Category: Comedy

Anime and Manga of the Month: August

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Anime of the Month
Irresponsible Captain Tylor by Tatsunoko Production

The United Planets Space Force and the Raalgon Empire have been at war for years. Justy Ueki Tylor is a slacker determined to make an easy life for himself by joining the UPSF. In his estimation, being a part of the military is easy because they give you free room, board, and clothing. Through a bizarre chain of events Tylor becomes the captain of his own ship despite the fact that he has no real experience. Since the top brass wish to have nothing to do with Tylor they assign him to the Soyokaze, the worst ship in the fleet with every problem case in the space forces. Tylor quickly learns that the crew have forced out every other captain. Tylor seems to survive battle after battle and assassination attempt after assassination attempt of the enemy (and his own crew) through sheer luck. But is Tylor the luckiest man in space or is their some method to his madness?

Irresponsible Captain Tylor can be comedic, dramatic, suspenseful, and action-packed all in one episode. No matter what is going on, the show always exudes an upbeat feeling. The changing between tone never feels abrupt because it has a consistent theme of positivity. Most of the crew is textbook eccentric but they are all fun variations on the stock characters. From the crazy marines to the ships doctor who can only work when drunk they are all guaranteed to bring big ole smile to your face. I would be remiss not to mention that I love Yuriko Star. She is a great, strong female character. She acts as a good foil to Tylor while still being a pleasant, feminine part of the crew.

Tylor himself sells this show. He is easily one of the most entertaining characters in anime. Tylor is an amusing character and every scene with him is infused with a sense of whimsy and energy. He is instantly likable and disarmingly charming.

Manga of the Month
Sugar Sugar Rune by Moyoco Anno

Chocolat and Vanilla are two young witches competing to become queen of their realm. A contest is the way to settle things and the girls are whisked off to the human world. Their mission is to capture people’s hearts but really they are capturing emotions given off by the heart. Chocolat is a hyper, over the top, tomboy while Vanilla is a shy, sweet, feminine girl. Their friendship is built on understanding and knowing they compliment each other. A constant struggle occurs for Chocolat to be herself or to win more hearts (as she quickly learns most guys love Vanilla’s personality). There is also nice dialogue about what it means to take someone’s emotions because once you capture them they forget them (or how they felt about you). Enter Pierre, a boy with a cold demeanor, who Chocolat is determined to win over, but he has his own agenda. This manga’s art certainly sets it apart from a lot of young girls series. The manga-ka is better known for her josei work but actually Sugar Sugar Rune is a perfectly done (and award-winning) children’s manga. It exudes fun and friendship and gives an interesting spin to the magical girl concept.

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Hayate the Combat Butler, There is only dirty otaku blood in our veins!

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Hayate no Gotoku is an otaku comedy for the whole family.

YAY! We are really excited about the next season of Hayate (especially since we weren’t sure it was going to get one). So we thought we would try to get as many people watching it as we could before it starts up again!

Nagi, Hayate, Butler, Otaku, Doujinshi

This is the story of the most unlucky boy in the world. Hayate Ayasaki has only ever known a life of hard work and sorrow. One day, he comes home to find that his parents have borrowed 156,804,000 yen from the Yakuza and that they have left him the responsibility of paying off this debt. Hayate decides to ransom a girl to get the money and the girl he first stumbles upon is Nagi Sanzenin. Due to an odd miscommunication that shall set the tone for the whole series, Hayate’s declaration that he is going to kidnap Nagi comes off as a love confession. And of course Nagi falls completely in love with him in that instant but it is a love built on a misunderstanding.

Nagi, Hayate, Butler, Otaku, Doujinshi

Poor Hayate never had a chance as his last pay check was given to his good for nothing parental units who promptly used it to gamble. But Hayate is innately good and even when he really, really tries to be bad he just ends up screwing it up. But I guess that is why he gets all the ladies.

