Nina the Starry Bride

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, yeah. I think the subtitle of this one should be: "Nina the Starry Bride: Poster Girl for Stockholm Syndrome". I've watched through episode 9 (of 12) so far and I really don't know how I feel about it. It's very much the classic wide-eyed heroine with the purest of pure hearts.

So. Nina is an orphan who has grown up rough in the streets, hanging out with two other orphan brothers. She dresses as a boy (for obvious reasons) and is fleet of foot and steals from the rich to try and get enough to eat. You know, Aladdin. But a girl with big blue eyes not typical for the region of Fortna. When the youngest brother dies, the older one apparently sells her out. We never see him again (at least, not so far).

And who has bought her? None other than Prince Azure of the golden eyes. Because, Princess Alisha, his half-sister (not exactly, but let's stick with that for now) who has grown up as a priestess, has the same blue eyes. A neighbouring nation (Galgada) has demanded she be married off to their first prince or they'll invade. But the real priestess supposedly has perished in a carriage accident, so the Prince is looking for a substitute he can fob off and hopefully hold off/delay a war.

How did he come up with this crazy plot? Why, we very soon learn, the same thing happened to him! The current king had actually killed his own son and Azure is a replacement chosen for his golden eyes. Only a handful of people know that.

Anyway, Nina (now called Alisha) is resistant for all of a hot minute and then nearly immediately comes to trust and admire Prince Azure to the point that when she figures out that the King had killed the original Az and hates the replacement Az and has been behind the plots to harm him, she hies herself off to Galgada even though Az (who has also fallen for her) has said he'll find a way to cancel the engagement...did I mention that his original intention was to set up the fake Alisha and then she somehow dies and he pins it on Galgada?

Yeppers, she's a noble martyr ready to sacrifice herself to keep a man (who she's barely known for maybe a month??) and a country (who has treated her like literal rubbish) safe. The plot justification is that she's so happy to find someone that needs her that she does all this for Az.

So. Yeah. She goes off to Galgada, where she meets Sett, the white haired, red-eyed prince. He's been collecting princesses from other lands as potential marriage partners...but not really. They're just excuses. He wants their territories and basically goads/tortures them into either attacking him (and then killing them...then invading) or depressing them until they give up and return home (giving him an excuse to invade). He's no peach. When Nina, who has no filter when standing up for others, annoys him, he strikes her across the chest with his sword. He doesn't kill her, but she'll bear the scar forever. 

But she's SO determined to save Az that she continues to profess that she'll be his bride. He slowly starts to warm to her, partly because he can't understand her (me either) and she also warms to him (STOCKHOLM SYNDROME). Honestly, yes, he and Az BOTH have tragic backstories. Sett's even more than Az. But, come ON.

There's more, but, yeah. I will finish watching this season, but I don't expect a resolution. And there's tons of discussion with people debating who the "winner" is (I gotta say, whoever it is, it sure as fuck isn't Nina) so I don't think there's a good ending for the anime. Pretty sure the manga is still ongoing, though if I had to guess, I'd say she probably winds up with Sett, though who knows what that does to the fates of the two countries.

Why the hell this scrappy tomboy who used to steal to survive didn't just NOPE out, I don't know. Well, I do know. It's a story about a noble pure of heart girl and the two damaged boys that only she is able to reach and change...

Bah.

Delico's Nursery

Hm, so I watched 7 episodes of Delico's Nursery, mostly while on an airplane as I had it downloaded. However, I haven't watched any more since.

I had downloaded them because the premise sounded quite different -- Hailing from a prestigious noble house, Dali Delico is an elite member of the Blood Pact Council, the highest governing body of the Vamps. Yet, Dali flatly refuses a mission the Vamps assign him. As Dali’s motives and possible connection to mysterious murders begin to mount, council members Gerhard, Dino, and Henrique visit him in hopes he’ll reconsider, but find him soothing an infant child!

Yeah, vampire dads all babysitting their kids and investigating. And I found the art style interesting and atypical as well, though the animation is a bit sketchy, honestly, once you watch it.

