haruka nogizaka’s secret 1
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A cute girl? Who likes anime? Unpossible.
Haruka Nogizaka’s Secret (Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu) has a very simple premise– even for a harem setup– that the typical loser male lead finds out that the typical hawt, popular female is, in fact, a huge anime fangirl. And then their friendship and love builds from sharing this secret together. There’s really not a lot to this series, and it does fit the “if you seen one harem anime, you’ve seen them all.” But it warrants some consideration.
One, I must have received 5 or 6 e-mails after this show first aired, and all of them raved about the ED, Hitosashiyubi Quiet!, and I agree: it’s fantastic. How can I not like a catchy ED featuring dancing meido? The fact that Rina Satou and Mamiko Noto contribute vocals for it just pushes it to a whole new level.
Second, did I mention Mamiko Noto? She plays the title haremette, Haruka Nogizaka, and she does it in her usual voice, which is good since meek and shy seems to go well with Haruka.
Three, the premise is so patently ridiculous, I’m not sure where the story is going. Seriously? There’s seven light novels of this already written? If “girl doesn’t want world to discover her Code Geass DVD boxset” can generate seven light novels, I can finally begin to understand why we’re currently on 70+ episodes of Da Capo. Part of me is just morbidly fascinated with what kind of stories they can originate from this setup that doesn’t sound like a bad doujinshi:
Girl: “Oh noes, you found out I like anime!”
Boy: “Kukuku. If you don’t want me to tell the world, you’ll going to have to dress up as a cow-meido.”
(And that’s probably why I’m intrigued.)
Points of Interest
Only slightly fewer meido than one of my typical fantasies. Though it is creepy that they don’t have any faces, but I wouldn’t mind having an army of zombie meido… zombie… meido… eureka! That’s a great setup for a story: a harem anime about a guy who has a personal army of zombie meido!
Happy Lesson called. They want Kanna back.
Black Lagoon called. They want Revy back. (For a third season.)
Typical harem moment! Can’t have a harem anime without the male and female leads colliding into each other.
The typical male lead was accused of being gay in the first three minutes of this anime. I feel you should know these things.
(He’s slightly more tolerable than the male lead for Sekirei… but that’s not saying much.)
A lot of slightly more discreet (compared to Strike Witches) panty shots. Oddly enough, Haruka seems to be the only girl at the school who wears pantyhose along with her school uniform.
The way this show treats anime fanboys– it’s like they’re lepers or even worse than lepers. I don’t get it. Wouldn’t the core audience of this show be the people who watch 3AM anime? Why insult your audience? And thanks for reinforcing the odd hobby stereotype.
How come anime fanboys are never depicted as normal people who enjoy shows like Mushishi and Shigofumi as an alternate entertainment option to the dreck on TV nowadays? Like all these fictional otaku in anime all like these magical girl shows or whatnot… why don’t they ever watch something like Dennou Coil? Though I look at my traffic stats and realize that a post about Sekirei got about 2x more visitors than a post about ef, so I facepalmed a bit.
46 Responses to “haruka nogizaka’s secret 1”
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Doesn’t that explain it, Jason?
The will of the people are the reasons there are things like Saimoe. And to the average working-class person outside the anime realm, a premise like Saimoe would seem just as weird as Haruka’s premise to western anime fans.
But, sekirei can never compare to ef.
Anyways My favorite show of the season, even though I could only find 3 interesting ones, still this was my favorite thus far.
Noto is busy, but its only a good thing.
>How come anime fanboys are never depicted as normal people who >enjoy shows like Mushishi and Shigofumi as an alternate entertainment >option to the dreck on TV nowadays?
“anime fanboy” ≠“normal people” xD
No, but I suppose these “fictional otakus” are based on real life, ie watching bishojo-magical girl shows, singing along the Dango song seriously etc. Else series like Koihime Musou which clearly aren’t aimed at children wouldn’t exist.
