January 15, 2006

Miscellaneous Anime Thoughts

Since I've been so behind and I'm moving into the new schedule, here's some leftover thoughts.

Posted by Drylnn at 02:54 AM | Comments (0)

December 13, 2005

Suzuka Episode 20 (review) - "Support"

A Miki-centered ep - has a good character ever been so underused of late?

Summary:
Yamato missed Honoka in all the small things that happen during the day. He tells Yasu about the breakup at lunch and also tells him that his (Yasu's) thoughts were exactly right. Yasu tries to tell him that these things are not all one person's fault, but Yamato insists that he is to blame. At this point, Miki comes over and tries to find out what's going on. As Yasu and Miki banter back and forth, Yamato leaves in sad silence. Not knowing what is going on, Miki goes to practice.

At practice, Honoka hasn't shown up to do her manager duties, and Yamato reveals that they broke up. Now everyone, including Miki, knows why Yamatois so miserable. Miki comments on this to Suzuka and gives comments of pity, but Suzuka is as cold as ice, telling her that Yamato has gotten just as he deserves. While this is going on, Honoka is meeting with Nana, who points out that Honoka is making a lot of assumptions - that Yamato never said he still liked Suzuka and in the end, it might have been Honoka's lack of self-confidence that contributed as much to the breakup. Surprisingly, Honoka does agree, but isn't sure what to do about it.

At practice the next day, Honoka shows up to everyone's surprise. Honoka seems to have decided she must gain her own self-confidence and maybe then she'll be able to date Yamato. As Yamato is picked to be on the relay team, she decides to cheer him on (Kobayakawa also has some amusing scenes where he wants to be cheered on too... he really does like Honoka). Miki tells Suzuka that Yamato got picked for the team and that she's happy for him, but Suzuka coldly responds that she doesn't care - she can't care about a guy who broke up with Honoka because he thought she wasn't worth the bother. Miki is stunned that Yamato could be so shallow.

After practice, Yamato gets ready to leave, only to be surprised by a waiting Miki. She wants the answer from him - did he breakup with Honoka because he thought she was a bother. Yamato knows immediately that she must have talked to Suzuka, and tries to repeat the same lie to Miki, but Miki doesn't buy it. She says that he wouldn't be so sad if that was the case, nor would Honoka have come to practice. Yamato then tells her the true story: he didn't want Suzuka to feel as though it was her fault. When Miki asks why he did that, he replies that he couldn't exactly tell her that she *was* in part the reason for the breakup. Miki seems to understand, and to help lift Yamato's spirits, she invites him out to eat. After a comical session with a local delicacy, they walk home. Yamato tries to say that maybe he should quit the track team because he's being such a bother to those who have been on the team a while, but Miki tells him that while that was probably annoying to the members at first, they also expect that he'll do something amazing each time he runs, and that's why he shouldn't quit. In the end, Yamato decides not to quit and they both walk off to get dessert.

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Another excellent episode, setting up the seeds for what is to follow. It's fairly easy to guess that Suzuka will start having feelings for Yamato at some point, but remember what a "jerk" he was, only to have Miki tell her that Yamato was trying to protect her feelings by putting on an act. The real question is the setup for this, because it has to happen pretty quickly.

I'm not sure why Honoka is still pining for Yamato and thinking about confessing in the future. They don't seem to have a lot of places to go with that one in this series anymore.

Yamato proves once again that he's not a shallow character. He openly acknowledges all his faults in this episode - he ignored good advice from people, he was a jerk in general, and he knows he has done wrong. Yamato is finally grown up as a character - he knows he is not a perfect person, he knows how to deal with people now, and he has really come far from where he was early on in the series. From now on, it's likely that the focus will center more on Suzuka, who needs to learn to do much of the same.

It's also interesting that Yamato never answered Miki's question about still being in love with Suzuka. It's obvious to everyone, including Miki, but you could almost get the impression that Miki might be interested in Yamato.... almost, but in the end, she seems to be the caring friend who wants to help both her friends out.

The music is set... now let's see if the characters can dance.

Posted by Drylnn at 03:11 AM | Comments (0)

December 10, 2005

Suzuka Episode 19 (review) - "Breakup"

Summary:
At lunch, Yamato tells Yasu what happened with the present. Yasu points out that Honoka must have been upset at him shopping with Suzuka, but kept quiet and tried to keep a smile on her face as long as possible, but in the end couldn't ignore him going out with his "ex". Yamato comments that Suzuka isn't his "ex", but Yasu says that to Honoka, it's essentially the same thing. He calls Yamato selfish and tells him that he should apologize. However, Yamato gets mad and yells back that none of Yasu's advice has worked so far and he'll fix his problems on his own. As he leaves, Yasu tells him that he'll end up apologizing anyways.

So of course, Yamato goes to practice and tries to apologize (way to do things on your own there, champ!). Honoka refuses to listen to him and says she doesn't want to talk to them. Suzuka notices Yamato's sad mood and begins to worry. After practice, Yamato arrives home to notice Suzuka waiting for him. She seems worried and asks Yamato if he and Honoka made up. When he says no, she says that she is sorry for causing the problem by shopping with him, but Yamato says it isn't her fault: he asked her to go, so the blame is on him. Suzuka urges him to keep trying to talk to Honoka, by phone or whatever, and things will work out, or at least "should".

Yamato tries to call Honoka several times, but her line is busy - as it turns out, she is talking to Nana. Nana is trying to calm her down, but Honoka comments that she knows that Yamato still likes Suzuka. In the end, Yamato decides to go to Honoka's house to talk to her. When she answers the door, he tries to give her the present again and she rejects it. Yamato starts to get upset and wants to know what's wrong - that he needs an answer because he doesn't understand. Finally Honoka yells at him that she can't accept a present that Suzuka and he picked out so happily and asks him why he couldn't have got ANYONE else to go with him. She also tells him that he asked Suzuka because he wanted to be out with her. Yamato responds angrily, but Honoka starts to run off. Yamato gives chase and catches up easily (I would hope so, he's a sprinter after all!) After Honoka cools off a bit, she says that this situation will happen again and again, and says they need to breakup. When Yamato easily goes along with this, Honoka angrily asks why he bothered to date her when he didn't love her. Yamato replies that he thought he did; that he liked when they did stuff together, from walking to school to eating. He also points out that he wasn't thinking of Suzuka all the time and he doesn't want Honoka to misunderstand. Honoka cools off a bit, thinks about this, and asks for the present back. She says she'll keep it as a rememberance that they did fall in love for a bit. Honoka then kisses him and leaves him.

When Yamato gets back, his cousin asks if Honoka liked his gift. Yamato says "yes" in a despondant way, then goes to his room without eating dinner. His cousin is worried, but his aunt says she should just let him be. In Yamato's room, Yuka and Megumi are drinking. They notice his bad mood and ask what went wrong. Yamato tells them that Honoka and he broke up. Yuka ridicules him for doing so, but later comments that it was probably a good idea. Suzuka also overhears the conversation. After Yuka and Megumi leave, she comes over to talk to Yamato. She starts to blame herself when Yamato has no answers, but Yamato, seeing Suzuka blaming herself, tries to alleviate her guilt by acting like he broke it off because Honoka was bothersome and saying he's relieved to be rid of her (he doesn't intend to be so nasty, he's just trying to make Suzuka not think it was her fault). Suzuka, thinking he's serious, calls him a jerk (more or less) and goes to her room, angry that she could care about such a guy. Meanwhile, Yamato ponders what happened in misery.

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We knew it was coming to move the plot along, and in the end, it didn't go exactly as expected.

I could discuss the breakup over and over, but it was the sum of many different pieces at play. Honoka could not resolve her self-confidence issues, Yamato could never truly love her. Between those two major flaws in the relationship, there was no chance for either of them.

I think the most important part of this episode stands at the end. Time and time again, the series has shown Yamato to be a little too carefree in expressing love and his feelings, and at times, we as the audience feel little sympathy for him. On occasion though, he shows what a glimmer of the person he truly is. We've seen it before - when Yamato took on Arima and made Arima's scorn focus solely on himself rather than Suzuka. We've seen it at other times. It's important to understand this feature of Yamato because it defines his character as much as his depth of feeling and shows how he is growing.

Near the end, Suzuka is all too willing to blame herself for what has happened between Yamato and Honoka. For Suzuka, who is trying (unconsciously) to learn to deal with people after the death of Tsuda and her unrealized feelings, a setback at this stage could be costly: it could knock her back into a shell, unable to cope with having caused someone she cares for such pain. Somehow, Yamato sees this and knows this, and because of that, he takes the onus of blame on his shoulders, by acting like a jerk. The problem is that he doesn't realize he's gone a little overboard, which costs him points in Suzuka's eyes. She really did see a better person, and his acting like a jerk clashes with the view she had of him.

The question will be how Yamato overcomes Suzuka's now broken view of him. He's truly not the jerk she thinks based on his act, but he can't exactly tell her that now. That's where much of the rest of the conflict in "Suzuka" will probably come from - can they get past their problems to realize a relationship, or is it too much for Suzuka to get through.

I look forward to the answer.