But...there's a shedload of crying toddlers. I mean, a LOT of crying. I wanted to take my earphones out. And they keep talking about "The Trump" (True of Vamp??) to the point it was practically giving me PTSD as a former American. It just sounded silly. And...well, the plot didn't really make much sense. And it wasn't nearly as cute as I thought it might be...I was hoping for something along the lines of School Babysitters, I guess, just with vampire dads. Or a Buddy Daddies, but with goth vampire sexiness. It kinda feels like two different plot lines and they don't really go together or complement each other.

So it's kinda doubtful I'll pick it up again.

The Dangerous Convenience Store

Heh, so this will be a short review. The other day I picked up volumes 1 and 2 of The Dangerous Convenience Store because I'd seen a review somewhere that it was "cute" and the back copy looked okay. Sure, it said "18+" on it, but so does My Dress Up Darling, and there's just a couple of dodgy illustrations per book and the rest of it is really pretty tame (and the story is great). At the most, I thought it might be like Love Stage, where there are some graphic scenes, but they come kinda late and are just a few pages.

Welp.

Haha, me. The story starts out ok-ish, but then literally nearly a third of the first book is some pretty graphic hardcore stuff. Little too much for me. Okay, a lot too much. Luckily, even though I'd removed the shrink wrap, the lovely Forbidden Planet staff let me return them the next day.

Story-wise, it wasn't anything special at all anyway (from the bit I read before I was all 😑😬😣😮😱😳). There's a college student who works at a convenience store at night that is frequented by gangster types, including one middle aged handsome one, who takes an interest in him. When he gets depressed because he confessed to his crush (and his crush flirts back but tells him he's actually dating someone), gangster dude, who is apparently hung like a truck, offers to "get his mind off of things" though he's apparently never dated or done anything with a guy before? Thus ensues a freakishly, dangerously long encounter, etc., etc.

I flipped through it and, yeah. DEFINITELY not at all the same level of My Dress Up Darling or even Love Stage. They MEANT this 18+ rating. Let's just say there's not a lot of dialogue in this book. I didn't even really read any of the next one, just flipped through to see it looked about the same. Too hardcore for me.

So, thank you, staffers, for letting me exchange it for something else.

I'll Become a Villainess who Goes Down in History

Damn these anime that end on a cliffhanger and may or may not have a second season coming. Sheesh. Maybe I should go back to Kdramas--they almost all are one season and done. The problem is that I generally need a 25-ish minute block for working out (or around 20-ish when you factor in skipping intro/outro). Anyway: I'll Become a Villainess who Goes Down in History.

This one has so many similarities to Bakarina (and, honestly, a lot of other shows), except that Alicia (our titular villainess) is much smarter (which, to be fair, isn't hard) and actually wants to be a villainess. So when she wakes up at age 7 to the fact that she's destined to be a villainess later, she works super hard -- and capably -- to improve herself. She never liked the namby-pamby holier-than-thou heroine.

Of course, she's not really a villainess at all though. She may try to be, but her actions are generally noble and good-hearted as she works to free wrongfully incarcerated people and stand up for the downtrodden. And it's obvious very early on that Prince Duke (who names these characters??? That's like saying Princess Duchess) has eyes only for her. 

The heroine or "Saint" is an annoying character, but in the way of "she doesn't know any better and is kind of an airhead". She's literally no match for Alicia, even if she does have amazing magical powers (which you almost never see). 

So...okay, I'm not meaning to sound too negative. It isn't a bad show at all. I think there's just so many with similar (nearly identical) storylines that it feels hard to judge them separately. Overall, I enjoyed it. If it had been the first one of these I'd ever watched, I would have enjoyed it more.

However, I'd still be annoyed that the end is her being exiled by Prince Duke (who is doing it because he knows she wants to go investigate another country) and it's very much a cliffhanger / needs a season 2. Also, she'd been sneaking around to the prisoner village for ages...why wouldn't she have just snuck into the other country? Or pretended to defect? I mean, do these two countries not allow any trade at all? It seemed ridiculous grandstanding.

Anyway, am I glad I watched it? Er, indifferent, I guess. If a second season comes out, I will more than likely watch it though.

