Obey Me (Anime)

So....AGES ago I played Obey Me, a devilish otome game. I was playing it back in 2020 but I think I played it for maybe, er, 9 months or so? Maybe more. Maybe less. I definitely played it enough that I created all the bad boys in the Sims (which was funny, as I got a warning that I couldn't upload it to the shared thing, which I never do anyway, because of the character's names...Satan. Beelzebub. etc.) 

I'm not sure why or exactly when I stopped playing. I imagine it was because of the grindiness of it. I liked all the brothers, though I had my favourites: Beel, Satan, Lucifer and a bit Mammon mostly, if I remember right. I like the voice actor and art for Belphegor (Belphie) but his storyline (if I am remember right) made him not my fav. Asmo was a bit too over the top. Levi'd be okay if he'd just chill.

The story was also fairly interesting, if a little predictable, but it took so long to work through the stages that I just gave up at some point. 

I've actually just opened the app up to write this. Though it's not about the app. I apparently made it to Lesson (Chapter) 20 and there are now...80. Yikes. And...I just tried a couple of missions and yeah...it's annoying to do the little dance numbers in between the story bits and I have completely forgotten how you're supposed to set up and level the cards and form dance teams or whatever. 

Anyway, I had added the Obey Me anime to my Crunchyroll list ages and ages ago. Based on the reviews, it must have come out in early 2022. I never did try one though but I randomly did last night and they're only 5 minute episodes so I watched a few. They're actually totally unrelated random shorts and not like a playthrough or anything to do with the MC. And they're stupid adorable. They reminded me of what I liked about the game -- it doesn't take itself seriously. Most otome kinda does. But Obey Me is absolutely ridiculous, the voice acting is great, and the art is lovely too. But mostly...it's silly.

I don't think it will actually make me pick up the game again as it's too time consuming on top of the other ones that I play, but I might dip into it every now and then. They do make me smile, this ridiculous demon boys.

A Galaxy Next Door

This is a sweet though slightly surprising anime. I had just seen some people mentioning it as a good one, comparable with a few others that I like. I had no idea going in that it was called A Galaxy Next Door because she's some kind of star child alien lady with a stinger tail.

So, yes, that was a little bit of a surprise. She leaves her special island where she's a princess after her grandmother's dying wish was that she get to do what she wants and experience some life despite her mother's objections. 

And it seems her grandmother was a closet otaku, as the old lady had a large collection of manga, including a series written by the erstwhile love interest, Ichirou Kuga. And, okay, he's an awesome standout dude. He's a struggling manga artist who took over the raising of his younger siblings after his dad dies unexpectedly and the mother is off gallivanting around. He's a sweetheart and is not looking for romance -- he's just trying to meet deadlines. 

But Shiori Goshiki (our lovely alien) is also an aspiring artist and she coincidentally winds up as his new assistant. Other than that she definitely admires him and he thinks she's pretty, he's definitely not thinking of anything else. But then, after a long all nighter, he sees what he thinks is a sharp pen sticking out of her back and she's about to roll over on it and stab herself...so he grabs it. But it's not a pen, it's her TAIL and now that he's stung, he's bound to her in some weird kind of betrothal. 

It's not a nice thing, honestly. If he's too far away from her, he gets feverish and sick. If he does something that startles or angers her, he can suddenly be inflicted with pain or want to pass out. But, through these challenges, they come to have feelings for each other. She's clueless about a lot of the real world, but she's a decent sort. 

So there's a whole plot about her mom not being happy about this, once she finally comes to see what's going on. By that time, they are actually dating, but Kuga would like to be free of the forced tie. So there's a bunch of family angst and then, when they do finally undergo a ceremony to withdraw it, both of them are having fears -- if the bond is broken, will they still love each other? 

Spoiler -- they do. The bad thing is that the end of the season is basically there and the mom has given her a year to gallivant and then she's supposed to go home. It's the kind of show where you imagine it will work out happy. I would definitely watch a second season if there is one, but it didn't quite grab me enough that I want to add it to the stack of manga that we're already collecting. So, good, but not heart shaking? Though I gotta give it to Kuga, he's definitely a Best Boy.

The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting

Oh man, I'm so behind. I didn't realise there were so many I hadn't written up. Little Dude and I finished The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting back in June. 

We both quite liked it. Basically, the glasses guy is Kirishima and was always known as Sakuragi's Demon (Sakuragi being the crime family he's a part of and Yaeka's dad). He gets assigned to watch over the boss' 7 year old daughter. 

