Minnie: Hi everyone! According to reliable sources, Otome Youkai Zakuro will only be 13 episodes. In other words, this will be my second to last podcast on this anime. The winter season is coming and I want to be able to pick a sure anime to vlog/podcast for. I really like to talk and I am somehow gathering a small amount of devoted commenters. Thank you so much. I wouldn’t be able to talk this much without you guys! Love you all! Please enjoy this podcast. I didn’t BS it as much?

Podcast:

Dogfight promotion go:

Our very own Garrick aka Koala from HSA is entering in the Gendou Idols! Please support him!!! <333

Minnie: Hello everyone (again) to our lovely shipping countdown. First of all, if you wish to see our last shipping countdown, please click here for the top 46-50. Before I give over most of the introduction to TZM, I like to take some time to say that despite the numbers, #45 for example doesn’t necessarily rank higher than #44 because the pairings are supported by two different bloggers. We place it in alternating order that is most convenient for us. However, for the same blogger (aka either TZM or I), the smaller the number, the higher the pairing is in our lovable shipping book. That’s all. Over to you, TZM.

Katt: Wait, my introduction is expected to be longer than that? Minnie, you make my job hard! But okay, I will graciously accept the opportunity to introduce this post and give it…a dramatic twist! You see, it would get redundant if in all of these posts Minnie and I proved to be perfect twins when it came to our pairing preferences, wouldn’t it? And while we mostly will be agreeing, this post contains…a conflict! (Dun dun duuuun!)  Want to see mine and Minnie’s preferences clash for once? Well then, friends, read on and enjoy as Minnie and I move on to the next five ships on our collaborative top fifty list~

***

#45 Yuiko and Leo (Beast Master)

Minnie: If it weren’t for Dengeki Daisy, I wouldn’t discover this cute, short manga called Beast Master by the same mangaka. I’m thankful for Beast Master because it introduces one of my favorite manga couples in Leo and Yuiko. I can’t really say that it’s a well-known or even popular couple because I haven’t even heard of this manga or pairing until I search for it. But for a manga that is this short, it is quite a feat for me to love this couple in such a short amount of time. That alone is enough to tell me that this couple is worthy to be on this list.

This story revolves around the relationship between Leo, who looks like a beast but is actually a softie, and Yuiko, a girl who is fond of animals but they all hate her. Already, you can tell this story is full of ‘aw so cute’ moments between a girl who has found ‘an animal’ who she can protect and truly treasure. And on the plus side, this ‘animal’ loves her too! He’s not afraid of her! On the contrary, he is quite fond of her and does everything in his power to protect her. I won’t go into much more detail than that except that if you like an unexpected, cute pairing, this is one for you~

Katt: All hail the wonderful Dengeki Daisy for prompting its fans to check out the mangaka’s other, wonderful works – especially the gem, Beast Master. Leo and Yuiko are an absolutely adorable couple. It’s quite an unorthodox pairing, with Yuiko being the ‘ferocious’ Leo’s protector just as much as he is hers. Kyousuke Motomi can call of his characters idiots all he likes (I wish I remember which author’s note I read this in; it was pretty hilarious), but it’s basically impossible not to love them–and because you love them, even in a short two-volume series like this one, you really really want to see the characters love each other too.

#44 Rumaty and Kajika (Hanasakeru Seishounen)

Minnie: Man, this pairing… it came up at the right time, I say. For those who are following the anime, you may recall that this ship has sunk last episode (or so we think?!). That doesn’t make it anything less worthy of this list. Even though I am a Li-Ren/Kajika shipper (look below at the wildcard area for more details), I do support Rumaty/Kajika too. I believe that if certain plot events (you know the political ones) didn’t get in the way, Rumaty/Kajika might have been the final pairing. Alas, it is one of those awesome did-not-quite-make-it pairings that I will remember for years to come. Of course, this pairing belongs to TZM so she has a lot more to say than I~

Katt: And say a lot more I shall~ Yes, this pairing might not work in the long run, but it has been my favourite from Rumaty’s introduction in episode 5. For those who haven’t heard of this series, the premise is that the protagonist Kajika is invited to play a game by her father, in which she will meet three men from which she will have to choose a husband from (in order to learn her secret past!). I know, it sounds awful – but it’s actually quite good. I’m not here to defend the series, though: I’m here to explain why Rumaty/Kajika is my personal favourite of the four main pairing possibilities for Kajika.

As I said, I liked this pairing best from the get-go and the reason for this was that these two characters have undeniable chemistry. Rumaty’s introduced as a very ignorant, takes-his-position-for-granted prince of a foreign country who needs to be put  in his place and Kajika is just the girl to do that. Kajika isn’t mean-natured, though; she is just straightforward and this tends to leave people vulnerable. She exposes people’s weaknesses but helps them to overcome them at the same time. With Rumaty, she becomes the stable figure by his side that he never had in his life of isolation from the people he cared about most. The interaction between the two is always incredibly smooth and honest, which I find such a breath of fresh air when so many pairings out there have characters hiding things from each other. Rumaty/Kajika is all about that natural chemistry that I just find so irresistable!

