Itazura Na Kiss: Anything Might Happen

Be warned. A little spoilers ahead.

Itazura Na Kiss started with Aihara Kotoko being optimistic and brave, might I add, when she wrote her first love letter to the male protagonist, Irie Naoki. In a shocking encounter, Irie rejected her outright without even attempting to read her heartfelt words. Before her love story begins, it has already ended. Poor Kotoko-chan. Sniff.

Itazura na Kiss is perhaps the first romantic comedy in which I get to follow the characters through the different stages of their relationships. It all began with Kotoko’s high school crush to having a wonderful family with Naoki many, many, many years later. I honestly can’t remember when was the last time I saw an anime with such complete cycle. That was nice. Having the anime aired long after the manga is completed may have something to do with it? This 25-episodes anime was aired in 2008.

What Makes An Anime Memorable?

Sure, I’ve talked about the top 5 anime I’ll rewatch countless times because I just adore it so much. Or maybe how I’d choose which anime to watch and I tend to stick my favorite genres. I won’t hesitate to give other genres a go, of course. Otherwise, I won’t be watching Haganai or Mayo Chiki. They’re not that bad. I have a habit of ranking my favorite anime of the year too.

But what make an anime memorable? Memorable, as in easily remembered. What makes it stands out more than the rest? An anime season consists of a lot of series so it needs that extra special something to stand out from the rest. After thinking for a while, I decided I have a list if a few criteria that makes an anime memorable for me.

It’s 2013! Happy New Year, Everybody!

A Happy, Happy New Year to all you lovely people! So, we’re alive and well, ushering in the new year of (googling…I can never remember what’s the Chinese zodiac) snake. New Year has arrived so that means Chinese New Year is around the corner. Don’t I just love the beginning and the end of a year where holidays are abundant?!

It’s been a fulfilling 2012 for me. Probably not in terms of blog, but life’s good, who’s to complain right? But I should be talking in terms of this blog eh? Which also means what I’ve been doing last year in terms of anime.

Hoshiko’s Best Anime 2012

My annual best anime post has returned! Strangely though, I have hard time writing this post. It’s almost as if the anime this year is not that memorable. That’s not a good sign. Granted, I was drifting in and out of what I call the “anime mode” (indulging in anime) due to work-related projects. Still, it shouldn’t be hard to recall a good anime right? Right??

Anyway, the list below consists of anime completed this year. So it means, the anime could’ve started during Autumn 2011 but completed Winter 2012.

Durarara!!’s Heiwajima Shizuo

I had this figure with me sometime in September. It took me one month later to unbox it and then another couple of months to write a blog post about it. Oh gosh. It’s not like I have no love for this figure, it’s more like I’m busy and then I’m lazy…yeah.

Alrighty, then. Coming up is more pictures of the fierce-looking, sexy male figure Heiwajima Shizuo. Besides MegaHouse’s Roronoa Zoro (One Piece) Strong World Edition Version 2, this is the only other male figure I have. I saw this online several WonFest ago and decided I gotta have it. Striking figure!

Naruto’s War

So far among all the wars I see in anime/manga world, the war in Naruto stood out. How? For starters, it is much more elaborated and the strategies were well thought-out. It’s as if Kishimoto has one hell of an experience in war. Or maybe he reads a lot about Sun Tzu. And then there was the highlighted focus on the ninjas’ personal thoughts concerning the war and their positions in it.

Strategy

A war is nothing without strategies. Whichever side that fails to come up with a good strategy will ultimately lose the war. In that respect, I truly admire the Nara family, particularly Nara Shikaku, the brain behind The Fourth Shinobi World War. In spite of the chaos that’s going on at the field, he remains calm, cool and quick in developing counter-strategies. The strategic plan of Naruto’s war is interesting to watch.

Favorite Kimi Ni Todoke Chapter So Far

I just read the most recent chapter of Kimi ni Todoke yesterday, which is Chapter 74. It’s good as usual and did enough to satisfy my monthly dose of the series. With that, in all 74 chapters of Kimi ni Todoke I read so far, my favorite chapter is still the 50th chapter – You’re Too Loud.

Oddly enough, the chapter has nothing to do with whatever’s going on in Kazehaya & Sawako, Chizu & Ryu or Ayane & Kento’s relationships. In short, it has nothing to do with romantic relationships. It’s about Chizu and Ayane, and how their friendship begun.