worse than obama, clinton, mccain
Categories: anime
Tagged: clannad:ryou, kimikiss, true tears, true tears:hiromi
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I’m staring at November on my calender, and the though of picking from Obama, Clinton, and McCain makes me queasy. Now I know how the Kimikiss girls feel.
(Man, I could sure use a Kamina balloon.)
Right now, the three most frustrating series for me to watch (yet I continue to watch for reasons that I do not understand) are Clannad, True Tears, and Kimikiss. Clannad is simple. I demand high definition when it comes to delicious thigh meat. This aspect is well established. To make it worse, reader Ithekro points out, “Since they are twins, would Ryou’s thighs be just as good as Kyou’s. Maybe there should be a study.”
Hell yeah! But being reminded of Ryou… well… it adds to the frustration, doesn’t it? Nevertheless, this post is not about delicious twincest thighs. It’s about frustrating male leads that sink series.
(Though part of me is screaming… “WRITE ABOUT DELICIOUS TWINCEST THIGHS!!!” as probably 150% of my readers.)
Kimikiss is an interesting beast. I’ve been watching it strictly on 2X speed the past 10 or 15 episodes, and it’s actually watchable like that. But my main frustration is I can’t stand any of the male leads. There’s Kouichi that the girls seem to begrudgingly coalescing around, much like McCain and the Republicans. He’s so vanilla and bland that I think of him as The Cardboard Guy. I mean, Kouichi, not McCain; McCain’s the POW Cardboard Guy. There’s Kai, which was the cool one that really wasn’t that cool. Seriously? Can you imagine AC Slater, The Fonz, or Dan-kun taking out the trash? He’s like Edwards, and I think of Kai as The Too Cool For School Guy. There’s Kazuki, which is just The Whipped Guy. The Whipped Guy is only fun if he’s wearing a Doug Christie jersey (Sacramento vintage, of course).
And the male leads are, by far, the weakest part of the show. The girls aren’t terribly interesting (there’s not a Hinagiku or Kotomi-chan amongst them), but they’re not terribly boring. They’re on par with the Lamune girls, and that’s not a bad thing. If they engaged in more wanton acts of fanservice and had a meido amongst them, maybe I’ll dump them up to around Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei girls.
But what Kimikiss does have a decent slice-of-life atmosphere around the stories, it’s more coherent than Da Capo II, better animation than They Are My Noble Masters and Rosario + Vampire, and a great OP in the redone version of Aozora Loop. (Probably not a good thing if the OP is the only portion of the show I watch in 1X speed.) Kimikiss should be a better show with at least around a B ceiling, but thanks to the horrible male cast, it’s being dragged down closer to a C.
I’ve joked before that various characters would be a godsend to Kimikiss as a male lead, and I can only imagine someone like Hosaka or Dan-kun carrying the show. It would raise the potential ceiling at an A (GAR “A” for Hosaka, train wreck “A” for Dan-kun, or is it the other way around?) It’s to the point now that the Gundam 00 cast would be an upgrade. I mean, that’s how bad things are… when Setsuna F. Seiei and Pink Cardigan Tieria are upgrades. That’s like saying Windows Vista is better than Microsoft Bob.
(The manga, Kimikiss ~Various Heroines~, does a much better job with the male characters. They’re more… anonymous and un-central to the story, which isn’t a bad way to go. If you can’t figure out interesting or at least non-sucky male leads, just don’t have them do much or impact the story much and just focus on the girls. That’s not a bad route. Fanservice and melonpan are a much better alternative than Kai’s jazz angst.)
Suffering from a similar fate as Kimikiss is True Tears. True Tears has very good animation. I don’t think they’re in the same class as Kyoto as Jeff does, as Kyoto’s mechanics, framing, and CG assists are still better. P.A. Works does do awesome overhead shots, and they do sneak in random fanservice (like Jealous Half-Sister putting on her pants in episode 5). But…
BIG RED FLAG: P.A. Works decided to rewrite the whole frickin’ game! They decided to rewrite, rescript, and restyle everything. (A lot of “inspiration” for the characters and the setting just so happen to resemble the area near P.A. Work’s headquarters, according to Wikipedia’s entry.) It’s an interesting decision as the final product shares nothing in common with the original game except the name. Usually when a production company stumbles, it’s because they do deviate from the original source material (I’m looking at you, Gonzo), and look at Kimikiss. The weakest link of that series are the three anime-original characters: The Cardboard Guy, The Too Cool For School Guy, and the Whipped Guy. For True Tears, I kinda wish P.A. Works sent less time on the art and more time on the story.
