Kamigami no Asobi Review | Episode 1 & 2 (Spoilers)

(right to left) Takeru, Tsukito, Apollon, Yui, Baldr, Loki, Hades

Another anime I was looking forward to was Kamigami no Asobi - a series focusing on pagan gods as the love interests for Kusanagi Yui as they try to conquer high school for the future of both gods and humanity alike.

Initially, it was exciting to get two reverse harem anime in one season and honestly, the first episode was a let down but it picked up again by episode 2.

Episode 1 commences dramatically with gods fighting with one another and Yui, the protagonist, attempting to stop them. Apollon then makes his entrance and undergoes such a mahou shoujo transformation into his god form...it was hilarious since all that happened was removal of clothing and growth of hair.

Apollon Make-up!

Afterwards, it had a better paced screenplay with introducing Yui and her normal life. We know she is learning/doing kendo, has two brothers and parents, and lives in a shrine which is maintained by her family. It is probably due to this spiritual connection that she is chosen by Zeus for the mission.

Later, she and 7 gods are transported to a floating island. All of them are obviously confused and we go through an incredibly slow, 15 minutes as each of them are introduced through interactions with her.

A lot of shounen/yaoi material was also introduced as Norse, Greek and Shinto gods are featured and all have prior relationships within their folklore. The most interesting one was Baldr since he was so very clumsy and I sense a dual personality coming about...

Finally, Zeus summons her and they talk about the declining future of both the gods and humans. There was attempted comedy following the conversation but...it was kind of forced, as are most comedic scenes in the series so far. 

The purpose of the academy was to teach the gods humanity and save the future. At the end of the episode, we meet the 'default' male - the one with who the majority of scenes will take place with. 

Now, the animation is wonderful as it really focuses on lighting, shading, details, etc., as can be seen below:

It also had great promise of a strong female character and the difference was noted in her voice, where it is much deeper than other MCs of the same genre. Then it is revealed that she doesn't have a love life so she'll be the same as any other girl - completely inexperienced, leading to 'innocently seductive' scenarios and maintaining a confused/shocked facial expression at all times.

Kusanagi Yui

The downfall was the slow pace. I was just waiting for it to be over! 

Moving onto the second episode, it become a bit better with the opening sequence setting a pace - something the first lacked. It was also packed with a number clips focusing on enlightening the audience of the relationships already in place.

There wasn't any original clips with the MC & god as they were animated from the CGs:

It's always interesting to see the changes, especially in art (the game accommodates more western features whereas the is very Japanese) & Loki's personality is toned down a tad bit.

The main conflict in this episode is that not all the gods are up for participating in Zeus' plan. Each god reveals an aspect of his personality and by the end, the team formed for success consists of Yui, Apollon, Baldr & Tsukito. They do their best to convince the others to join the campaign for success!

The episode then ends with a lovely sequence of the main gods synced with the song. Here's a clip as a farewell:

It's a little difficult to watch the interpretations of the gods since Marvel dominated Norse folklore through Thor & Avengers whereas I've studied a great deal of Greek mythology. Nonetheless, it's still entertaining, even the take on Hades, who in mythology is a trickster/malevolent personality but a...misunderstood man in the anime.

The plot is forced but for the sake of reverse harem, it works. So until next time!

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La Corda D'Oro: Blue Sky | Episode 1 Review

This April, La Corda D'Oro: Blue Sky has been released! The best part is that it doesn't have connections to the first installment aside from taking place in the same school. 

I just finished watching the first episode and there were more positive feelings than negative. I wrote about the manga adaption here if anyone is interested. 

As with the manga adaption, the anime keeps the show dynamic with the various old and new relationships between the protagonist, Kanade, and her harem members.

The episode begins by showing Kanade as a young prodigy and fast forward a couple of years, we see her getting a note about reaching her limit. We don't know who sent it to her but in the manga, we have a better sense of who did.