365 Days to the Wedding

So, this is a bit of an odd one because it's hard to imagine it ever happening in real life. That said, it's very hard to imagine MOST anime ever happening in real life, but there you go. Anyway, 365 Days to the Wedding.

Takuya Ohara (glasses guy) and Rika Honjoji (deadpan lady) are two of the most awkward ever adults and they both work for a Travel Agency. That agency is about to open a branch office in Alaska in a year and send an unmarried worker to start it. Neither of them want to go and have a bit of a private panic (to be fair, NO ONE in the office is looking excited about the prospect).

But somehow the two, who have barely even spoken to each before this because that's just how awkward they are, manage to hatch a plot and buy rings. They're going to pretend to be engaged so they don't have to go. Now, how in the world they thought they could pull this off for a year, I dunno. Or why they thought their co-workers would just be like "okay" and go on with their business and not be surprised or want to celebrate, I dunno either.

Anyway, it started off fairly cute as it's obvious that they'll end up liking each other due to the forced proximity / cohabitation. BUT then the show goes down some dark pathways that I didn't expect and, honestly, feel a bit out of left field.

Like, the less attractive glasses man, who thinks he has a happy homelife, gets into some horrible argument with his wife and basically goes on a day long bender where they're taking his young son around to find him and finally locate him in a bar, where he then PRETENDS TO BE A WILD ANIMAL and runs off into the park. With his poor kid still chasing after him. There's no resolution to this either; as far as you can tell by the end of the show, he's likely getting a divorce from his wife.

And the plump, earnest guy, Gonda, really wants a relationship but he's not exactly anyone's idea of a catch. But he meets a woman who likes the same thing he does. When he asks her out (or maybe he jumps right to marriage, I can't remember), she surprises him with the fact that she's a single mother. He flinches--I mean, not like recoils, but obviously dude is surprised. She cuts him off. He tries to respond by gathering up all his bank books and proving to her that he could support a family, but she won't even see him again; she sends a friend to do it. Also no resolution there. That's where poor Gonda's story ends too.

Then there's some drama with Rika's mom and with Ohara's family. It's like a show that wanted to be light and fluffy, but the author is dark and depressed and couldn't handle it. I dunno. I did see that it's written and illustrated by Tamiki Wakaki (creator of The World God Only Knows). That's quite a show too...while it has one of my absolute favourite lines in it (I have always rejected reality in an exceedingly friendly manner), it's also a show I never quite finished because it just. Got. Weird. I think I got through most of the first arc, but never even tried the second. Or maybe I got through the first season. I dunno. It's been years. 

Anyway, back to this one. I finished it. As expected, they both come clean, but then decide to get married anyway, even though they haven't dated yet. It ends there, though it looks like the books go into more details on what that actually means.

Am I glad I watched it? I wouldn't say glad. I'm not unhappy I watched it and overall I liked it, but it kinda gives you whiplash. I wouldn't watch it again, though I did enjoy the art. 

Pseudo Harem

I am, let's be honest, fairly over harem shows. I don't mind if it's really one couple and some admirers as much, but some shows take it to extremes. Based on the name, Pseudo Harem, you might think this is one of those. You would be totally wrong.

Instead, this is a very wholesome and delightfully sweet show about a one woman harem wholly devoted to one guy (and the guy is also devoted to her...though he's a bit clueless to start. Maybe.)

Eiji Kitahama's dream, like a lot of high school boys, is to have a harem of girls fawning all over him. But it's not like this goofy dude could make that happen. Rin Nanakura, his new junior in the Drama Club, however, falls for him sort of immediately and acts out (when they are alone mostly) different classic archetypes you might find in anime and manga. One day, she's Imp-chan, the next she's the smart, cool type and so on. 

It's just a deliciously cozy little romance show. It's not hot and heavy -- they move too slowly for that and are w-a-y too awkward and sweet for anything like that too. It's just super charming.

Definitely glad I watched it. Glad it actually gave an ending where they wind up together (though, honestly, not sure why they waited so long...sure, she had to make a go of her acting career, but not sure why he had to "catch up" and wait until he felt his career level matched...cultural thing, maybe?). Not entirely sure I would watch it again -- maybe? But I really enjoyed it.