Posted by Drylnn at 02:34 AM | Comments (0)

December 06, 2005

Suzuka Episode 18 (review) - "Present"

Another long hiatus from classes and such means I can get up to date on my reviews. Suzuka has been keeping my interest, and it looks like we get to make some progress.

Summary:
Yamato is thinking about the comments that Nana made and his own revelations about how he has been acting towards Honoka. In the end, he intends to put the bit of information that Nana gave him to good use: he's going to get Honoka a present for her upcoming birthday.

On the way to school the next day, Honoka asks Yamato if they can go out on Saturday (tomorrow), but since he has to buy the present, he claims he already planned to go out with Yasu. Later on, he tries to get advice on a present from a variety of characters: Yasu recommends roses, Miho-chan says a teddy bear, Yuka suggests an expensive necklace, and Yamato's aunt suggests just getting what he thinks is right in his heart so long as he puts effort into it. Yamato can't decide, so he decides to read through a girl's fashion magazine to get ideas. Of course, Suzuka sees this and comments on his weird perversions. Yamato explains what he is doing and asks her for help picking a present. After a moment of silence from her, he goes to leave, when she agrees to meet him at Shinjuku to do so. Meanwhile, Honoka is upset, because she thinks Yamato will forget her birthday.

The next day, Honoka is out and runs into Yuka and Megumi, who accidently let the secret slip about Yamato looking for a gift for her. Trying to cover up, Yuka asks her to pretend to be surprised. Honoka is really happy and goes to buy food to make a nice meal for Yamato. Meanwhile, Suzuka and Yamato begin the arduous task of picking out something for Honoka, with Suzuka presenting many options and Yamato not knowing what to pick. As they continue, Suzuka is more and more uncomfortable with the situation, so she is about to go home as she reminds Yamato to think about who he is buying this for. Just then, Yamato notices the ticket lady (the Fantasy Land one) has a stand of necklaces for sale near them (actually, it's more that the ticket lady notices them). After a brief look, he finds something he likes and asks Suzuka to model it. He likes it and makes the purchase. As Suzuka and Yamato get ready to each head home, they don't see that Honoka is doing her shopping in the area - she notices the two smiling and having fun and is upset by this.

On the next day (the birthday), Yamato is going to give the necklace to Honoka. Suzuka mentions that he shouldn't mention them shopping for it together, and after Yamato expresses a lack of confidence, Suzuka urges him to keep in mind that he picked it out and thought it was good.

Yamato heads to Honoka's and goes to give her the present. Honoka is very happy that he has remembered her birthday, then reveals she knew about him looking for a present (via Yuka/Megumi), and says that she wants to be honest with him. Yamato remembers that he told her he'd be out with Yasu and is uneasy. He is about to confess when she says that she also knows he went shopping with Suzuka and that she doesn't mind. Yamato is so relieved, he starts talking about the trip and tells a happy story of the shopping. As he does so, Honoka grows upset at this, until she finally stops his banter and gifts him back the gift, saying she can't accept it = then she closes the door on him.

Dejected, Yamato eventually heads back to his home. When he arrives, Suzuka is waiting to hear how it went. Yamato tells her that Honoka rejected the gift, and when she asks why, he says it was because he talked about the trip. As she gets mad at him for doing so, he points out that Honoka already knew they were out shopping together. Suzuka still gets mad and stomps off to her room. Each of the three (Suzuka, Yamato, and Honoka) are shown wallowing in their own misery, contemplating their own thoughts alone.


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Well, this looks to be the beginning of the end of Honoka and Yamato. For once in a Suzuka episode, I can't even really blame Yamato. Sure, he could have been more honest on who he was out with, and sure, in his relief, he talked a bit too much. Honoka though has serious trust and self-confidence issues, and no matter how at fault Yamato is, its those issues of Honoka's that are the problem. The worst Yamato is guilty of is a divided heart - he wants to do the right thing for Honoka, but he didn't know how, and in the end, he turned to the one person that Honoka could not understand him needing help from.

Yet, for all that being said, I can't really blame Honoka either. She doesn't know what Yamato is thinking and feeling, and from her perspective, he could be in love with Suzuka.

In the end, Yamato would have been better off taking Yasu's advice and getting the roses. His attempt at goodwill in a gift has gone seriously awry, and I doubt that the relationship will ever recover. Still, one wonders how Honoka will ever learn to trust enough to have a serious relationship: far too many people in the world have a first love, or at least have had more than one "love" in their early life. Undoubtably, there's going to be some remnants of Yamato's feelings for Suzuka, but in the end, Honoka has to win this battle on her own merits, unless she is willing to settle for being second prize because Yamato couldn't win Suzuka's heart.

Next episode looks like the second half of the Honoka/Yamato fallout. Hopefully, if its not meant to be, they can each learn to understand why.

Posted by Drylnn at 02:06 AM | Comments (0)

November 14, 2005

Suzuka Episode 17 (review) - "Boyfriend"

New character! New character! Oddly though, it doesn't appear to be the one in the closing for the first half of the season...

Summary:
At lunch, Yamato tells Yasu about how he messed up with Honoka. Yasu tells him that he should keep trying, but Yamato is unsure. Miki comes over to join in the conversation, but when Yasu tries to get her to encourage him to get Honoka to have sex, Miki beats him with a tray and tries to pull Yamato away from the conversation. At practice, Yamato is forced to do extra training reps, and Honoka has to leave early. She worries that he doesn't have an umbrella (it's raining), but he says not to worry. Suzuka also notices. After practice, Miki wants Suzuka to go with her to go eat, but Suzuka keeps making reasons why she can't go. Yamato arrives and notices they are still there. He notices the rain and starts to call Miho, but Suzuka gives him her umbrella, saying she was going with Miki anyways. Miki watches Yamato leave, then asks Suzuka if she likes Yamato, saying she thought that Suzuka was making delays to go with him. Suzuka denies this (although not vehementely) and goes with Miki to eat. The next day after practice, Miki and Suzuka go to do karaoke to the tune of Nana Shirakawa's newest songs. Honoka and Yamato go to have a drink before going home. Yamato notices Nana's commercial on TV, but when Honoka asks him if he likes Nana (the pop idol), he denies it. In the restaurant, Honoka is obviously nervous, and when Yamato asks her why she is, she mentions she invited a friend to join them. The friend arrives, and its Nana Shirakawa, the pop idol! As the people in the restaurant notice, Nana suggests they go somewhere else. They end up in a karaoke bar, where Nana explains how they met and became friends, and offers Yamato advice as Honoka's boyfriend - to take things slow. Honoka gets embarressed and runs out to the bathroom. Of course, Suzuka and Miki walk by and notice Yamato singing karaoke to this girl, and Suzuka runs in to defend Honoka's honor and berate Yamato. Miki notices that the girl is Nana, and while the confusion is occuring, Honoka returns, wondering what is goig on. Nana invites everyone to stay, and Miki runs off to tell the bar they'll be together. Suzuka tries to scootch over next to Yamato, ostensibly to make room for Miki, but Honoka and Nana notice, and Honoka tells Yamato he can move over near her. Nana is the first singer for the new group, singing one of her new songs. Suzuka is next, and while she is picking her song, she teases Yamato, asking him if he can sing anything besides baseball team songs. He gets mad, goes to pick a song, and accidently picks the same one as Suzuka. Miki suggests they sing it together, and Yamato starts to agree, but notices Honoka's startled reaction, and tells Suzuka that he picked the wrong song and that she should sing by herself. On the way home, Nana, Yamato, and Honoka stop by Honoka's place, dropping her off. As they leave, Nana talks to Yamato about being the "perfect boyfriend", then calls him silly, saying that he needs to be just Honoka's boyfriend. She berates him, saying he probably doesn't know much about Honoka, not even her birthday, and Yamato sheepishly realizes that he doesn't. Nana tells him to just be a good boyfriend and love Honoka for who she is. As she leaves, she tells Yamato the date of Honoka's birthday and tells him that since its coming up soon, he'll need to get her something.

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This is a fairly good episode. It answers some of my concerns from the last episode: we see that Suzuka is rethinking about what she wants with Yamato, we see that Yamato doesn't know all that much about Honoka (and that SOMEONE notices it), and we see Honoka as more than a cardboard cutout meant to be some sort of Suzuka rival. Nana allows us to explore Honoka as a person, and allows for some integral Yamato-Honoka character development.

I'm not sure why Nana had to be a pop idol instead of just a friend, but it wasn't a problem in the episode.

Suzuka's reactions are starting to be more and more obvious to Miki, and that will hopefully allow us to see Suzuka as a better person as well.

Nana's assessment of Yamato was spot on: he doesn't know all that much about Honoka, and he seems more concerned with just the idea of being a boyfriend rather than really seeing if he loves Honoka. Up until now, the relationship has been an extended crush - now we'll see where it goes. Yamato can make or break the relationship with the birthday present, so we can see how that goes. Up until now, Honoka has been doing things for Yamato, it's time to see if he is willing or even knows how to reciprocate.

Of course, based on the preview, I'm betting he screws it up.

Posted by Drylnn at 03:40 AM | Comments (0)

November 08, 2005

Suzuka Episode 16 (review) - "Impulse"

Sorry about the long break folks. I'll try and get caught up in the next few days with more ToHeart, some dvds, and of course, Suzuka. I've kept up to date with the episodes, writing down thoughts and ideas, but I just couldn't get to posting. And now, the episode of Suzuka I disliked the most....

