual level, particularly when it comes to Kenji Harima (who, permit'due south face it, is the real chief character of the show).
School Rumble is the perfect example of an anime that was there for me during tough times. The series is adequately mediocre on any technical levels, simply that's almost a part of the art. At that place are extended plotlines where Harima, an obvious cocky-insert for the original author Jin Kobayashi, is trying to make it every bit a below-average manga artist, and suddenly all the flaws of the character, the show, and the author just become that much more endearing. Somehow, this disposable slapstick comedy about love triangles and wacky misunderstandings manages to exist a startling, humility-filled reflection of something impressively sincere and man.
Nick Creamer - Yozakura Quartet
I have serious reservations almost the base nature of the term "guilty pleasure," only you're not hither to read me being pedantic, yous're here to celebrate some shows! And as far equally that goes, I'd say Yozakura Quartet fits the bill for being a bear witness that's kind of a mess, but specifically the blazon of mess I'1000 very, very fond of.
Yozakura Quartet is essentially a shounen action prove constructed as a series of minor arcs, in the manner of something similar Noragami. Though the title refers to a quartet, the anime actually stars a half-dozen principle characters, forth with a whole bunch of lesser recurring figures. The show takes place in a town that straddles the edge between two realities, where weird supernatural stuff happens all the time, and the town's guardians are tasked with keeping it all together.
Structurally, the evidence has basically no cohesion whatsoever. It's constructed equally a series of relatively self-independent arcs, just they're all framed as building up to a larger confrontation that never actually happens - such is the fate of adaptations of ongoing manga. The bear witness's arc construction also means information technology doesn't actually build any tension throughout, and information technology besides seesaws between activeness and slice of life tones in a fashion that makes very little feel dramatically meaningful. The show is also fond of fanservice that runs the gamut from "awkwardly misplaced" to "grossly conceived," and its characters are all pretty simply written people.
Only for all those negatives, Yozakura Quartet can be a remarkably charming place to spend some time. The show'southward piece of life foundation is the key - more than a series of adventures, Yozakura Quartet really feels similar a agglomeration of characters who live in a specific boondocks, and sometimes get called to defend that town. Early episodes dedicate as much fourth dimension to going out for ramen and managing town infrastructure every bit they do fighting baddies, and all the reanimation builds a sense of amore for the characters even if they're never all that securely explored.
On top of that, the evidence has possibly the all-time-executed activeness setpieces of any show in the last five years. Blessed with a remarkable coiffure of talented webgen animators and helmed by genius animator Ryo-timo, the fight scenes in Yozakura Quartet are fluid and amazing. The show's loose structure and diverse set of powers hateful no two fights are annihilation alike, and fifty-fifty just watching two of the leads spar is a treat. Yozakura Quartet is ane of those rare shows whose action scenes can e'er speak for themselves.
And so that's Yozakura. Kind of a mess of a prove, but also beautiful and thrilling and endearing. It's very close to my ideal comfort food.
Lauren Orsini - The World God Only Knows
I never idea I'd enjoy a show near a real life dating sim. But I loved The World God Only Knows and now it's time to stand and be judged for my lack of taste.
Our hero is Keima Katsuragi, a dating sim master and 2D woman addict. A ditzy demon named Elsie mistakes Keima's digital prowess for existent life seduction, and recruits his help in ridding hot chicks of their demonic possession. From there, a revolving door of babely damsels in distress inexplicably fall for Keima and glam upwardly his formerly solo life. Y'all desire dating sim cliches? Y'all got them. Each girl is a cookie cutter version of a dating sim love interest, from an idol vocalist to a sporty tomboy to a shy librarian. Not to mention a half-broiled premise that seems dreamed upwardly out of a gal game fan's least believable fantasy.
The World God Only Knows isn't a evidence with something important to say. It's an otaku fantasy! Withal, it's a very enjoyable one, with lively writing and gorgeous product values. And when I detect characters I dear to watch, I'm not finicky near their full-blooded, even if they do come from the anime equivalent of a cheesy dating sim.
Anne Lauenroth - Valvrave the Liberator
Watching Valvrave the Liberator is similar playing with your relative'southward kindergarten-aged kids on a vacation. Assuming y'all're not exposed to young children on a regular ground, yous enter the playroom full of your very adult expectations of how the world works, only to be utterly baffled and mesmerized past the exuberant creativity of a child's listen. Watching them add new rules to their merely just invented games without batting an eye, never hesitating to come up up with – from your own, boring adult'south perspective – the most improbable solution to what you thought would surely exist the end of the road is a thing of dazzler. It can also be highly confusing, and so ameliorate to leave all expectations (and, in case of Valvrave, also brains) at the door to fully bask the ride.