Unlike Kyoto which has done a great job in bringing forth Fumoffu and Clannad, I’m perplexed by the narrative of True Tears. The two male characters oscillate between unlikable and brain dead, and the three female characters aren’t much better. While the three female leads are saved by the fact that all three could go stabby, the male characters are just… ugh. Shinichiro does seem like a typical harem male lead, only instead of helpless, he seems to go out of his way to antagonize the girls around him. He doesn’t make conversation, instead he seems to tolerate conversations. For example, in episode 4, he has lunch with the Chef Girl, and the Chef Girl does like 90% of the talking. Whenever Shinichiro did open his mouth, he depressed the scene.
(Yeah, a depressing, surly guy full of self-pity… perfect harem lead!)
The other guy who is supposedly “dating” Chef Girl is a bit better. I see him more of a Taniguchi-role, which would be great, except Taniguchi’s a third string character, and this guy is a starter. Miyokichi’s problem is that he’s a bit too one-sided, and he’s only there to be Shinichiro’s buddy. He’s not there to activate more storylines. They’re not Renji-kun/Hiro and not even Kouichi/Kazuki. I just hope they’re not Kyon/Itsuki or Lulu/Suzaku. So True Tears ends up reducing down to Shinichiro, The Crazy Girl, the Jealous Half-Sister. and the Chef Girl.
And I’m cheering for any of the girls to go stabby and put Shinichiro out of his misery. The problem? It’s a selling itself as a slice-of-life harem anime! Unlike Higurashi and School Days which were both not slice-of-life harem anime, yet the characters seem primed for that fate. True Tears lulls you with the pastel tones, the graceful music, and the typical harem moments (like when the Jealous Half-Sister wrapped her scarf around Shinichiro, only I wanted her to strangle him with it), but it’s dying for a good stabbing.
But picking which one of the three girls to stab Shinichiro first… well… that’s like trying to pick between Clinton, Obama, and McCain.
42 Responses to “worse than obama, clinton, mccain”
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I will just say I don’t agree with you concerning True Tears. That series has potential to become a very worthy drama or an epic Greek Tragedy.
Oh noes.. so THAT’S what happened to Doug Christie.. Bad times in cowbell town, bad times. ohandbtw, I totally just wallpapered kyou on myspace, and Ryou might be next! But it’s too bad my old Luna4 and 5 themes don’t have a purple color, I could almost have my entire computer Kyou’d out! ANNND if we ever get a Ryou version of http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/2513/kyoufc6.png + 2 monitors= symmetrical thigh meat docking?? My pants totally didn’t just get tighter on me.
I’m surprised to learn that the anime series shares nothing in common with the game, but if the game sucked perhaps it was for the best?
Still, I don’t think True Tears is as bad as you put it out to be. It’s still a solid, engaging piece of drama though yeah, Shinichiro can be quite a dick sometimes.
Were this the Soviet Union I would demand that you cease your anti-True Tears Propaganda at once, but that is not the case.
I know that you are an ardent supporter of “dancing with the one who brought you,” however given that the anime has occupied the top results of the google search maybe the game itself was not that great to begin with. Sure we would like all our male leads to be Kyon-clones or flamboyant Hosakas, but since the male leads are lacking it makes Noe aka Dead Chicken Girl shine all the more brighter. Besides I wrote off Harem male leads as a collection of idiots whose manliness is suspect, then again I subscribe to a more Prussian tradition of masculinity. For me Kyon was likable because he was rendered impotent by the glory of Haruhi-sama, I don’t like his Kyon-ichi or his Clannad incarnations nearly as much if at all.
Also I doubt many of us who have stuck with True Tears want to see anyone die, and what you propose would betray everything that has been accomplished thus far. I have a far higher opinion of Nobuse and Isurugi Jun, at least the latter is capable of punchy dialog when called for. Besides Shinichiro is an artist and artists are rather strange and perplexing creatures that are much more prone to emotional stimuli than a boring science truppen. True Tears has surprised me from the get go, like you I was skeptical at first, but that swiftly passed, but perhaps being in the anime trenches for so long has made veterans like you wary and suspicious. I nevertheless hope for the best, and to quote FDR “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
Let’s not forget that even Kyoto Animation did not strike gold the first time after all who still talks of Munto? I hope that you are proven very very wrong on this one. I have no desire to see it end with weapons. School Days was built upon the “bad endings” however as you put it yourself it was a missed chance for a legitimate three or more-some. True Tears is a different series altogether since this is essentially an original work. If by chance you have heard good things about the game story line please do share. Unlike most anime viewers I am in the minority that doesn’t like Japanese menu navigation games universally so I remain utterly ignorant of what the game has to offer.
