Category: Character Studies

Keeping Abreast of Chihayafuru

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Chihayafuru is an unusual little sports anime. Competitive Karuta is a very Japanese game steeped in Japanese culture. Unlike Go it is not a game that has no language barriers. Even Shogi or Mahjong can be learned without learning Japanese despite their pieces having Japanese characters on them. Karuta not only requires being able to read and speak Japanese but being able to do so at a level that you can react instantly that make it unplayable by anyone who is not fluent in the language. But this is not the only thing that makes Chihayafuru so exotic. The fact that it is sport manga from a josei manga makes it even more unusual. As a manga written for adult women it treats certain subjects differently than your stereotypical boys sports show. Chihaya Ayase as a female protagonist is treated very differently just because she is from a josei manga. Almost all the reviews of the series has mentioned this fact. But there is one aspect of Chihayafuru being from a josei source that I have not seen anyone talk about and that is how Chihayafuru deals with breasts.

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The Speakeasy #026: Pucker Up, Love in the Most Unexpected Places

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Drink #026: Pucker Up,
Love in the Most Unexpected Places

For our after Valentine’s Day podcast we decided to go with a twist on the normal February topic. While we look at relationships in anime, we examine couples in series where they are not the key focus. There is often romance in all genres of anime and we look at some of our favorites. A bit of warning in the fact that to speak about most of these relationships we have to spoil some of the series we talk about. Therefore be warned that we discuss BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad, Spirited Away, Cardcaptor Sakura, Planetes, Hayate the Combat Butler, Here is Greenwood, Crest of the Stars, and Princess Tutu in part 1. And in Part 2 we discuss Gundam SEED, Eureka Seven, Gundam X, Turn A Gundam, The Vision of Escaflowne, RahXephon, and Macross series. We ask the audience many questions so feel free to answer them in the comments.

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And now your helpful bartenders at The Speakeasy present your drink:

Drink

  • 1 oz lemon vodka
  • 1 oz lemon juice
  • 1 candy lemonhead
  • 1 tsp sugar

Preparation:

Wet the rim of the 2-oz shot glass with lemon juice and put sugar around the rim. Pour lemon juice in the glass with the vodka. Next drop a Lemonhead candy in and wait a few seconds. Lick the sugar around the rim, shoot the shot down fast. Don`t swallow the Lemonhead, but instead suck on it after swallowing the shot.

Obligatory Valentine’s Day Related Post: Our Favorite Couples of 2011

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Ah Valentines Day. A time for anime bloggers to write about romance and dating. As I understand there are also other rituals involved with this holiday but I am not privy to such mystical secrets. So we present to you our favorite couples from 2011.  As with every year with anime there are a fair number of very standard romances, some bizarre ones, some Tomino styled ones, some that never go anywhere, and even some dreadful ones. We both selected a pair that we though were both well written and entertaining. Feel free to comment below on who you would pick from 2011 as well.

Looking at our picks, I realize both of them have pretty sad ends. They aren’t bad endings, but they are melancholy for sure.

Ringo and Shoma (Mawaru Penguindrum)

I won’t say they are the best couple. That is just crazy talk. Everyone in Penguindrum is a crazy messed up person with more baggage than an airport. But Ringo and Shoma are a very fascinating couple and that alone secures their place in my favorite couple spot of 2011. They started off as strangers both obsessed with different goals that happened to be more interconnected then they first assumed. Ringo is an obsessed stalker devoted to seducing the man her sister loved at any cost. Shoma is equally obsessed with trying to find the Penguindrum to save his sister but is amazingly passive in his attempts to accomplish his mission. As the series goes on they both learn from the other as they grow as a couple. Ringo sees the folly in her single-minded devotion and Shoma learns that he must make a stand to get what he wants. Their wildly divergent personalities oddly complement each other. There are several major complications that keep them part when their pasts are revealed but it does not stop them from coming together in the end. Although their time together as an actual couple may be short, it is unforgettable. Their story engaged me and added to the story despite their major dysfunctions.

Jintan & Menma (AnoHana)

From the very beginning we know that the story in AnoHana is going to be a bittersweet one full of the ups and downs of childhood and all the regrets that go along with it. Menma died when everyone was very young and it blew apart the circle of friends, but Menma’s spirit brings them all back together to confront each other and the future. Jintan and Menma’s love is a simple one, afterall it comes from a simpler time, yet because of the tragedy it has distorted everyone’s relationships thereafter. There is a moment between Jintan and Menma that moved me so completely that it is probably why I picked them above all others. They are sitting at the table, like they have so many times before, but now the weight of the past has started to come down and the barrier cracks as Jintan talks about granting Menma’s wish and her disappearing. It was amazingly heartfelt and open. I could literally see Jintan realizing he loved her. Jintan is stuck, but he doesn’t understand why, he has simply put away the past instead of acknowledging it. With Menma’s appearance the wheels start to turn ever so slightly, I find his emotional journey just as compelling as this impossible romance.