Then the beautiful opening begins, foreshadowing allies and rivals, who she's most likely to end up with and my personal favourite clip:

I know which my OTP is going to be ;)

Every time I see this version, I can't help but compare it to the first. The feel was much more la-de-dah whereas this one focuses on a protagonist who seems to have lost her true passion for the violin and her self-confidence.

The song itself, Wings to Fly, is much more dramatic as well!

Moving on, we are introduced to Kyoya, who has an obvious crush on Kanade and is slightly possessive, and both are on their way to listen to Ritsu's performance. He is Kyoya's older brother and Kanade's cherished friend. She loves it when he plays.

In the concert, we are introduced to the majority of characters. Each of a line or two and the presidents of the music/orchestra clubs are featured (Ritsu, Togane, Myouga) and of course, Myouga is the one who stands outs since he knows Kanade is in the audience, zoning in on her.

Sei, sitting in the audience, wonders who he is taking his anger out on. Then after the concert, an announcement is about an a competition among three schools. This gets people excited as the prize is sponsorship and support from them for further studies abroad.
Following the concert, the two meet Ritsu, who has created a distance between himself and Kanade. It turns out he had left the both of them at their smaller town to learn how to better play the violin. He called them to his concert so they can better themselves as musicians.

It also turns out he shipped their belongings to the dorms so they could switch schools...

Funny.

Kanade eventually decides to stay - Kyoya's tense relation with his brother is touched on - and Kyoya doesn't want to leave her behind, especially with Sakaki constantly hitting on her.

The episode ends with the announcement of Kyoya and Kanade being entered in the competition! The other members don't like that very much.

All in all, it was a decent first episode. The major characters have been introduced with the minor ones most likely being flushed out in the second or third episodes. The anime really pushes the obvious crush Kyoya has for her and they have a pretty clip in the opening:

It seems like the series will focus on her development much more than Hino's. I liked the OVA of the first series as it did focus much more on developing Hino's character. The downside to the series is the lazy animation of characters not in the spot light.

When Sakaki speaks to Kanade, poor Kyoya's has been neglected. It's a minor thing right now so here's hoping none of that continues...

Looking forward to next week's episode!

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LGBT marriages not recognized in Japan

Last year, there was hype over Japan's first lesbian married couple to the extent of having a manga ("Lesbian-teki Kekkon Seikatsu") being published based on their married life.

Cool but what's this? Japan hasn't legalized LGBT marriages?

It’s quite intriguing that LGBT marriages aren’t legalized since the entertainment business, (animanga, dramas, etc) incorporate gay couplings, leading the illusion of being tolerant.

The reason why I say illusion is after reading the comment here, it further enlightened me to a trend of capitalism: beauty makes things okay. The following images help with the understanding of this statement:

These are aesthetically pleasing or provides fanservice to the audience. So if gay love or attraction is shown as such, then it's pleasing. It's not to say all yaoi, yuri or het fans fit this mold but I've spent enough years in fandom to see that beautiful characters matter to a large extent - 50/50 on art & plot makes a solid story (Takashi from Prince of Tennis is an example of this, being the most regularly drawn). In pursuit of 'hawtness', these rapid fangirls make more socio-cultural problems than there should be. 

Referring to the comments once again, some say because the 'marriage' was between two women who were good looking, they were able to 'get away' with such an event. Some say if it was two men, they wouldn't be able to bear it. 

So...are fans objectifying LGBT couples in fandom? Yes, I believe so. Fandoms are not the only ones that participate in this. As much as I enjoy CLAMP's works, beauty is a trend they definitely emphasize on through scenery in scans and of course, the characters themselves. They say love has no form but their characters sure are good looking people, eh?

Returning to reality, it's terrible that if a couple was considered unattractive, they would have much more trouble with society. Then again, beauty makes things better for anyone - in some places, prettier people are paid more than those who aren't. 

So sad. 

For those who want to read the article, take a look here. 

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