I like to root for the underdog ans given that these guys are new comers I am more than willing to cut them some slack. Still if it does end in disaster then I am sure that Clannad will have enough thigh meat to console you. Shin-chan is a twit, but I don’t watch True Tears for him.
As for the Clinton, Obama, McCain (aka elderly matron, idealistic youth, pragmatic warrior) dilemma my path is clear.
As far as the Clannad girls go, I really, really wanted to like Ryou…but god she fails SO HARD. She’s definitely alright, but the rest of the cast puts her to shame, because they’ve actually shown personality. Ryou is too shy, which I guess is moe for some folks.
There are some relatively decent mediocre male (not Hosaka, Dan-kun, or Kyon class, but decent) leads out there. They just get horribly lost in the all the garbage that is television.
I can think of two off the top of my head. Rin Tsuchimi (from Shuffle!), the guy slit his wrists for Asa. How many spineless male leads SLIT THEIR WRISTS to save a girl. Other than that, and his exceptional tolerance for psychological abuse, he’s pretty unremarkable.
Yamato Akitsuki from Suzuka too. Bro has got balls definitely. Not ONLY does he go for the girl who crushes on him (instead of the girl he’s interested in), he’s man enough to realize that he wasn’t doing it for the right reasons. Guy’s a bloody idiot, and utterly hopeless, but manages in his own way.
I like Tomoya over Kyon. Tomoya still his masculinity.
Kimikiss is the worst of these three series. Male characters just don’t have the balls. It’s a kindergarten level of relationship. Kouichi and the second guy – no comment, Kai – the most boring man on Earth (and I can’t stand his seiyuu, exorcist in Mononoke).
Girls are also quite archetypal – a childhood friend, shy librarian, tensai shoujo (however, Eriko is the best of them).
It would be better if Mao didn’t fall for Kouichi, now it obviously follows typical harem scheme. I don’t like this frog like faces, it’s definitely not MOE.
True Tears is quite nice. It has some Air like atmosphere (tears, heavens and all this mystical stuff represented by Noe). With Hiromi it’s hard to say how the story will develop (incest is very popular lately in harem anime). And of course TT girls are moe.
Clannad might be better than Kanon 2006. Thanks for tights.
I for one am getting excited by the new guy in True Tears (Noe’s brother Jun, and not in that way), he’s slick, preceptive, and cunning.
He seems to be the type that’s ready to do underhanded things to make Noe happy and isn’t worried about who gets screwed. And I can’t wait to see how it plays out.
It also helps that Noe is extremely moe. That oversize jacket, those cute boots and crazy personality has me hooked.
I completely agree with the points on Clannad and Kimikiss though. I finally cracked and watched 4:3 Clannad just now, sadly. And I don’t really love Kimikiss but I keep watching it anyway, probably because it’s inoffensive.
Bitching about american poilitics? Hell, at least it’s interesting, as opposed to down here (australia), you have a second string martin luther king wannabe, a crazy lesbian, and an ageing religious right dinosaur with a fake smile. As a very keen external observer, i’ll just say you dont know how good you have it. All we get here are weiners and dickheads running for office. american poilitics are interesting, very few other countries have that.
Anyway, as far as true tears goes, the only reason i keep watching it is Noe. Gorgeous Noe. I really don’t see any of them going stabby, though if any of them do, it’d have to be Hiromi – she’s got the Kotonoha vibe.
Oh man… I watch all three of these as well and I’ll agree with Xian on his point, Kimikiss is definitely the worst one. I, like Skynet, am still watching Kimikiss for who knows what reason, but Clannad and True Tears are both shows I look forward to greatly every week, and cringe at the sight of the latest episode of Kimikiss showing up on my TokyoTosho RSS Feed. I did read in other places that the source material did suck for True Tears, maybe PA Works is doing us a favor, don’t compare them to Gonzo just yet.
Usually I agree with everything you said but I have to disagree with you on True Tears. Unlike your standard harem series, it doesn’t follow the infamous “lets use 3-4 eps on one girl for her story and move on to the next one forgetting all about the previous girl.” I find it better paced than most series in the same genre. And yes, we have seen too many loli killer shows (yes I’m looking at you higurashi, nice bo… school days) and now every time I think of an ending to a harem series I always think of someone stabbing another… However, I really doubt we will see another Kaede, Rena, Sekai, etc… well hopefully not. And who said the source material was bad? I don’t know much about the actual review but the game seemed pretty good to me when i played it even though it had NOTHING to do with the anime version.
