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.

Mucchi really appears to be a boy this episode. Her tomboyishness is just too misleading, especially when she spends her time with our super girly-sounding Mikan. The two are as good as siblings or boyfriend/girlfriend. It would seem pretty normal if they were grade schoolers, with their misleadingly small bodies, though as we all know, they are in high school (year 11). They look really cute together though. But anyway, I’m still very distressed about the lack of Momoha. Where is my Momoha episode? It seems like she’s only there for comic relief at the moment, and she’s my favourite character…

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…

The fact that Momo is still a side character is killing me. I almost cried because she only makes some random appearances, and a tiny role when dressed in a hazard suit. That’s just sad. I demand more Momoha! Mei, Mika, Manabi…they all appear quite a lot, while Mutsuki and Momo are still absent a lot of the time. I hope Momoha gets recruited to the school council or something next, she definitely MUST be a main character, even if she provides nothing for the council apart from a room decoration. Both Mutsuki and Mei and meh because I don’t like their character designs at all. And yeah I know a lot of people disagree with me…

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…

It’s really amusing how overly dramatic this show is. The glitch in the presentation is treated like someone has just accidentally initiated some destruction sequence, and the way they act make it seem like they will not come out alive if the problem isn’t fixed. Mei’s save-the-day sequence is exaggerated and looks like it could come from a detective thriller movie. The same thing could be said with Manabi’s speeches. Her ideals are exaggerated so much that it’s a big surprise everyone takes her seriously. Are they really high school students? But anyway, all I want is more Momoha. Although she probably has little to do with the plot, she has that lovable happy-go-lucky personality.

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.

I’m surprised the producers go to such lengths to emphasise a point. I’m talking about the end of the episode, when Manabi comes to a realisation regarding her school’s upcoming festival, and calls upon her friends to meet at school to explain the idea. Manabi is even shown as an angel flying in the skies of a unique world that’s probably something only she would come up with. This represents her idea of creating a unique school festival for everyone to enjoy. It also strengthens the notion that this show is about realising your dreams, even if it’s at a much smaller scale, than perhaps Nodame Cantabile. I wonder about the upcoming episodes; will they consist of character-centric episodes that focus on a character at a time, like most shows about nothing do, or will they go straight into the festival? Perhaps they will include both. I personally want to see more of Momoha, as she’s my favourite character. There’s been enough of Manabi, and a fair bit of Mika too in this episode. It’s time to move on to some other characters!

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).

Opening Sequence:

[A Happy Life] by Megumi Hayashibara

Download TV size mp3 – 2.06mb: Mirror 1

Ending Sequence:

[Lucky & Happy] by Megumi Hayashibara

Download TV size mp3 – 2.04mb: Mirror 1

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.

Short Summary:

Not exactly sure but, it seems like Amamiya Manami (aka Manabi) is on a train to her new home when the episode starts. Why isn’t her brother or family with her? Who knows! All that’s important is that she is teary eyed, probably because of leaving her old home, but at the same time bursting with joy for her new life (emphasized by her screaming out “t’s beginning!”) Anyway, as Manabi heads to school late on her first day, she meets up with a fellow student called Mika Inamori, who is also a member of the student council. Manabi takes out her hover scooter and gives Mika a lift to school, where her class is having a swimming competition.

After getting herself and Mika wet by falling into the pool, she changes into her swimsuit and prepares to race. Being new, none of the other students know who she is, but she sure makes a lasting impression by getting tangled in the pool dividers as soon as she dives into the water. Fast forward a bit to a day when Mika is giving a speech about the student council and candidates for a new president to a sleeping audience, Manabi crashes into the hall and announces her wish to be a candidate for the next president. However, she is not allowed to do so as she does not know anything about the school council.

Manabi then gives a speech about the student council and other related stuff, but only ends up boring the audience further. In the end, she gets up on stage and sings the school song. Everyone is so touched by this that she is made president of the school council. Of course, when everyone closes their eyes and unanimously envisions an environment full of beautiful cherry blossoms, you know how much they like the song. Later on, Manabi introduces herself as Amamiya Manami to her new class. And throughout the episode, various characters from her new class are introduced.