Nagi, Hayate, Butler, Otaku, Destiny, Doujinshi

After Hayate saves Nagi several times instead of kidnapping her, he asks Nagi to find him a job. Nagi can immediately think of only one position for Hayate. Under her; as her combat butler (yes, that innuendo was intentional). And so through some shenanigans Nagi agrees to pay off Hayate’s debt and in return he will pay off the debt to her as her butler. The main problem as Maria, who is Nagi’s maid, quite succinctly put it is: there is a humongous bomb waiting to go off between Nagi and Hayate. Nagi believes that Hayate is head over heals in love with her and does everything for her due to their love. Hayate is eternally grateful to the woman who saved his life but is unaware of any feelings she has for him. Maria is quite aware that this is a problem waiting to happen so she does everything is her power to make sure this does not blow up in everyone’s face.

Nagi, Hayate, Butler, Otaku, Maria, Maid, Doujinshi

This is a recipe for pure comedy. The show is miscommunication after miscommunication between these two, then throw in: a beautiful maid who Hayate is crazy about; an odd old butler and a talking tiger; a jerky grandfather; Nagi’s “fiance” who is the owner of a video store; a wacky bunch of friends of Nagi; wackier students and teachers at her and Hayate’s school; gobs of girls in love with Hayate; a huge estate; unlimited amounts of money; robots; doujinishi; a crap load of otaku jokes; and a butler battling tournament. Oh but there is some randomness that resembles an actual plot thrown in also. You see, Nagi’s grandfather has promised his fortune to anyone who can do two things. One: Make Nagi cry. Two: Make Nagi apologize. So this adds money hungry ridiculous villains sometimes.

Nagi, Hayate, Butler, Otaku, Gundam, Doujinshi

The author of Hayate, Kenjiro Hata, is a rather interesting mangaka. He once was the assistant of Koji Kumeta who currently writes Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei. Like many modern mangaka he is as big an otaku as his readers. Apparently he is also very active on the internet, posting on his own blog and conversing with fans on 2channel. Also according to Tsunami Channel he started the manga in massive debt and was dependent on sales of the manga. I also really empathized with Kenjiro Hata when he said he started to cry in a family restaurant during the first year of writing Hayate as he thought it was going to be canceled.

Nagi, Hayate, Butler, Otaku, Conan, Doujinshi

Hayate is the story of a truth that grows out of a lie. Or that is what Narutaki and I like to believe. I think the things that will draw most people into this series is the two main characters. All too often you will have shows in which the main characters are super bland or annoying but the side characters are where it is at. I would be surprised if anyone who regularly reads this blog did not at least like one of the main characters. Hayate is handsome, strong, honest, amiable, charming, and a little bit goofy. Nagi is a spunky otaku girl with a sharp mind and a sweet side buried under a very blunt nature. Hayate and Nagi are great characters but they are even better characters together. They have an easy comedic interplay between them and they are also a cute couple even though they might not realize what is going on between them. It is all to easy to make characters who constantly misunderstand each other extremely annoying but Hayate and Nagi stay charming and make you honestly root for them.

Nagi, Hayate, Butler, Mecha, Robot, Otaku, Gundam, Doujinshi

Some people mistakenly call Nagi tsundere. This is absolutely not true, Nagi expounds on why Hayate is so great. And she does think he already knows she loves him as much as he loves her. So while she does get embarrassed or yell at him, it really stems from her anti-social behavior more than anything else. I’ll never forget an episode where Nagi is trying to think of a way to get Hayate out of the house for a few hours. Nagi simply lies to him yelling “I’m tired of seeing your face!” Hayate was visibly hurt. He is quite naive but sometimes I think he is actually amazingly shrewd. To put it another way, Hayate is a playa. For a guy who doesn’t have any romantic feelings for anyone, except Maria, he sure does get around. However, I too am in love with Hayate so what can I really say? I am the first to admit that while I love this show because it is funny, I am really attached to the growing relationship between Nagi and Hayate. A lot.