Those that read Mushishi etc aren’t really the “otaku” ones I think, but more “normal” readers that just enjoy good stories. After all a lot of Japanese teens and young adults read manga and by far not all of them are hardcore otakus. But since they are normal they don’t really make for a funny anime.
I was disappointed with this series, because it could have been a lot more interesting and funny ….. I dropped this one almost as fast as Sekirei ^^;;
And the Ending just made me think “Haruhi-rip off” =)
You know, is a good change of pace to remind us why we found joy watching anime; I don’t mean the story, but the things that happened to both of them; back to the basic, no science fiction, no supernatural powers, no crazy aliens from space; just clumsiness and pure fun. I find those things on Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu.
I guess that’s why I enjoy almost every slice-of-life series (Honey & Clover the most). I know I’d let go some remarkable works (like Mushishi) but I don’t regretted it.
Well, nothing more to said here.
“How come anime fanboys are never depicted as normal people”
Needs more Genshiken love (difficult to describe normal, but it’s definitely more-so than most depictions!)
>You know, is a good change of pace to remind us why we found joy >watching anime
Well those might be your reasons, but just clumsiness and pure fun for sure aren’t the only thing I look for in an anime series and for sure aren’t the reasons why I started to enjoy anime. ;)
But I’m not sure what you mean by clumsiness btw, characters bumping into each other? Nor by “the basics” or by “what happens to both of them”, what’s “both of them”?. Sorry I’m not trying to make fun of you or anything, I’m really not sure what you’re refering to ^^;;
>And to the average working-class person outside the anime realm, a >premise like Saimoe would seem just as weird as Haruka’s premise to >western anime fans.
Dunno, a premise like Saimoe seems weird enough to me, even if I’m inside the anime realm. Because I’m not a “fanboy” maybe ;)
Wow. I saw the title and had to double check that I didn’t blink and miss Haruhi season 2 popping into existence. Then we have that ED there, so I’m thinking probably not entirely coincidental there.
From the people who brought you They Were 12 and Supercultural Doggirl Nakunaku!
@ Minikui
Don’t mind, maybe I didn’t make myself clear above
Anyway, anyway, this one is a series I’m enjoying right now.
It’s simple– Japanese society does not look on otaku or “strong” anime fans with much joy. They even did this a drop in Kamen No Maid Guy. The stereotype can’t be THAT weak if it’s both catered to so strongly and insulted just as much so.
Besides. Much anime is linked closely to sexual perversion of a high degree, and how can we deny? Much of it is borderline pedophelia, obsessing and reaching such tension over such the smallest details of a girl that is not even composed of flesh and blood, much less seeming like an age considered “legal” in most cases. While we can argue our points, it still strikes the general public, I would imagine, as unusual and a bit too bizarre for comfort.
All theory though; I don’t know all that much about the anime fandom, despite my posting here as frequently as I do. In fact, I don’t even consider myself an “otaku” on any level– I enjoy anime, but it’s not a driving factor in my life.
I was wondering how long it will take for you to blog about this after a part of the blogsphere were like “Hey dancing maids! I think a certain someone would like to say something about it!”
I just watch anime as its fun. Can’t people do anything for fun nowadays?
=D glad to see you enjoyed it too, now onto business.
First of all, understand that the western use of “otaku” refers to anime fan, while the japanese use is very much a derogatory word such as “nerd”, “dork” or “geek”. So where as we in the west refer to anyone who watches anime as an otaku, IE those who watch Naruto, Mushishi, or anything else, in Japan, otaku is really only those are are way too into it, kind of like the image we would have of the comic book guy. They do stay up until 3AM to watch their magical girl anime and others. Even Nabari no Ou is a late night run that “normal people” didn’t watch. Being an Otaku myself, I have met the few otaku living in my dorm, and even corrupted a few normals during my year here thanks to Fate/Stay… they do tend to go collector crazy, and bottle cap figures like that are in ample supply at anime stores.
