Sawako's existence: a pure, unspoiled girl, gifted with a charming, near heartbreaking innocence is the most outlandish element of Kimi ni Todoke. The rest of the cast - whether it is the perceptive Ayane or the manipulative Ume - demonstrate traits expected from people, adolescents especially. But Sawako doesn't. Her boundless appreciation for the simple things she experiences, whether that's dinner with friends, karaoke after school or eating lunch in the company of others could easily become tiresome; however her plight is so utterly genuine and her reactions so heart-warming that it overrules the presence of obvious genre tropes and raises a pang of guilt for not believing her character could exist outside of fiction.
the niggling worry that her downfall is only a misinterpreted gesture away begins to ebb
Sawako Kuronuma hasn't experienced the best of school - her isolation from her peers was neither self inflicted nor maliciously enforced. Upon entering high-school however, the affable Shota Kazehaya - who effortlessly makes friends and interacts with people - catches her eye. Sawako envies his personality, but when out-of-the-blue he comes to speak to her one day, her whole life changes as classmates become close friends and she begins to enjoy a more fruitful school life. The change is not without its tribulations though: jealous rivals for Shota's affections attempt to sabotage Sawako's prominence in his eyes and the burgeoning affection she feels for him leads to a number of misunderstandings. As the school year draws to a close, Sawako wonders if she will be able to let Shota know just how much he means to her.
With a premise reminiscent of My-Otome and championing the current trend of snotty faux-aristocrats, Ladies versus Butlers starts as it intends to continue: copious, pointless fanservice. The frantic first episode is chase across palatial school grounds which sees girls of an acutely fair disposition faint at the very sight of a teenage boy with unkempt hair and a scar, compounded by a bevy of situations which disrobe or otherwise strip the numerous busty schoolgirls of their pride and decency. The opening episodes cater to a wide variety of deviances and with many names from Kanokon on this production, the series is sure to be replete with many more.
one the most flagrant examples of the arrogant but ditsy archetype so favoured by lazy writers
Akiharu Hino, for reasons not yet disclosed, recently transferred to the prestigious Hakureiryou school which educates both upcoming maids and butlers as well as upper class ladies (and one gentleman) on matters such as etiquette and intense loafing. After his disastrous introduction to the snooty Selnia Flameheart and a brief exposure to a number of the madcap student body of the school, he runs into Tomomi Saikyo, a childhood friend he had hoped to have left in his past. Remembering her only as scheming and devious, her presence in the school is bizarre but not as much as Akiharu's misadventures during his tenure at the most bizarre of campuses.
Stepping back into Moonphase territory while simultaneously riding the resurgent interest in vampires, SHAFT and director Akiyuki Shinbo take on the adaptation of a manga infamous for its racy content and violent overtures. The first three episodes of Dance in the Vampire Bund demonstrate little of the latter and a lot of the former, sparing no expense in keyframing the vacuous male lead slathering neon green liquid onto the diminutive protagonist's naked body. It's uncomfortable for all the wrong reasons and coupled with the blindingly over-animated opening, the series projects itself as yet another tiresome indulgence by a studio producing more misses than hits as of late.
animation is [...] wholly imbalanced lavishing detail on the frequently disrobed Mina and remaining unspectacular elsewhere
Mina Tepes is a vampire of some repute who, after introducing herself to Japan via the high-veracity medium of a late-night talk show, throws herself at schoolboy Akira before attending the school itself. It transpires that she and Akira have a history together and - what else - made a pinky-promise that despite his untimely memory loss, remains important to the confusingly twee vampire princess. When her life is threatened on the outskirts of the under construction vampire island, Akira comes to her rescue and regains some of his fractured memories, however his ordeal is not over when a school council plot to evict Mina from their school turns into a competition to detain the unwilling Akira.
