Koreanized Itazura na Kiss...

After Hana Yori Dango, Itazura Na Kiss (Playful Kiss) is now Koreanized as well!!!! W00t! And the best part is my favorite bishie, KIM HYUN JOONG is the male lead (Irie Naoki)! Kyaaaa!

For those who are not familiar with the title, do check this LINK.

However, I believe it's not gonna be soon for the drama to reach our shore because the premier is on 1 Sptember 2010.... Sob!

Till then, enjoy the stills!

Picture credit to www.dramabeans.com

I HEART romantic animes!

I have been watching animes since long ago and I have watched a lot! Through my observation, I noticed that there are many genres and sub-genres of animes. Ever since, my preferences of types or genres of animes have been expanded. Currently, my preference is on romantic animes and this type of animes covers other major genres as well, such as, shoujo, josei, shounen, seinen and the whole nine yards! The type of romantic animes that I like normally is shoujo and josei with a dash of comedy and slice of life. In addition, I love romantic animes that involve gender-bender and tsundere character as well. The list that I am going to share is the mixture of josei and shoujo animes.

Below are the list of 10 romantic animes that I really adore:

1. Kaichou Wa Maid-sama!

If you are trying shoujo for the first time, try this series for size….

2. Ouran High School Host Club
A hilarious gender-bender shoujou themed anime. Simply love it!

3. Lovely*Complex a.k.a Lovecon
A heart-warming and totally romantic anime.

4. Toradora!
A tsundere and a domestic god. Hilarious!

5. Itazura Na Kiss
Love the ending! So heart-tending.

6. Nodame Cantabile + Paris Arc + Finale
Music and romance intertwined. One of the best josei anime, to date!

7. Emma: A Victorian Love Story (season 1 & 2)
The title speaks for itself! Not you average josei themed anime, though...

8. Fruits Basket
Bishies heaven!

9. Paradise Kiss
If you are in to fashion and glam this is a must-watch romantic josei!

10. Honey & Clover (season 1 & 2)
Another romantic josei , though, I don’t really heart the ending.

In actual fact, shoujo animes are intended for demographic which is young teenage girls. However, as time passes by, the genre is accepted by people regardless their age or background. Whereas, josei anime is targeting the young women viewers. Even though, shoujo is for teenagers, I watch the animes because I love the theme and the sentiment they are conveying. And, shoujo animes always make me feel light-hearted and giddy... just like a teenage girl suppose to be....

Uniform revelations...

Ever notice something? By and large, main characters in animes series are mostly students, and to be exact, school students. This hackneyed portrayal is actually intentional since the target audience are mostly adolescents and young adults. These characters are displayed in variety fashions of school uniforms. Animes series such as, Bleach, Deathnote, Gokusen, The Law of Ueki, and Blood+ portray school students as their protagonists.

On the other hand, animes like, Kamichu, K-ON, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu, and Ouran High School Host Club have different intention. These animes are promoting some sort of cuteness-fetish known as moe (mo-eh). To add, moe doesn't exhibit sexual content. It is actually highlighting on a character's cuteness, extreme cuteness to be exact. However, too much exertion on cuteness sometimes can lead to lewd content, or ecchi. To some extent it may lead to more than that...

Anyway, in this post I am not going to discuss on that matter. I just want to show everybody the multitude of fashions and styles in anime school uniforms.

This is the uniform in SUZUMIYA HARUHI NO YUUTSU... I really like the male uniform. Kyon and Koizumi look dashing in it! Whereas the girls' are a bit 'traditional in their sailor-fuku uniform. Maybe if the male students are to wear gakuran, then everything would be nicer. Somehow, the male student's uniform and the girl's don't really match...


This is taken from OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB. Their uniform basically oozes with sophistication and grace. This is because they are from a top-notched school. Since the main characters are mostly male, so the series reveals more on the male students uniform. And since the theme of this anime series is gender-bender, thus Haruhi (Fujioka, that is) wears one. (Well, actually female uniform is actually a Victorian-styled yellow dress with a pair of puffy sleeves.)


This is taken from anime K-ON!. Their uniform exudes elegance as well as charm at the same time. Since this is an all-girl school, thus there is no male uniform. If you notice, among the four of them, only Yui wears her uniform with a pair of dark tights underneath. I think she looks so adorable in them...