Furthermore, to clear even more up, the show uses the term “Akiba-kei” Which refers specifically to the Akihabara-style Otaku (to translate literally). Your Gundam/Geass loving Mecha-Otaku have been around for ever, but your Akiba-kei otaku are just that: The type who frequents Akihabara; is completely head over heels into Moe, Eroge, magic girls, and maid cafes; and honestly, the lead’s otaku friend is pretty much the spitting image of them.
…Or us I should say, since I sit next to them in those cafes and half-fought with one trying to get the Gashapon of Kyou to complete my collection of the Super Rare Clannad Gashapon set…Gaijin Smash, FTW.
Anyways, the point is that its actually a fairly realistic depiction of us, so the audience relates to the characters. The insulting is to reassert that this is meant to be the real world, where the normals really do look down on them. Just serves as a device to provide quick characterization
As soon as I watched op/ed, I immediately thought “I wonder when Jason will blog about this”. :P
I found it enjoyable. Nowhere near perfect but it’s still decent imo.
The way this show treats anime fanboys– it’s like they’re lepers or even worse than lepers.
…you mean that we aren’t?
Would normal people ever come up with… well… any of this?
Though, in all fairness, I was worse than a leper long before I embraced anime. 8)
Well, after reading this, I went out, downloaded it, watched it.
My first impression: Wow… they are really running out of ideas.
The main character isn’t really a wimp, but he isn’t cool either. He’s like… “Captain Plain Toast” there is nothing remarkable about him at all. He isn’t even a huge wimp. He’s just… boring…
His friends have more personality.
The main character is to perfect for words. Oddly enough, watching how she acts like her hobby is the worst thing in the world, I was reminded of that Captain Planet episode, where Captain Planet fought AIDS.
I mean, holy crap, why are they alwasy knocking their target audiance?!
Its like watching Pokemon, and on Pokemon they say “People who play Pokemon are retarded.”
Other then the amazing meido ending, this series fails for me, I doubt I’ll watch episode 2.
As an alternative explanation, perhaps no one actually would care about Haruka’s love for anime. She just assumes that it would be the end for her because she’s marvelously delusional. I’ll have to watch #2 through that interpretive lens and see if it improves it.
(Would you feel better about your readership if more of us started using terms such as “interpretive lens” and “signifier?”)
I didn’t expect to like this show because I’ve been in the position of “seemingly-normal girl desperately trying to hide the fact that she spends hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars every year being a hardcore otaku,” and honestly, it’s not nearly as interesting a double-life as you would think. Mostly because – even in Japan – there’s not nearly as much of a social stigma against girl otaku as there is against guy otaku. Being a Girl Otaku is kind of like being a lesbian – even when the secret is blown, the usual reaction is either 1) no you’re not NOT REALLY, 2) oh that’s just a “phase” you’ll grow out of, or 3) that’s pretty hot.
(*checks out first episode*)
Wow, even more boring and banal than my own life. And I don’t even get my own meido.
>“anime fanboy†≠“normal people†xD
sums up the argument there for me.
We’re seeing more and more depictions of female anime fans – for good reasons, I think. Female anime fans appreciate seeing themselves represented, and male anime fans like the idea that there’s a woman who shares their hobbies. (And an otaku girl got 2nd place in last year’s Saimoe – how many are in the running this year?)
What? You dont like the premise? I think its got some promise. Of course, you cant discount the OP and ED.
… Damn you. That was the little shove I needed to start watching Happy Lesson Advance….
>I was disappointed with this series, because it could have been a lot more >interesting and funny ….. I dropped this one almost as fast as Sekirei ^^;;
They need an anime rescue team (preferably recruited from the more fanboyish and broken readers from this blog). Come on, with such a promising premise, more can be done. Yes, we can!
Self-degradation and self-loathing…
I think several of the truly hardcore anime fans in Japan (the kind of people who stay up to 3 AM to watch a show) enjoy the stereotype that is fostered with these images, either because it really sums their hobby up, or they’re not at all like that and enjoy the kind of “stealth” they receive from these perceptions.
