Lunatic Antics

Spoiler Rating: This is a Series Analysis, which attempts to analyze the series and present the author’s likes and dislikes of the series. On a scale of 1 to 10, ten being very high spoilers, the spoiler level is 5. Short episode summaries are presented for several episodes as well as thoughts about the ending. However, nothing in this post would be considered a major spoiler that would lower the enjoyment of the reader.

Summary and Personal Thoughts

When I first watched Sora no Manimani, it was really just an okay anime. At first, it was really cheesy. Two childhood friends meet in high school after being away for so long and now they will probably fall in love or something. I was seriously rolling my eyes at this point because I do not want another Love Hina, Tonagura!, Princess Lover, or Yotsunoha. It comes off as a bit shallow that is almost slapstick but not quite, since Mihoshi, the female lead, does tackle Saku, the male lead, whenever possible. But there were some good things. First of all, it was pretty funny and enjoyable. Secondly, Mihoshi is really cute.

But most importantly, the selling point of Sora no Manimani, was Mihoshi telling Saku that her dream is to show everyone the beauty of the night sky. Just in the first episode, we get a glimpse of Mihoshi’s character: She is hyper and fun, determinedly seeking out her childhood friend without caring about anything else. She cares about the memories of their past, becoming way more angry than I expected when Saku feigns amnesia, which is the last thing I would expect from her. And finally, she shows herself as not just some random girl who likes astronomy and wants to make trouble. She really loves it, and despite her ruining the astronomy club’s reputation by runnning around looking for Saku, she really wants it to be successful.

“Mii-chan’s always smiling. What exactly can I do for her right now?”

In epsisodes 2-5, we are treated to more romance cliche. Hime, someone who likes Saku, decides to randomly join the club just so she could get closer to him. Wow, amazing. But the key difference here is that Hime is not annoying like others of her type in romantic comedies, and Saku is definitely not perverted. We got to see more of the astronomy, which was absolutely stunning. I feel that, up until this point, the main selling point of the anime is comedy and “slice of life” in lack of a better term. The astronomy holds the story together, and it does so very well. Every activity or event is centered around astronomy somehow so that the comedy and fun are not random and have substance. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re not very appreciative of Saki then don’t worry, we talk about other things too. Not just Pokemon either.
And fuck yes to my awesomely cliché post title. You know you like it.

The title screen might be the only thing I don't like so far.

We’re a few weeks into the Summer 2009 anime season and while there have been many promising series ( CANAAN, Umineko, Bakemonogatari ), the one I feel that stands out unexpectedly is none other than stargazing anime Sora no Manimani (SnM). Yes, it’s an anime about a group of high schoolers staring at the sky. I’m sure half of you are about to blow it off right now.

SnM has many qualities that simply elevate it from what would normally be a common, school club anime to a series that has so far been extremely enjoyable. It doesn’t quite tread on the moe path that many similar types of anime ( K-ON! ) seem to take and for me, that alone already sets it above the bar.* Granted, the show isn’t without its “oh-god-she’s-so-cute-I-think-I-just-came” moments but as the focus doesn’t entirely lie there, it’s a fresh and invigorating experience. Read the rest of this entry »