Nagi, Hayate, Butler, Otaku, Maria, Maid, Doujinshi

The hidden workhorse that keeps the series and the characters moving forward is Maria the maid. Maria is Hayate and Nagi’s greatest supporter. She troubleshoots many a disaster and often times work her hardest to keep Hayate and Nagi together and maybe even make them realize what the other one is feeling. The running gag is that everyone thinks that Maria is much older than her actually age of 17 but it’s mostly because she is the mature character in the series who has to reign things in when they get out of control. I will also admit for some reason I really like that little curly bang that hangs down from Maria’s face. It is impossibly cute.

Nagi, Hayate, Butler, Otaku, Wataru, Doujinshi

Maria is very important, I can’t imagine anyone actually making it a week without her. Even when they try to send her on vacation it just doesn’t work. Speaking of characters that are just great, how about I talk about Wataru? Dying to hear about him I know. Wataru is Nagi’s “fiance” and no matter how much they fight, they are actually very good friends. I see him and Nagi as having similar personalities. He is spikey but very sweet deep down, he is also small and adorable. He, Nagi, Sakuya (Nagi’s cousin), and Isumi (the only person that would willingly read Nagi’s ramblings) have all known each other a long time and their friendship is very fun. He also has this funny rivalry/friendship with Hayate. His family used to be wealthy but now their only asset is a video store which Wataru works at. Nagi is constantly renting things from him. Wataru is a super otaku of special effects (tokusatsu) and thanks to his moment of self-loathing we got the title for this article.

Nagi, Hayate, Butler, Otaku, Inu-Yasha, Wataru, Doujinshi

The one thing I really don’t understand about Hayate is why does Hinagiku has the fan following she does. I like Hinagiku. Narutaki likes Hinagiku. But neither of us is running out to buy Hinagiku love pillows for our Hinagiku decorated rooms where we write in our blogs about Hinagiku in which we state how Hinagiku should be the star of the manga. It seems like at times Narutaki and I are in the minority. I recently bought a Hayate art book and Hinagiku’s face was the largest face on the cover. Any Hayate merchandise is sure to either have Hinagiku on it or have a Hinagiku version. When the second season was announced on Anime News Network there there people cheering left and right for more Hinagiku. It still makes no sense to me. What magical appeal does this girl have that I am missing?

Hinagiku, Utena, Hayate, Butler, Doujinshi

I often want to write on messageboards: Hey, you guys know this story is about HAYATE, right? I really do think people don’t know. But we are letting that secret be known here! Hina is cool, I loved that time she dressed as Utena, but I certainly don’t need the Hina side story.

There are some differences between the anime and manga versions of Hayate. The overall story is very fast and loose so the anime changes when certain things happen and when certain characters are introduced. Of course they rush to give us Hinagiku as quickly as possible even thought she is not introduced until the manga until book four. They also tweak certain characters personalities. No one is massively different but I feel that Hayate is a little more mean-spirited in the manga and Maria manipulates events a little more openly.

Nagi, Hayate, Butler, Otaku, Gundam, Doujinshi

Despite the cute exterior and mundane non-otaku friendly veneer of Hayate, it is an insightful and hardcore otaku comedy. There is a constant barrage of anime and manga references. Look at the Anime News Network Trivia section for Hayate to see what I am talking about. Almost all the titles are anime references. My personal favorites are “A Power That Won’t Revolutionize the World” and “Many Kids Must Be in Trouble Since Train_Man Showed Their Parents What Comiket Is All About.” Nagi’s house has statues of Detective Conan and Inu-Yasha. I think the pinnacle of the otaku love is the manga Nagi writes called Magical Girl Destroy. Nagi’s comic is a bizarre mixture of Card Captor Sakura and Fist of the North Star. It is apparently incomprehensible to anyone but Nagi and Isumi. When the main character who looks like Kenshiro in drag shouts out “Sega Saturn Black!” for no identifiable reason you know you have comedy gold. The thing is that most of the otaku references are in the background and they never rely on them. If you took out every otaku reference I fell the show would still be hysterically.

