Shameful Otaku Secret!

Ah… Twins

Critical info:

• Vintage: 2005
• No. of episodes: 13
• Episodes sampled: 6 & 7
• Notable personnel: not really
• Origin: Sequel to Futakoi
• Themes: Detectives, action, twins, harem?

Futakoi Alternative is one of those series I missed the first time because it was in one of those “dark periods” where I wasn’t watching much anime. This particular sample, of a series that is on some level about a guy who takes over his dead father’s detective agency which is located in a strange world full of twins (I think), reveals the two flaws in my random sampling system.

First, I’m always tempted to hit the middle episodes, where you’ll often see a change of direction in the series. TheBigN talked about this series in particular having a major one. And, if I find that I really enjoy the episode(s), I’ve probably run into serious spoilers for the time when I start it over and watch for real.

I’m not too sure about the spoilers, but I did really like these couple episodes, and I could sense the directional change (toward the serious) without having too much knowledge of what was going on. Other than that, there seems to be a lot of madcap action and, dare I say, zaniness to be enjoyed in Futakoi Alternative. Plus Rentarou smokes a cigarette in one drag, it’s pretty boss.

From a passing glance at the blogs, including Kabitzin’s posts on the subject, it looks like the series has its merits and its fans. And from the mix of action, laughs, and soapiness I saw, I do believe that I’m going to give it a shot.

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?