I Have No Crush on 'Nijiro Days' (Review)

Nijiro Days (Rainbow Days)

Studio: Production Reed
Producer: YTV, Tokuma Japan,Daiichikosho, Shueisha
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life, Romance, Shoujo
Episodes: 24
Episode Length: 13 minutes

Nijiiro Days follows the colorful lives and romantic relationships of four high school boys—Natsuki Hashiba, a dreamer with delusions of love; Tomoya Matsunaga, a narcissistic playboy who has multiple girlfriends; Keiichi Katakura, a kinky sadist who always carries a whip; and Tsuyoshi Naoe, an otaku who has a cosplaying girlfriend.

When his girlfriend unceremoniously dumps him on Christmas Eve, Natsuki breaks down in tears in the middle of the street and is offered tissues by a girl in a Santa Claus suit. He instantly falls in love with this girl, Anna Kobayakawa, who fortunately attends the same school as him. Natsuki's pursuit of Anna should have been simple and uneventful; however, much to his dismay, his nosy friends constantly meddle in his relationship, as they strive to succeed in their own endeavors of love.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nijiro Days is as fulfilling as watching someone else eat delicious cake. It's taunting you with something amazing, something that you could have. But ultimately you're let down.

This anime had so many problems. I can't help but get angry because of it. On the surface, it's a quick, fluffy romance anime with male leads instead of female ones. This is a unique twist on the shoujo romance genre, but this twist is wasted on Nijiro Days. This is no better than a boring shoujo with female leads.

My major problem with the series is the characters. They are a lackluster, meaningless cast, and I felt no attachment to any of them, even though I've gone through the hardships of crushes and unrequited love before.

Let's go down the list of couples, analyzing each.

The Main Couple is Bland Anna Kobayakawa and Typical Shoujo Girl Natsuki Hashiba. 

Anna is a typical Mary Sue. She doesn't figure out her feelings for Natsuki until the last moment. She has little to no emotions; one of the four main characters even mentions her emotionless face. I rarely got to see her smile. I can deal with detached characters, but she really was empty. Her character had no depth. She was nice but in the way that everyone is nice. She works at a karaoke place. Other than that, I can't tell you a single one of her likes or traits. She was a boring character; that's it.

And Natsuki...sigh. He had real potential, you know? He could have been a heart-on-your-sleeve, comedic relief, lovable guy. What we got was less than average. He was more like the typical shoujo manga girl. As if the creators wanted to make him relatable to the females in the audience. I've met guys who have unrequited crushes on girls. They don't act like that. They're defensive at times and make jokes. Natsuki ended up being more of a squealing typical shoujo character. I liked that the main characters were guys crushing on girls; I thought that had real promise, but Natsuki ended up way too stereotypical for me to care about him.

And the romance between the two is innocent and kinda cute, but Anna takes way too many hints and throws them out of the window. It took way too long for the main romance to even become a thing in her eyes. Way too long.

Then we have the couple with the next most screen time: Tsun-Girl and Creep-Boy. 

Tsun-Girl, or Mari Tsutsui is way too much tsun and not enough -dere. I've seen many tsundere characters done right (Toradora's Taiga and Maid Sama's Misaki come to mind first), and Mari is a perfect example of how to do a tsundere wrong. The most glaring thing about her is that she is annoying and bratty. Most of her lines are screaming "Annnaaaaa" loudly into my ear, and the ear of her surrounding classmates, and while having a loud, mildly dependent character is fine for a tsundere, Mari never gets any development. She is, forever and always, the Tsun-Girl. Most tsunderes have a redeeming moment. Something that makes you realize "Ah, they aren't so bad after all." Mari almost had that, but that scene didn't follow through, and she didn't change because of that scene. She was a static character, even though she had the chance to change. Plus, there is no explanation for why she hates men. Oh, sure, her brother moved away. How did that affect her? She's an angry teenager for absolutely no reason. There is no backstory to her; there is no reason why. 