And Valvrave offers quite the ride, from an explosive start already brimming with twists and turns to an every bit insane finale in its second season, with a lot of jaw-dropping moments that are best described in 3-letter abbreviations in between. Nosotros follow our grouping of immortal body-swapping teenaged infinite vampire protagonists as they found an intergalactic resistance out of their school's backyard after discovering a boatload of retention-eating mechs underneath. The premise alone is 1 to all-time enjoy slowly, accompanied past a nice, cold drink on the side.
In best tradition of Code Geass , Valvrave wallows in its twists, always seeming to aim for a "no, they did not" reaction followed by several exclamation points above everything else. Even if these twists tend to be less grandiose than the ones its spiritual antecedent had upward its sleeves (and rarely pack any of the emotional punch), part of the fun is guessing which jokes the creators are really in on. I'g guessing nearly, if not all of them. Information technology's silly verging on ridiculous, but information technology'southward almost always entertaining.
Then there'due south "that" scene in flavour 1'due south episode ten, which has since get infamous. Every bit someone who's come up to despise vampire stories over the years, I establish information technology rather refreshing to see the "bite" stripped off any notion of romance or seduction and called by what this moment has always been a metaphor for. It'due south dark and disturbing and, considering the prove's more than outrageous inclinations, surprisingly honest. It's unfortunate that, also past nature, Valvrave isn't the kind of show to reflect on such a scene's ramifications (and dramatic potential) whatever more a child would on a bright accidental game idea before becoming obsessed with a new toy.
Valvrave isn't particularly well written or thought through. Information technology sacrifices any possibility of character development in favor of quick kicks and thrills. My enjoyment of information technology all the same didn't stem from a then bad, it'south good arroyo. I don't recall it's bad. Information technology mostly achieves what it wants to attain, and information technology's having a boom doing so.
Paul Jensen - Saekano: How to Raise a Wearisome Girlfriend
I recollect that Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend made a fault early on by looking like a more distinctive bear witness than it turned out to be. With its "let's brand a visual novel" premise and a constant stream of cocky-enlightened commentary from the characters, it got a lot of folks' hopes upwards. Hither, potentially, was a series that could take a witty wait at the increasingly stale harem comedy formula and employ it to create something fresh. What we got instead was a past-the-book genre piece that leaned on the fourth wall as a source of sense of humour but never quite fabricated its way into the realm of outright satire or genre deconstruction. If you went into the evidence's get-go flavour hoping for more, I wouldn't exist surprised if you walked away disappointed.
Personally, I enjoyed it anyway. All I wanted out of Saekano was a harem comedy that didn't suck, and that'southward exactly what I got. I tend to enjoy any kind of fiction that's willing and able to poke fun at itself, so the characters' frequent jabs at one another over their adherence to genre tropes made me laugh more often than not. Couple that with a functional (if somewhat generic) story and you've got a series that's neither deadening nor head-splittingly dumb, which in my feel is a flake of a rarity in this genre. Saekano too benefits from respectable production values, which are put to apply with an understanding that there's more to fanservice than simply throwing scantily-clad characters at the audition and waiting for the money to pour in. At that place's room for artful direction in everything, and that includes raunchy comedy.
So no, Saekano isn't going to breathe new life into a genre that'southward go infamous for recycled ideas and half-hearted presentation. Information technology's neither insightful nor artistic enough for that. If, yet, you meet information technology on its own less aggressive terms, information technology can be a pretty entertaining series. I'll admit that I was happy to hear it's getting a 2nd flavor this year. After all, if you're going to lookout man a standard-issue genre slice, you lot should at least expect it to exist a good one.
Jacob Chapman - School Days
Of course, it'south much easier to recommend the anime version, considering you're just watching rather than playing as its truly reprehensible protagonist Makoto, who plows his manner through no fewer than eight different women while worming through the motions of a relationship just earnestly enough to drive his ii master love interests crazy and ruin their lives. School Days is my greatest guilty pleasure because despite its overwhelming badness, and despite the occasional fan theories about this show existence some kinda satire of harem anime, I tin can't actually claim to enjoy information technology in a "so bad it'southward practiced" manner. Yes, it does have terrible blitheness, writing, editing, and a bizarrely barren soundtrack where music almost never breaks the unbearable awkwardness of each painful new conversation. Information technology'southward <em>bad</em>, merely it's simply non wacky or incompetent enough for me to claim that I'm enjoying it ironically. The truth is that I bask School Days for exactly the reason information technology was intended to be enjoyed: maniacal, meaningless madness. Information technology's similar building a faulty rollercoaster or letting all the wild animals loose in a theme park tycoon game. You're just letting your inner monster out in a harmless way.
