+ | N o v a s t o r m | +

Rating: 8.4/10

Impressions:

OK yeah, so I said I was dropping this, but I changed my mind lol. I’m having trouble discerning who the real main character is in this show. It seems like everyone is going to get their own episodes, where they are developed in terms of character, as well as episodes with another main character to enforce the friendship and bonding theme, which Manabi Straight! displays. Manabi should be the main character, as it is technically about her ‘changing the school’ and enforcing all of these notions on friendship etc. At the moment though, Mikan is getting more screen time than her. And I never knew Mikan had originally been such good friends with Mucchi.

Read more

Popularity: 8% [?]

Rating: 8.6/10

Impressions:

This series is only so-so for me now. As for many series, the initial surprise element of this show (which refers to the awesomely drawn characters and high quality) has nearly all but disappeared. I still like this more than Otoboku, but comparing it to Suzumiya Haruhi is just impossible for me to do. Anyway though, it really does look like the festival will be the ultimate goal to achieve. Hopefully through this, there will be enough uniqueness to each episode as opposed to ‘come across obstacle, think for whole episode, overcome obstacle’. The problems begin when the actions taken are similar each episode…

Read more

Popularity: 9% [?]

Rating: 8.5/10

Impressions:

Another fairly entertaining episode, with another Manabi-saves-the-day-with-inspirational-speech. However, WHERE is my Momoha? She only appears in the beginning and at the end! I can’t watch Manabi Straight without Momo. That’s just insane. She better get recruited into the student council soon and get an episode to herself. As you may or may not know, I don’t like Mei at all. However, her younger self is definitely much cuter, and Hirano Aya uses her high voice (Haruhi voice) for her. But in the present, I find her voice too deep and tsundere demeanour isn’t much too my liking. I generally don’t like tsundere’s anyway…

Read more

Popularity: 10% [?]

Rating: 8.7/10

Impressions:

The quality has dropped ever so slightly with some facial deformations, but it’s too cute to notice anyway. I wasn’t as impressed with this episode as the last, mainly because any drama at such an early stage seems unsuiting for the show. I’d prefer it to be humorous at least until the mid point, something which shows like School Rumble and Ouran excel in. However, this show is not just about young girls getting involved with schooling and creating laughter, it is also about people living up to their dreams, as well as bonding and friendship. This anime is probably meant to be rather inspirational, but as it is now, it’s just another cute and funny anime for everyone to watch. An important “goal” has already been formed, and that is to create an ideal and unique school festival. Depending on the number of episodes in total, this could be the ultimate objective of the series, and completing it would end the show. However, I highly doubt that such a goal would be presented so early in the series, so we will have to wait and see.

Read more

Popularity: 7% [?]

Rating: 9/10

Impressions:

Manabi Straight is proving to be a really hilarious and cute anime. The hilarity level of this episode is outstanding, while the cute and moe factor remain at a high. Not only that, but the story is actually appearing as well. Meaningful things actually happen in this episode. I hate stand-alone episodes that build up to nothing. The characters are really growing on me too. My favourite has to be the camera girl, Momoha. Her personality just seems so fun, and I love how she carries her camera around all the time. Also, the OP that features in this episode is simply outstanding. All the effects are done right to give that unprofessional video feel. For example, the focusing/blurring and the occasional mid-scene cuts. The song itself is alright, but the main attraction is obviously the animation. So far, ufotable seems to be keeping the quality up, and I hope this series is no more than 13 episodes. That is, unless, some intricate plot is introduced, which could take it to a 26 episode series. Actually, if the comedy can keep up, I wouldn’t mind a longer series even without a plot (example, School Rumble).

Read more

Popularity: 10% [?]

Genres: Comedy, school-life
Studio: ufotable
OP: “A Happy Life” by Megumi Hayashibara
ED: “Lucky & Happy” by Megumi Hayashibara
Official Site: http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/manabi/ | http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/manabi/ | http://www.ufotable.com/manabi/

Rating: 8.5/10

Impressions:

Wow, talk about a giant loli fest! You are bombarded with cuteness and moe the instant you begin watching this show, and that’s an especially good thing for those lolicons and paedophiles out there. Apart from the lolis. A few famous voices are also present. A few you might notice are Hirano Aya, who voices Mei; Horie Yui as Manabi, as well as Nonaka Ai who does Mika. Nonaka Ai is the seiyuu who voices Konoka from Negima by the way. Even so though, it’s a bit frustrating since I’ve heard these voices before, but they were all attached to more matured bodies than this. Thankfully, my tolerance of bad or unfitting voices will save me from this in no time. Storywise, Manabi Straight has a lot of potential, but being a school type anime, it can only go so far. The quality is very high, while the colouring, backgrounds and the hair gradients are all especially pleasing to watch. I will definitely blog this, though being an anime about nothing will be pretty hard to write about each episode. I’ll come up with something though.

Read more

Popularity: 11% [?]