November 3, 2007: Myself; Yourself ep 5

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One word: creepy episode. AND, I had to watch it on midnight.

There seems to be a giant leap in the story. I don't like the way the mysteries are suddenly mixed together like it's the final episode. I prefer they do it gradually; or with advise, perhaps a spine-chiller at the end of each episode, rather than surprising us all with freaky old women watching TVs late at night while stroking cats.

In this episode, Nanaka performs a dance in celebration of the Sakura Festival. While she and Sana are slowly rekindling their lost friendship, they meet an old woman who mistook Nanaka for her dead granddaughter.

Episode Rating:

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October 27, 2007: Myself; Yourself ep 4

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Well, well, a loli to complete the group. Episode 4 was fun, but had nothing exceptional to moon about. In this episode, Shuu was Hinako's (loli) knight in shining armor and it seemed just right for Hinako to fall in love with him. Sana became their "bridge" but actually had the loli embrace in the end.

Shuu also mentioned here that he has someone he cares about -- pretty exciting isn't it? You'd just have to choose between Aoi and Nanaka. Shuuri can't possibly be the girl, unless they're not really blood-related, which is quite ridiculous considering how much they look alike (they're twins duh!). But if some wicked twist does unfold later in the show, who knows? Maybe incest isn't as bad in the anime world as it is in the real world. Think about Kaoru and Hikaru. That's incest and yaoi.

Episode Rating:

Memorable Quote from Episode 4: Even adults cry from a broken heart -- Sana.

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October 21, 2007: Myself; Yourself ep 3

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This is a very cute episode. At first I thought it's School Days all over again but the animators definitely had original taste on what a typical "love triangle" should look like.

Well, it seems Nanaka is your possible Tsundere heroine. She certainly likes Sana, but she's like Helga of Hey! Arnold who bullies her crush but adores him privately (Though of course, Helga is much more extreme). In this episode Nanaka managed to overcome her combative nature and talked to Sana naturally (lovingly) without the encouragement of her friends.

Comparing Nanaka and Hoshino, of course I'd go for Nanaka. Hoshino is the perfect mistress in any relationship but she's the type that can be a heroine in her own anime. Presently she doesn't show hints about liking or not liking Sana. She merely is your helpful girl next door. But who knows, maybe she ends up like Sekai?

Thirdly, there's Sana's not-so-ordinary watch that he keeps wrapped around his wrist all the time. I don't know if it's like the one that diabetics wear to monitor their blood/sugar level. More importantly, his friends are slowly starting to notice this irregularity. Their friend who came back five years later may not be the same childhood friend after all.

Lastly, Sana's fear to blood and knife. The animators made quite a remarkable attempt to suggest the idea that something horrible happened to Sana five years ago. I'm looking forward to this the most. Feh, maybe I was right. Maybe it's School Days all over again.

Episode Rating:

Memorable Quote from Episode 3: Even though it's not physically there anymore, the memory remains forever -- Sana.

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October 19, 2007: Myself; Yourself ep 2

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Well, the first part of the episode was a bit boring but it did pick up around the part where a new character was introduced.

I'm more intrigued on the reasons why Nanaka changed from a sweet kid to an ass-kicking class rep. I hope this isn't one of those I-missed-you-that's-why-I-hate-you excuses we sometimes hear from people whenever they beat someone up after years of separation. There's also the deal about Sana's return and the constant phone calls from his mother. Is he sick? We'll find out soon -- hopefully.

Finally, there's Aoi's voice to get used with. I liked it the first time but now I'm starting to get sick of it. If her pitch gets any higher I'll probably end up deaf.

Episode Rating:

Memorable Quote from Episode 2: It was only half-finished but for some reasons my fingers still remember the song. Only this one -- Sana.

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October 6, 2007: Myself; Yourself ep 1

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Myself; Yourself was originally a visual novel developed by Regista. Before its release, there was a light novel authored by Takumi Nakazawa which serialized in a bishojo magazine published by MediaWorks. The anime adaptation, which is what I have just reviewed and summarized, began airing on October 3 on the TV Kanagawa television network, and is set to contain thirteen episodes [ Wikipedia ]. I hope that is enough introduction for all of us.

This anime feels somehow refreshing, after all the series that I've seen this past season. On the surface Myself; Yourself is a typical shojo/romance & harem-related title. We are yet to see the real story behind this front so there's not much to tell yet. There aren't enough sources about the visual novel either, so I'll just see where this goes.

To begin with, the animation is great. The characters' movements are smooth, fluid and natural. The backgrounds are well-drawn as well. The colors, however, aren't that vibrant. This diminished the over-all enthusiastic appearance of the first episode.

The major characters look stereotypes. You can see any of them in most shojo series. AND, we have a character named Nanaka. Sooner or later, someone is going to call her Nana, and Myself; Yourself will add in the list of anime series who have female heroines named Nana. (NANA, Elfen Lied, Bokura Ga Ita).

The OP/ED songs are catchy but I specifically liked the opening MV because the major characters were playing some instruments and performing on stage. This briefly reminded me of Suzumiya no Haruhi no Yuutsu. Well, I hope that there are some singing/performing coming our way, unlike the other anime series which have misleading OP MVs.

Lastly, I'm wondering about the way the title was written: Myself (semicolon) Yourself instead of the usual Myself (comma) Yourself. Well since the primary purpose of a semicolon is to separate two individual clauses or ideas, we can assume that the two words connote independent meanings, or that there is an attempt to strongly divide the two and make them unfamiliar with each other.

No episode or memorable rating yet. I also made a change in the way I write the entry title. For now on I won't include the title of the episode. I realized that it makes the site look crowded. A "sea of gray" so to speak.

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