Summary:
The episode opens with Honoka arriving to see Yamato, not realizing that he is not back from his hometown (remember, he was suppossed to be back the night before). His aunt tells her that he'll be back with Suzuka at noon. Honoka is of course worried. Saotome passes by and teases Honoka that something might have happened, and implies that its Honoka's fault for not confessing her heart sooner. Meanwhile, on the train, Yamato thinks about Suzuka from the faux confession during the fireflies. He invites Suzuka to go eat when they get off the train, but then Yamato notices Honoka waiting for them. Suzuka walks off, leaving Yamato and Honoka. At this point, Yamato understands that Honoka must have been worried, but he assures her that he wouldn't do anything with Suzuka while he has her. Honoka is greatly relieved, and Yamato kisses her. The next day, the new semester begins. Yamato's aunt tells him that she'll be home late and that he'll have to get his own supper that night. During lunch, Yasu asks Yamato whether they have "done it" yet. This of course leads to an amusing scene the two. Yasu tells him that sex is what a relationship is about, and that if he doesn't act, Honoka and Yamato will just become good friends. Yamato thinks about his words and wonders how to invite Honoka over. As he decides to give up and go get supper, the doorbell rings. Honoka has come over to cook Yamato dinner..... uh oh... Yamato goes into fantasy mode where he imagines that this is what being a newlywed is like.
Everything goes much like a date, until Yamato thinks for a moment that Suzuka won't have any dinner. As he thinks this, he realizes who is in front of him, and pulls Honoka to the bed, pushes her down, and begins to kiss her. Honoka is scared, and runs off, bumping into Suzuka, who notices her crying. Yamato follows, and Suzuka asks what happens, but Yamato basically gives her the cold shoulder. The next day, Honoka is absent, so Yamato goes to her house to apologize. Honoka tries to blame herself, saying it was her first time, but Yamato refuses to accept that, saying it was his fault. They make up (in an amusing way as only Honoka can do). Yamato heads home and sees Suzuka waiting outside. She asks him if they made up, and when he says "Sort of", she pretends to be happy for Yamato. Yamato is confused by her reaction, and leaves her, while she stands outside thinking to herself: "What am I doing?"

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I'm not thrilled about this episode, although I've heard the manga went much much worse for Yamato. I'm not sure what the anime is trying to make us feel: are we suppossed to be understanding of Yamato's situation and what he does?

The problem with the episode is a problem in Suzuka eps of late - it seems to merely exist to put some space between Yamato and Honoka. It seems they're destined to break up, and the anime would have a far better plot to show us why the two are incompatible rather than using plot stunts to drive wedges. At this point, we don't have a lot of reason to root for Suzuka and Yamato, in fact, we've been given more reasons to root for Honoka and Yamato.

I had a hard time mustering up any like for Yamato in this episode. I hope the anime gives him more room to grow. Explain who he is, who Suzuka is, and why Honoka can't be with Yamato. Don't make it an obvious predestined plot direction, please.

Next up, "Boyfriend".... hmm... who?

Posted by Drylnn at 03:20 AM | Comments (0)

October 22, 2005

Suzuka Episode 15 (review) - "Bellflower"

Like in a few episodes of GSD, I couldn't pick just six to adequately cover this episode...

Summary:
Suzuka and Yamato are stuck in Hiroshima, and unfortunately for Yamato, Suzuka has slipped back into "bad mood" mode. They lack enough money to go to a restaurant to wait for the train, and while an amusing drunk guy offers a love hotel as a solution, they don't have the money (or the will) for that "solution". Yamato then remembers his family, and borrows Suzuka's cell to call them. The plan is for Suzuka to stay in a hotel while Yamato goes to his house. Suzuka calls the team captain to tell him the plan, but then she hands the phone to Yamato. It's Honoka, and she explains that she was worried about what was going on. Yamato explains that she shouldn't worry, that Suzuka will be in a hotel and Yamato will go home. After the call, Suzuka asks who confessed, and inexplicably, Yamato says it was him (I seem to remember it as more of a mix), but when he starts explaining why, Suzuka gets irritated and tells him to be quiet, which makes Yamato mad, saying she's impossible to understand. They sit in silence until Yamato's dad arrives in his van, however, the father changes the plan. He forces Suzuka to come with them as well, claiming they can't leave a girl in one of these hotels alone. The next day, the whole family is at breakfast, which consists of the family making fun of Yamato while taking care of Suzuka. Yamato's dad says they can't leave until tonight, so Suzuka and Yamato will have to entertain themselves during the day. Yamato tries to talk to Suzuka after they leave, but she tells him to leave her alone. Later on, Yamato offers to let Suzuka stay overnight to see the fireflies (since she's never seen them), but she gets upset, telling him "Aren't you mistaking the one you should be nice to?" which upsets Yamato. He ends up calling Honoka, explaining that Suzuka did end up staying with the family, but that he doesn't have any odd thoughts in mind. After that, Yamato tells Suzuka they should get ready to leave, but Suzuka has changed her mind - she wants to see the fireflies that night. Yamato worries since he promised Honoka they'd be back that night, but they do stay and go to see the fireflies. Yamato takes her to the river where the fireflies are known to come, but there are none there. Suzuka teases Yamato about it, and Yamato explains that something like this happened before, when he tried to confess to a girl in junior high, but no fireflies came due to rain. Suzuka laughes and says he can't finish anything, which makes Yamato disgruntled as he says that he tried to confess to her at the right time. After an awkward moment, Yamato sees a firefly. As he goes to pick it up, Suzuka asks him to show the confession he would have made to the girl in junior high had it not been ruined. Yamato doesn't understand why, but he goes and takes a bellflower (a flower obviously shaped like a bell) and leads the firefly inside, making the flower flow. He begins the confession (ostensibly for the girl before, but sounding oddly like it could fit for Suzuka). As he does so, she accepts it and says in a serious tone "Okay, I'll go out with you". When he says not to make fun of him, she (with a sad face) says she wasn't making fun of him. Fireflies are all about now. In the end (after a moment), she tries to pass it off as a joke and asks why he took it so seriously. As they stand there, the fireflies drift upwards.

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My favorite episode of the series so far. At the beginning, we get some humor (the drunk and the love hotel bit), some bruised feelings spilling over, and more humor.

Suzuka acts a bit odd at times, and Yamato supposses it is because she is looking out for Honoka's feelings. That said, I'm not convinced that's totally it, but we're left to wonder.

The end scene really sells this episode - we learn alot about Yamato and we're given a VERY bittersweet moment with the faux confession, which Yamato presents really well. For a moment, we can see how this will all work out, how it should have worked out for them both. Suzuka brushes it aside in the end, but for a moment, we could see what she wanted in reality.

The last scene was beautifully done as few scenes in Suzuka have been done. The music perfectly set the scene, and we're left with a flood of emotion. But the scene can't last - these characters can't overcome their problems in one shining moment. But we have been given a moment that far surpasses the fireworks confession or anything else that has gone on. For a moment, we have seen a glimpse of hope for the two main characters; where they go from here remains to be seen.

Smaller thoughts:

Based on the preview, interesting things are afoot with Honoka when Yamato and Suzuka return. Will this series go where few anime have gone before? (No, I'm not talking about a threesome!)

Posted by Drylnn at 08:02 AM | Comments (1)

October 21, 2005

Suzuka Episode 14 (review) - "Blessing"

Summary:
We pick up with Yamato kissing Honoka back, while Miki watches and realizes the implications for Suzuka. After that, we see Suzuka and Miki in the hot spring, relaxing. Yamato comes to the men's side and jumps right in like a little kid, and Suzuka is amused listening to him. Miki also decides that for now, she won't say anything about Honoka and Yamato. The next day, Suzuka invites Yamato to go shopping with her, and in spite of Yasu trying to push him to do so, he declines. Suzuka isn't happy and decides to take Miki with her instead. Yasu wonders why Yamato declines, but then notices Yamato smiling and waving to Honoka and figures it out quickly. While on the shopping trip, Suzuka goes to buy a shirt for Yamato, but then Miki decides to speak up and tell her about Honoka, which rocks Suzuka. At practice, we have an interesting reversal as Honoka gives Yamato a note to meet her, Yamato pines after Honoka, and Suzuka is left to watch their interaction (as oppossed to when Honoka and Suzuka were switched earlier in the series). That night, Honoka and Yamato go to the fish pool again, watching the moon, and Honoka confesses fully to Yamato about all her pining. Also, Miki and Yasu are talking about the situation. Miki is thinking of Suzuka, but Yasu points out Honoka's feelings, stating "there are no rights and wrongs in love... outsiders should just stand aside and not interfere." At the next practice, Yamato is doing his extra exercises when Suzuka comes up and talks to him about how he is doing, then out of the blue, asks Yamato about Honoka. Yamato says that they are dating, and Suzuka acts nonchalant, offering to help Yamato stretch. From later scenes, we see that she's obviously stressed about the relationship though. On the last day of the trip, Yamato leads a group including Honoka, Yasu, Souichi, and the Captain on a trip to a famous restaurant (which they never find). Honoka gives Yamato a gift - a dog-shaped cell phone strap, which matches hers. Later, the track team is getting ready on the train to leave. Yamato goes to buy drinks off the train to save money, but as he is returning, he trips and drops the drinks. Suzuka sees him and tries to help him pick them up. As they do so, the train doors close, and it leaves without them, with Miki noticing them. Hearing that they are together alone, Honoka panics and tries to call Yamato's cell, but he left it on the train next to Yasu. Meanwhile, Yamato and Suzuka, after a call from Miki and the Captain via Suzuka's cell, debate what they're going to do, since no other transportation is available.