#43 Maki and Aikawa (Prunus Girl)

Minnie: Wait a second! Is this a het pairing, yaoi pairing, or what? Most of you guys must be confused. ^^;; The answer is neither or both! But it doesn’t matter! Here. I’ll slow down and explain. Maki is your lucky male lead. That’s the easy part. Then, there’s Aikawa~ The thing with Aikawa is that despite what he looks like up there, he tells Maki and the whole school that he’s actually a boy! In other words, he has the package down there. XP But he acts like a girl… looks like a girl… talks like a girl… what the hell is going on? This is one of the most powerful pairings I have ever read (in 9 chapters no less!) because of this aspect. While Maki is undoubtedly attracted to Aikawa, he has to keep reminding himself that Aikawa is male. Underneath that pretty face and skirt… is a dude.

Where does this take Maki though? Can he love Aikawa despite him being male (maybe? The mangaka teases us a lot T_T)? Can he look past society’s stern rules toward homosexual relationships for Aikawa? Can he make himself like a male for the sake of love? How about Aikawa? Why does he keep teasing Maki like this? Is he testing how far Maki will go for him? In the end, it doesn’t matter what sex Aikawa really is. It’s the fact that Aikawa has claimed to be male makes this pairing so powerful and here’s a toast to hoping that the manga never reveals which sex he really is~!

Katt: This one of those pairings/series that I have never heard of before. While I’d normally still go along with Minnie’s reasons for liking a pairing, saying what elements sound like they would interest me, in this case the only thing that I can say is…WHAT?!

#42 Guy and Natalia (Tales of the Abyss)

Katt: Did you guys know that Minnie and I first started talking to each other thanks to our love of a certain Tales Of pairing? No, it wasn’t Guy/Natalia, although as more Tales Of games came out we found that we continued to share favourite pairings! But er, wait… this is an anime list, right? Lucky for us, Tales of the Abyss was turned into an anime series last year, so we can totally impose our pairing love from the game onto the anime. Yaaay for cheating!

So here’s a character intro for you all: Guy is a super sweet, gynophobic (that would be a fear of women) servant to the Duke’s son, who it just so happens that Princess Natalia is engaged to. Without spoiling anything, I will just say that these characters endure incredible changes, as do the people around them, which lead to loves and lifestyles changing drastically and the characters struggling to cope with that. Natalia’s character revelations leave her quite the emotional wreck and Guy’s genuine comforting nature is the perfect remedy to her struggles in my opinion. Generally speaking, the personality pair of a total nice guy servant and a haughty yet sincere princess is pretty damn intriguing in itself, no?

Minnie: Man, what more should I add except that this is one of those pairings that you might have missed if you don’t look hard enough, especially with the more obvious Asch/Natalia pairing running around in the fandom. Although I admit that I do like that mentioned pairing, I prefer this one for a couple of reasons. One, unlike Asch/Natalia, I can’t see this relationship being abusive. Natalia and Guy know each other well and respect each other a lot. Sure, Natalia might go after Guy a couple of times, but it’s for the sake of his manners or something. That’s what wives do anyways! Two, this relationship is just… on the borderline of total cuteness. There’s no major angst that can come from this pairing so in the long run, it works out better~ Then again, some people might like super angsty pairings. ^^;;

#41 Nana “Hachi” and Takumi (NANA)

Minnie: Speaking of angsty pairings, here is an angst-fested pairing that is most debated/talked about in the NANA fandom as well as the shoujo fandom in general. I hate to say it, but one of the major reasons why I ship this pairing so hard is because it’s so controversial (Steve can definitely back me up on this one). In other words, it’s so different from the usual shoujo pairings that you can’t help, but take it at face value at first and then, tear that up and look at the deeper meaning.

Hachi and Takumi is one of those pairings I admire the most because it’s not afraid of being hated and yes, it is hated by about half of the fandom (Hello Nobu/Hachi supporters!). Why? Look at this scenario for a second. This famous musician Takumi is a major playboy and he happens to pick up his friend’s girlfriend’s roommate (^^;;). And well, you know what happens when a 20-year-old Hachi is in a hotel room with her idol of a musician… stuff happens. XD He leaves his number, but man, what kind of relationship are they leading? He doesn’t call her. He doesn’t even think about her. He is possessive as hell when he does see her. For Takumi, it’s work, work, and more work, while Nobu is Hachi’s knight in shining arm who is loyal and sincere toward her. Oh wait a second! I’m supposed to be supporting this pairing, aren’t I? Those reasons above are exactly why I’m supporting it. Yup. I’m crazy I know. XD But frankly, Hachi/Takumi is realistic (in both how they handle their upcoming problems in their relationship) and I love realistic pairings… Nobu/Hachi? That’s something you read out of a fairy tale. Sorry Nobu. The nice, selfless guys don’t win in realistic shoujos. They just don’t and assholes like Takumi are where the real chemistry lies and where my allegiance also lies~ And hell, Hachi agrees and I love Hachi so I’ll go with her decision~ (Did I just spoil most of NANA for you guys? XD)