I’m talking completely based on my own experience here, but it’s kind of nice to hang around with people who don’t share my exact interestes and not having the label “otaku” branded onto my forehead. Sure I get my jiggies of Exhibitionist-tan in Code Geass, but that doesn’t mean I have to walk around with t-shirts with anime prints on them…
Then again, I don’t really buy into all the stuff on the side, I hate useless merchandise junk like keychains, PVC-models, etc. Give me ten thousand boxes of Zaku-II and I’ll be happy as a fiddle. That’s at least a part of the hobby where you can get a sense of fulfillment out of it…
And oh boy I just derailed like a madman. Anyway, I think it’s similar to how the Anonymous nature of 4chan makes people loosen up and act like they really want to. A lot of people in the anime biz are probably old Robotech / Captain Herlock / Starzinger junkies and are proud/scared of the new generations of nerds they’re fostering… or something.
I don’t agree that the lead in this anime is a “loser” he has friends and he’s nice enough to associate himself with the weird obsessive otaku kid. I just think he has a lot more promise than some of the others as he isn’t overly cheesy or particulary weak in portraying his emotions. It is unfortunate that he is given the typical character design of loser harem guy because the voice actor sounds lot more down to earth, but meh.
As far as these anime shows go, I’ve talked to my japanese friends and the general consensus is that a lot of these typical shows are directed at a really young age group, which is why there is such a stereotype against those people. The premise is probably a lot more interesting in the light novels because, I think, one of the main attractions to those novels is the extensive amount of interior monologue that helps to really flesh out the story. One reason why Melancholy is so good is because they are able to incorporate that inner process seemlessly into the show rather than always doing this time freeze frame while he just stands there spouting his interior emotions. Anyway, my two cents
Then of course there’s the possibility that portraying anime otaku as complete and utter freaks keeps down the amount of facepalming in Japan.
“At least I’m not as bad as that guy…”
>> I don’t agree that the lead in this anime is a “loser†he has friends and he’s nice enough to associate himself with the weird obsessive otaku kid.
The other guys pick on him, ignore him, and call him “gay.” Nice friends.
>> We’re seeing more and more depictions of female anime fans – for good reasons, I think
It makes sense because anime is a business, and that’s the next demographic really that needs to be targeted (hence Sunrise with Code Geass R2). You have to grow your market if you want to make more money, and they see older girls as the new audience to go after. This is why Tonari no 801 is getting made into an anime.
>> …Or us I should say, since I sit next to them in those cafes and half-fought with one trying to get the Gashapon of Kyou to complete my collection of the Super Rare Clannad Gashapon set…Gaijin Smash, FTW.
Facepalm. I think there needs to be a concerted effort to counter these hopeless fanboys. Anime fans needs better PR, maybe something like what Penny Arcade did with Child’s Play to better the image of gaming fans.
>> Would you feel better about your readership if more of us started using terms such as “interpretive lens†and “signifier?â€
I’d feel better about my readership if they stopped fighting in Akihabara to get a plastic Kyou toy. But, nah, I like my readership. At least my readership has some personality, even if the personality is “broken” or “fundamentally broken.”
>As far as these anime shows go, I’ve talked to my japanese friends and the >general consensus is that a lot of these typical shows are directed at a >really young age group,
no way. or not sure what you or your friends consider “young age”, but this show and others of the same genre are aimed at young, male adults and well, otakus. Those that watch anime at 3AM ;) Just like Koihime Musou, which to me, looks like a complete children’s show but has quite the same audience.
The shows aimed at a really young age group actually air during daytime and they don’t include fanservice ^^
>or they’re not at all like that
can somebody that watches anime in the middle of the night really be “not at all like that”?
I have a copy of the manga Kyouhaku Dogs, written and illustrated by SHAA, the artist of the Haruka Nogizaka’s Secrets light novels. It’s about a dog-like girl (Setsuna) who discovers that the dog-like boy (Chiyo) who is the school’s most feared delinquent, is in secret a hardcore otaku. She uses the secret to blackmail him and tame him, turning him into her pet, and later, her lover. Chiyo even says once, “This is turning out like Haruka Nogizaka’s Secrets.” Now we know what he was talking about!