As for Clannad, I really suggest playing the game for if your looking for moar twincest goodness because Kyoto will only disappoint us once more just like Kanon. The game was much better anyways, although I haven’t finished it yet. For those who are interested, there is an unofficial english patch floating around the net that translates roughly 90% of the game. Of course, you need to own a copy of the game yourself though.
And for Kimikiss….. I gave up on this series a long time ago. The 2x speed button is truly your friend.
However my opinions doesn’t have any credibility since I am a person who has watched countless generic harems and enjoyed them most of them (YES I WOULD TAKE 100 EPS OF DA CAPO AND WATCH IT ALL IN ONE SITTING). Although I enjoy more of the Visual Novel/Eroge than anime. Now excuse me while i play Utawarerumono for the 3rd time only this time i get to play it in english without having to stop every other line to check the kanji dictionary.
Kyou caused me to crack my resistence to watch Clannad in 4:3. Behold, the power of DELICIOUS THIGH MEAT. Ryou isn’t too bad, I tend to think of her as Tsukasa-lite…or maybe i’m mistaken.
I really have to disagree with Jason on True Tears. For what it’s worth, it’s one hell of a gripping drama. And as male harem leads go, at least Shinichiro isn’t a complete loser. No doubt he’s sorta depressing, but for some reason he seems a lot more interesting than, say, rough estimate of 80% of harem leads out there. I mean, he freaking shouts at his mom to defend (tentative?) half-sister. I’d probably give him a 5.5-6.4 on Jason’s scale of GAR (you know, the one with Kamina at 10).
Might be my personal opinion, but i tend to prefer (harem) shows with less stabbings. Oh well.
I haven’t really watched True Tears or Kimikiss so I can’t really comment on those… but I can comment on your political views. Don’t like Obama?
Unlike Clannad however, True Tears and to a lesser extent Kimikiss actually show conflicts between the various girls. And no, the little quibble between Kyou and Tomoyo doesn’t count.
Tomoya has it easy – maybe too easy – he gets these girls one by one with just a blink of an eye. Whenever he’s done with one another strolls along into his harem. He’s a natural as we say, but by the end it’s obvious who he’s going to end up with – it’s Kyoto after all. I have to give them credit for delicious thigh meat though. Now give us Haruhi 2. Jason demands more HaruhixMikuru frolics.
Shinichiro and Kazuki on the other hand – and Kouichi soon – face a terrible dilemma (or not so terrible). Do they go for the childhood friend or the crazy/lesser crazy/tame girl? It’s this that has been gripping me to continue watching both shows, even though they either can’t make up their own damn mind or they ignore the signals from the girl who has a crush since God knows when. Poor Ai-chan and Asuka.
Kai isn’t so bad, although if he’s 4 out of 10 on the GAR scale then Hosaka is about 110 out of 10.
I think people are reading my post on 2X speed and just skipping ahead to the fanservice. Nothing new. The whole point is to point out how the male leads are lowering the series by a full letter grade. True Tears isn’t bad; Shinichiro is bad. My biggest beef with him is that he treats the girls horribly. He’s mean and surly to the Crazy Girl, he’s grumpy and surly to the Chef Girl, and he’s idiotic and surly to the Jealous Half-Sister.
If you replaced Shinichiro with like Kenji from Lamune or Haruhiko from Gift or Makoto from School Days, True Tears would be in the A range instead of the B range. In other words, Shinichiro’s VORP is really, really low. It’s like Tyronne Lue as your starting point guard.
(Good luck in the playoffs, Hawks fans.)
>> it doesn’t follow the infamous “lets use 3-4 eps on one girl for her story and move on to the next one forgetting all about the previous girl.
That’s only Kyoto’s style. Most harem series (Lamune, Da Capo, Final Approach, Wind, Gift, Tokimeki, To Heart, et al) do not do this.
>> Don’t like Obama?
Don’t like any of the three.
>> I’m surprised to learn that the anime series shares nothing in common with the game, but if the game sucked perhaps it was for the best?
General rule: source material >>>>>>> anime until otherwise proven. Reference all the “OH NOES THE MANGA WAS MUCH BETTER” cries I’ve heard over the years.
>> Unlike Clannad however, True Tears and to a lesser extent Kimikiss actually show conflicts between the various girls.