Katt: NANA is another one of those series on my “oh man I need to read that but I am just so lazy” list. Reading Minnie’s description, I really have to wonder which half of the fandom I would be on: the asshole side or the nice guy side? I have such a huge soft spot for ‘nice guy’ characters that I think I might end up opposing Minnie on this one (whenever I read NANA); on the other hand, though, when a character is that much of an asshole? You just can’t help but be intrigued and want to see more. It certainly does make for a more compelling pairing because it’s not the ideal, it’s a harsh reality and, thus, it’s not predictable. U-Uhm…that’s what I’m assuming, anyway, until I read it.

***

Katt: It’s just our second post and already the pairings that we’re listing are getting so good! And Minnie is continuing to tempt me to get into more series just to get to know these pairings that she supports. Minnie, you’re out to make me do badly in school by convincing me to read a bunch of manga instead of studying, aren’t you?

Minnie: Of course not. ^_^ Though… I do have a list of awesome shoujo manga I can recommend you. According to a handful of my friends including Tangerine, I am good at picking out awesome shoujo out of the mess of horrible, cliche ones out there. Anyways, I agree that the pairings are awesome and getting me excited. Second post and already… we’re moving onto 2 paragraphs~

Katt: That is so typical of us. By the end of this list, we’ll be writing full-blown essays to express our support!

Minnie: We’re done for today! Oh wait a second… what do we have here… crack and not-so-crack pairings? Pairings that didn’t  make the top fifty? Total nonsense or perfectly valid? What???

***

Minnie’s Wildcard Choice:

Li-Ren and Kajika (Hanasakeru Seishounen)

Katt: Minnie got to say her thoughts first for Rumaty/Kajika, so it’s only fair that I get to talk about Li-Ren/Kajika first~ This is the most apparent pairing in Hanasakeru Seishounen – the first one that you are introduced to, and I’m guessing that it will be the last one we see as the series wraps up, too. And while I support Rumaty/Kajika most of all, I’m really open to all of the four main pairings in this series because of how much I adore the boys. I know that this is the pairing that grabs most people’s hearts (I watched a screening of the first Hanasakeru Seishounen episode at an anime con last year, and my friend who was with me immediately loved Li-Ren/Kajika), but maybe Minnie can elaborate on why it continues to attract so many fans over thirty episodes later?

Minnie: I must admit that Kajika/Li-Ren caught my eye from the very first episode too, but I didn’t really like it until like way later. In the beginning, I was wavering between all four pairings. Along the way though, Li-Ren’s jealous and pushy side whenever it comes to Kajika really convince me that he’s the one for her. I begin to notice Li-Ren’s cute expressions too~ And having one of my favorite voice actor voicing him can’t be bad. Wait a second… I’m not supposed to fangirl over Li-Ren, but Kajika/Li-Ren. Basically, take the nice childhood pairing, add some jealous, add some Li-Ren smexiness, add a whole lot of ship tease, and some Kajika/Li-Ren bonding moments and you have all the reason to like this pairing~ (Let’s ignore the fact that this pairing didn’t make it high enough on my list to get into the top 50 )

Katt’s Wildcard Choice:

Zero and Yori (Vampire Knight)

Katt: While I have a lot of pairings in my reserves that I like more than this one, it felt appropriate to keep with theme of not-so-canon pairings that I coincidentally have going on in this post–and Zero/Yori is probably the non-canon pairing that I would most sincerely love to see happen in its series, though my reasons for wanting to see it happen are really shallow.

Basically Yuuki, the series’ protagonist, is a very frustrating character to me, which is upsetting because I adore Zero and want him to find a lovely lady who will make him happy. It just so happens that Yori, Yuuki’s best friend, is a waaaay better character than Yuuki, so why not shove her together with Zero, right?? Totally logical. …okay, I know, it’s not. But in recent manga chapters I like to think that there’s a little more possibility for this pairing being presented, what with Yuuki up and gone and Zero needing someone to fill the void. Oh, and Yori isn’t intimidated by Zero like all of the other schoolgirls! Who knows? Maybe one day this pairing will reach a point where isn’t viewed as crack, but instead as perfectly plausible (there are already small waves of support rippling in the fandom!).

