Random Sampling: Shugo Chara!
Let’s get girly
The last time I random-sampled something, it was Komodo No Jikan, which scarred me for a while, so it took some time for me to close my eyes and point my finger and the virtual phone book of anime again. But here’s what I got:
- Series: Shugo Chara!
- Genre: Magical Girl?
- Episode: 12 (and 1)
Story
Amu’s classmates and even her own parents think she’s quite the “cool and spicy” girl: fashionable, slightly aloof, fine being by herself. But in reality she’s just a shy girl who can’t ever think of something to say. One day she prays to her guardian angel (who she only believes in secretly) to help her out, and said angel delivers three eggs. Those eggs hatch into Shugo Chara (guardian characters) who let her unleash different facets of her personality, hopefully in order to facilitate her “true self.” Somwhere in there, characters with “X Eggs” seem to be able to suppress peoples’ true selves. Maybe.
What’s it got?
- An appealing lead character. Amu seems about as “real” as a magical girl series can actually handle. Her cool-exterior / frilly-girl-interior contrast is fun too.
- Neat art style derived from Peach-Pit’s original manga. Amu is cute and stylish — her clothes and hair change a lot, which shows that someone’s actually putting effort into the look of the series. And plaid? Mesmerizing.
- Yuuichi Nakamura playing against type as a pretty blue-haired kid with a bad attitude.
Uhhh... yeah.
- A different romantic angle. I think. I’m not sure from ep. 12 where that’s going to focus, but it clearly involves the president of the school’s “Special A”-like club (who all also have Charas), the Nakamura character, and a pop idol who looks like something out of ef.
Potential shitters
- Thin basic concept. I’m not sure if this egg business can hold up for 50 episodes, even if it’s just a pretext for character development. Overall, the series doesn’t seem very meaty. If that’s true, it could be enough to shit-can the show off the bat.
Evaluation
I’m interested enough to go on. I was intrigued (or at least confused) enough to check out the origin episode after seeing one bit, so that’s promising. The big thing Shugo Chara! seems to have going for it based on my tiny sample is Amu herself, a winning character who resists the standard anime stereotypes. That’s good, since the theme of the show is her developing her personality — if it wasn’t a compelling personality, there wouldn’t be much reason to watch.
This series has been going on for a while. Anyone who’s seen it care to recommend? Should I stay or should I go?
I’ve been considering watching this one myself, if I have some spare time (heh). The biggest thing I’ve heard people arguing about in relation to Shugo Chara is the presence of filler, though that might matter less if you’re not familiar with the original manga.
Interesting, that’s the thing I was afraid of when I mentioned a thin concept. It could work for sure (see Cardcaptor Sakura), but could just as easily be piled high with filler episodes.
Yay, Shugo Chara!
I love it to pieces, personally, and since I see it as sort of a second Cardcaptor Sakura I’m tempted to reccomend that you continue watching it unconditionally – but my better advice would be to wait off on this a bit.
Why? Because like you and IKnight said, Shugo Chara is filler central – admittedly some of the fillers are still watchable, but sometimes you get that feeling that Shugo Chara could do something better with its time.
And since there’s a second season in the works (which will probably push its episode count past that of CCS), it probably won’t be doing that any time soon.
Shugo Chara is still an excellent show; Amu is a great character, the romantic angle is a bit different (having a substantial conflict with no obvious leader), and the side characters (Nadeshiko) are frequently (Nadeshiko) enjoyable (Nadeshiko) if not incredibly awe-inspiring (Nadeshiko) at times (oh, and Kairi too, but he’s later).
So, I’d say, watch it, but later when more of the series is out so you can pick and choose the worthwhile episodes … or if you want to catch up now, and don’t mind waiting a few weeks between episodes.
Also, I’ve heard the Shugo Chara fandom is scary.
Exactly like CCY said, it’s really a great anime, brimming with genki LOVE ENERGY too. Just be wary of the fillers, feel free to skip them, that’ll definitely make the Shugo Chara experience all the more fun and worth your time and energy :3
People throw around the word “filler” a lot, but that is really the essence of what filler actually is. And frankly I’m not that surprised, from seeing the pace and how many episodes it encompasses.
But I’m also not that surprised to find people loving it, since it really does seem very charming.
[...] little matter of Shugo Chara!, a franchise I’ve had my eye on for some time. Otou-san’s reconnaissance report was positive, but faced with the anime’s much-rumoured fillers I plumped for the monochrome [...]