And Creep-Boy, or Tomoya (That's his first name?? It's never mentioned) Matsunaga is a playboy. But he's really not a playboy. Nijiro Days might try to trick you into thinking that he is with a few scenes of girls fawning over him, but he really isn't. When he meets Mari, he's smitten, even if he acts like he isn't. But there's not meaning for him liking her. She hates him with a fiery passion, and not in the tsundere way. He says she's cute, but what does that mean? He even talks to her and gets to know her a bit, but he can't rustle up a reason for why he likes her? Then maybe it's not meant to be.

Sigh. The best couple had barely any screentime. 

I'm talking about Otaku One and Otaku Two: Yukiko Asai and Tsuyoshi Naoe. Wow. These guys seem very incompatible: Yukiko (Or Yukirin as she is known by the entire cast) is cute, bubbly, and loud, and Tsuyoshi is quiet and brooding. They are both otakus, which seems to be why they bonded. 

While most of the couples are off trying to realize their feelings for one another, Yukiko and Tsuyoshi are sitting in someone's room playing video games or out at a concert or cosplaying. 

They're the perfect example of opposites attract, personality-wise. I like how Tsuyoshi is very subtle in his romancing efforts. He doesn't seem like he's trying too hard, but we know he cares.

These two are barely seen, though, and they get little to no development. Their relationship, while more interesting than the other ones, doesn't change with the seasons, as most relationships do.

Last but not least, Sadist Keiichi Katakura and Fangirl Nozomi Matsunaga.

Keiichi showed a lot of promise, much like Natsuki. But he wasn't developed at all. I wanted to know more about him. Why was he sadist? Where did he learn these things? I wanted to see his dark side, and Nozomi was perfectly able to be introduced to Keiichi's dark side. He even showed it to her once. But, alas, he is boring too much he has no screentime, except maybe as a cheerleader to the Main Couple's adventures.

Nozomi was a fangirl. Obsessed because of, what I'm assuming is, his princely looks. Thanks, we're putting great ideas into the future generations. But that really is all I know about her. She likes Keiichi, is his fangirl, and is Tomoya's little sister. I wish she had more development, more character. But, again, she's just one half of a barely-seen couple.

These two were the last couple to be introduced, so that makes sense. But I start questioning why there were four main characters to begin with. The last two couples to be introduced would have little screen time because they're deemed 'not important enough'. We could have seen an interesting S&M dynamic, but, no, we were shown innocent first love, as if we haven't seen that time and time again.

I'll quickly touch upon the character designs because I am angry about that as well. But what I say will have as much effort as the characters had interesting character designs.

They were not interesting.

Long story: they were bland. Boring, stereotypical anime characters. We had cotton-candy pink (Red?) hair and blue and cream school uniforms. Nothing new. On YouTube, someone commented that the main characters (Especially Natsuki, Tomoya, and Tsuyoshi) looked like Free! Iwatobi Swim Club members. At least with Free!, we get mildly BL elements. Nijiro Days doesn't even give us that.

The plot itself is unfulfilling as well. There aren't many 'events' even though lots of time of passing. (The whole anime covers slightly over a year of these characters' lives.) We have a school festival, Christmas, and, of course, the requisite Beach Episode. (Admittedly, there are some amazing Beach Episodes, but this one doesn't work out because of the character interactions and lack of comedy that typical Beach Episodes contain.) Nothing new.

If I had one positive thing to say about this anime, it would be the complex, possibly yuri relationship between Anna and Mari. Yes, Mari the man hater is in love with Anna. I thought this was interesting. I wondered about what type of love she meant for the longest time, but she basically confirmed it during the one of the hot spring episodes. But, again, it's never developed, so I'm left struggling to find anything good about this anime.

Overall, there are better romantic comedy animes to watch. I already mentioned a few with tsunderes. If you want to see a playboy character like Tomoya done well, Maid Sama works too. If you want to see innocent love like what was supposed to be between Anna and Natsuki, Snow White with the Red Hair is good, or if you're in it for the long haul, Aoharu x Machinegun is a great anime where two characters like each other and never figure it out (Read the manga, though. Masamune takes forever to figure it out.) If you want a romantic comedy, Clannad is amazing, albeit a tad sad. Want male main characters? Daily Lives of High School Boys has a great male cast and is hilarious. There are so many amazing animes that better than this one. Just ask for a recommendation. I have plenty. 