Kimikiss doesn’t have conflicts. It has awkward moments, but nothing that would require Celestial Being’s intervention. True Tears, though, does have the three girls going on the warpath for this guy. I like that. The problem is… the guy’s a creep! At least Tomoya is nice to his harem, Asakara helps his harem, and Wataru is related to his harem.
>> symmetrical thigh meat docking?? My pants totally didn’t just get tighter on me.
Yep… these are my readers.
My problem with True Tears has been most of the characters; they make bad judgement decisions and then they seem to bask in them. I don’t have a problem with one or even two characters who mess up or are in a difficult situation and don’t try to get out of it, but when I see Shinichiro, Ai and Hiromi just sinking deeper in their problems I feel like I have to scream. I might drop it soon.
I’m rooting for Barack to win. But a Hillary is fine, too.
The Study provides us with SS grade thigh meat. Many willl now dine on Ryou/Kyou for dinner each night. My follow Americans, at least we have chicken….er Fujibayashi!
Sometimes, the strength of a fiction is how it reflects reality, and those ‘weakness’ and ‘bad behavior’ of Shinichiro is what I expect normal high school boy in Japan or Korea would typically act. Given how Japanese and Korean society tends to oppress anyone who shows signs of individuality or independence, it would be unlikely for Shinichiro to openly protest his mother’s treatment of Hiromi from the start, think of Noe as more than mere nuisance, or pay special attention to a girl who is not his first choice, since it is likely his first choice was Hiromi since when he was very young.
“If you replaced Shinichiro with like Kenji from Lamune or Haruhiko from Gift or Makoto from School Days, True Tears would be in the A range instead of the B range. In other words, Shinichiro’s VORP is really, really low. It’s like Tyronne Lue as your starting point guard.”
The only thing I really remember Tyronne Lue from is playing as the Lakers in NBA Live 03 or something and using him as foul meat when I would get too touchy with Derek Fisher. The fact that he is now a starting point guard does not bode well for a team. Although, the Hawks are in the Eastern Conference so that’s not saying much.
As for the actual post, I agree with your assessments of the males in True Tears and Kimikiss. The sad thing is I really didn’t think much of commenting on them because they are so meh like almost every other male lead these days. I seem to be only driven to comment on superior male leads these days and relegate the rest to the “box of cliche, reusable harem male leads.”
Shin is a creep and he doesn’t really deserve any of the girls, but calling him a creep, then saying it’d be better if it was Makoto from school days is just wrong.
I mean, if we’re going to head to a stabby ending, it can come about as easily on the idiotic moron Shin is now as it could on horrible creep Makoto.
That being said, I’m liking true tears alot(creep male lead notwithstanding. I’ve learned not to expect anything from male leads. That way when a Tomoya comes along I’m pleasantly suprised, and when Shinichiro turns out to be kind of a surly grumpy asshole, I’m not suprised at all).
>> General rule: source material >>>>>>> anime until otherwise proven.
Well I think Minami-ke is a good example. I’ve read the manga after watching the anime… and well, let’s just say I didn’t get past chapter 1.
More than likely it’s the seiyuu behind all these harem leads who are at fault. Moreover, it’s the director and seiyuu choosers for all these series. STOP HIRING THAT GUY’S VOICE stop with the wimpy-sounding males and Itsuki best friend set ups!!!
Concerning that, I enjoy the rest of true tears with the majority. Everyone in the show behaves believably with drama-perfect personalities. I also like how the show stabs at its own genre (Kya! Ecchi! from the first episode is a sure sign) and showing it’s not just another harem/romance show (although it actually is, but an entertaining and ‘original’ one at that). As much as I enjoyed Nice Boat, I think they should only be reserved for only ones whose sources actually have Nice Boats. true tears is coming along just fine, thank you very much, and I’m looking forward to it more than CLANNAD.
As for X2 speeds, I love that nifty little feature (button, hotkey, etc.). Shounen show too draggy? X2! Too many slow, boring, dramatic pan shots? X2! Crappy art but decent storyline (GG~IT~……)? X2! The entertainment value otherwise lost through boredom suddenly spikes up!
Love the Moe pics in this post ^^;
Well you could always replace the boring/stupid harem lead with K1 from Higurashi. So even if the girls get stabby he can fight back on an even level judging by his action is Kai at least. He’s not Hosaka level, but at least when he’s not going crazy, he can at least man up to fate. He still might do something stupid, but his kind of stupid has historically lead to stabby time from killer lolis. So it is probably win-win there.