Hijinks happen, there's a lot of found family type of stuff...and a fair bit of beatings. There's also some sadness; the reason she even needs a constant babysitter is because her mom is in the hospital in a coma after a bad accident and has been there a long time. And Kirishima has his own baggage from his past. 

There's a lot left unanswered at the end of the anime (does Yaeka's mom ever wake up? why does the one creepy dude so have it in for Kirishima?), so I do hope there's another season. 

Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie

We actually watched this one, little dude and I, back in the first part of August: Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie and finished it pretty quickly. 

It's a really sweet romantic comedy anime where the male lead Izumi is basically the unluckiest guy in the world. If he can lose it, he will. If it can fall on him, it will. But, as the anime starts, he's already counting his lucky stars because he's dating Shikimori, probably the cutest girl in school. Dude can't look at her without stars in his eyes.

But Shikimori isn't *just* cute. She's constantly saving his butt and going from brave to relentless to everything in between. 

And...okay, honestly, we both really enjoyed this one and the relationships between the characters but it's also not a show where actually a lot happens. It's just really sweet and adorable fluff. As I'm writing this, I'm trying to come up with major plot points...I mean, stuff happens, but that's not really the point? 

Anyway, it's charming. It's fun to see one where the girl is the saviour. We have no idea why Iuzumi is so unlucky, but Shikimori has his back. Was it worth watching? Yes. Might even watch it again. Also love the bromance and the weird deadpan tiny blonde friend. 

I'm the Villainess, so I'm Taming the Final Boss

I am a sucker for otome-related anime, so I tried out I'm the Villainess, so I'm Taming the Final Boss. The MC is, in so many ways, the complete opposite of Bakarina. 

Like Bakarina, Aileen is reborn into the world of an otome game she had played (and I feel like I'm already forgetting the first episode, but I think we got a hint that she might have died from cancer or another illness in the real world?). Her memories come flooding back to her when her intended fiance Cedric dumps her at a ball for Lilia and she realises that Lilia is the MC of the game and she's destined to die sort of accidentally when Cedric's brother, the Demon Lord Claude (which is about as unlikely a name for a demon lord as one could imagine), turns into his full demon form and wreaks havoc as some kind of demon-dragon and she's squashed.

Well, we can't have that. 

Aileen decides the best way to avoid that is to go tame that final boss -- the Demon Lord -- so she promptly marches right into his territory and asks him...no, tells him...they should get married. He's understandably a bit taken aback and confused. But also intrigued. 

I'm not going to rehash the whole plot because, honestly, there are three separate massive story arcs in this 12 episode season and each one of them could have filled out a normal season. When I got to the end of episode 4 and they were engaged and it seemed like their enemies were vanquished, I literally turned it off and went WTF where do they go from here? It's fast, yo. 

That's actually one of the fun things about this one. It subverts some things and the pacing is so radically different from the normal thing. The demon lord is actually a bit of a cinnamon bun. She's smart and crafty, but also (once she too falls for him) totally putty. There's sort of a harem collection thing going on, but not totally as a couple of them, while they do become loyal to Aileen, also have their own love interests. There's even a bit of a redemption arc for Cedric. 

Anyway, quite enjoyed it. More than I thought I would, as I, ahem, actually watch quite a bit of otome-related anime and was thinking it might be too similar to some other things. It was and it wasn't. Aileen has more in common with Raeliana...even in a 4th wall kind of way. Apparently, the Demon Lord and the Duke share the same voice actor Yūichirō Umehara (who was also the best friend in School Babysitters, which was a bit whoa). So, I guess if I have a type, it's Umehara. Oh! And I think he voiced Shingen in Ikemen Sengoku (though Shingen wasn't my fav, but he did have a great voice). So funny. And...I just looked and he's also apparently Tsukasa from Romantic Killer. Damn, dude. All the best boys.

So, anyway, am I glad I watched it? Yes. Would I watch it again? Hmm, maybe. There was a lot going on though not actually a lot of really awesome moments (that sounds weird, but I mean those bits where you're just all Awwwww and want to see them again). I guess I mean there was so much PLOT being thrown all over the place that you don't get the doki doki as much? Hm. I'm not making sense. The animation also was a bit all over the place -- really nice and then also really awful in some places. Like, distressingly bad every now and again, though the majority of it fell into the decent category and sometimes it was lovely. It makes you wonder WTH is going on in the animation studios.

But, I would definitely watch a second season. I did start collecting the Raeliana books and I was wondering if I'd collect these...but I actually really detested Lilia and not sure I want to read her too? Anyway, definitely worth the watch.

