[merylsilverburg]

Originally Posted by Panuru

Honey & Clover isn't as banal as it may seem just reading something about it or looking at the various artworks. I wasn't going to watch it since it looked so very cliché: the group of young college students, the romance etc... at the beginning the show is very confusing, since the story is not very clear, there are definitely too many characters to start with, and events are apparently not in a strict chronological or thematic order. Most of the time everything, from single facts to characters' thoughts and memories are more like a stream of consciousness. It took me a few episodes to get used to this kind of "pattern" of narration. Comedy and drama are also mixed together, sometimes you can't say what'll happen next. I like how characters are always deeply analyzing their situation. Love triangles aren't annoying because of that, because you get to know the inner feelings and motivations of each character, and in every moment you get to know why they act in a certain way (it's true some characters are more "mysterious" than others and you are left wondering what are their motivations when you compare their actions to the ones of other characters). Also, in H&C there's nothing superfluous. There's never a surplus of emotions or overreactions, so it's hardly annoying. It's all very measured. Every dramatic moment has its complement in some very funny scene or absurd situation. That gives you time to reflect on what you see without being too focused on the emotional side.
Well, at least that's how I see it

Hmm, doesn't sound too bad...regardless, I would've given it a try anyway. Thanks for the explanation!

Originally Posted by Panuru

Regarding Hanakimi... I had an online friend who was completely in love with this series. But it was the manga. It was... 3 years ago. I didn't know they were making the anime too.

Oh no, they aren't making an anime on this, sorry for the confusion. I recommended this to Meiko as a manga recommendation because I know a little more shoujo manga than anime. Sorry again. ^^;;;

Originally Posted by kupoartist

Another older series... Fushigi Yuugi (the Mysterious Play) is pretty cool, but hardly knock you down wonderful IMO.

Oh yeah, Fushigi Yuugi is a good one, one of the old “classics” of shoujo action/adventure genre but like kupo said, it isn't exactly very, very good. Most anime newcomers would tend to watch this first.

Here's some more I remembered:

Shoujo Kakumei Utena (Revolutionary Girl Utena): Hmm, I don’t remember if you’ve already seen or heard of this, Meiko, but this story, according to some people, is the ultimate shoujo story. I guess it’s because of the majority of female lead cast and the fact that the main character, Utena, wants to be the “prince that saves the damsel in distress” while being a woman herself. Anyway, when Utena Tenjou (the main character) was a little girl her parents died, leaving her alone. She met this prince in white who cheered her up and gave her this ring with a rose crest on it. After this meeting, she wanted to become a prince herself. Now, as a teenager, she attends Ohtori Academy, dressing in the boy’s uniform and admired by all her mostly female peers. One day, her best friend gets hurt (or something like that, I’ve forgotten ^^;;; ) by someone on the Student Council, so Utena wants revenge. They end up dueling and when Utena won, she becomes “engaged” to the Rose Bride, Anthy (Anthy) Himmemiya. There is a ton of conspiracies, secrets, and more mysteries inside the Ohtori Academy and its Student Councils and duels, which makes this anime not only a shoujo but a good mystery series as well. There are a few odd relationships between the characters, some lesbianism and some sort of incest, so if you’re not really into that sort of thing, then I wouldn’t completely recommend it. This is also another one of those "newcomer" anime series.

Ayashi no Ceres (Fascinating/Ominous Ceres): If you enjoyed Fushigi Yuugi or any of Yuu Watase’s works, check this one out. It’s not as popular as Fushigi Yuugi, but some people really enjoyed it a lot. I didn’t, because her characters reminded me too much of FushiYu’s so I didn’t want to see this. But, this story is about Aya, who just turned 16 and will have a birthday party thrown for her. But, she finds out at the party that her grandfather and rest of the family wants to kill her. It ends up that she has the blood of the Ceres, this celestial being from an ancient story. Ceres is a heavenly goddess who came down to earth to bathe, leaving her robe on a tree. When she reached for her robe after finishing, she finds it stolen and the man who stolen it forced her to become his wife on earth. Generations passed and Aya now has the cursed blood and whoever has it, will be able to transform into the Ceres who wants to exact revenge and destroy the family. This plot is interesting enough and again, Yuu takes inspiration from ancient Japanese/Chinese folk tales or legends to create this series. I’d highly recommend the Japanese dialogue, if you want to watch it.

