Review: Hatsukoi Limited

I just watched the twelfth and final episode of Hatsukoi Limited. This is one of the few recent school life love anime that I have been truly satisfied with the ending. All the characters had their own struggles, idiosyncrasies, and doubts to overcome. Many of the characters were also connected in some way to each other. All of them came to terms with themselves and their first loves. The best aspect that I think made this such a wonderful experience for me was that there was no main protagonist, and the antagonist was within themselves. Taking these kinds of approaches to this series is what made it addictive, relatable, and fun to watch.

The characters were terribly lovable, and at least one of them has a characteristic about them that could mirror someone all of us knows – maybe even ourselves. No one was perfect and had to make a decision that would ultimately complete their role. Watching each character flounder in their youth, inquire of their friends, and do some of the silliest things truly brought the pieces of this series together as teenagers helplessly (and sometimes illogically) in love. The simple, yet complex feelings of each character were something believable, and might have even struck a chord with the viewers. Many times I nearly cried out of blatant envy to have even just taste of the experiences they had. I also cried out of happiness for them – I loved them and wanted to see each of them happy, especially Kusuda and Kei, my favorite coupling.

The animation was simple, yet quality – perfect for this sweet series and exactly how J.C. Staff operates. This was a very vibrant anime with distinctive character designs that all melded well into their personalities. After a while though, the animation didn’t matter because the story was so engrossing, but even still, I noticed very few inconsistencies.

Surprisingly enough, the music for this series wasn’t at all slacked on. The OP and ED aren’t spectacular, but their lyrics were well chosen. The BGM music carried a lot of the emotional moments, but seemed to back off everywhere else. Still, there are many solemn, beautiful piano pieces that would make the OST worth getting a hold of. No qualms with the seiyuu cast either. The acting was professional and the choice of voices for each character were exactly what I would imagine for each.

Hatsukoi Limited really reminded me of what it means to be human and imperfect. Though not all of us “are in love right now” – the phrase that each episode ends with – the madness, the confusion, the doubts, the hurts, and the joys of discovering a new love are reflected accurately and truthfully in this series. Every episode hit on a different character and/or theme regarding their first love, and did not try hard to make things obscure or mysterious to the viewer. There were a few small twists, which may not hold the attention of viewers looking for something earth-shattering. However, what Hatsukoi Limited values most is the journey that each character takes to reach their destination within their own hearts, not leaving the viewer on multiple emotional cliffhangers. I’m sincerely hoping that this series gets licensed, as this anime does have a heartwarming appeal and charm that young anime fans may appreciate on various levels.

Overall: Highly Recommended
Story: 8/10
Characters: 8/10
Animation:7/10
Sound: 6/10

More screenshots?

Basquash! Amazing, yet subtle

I am loving Basquash! a lot right now. It’s actually one of my top Spring anime that I’m legitimately following closely. Despite the obvious Nike advertising, similar to Code Geass’s less-than-subtle Pizza Hut advertising/sponsoring, Basquash does it in a way that doesn’t make you say “Oh it’s a walking Nike ad”. Personally, the integration doesn’t seem nearly as awkward as C.C. having a string of cheese connecting her mouth to the pizza.

Seriously though, if you aren’t watching Basquash! you are missing out on some of the better carefully scripted plotlines and character development that have hit the scene within 2009. This compliments the series perfectly for an anime about basketball-wielding, hoop-de mechs playing a most uncouth (but highly entertaining), anything-goes mixture of dodgeball and rugby with a basketball hoop. Most certainly one of the more shockingly quality 2D/3D animated series that probably isn’t getting much attention from the fandom, but should be.

For the record, I don’t even follow sports.

Atama Ga Warui: New Changes

If you have been here before, then you will immediately notice that I have made some drastic changes to the blog. Needless to say, this blog has, for the most part, been a complete failure. Changes in my lifestyle and time spent made it so, but that isn’t the whole story.

When I started it last summer with a younger online comrade of mine, I had every intention of making this blog something special and respectable with his help. Unfortunately, as time went on, unexpected limitations to the net and lack of overall symmetry with our anime viewing soon began eroding my desire to not only write about Japanese visual culture, but also to bother putting in effort on this blog if my comrade could not. So, I left this place alone, but kept watching anime when I could.

However, when mid 2008’s summer rolled around, I began to get fed up with much of my plans being left unfinished and my time being wasted doing things that could be done later. I was still an anime otaku, but had become VERY quiet about it because of how busy I was (and still am). Soon after a few realizations, I began taking bounds to really move and do what I love and even put aside my online chatting so I could experience freedom to think and do. Because of my rekindled joy for anime, Atama Ga Warui has been thrown into this equation of rehabilitation.

So what exactly are these changes?