Yakuza Fiance

So...I've watched 8 episodes of this one and I will likely finish it: Yakuza Fiancé. But...I seriously don't understand why/how people like the titular couple together. He's, like, a psychopath killer guy who sleeps around.

Ok, so, Yoshino (the girl) is from a crime family in one city. Her grandfather runs it. Kirishima is from a crime family in another city. They are both in high school, last year, I think. She is promised to him in marriage by her grandfather as some part of a deal between families. Kinda. It doesn't really seem like the grandfather thinks they'll actually get married some day. But, either way, off she goes to live with the dude's family to get to know him. 

She doesn't like him. He, for his part, acts like an absolute insane serial killer kinda guy and is awful to her. But when she declares that she's sold a kidney for money & wants nothing to do with him, suddenly he "loves" her and wants her to be his. While still sleeping with random other girls. 

Yoshino, so far, has spent the whole show professing how she has no love for him. Which only seems to make him want her more. And they're both doing crazy yakuza stuff and stirring pots and intrigue, etc. The other guy (Shoma) is from Yoshino's gang and is (maybe) a corner of a love triangle, though maybe not because they treat each other like brother and sister.

Overall, I'd say I am enjoying the show, but I'm kinda annoyed. He needs to be drop-kicked. And I see stuff all over FB and Insta and wherever fawning all over him and his devotion to Yoshino. Are you freaking kidding me? He's awful. 

I'd rather she wind up with Shoma or, hello, no one at all, because she's capable.

So, anyway, I do think I'll finish this, but I don't think I'd say that I love it. I'm old and annoyed.

Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian

 Huh. I totally forgot about this one: Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian. I was watching it back in September and I watched 8 episodes. But I haven't watched any since then. Should I pick it back up?

So, Alya kinda likes this one dude (the only dude in the picture, so you can easily figure out who he is) but she pretends she doesn't (and doesn't even seem to totally realise it herself)...but she sometimes says things in Russian where it's very flirty, etc., not realising that he understands her because he knows Russian.

And why, you ask, does he know Russian? Even though they didn't officially out it by episode 8, it's obvious that the childhood friend he learned Russian for/from is Alya's older sister.

Which is, honestly, probably why I wasn't enthusiastic about picking it back up again. That and some weirdness -- like, why does he pretend not to know Russian? What's up with the underling girl and the other ones running for Student Council? Why is running for Council such a cut throat thing? Why is there still so much misunderstandings when he can actually understand her and knows what she says? Why does the dude and his sister have such a weird relationship (and don't admit they are siblings)? And, probably the biggest ICK...WHY does the little sister have to be such a clingy weirdo where she does really inappropriate things to her brother??

That's the biggest reason I haven't picked it up again. I was liking elements of it but it seriously grosses me out when they do the brother / sister thing. Especially when he doesn't act like it's that big a deal. Dude. Your sister flashes you on purpose.

So...I looked up the current state of things and it looks like officially in the light novels that they haven't even confessed to each other that they like each other. Which means the anime likely doesn't have any resolution. So...yeah, I don't think I'll pick it up again. I thought the original conceit was interesting, but not interesting enough to get past the other dodgy shit.

Kono Oto Tomare (Sounds of Life)

I finished this one quite a while ago as well and I really enjoyed it. Kono oto Tomare is about a school's koto club (a traditional musical instrument) and the members, who each have their own challenges. It's a slice of life type of thing, but with some romantic elements.

That said, the three characters in the forefront of the picture are the main characters. 

There's Chika (the blonde). His grandfather was a koto maker and he was a bit of a juvenile delinquent (but with a good heart). Some ruffians basically trashed his grandfather's store, pinning it on him, and his grandfather died soon after, so poor Chika has a heavy burden on his heart. His exterior is rough and tough, but he's a marshmallow inside. He joins the club because of his connection with his grandfather and his yearning to be a better person (not that he realises that part).

The dark haired girl is Satowa, who was a koto prodigy and daughter of a grandmaster (or whatever you'd call it) of a koto school. But her father died and her mother pushed her away to the point that now she lives on her own and has been disowned. She joins the club in hopes to rekindle her love of the koto, in part, but also to find herself again.

