|
|
||||||||||
| Episode Details | |
|---|---|
| 1893, 1894 | |
| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rent | 9 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
 Ggultra2764
|
[series:2132#1552] |
|
Sora no Manimani proved to be a surprisingly addicting and relaxing title to check out considering astronomy was brought into the the realm of high school slice-of-life comedies with this series. As to be expected of the genre, Sora no Manimani explores the everyday happenings of Saku, Mihoshi and other members of the school's astrology club as they do activities like gaze at stars in the night skies, talk about constellations and prepare for the school culture festival. The astrology focus proved to be an interesting element to the mix as there were discussions brought up about different constellations and the legends surrounding them, the proper environment to get the best out of stargazing and student conventions on astrology as the series took its focus on astrology seriously and made it much of the show's prominent focus instead of using it as a backdrop for hit-or-miss humor coming off the various quirks of the characters. This effort also went into the show's visual presentation which looks above average featuring gorgeous shots of the night sky witnessed by the show's characters, as well as some great shots within a museum and student-made planetarium. The show still runs into some of the typical trappings of high school and slice-of-life comedies as the childish antics of Mihoshi and Masashi's ogling of girls did get annoying at points and moments of comedy tended to be hit or miss for me. Still, the serious focus on astrology and the likeable cast from Sora no Manimani did enough to make it stick out from typical high school and slice-of-life comedies as I got much enjoyment out of seeing the club's enthusiasm for astrology and the believable focus on it. This is a series worth checking out if you want something a bit different with your typical slice of life/ high school comedy.
Last updated Thursday, November 10 2011. Created Wednesday, November 09 2011. | ||||||||
| Rent | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
 Dreamer
|
[series:2132#2279] |
|
There was nothing really refreshing about this run-of-the-mill "me-too" anime, but somehow I found it still worth watching for the silly antics, fun characters, and the simple, yet amusing episodes. Art, Animation & Character Designs Artwork was pretty good. With moderate amount of details and rich colors, it seemed slightly above the norm. Character designs were mostly kawaii... especially Mihoshi (Mii-chan)... our lead female character. Music The OP was a nice pop piece with female vocals. Rather, it seemed like a bunch of kids were singing it. It wasn't bad but wasn't of my tastes. The soundtrack were light pianos, treble and some string instruments arranged mostly in light, fun pieces. Series and Episode Story One thing I really liked about this series was it's simplistic, yet engaging story of friendship and love. There's really nothing to the plot... infact there isn't one but rather it's an episodic series. But it's the episodes that makes this series fun. The characters were mostly unique and did well for the series as a whole... including some good laughs here and there. As for the love part, there wasn't much to speak of... just some half hearted attempts by certain characters. Overall this was a good series worth the time spent. It's refreshing to watch a series that takes nothing more than pure storytelling without violence, sexual innuendo or other cheesy content/topics, and makes it well watchable. Last updated Monday, July 19 2010. Created Monday, July 19 2010. | ||||||||
| Watch |
 Stretch
|
[series:2132#628] | ||||||
|
(Watch+ or Rent-) (All episodes watched): My first impression was that this seemed like a lighthearted, not too ambitious show. Pretty much the same gags as we've seen countless times before are used. It seemed that minimal effort was being employed to tell a simple story, with astronomy about the only novel ingredient. I wondered if anything would be done with it, or if this could just as easily have been any sort of high school club. Even more so, I wondered if anything would be done with the twist of Ooyagi noticing that there is also a literature club, which is a subject he greatly prefers. When I noticed that the stereotypical student council girl also happened to be head of the Lit club I perked up and thought to myself that maybe there really would be something clever and original about this show after all. That remained to be seen; so far the characters seemed determined to maintain simple minds and personalities. In episode two I noticed that I was strongly rooting for Hime, the third character in the Ooyagi/Mihoshi/Hime love triangle, because Mihoshi is rather annoying. She continually runs wildly about, knocking people down (which is supposed to be funny). Just as Ooyagi commented, she hasn't matured a day in the past seven years, and since the storyline here seemed rather simplistic I doubted that her personality would develop much in the course of the series. I'd love for Hime to come out on top, but I know that it won't happen--it's always the original contender who gets the guy in modest teen romance shows like this one. On the other hand, there was a scene which conveyed a sense of wonder and awe at the stars, which is encouraging. Some serious attention really was being paid to the science of astronomy, which instils a bit of pleasant curiousity within me. There are some decent jokes alongside those which fall flat, so I decided that SnM would be worth watching. Something must have been done right, because I found myself looking forward to new episodes of Manimani. There is little or no outright fanservice, which means the show must be driven by genuine quality. That doesn't mean it's brilliant, but it does raise it a step above the average anime comedy. The romance didn't go much of anywhere; Hime could never muster the courage to confess to Ooyagi while Mihoshi, (who no longer bothers me as much as she originally did), at first didn't seem to have the slightest interest in romance, so the story was largely about the club, not just the usual high school lovers. The club members have each been allocated a little personality which makes them fun. Fuumin, the stuck-up but still likeable head of the Literature Club, also plays a significant part. Later it appears that Mihoshi was just pretending to be disinterested in Ooyagi; later yet she seems to lose interest yet again. Sure enough, Ooyagi briefly switching his interest to the literature club had something to do with it. The fact that I already feel sorry for the ones who won't win indicates that they have likeable personalities. At least episode ten tried to be touching, although the revelation that the always cheerful Mihoshi was hiding a tragic secret seemed to come out of nowhere to me. I didn't notice any hint of this in any previous episode, so it seemed more confusing than heartwrenching. Astronomy remained important to the end; it reminded me of the pleasant detachment from everyday problems which curiousity and discovery sometimes instils in me, and that's certainly an admirable accomplishment. The story seems far from over, with no resolution of the romantic competition; indeed the feeble club leader seems to be enjoying a love of his own, which is nice. In all, a fun, funny show which didn't have to rely on fanservice or cheap gags. Last updated Thursday, November 10 2011. Created Friday, July 10 2009. | ||||||||
| Unevaluated |
 Forbin
|
[series:2132#1573] | ||||||
|
Another winner! If you like Hyakko you will probably like this. It's almost a harem but I won't mark it until it happens! Eps 2: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Eps 3: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA MAISM Last updated Wednesday, July 29 2009. Created Friday, July 10 2009. | ||||||||
Other Sites
| Name | URL |
|---|---|
| Official Japanese Series Web Site | http://www.mmv.co.jp/special/soramani/ |