>can somebody that watches anime in the middle of the night really be “not at all like that�
Point taken. :D ‘though I tend to think (hope) I’m not, I fill the criteria of staying up all night watching… I imagine I’d turn NEET 15 minutes into living in The United States of Nippon.
I dunno, the whole climate of being a nerd is so radically different in Japan to what I see here in Sweden. Most people are utter Narutards with a penchant for dressing poorly like Gothic Lolitas and putting twenty pounds of plastic rubbish in their hairs to look animuh…
*shrugs* I think it’s still a lot more “underground” in Japan, i.e. more hardcore…
I find it amusing how the serious discussion about the social perceptions of otaku differing between national borders, the cultural acceptance of a fangirl vs a fanboy, and the general nature of anime fandom, is totally unbefitting of a show of such middling quality like Haruka Nogizaka’s Secret. Meanwhile, a generally accepted good show like Macross F usually sees its comments reduced to Ranka vs Sheryl shipping combat.
I present this hypothesis: The quality of entertainment of an anime is inversely proportional to the level of intelligent discussion a single episode of the show produces among its viewers. For example, think of the reactions to Kanokon and Strike Witches vs Gurren Lagann and Haruhi. The former promotes heated debate and introspective, socio-analytical discussion while the latter promotes rampant fanboyism. Is it a case of the fandom (us) trying to amuse ourselves and make up for what the anime is lacking? Chew on that.
That note of the male lead being gay isnt far off. Wataru Hatano aside from being one of the few known guys with a decent list of bishoujo/ren-ai lead roles has done yaoi and shounen ai stuff before. Not as bad as Viral’s VA voicing a guy in Sensitive pornograph (a yaoi hentai)
Definitely. Heavens know there are waaaay too many sites, wikis and blogs dedicated to finding out exactly everything about games with half-assed, totally stereotypical plots as well. I really don’t understand how this is.
Personally I had a Megaman X period where I read EVERYTHING about the series. I
wrote fanficsspent a lot of time researching the subject.But Final Fantasy XIII, which has a pretty reasonable and well-created plot, actually kind of bored me… :o
I liked the show but its not Citizen Kane that’s for sure. Still kind of funny, VA for the main character was good-I thought the lead was a little outside the typical male harem stereotype (i.e. he’s actually normal/well adjusted, its everybody else who is kind of weird/loserish).
Speaking of video games. WTF was with Nintendo’s presentation at E3? Why would they come to the show that is about core gamers, the ones who will be there after the fad is over, and bring statistics, peripherals, and Wii Sports Resort.
Also the only RPG I saw in Sony’s presentation was Valkyrie Chronicles or whatever the hell its called. Rigoddamdiculous. Disgaea3, a ps3 exlcusive, comes out next month, and it gets nada. If I want to play gritty shooters I’ll buy a 360. I invest in a PS3 cause I want to play the artistic/quirky things Microsoft doesn’t tap into. And by I, I mean ‘Joe 4chan’, the guy who still cares about Sony.
It wasn’t really fighting… he was just stunned, when I dropped the big bag of figures I had to pull out the duplicates I’d gotten out of the machine to try and trade with him. I really just got lucky, as he’d bought the last one out of the machine so it was empty, but the girl with him wanted a Fuuko, so it ended up being a quick and easy transaction. <_< But he definitely had a very interesting expression when a foreigner came over bearing bags of figures and speaking good Japanese to him trying to get him to trade despite us having been complete strangers…
Oh and just for your reference, ＜a href=”http://www.tactics.ne.jp/~baseson/koihime/”>Koihime Musou is an eroge by the companyBaseSon/Tactics. You can view the eroge’s opening and promotional videos together here. So considering you can do… all kinds of things with those characters, it most certainly doesn’t come close to being a kids show. It would however, be something an Akiba-kei might go for.
So try imagining Haruka with say, the Koihime Musume game in her hands.