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I'm not sure what this episode was, other than a mostly filler ep and a lead-in to the "test" of Honoka and Yamato's relationship for next episode. Obviously some key events happen: Suzuka learns of the new relationship, and Yamato and Suzuka are seperated from the others.

Perhaps the most key scene is the discussion between Yasu and Miki about what is "right" and "wrong" in love. Yasu's points are very valid - Honoka does care about Yamato, and despite the fact that Suzuka and Yamato might work, why does that make Honoka and Yamato wrong. Miki wants to help her friend, but Yasu has the right idea: if it happens, it happens. Others should let it work itself out.

Smaller thoughts:

Posted by Drylnn at 07:43 AM | Comments (0)

October 20, 2005

Suzuka Episode 13 (review) - "Lips"

The team travels to Hiroshima (Yamato's hometown, as you might recall) via bullet train for the newest tournament. The track captain has a new training program for Yamato to do, including more after-practice work, and Yamato is thinking of that workload. He tries to talk to Suzuka, but is rebuffed in his attempt. Meanwhile, Honoka, who observes Suzuka's icy demeanor, wonders what is going on, and Yasu points out that if she likes Yamato so much, she should tell him, or risk losing him. Both Yasu and Miki try to get Yamato out of his little funk, but Yamato declines their offers, and later, Miki tells Suzuka at dinner that she should wish Yamato luck - that it might help him out. Suzuka declines, but later changes her mind. Yamato is having a night practice, but his times are not improving. Just as he stops to rest, Honoka comes to wish him luck. They talk for a bit about Yamato's confidence, and Honoka takes Yamato's hand. But she hears footsteps and looks up to see Suzuka is nearby. As Yamato turns to see who is behind them, Honoka kisses him. It's Yamato's first time, and he's quite shocked and even after she leaves, he is unable to think of much else, until Suzuka surprises him. She talks about track and what he's doing, but then asks Yamato to come cheer her on. The next day, Yamato does indeed go to cheer on Suzuka with the other members, but as he is sitting and watching, Honoka sits next to him, and holds his hand. Yamato misses the action on the field - Suzuka has jumped 173 cm, the same height as in episode 1 when it was just her and Yamato at practice, and she is rushed by the press and news crews. While observing this, Yamato thinks that Suzuka is slipping away from him with her success, and he grips Honoka's hand, to her surprise. Later, there is a party for the team for the seniors and Suzuka's success. Yamato leaves to go to the fish pond outside, and there Honoka meets up with him. The track captain, wondering where Yamato is, sends Miki to find him. While Honoka and Yamato talk, a fish jumps out of the water, splashing her. She jumps towards Yamato, and tries to kiss him, but he hesitates for a moment. Honoka is saddened and starts to cry, but then Yamato does move in and kiss her. Meanwhile, Miki observes this from nearby and is stunned.

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Obviously, this is a Honoka centered episode, and it was needed. Honoka clearly takes Yasu's advice to heart and tries her hardest to win Yamato over. It's not immediately obvious what Yamato sees in her, but he does explain through his thoughts - he has a different reaction and is filled with different emotions with her than with Suzuka. She is a calming influence on him and he can relax. One can argue that perhaps this isn't fully a sign of love. I'm not convinced that it is love, but it must seem a soothing balm to Yamato and his "wounds" that have been inflicted by trying to match up with Suzuka.

Honoka shows a lot more bravery that I would have given her credit for in episodes past. She has been fairly timid in her desires, but now she knows what she wants. She is revealed as a person of true feeling. Yet deep down, I wonder if she realizes that Yamato doesn't love her as much as Suzuka. It's hard to say what the pecking order of feelings are here.

Suzuka doesn't help herself with her curtness at the beginning of the episode - its hard to get a read on what she wants. Clearly she wants something, because she does change her mind and goes to talk to Yamato. But she can't seem to get past the "hump" of her own internal feelings, and that might cost her in the end. You'd think the end of episode 12 would have made her realize that she's losing this battle because she can't make up her mind and manages to bungle any feeling she tries to put forth. It's amazing that she manages to function in society with her temper sometimes.

Gee, I wonder if Suzuka will hear about this through Miki? (yes, I'm being sarcastic, I'm 99.99999999% sure that will happen)

What will the results of this thing with Honoka be? Obviously, this isn't the end of the relationship battle since we have 13 episodes left, but its an interesting halfway point...

Posted by Drylnn at 07:32 AM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2005

Suzuka Episode 12 (review) - "Misunderstandings"

Summary:
The next day (ostensibly), Suzuka and Yamato are walking to school. Suzuka checks to make sure that Yamato is coming to practice (remember last ep), but then she doesn't talk to him after that. Meanwhile at school, Honoka is deep in thought about Yamato and Suzuka = wondering why Yamato ran faster when Suzuka yelled at him. At practice, she tries to help out Yamato and wants to walk home with him, but the Track Captain says that Yamato must run 20 extra laps after practice as "punishment". Honoka realizes that that means he'll be alone with Suzuka, so she loiters around after practice trying to decide whether she should check on things. After his laps, Suzuka helps Yamato to stretch, which is when Honoka walks to the track. There is no practice for Sunday, so Yamato is thinking about asking Suzuka someplace. The girl who gave him the Fantasyland tickets shows up again, this time giving him tickets to the new pool in the area. Yamato thinks about asking Suzuka to go, but Yasu puts a stop to that by asking him what kind of relationship they have that she would go to the pool with him. Later that day, Honoka slyly tries to ask Yamato to go to the pool (she apparently got the same tickets), but just then Miki comes along and invites herself along, which leads to Kobayakawa (the sprinter who seems to like Honoka) inviting himself along, and then finally, Miki asks Suzuka to come. Yamato seems sure that Suzuka won't go, but when she looks at the group, she agrees to also go. Yamato is confused by this, as he assumes she would be going to Tsuda's grave. The next day, at the pool, both Honoka and Yamato are determined to make their best effort at spending time with their crush, but neither one succeeds - Suzuka spends most of the day on waterslides with Miki, and since Yamato is just waiting on her, Kobayakawa manages to continually pull Honoka away from Yamato. The group eventually leaves to go home, with Yamato thinking that maybe Suzuka didn't come because of him, but rather because she just wanted to use the pool. Yamato has to stop to tie his shoe, but when he looks up Suzuka is waiting for him. Just then, the fireworks start (literally, not figuratively), and they watch for a bit. Yamato remembers the last time they watched fireworks, and unfortunately (for him) speaks of them to Suzuka, and she ends up walking away from him. The next school day, Honoka asks to walk home with Suzuka. Along the way, she asks Suzuka if she likes Yamato, and if it's okay if she (Honoka) confesses to Yamato, saying she's liked him for longer than he has known Suzuka. Suzuka seems unable to know how to respond, and seemingly, to save Honoka's feelings, she replies that she doesn't like Yamato. Of course, Yamato has walked up on this scene and overhears. As Honoka runs off, Suzuka stammers and tries to explain, but Yamato says "It's okay, I know you don't like me [ in that way ]. As he walks home, a distraught Suzuka looks after him.

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Definitely one of my favorite episodes, solely for the last scene, which I'll get back to in a moment.

We're getting more character development out of Honoka, which is good, because she is realizing that she'll have to win Yamato's heart. On the surface, Suzuka is the character who remains static for most of the episode - we're not really sure of her motivations, and it's only towards the end of the episode that she changes into anything more than wallpaper for the episode.

As usual, Yasu has his finger on the pulse of Yamato's situation. He offers support to Yamato, but he doesn't offer him endless hope. He keeps Yamato's feet on the ground, and that's the role that someone badly needs to play for Yamato, who seems to lurch from feeling to feeling.

The end of the episode gives the meat of the conflict. Honoka likes Yamato, and deep down, I think Suzuka does too. Her concern for Honoka's heart leads to her denial, and unfortunately for her, Yamato is there to hear it. But Yamato has changed as a character too as a result of Yasu's talk and the events around the pool trip. He starts to slip into old confession mode, but at that moment, Yasu's words kick in and he realizes that it isn't such a good idea to go down that road twice. In the end, his shattering utterance of "I know you don't like me" with the "in that way" implied in the tone, leaves us with the conflict for the second half of the series. These are two star-crossed people - Suzuka and Yamato seem to resolve their feelings at different times and in the process of doing so continually hurt each other and make themselves say the wrong things. The Hedgehog Dilemma comes to mind again. In the end, we're left to wonder: what will the catalyst be for them to get in sync. And in the end, does Honoka have a chance? Will this be a bittersweet series, or one of tradition "in the end, the ordained couple comes together". Although I think it's the latter, I'm intrigued by the possibility that it might not come to pass. In the end, how many misunderstandings can the two withstand?