Nagi, Hayate, Butler, Otaku, Magical Girl Destroy, Doujinshi

With Hayate there is just twice as much to love. You can love it as an otaku but also as a normal ole person. I mean, heck, even though I identify with the word otaku I only get 20% of the otaku-oriented jokes in Hayate. That isn’t the thing that makes me want to watch the show. It is the characters, the comedic timing, the randomness, and interactions. While clearly not a gripping and suspenseful show, it is hard not to get addicted to it.

Nagi, Hayate, Butler, Otaku, Conan, Gundam, Doujinshi

UPDATE: Hayate is now licensed by Bandai!

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Ouran High School Host Club, Water can’t hurt handsome men.

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It can’t. Just bounces right of them. I have seen it happen. Host Club is best summed up as the shojo comedy styling of female Kyon and her all male harem.

A complete parody of everything that is a staple in shojo manga all crammed together in one ridiculous show.

Haruhi Fujioka is the poorest student at Ouran High School, a school which is made up of Japan’s wealthiest and most prestigious students. Haruhi looks like a nerdy little dormouse of a man with messy hair and an unstylish nonstandard uniform. Therefore Haruhi looks totally out of place at this prestigious school. When trying to find somewhere to study Haruhi wanders into the seemingly empty third music room. Haruhi finds that a handsome sextet of students have turned the music room into a host club for the wealthy girls of the school. While trying to get away from the bizarre members of the club she accidentally smashes an eight million dollar vase. The host club forces her to become their lackey to pay them back for the vase. Two things get Haruhi out of having to do menial chores for the club. The first is that Haruhi has natural charm and grace that makes her a natural host. The second is that she is a rather pretty girl. Certain members of the club are more surprised than others when they learn that Haruhi is actually a girl but no matter what it greatly changes the dynamic of the clubs interactions with her.

Haruhi’s situation with the vase is brief and really only exists to get her into the club. It’s brought up randomly when a joke calls for it. The host club was founded to make girls feel happy and to do good things when they feel like it. This series really doesn’t have an overall plot so it does perfectly well with its bizarre one off scenarios and events. It also makes it great to turn on whenever and laugh it up.

The cast is rather delightful bunch of assorted miscreants and fetish characters but this is by design. While each character obviously fits into a stereotypical archetype of shojo manga they still retain likable qualities that keeps them from feeling like merely microwaved leftovers. Lots of comedies try to use stock characters for comedic effect but they often feel like cardboard cutouts merely propped up for jokes. I feel as the series adds depth and nuance to all the major characters while still keeping them comically amusing.

Well, the thing about archetype characters is they exist because people like the archetype. And believe it or not, some writers can use them well and make you love them as you have loved all other characters like them before and some writers fall flat and create boring, seen-it-all-before feelings. You can’t use an archetype without bringing something to the table and Host Club brings it all. And while you have shojo eye candy flying all over the place, you know it is just one colossal joke. The guys of host club are schemers and they know exactly what is going to bring in the customers, so that is what you get.

Haruhi is the master straight man of the group. With a wide variety of deadpan expressions she takes everything the host club throws at her as best as anyone in the same position would be able to. She is smart, independent, and sassy when she wants to be. The only thing that seems odd is Haruhi’s odd variable skills of observation. When it’s plot convenient Haruhi is an eagle-eyed and empathetic girl who notices even the slightest changes in mood of other characters. Other times she is an oblivious to everything and anything that is going on around her. Side note: Narutaki loves Haruhi with long hair.

Haruhi is interesting although I wasn’t really a fan of her till they started giving her something to do other than have no reaction to our host club cronies. But that starts to dissipate as we learn about her family, she ambitions, and her friendships that develop. She definitely stands out as a strong female but I felt her better moments were when she realized she could, and sometimes needed to, rely on others.

I think on a certain level Haruhi has the “Silent Bob speaks” effect. They make her so blasé most of the time so they few times she does react it is of significant note.

All of the members of the host club have unique relationships with one another. The series is more about friendship than anything else and it does it very well. Personally I find the friendships to be the strongest thing about the show because within that there is room for so much hilarity and drama. In fact, some of the best moments are the episodes when you learn how the host club got together. Everyone has a special connection to their king. Speaking of Tamaki, he in particular really becomes a developed character in these episodes. You start to realize that he has more going on in his head that you previously imagined.