The dark haired guy in glasses is the sole member of the club after the rest graduated. He's Takezo Kurata. His baggage isn't as heavy as Chika and Satowa, but he's got some too -- the pressure of keeping the club alive, being put down by school bullies & his own brother, and general feelings of inadequacy. That said, he's a stand up guy.

The other boys are all friends of Chika's that believe in him even when no one else did because he helped them out even when he didn't have to. Weirdly, his closest friend isn't a member of the club, but we see him a lot in the show (Tetsuki). The other girl is in the same year as Kurata and at first joins the club with the intention of breaking it up but winds up finding a place for herself. There's some hints of romance beween her and Kurata by the end of the second season and Chika and Satowa are also headed that route.

However, it's not really a romance anime. It's more of a found family / overcoming adversity / learning to believe in yourself & others, etc. etc. The story is good, the characters are good (even the three guys have distinct personalities beyond just caricature), the art is good, the koto playing is well done...really, it's an all around good show.

Definitely glad I watched it. Would watch it again someday too. If they ever did another season, I'd watch it (though that seems unlikely since it came out in 2019). I'm not sure that I'll buy it to read it, but mostly just because I've already got so many different series going. Well worth it though.

Buddy Daddies

Buddy Daddies is another one that little dude and I watched together a while ago. I honestly can't believe that someone hasn't snapped it up to make it into a movie starring one of the Ryans (Gosling or Reynolds) because either one would be perfect in it.

So, basically, there's an odd couple pair of hit men -- the blonde one, Rei, is the Felix Unger kind of one (cleans, cooks, keeps things organised) and Kazuki is the gamer-probably never opened something with a can opener in his life-trigger man who comes from a yakuza family. They've been living and working together for a while when they cross paths with Miri...

Miri is a little girl (4? 5?) who has gone off by herself (her mom works a bar as a singer) to try and find her dad...who just happens to be their new target. Miri doesn't really know who he is and it's a veritable miracle she manages to make it to the party that her not-very-nice dad is throwing. The two hit men wind up with her and no idea what to do about it.

And thus ensues hijinks as two hit men with their own crazy baggage try to raise a mischievous kid. 

I love a lot of things about this one -- the dynamic behind the guys is great. They're friends through thick and thin. This isn't a BL, but it could have been, but I think it's kinda nice that it wasn't. It's Found Family, is what it is. I love that there's an actual end on it too -- after Kazuki "gets out" (after his dad goes so far as to try and kill Rei and Miri to get him back in), there's a time jump and you see them years later when Miri is a teenager. They're still together, but now running a restaurant or bar, not killing people. 

Well, I wouldn't want to cause trouble in that establishment, that's for sure.

It's a madcap story with engaging characters and it's got heart. I really enjoyed it and would even, probably, watch it again someday.

Yuri on Ice!!!

Yuri on Ice!!! has possibly one of the most excited anime titles out there. I somehow didn't see it when it first came out (and was HUGE), but little dude and I watched it together back in August. 

It's about a Japanese dude who's a professional figure skater and about to retire ignominiously after a massive failure. But after a performance, THE top skater Victor decides to sort-of retire and be Yuri's coach.

Ok, let me just say that the anime is WAY more goofy and silly than either of us imagined it would be, even with the clips we'd seen of it. I mean, it was everywhere for a while. ALL of the characters were more EXTRA than we'd thought too. 

There's definitely some attraction / tension between Victor and Yuri and it's, like, kinda realised but also kinda not? It's got hints of BL but also doesn't fully commit. Well, sort of. Maybe it's because it's so goofy that it's hard to take seriously. But, it's altogether a feel good type of show. 

We both enjoyed it and we'd definitely watch a second season if it came out. The animation was really quite good, especially of the ice skating scenes--impressive, really. I'm sure that's partly why it was so well received. It's a show about skating and it really feels like they skate, if you know what I mean.

Am I glad I watched it? Yeah, of course. We both really enjoyed it. Would I watch it again? Um, maybe, if little dude wanted to or another season came out.