The Shojo anime series, I feel do not get as much limelight compared to most. In reality when I look back at all the series I watched, ones that I thought fit into that category did not. At most from what I have taken note of from the past several anime seasons only one and two at most fit into this category. Sure, this is a guy talking about his interest in shows aimed at the female audience, but who cares. This is my way of looking at series that might not get as much attention for a genre that does not get a lot of attention. I am also discussing the plot for the series as well for that reason. This is also my way of preparing for the literal face palm for next week’s Top Five.
Number 5: Yona of the Dawn
This series I mentioned several times before, even one of the main male leads made it into my Top Five Favorite Male Characters of 2014. This series has the potential of being later on the list, but since it is still airing it can still have room for error and is thus at number 5. I binged watched the first eleven episodes before watching episode twelve, I really enjoyed it in that time.
The first episode to me was very memorable, since for ninety percent of it I was screaming, “He is the bad guy!” It seems like that has happened a lot recently with the girl too blind to see it, the other case is the episode in Parasyte, but that has nothing to do with this conversation. Despite my constant screams of pointlessness, I enjoyed the fact that I was right. It also allowed a great way to give a major change without warning to Yona.
This series is about Yona, a princess in a peaceful kingdom. One day her father is killed, I will not tell who killed him, but it is in the first episode. Thus she goes into hiding as her kingdom is taken over by her father’s killer. Although she is more focused on protecting herself and those she cares about she goes on a quest to find the four dragons that protected the kingdom over 1000 years before.
This has been one of my favorite series of the fall and I am glad I got into it late. Funimation is currently streaming this series if anyone is curious.
Number 4: Sabagebu!
This was easily in my top five comedy series of 2014. There is just a lot to talk about when it comes to the comedy of this series. The final episode was easily the funniest and easily one of the best in terms of over the top references and really just about anything. The series as I mentioned is just funny in general. This was one series that I really got to look forward to on a weekly basis, since I knew I was going to go in and come out laughing.
There is not much of a plot for this series. It is really a parody series. However it deals with the survival club and their activities as a survival club.
Number 3: The World is Still Beautiful
So, here is a little back story on why I watched it. The fall and winter season one romance series that I got to look forward to on a weekly basis was Golden Time. When that ended I really wanted to watch another romance based series, this fit the bill, since it started that spring season. A part of why I enjoyed was the fact it filled the void of Golden Time, but that is not all. This had its own way of being on its own. I really enjoyed it and I was not really sure what to expect when going in other then a romance series, but I got a lot more out of it. It easily became one of the shows of that spring that I had to watch on a weekly basis and looked forward to. The characters and how they acted around each other as well as the emotional spending of mine with this series makes it at number 3.
The World is Still Beautiful tells the tale of Nike Lemercier, the Principality of Rain. She basically gets married off to the king of the sun kingdom Livius. Both are nothing a like and deal with this new life together of theirs.
Number 2: Kamisama Kiss
This was the first Shojo series that I watched. This was also the only one I watched until a year later when The World is Still Beautiful came out. Not only that this was the first reverse harem as well, the only other being Yona of the Dawn. This series has its own charm to it. I mostly like it for the comedy, at least what I remember. Looking back on the first season there is very little that I remember and now that the second season is airing I am really attempted to go back and watch it once more for a refresher. This was also a series that I watched within my first year of being into anime, most series in that time period I only remember vaguely, although I wish I remember more about those series in general. This series was easily viewed within the first fifty or shows that I watched, and I would consider putting it into my top twenty five, that is if I remembered more about it. Regardless this series I still find enjoyable despite not fully remembering it as this new season airs.
The series is about Nanami, whose father has a gambling problem and left her with the debt. It reminds me of Hayate the Combat Butler, only instead of becoming a butler she becomes a land god of the local shrine as the old land god bestows his godly power to her. She then has to deal with being a god and such. That is a pretty straight forward description of the series from what I remember.
Anyway, the series has a dub, and is being streamed by Funimation with its new season.
Number 1: Sailor Moon/Sailor Moon Crystal
For starters I might have mentioned this at least once before that I was not allowed to watch anime as a child. I watched Pokemon, Yugioh, and Megaman, but that was it. Shows that nearly everyone had as their gateway like Sailor Moon, One Piece, and DBZ, I was not allowed to watch. So unlike most people I do not have that nostalgia attachment to Sailor Moon. I do have a super vague memory of it being one once when I went to see a cousin, but that was only for about five seconds. But, because I do not have that nostalgia I like Crystal over the original, since about ninety percent of the comments for the series I see are hate comments. I just wanted to say that, and it is because of that nostalgia for so many people that are one reason why it is at number one.
Anyway, my reason for putting at number one for myself is that I just like Crystal. I have been watching several episodes every once and awhile for the original series, but I just cannot get into it as much as I can get into Crystal. I can clearly see why people like the original series. It just seems like the newer adaptation is aimed for people that grew up with it and is following the manga fully, which the original did not. I love the story, the whole past lives thing I have worked with in my own writing in several cases and enjoy playing with that, especially as a means to bring two characters together. I will talk more about my thoughts with it in my review or more than likely a discussion comparing the two first arcs for the series at some point. Either way I just like Crystal more because it focusses more on the romance element and their lives rather than the monster of the week and the problems caused by that monster.
I really doubt I need to do a summary of Sailor Moon, seeing it is more than likely the most known Shojo series of all time.
There are a few Shojo series I was thinking about checking out, if anyone has a recommendation feel free to comment. I am mostly looking for either a comedy or romance series.
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challenge, it does not change the fact that it is my favorite harem and is only one of two that would make it into my top fifteen shows. I would also like to say that I do not count D-Frag as a harem mostly because it focuses of comedy and it would be like saying Seitokai Yakuindomo is a harem, when it is just dirty jokes on steroids. Anyway, Kamisama Kiss although I gave it an average score in my review, it is a little forgetful, but the charm to it does not change it in anyway. I really like that show, that and the only other Reverse Harem I seen was Yona of the Dawn, which I have no idea if it should be considered a reverse harem although it should.
The Reviewer's Corner 