Windy Tales: Episode 1

With a passion for capturing feelings and life with her camera, Nao is head of the Digital Camera Club at her school. Today, she is taking pictures of clouds on the roof of her school when she notices a cat with a peculiar ability to fly (it seems). As she tries to get a better shot of the cat and his feline relatives who seem to simultaneous lift off the ground and float in the air, she falls off the roof. Surprisingly, she has no injuries whatsoever due to the manipulation of the wind by her math teacher who happened to see her falling.

Like the title suggests, the anime is a really calm, cute and gentile. The animation and artwork itself is unlike any I've seen. Although it seems somewhat sloppy and sketchy, it really emphasizes the warm simplicity of their lives.

Welcome to the NHK

Satou Tatsuhiro is a 22-year-old college drop out. As someone who is Not in Employment, Education, or Training (NEET) and a hikikomori (one who is socially withdrawn), he stays in his apartment and has to constantly listen to the PuruPuru Purin anime song of his next door neighbor, thinking the world is conspiring against him and driving him into this hikikomori state. One day he meets Misaki Nakahara who invites him to her project to cure him of his hikikomori ways.

I've only watched three episodes of this anime, it's cute with its talking refrigerators and weird monsters. A comedy that any otaku can enjoy, but certainly not a masterpiece.

Goong

What's not to like about Goong with its references to Prince William, Michael Jackson, and hilarious monologue about poo?

Goong is set in modern-day Korea, a Korea which maintains a constitutional monarchy. It's about 17-year-old Chae Gyoung who, by a promise from her grandfather to the former king of Korea, is arranged to marry the crown prince of Korea, Shin. At first she is completely against this marriage especially considering Shin is rude and inconsiderate, but she gradually comes to love Shin even though he does not return her feelings. However, things are complicated as Shin's cousin, Yul, falls in love with Chae Gyoung on top of Shin's ex-girlfriend trying to win Shin back.

The comedic manga (or should I say manhwa) by Park So Hee has everything. Although the chibis in the manhwa are ugly, rather than cute, it makes reading it so much funnier and easy to enjoy. The style of writing is also interesting where unlike other mangas, Park So Hee oftentimes refers to herself as the author of the manga in a playful author vs. character sort of way. Unlike other shoujo manga, it doesn't have the overly predictable plots which sets this manhwa apart from the rest.

Although its excellent plot and art makes Goong a read that's hard to put down, non-native Koreans will have trouble becoming familiar with all the formalities of addressing the royal subjects of Korea. But that shouldn't stop you from reading!!

Special A (manga)

When I first picked up the manga Special A, I was drawn in by its cute artwork and loveable characters. The protagonist, Hanazono Hikari, is a hot-tempered over-the-top hard-worker. Ever since being beaten at pro-wrestling by Takishima Kei, she has gone to the same prestigious school as him just to beat her rival. Even though being in the same "Special A" (aka SA) class is an extreme achievement, her #2 status doesn't suffice while Takashima is in #1. What I love about this manga is that all the characters are care-free and interesting. If you loved Ouran High School Host Club or The Wallflower (aka Perfect Girl Evolution and Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge), you'll love Special A.

I've only read through Volume 3, but I can't wait to see more!

Nana (the anime series)

I am continually inspired by Yazawa-san work. Both her art and writing/plot-creating have really influenced me. I finished watching her series, NANA, just yesterday but was surprised of the ending. It seemed half-assed and cut short and didn't tie up the many loose ends that remained.

If you haven't read or watched the series, NANA is about two 20-year old girls from the country. Komatsu Nana is a carefree cute girl who is obsessed with her current boyfriend, Shouji. In fact, she decides to move to Tokyo to be with him once saving enough money to go there. On the train, Komatsu-san meets Osaki Nana, a punk-rock singer for her band, Black Stones (BLAST). When Komatsu stumbles upon Osaki looking for an apartment to live in, they agree to be roommates (even though they are almost completely strangers) to split living expenses for room 707 (Nana = Seven in Japanese). We see everyone's relationships with each other evolve as BLAST strives to gain stardom.

So many questions remained at the last episode: will Takumi remain faithful to Hachi (Komatsu Nana's nickname which is also a common dog name apparently and means "eight" in Japanese), did BLAST succeed in surpassing Trapnest (rival band whose guitarist is also Nana's boyfriend), did Nana end up getting married to Ren, will Nobuo ever confess his feelings for Hachi? It seems unlikely that Yazawa-san will create a sequel, but I'm left feeling unsatisfied and discontent at all the issues still left unresolved in the story. I think Yazawa-san's Paradise Kiss was much better compared to this. However, NANA, will still remain on my recommended list of shoujo anime for any hopeless romantic teen to watch.