Genres: drama, mystery, science fiction Themes: aliens, school, yuri Objectionable content: Mild Number of episodes: 13 Vintage: 2007-10-02 to 2007-12-25
Plot Summary: Mari Wakatake has been living with her Grandmother for the past 5 years after a tragedy caused the loss of her home, friends and family, as well as her memories. Fearing for her future, her Grandmother admits her into Kaihou Academy, for her to make friends, instead of home studying. Although reluctant to go, she does and meets Hagino Sekonji. At first appearance, this girl appears like a normal student but inside her lies a deep secret that relates to the tragedy of 5 years ago.
Yeah this is very pretty, the show’s art is very cool on the whole (I’ve seen the OP and ED and liked it a lot). Looking forward to seeing it on Anime Network.
Also the highlighting of the Yuri aspect on the cover, is the right way to go.
I thought I would point out that ANN just reviewed this title, and gave it some pretty decent marks. Overall, they gave the show an A-.
For inexplicable reasons the back-cover blurb paints the series as something far more ominous than what it actually is, a case of misrepresentation that is likely to throw viewers who will quickly discover that the series is nothing like the tense sci fi mystery/horror it is advertised as being. Indeed, the pacing is gradual enough that some will undoubtedly find the series dull even though it hardly wastes a scene and progresses at a smooth pace from beginning to end. It also leaves some rather large holes in the background of the Arume and the story in general as it conveniently fails to explain certain complicated points so it can maintain its elegant flow. Overlook those minor flaws, however, and this can be a greatly involving story which goes light enough, and gentle enough, on its yuri content that even those not normally inclined towards such titles may find this one to their liking. It is a nearly-overlooked gem of a story which will probably never get as big an audience as it deserves.
Anyway, I’ve definitely decided I’m picking this one up, though I still need to try it out on the online player first. But I think I will be making a trip to another Best Buy shortly to grab it.
I watched a fansub of this early in 2008. It wasn’t entertaining, but nonetheless decent and fairly deep yuri romance. I never really got around finishing it. It does get a little convoluted and unpredictable towards the end.
Speaking of Sentai, I have a suggestion for them that might actaully equal strong sales for thier titles: Why not license and quickly release subs of anime that you can hardly find fansubs for? Titles like, Cool Couple, Let’s Nupu Nupu, Raimuiro Senkitan and Lemon Angel.
Your second point definitely makes sense in terms of, that’s I’m sure one of the reasons they picked up Legends of the Dark Kings and I think PP and I once discussed the possibilities of Cool Couple.
However, personally I think those 4 would sell poorly - all people seem to care about nowadays are shiny and new stuff. I can’t remember when the last time an old title with an unrecognized name sold well…
Your second point definitely makes sense in terms of, that’s I’m sure one of the reasons they picked up Legends of the Dark Kings and I think PP and I once discussed the possibilities of Cool Couple.
However, personally I think those 4 would sell poorly - all people seem to care about nowadays are shiny and new stuff. I can’t remember when the last time an old title with an unrecognized name sold well…[/quote]
Well they did pick up You’re Under Arrest 2000 so you’d never know. Why do I have a sneaky feeling that TBS is Sentai’s main investor?
Made a trip to another Best Buy today and finally grabbed this. I really can’t wait to watch it. Not normally into yuri, but the animation and art are beautiful, so I decided to give it a go. The ridiculously good price with my discount didn’t hurt either…
Since I have the discs, I might check out a few episodes of this tomorrow. I love animation style, and I have to admit, I’m really digging the posters on the side of the TAN site!
An interesting opening episode with some mystery to it. I am curious about the “peace talks” scene that opens the episode.
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At first I thought this story was a little familiar with a girl that had lost her memories and a dying grandparent. But then with the introduction of Hagino, everything changed. She is a girl that talks to birds and has glowing blue eyes. When she first meets Mari, she has a vision and tries to strangle her, but later seems not to remember doing anything. This immediately makes things interesting to me.
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Mari is walking around with a chip on her shoulder, thinking her grandmother doesn’t want her anymore, but she gets a flash of memory when Hagino shakes her hand. She doesn’t know why Hagino tried to kill her and is further confused by the fact that she pretends that nothing happened. Again, I am curious.
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But the best part was when Mari follows Hagino when she sneaks out of the school that night. She trails her to the seaport where a ship rises out of the ocean and Hagino’s eyes turn blue again. A bit of a cliffhanger and I can’t wait to see what happens! It is a bit early to tell, but I think I might like this one.