Finally, that last scene in the anime is one of the most devastating images I've seen in anime. The artists got that look on Suzuka's face just right.

Posted by Drylnn at 07:18 AM | Comments (0)

October 16, 2005

Suzuka Episode 11 (review) - "Showdown"

Summary:
At the tournament, we see Emerson Arima, the #1 Sprinter in all of Japan, surrounded by reporters and such. Suzuka is convinced Tsuda would have been able to beat him. Souichi is convinced Yamato could have done it. Suzuka repeats her claim about Tsuda and Arima overhears it. Meanwhile, Yasu tricks Yamato into going to the tournament area and tries to convince him to compete to impress some girls. Once inside the grounds, they notice Suzuka being harassed by Arima and his followers. Arima tells her to apologize and take it back, saying that Tsuda is dead, and that she can't compare him to some dead guy. He continues to state that he is number one, with his crowd also berating her. Yasu tries to walk away, but Yamato sees Suzuka in tears, and steps between her and Arima. He says she doesn't have to apologize. Arima starts to berate him, but Yamato says it doesn't matter, because he's the fastest one of all and he'll beat Arima. Arima gets ticked and tells him there's no way he can win, but challenges him to do so. After Arima walks off, Suzuka asks Yamato what happens if he loses, and Yamato says he'd just have to apologize. Suzuka tells him to think before he speaks, but Yamato says it'll be all right, all he needs to do is win. Suzuka is still surprised he came back. The rest of the team is happy to see him, including Honoka who mentions he skipped three days. Miki is also happy to see him, but when she realizes that Yamato doesn't know who Arima is, she explains that he is the top sprinter. Yamato is stunned, but decides to do his best anyways. Meanwhile, Yasu talks to Suzuka and when she says that Yamato was irresponsible, he replies "Yes, but now all of Arima's anger is focused on him" without saying the unspoken part "instead of on you." Yamato gets ready to start, and Yasu brings Suzuka to watch. Arima gets out to a fast start, and things aren't looking good. Just then though, Suzuka yells "What are you doing, you idiot!", and with that, Yamato speeds up and is running even with Arima. Everyone is shocked. Honoka notices that he caught up only when Suzuka shouted. Arima can't seem to shake him, but near the end, Yamato trips, most likely due to lack of practice. Even so, Arima is aggravated that Yamato made him run so hard, and Yamato vows to beat him sometime soon. Later, Yamato is sitting under a tree, and Suzuka comes to bandage his injured knees. She tells him he lost because he didn't practice, and makes him promise to be at the next practice. Yamato wonders what she meant, thinking he was going to go to practice anyways.

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Finally, a character I can love to hate! A cocky, arrogant athlete who mocks people and speaks ill of the dead. Arima will provide a lot for the anime in that he'll focus Yamato on a goal while providing him with a foil for competition. Yamato almost doesn't even have to beat him - simply making the jerk have to run full throttle would be enough, but I'd guess that Yamato will beat him in the future. It was good though that it didn't happen in this ep, or it would have been just too unrealistic.

I found it greatly amusing that the only thing to spur Yamato on was an insult from Suzuka. Obviously though, she wanted him to win.

The events of this episode aren't going to help him distinguish himself from Tsuda though.

Yasu gives us some GREAT observations, including an on-spot analysis of why Yamato stepped in. His comment was phrased perfectly, and hopefully Suzuka will realize what Yamato did. It seems like it from the knee bandage ending.

Not much else to say on this episode. Looking forward to the next!

Posted by Drylnn at 04:52 AM | Comments (0)

October 15, 2005

Suzuka Episode 10 (review) - "Love Rival"

Summary:
Yamato doesn't know why he's following Suzuka, but he knows he needs to get answers. He tracks down the address given and runs into Suzuka's older sister. He explains that he is a friend who is somewhat worried about her. Suzuka's sister is surprised he followed her, but agrees to show him where Suzuka is. Along the way, he explains about his confession and she teases him trying to ascertain his intentions. To his surprise, she leads him to a graveyard, where Suzuka is kneeling at a particular tombstone. The sister explains that Tsuda was one year above Suzuka, was the #1 sprinter, was a rocket starter, and he was killed on the way to the Nationals competition about two years ago. She also remarks that Yamato looks very similar to him. Suzuka evidently comes back to pray over his grave when she can. Yamato asks the sister not to mention he was there. After he leaves (without being seen), the sister talks to Suzuka and encourages her to go out with her friends, not to
come back so much. During the ride back, Yamato begins to think he was just a replacement for Tsuda in Suzuka's mind. The next day, he skips out on track team practice. Meanwhile, Suzuka thinks on her sister's words and thinks back to how she met Tsuda and about the events back then. We get a flashback - at the time she was teased by Tsuda, which only inspired her to do better. He encouraged her to be less rigid, she told him that he should take practice more seriously, and they argued about everything. In the end, his teasing got her past prelims, and Souichi took the much-mentioned picture of them. One day later though, after Tsuda's last day of practice before Nationals, he confessed to Suzuka. She didn't know how to take it, so he told her to think about her feelings until he got back. She had made up her mind about it, when she heard he died and she never could tell her feelings to him. Back in the present, Miki tries to convince Yamato to go to the competition, but Yamato says he won't because its meaningless to him anymore. That night, Suzuka comes by to berate him for not going. Yamato says she wanted him to quit and that he was just some substitute for Tsuda. In response, she slaps him and runs off. The team heads to the tournament, and Suzuka seems upset that Yamato won't come.

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Yow. The revelation about Tsuda was kind of a shocker to me. I really didn't expect the guy to be dead. Now a lot of Suzuka's reactions make sense to me. I can't even imagine that kind of situation - I only have one situation in my past that remotely resembles that, and in my case, the person didn't die.

We can see now why Suzuka didn't react well to Yamato's confession, and why she doesn't expose her feelings to anyone. It must be hard to try to understand your feelings for another and then, once you resolve them in your own mind and heart, to find out that you'll never be able to tell the person about them. The flashback was interesting, and unlike some readers, I don't think that Tsuda's confession was unreasonable: I've teased women I've been interested in (god, I hope they never read this), but in the end, I didn't intend for the teasing to be serious; sometimes it was just to inspire them to do what they needed to do or push them to bigger and better things.

To be fair though, Yamato's reaction is also understandable. He seems to remind everyone of Tsuda, he looks like Tsuda, he uses the rocket start like Tsuda, and he runs like Tsude. Even their personalities seem similar, although there are differences. It's easy to see why he'd think Suzuka was using him as an emotional crutch/replacement. Therein lies the tragic conundrum of the anime from this point on: how does Suzuka know her emotions about Yamato are really because of Yamato or because of Tsuda - can she seperate the two in her mind? How does Yamato know which is true? I can't think of a way to resolve this without pinpointing their differences in Suzuka's mind. In a way, I could see this anime ending sadly because she cannot resolve that issue in her mind. I doubt the anime would go that way, but it would be a bittersweet ending.

Suzuka's sister seemed interested in the idea that Suzuka went to the amusement park with Yamato, and how he confessed to her. I guess that's suppossed to be the big sister's concern for her. I wonder if we'll see her in the future in this anime.

In the end, some sort of resolution on Tsuda will have to be reached by Suzuka, and Yamato will have to decide if he trusts that resolution. Otherwise, any relationship will be on unsteady ground.

Competition time next episode! Will Yamato run? (if you think the answer is "no", you need to get your head examined)

Posted by Drylnn at 04:36 AM | Comments (0)

Suzuka Episode 9 (review) - "Photograph"

Wow, another episode of excellent interaction. This ep might take a while to describe, and I can't fully do the emotion justice in a short summary.

Summary:
Despite her smile near the end of last episode, the next day, Suzuka won't walk to school with Yamato. That afternoon, track practice occurs in uniform to decide who will do each event at competition in two weeks (as explained to Yamato by Miki). Yamato notes how serious everyone is, and is surprised at how fast the running times are. As he lines up, he is thinking that he just doesn't want to embarress himself in front of everyone, in spite of encouragement from Souichi. As Yamato gets ready, Souichi notices the rocket start. As he runs, Suzuka sees him for a moment as the guy from the photo in her room and seems saddened by this. With everyone watching, he earns a sub-11 second time, which is the best on the field. The track team captain remarks to Souichi that he reminds and looks like a certain someone. After being selected as #1 sprinter for team, Yamato is leaving locker room, but stops to talk to Suzuka. Suzuka seems unimpressed and cold about what he did. Yamato is upset by her coldness and asks what it is about him that she hates so much. Suzuka says that she just gets irritated by him and must despise him after all. The next day, he tells Yasu about the despise comment at lunch. Miki joins in the conversation as it goes on. Yasu says he should considering quitting, but Miki says that would be a waste of his skills. Yasu and Miki engage in some repartee back and forth, which Honoka walks into the middle of. Miki says that Suzuka won't like some guy who quits in the middle of things and mostly because of that, Yamato decides to keep trying for a while. Over the next few days, Yamato trains in extra practice after normal practice, inspiring the rest of the guys with his effort so that they won't leave before him. Souichi comments on how he's becoming the club spirit and asks if he reminds her of Kazaki Tsuda from junior high. Suzuka won't answer and leaves. Outside, she keeps failing to make even her simple jumps. Later at home, Suzuka thinks about what Souichi says and says "He doesn't resemble him at all..." while looking at photo. As leaving practice, Yamato overhears Suzuka talk about visiting "Tsuda Kazuki" in Yokohama to Souichi. Yamato wonders who that is. The next morning, by the time he gets up, Suzuka is gone already. While chasing the cat on the porch, he sees Suzuka's photo of the sprinter and herin her room through the window, and figures that's the guy she went to see. He gets Miho to get Suzuka's address in Yokohama, and heads there to see what is going on.