#Alive

The dudes are still away in Florida, so I thought I'd watch a movie last night instead of the anime-fest I've been on (still have a few of those to write up). So I watched one I've had on my list a while...#Alive which is a zombie movie. Yeah, I know, it wasn't a romance, which is what I usually watch when the guys are gone as they won't watch them with me.

It's a very small cast (I mean, other than the hordes of zombies) with really only 4 characters who speak (one of which is a neighbour that dies immediately). Most of it is carried on the back of Joon-Woo (played by Yoo Ah-In), who spends pretty much half of the movie on his own. He wakes up late one day and it seems like a normal day. His parents and sister are out and left him some cash to get groceries, but he instead logs on to do some gaming. It never says how old he is, but I'd guess early 20s? Anyway, suddenly things go batshit outside and on the TV -- there's an outbreak of something and people are going cannibalistic and violent.

He's trapped, and with very little food. The electricity and everything is on at first and he spends his time watching TV and looking out his window. He's able to receive some last text messages from his family, who are trapped in dad's office (I think). He sends off a last message into the ether with a picture of himself and his address, hoping for rescue.

At this point, I'm thinking, dude, you should really fill your bathtub with water and everything else you've got that's a container because, you know, hurricanes. But he doesn't. And, inevitably, things get turned off and there's no more water and not really any food and he's apologising to his dad for going into his whiskey collection. When he's about to kill himself, he's saved when a girl across the way Yoo-Bin (played by Park Shin-Hye playing every character I've ever seen her play -- resourceful, a bit snarky) uses a laser pointer to get his attention. She's been watching through binoculars.

They are able to use a drone to attach a rope between their flats and exchange some food, and, after he breaks into the (very dead) next door neighbour's place, talk over some walki talkies. She's not entirely sure he's not an idiot. He's duly impressed by her ability with an axe. And, when things get really desperate, they come together to try and get to the 8th floor which she had been spying on and seemed zombie-free. 

There they run into the only other actor who has much of anything to say -- a seemingly friendly man played by Jeon Bae-Su, who I've seen in so many things as a character actor that I'm not going to list them (but include a stint as Attorney Woo's dad). He invites them in, gives them food and water...and I had SUCH a bad feeling. Yep. His wife, who he has tied up in another room, is a zombie. And he wants them so he can feed her. They just manage to escape (honestly, not sure how, you're kinda just supposed to believe that Park Shin-Hye's character somehow managed to fend off zombie-wife with her hands tied). But the gun shots have attracted more zombies and they don't know what to do. She asks him to kill her. He can't quite do it, but has almost worked himself up to it...when they hear helicopters. 

They make a last ditch effort to get to the roof and just when they are about to be overwhelmed, the helicopter arrives and gets them. Seems his S.O.S. worked after all. 

Boy, was I glad it wasn't a Mist like ending where he kills her and then gets rescued. Anyway, what this movie does well is the hyper focus on the claustrophobic entrapment the characters feel, especially the loneliness and isolation of the whole first half when the camera is concentrated on him. He's just an average guy and it's a palpable feeling of despair. When he connects with the girl, it's just such a relief and he's got something to live for. Not in a romantic sense -- they're just trying to survive. But she gives him hope. 

I liked it. I mean, I'm not much for zombie / horror films, honestly, but this one does it well and by concentrating on the stories of just these 3 characters, it is much more effective than being one of those Save the World! epic movies. It's quiet and desperate and it works.

Isekai Ojisan - Uncle from Another World

Welp, this is a weird one. Weird, mostly, in a good way, though there's also a bit too much gratuitous ecchi randomness for me personally. It's an isekai...sort of. In a way. Also, not. In a way. From the opening, you think it's gonna be a standard isekai as you see a young dude almost hit by a truck. But he doesn't get hit by one. Instead, he's the nephew about to visit his uncle in the hospital, who has just woken up after being in a coma for 17 years. It was Uncle that was transported to an alternate world...and now he's back...and somehow managed to keep the magic skills he learned while he was away.

But Uncle's story isn't a happy one -- he was labeled an "orc" because he was "so ugly" -- though, to be fair to him, he really doesn't look any worse than a lot of the other characters we see in the flashbacks. But, he was also completely oblivious to social customs and niceties and misreads everyone he meets (he was a dedicated gamer who never got out much before). 

As nephew and his newly re-discovered childhood friend learn more and more about Uncle's life in the otherworld, they are constantly scratching their heads at how WRONG he was about everything and everyone. Mostly. There's Elf and Mabel and the "destined hero" who all wind up kinda having a thing for Uncle because he unwittingly knows how to compliment them, accidentally sort of marries them, and, by his actions, actually show that mostly he's a stand up guy. He's very OP, like characters usually wind up in isekai's, but he's so very very clueless about people and what people are thinking that it's like a subversion of standard isekai shows. 