This is taken from GAKUAN ALICE. The uniforms are a bit juvenile and this is because these characters are actually elementary-school students. I really like the combination of the dark sailor-coat with wide collars as well the plaid skirt / shorts. The combination brings out the endearing side of each character. Even Natsume looks extremely cute in it despite his riotous temperament.


This the uniform from anime CODE GEASS. Since the series is set in an alternate fantasy world hence the uniforms have the fantasy feel. Anyway, they still look elegant and neat. However, I don't think they are comfortable enough.... I believe wearing a double-breasted blazer is definitely uncomfortable during lessons.



This is taken from ITAZURA NA KISS. I like both of female and male uniforms style. This is because the style complement each other. Both are modern, nifty as well as sharp. I think, this is important because it represents the individuals. For example, even a bumbling idiot like Kotoko looks smart in the uniform! This is certainly the best example of clothes maketh the man (or in this case, it's a woman!).


This screenshot is taken from anime LOVELY COMPLEX. In my opinion, the uniform looks simple and light. Instead of wearing blazer or button-down coat, they use cardigans or sweaters. Maybe it is to complement the whole theme of this romantic-comedy anime series. In this series we can see that the uniform is styled according to the individual's taste in fashion.

Well, actually there are so many anime uniforms that I like to show in this post. Frankly speaking the number is endless! Till then, we just have to settle with these...

When love and hate collide...

Recently, I just finished watching ITAZURA NA KISS (trans: Playful Kiss). Frankly speaking, I was hoping that this anime would be as interesting as some of the romantic-comedy animes that I have watched before. Then after watching half-way through of 25 episodes, I decided to call it a quit. I got so bored. However, I managed to finish all 25 episodes...

To begin with,I really enjoyed the earlier plot. I think it was rather comical, witty and romantic at the same time. I really fancy the portrayal of Aihara Kotoko. She is ditsy bumbling idiot and at the same time sweet, candid and sensitive. Then enters Irie Naoki a cold, arrogant and definitely indifferent boy. Nevertheless, he is the most popular student in school just because he is genius and very good looking. Well, he is the exact opposite of Kotoko. But then again, opposite attracts!

The story opens with Kotoko's rejection by Irie. In my opinion, she was rather courageous and confident when she tried to give him a love letter, a confession of her true feeling for him. Unfortunately, she was rejected coldly in front of so many students...

However, this did not dishearten her...

Then, Kotoko and her father were forced to move into Irie's family mansion because her house was damaged during a mild earthquake. It seems that Kotoko's father and Irie's father were best friends so Irie's father insisted them to move into their mansion...

Then it all began, the well-expected love-hate relationship between the two...


Let's cut to the chase, shall we!

Kiss me and shut up!

Well, one thing led to another, Irie and Kotoko got married. Irie worked as a doctor and Kotoko worked as a nurse. That's so lame! Anyway, I have to admit that the ending is rather sweet and definitely has the 'awwww' effect. They finally have a daughter, Kotomi, who has Kotoko's cuteness and charm as well as Irie's wit.

A picture perfect!

So much I hate to admit it, the reason why I don't quite fancy this anime is because the plot doesn't seem 'normal'. I thought it is forced and unnatural. Plus, they don't look aged at all. Considering that the marriage has reached its 8th year. Plus, I believe, in order to make a story interesting, the protagonist should undergo a serious conflict. And it seems that the conflicts in this series are too simple and not so profound. In my humble opinion, I think the creator should focus on more serious conflicts that can really test their love.

FYI, my interest of this anime stops after episode 14 when Irie, after much deliberation and obvious denial, confessed his love for Kotoko. He said, and quote unquote:

"You love ME. You won't be able to love anyone else!"

At that exact moment, my heart skipped a beat....LOL. However after episode 14, my interest suddenly heads south. Somehow the idea of marriage in shoujo anime doesn't appeal to me. Maybe, the episode should stop there and let the audience imaginations run free, or rather, run wild...

Another reason for my dislike of this series is, imh, the animation as well as the graphic of this anime are not good enough. The facial expressions are not so realistic and not well-drawn. Sometimes, the looks on the characters' face can be quite weird. Well, that's my love-hate relationship with this series. My two cents!

Anyway, I would like to recommend this series to all since it is clean from any profanity as well as nudity. Check out this LINK for the episodes download. Have fun!







[Note]
There is also a Taiwanese and Japanese live-action drama based on this anime / manga... I wonder if the share similar plot...