An anime about a semi-NEET who is given the chance to relive one year of high school. He pops the given pill and dives in...
Spoilers--
This anime had some really good lines in it and also a tonne of jokes that had me in stitches with deathly frequency.
At the same time, I really enjoyed the more serious themes - such as why Kaizaki Arata would throw away a year of his life to go to high school everyday (just to be forced to take remedial tests), how he ended up from grad school to quitting his first job in 3 months (unheard of in Japan...unless
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Jun 3, 2014
Super Lovers
(Manga)
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Bearing in mind this is 20 or who-know-how-many-chapters...
Story - 6 (Fair) This is a really slow story. Most chapters are 55-60 pages long and it's almost as if the story's hit a plateau and the mangakai is now branching off on different characters and making things very, very complicated. The story didn't start off simple either and I'm struggling to summarise it without spilling all the beans... At the heart of it, it's a very a family-orientated manga, regardless of the other genre labels that are stuck on. It's about the Kaidou family and them coming to terms with each other. The Kaidous are a very messy ... 
Aug 27, 2013
Kamisama ga Uso wo Tsuku.
(Manga)
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"God Lies" easily ranks amongst my favourite short series. Overall, the story was reminiscent of the movie "Stand by me". Life goes on even if the world is painted bright blue from afar and cynical and more than a little screwed up on on closer inspection, even for grader schoolers. The two main characters Natsuru and Rio seem to fill the adult role better than their own parents. The outcome of the story is deeply satisfying to see and because of it's length/timespan in the manga, it is perhaps more poignant than "Immortal Rain".
Nothing is farfetched in "God Lies" and it portrays a realistic albeit ... 
Aug 15, 2013
Hirunaka no Ryuusei
(Manga)
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The short version: For me, comedy and romance set in high schools are meant to be consumed like comfort food. Reading Hirunaka no Ryuusei was like forcing myself to chow down a bowl of watery, overcooked porridge, even if it had tasty kabocha and flossed pork in it.
The longer version: think mangaka started off with a great premise. Country bumpkin moves to the great capital of Japan and has to get used to being surrounded by city slickers. There's this stereotype that people from the country are unfashionable and simple-minded but also honest and straightforward. Suzume definitely fits the bill (her hair is plaited ... |