In that sense, it is very enjoyable, though it's also quite...cringe inducing sometimes? So I'm a little torn on it. It took me quite a while to finish too; you have to be in the mood for the hijinks and weirdness of it.

I am also kinda pissed because I accidentally got a spoiler for it when I was looking up something and I think Elf dies when she helps send him back to his own world. So, now, if they ever do a second season, I'm not sure if I'm gonna watch it. Because, as Elf was super tsundere, he never realised that they actually, like, had a relationship. So I was kind of hoping that somehow they'd have a reunion. But, I guess it's not that kind of show. Though, also, it also didn't seem like the kind of show where someone major would die either. And Elf was just as OP as he was. So, eh, I dunno.

Am I glad I watched it? Yes, I suppose so. Would I watch it again? No. I mean, there are some really funny bits but I can live without re-watching all the cringey bits. But, it was interesting and it did some different things that you don't usually get to see, so, yeah, it was worthwhile.

My Happy Marriage

Not like I needed something else to start (I, er, have a lot of different ones going), but I started My Happy Marriage, which was a lot more supernatural than I expected it to be. But really good.

It looks to be based on some Japanese light novels. It's definitely a classic Cinderella story in a lot of ways, but with some twists. I actually thought it was already complete...but it's still ongoing on Netflix.

Miyo is the Cinderella in question, complete with an evil stepmother and truly terrible stepsister and a dad that's nearly as bad (though he stops short of the actual violence they use). There's in only one bright spot in Miyo's life -- her friend Koji. Though she hopes to be promised to him in marriage, it instead turns out that her father sets up an engagement between Koji and evil sister and sends Miyo off to be the fiance of Kudo, who is supposed to be a cold man (but very accomplished magic user) who has been going through one engagement after another, either kicking out the girls or they leave on their own. 

But he is, in fact, a decent guy who just has no patience for arrogant or stupid women. He soon starts to appreciate poor Miyo, who is the most timid rabbit of a woman ever due to all the abuse she has suffered. But, even so, her heart is just...pure. I mean, it's a little ridiculous, honestly. Anyway, as their relationship slowly progresses, things take a turn. 

Apparently, Miyo's mother came from an almost mythical magical family, the Usuba. And, this poor girl, who has been unwanted and abused since she was a child, is suddenly a pawn in a lot of different people's games. Including Koji's dad, who now apparently wants to get her married into the family to him (or his brother?) because, even though she doesn't seem to have magic (but you KNOW she will), her kids might be very powerful. So he tricks Kaya, the evil sister, into wanting to swap fiances. Which is easy enough to do once Kaya sees a) her older sister looking happy and b) how handsome and powerful Kudo is.

This is the thing I don't understand though...Miyo would have been ecstatic to marry Koji before and Koji clearly would have been just as happy...so why did he get Koji engaged to Kaya? 

Anyway, crazy shit happens and Kaya/Evil Stepmum kidnap Miyo and torture her basically to try and get her to give up the engagement. Koji, who IS a good guy, gets Kudo to help him stop them. The family house gets burned down. Miyo is reunited with Kudo. But there are hints that there are further forces at work in trying to get Miyo.

So...I am really liking it. Loving the relationship between Kudo and Miyo and Yuree (sp?) the housekeeper/long time servant. But totally not understanding why everyone suddenly wants her when she's literally been this abused servant girl for the last 16-18 years (guessing she was between 2 and 4 when her mom died). Why did they send her off to get married to Kudo in the first place? It just doesn't make a lot of sense.

Though with a name like "My Happy Marriage" you know it'll work out. Maybe there's a bunch of stuff in the light novels about her history that's left out of the anime. Either way, I am enjoying the show. I'll add to this once I've finished it.

Edit: Ok, finally finished it a blazing 8ish months later. I'd stopped to let the episodes release and then got busy with life. So finished the last 4 this week. It ended well, though it left a lot open (why was the Mikado trying to keep them separate / kill them exactly? Who was the androgynous higher up who seemed to know what was going on?) I imagine there's a lot more in the books than what wound up in the show. But, at any rate, it was good. Strangely, some of the art in the last two episodes in particular wasn't as good. Bad perspective, a bit choppy, the too-large head on a tiny body thing. I wonder what happened? Were they in a rush? A pity, as the art and character design in this one was so nice.

Anyway. It was good. I enjoyed it. Glad I watched it.