Tamaki is the charming blonde foreigner who is half Japanese archetype. Tamaki is basically Irresponsible Captain Tylor but in charge of a host club instead of a spaceship. At first glance Tamaki seems like the incapable playboy with absolutely nothing of significance going on inside his head. But as the series goes on we learn that Tamaki can and often does put his rather sharp mind and ability to read people to good use. On the other hand, it is also very clear that much of Tamaki facade of being naive and gullible is quite real as well. One of the main mysteries of Tamaki is how much of his supposed silliness and clueless nature is real and how much of it is an act. I don’t think we ever really learn what the answer is but we definitely get a better idea by the end of the series what the percentage of clue to clueless is. Also when Haruhi is not around (and sometimes when she is around) Tamaki is most often made the straight man of the group.

Most people that know me well could spot from a mile away that I would love Tamaki. Tamaki’s personality is essentially my most favorite type of character in any series. But Tamaki is this character ten-fold (as with everything in Host Club, it deals in extremes). He has a free-spirited and goofy nature punctuated by his bouts selfishness and narcissism. However, his moments of kindness are shining and sweet. I find these things very appealing because many times it hides a darker past, but the character has choosen a somewhat positive way of dealing with it. Tamaki is the kind of guy that after watching a while you will always be wondering how much he planned and how much things just fell into place. Did I mention that he is beautiful and blond?

Hikaru Hitachiin and Kaoru Hitachiin are devilish twins. There main shtick at the host club seems is always implying that they have a incestuous homosexual relationship. In reality the Hitachiin twins are consummate manipulators and practical jokers. Everyone and anyone seem to exists for their amusement although their favorite targets are without a doubt Haruhi and Tamaki. They seem to have an odd amount of respect and admiration for Tamaki despite how much they seem to ridicule and manipulate him.

The twins are a paradox, they are the same and they aren’t. Their relationship is really well explored in the series. I think they are probably have the most growing up to do but that is what makes watching them a treat. You have the feeling they are moving toward something and a change will follow. As with most of the guys in the club, they love themselves a lot. But not to the point of all the fujoshi squealing in the club. They are in the same class at Haruhi and might be the closet friends she has. They love to rub that in the face of the king.

Certain people we both know seem to think that Hikaru is the closest thing to a legitimate rival for Tamaki over Haruhi’s affections in the series. We both think she is a little bit crazy.

Honey and Mori are sort of a package deal. We rarely if ever seen them as separate people. Honey is the shota bait super hyper cute high schooler who has the body of a little boy. He loves cakes and candy and happens to be as sweet as sugar as well. Mori is the stoic kendo club captain that watches over Honey like a bishonen gargoyle. They are almost as close as the Hitachiin twins to the point where I almost don’t feel that weird seeing yaoi doujinshi about them.

I don’t think it is an mystery why Mori is always shown with Honey. Mori is tall, dark, and handsome and Honey is short, sweet, and cute. I hear the moe chants in the background. But seriously I wish both of these characters had more screen time and a lot more character development. Heck, for a while there Mori had the most intimate relationship with Haruhi out of everyone.

If Tamaki is the lively soul that keeps the Host Club together as a family than Kyoya is the the cold machinery that keeps the host club running. The Shadow King is the masterful, almost villainous, brains of the group. He is the man that organizes the club, keeps everyone in line and in check, and makes sure it turns a profit. These are abilities that no other man in the club could even hope to have. He has a definite competitive spirit which is not obvious but clearly fierce when exhibited. In the manga, he seems to have a subtle crush on Haruhi but is mostly just a supporter of Tamaki in the anime. For some reason he is my favorite member of the host club. I guess I like his ice cold demeanor and subtle style.

The Shadow King is essential to the club. It just plain wouldn’t have gotten off the ground without him. He also completes the necessary glasses, smart guy of their shojo fantasy club. Tamaki and him are almost polar opposites and so they play off each other very well, creating one of the most dynamic friendships in the story.

