Anime List -- 2007

My latest favorite anime list in no particular ranking. There’s tons of great anime out there and here are some that left deep impression on me and get me addicted on starring at my small laptop screen. You’ll find lots of similarity in my list because my kinds of animes are those with lots of bishounen -- gorgeous guys (off course, I want to watch beautiful things that don’t exist in reality), romance, less fighting scenes (although I like some bloody scenes like in X, Ayashi No Ceres, but again we come back to point 1, those animes have lots of … ehem … bishounen, kyaaaa). Exception will goes to Death Note and Jigoku Shoujo. I’m currently watching Shinigami no Ballad (still not sure whether to include this to my list J).

Ouran High School Host Club – The most hilarious anime thus far, you’ll never feel tired of watching this over and over again. The story starts when a special scholarship student in a school for unbelievably rich kids, who never taste instant coffee all their life, broke a vase worth 5M Yen and was forced to work as a host in the host club to pay his debt. But they only realize that he is a she until episode 3. This is how the earlier episodes begin and all the hilarious stunts to follow.

Saionkoku Monogatari – Same formula as Fushigii Yuugi, with lots of bishounen but the main character, Shurei, is a lot smarter than Miyaka, which makes a huge difference. Not that I don’t like Fushigii Yuugi (I can’t resist anime with 7 bishounen running around haha), but I can’t stand of the prolonged Miyaka and Tamahome saga. Going back to Saionkoku, the story is about a young girl called Shurei who lived in the ancient country named Saionkoku. The first season shows less romance because the story goes with how Shurei overcome the challenges to become a good government official. Hopefully the season II includes more romance hehe..

Nodame Cantabile – Noda Megumi, in short, Nodame, is a music school student with enormous talent yet lack of ambition to pursue professional music, paired with Chiaki Shinnichi, a handsome and talented in piano and violin yet has an ambition to become a conductor. This unique pair makes the anime so fun to watch and makes you want to play piano too. Another version to watch is the live action drama. Nodame in the drama is so cute and Chiaki is so kakkoii. Also, watch them in Smap Bistro variety.

Nana – One winter night on the way to Tokyo with shinkansen, Komatsu Nana sat next to Osaki Nana and they get along right away. They met again by chance and ended up share an apartment #707(what a coincidence this is) together. With absolutely different characters, both Nana and Hachiko (nick for Komatsu Nana) face their challenges in both carrier and love life, like any other girls in their 20s. An absolutely addicted drama with good soundtracks (I like all the songs in there) and season 2 is coming up, hopefully soon. Don’t forget to watch the live movie version Nana and Nana2.

5 Centimeters per Second – Anime based on short stories, similar to Kita E. I like this anime for their story lines, graphic and details.

Glass Mask – Based on the 1970s popular manga (I read the manga when I was still in junior high to show you how old it is), the one that I watch is the remake version. This is a story about the life of Maya Kitajima, a girl with a frightening talent in drama, her ups and downs in life to pursue the role of Crimson Goddess. Worth to wait and watch.

Ayashi no Ceres – From the author of Fushigii Yuugi, Ayashi No Ceres, again with bishounen, shows more violent and bloody scenes compare to Fushigii Yuugi. Not as long as Fushigii Yuugi, and the story line moving quite fast for 17 series of manga.

Emma – Setting in 19th century of England, the anime is about the love story of Emma, a maid coming from lower class of the society, and Mr Jones, an eligible bachelor from the upper class. With class barrier in front of them the story keeps rolling. What is fantastic about this drama is the background details. The author really takes the consideration on what England looks like in 19th century.

All anime by CLAMP – XXXholic, Tsubasa Chronicles, RG Veda, Sakura Cardcaptor, X, Angelic Layer, Wish, Clover, Magic Knight – Rayearth, CLAMP Gakkuen. I like CLAMP so my opinion will be biased because anything by CLAMP is a MUST watch J. The common thing in CLAMP latest animes from Rayearth to XXXholic, is the white, soft and fluffy Mokona and the interrelated characters, eg. you'll find Sakura in Cardcaptor as Sakura in Tsubasa Chronicle but with totally different personality and story lines. Always shows optimized creativity and imagination with good story lines, detailed graphics, different presentations, CLAMP’s creation is surely worth to wait and watch.

Nadeshiko Sichihenge – This anime follows Ouran High School’s formula of success with 4 bishounen living together in a mansion. The landlord (only appears now and then) has a niece and wants them to take care of her and transfer her into a lady for a free stay. Little did they know that it’s going to be harder than they thought as the girl is a horror freak since she got her heart break from confessing her love.

Death Note – For those who watch the movie Death Note and Death Note 2, this anime is just to support the movie because it provides more details J. One fine day, Yagami Light found a black book (actually the book was purposely dropped by a bored Shinigami, Ryuk) and find out that the book holds a power to kill people just by writing their name on it. Gifted with a bright but apparently rather twisted mind, Yagami used the book to wipe out all the bad guys (according to him), thus makes him Kira (his code name). On the other side, there’s a guy with the code ‘L’ try to catch him. Thus this cats and dogs tale starts.

La Corda D’Oro – Another anime with lots of bishounen J. The theme is similar to Nodame Cantabile, but the difference is the main character, Hino, knows nothing about classical music. She just happens to be able to see the music fairy who’s flying around the school and is given a magic violin to participate on the school’s music competition. I like the soudtracks and the classical songs played in the anime.

Romeo x Juliet – Released in 2007, based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, but with the twist of anime formula inserted. Juliet’s family, the Capulet, was slaughtered by the Montaque family led by Romeo’s father to take over the power. Under Montaque’s leadership, the country suffered over poverty and only hoped to see its country’s glory back in place. 14 years later, as destiny follows, Romeo and Juliet met up and fall in love by chance. The background graphics are absolutely fantastic making it a treat to watch.

Ichigo 100% – Very cute junior high continue to high school romance J and I like the title.
Jigoku Shoujo – In English, Hell Girl. This anime comes in short stories. Each episodes is not related to each other. The main point is there’s a website when you can take revenge on those people who wronged you, but with a cost, your own very soul. The hell girl will give you a voodoo doll with a red string, and if you take the red string off, your opponent will go straight to Hell, and your name will be carved in Hell waiting for your death. Main lesson learnt, as bad as what you’ve gone through in live, there’s nothing worse when you know Hell awaits your death.