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A lot of emotion in this episode.

We finally learn a bit about the guy in the photo - but as to who he is and how Suzuka knows him is unclear. Why does she travel to visit him in her hometown? Like Yamato, we're left to wonder if he's an old flame she didn't mention, or someone who she likes but hasn't said anything to. Is it a relative?

Yamato's speed in the race was again, no big shock. It's easy to guess that during the rest of the anime, he'll surprise people with his sprinting talent and win races he probably shouldn't. The racing is really just a lead-in to get us to the meat of the relationship interaction. In this, I disagree with people that say this is a sports anime. In a sports anime, the focus is the sports. In "Suzuka", the sports are merely wallpaper for the anime - it's the background for what goes on. You could take the story, wipe the sports out and make it almost any other school event with only a few changes, and it would be the same. The sports part of the anime isn't an integral part of the show. The team only serves to give Suzuka and Yamato a reason to be around each other so much, as well as ways to meet new characters (Miki) and ways to explore Suzuka's past. And let's be clear, it is Suzuka's past we're exploring. Yamato is essentially defined as a character - we may learn a little bit about his past, but essentially, his background development is done; we're merely going to see what sort of person he will become in the present. Suzuka obviously has something in her past that she hasn't gotten over or that has affected her interactions with people up to the present, and that's the package we're being given to open - we'll peel back layers of wrapping paper until we get to what's inside. And much like the metaphorical present - we'll see all the characters' reactions to what we find inside.

I know people are looking past Suzuka because they think it's a simple sports anime, but the sports shouldn't be what people focus on. For the viewer, the careful character interaction is key. We're given a mystery in the form of Suzuka - who is she? Why does she ac the way she does? And we're given pieces to solve the puzzle, much like Yamato. Obviously, this sprinter had interaction with Suzuka and Souichi. Did he have interaction with anyone else in the anime? Why is the picture the way it is: with a cocky looking sprinter on one side, and a mad/disgruntled Suzuka on the other (seperated from him). This would lead me to believe he is/wasn't a boyfriend, but its hard to tell from one photo. As someone once said, a photo is only a slice of life - you don't really understand what was going on in the life surrounding the photo, and you could be entirely wrong in your guesses.

In the end, that's all we can hope for. In the meantime, there was way too much emotion to cover in this episode, and it looks like a large part of the mystery will be revealed next week when we meet this Tsuda Kazaki.

Posted by Drylnn at 04:16 AM | Comments (0)

October 14, 2005

Suzuka Episode 8 (review) - "Distance"

Summary:
We begin at track team practice with Honoka and Yasu watching and Suzuka not happy about Yamato's decision. He decides to try the 100m sprint, but first, they must have drills. Yamato suffers through those, getting used to the workload. During this time, we meet our first new character in a while, Miki Hashiba, a freshman sprinter. The team continues with spring drills and no breaks. At the end of day, Miki talks about how dedicated Suzuka is to doing her best. Honoka and Yasu come to get Yamato and end up basically carrying him out. Yamato's respect for Suzuka grows by seeing what she goes through and how she is willing to do extra practice on top of that. Practices continue over the next week with Honoka watching each day. Yasu jokes that since she spends so much time there, maybe she should join team. Honoka tries to convince herself that she could, but little kids outrun her and she gets winded really fast. She is determined though to stay close to Yamato, thinking aloud about her crush on him since that day at the shrine. She is overheard by Saotome, who tries to convince her she shouldn't give up on Yamato.
Saotome also tells her that Yamato confessed to Suzuka and got rejected. After running into Yamato, Honoka mentions she might join track team, and in fact does join as manager. Yasu is amused by turn of events. After another day of practice, Miki complements on Yamato about his hard work. Suzuka picks at him, but as he walks off, Miki tells her she should not tear him down all the time and try to complement him, because he is really trying hard. Suzuka is getting so upset about things, it's affecting her performance at vaulting. While she sits thinking about some of the things she did with Yamato, a smile appears on her face... then she remembers the confession...

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New character ahoy! We meet Miki, a member of the track team previously only seen in the closing credits. We don't get a lot of background on her, but she is apparently a close friend of Suzuka's. As a sprinter, we can expect she'll have a lot of character interaction with Yamato, since that is his talent as well. Just based on first impressions, she seems a more flirty individual... well, maybe not flirty so much as agressive. She reminds me a bit of ... well, I'm chagrined to admit this, but she reminds me of Sailor Jupiter. Same hairstyle, good at athletic activity, same kind of personality (well, maybe not so much violence). I don't see Yamato and her making the triangle into a quadrilateral, but I guess time will tell.

Suzuka is having all sorts of reactions to Yamato. At times, she's mad at him for joining the team, but it's more than that - she seems to have a lot of different emotions flowing through her with the entire situation. As to it affecting her performance, I'm not sure what the resolution for that is. Obviously, the anime is nowhere close to ending, so the resolution can't be to get together with Yamato. Somehow, she's going to have to reach a balance she can live with. Her picking on Yamato was kind of unexpected, but not so much that it was unreasonable. Yasu's points about becoming a stalker seem right on the money - Yamato will have to learn the difference between an interest in someone and stalking them, although to be fair, Yasu points out that most times, the stalker doesn't know any better.

I was really surprised that Honoka joined the track team as manager. I mean, the way it was done made sense, but I didn't see that little bit coming. In this episode, she has a hard time making her manager duties work out with trying to keep together with Yamato, as in several amusing scenes, she is needed by other members when she tries to do simple things like give him a towel. In the end, it is closer than she would have been outside the track team, but not as close as she wants to be. On top of that, one of the track members seems to be interested in her.

A lot of good interaction on the track team and an interesting mix of personalities. As always, we'll have to see where this leads...

Posted by Drylnn at 03:57 AM | Comments (0)

Suzuka Episode 7 (review) - "Decision"

Another really good episode, with a movement towards the main plot of the track team.

Summary:
Following the events of last episode, Suzuka seems to be avoiding Yamato and he is depressed because he's afraid things can't go back to the way they were before. That night, Saotome and Megumi come over drunk. After Megumi passes out, Saotome talks to Yamato about rejection. She starts criticizing his reaction, but then asks him if it would be better not to have confessed and let some other guy do it. She tells the story of how she liked a guy in high school, didn't say anything to him for a long time, then decided to confess when more confident, and got rejected multiple times, but she never gives up. Yamato says he's not going to give up and yells it out so loud that even Asahina hears him. The next morning, he tells Suzuka that they should go back to the way things were and she agrees. Souichi continues to try to convince to join track at school, but this time, tells him to think about it as long as he needs to. Meanwhile, Yasu advises him not to be a stalker, especially with regards to joining the track team. Asahina also disagrees with him joining, says he would need to be serious. Finally Honoka tries to convince him not to, out of her own concerns of losing more time with him. The next day, Yasu tries to get him to apologize to Suzuka for not being serious about track. While they're on their way, Suzuka is with Souichi, who is researching what Yamato did in that relay race in junior high... he actually did much better than expected and made up a lot of time for the rest of the team. When he arrives, Yamato starts to apologize, but then changes his mind and joins the track team.

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Well, we get our answer on whether Yamato joins the sports team. But first, we get more of the reaction to the confession and rejection. I thought Yasu would be the one to bring Yamato out of his funk, but as it turned out, it was an unexpected character like Yuka Saotome (I'm not clear on which is her first name anymore). She really points out how Yamato isn't like her if he gives up so easily. She doesn't give him any easy answers - she tells him a story and then lets him make the decision. In doing so, Yamato proves himself more of a man than he had previously had in this series, and he really does snap out of the funk he's been in. This scene felt real, and it was really interesting that they used a character like Saotome to bring out the best parts of Yamato.

Still not sure what Megumi's role is, but maybe she has a "Saotome moment" ahead of her with Yamato or Suzuka.

We also get some good interaction out of Yamato's aunt and cousin. Miho takes the time to try to cheer up Yamato, and it's a really cute scene, showing how perceptive and caring she can be for her older cousin. We haven't had a lot of background or information on these relatives since the first few episodes, and they've mostly become just "mealtime wallpaper" for the show, so anything making them into fleshed-out characters can only improve the drama.

The track team decision was expected, even in the face of opposition of Yasu, Honoka, and especially Suzuka, simply because we've seen it it coming from other events and the end credits. I just hope they make Yamato have some sort of struggle involved, or the whole thing will feel cheap. Yamato shouldn't just walk onto the track team and be a track god: he should have to work hard and suffer a bit to make the results realistic. The track team should also be a bridge to other characters, and who knows? Maybe a little understanding between Suzuka and Yamato can be reached.