Makoto?
…Seriously?
You rail on Shinichiro for being a jerk but Makoto was a complete and utter **** ** ******. His “successes” say more about the girls then about him.
WTF Makoto?
Why would you want to inflict him upon Glorious Noe?! What did she ever do to you? If there is an anime hell you better beg the forgiveness of the Anime Gods for your heresy. Otherwise prepare to spend an eternity watching harem series starring Shinji Ikari, Shin-ichiro, the male cast of Kimi-Kiss. With the only respite being every bad yaoi.
I realize that the typical harem lead is anathema to you, but touting Makoto as superior is outrageous. If you want a fundamental shift you would first have to wipe out the typical spineless male otaku who love these kinds of series, and then replace the entire population you wiped out with a collection of men from places other than Japan. That way these Marty Stus will have some spine.
I thought I was evil, but replacing Shinichiro with Makoto? Even I find that disgusting…
I respect your opinion to a degree, but dead beat baby daddy Makoto? Utlimate expression of Japanese male contempt for women Makoto? Sure he got laid over and over again but his abandonment of Sekai should never be praised, in fact being the evil man that I am I would sooner drag the man to a corn field, beat him to an inch of his life with a baseball bat, and bury him alive.
I only watched KimiKiss and drop it … it looks nice but that is about it, slice of life is incredible boring if there is nothing else to go along with it, whatever that might be … kinda like eating a bun instead of a hamburger, its simply bland.
In fact I skipped a episode and only realized it by the end of the episode I was watching and I had no will to go watch what I missed.
Also its funny how Jason talks about the male and female leads since I read Hinano entries and its all about the pairings, I think its a show that pleases neither the Shounen or Shoujo camps.
do I smell some Ron Paul revolution mebbe?
I’ll have to chime in here and air my revulsion. Makoto? SERIOUSLY? No matter how ‘vanilla’ or seemingly unlikeable the mail leads in the ‘relationship’ anime are during this season, to unleash HIM upon the hapless girls of Kimikiss et al… it’s not right. Sorry Jason, putting my foot down on this. No, just no.
I understand the jaded perspective you have with regards to male leads, but really… Not everyone can be Kyon (or his spiritual snarky descendants), or I dare say Keiichi from Higurashi — who, despite falling to psychosis during the earlier arcs, actually turned out into an okay guy by the end of Minagoroshi-hen, Matsuribayashi-hen, and the penultimate Miotsushi-hen — who is LEAGUES better than the festering piece of hate that is Makoto.
As far as characters go Shinichiro is pretty crappy. He’s almost the Shinji of harem shows. Still I like the girls because they seem a lot more ‘realistic’ than most harem anime. I think the animation is pretty top notch. There isn’t as many of the small ‘finishes’ that Kyoto is famous for (i.e. lots of people in the background all doing different things, shine from the snow, etc) but the animation is extremely smooth and the characters are extremely expressive. I think the level of detail per character is very well done. As well the direction has taken some very original steps like reshowing an event from half-sister’s point of view for instance.
I’ve yet to see any of these love show characters beat Akitsuki in Suzuka though, because he was actually a good character that actually wasn’t useless, or at least Keitaro in Love Hina who was such a loser he was totally likable although that was more of a comedy as well which is a different class of show altogether.
Honestly? Makoto the most spineless of them all? The one watching his girlfriend getting raped and instead of helping her getting it on with the next girl – while still watching the aforementioned? The one not even able to tell his girlfriend for 11 episodes long he is bedding others and isn’t interested in her anymore, because she didn’t let him grope and did not slept with him after one or two dates and therefore as he says is tiring?
His only accomplishment – besides throwing himself on the throne of hate in a merely 12 episodes long anime – is getting laid by the girls, which isn’t even his own – it’s the one of the scriptwriters. Who seriously wants to get laid by the known school whore …
Not even fictional characters deserve someone like him, so please, anything is better than a Makoto as male harmen lead.
Lay off Motoko.
Who hasn’t thought of leaving the baby mama to nail superior chicks? Plus, you know by the end of the series someone will get stabbed and the show will have a true ending (all questions about the future answered, cause the guy is dead)
>>lets use 3-4 eps on one girl for her story and move on to the next one forgetting all about the previous girl.
Now that I think about it, I think this is a reason why I haven’t been enjoying CLANNAD (and Kanon 2006) as much as other people. Haremettes keep getting shafted. ;_;
And I was hoping to never hear of Suzuka again. Though I admire the main lead for putting up with the bitch, I absolutely despise nearly everything else in the show (including the shafted nice girl whose name I can’t remember).