The romance aspect of this series gives it some of its moments of drama. But once again, this series is so over the top that most of the time it is used for gags. There are some very sweet moments that will have you gushing but for the most part it sticks to what it does best, silly. And to add to its shojo parodying, of course a good portion of the club is in love with Haruhi, for some reason.

Everything in Host Club is played up with the volume turned to 11 for comedic effect while still remaining somewhat loosely based on a coherent storyline and reality unlike spastic comedies such as Excel Saga. They often throw ten jokes at you every ten minutes and parody every genre under the sun (especially shojo genres) but it never comes at anything more than a brisk pace. Too often such comedies seems to have little in the way of a strong plot. Host club manages to constantly be funny while still telling a individual story each episode. It also knows when to take it slow and just let us get to know the characters or to build a little drama and romance while still falling in the comedy category.

Host Club is character driven because it is a situational comedy. With the main characters, there is always something to love. The random side characters that pop-up, like the club “manager” and the president of the Dark Arts club, just to its cast of perfect weirdos. There is nothing much going on as far as over arcing story but who cares? Everyone needs a hilarious show that you don’t have to think too much about. Ouran fits that bill to a tee.

For shame Narutaki. For shame. You forgot to mention Beelzenef. Without him what is this show? I also really like the Yakuza so who tries to learn to be make friends with people from Mori. His story was hysterical. I think it’s also criminal to forget Renge, the resident fujoshi, and her running commentary and helpful suggestions from her limitless knowledge of anime, video games, and burning moe passion.

Alright, alright. I couldn’t go on without mentioning the hilarious president, and only member of the Black Magic Club, Nekozawa and his hand puppet Beelzenef! His appearances are brief but totally hilarious, as the door to his club randomly appears where ever he needs it to. Also any sort of light send him into a state of shock, haha.

Having read the manga I find that they hit almost all the highlights. This means that often certain episodes are the combined plots of two to three different stories from the manga. I feel that this let them get as much of the manga as they could into 26 episodes while still letting you get to see who everyone in the club really is. The only thing they really left out was Kyoya’s feelings for Haruhi. Any scene where Kyoya seems to show affection for Haruhi in the anime is either modified or played down from how it was in the manga. I assume they removed it because they just have less time than the manga but I felt his crush added some charm and depth to Kyoya.

It is always hard to completely develop a large cast in just 26 episodes, so that would be my initial reasoning for them removing Shadow King’s feelings. But they do hint at it a little. So instead of doing it only half way, I think they moved the story in a more direct fashion.

The anime also has an original 2 part episode to end the series. It ties together all the themes of the show pretty well. It is as clear an ending as you can get for an on-going romantic comedy.

While I know the anime’s ending wasn’t totally concrete, I felt it was pretty clear on certain levels about the feelings of certain characters. But it wasn’t so definite that you would be thrown off if in the manga it doesn’t end the same way. I really enjoyed the last two episodes even though a lot of the slap-stick and gags were missing from it.

All in all Ouran High School Host Club is a comedy for both sexes. It is shojo but I think it is funny enough and witty enough to win over any male who does not mind a little bit of flowers and bishonen. Plus, they are constantly mocking flowers and bishonen. Females don’t even need to be told why they will like Host Club. It is just a fact. I am just worried that Funimation will drop the ball when they market Host Club. They have a sure fire hit on their hand they just have to sell it correctly. I sort of wish we lived in a world where Host Club could get on TV but I’m not naive enough to ever think it would happen any time soon.

I brought up this concern when I found out about the license. I feel like they are going to market to girls period. This show has a much more broad appeal if they play their cards right. Show up the slap-stick, the gags, the parody. Instead I imagine trailers with flowers, pretty boys, and romance. Blah blah. It’s not that this isn’t the core, because it is, but the show has the potential to bring in a wider audience, bringing in bigger numbers, and actually do well as a shojo title. The DVDs are due out later this year, although there is still no date announced.