Honoka is right to be concerned... she's about to get pushed out of the picture.

Posted by Drylnn at 03:22 AM | Comments (0)

October 13, 2005

Suzuka Episode 6 (review) - "Confession"

We get some surprises this week!

Summary:
Yamato realizes there's a day off from school coming up and is trying to plan a place to take Suzuka that doesn't seem too datelike, but where he possibly might confess (in anime, where you tell someone you like them and want to date). As he gets ready for school, a girl selling newspaper subscriptions offers 2 tickets to Fantasy Land (an amusement park) as an incentive. Yamato accepts, thinking he'll take Suzuka there. The only problem? How to ask her! After failing to ask at school, and before dinner, he is going to ask her after dinner, but he finds Saotome and Megumi waiting for him, drinking. Saotome teases him about asking Suzuka when she finds the tickets, and in the result of them being thrown around, the cat tears them to shreds. While mourning the loss of the tickets outside, Suzuka walks up, saying she got tickets herself (by starting to use the same excuse he was going to use to conveniently ask her). After an awkward discussion, they agree to go. The next day starts out miserably with a lot of rain as they wait in line and Suzuka threatens to go home after first ride. After the ride (a coaster) and an amusing picture from it, she decides to stay for longer. They ride and go shopping at the park. The skies clear and they go to see a parade. During the fireworks, Yamato works up the courage to confess that he likes her after a long internal debate on friendship versus relationship. Suzuka has a bad reaction, saying its rather sudden, and the trip breaks up after that... with Suzuka asking to hold her bag instead of Yamato, and general awkwardness. Arriving home, Yamato finds Yasu in his place, and after explaining events, Yasu leaves him some tissue. Yamato cries over his failure, then berates himself for crying. Meanwhile, Suzuka looks pensive in her own apartment.

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First off, I'm not sure exactly what role Saotome and Megumi are suppossed to play in this anime. They're not high school characters, and their only interactions thus far have been to make Yamato's life more difficult, but that's a role that could be done by other characters. Ask yourself - how many upper level college students would be hanging out with high school freshmen? Yeaaaaah, that's what I thought. This leads me to believe that this series is somewhat better thought of with the school as a junior college - otherwise some of the characters make no sense.

The confession goes about as badly as expected, but Suzuka seems overly miserable about it, when she was having so much fun. But it felt real, and we'll get into the reasons for it later, I'm sure.

I know some people will say "What kind of a man cries after failing in a confession?" Well, I think the reaction was realistic. It's a bad experience for him, and I don't know about you, but I would have been devastated. It was very perceptive of Yasu to pick up on what was going to happen when he did. It will be interesting to see character reactions and moves from this point on:

Will Yamato keep going after Suzuka, or fall to Honoka?

How will Suzuka's feelings work themselves out?

When will we find out about the guy in the picture?

When are the rest of the characters going to show up?

How the heck does this lead to Yamato joining the track team? (I can guess, but there are a number of angles they could take)

Realistic emotion so far. Hope they can keep it up.

Posted by Drylnn at 12:59 AM | Comments (0)

Suzuka Episode 5 (review) - "Lovesickness"

This next episode takes a while to explain, and I think some of you will be gnashing your teeth by the end of the episode - yes, it's one of THOSE types of episodes.

Summary:
The next morning, Suzuka runs to school without waiting or looking at Yamato, claiming to have morning practice. She acts weird towards him all day. During the day, he notices her talking to another guy (in glasses), asking her to go somewhere with him after practice. Yamato is surprised that she agrees and becomes very mad at this. Yamato asks Yasu to go to karaoke with him, but instead of just the two of them, Yasu invites Honoka to go with them. During the session, Yamato sings all out & Honoka is just thrilled to be hanging out with him, but most things she does reminds him of Suzuka, yet she perceives everything to be some sign that he likes her. Yamato leaves in a hurry, but Yasu prevents Honoka from following him. At home, Yamato sees Suzuka and Glasses Guy talking on the stairs outside. It turns out Glasses Guy (Souichi Miyamoto) was trying to meet Yamato to invite him to join track. Yamato, seeing that this isn't a guy dating Suzuka, laughs at the situation and says no. Souichi doesn't seem to want to give up. He also says that Yamato is the type Suzuka likes, and when Yamato asks her about that, she decks him. The next day at home during a rainstorm, the power goes out. Suzuka comes over to stay with him while its out, and she brings aroma candle. The wind and thunder seem to scare Asahina - she won't admit it but says her sister would normally be around her when storms occur in her hometown. Yamato mentions that his hometown has fireflies at night, and Suzuka says she has never seen fireflies but wants to. Suzuka gets closer and closer with each thundercrash until she ends up grabbing him during one bolt. Shortly after, the power comes back on and she leaves. Yamato later talks to Yasu about making a confession to Suzuka with Yasu saying to be careful on timing. Meanwhile, Honoka comes to eat with them - when Yamato asks her if she's ever confessed, she gets all flustered and overseasons her soup. Later, Suzuka asks Yamato to go shopping with her. He starts to confess, then says she should be buying him lunch if she wants him to go shopping with her. They laugh about it and head off to eat and shop.

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This is one of those episodes that frustrates you and entertains you at the same time. There are a lot of funny moments - the karaoke scene with Honoka, and later Honoka's overseasoning of her soup. But other parts of the episode are very revealing - the whole entire scene in Yamato's room during the storm gave us a lot of information to process: Suzuka has a sister who she's very close to, she always visits on Sundays, Yamato comes from a rural town near Yokohama. Like threads in a rug, we're getting pieces of the puzzle to understanding Suzuka as a person.

What's frustrating is that you know that at some point, we'll have setbacks, and near the end was one of those. Yamato's failure to confess anything isn't a major breakdown, but it reminded me of a lot of times when I wouldn't ask a girl out and settled for friendship. I think that's why I find this genre very interesting - it's kind of a nostalgia thing for my high school days.

Hopefully, Honoka won't continue to be a humor bit and will actually provide an effective foil to Suzuka. There are a lot of episodes to go, and I don't want her to just devolve into a character who keeps failing to say anything of import to Yamato - there's potential for a lot more and real conflict. Yasu continues his advice throughout the episode, and I find I enjoy his character more and more.

There's still a lot of room for character development with Yamato. I liked to see the jealousy of other guys, because even though he hasn't confessed anything, I think that's a realistic emotion - as he says "She gives me such a hard time, but she's talking to other guys!?!?!?!" Tell me you haven't had those emotions before in talking to some girl or guy.

Posted by Drylnn at 12:31 AM | Comments (0)

Suzuka Episode 4 (review) - "Spring Storm"

Suzuka continues to roll along. I'm trying to figure out how many episodes are in this series (season?), because the manga is REALLY long. To the summary!


Summary:
Before the school day, we notice Suzuka looking at a picture in her room of herself and some sprinter guy (IMPORTANT). Today, the school is having its athletic testing (think PE in the States). Yamato is convinced that since he was #1 in his old school, he'll be good here and able to impress Suzuka. Hearing this, Yasu convinces Honoka and Suzuka to team up with them to go station to station. Yamato does well for someone at a normal school, but since this is a school with a lot of athletes, his results are average. Coming to the last "station", which is the 50m sprint, he admits that when he did a 50m relay team in 7th grade, his team came in last, so he was convinced he sucked at it and never tried again. As he lines up, Suzuka thinks he'll fail here because he's against a known sprinter, but Yasu says he might surprise them. Yamato lines up in a rocket start (both feet together), which surprises Suzuka for some reason. In the race, Yamato flies out in front and we get a flashback to the picture Suzuka was looking at. Yamato wins handily, and everyone is impressed except Yasu, who tells Suzuka that Yamato was pretty fast and that the results from the relay team were probably the other members' fault. Suzuka acts unimpressed, but Yasu tells Yamato he earned brownie points. At the end of the day, Suzuka goes to practice while Yamato notices it is raining (and he forgot an umbrella). Honoka offers to walk him home with her umbrella, but Yasu intercepts her and makes her go with him. Yamato hangs around, waiting on Suzuka, who offers to share her umbrella. Along the way, there is little conversation, but as a car hits a nearby puddle, Suzuka jumps to avoid the splash, she grabs onto him and they stay that way for a moment, but she jerks away later.

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This was an interesting episode, because I was beginning to wonder how Yamato was going to fit into the track team with no obvious athletic skills. As it turns out, he's a fast sprinter, and it seems obvious that those skills will somehow have him join the track team, which will result in more interaction with Suzuka.

The rain scene was interesting in that it allowed us to get a sort of relationship triangle with Yamato, Honoka, and Suzuka, ie Honoka likes Yamato who likes Suzuka, who may or may not like Yamato (yes, I'm aware that's not exactly a triangle). Obviously there is conflict coming here, and I'm not sure what direction it will take. It seems obvious to me from the title that Suzuka will win out, but it may take some time. Meanwhile, Yasu continues to play the "experienced sage" role in terms of relationships, running interference for Yamato in ensuring that Honoka doesn't get in the way of him meeting up with Suzuka.