And Makoto in any other show that doesn’t have Nice Boats would bring the anime rating to an F. Unless you actually wanted a Nice Boat…
And upon analyzing Shinichirou, since I’m not a veteran of harem anime, I actually think he is a decent male lead. Like in ef, the inner artist perspective always shines some light on otherwise dull and thick-brained masculine brains. That or making his inner thoughts in anime format more like a (good) protagonist in a visual novel is scoring up his decency.
Did I mention that Noe is loev? ~(I) has a cockroach under his shoe.~ *shake shake*
>> Makoto? …Seriously?
Hell yeah! Kenji if you want a slice-of-life drama, Haruhiko if you want a comedy harem setting, and Makoto if you want a complete and utter train wreck that makes Gundam Seed Destiny seem like Mushishi. You shouldn’t be surprised that train wreck is a perfectly acceptable genre, goal, and accomplishment.
>> do I smell some Ron Paul revolution mebbe?
He quit. I’m voting for Charles Barkley. You can’t stop me.
>> I understand the jaded perspective you have with regards to male leads, but really… Not everyone can be Kyon
There’s no jaded perspective. There’s crappy female characters just like crappy male characters. Just because most harem series only have one male character (True Tears has only one, unless Kazuki goes Suzaku on us), and it’s more apparent if the male sucks than if a female character sucks. For example, even though Fuko is sub-par, who cares? She’s out of the story, and delicious thigh meat, Kotomi-chan, and Tomoyo took her place. If Tomoya sucked, well, we’d have to deal with him the whole series, and it’ll be a lot more noticeable.
>> Well I think Minami-ke is a good example. I’ve read the manga after watching the anime… and well, let’s just say I didn’t get past chapter 1.
I wrote a post about Minami-ke manga recently.
>> Although, the Hawks are in the Eastern Conference so that’s not saying much.
They were in seventh in the East before they lost to Detroit. The Hawks passed on Chris Paul, which I’m still shocked about, and I’m not an Atlanta fan. Can you imagine how freakin’ awesome that team would be if they had him instead of Williams?
I’ve been wanting to rant about the Gasol, Shaq, and Kidd trades too… so let me vent a bit. Pretty much by getting Gasol for 50 cents on the dollar, the Lakers are the favorites to win the title. They match up really well against any team, and they have one of the top three starting line ups in the NBA: Bynum, Odom, Gasol, Kobe, and Fish. Fish is the weak link, but he’s still better than Rondo.
Seeing a broken down Shaq in Phoenix and a broken down Webber in Oakland… I’m depressed. I remember when these guys were rookies and awesome and now they’re has-beens. Makes me feel really old. I do think the trade was great for the Heat because they can build around a core of Wade, Marion, and a top three pick (Beasley would be perfect). If Marion opts out, the Heat will be way under the cap.
(I bet all the non-NBA fans are horrified right now. I hope you’re making the Shinichiro, “Wait, my dad banged her mom?! Eww, I just pictured my dad having sex” look on your faces.)
>> My problem with True Tears has been most of the characters; they make bad judgement decisions and then they seem to bask in them.
Shinichiro, welcome to the George W. Bush Presidential All-Stars!
>> As far as the Clannad girls go, I really, really wanted to like Ryou…but god she fails SO HARD.
I like Ryou. She is a bit of a Tsukasa-lite where Tsukasa panics whenever flustered while Ryou just blushes a lot. I like panicking. But she just doesn’t get enough screentime or dialogue. I did highly enjoy her scene where Tomoya and Sunohara made her think that Nagisa was confessing to her. Panicked Ryou is a different dish than Delicious Thigh Meat Kyou.
(Though if you swapped Ryou with Tsukasa, you won’t miss a beat. Ryou’s VORM isn’t as high as Kyou’s.)
(The real shame is that they way the plot is going, we’re not getting a real Kyou story much like how we didn’t get a real Nayuki story in Kanon. Kyou’s definitely on the short list to join the Nayuki All-Stars. What a shame.)
>> The Study provides us with SS grade thigh meat. Many willl now dine on Ryou/Kyou for dinner each night. My follow Americans, at least we have chicken….er Fujibayashi!
Yep… these are my readers.
