I've finished a bunch of series since my last update, so I am going to condense my reviews into brief paragraphs instead of using the usual length.
Chu-Bra: Chu-Bra is a strange show, and I don't recommend it. It presents itself as being something like a coming of age story for girl's underwear. Chu-Bra contains educational information on girl's underwear, but I'm not entirely sure how accurate its "educational" information is, and the show does present itself as being sincere on average, however, the show also delves into sexualizing these middle school girls through scenes filled with breasts and panty shots, which is unnerving, and it spoils whatever credibility they were trying to achieve or maintain.
Sora no Woto: Sora no Woto is perhaps the most beautiful looking show that I've ever seen. The backgrounds are meticulously detailed, and the characters look fantastic — they are in the same style as the characters from Kannagi, which isn't surprising, since both shows are produced by the same studio, A-1 Pictures. One of the most interesting aspects of Sora no Woto is its setting; Sora no Woto is set in a modern, post-apocalyptic, alternate history Europe, and a war between the Holy Roman Empire and Helvetia — which I assume is France — has recently ended, and peace treaty talks are currently ongoing. However, most of the time, Sora no Woto does not embrace its own fiction, and most of the show is spent looking through the eyes of the young army girls stationed in a Helvetian town, Seize. I'd classify the show as being slice-of-life, and I quite enjoyed it, but sometimes the show delves into dramatic and suspenseful moments to embrace its fiction, which just makes me ponder that this show might have been magnificent if the creators completely embraced Sora no Woto's world.
Omamori Himari: I absolutely loathe Omamori Himari. I don't recommend it to anyone. The show is about a teenager named Yuuto that is a part of a lineage of demon slayers, and once the charm that his deceased grandparents gave him wore off, his family's body guard has to move in and protect him from the demons that are starting to appear before him. Yuuto is completely useless, and he remains useless for the whole duration of the show. His bodyguard, Himari, is a highly sexualized girl with huge breasts, and she's entirely subservient to her master, Yuuto. She's also a complete idiot and insists on destroying herself to save Yuuto many times throughout the show. Himari's character is insulting and misogynistic, and the whole show is filled with sexualized encounters and mishaps that would love nothing more than to actually become pornographic. Omamori Himari is
ing revolting.
Hanamaru Kindergarten: I loved Hanamaru Kindergarten. One of the reasons I enjoyed it so much is that the main character, Tsuchi, is quite empathetic — I was able to relate to him in a couple different ways, which was pretty cool. Hanamaru Kindergarten is a comedic, slice-of-life show that's about Tsuchi working as an elementary school teacher. The show is quite cute and innocent, and it's completely hilarious — though, the joke about Anzu, one of Tsuchi's students, being "in love" with Tsuchi became stale and annoying after the umpteenth time, however, don't become fixated on that running gag because Hanamaru Kindergarten is much, much more than that. I absolutely loved that each episode had its own ending animation and theme; the Space Battleship Yamato inspired ending was hilarious and one of my favorites. Unfortunately, the last two episodes of the series aren't as humorous as the previous episodes, and the conclusion of the series was very unsatisfying. Overall, I highly recommend Hanamaru Kindergarten.
Myself;Yourself: I thought Myself;Yourself, during the first five episodes, was generic and boring. It's not because the show is bad, but it's because the first five episodes are similar to a lot of other shows that I have seen, so the lack of originality made the show feel mediocre. However, after episode six, the show takes a distinct change in direction and execution — Myself;Yourself becomes much more mature, dark, and dramatic than the previous episodes. Some of the moments were even unpleasant because of how unnerving they were. I would characterize it as a more realistic, albeit toned down, version of When They Cry — it wasn't as good as When They Cry, but it's the only show I can think of at the moment that's somewhat comparable. Myself;Yourself nicely ties everything up at the end, but the ending felt slightly jarring. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in dramatic and suspenseful high school dramas.
