Back to sakura3509's Profile sakura3509's Profile

What the baka inu did I just watch? Major spoilers ahead! Also, I wrote this to vent. This is for any other viewers who have finished this anime and felt about as appalled as I did.

I really wanted to like this anime. I remember how much people loved this anime back when it was airing, but just never gave it a watch. Liked the art. Didn't really have a problem with the animation. And the ED song was solidly cute and catchy. Many of the characters, however, are extremely problematic.

It seems that a lot of people dislike Louise, which can be understandable. But at ... least she undergoes some character development. She goes from flying off the handle every single time Saito gets approached by a girl to being willing to hear her boyfriend out when he's found in yet another compromising situation. Louise learns some humility. She even starts to address Siesta by her name instead of calling her, "Maid." She sacrifices her status as nobility in order to help save a friend. She loves Saito so much and I just found myself wanting SO MUCH BETTER for her.

Saito. Saito is the pits. Look, I get that this is a harem anime. But when you have an established couple by the middle of season 2, there are some things that just get really really old. There are at least two occasions within this season where the harem shenanigans do not qualify as misunderstandings. Saito blatantly cheats on Louise. A certain bedroom kiss and "Oh no, we're prisoners, let's make out" just disgusted me. These girls come onto the guy so obviously and all he needs to do is set a firm line. But it's "Wait, I have Lousie (?)" So half hearted. I wouldn't be surprised if a flash fowrard of 12 years shows that he's the father of multiple children from different women, while still married to Louise. He just needs to give his girlfriend some reassurance. But he doesn't. It's rather puzzling as to why all these chicks are falling for him in the first place. Like, where's the charm?

And then there's the other characters. Guiche is kind of funny but it's a shame he could never prove loyal to Montmorency. Siesta needed to back way the f off Saito. Like girl, he is taken. Tabitha was interesting on her own but after getting rescued, she's falling for Saito? Did she not see the half dozen other people also in the room to rescue her??? It made no sense. Julio was cool. Tiffania at least had the decency to respect Louise and Saito's relationship. Well, most of the time. And what did they do to Henrietta? Yeah, real good friend right there. "I'm lonely so let me seduce my good friend's lover and take them all down with me." I had really liked Kirche until one particular moment when Louise seemed to have hit a new low with her boyfriend of absolutely no self control.

Perhaps the cherry on top to this very bad anime was when Kirche offered Louise this advice after Louise caught her friend and Saito having a very intimate kiss: 'You don't love him enough. You have to fight the hardest. After all, one of these other girls may come in and seduce him so hard that he'll end up with one of them instead or stray at times.' Excuse me? That's your advice here? It was all put on Louise. Why did she have to be the one to come running back to Saito expressing her love. And he had the GALL to ask if she forgave him. He didn't have to do anything to get his girlfriend back. He literally sat on a hill, moping over how if he couldn't be with Louise then being in this world had no point. Wow, where were those actions to back up your feelings when you were with Henrietta? I could go on and on but I should really stop.

At least in the last episode, there were no harem hijinks. And it was really cute to see the now husband and wife explore modern day Japan together. But if any of those girls tried to shoot their shot again, would Saito decline? We certainly don't know because not once did he before. The closest thing we got was a declaration to Henrietta by Saito that he's with Louise. And when Henrietta stubbornly declared that she still feels the way she feels, did that look like a reaction of resolve from Saito? Not good enough, I'd say! But this last episode bumped it up from "Appalling" to "Very Bad."

Louise should find better friends and probably a different husband while she's at it!

Here’s my quick and rough blurb. It’s been a rough year and it was an especially rough weekend. I decided to start watching Little Busters. I’m really glad that I did because it really cheered me up. I found myself laughing at nearly every episode. Yes, the show can get very melodramatic. I mean, it’s by Key. But for me, it was when the the Little Busters were up to their daily shenanigans that it really shined. The ED is especially nostalgic in feel. This anime now has a special place in my heart. Onto Refrain! ...which I am cautiously optimistic will be enjoyable.

After having watched all of the 1998 adaptation of Orphen, I felt compelled to sign up for MAL in an attempt to articulate my own review of this series. While this is by no means a perfect series, I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed watching this first season. Little did I know that this would become such a lengthy review.

The majority of anime that I have watched is more recent, from around 2010 and onwards. I knew that this being a bit of an older series, there may be some things that are more dated. But this anime really worked for me. In ... my opinion, it highlights some of the best things from the 90s era of anime: art, sound/music, hand drawn animation, and comedic charm.

Ok, so the story isn't something we've never heard of before. Protagonist embarks on a quest to fulfill a certain goal. But it's all about the journey! The episodes start off as primarily self-contained, but they build into a larger plot. (one that I will not go into detail about because, y'know, spoilers)

The art and animation are on point when it's considered a priority. Unfortunately, there are a few episodes where the art and animation are noticeably inconsistent. But when these two necessities are given the due care that they deserve, it was a beauty for me to look at. Especially the character art for our main leads.

For the Japanese dub, I found no issues with the sound. I especially enjoyed the different sound tracks that were used for the different tones of the show. Azalie's theme was probably my favorite. Both openings were solid with some great animation. The endings were nice, poppy bits that sort of softened whatever action/drama had taken place earlier in the episode. Character acting was nicely done, too. As for the English dub, I have come to understand that this was at one time a divisive topic. I can understand why. This anime received quite a few critiques for having parts of the script changed. This particularly happened a lot in the first twelve episodes. And there were a few times where I even found that off-putting. Like, why change the initial reason for why Cleao decided to join Orphen and Majic? And yet, there was something that kept me coming back to the dub. Maybe it was a curiosity to see what they would change this time? But I also will say that I think the script changes worked for the comedic bits. And the character acting, for the most part, charmed me. I'll admit that Cleao and Majic took a little bit of getting used to. But I felt like the dub actors acted their hearts out to portray their version of these characters. It became fun for me to compare the two different language versions. Where I take issue with the English dub is that there were times where the volume for a character in a scene was so quiet that I had to go back and replay that moment more than a couple times just to hear what was said. (Hopefully that's not my hearing becoming an issue.)

Ok, characters. For me, this was probably where Orphen wasn't as strong. I wish that a few of our more prominent characters received a bit more development. Not to say that there is no character development. And I'm sure a lot of people found the Volkan and Dortin scenes to be more annoying than anything else. Somehow, I didn't mind the two trolls. Also, Hartia is precious and must be protected at all costs. Orphen's development was handled really nicely. I came to really like him as a character. And even bratty Cleao became someone endearing.

Even though this anime has its flaws, my overall enjoyment was a 10. I finished all 24 episodes of this first season in both subbed and dubbed in one week. That's technically 48 episodes. Now for some, I know that's mere pocket change. But for me, that's a fast consumption rate. I laughed. I...might have cried. Bopped my head to some of the music. Also, without giving spoilers, I had a "wtf" moment with the resolution for one character at the end. It forced my hand to dock a point.If you don't find yourself enjoying the first five episodes, then this probably isn't an anime you want to continue. But man, I got a kick out of Orphen!