Ai Yori Aoshi (Bluer than Indigo): Okay, I saw the first episode and just hated it, but everyone has different tastes, so this may be something you’d like. This high school or college guy is on his way home from school when he comes across this girl dressed in a traditional kimono, looking very lost and bewildered. He offers to help her and somehow, they end up at his apartment/home (non-sexual). He then finds out that the girl is a girl he knew from his childhood and now she claims to be his fiancée. That’s all I can remember. Apparently, this was incredibly successful in Japan, everyone was crazy about it, a game was created, and mangas were sold off the shelves. I suppose the story can turn out sweet, but I wouldn’t exactly call it “innocent” because half of the time in magazine shots (Japanese ones), you’d see the girl (the kimonoed one) stripping or in some sort of scantily pose, which doesn’t evoke the nicest thoughts. Also, there seems to be a whole bunch of other girls who are either her friends or his friends and so the story kinda comes off as the “5-thousand-girls-chase-1-guy” sort of plot. But, check it out if you’d like.

Angel Sanctuary: This is an OVA series, so it’s a bit short. Originally a successful manga by Kaori Yuki (and those who know Yuki would know she deals with “other side” of shoujo: supernatural, incest, homosexuality, etc.), this OVA sums up the manga in a very quick fashion, so even after watching it all, not everything is clear and the end, I remember, leaves off at a cliffhanger. This boy, Setsuna, is in love with his sister, Sara (yes, incest) and while trying to deny his affections for her, he also tries to hide his supernatural power. Sara, on the other hand, is beginning to see the Angels and Demons that are appearing on earth to come after Setsuna. Okay, that’s about it because I don’t want to spoil the ending. The idea of the incest is a bit creepy, but if you can get over that, this OVA is an okay series. If you end up liking this anime but want more answers, I’d highly recommend the manga instead, for the story and art. Also, if you want more, I’d check out her recently completed Godchild manga.

Princess Tutu: Alright, so the title is a bit cheesy and yes, it’s about the ballet, but the story is incredibly sweet and enchanting, it’s a bit hard to resist. This is one of the more recent “magical-girl” series, except the heroine transforms into a ballerina. Plus, since this is geared towards more young girls, there’s nothing unusual in it. This young girl named Ahiru (Ahiru meaning “duck” in Japanese, you’ll find out why she’s named this way when you watch it) is clumsy but lovable and is an average ballerina. She falls in love with this upper classman boy, Myuto (Mute) who seems to be extremely quiet (hence his name) and possesses no emotions. It ends up that Drosselmeyer, the famous storyteller has written this story about a Prince who is fighting against this Raven. But, Drosselmeyer died before the story could be finished, so there is no conclusion. In order to seal the Raven away, the Prince decided to shatter his own heart into pieces and now the pieces are scattered around the region. Myuto is really the Prince and Drosselmeyer is now using Ahiru to help the Prince/Myuto regain his emotions/heart again. It’s a very good series with beautiful animation at times but it can be a bit repetitive, but that’s how it is with magical-girl series. The opening and ending themes were sung by Ritsuko Okazaki, who also sang the op. and en. for Fruits Basket.

Originally Posted by Uchiha Sasuke

I would advise Please (Onegai) Teacher!

Yeah, this one, like Ai Yori Aoshi, was really popular in Japan but, just like the other one, I didn't like this too much either. The main three that came out that one year (2002?) Onegai! Teacher, Ai Yori Aoshi, and Chobits were just not to my taste but everyone else loved them.