The original visual novel is renowned for its hyperviolent bad endings, merely none of them are remotely as grim and vehement as the finale the Television set adaptation decided on. It's a craven and egg situation where I'chiliad non sure which came first: the insanely unsympathetic characterization of its bandage or the determination to brand its ending equally insanely cruel as possible. Whatever the case, these two things railroad into each other and then beautifully that if you have a sadistic itch to scratch, information technology's surprisingly easy to shotgun School Days in a single afternoon. The evil office of your encephalon watches a milquetoast harem protagonist finally snap and but outset taking advantage of all the women who are inexplicably drawn to him, and the adept (?) part of your brain gets to revel in the karmic carnage that follows. School Days is admittedly horrible, just it's excellent at rewarding the part of your brain that wants absolutely horrible things sometimes.
So if you find yourself yawning and rolling your optics through 1 too many anime that have turned all safe and syrupy harem on your watchlist (lookin' at you, Interviews with Monster Girls), you can let out your inner monster with Schoolhouse Days! Laugh off your frustrations as it takes all those otaku romance clichés to their almost morbid possible extremes, and then fill the emptiness that follows with something that makes you feel like a proficient person once more.
Rose Bridges - Hetalia
In that location are the anime I dearest that I consider legitimately not bad and accessible works of fine art, and eagerly recommend to friends who are new to the medium. And then, at that place's Hetalia. I think every serious otaku has at least 1 favorite that screams "that'due south so anime!" Even just explaining its premise would provoke, at all-time, raised eyebrows. There are few anime that come loaded with every bit much baggage there every bit Hetalia does. A one-act about the Globe War 2-era nations of the world equally homoerotic pretty boys! What could possibly go wrong?
Hetalia'due south troublesome reputation actually might have helped me love the show. Information technology meant I came in with extremely low expectations, figuring I would find information technology horribly offensive. I should have known amend; I'm a huge World War I/II history buff, later on all. A significant chunk of Hetalia'south humor comes from (well-researched!) history facts and references. Even all its ships are based on existent-world alliances. Its "edgier" humor is mostly based on wide national stereotypes, like Germans being strict or America'due south political interventionism. I found information technology more like to the stereotype-based humor in raunchy American comedies, and less like other anime. And of form, I can't go without mentioning that it'southward basically catnip for fujoshi, probably the biggest correspondent to its popularity. Similar ClassicaLoid right now, Hetalia managed to selection 2 of my favorite things—history, and campy pretty boys—and combine them into a bear witness that's the perfect blend of what I like in anime. Or at least, what I similar in dumb, v-minute anime comedies.
It'southward notwithstanding firmly a guilty pleasure, though, and not merely considering of that ominous reputation. Peculiarly as the seasons continue and it becomes more self-referential, its writing can be clichéd and repetitive. The art and animation are pretty standard depression-budget fujoshi fare, though fifth season Hetalia: The Beautiful Globe was a major comeback. Also, the fact that it doesn't make jokes about the Holocaust doesn't mean Hetalia tin't nevertheless be deeply offensive—mostly with countries outside of the titular Axis Powers. I unremarkably skip the Russia episodes, where Hetalia dismisses the country's aggression toward Eastern Europe as him existence "yandere." Luckily, those moments are few and far enough betwixt that they don't ruin my enjoyment of the testify, but they accept for some of my friends.
Hetalia is not a show for everyone, and that'southward okay. It's too baroque and uneven to be a must-watch for everyone. It's hard to deny, though, that it's for me. I have cat plushies of Germany and Italia sitting adjacent to me as I write this. Yes, they're my ship, besides. I might not exist proud of it, but there'southward something that keeps me coming back to this zany gag anime that feels like Model United nations on acid. I am truly "Hetalia trash."
Amy McNulty - Marmalade Male child
Fun, fluffy, and more than a tad melodramatic, Marmalade Male child was one of the formative gimmicky, slice-of-life manga and anime of my youth. At that place shouldn't be anything shameful near liking this girl-meets-boy teen romance, just not everyone agrees. I recall well over a decade ago in that location was a story in the anime customs almost an American parent discovering her daughter borrowing the manga from a library and calling for it to be removed because the parents of the 2 primary characters divorce and essentially "spouse swap" and grade 1 big, happy district family unit. On paper, this certainly does sound tacky, although it'southward far from the focus of the serial.