…
I wonder what Keima (who would probably also be akiba-kei if he lived close enough to Akihabara) would say about Haruka…
Did anyone else find a similarity to the school uniforms from Kanon?
The story is simple, and I think the character designs are OK, albeit they are not veyr unique (almost every single character is a clone of a character from another anime). Nonetheless, it’s an interesting watch, since right now the only anime I’m looking forward to every week is Code Geass R2 and the sporadic Maid Guy fansub release.
Well, this is gonna be my last post on this topic, feels like I’m cluttering with way too much off topic commentary.
But just look at Nanoha. I mean, seriously, there you have the most perfect example of series that LOOK like they would attract children, but are made for young, single male. I think I can sum it up best with Vagina Tree.
Yea, Nanoha too was a spin-off series done using the little sister of a heroine sub-character from the eroge series Triangle Hearts. They joked about making the Nanoha Anime about as much as Type-Moon jokes about the Neco-Arc Movie. However Nanoha actually got animated. for three seasons. ^_^ Hazzah!
Treat: The original Nanoha Anime Production Plan as pitched by said eroge. Personally, I’m glad they decided to change a lot.
>seriously, there you have the most perfect example of series that LOOK >like they would attract children, but are made for young, single male
And that’s what makes “otaku” “otaku”. A normal person can’t really comprehend how a guy can enjoy this kind of series, which looks like it could attract little children, or rather little girls, at best. That’s why they are considered weirdos and freaks etc.
Am I the only person who saw that Clumsy Aki-chan thing at the beginning and immediately thought it would make a great anime…?
“Like all these fictional otaku in anime all like these magical girl shows or whatnot… why don’t they ever watch something like Dennou Coil?”
Is that maybe the prevalent sort of thing that fans watch in Japan? The “moe” boom and all of that. :/
@Nanatsuya
No, you most certainly aren’t. I’m hoping they actually sell those Aki-chan figures/gashapon featured in ep 2 sometime soon.
Oddly enough, Haruka seems to be the only girl at the school who wears pantyhose along with her school uniform.
I did not noticed that … its awful, terrible that she is the only one wearing pantyhose.
I propose its made mandatory part of the female uniform.
This anime really is basically pandering to the self-loathing a lot of “soft-core” otaku have. There’s far too many details into the fandom, the creation process, and the market end (Episode 2: 4th floor of toranoana IS josei muke doujinshi, animate IS next to it – on the left – and has shelves exactly like the ones shown, etc.) to make it anything but, because none of the watchers would get it if they weren’t participating in this stuff.
The alternative is to say episode two is actually an advertisement for Akiba as a date ground. Go here and here with your cute, anime-loving girlfriend!
I think it could be fun at least. As you noted the main guy is pretty typical, but I notice some things to me that make him stand out:
He doesn’t look like a sissy. Seriosuly, he actually looks like he is more a tough guy sort of character. If that makes sense. Much more on Kanon’s Yuichi level of things then Kanokon’s Kouta, at least. I think its way of talking (he at least keeps serious and folks don’t think he’s a weirdo most the time) and he has more tenor to his voice.
The pantyhose thing I don’t think is too odd either. It seems that socks is something artists like to focus on when designing characters I think. I will note Clannad’s thigh-high kneasocks and the fact Fuuko had a similar distinction. I wouldn’t of noticed this, random note, if it weren’t for the Kyou/Ryou thigh-high socks making me take a gander at the other girls on that issue. I think the pantyhose has something to do with making them seem more “clean” I guess.
And I like the librarian. I want to see more of him, dunno why. Crazy old people in anime entertain me muchly.
Something I really wonder is who the ehll are the women he lives with, why, and based on some of the dialog he said, my mind thinks his “Not interest in women” is more in the “Had it, don’t need to think on it too much” thing I guess.
And stuff. Peace.
I could have sworn I’ve seen that ED before.
Probably back when it was called “Hare Hare Yukai”.
Hmmmm
But is Haruka amazing?