Anime Blog 106: Aoi Hana

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Blue_Flowers

Aoi Hana is an 11 episode Yuri (by manga demographic) anime.

The story follows Fumi Manjome as she moves back to her childhood hometown, reunites with her childhood friend Akira, creates new friends, and explores the concept of love.

Fumi is in love with her cousin at the beginning of the anime. But her cousin is getting married and this causes her to be depressed. She manages to move on by falling in love with her sempai. The 2 begin to date. Now I don't want to spoil anything but they don't last and something that her sempai (Sugimoto, I think) says to her about remembering her first love helps her to get past her 2 lost loves and realize who she really loves in the end.

The story was really cute. There was only 1 kiss scene and it happened pretty early on but overall I can say that it ended pretty well and left room for a sequel (which we won't get but hey, that's why we're supposed to read the manga!). Also. Huge love triangle...but not between the people you expect!

The art was really nice, I enjoyed it. It reminded me a lot of Emma: A Victorian Romance for some reason...

So. Art!

Akira and Fumi

Pros and Cons:

Pros: 

• Cute story
• Interesting Characters
• Great development between characters
• Simple but deep
• Art :D

Cons: 

• Only 1 kiss scene (I really wish there was 1 more!)
• Needs that 2nd season

There you have it! If you're looking for a nice, sweet romance but the kind that involves a lot of emotional growth, this is for you! Plus it's short and sweet!

Thanks for reading! Until next time, 

~Kei

Anime Blog 105: Hakuouki

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haku%C5%8Dki

Hakuouki is a 53 episode anime with a recap OVA and 2 movies.

The anime is based on the Hakuouki series of video games. Seasons 1 and 2 follow Chizuru as she searches for her father. She ends up living with the shinsengumi and discovers their secrets. The biggest being that the shogunate has the shinsengumi testing this drug called the ochimizu. It turns whoever drinks into into a "rasetsu" which is basically a demon, but the big flaw is that the rasetsu suffer from bloodlust which causes them to go berserk. **kinda a spoiler: many members of the shinsengumi become rasetsu** which is a whole section of the plot and Chizuru discovers the truth about herself and the secrets that her "father" has been keeping from her.

There's a cute 6 episode OVA season before season 3 that has Chizuru dressing as a geisha and spying for the shinsengumi...and it fails terribly. :D but it's so cute :D all 6 episodes are telling the same story from different character's POV so you get to see everything that happened that night.

Season 3 is a prequel to the anime. Telling the story of how the shinsengumi became the shinsengumi and why they're called the Wolves of Mibu. It introduces another character who stays with shinsengumi for a while but "leaves" in the end which is why he's not in S1 or S2.

The movies are a retelling of S1 and S2 and they change a number of things, mostly in a good way. They are a more direct sequel to S3 since in movie 2 you actually see Ryunosuke (the character from S3) and the ending is much different than that of the anime.

S4 is a little chibi version of the show if the shinsengumi were able to live normal everyday lives. It's super cute and really funny to see the interactions between the characters!

Overall I really enjoyed this show. It was easy to watch and very interesting to see these versions of the shinsengumi :D

ART:

L-R: Okita, Saito, and Hijikata

So, pros and cons

Pros:

• Good storyline
• Great characters
• Hijikata :D
• Interesting plot points
• Good fight scenes
• Nice art
• HijikataXChizuru

Cons:

• Sadface in parts of the show

So that's it folks! Watch this one!

Thanks for reading, until next time!

~Kei