The ending jump wasn't all that interesting, as I expect these things from anime with relationship angles. The lingering was a bit odd, because we don't know what role the picture of the sprinter guy means. He looks oddly like Yamato, yet different. Is it some guy she knows? Is he at the school? Is it a past boyfriend? Obviously, the anime has some work ahead of it.

Once again, I didn't notice any bad animation (except a few repeat animations for opening door sequences), but I've seen some people complaining about lazy animators. Cmon! This isn't exactly Gundam SEED Destiny here... now THAT show was lazy. I continue to enjoy watching where this series goes. Of course, judging by the closing credits, I expect a lot more characters to be thrown into the fray.

Posted by Drylnn at 12:12 AM | Comments (0)

October 11, 2005

Suzuka Episode 3 (review) - "Bedside Visit"

Suzuka continues to improve, IMO.

Longish Summary (a lot happens in this episode):
Today is the first day of school for the crew. Suzuka, Yamato, and Yasunobu end up in the same class, along with the mystery girl from last episode. Before class, Asahina asks Yamato to go shopping with her, as she needs help picking up sports drinks for the track team. Later, Yamato realizes that he doesn't know anyone in the school other than Yasu and Asahina. However, the mystery girl comes over to talk to him, introducing herself as Honoka Sakurai. She seems surprised that he doesn't remember her. As their conversation goes on, Suzuka enters the classroom and sees her talking to Yamato. Yasu mentions to her that Honoka must like him. After class, Yamato plans to wait for Asahina, but when she sees Honoka behind him, she gets mad and says he doesn't need to wait to help her out. After she leaves, Honoka explains how she knows of Yamato - apparently when they were children, Yamato would come to the shrine to pray and eat. One day, she dented the shrine bell, but Yamato helped her to repair it and they agreed to keep it a secret. Yamato remembers and says he still goes there on occasion (which Honoka knows, because she sees him all the time, but she keeps silent). Honoka then asks Yamato to go eat with her, and Yamato thinks it would be stupid to wait on Suzuka. Suzuka finishes practice, planning to get the drinks on her own, when she notices Yamato is waiting outside for her. In waiting on her though, Yamato catches a cold which makes him miss school the next day. After class, Yasu beings Honoka over to check on Yamato. Honoka decides to make dinner for Yamato. However, Yasu and Saotome end up eating the meal, leaving nothing for Yamato. Later that evening though after everyone leaves, Suzuka ends up bringing honey and lemon juice (without the honey!) and boiled eggs (done in the microwave, so they end up exploding on him!).

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This episode has a lot going on in it. It's another background ep for another character, but it also gives the beginnings of where the plot will go.

This week reveals the identity of the mystery girl, and gives a bit of her background. She obviously has a crush on Yamato, and it'll be interesting to see how they develop that. I think she'll end up being the quiet, shy alternative to Suzuka's confrontational reactions to Yamato, which means she'll likely be a foil for that relationship for a while. They seems to be polar opposites at this stage: Honoka worships the ground Yamato walks on and is fawning over him, while Suzuka seems to have the antagonism down pat: one minute she's depending on him to help her after school, the next she's upset that he's talking to someone, then she's surprised he still stays to help, then she gets upset at him staying and seems indifferent to his cold, until finally, she brings him stuff to help take care of him. It's an odd relationship, but one similar to one of my own, so I'm intrigued.

I'm not sure why people complain about the animation for this show. I haven't noticed any real differences from other popular anime - can it honestly be said that the animation is worse than say, Gatekeepers? I'm not sure which studio makes it, but the character design is very familiar.

Next episode seems to have some sort of athletic competition or tryouts. I guess this will lead to what is hinted at in the closing credits - that most of the characters will be on the track team. Not sure how that's going to work out though... no one but Suzuka has given me any indication they have any athletic talents or tendancies.

Posted by Drylnn at 04:14 AM | Comments (0)

October 09, 2005

Suzuka Episode 2 - "Smile"

Summary:
In this episode, we're quickly introduced to Yasunobu Hattori, a local who was a childhood "friend" of Yamato. He was sort of a prankster, always looking for ways to get in good with girls while blaming Yamato for said instances. Today, he's what we would call a "player", with his interest in the opposite sex. Yamato manages to insult Suzuka trying to keep Yasunobu away from her. To celebrate the new school year, Yamato's aunt decides to host party, and she tells Suzuka and Yamato to go shopping. They end up taking a long time, end up arguing like a married couple (drawing laughter from surroundings... Suzuka wants to get nice things, Yamato just wants functional, quickly picked items). On way home, Yamato runs to check something for a moment and Suzuka notices a shrine. Yamato returns and goes to pray at the shrine, while offering Suzuka what he went to get: a meat and potato croquette, one of his favorite snacks. We learn in their conversation that Yamato is from around Hiroshima and that their reasons for coming to Tokyo to go to school were quite different: Yamato wanted to come for a life change, while Suzuka was more forced to come because of her athletic talent, but that she's thinking better of the move because of recent events. As they leave, they don't notice a girl watching them at shrine. Back at the apartments, the party is held, and we learn much about the secondary characters: Saotome is a college student, Megumi is going to med school. After the party, Yasanobu and Yamato run an errand and meet Suzuka, who is exercisting. Yasu tries to pretend to want to go out with her, forcing Yamato to make a move in escorting her home. Yasu seems to be trying to force the issue because he sees potential between the two. Yamato tries to follow Yasu's advice to complement Sazuka, fails miserably, but manages to patch things up at the end by complementing her high jump, saying he was enthralled watching her do so.

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This is another setup episode, meant to give us more background on the characters. Yasunobu turns out to be a riot, and he while at first glance, he appears to be a womanizing jerk, it actually seems he is looking out for Yamato to a degree. We learn a great deal about Yamato and Sazuka's motivations for coming the school, and start filling in the background for other characters who will interact with the two. Because it's a setup episode though, it's hard to make too many comments so far.

It's actually good to see this won't be a Love Hina clone. They're making some interesting character background revelations and it's clear that the roles are not just big harem stereotypes.

Obviously, Yamato and Sazuka are going to high school, but it seems like for this feature that high school is very different in Japan from here in the States.

But who is the girl at the shrine? What part will she play? Did she know Yamato? I guess we'll find out more about her next episode, based on the preview....

Posted by Drylnn at 03:39 AM | Comments (0)

Suzuka Episode 1 - "Expectations"

After watching Gundam SEED Destiny, I decided to move through some different genres. I had accumulated several different types of shows, and the first I've decided to catch up on is a show called Suzuka.

I'm going to continue using western style naming conventions, even though I know that in Japan, the naming is reversed.

Summary:
Yamato Akitsuki is about to become a new student at the local high school (which seems a bit confusing, as much of it is like college). On the way to his new home, an apartment building/bathhouse owned by his aunt and ... another relative (unclear on translation), he walks by the schoolyard to see a girl in training on the high jump and is enthralled for a moment. At the apartment, he will not only be living there, but also doing manual labor to "pay" his share. In the apartment, he meets an interesting cast of characters who live in this female apartment. One of these is the girl he saw in the training yard, Suzuka Asahina. He also meets up with Yuka Saotome and Megumi Matsumoto, two college girls who live nearby and use the bathhouse. It is during this time that he discovers that Suzuka lives in the apartment next to him. After a series of misadventures, Yamato goes to clean the steam room only to find that Suzuka has fainted in there from staying in too long. He rescues her, but she doesn't seem to appreciate his efforts. She does ask him to come help her train. At first, when she fails to make her jump, she thinks it is because she is doing badly until they both realize that Yamato set the bar incorrectly and she really set a new personal record. Thus begins the new series, with the two seeming to have reached a sort of understanding.

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I do have to say, when I first started watching, I was wondering if they could rip off Love Hina any more (not that Love Hina is the first "harem" show ever to come out of Japan). There are some key differences: instead of an anime centered on the idea of getting into Tokyo University through academics, the series looks like it'll be centered around the school and its sports team (judging from the closing credits anyways). Yamato doesn't seem to be a nerd like Keitaro, and more importantly, he doesn't seem to be a failure in everything he does. Unlike the early Keitaro/Naru interactions, he dishes out his fair share of sarcasm and jokes, but also shows a gentle side at times. The chemistry is somewhat different from Love Hina - it doesn't seem like its a harem series, more like an interpersonal relationship series. Plus - in all reality, we have a series that's named after one of the women, so at this point, it's a fair guess that's who Yamato will end up with. Overall, the series isn't slapstick like Love Hina, so we'll have to see where it will go.

Some thoughts: the story seems to be told from a rememberance phase by Yamato. Could it be he won't end up with Suzuka and that he's just thinking back on this time period? It's too hard to say.

I'm not clear what the family link is in this show. There is clearly an aunt, but I'm not sure how the little girl is related, be it cousin or sister. I'm going to guess cousin, since my Japanese skills are pretty bad.

Anyways, this show has an interesting beginning, and I'm looking forward to future episodes. Hopefully, they can continue to distinguish it from Love Hina (not that cloning Love Hina would be a bad thing, it's just that I've been reading the manga of late, so I'd like something different personally.

UPDATE: I've been told Suzuka is based off of a *long* manga itself. I'll have to look into reading that if its true.

Posted by Drylnn at 01:15 AM | Comments (0)