Kamis, Kitsunes, Tengus, Oh My!: 'Kamisama Kiss' Review

Kamisama Hajimemashita (Kamisama Kiss)

Studio: TMS Entertainment
Producer: TV Tokyo, Dentsu, Sotsu,Pony Canyon, Hakusensha, DAX Production
Genre: Comedy, Demons, Fantasy, Romance, Shoujo, Supernatural
Episodes: 13
Episode Length: 24 minutes per episode

Nanami Momozono dreams of living a normal life, just like any other average high school girl. Instead, she must cope with the fact that her deadbeat father accumulated a bunch of gambling debts and abandoned her. And since she can't afford to pay the rent, she's now homeless. Despite this unfortunate turn of events, Nanami still maintains a kind heart.

One day in the park, she saves a poor man from a vicious attack, and in a perfect example of how good deeds are rewarded, the man thanks her by giving her his home. The offer sounds suspicious, but beggars can't be choosers. When Nanami arrives at the man's home, however, she discovers it isn't a house at all. It's a shrine. She learns that the man she saved was actually a god and that by giving her his home, she has now assumed his godhood and all of the duties that go along with it.

The role seems daunting but it turns out that the previous god had a familiar named Tomoe. A powerful and skilled fox demon, Tomoe should be able to help Nanami transition into her new role as a deity... if the two of them don't kill each other first, that is. Kamisama Hajimemashita follows Nanami's life as a human god, her quest to win Tomoe's trust, and the romantic feelings she develops for him along the way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For me, Kamisama Kiss is Noragami (The gods part) + Fruits Basket (The kind main girl part) + Inu x Boku SS (The protector of main girl part.)

Admittedly, I like all of those animes (Except maybe Fruits Basket. That's just okay.) I didn't expect this anime to combine some of the best elements from those animes into one. And it's not the best or the worst.

Nanami was a great character. Typically, I don't like the sweet, kind characters because they're Plain Janes (or Mary Sues. Same idea.) They're boring, to say the least. It's hard to do a kind character justice because everyone sees them as someone to assist. That's why they're TERRIBLE main characters. But Nanami has pizazz. She was feisty and fierce. I loved that. She could sass someone into submission, but she truly cared for people. We need more Nanamis in the world. People who truly care for others. It's refreshing. 

(Just saying, but another good example of this character type done well is in Tohru from Fruits Basket. She too is very kind, but this makes her likable and a good ally for the Sohma family.)

When you introduce two people who are supposed to fall for each other, there is some drive within me that screams 'KISS NOW'. I'll definitely root for you (With a few grumbles) if you're meant to be together. (Typically, though, my favorite ships are non-canon.) Canon ships are the easiest to root for because the creator makes them that way. It's instinctual for me to root for a canon ship.

But Tomoe and Nanami weren't too bad to root for to begin with. I knew that this shoujo anime would follow a romantic subplot, but that's the kicker. The romance IS a subplot. It's not essential to the anime. We could have the two stay as friends, and things would be fine. (Most people would jump in here and claim "But it'd be awkward!" I defy you and ask a single question: "Can a guy and girl be friends without having feelings for each other?" The answer is a resolute yes. So no, you're wrong in this case. It won't be awkward unless you MAKE it awkward. Wrenisms.)

These two had this cute, little chemistry going on. The romance seems uncalled for in the beginning, but you truly see how much they care for each other. If you show me that they truly have feelings for each other, then I'll ship it a little bit. 

Also, on a sidenote, chibi Tomoe is adorable. Seriously.

While I like Nanami, Tomoe is another story. To me, he's a prick who shuts everyone out. People will cry, "BUT HE'S SOO HOT." I deny that too. Brooding boys can be cute. But they can't be pricks. Tomoe was REALLY toeing the Prick Line. (That line divides the pricks of the world from the nice people. Or mildly nice people in my case. Haha.) 

I know that I didn't like him as much was because there was a lack of backstory. We had TWO trips to the past, but we didn't learn a lot about Tomoe. 