I wrote a big long thing about how Shin’s actions are justified, but it got erased. Instead I will just point out that unlike a Harem lead, Shin isn’t choosing between three girls but has already chosen one girl who has preemptively shot him down already. He doesn’t see the other two girls as romantic interests, and yet he’s being forced by circumstances into dating one of them, a weird crazy girl (moe to viewers, batshit insane to the people in the show) who happens to treat him like a chicken. Meanwhile, he goes out of his way to “help make the one I love happy” for a girl who has already admitted to him that she was already using him to try to get closer to the faux-love interest, and her response was contempt. Given all this, it’s no shock to me that he’s angsty and surly towards his true love interest and his forced love interest.
Came for the Lucky Star, stayed for the rest
McCain, Obama, Clinton? No contest. Only one candidate has both Kyou’s no nonsense personality and delicious thigh meat.
McCain ’08.
I’ve been wanting to rant about the Gasol, Shaq, and Kidd trades too… so let me vent a bit. Pretty much by getting Gasol for 50 cents on the dollar, the Lakers are the favorites to win the title. They match up really well against any team, and they have one of the top three starting line ups in the NBA: Bynum, Odom, Gasol, Kobe, and Fish. Fish is the weak link, but he’s still better than Rondo.
They aren’t quite the Shaq/Kobe team that was so successful years ago, but they got a good deal with Gasol and I think they will definitely overtake Phoenix and take the Pacific and I really don’t see any of the other top teams doing much to stop them. I wouldn’t be surprised if they take the top seed. As a guy who grew up in Southern California I’m pretty excited. Unfortunately I currently live in New York and I like to pretend we don’t have a basketball team.
Seeing a broken down Shaq in Phoenix and a broken down Webber in Oakland… I’m depressed. I remember when these guys were rookies and awesome and now they’re has-beens. Makes me feel really old. I do think the trade was great for the Heat because they can build around a core of Wade, Marion, and a top three pick (Beasley would be perfect). If Marion opts out, the Heat will be way under the cap.
I feel old too, I remember him back at LSU and coming in and playing for the Magic with such fanfare. And then when the Lakers got him I wanted to throw a party.
(I bet all the non-NBA fans are horrified right now. I hope you’re making the Shinichiro, “Wait, my dad banged her mom?! Eww, I just pictured my dad having sex†look on your faces.)
I usually get your sports references, although I think sports fans are a rarity among us blogger types.
Also remember, there was someone attempting to get an amendment to the Constitution so that your and my Governor could run for President even if he is not a native born American. While getting new amendments passed in the United States is like pulling teeth mixed with a root canal, I could guarantee he could win almost every state (except maybe California) if he was allowed to run for President. He’s that well known. I don’t know if that is a scary thought or not. Probably is, but as I said, getting it to that point would be like pulling teeth. There is little to no chance of a Demolition Man future…at least in those terms. Of course he might be a better choice than what we’ve been given this year. Whatever happened to the Teddy Roosevelts and Thomas Jeffersons of the world? Heck, even electing Snoopy President would be better than what we normally get. (Maybe Tomoyo, but she’d have the same problem as our “Governator”.)
The most facinating thing about the blockbuster trades? San Antonio is still better than everyone else. I wonder if it was always the Laker’s plan to burn money on Kwame so that one day when Kwame’s contract finally expired, they could get a great player for crap and say “haha we got a great player and didn’t have to give up anything useful!” About as smart a plan as the “jettison Shaq” plan so I wouldn’t be surprised.
Well maybe anime character trading would be entertaining if there’s one while the series are ongoing.
Since the trade is ongoing in the NBA until Feb 21, 2008….
how about anime characters get traded too..
The Kyo-Ani – PA Works Trade
Ryou and Fuko + the next three future Kyo-Ani supporting characters for Hiromi. It would be like the Pau Gasol Trade
The GONZO – Kyo-Ani Trade
All female characters of Rosario the Vampire + two future GONZO characters for Kyou and Kotomi. more likely as a SHAQ Trade?
Minami-ke – Kimikiss Trade
Hosaka for Kazuki and Kouchi + 2 future supporting characters of J.C. Staff.
This would be the Kidd deal though Kazuki (still fond of his co-experiment girl despite she told him that it ended) don’t like to be added to Minami-ke due to following reasons more likely Devean George of Dallas.
Well with Dallas losing to Phoenix Suns today, this put up Lakers on top ahead of Dallas and San Antonio. Devean George just not a difference maker despite his efforts.
On an unrelated voting topic, Rena Ryuuguu has joined K1, Hosaka, Simon, and Kamina as a Round Two winner of SaiGAR.
Make of it what you will.