Loftier schooler Miki Koshikawa's life is upended when her parents come dorsum from a Hawaiian vacation cheerfully announcing they're getting a divorce—to swap spouses with some other Japanese couple they met on the trip. They're also all moving in together, along with the other couple's teenage son, handsome but somewhat odd Yuu Matsuura, who seems to savour teasing Miki. (He's the titular "Marmalade Boy," kind of sweetness but too bitter.) Earlier they tin can figure out they're destined to be together, Miki is dealing with a crush on her childhood friend, Ginta Suou, and Yuu has an ex-girlfriend, Arimi Suzuki, who simply won't permit him get. Then at that place's Miki's best friend, Meiko Akizuki, who's having a clandestine thing with one of their teachers, despite being pursued past playboy and popular student Satoshi Miwa, who grows shut with Yuu. That's merely the setup—there are plenty of additional rivals for both Miki'southward and Yuu's angel along the way.
Every character is madly in love to the signal of practically believing they can't alive without the objects of their amore, although in that location are a number of teens in existent life who feel that way, likewise. Tears falling every bit melodramatic music plays is a adequately mutual occurrence throughout the serial, although there are plenty of fun and cheerful moments in between. Toward the finish of the anime, there'southward a ridiculously bad anime-original storyline where Yuu studies abroad in the U.South. and the Americans are hilariously and distractingly stereotypical, but that's function of the trashy appeal. Marmalade Boy is not and so-bad-it'south-funny, it'south simply addicting-even-if-it's-often-unbelievable. Admittedly, maybe there is enough to be embarrassed about as a fan of this series. Even so, I can't be the just one who couldn't get plenty of all the melodrama. At that place's currently a sequel manga in Nippon set 13 years later chosen Marmalade Boy Little.
Rebecca Silverman - Leda: The Fantastic Adventures of Yoko
Dorsum when my sisters and I started to become into anime, our mother, possibly hoping we'd become over Gundam Fly more rapidly, basically bought whatsoever and all VHS tapes she could discover that looked remotely anime-ish. I have a lot of old favorites from Mom'south adventures in shopping, things like the three random episodes of Dragoon, Devil Hunter Yohko, or The Adventures of Kotetsu . (Mom bought us Jungle de Ikou! as well; I swear nosotros merely liked information technology for the music!) Those are all even so fun in their way, but the i I just tin't end loving is Leda: The Fantastic Take chances of Yoko.
Originally dating to 1985 and released in the United states in 1997 by The Right Stuf, Leda is a sci fi/fantasy mess of a film. Information technology's about Yoko, an ordinary Japanese high schoolhouse girl, who composes a piano piece to help her confess to the male child of her dreams. Somehow while she's playing information technology on her Walkman, the music transports her to another world where she almost immediately gets eaten by a flower only to outburst forth from its petals in a metallic battle bikini. Yoko teams upwardly with Yoni and a talking dog to salve the world from Zell, who appears to be evil Just Because!, and eventually her music takes her back domicile where she runs upward to her crush. As far as plots become, information technology really doesn't exercise itself any favors – the world is never realized, Zell's motives don't come into information technology, and Yoko never quite forms a bond with her new buddies. Information technology's also about every bit 80s as y'all can get without being a Cyndi Lauper music video, from the hair to the colors to the music – so much of its own fourth dimension that it feels ridiculous when taken out of information technology. Add together to this the British dub that has Yoko calling herself a "bobby soxer," a term for an adolescent girl that was actually only used in the 1940s, and you'd call back I dearest this for its unintentional humour.
And notwithstanding…there's something else about the motion-picture show that keeps me rewatching it. Yoko'south anxiety beingness relieved past her music is very recognizable, and the fact that her song can take her to another world is the sort of universally highly-seasoned idea backside many children's classics. Her mission there, as foretold by Leda years earlier, ultimately gives Yoko the bulletin that she is capable and can face up her fears – how scary can it be to talk to i boy after you lot've taken out an evil villain while wearing metallic undies? For an broken-hearted kid, that was a message that didn't (and doesn't) get old, no matter how poorly it is told. The fact that Yoko was able to render dwelling house to rubber after her adventure is also appealing. She doesn't atomic number 82 a terrible life or need a new world to fully vest; she just needs a reminder and a brief escape from reality. For me Yoko's story is an allegory of feet, where she learns that nothing tin can really terminate her unless she lets it. Possibly that's putting too much into the tale of a 1980s bobby soxer'southward strange trip to another world – but sometimes information technology's the weirdest things that bring you comfort and remind you that you can practice annihilation if you endeavor.
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Source: https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2017-02-01/what-your-biggest-guilty-pleasure/.111725
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