I can sum up the knowledge in two statements. A) He used to date a cute human girl and B) He used to kill people. But that's all. We don't learn about WHY he killed people or anything like that. We don't even learn how he met Mikage one of the unseen forces that drives this anime! 

(Again, let me refer to Fruits Basket. That anime did the Brooding Badass character pretty well. Kyo isn't the most lovable character, but you begin to love him as you learn his...wait for it...BACKSTORY. Backstory is KEY for any character. It builds them up, and it drives them forwards.) 

Perhaps, in season two, we learn more about his past. But I'm kinda done with this anime...

And the plot, which is a driving force for ANY anime, felt odd. It felt disjointed at times. Sure, I loved seeing Nanami's love for Tomoe when she went into the past to get the eye, but I didn't see much relevance to her being a god and all. This anime is very episodic. I typically can swallow episodic animes, but this felt weird. The episodes seemed scattered. Some were about Nanami as a god and others as bonding moments between the couple. It didn't feel normal. I didn't like it. 

Verdict:

Would kiss again. Maybe.

The Fundamental Problem With 'Orange'

The anime 'Orange' is the shoujo-slash-science-fiction that has taken the summer by storm. We've hit the fifth episode (Out of thirteen) of this anime. But there is something that sticks out in my mind. Something significant.

With the most recent episode (Episode five), we were lectured by the gang's chemistry teacher about parallel worlds and time travel. This brought up a few questions about the story.
But let me explain.
The story revolves around our main character Naho receiving a letter from her supposed 'future self' who has many regrets, mostly about the new kid Kakeru. The letter is a few pages long (As seen in the way Naho holds it like there is more than one.) Within its pages, the Future Naho explains what she regrets...and how to stop it. The Current Naho is supposed to prevent these regrets from happening. And maybe even save Kakeru.
But where did the letter come from?
This is a fundamental question. The whole series revolves around the letters being legitimate (This legitimacy is established early on. Naho discovers that there IS a new kid named Kakeru and some other facts that are from the letter.) 

Here are a few possible explanations.

The first one is the most obvious one. Time travel. The anime hints at it; the teacher talks about parallel worlds and time travel. Episode five is divided into two parts; one is entirely about Naho thinking about parallel worlds and time travel. 

Here is the problem, though. Bear with me. This might get a little complicated. If a letter from Future Naho went into the past to Current Naho, wouldn't this cause a paradox? (Let's quickly define a paradox. According to Merriam-Webster, a paradox is "something that is made up of two opposite things and that seems impossible but is actually true". In layman's terms, that means something that shouldn't exist but does.) In terms of time travel, though, a paradox is a bad thing with a capital B. It's so bad that a paradox would rip the fabric of time. (You might have heard that phrase before. Doc Brown said it in 'Back to the Future'. Not sure which one, though.) 
Simply put, the letter delivered via time travel = paradox = how are they existing?

Of course, if you believe in the parallel worlds theory, the letter caused a change in the future. So the Future Naho (From Future 1) doesn't exist in Future 2. Future 2 is caused by the existence of the letter and Current Naho's actions. So Current Naho caused Future 2. 
Okay, you're probably all confused by now. So here's a little diagram to show what I'm talking about.

Does this make more sense now? But this is, of course, if you believe in that theory. If you don't, then Current Naho's actions could destroy the world. And the letter might not even exist anymore. But that's a topic I'd rather not discuss. It's too big for someone like me. 

If ripping apart time and space with a simple letter isn't satisfying for you, I have another route. But it's awful. It's the only other option I could think of. And that is...the letter is a really elaborate prank. Introduce the letter to Naho and have Kakeru ACT OUT what will happen. Therefore, the actors (Kakeru and whoever else is involved) know EXACTLY what the letter will say and know EXACTLY how to act. 

This is a sad option, though. This means that all the feelings Current Naho has for Kakeru are from a bad place. This means that Kakeru lied to them all. 
And I don't believe that he's the type of person to do that. After all, he acts so kind to everyone. I try to think positively about Kakeru and hope he has a future living. You know, the thing the rest of us do? That. 
I want the future to change. 

So. What are your thoughts? Do you believe it's from time travel? Is time travel even possible?