Tuesday, November 7, 2006

Anime Review!
If you don't feel like listening to me rant about an anime, don't bother reading this post. I'll update with stuff that's going on in my actual life sometime later, but I figured if I'm gonna be switching my site around, I may as well give some info on the series.

Koko wa Greenwood, or Here is Greenwood
An 11 volume (so I've been told) manga series by Yukie Nasu, adapted into a 6 episode OVA. As far as I can tell the anime is actually a collection of episodes from the manga, but without all the details and in-between bits.

Kazuya Hasukawa is an orphan. His only relative, his brother, had raised him. Unfortunately, that brother has just married Kazuya's first love! Unable to stand living in their 'love nest', Kazuya enters Ryokuto Academy. He takes up residence in Ryokurin Hall- but it's better known as 'Greenwood'. Greenwood is home to all the social outcasts of Ryokuto, it seems. There's the religious cult, the man who lives with his motorcycle, the computer geeks who have turned their room into an arcade, and, perhaps the two strangest residents, Shinobu Tezuka and Mitsuru Ikeda, the class president and dorm head, respectively. These two upperclassmen show Kazuya a warm welcome- by informing him that he'll be rooming with Shun Kisaragi, a girl who, for her own reasons, has disguised herself as a boy.

The characters in this series are unbelievably funny and endearing. There's Shinobu, the cold, intelligent one who seems to be so serious that it catches you off guard when he pulls one (or several) over on Kazuya. The handsome Mitsuru (who happens to be my avatar) seems to live to torment Kazuya as well, whether it be by practical jokes or stealing the food off his plate. And Shun is one of the only characters I've ever seen that can pull off the hyper, chipper, ever optimistic attitude without annoying the hell out of me.

What really, really surprised me was the anime's dubbing (the first dub, anyway. I think it's been dubbed twice by different companies). I wasn't expecting such an old anime to have a very good voiceover, but it really does. The voices fit the characters, and while there are some bits that might have been done better, I was very pleased overall. Good thing, too, because it's on VHS, and I can't switch to Japanese. I told you it was old.

The manga, just because of the added amount of storyline and laugh-out-loud bits, is better, in my opinion. Things are better explained. Plus, some of the moments are absolutely priceless.

If you're still around, I thank you for your patience, and I give you my- er, well, I won't give you my word that I'll update, because I'm gonna be freak of some busy with schoolwork this week, but I will try. If I have time. If I haven't gone and thrown myself in the river because of all the research and crap I'm supposed to be doing.

Wish me luck ^^;;;

Edit: BTW, I know I'm randomly changing my site around, and I know that's kind of strange for me. usually, I keep the same kind of site forever, but I've decided that if I get into a series, I can go ahead and switch it for awhile, and go back to an old favorite when I feel like it. Change is good every now and then ^_^
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