Minnie: Really? I don’t follow the VK fandom so I have no idea. This pairing reminds me of a crack pairing that I might present in the future from the Yu-Gi-Oh fandom. But anyways, I totally agree with you on this one. It’s one of those pairings that are (for lack of better word) under the radar. Right now, it might be seen as crack, but who knows? In the future, if Zero really does lose to Kaname in the love triangle, I’m sure the Yori/Zero pairing will become a lot more popular~ Not saying that he will lose of course because I still have some hope for him. ^^;; Anyways, totally agree on this pairing… and I believe that’s a wrap~ Come and see our future shipping posts again!

Katt: Five episodes in and I’m still not sure what to make of this series. It’s keeping me entertained, that’s for certain, but I still for the life of me can’t understand what SHAFT is doing with this anime adaptation. At first it was all about twisting things around, then in the last episode they seemed to be going onto the manga path, and now, while still mostly following the manga, there are odd changes being made that I just don’t know what to think of. But okay, I’ll bite – I want to keep watching to see where they’re going with this. But you’re certainly making my blogging duties very difficult for me!

Main points in this episode: vampires have without a doubt infiltrated the school and are shaking things up, and Mina’s true personality is growing in its ambiguity. Mina is so  hard to read that she’ll get a section of her own in this entry, while the rest will be dedicated to looking at the development of the vampires-in-the-school arc of this story. And of course, it’s only natural for me to start by looking at a character~

?????–The mystery vampire girl who first appeared in episode 3 makes another appearance in this episode and I am as perplexed by this as I was when she first showed up. She is one of SHAFT’s added elements that did not exist in the manga, so I have no leads on how to look at her. Thus far she is just a nameless student at Akira’s school who has exposed vampires’ true weakness: hard candy to the face. Now I know what sort of ammo to keep handy when vampires become a threat in the real world. That aside, she is looking to be on the ‘good’ side (although good and bad are, at this point, just as ambiguous as Mina’s personality) based on how she 1) helped Akira out when Mina’s welcome at school was being threatened, and 2) saves the day when Akira and Yuki were in some serious gonna-get-eaten-by-vampires trouble.

So what of these schoolboy vampires?

It feels like ages since we saw Nanami getting ravaged by a gang of vampires…buuut it was really only a couple of episodes ago. Nonetheless, there was a distinct lack of follow-up on that matter until now. As it turns out, Nanami’s prolonged absence of school has provoked some scarily-accurate rumours that she was bitten by a vampire. These rumours become a truth when some photos are anonymously sent that show Nanami being attacked in the student council room; however, this attack is being blamed on Mina’s presence and that is something that has yet to be proven. These vampires causing mischief have yet to be shown as allied with any of this series’ main players.

Hints are starting to appear here and there, though, as to who these vampires are. We are shown a scene in which one of the feeble students in Akira’s class is invited to join a sketchy group of classmates who I can only assume have something to do with the bad vampires who have shown themselves on school grounds. Added proof? The vampires who attack Akira and Yuki later on in the episode are wearing uniforms from their school, which implies that these vampires are fellow students; methinks that they are the same ones who are off recruiting the weak-minded to join them.

Akira’s boy-buddy is shown to be very anti-vampire in this episode, though who could blame him when he was one of the first to see those incriminating photos? To him, Mina = vampire, vampires = attacking students, Mina = attacking students. Better suspicious than sorry, I suppose. While on the topic of Akira’s friends’ attitudes to vampires, Yuki’s stance has yet to be determined. She’s shown to be more welcoming than most people when she offers to be Mina’s partner in class while everyone else shies away. At the same time, she and Mina have an undeniable rivalry brought on in large part by their mutual fondness for Akira–which sounds kind of pathetic, but the Yuki’s added suspicion towards Mina for Nanami’s absence gives it another layer, makes Yuki less one-dimensional. She isn’t only about Akira.

At the same time, though… that scene! While it’s hard to help having a fondness for Akira/Mina, SHAFT’s added Akira/Yuki development is much loved by me! They are really working to flesh out their background a little more and to make their interactions less contrived. The scene where they’re drying their clothes after escaping the vampires was so fabulous for a whole bunch of reason. I mean, the sexual undertones was part of it, but also for the way that Yuki reacted when Akira looked at her. In the second episode, she grew angry when she thought Akira caught sight of a panty-shot; in this scene, there was a strong sense of comfort. Awkward, sure, but at ease all the same. Getting to know him for his new self, the self who is a werewolf who associates with vampires, hasn’t changed her view on him; if anything, she seems to think even more highly of him. Her crush felt like it was just dropped in the manga, and I am so pleased that that hasn’t been the case here!

Weighing in on Mina’s persona: the good and the bad

(+) Her oh-so moe cooking scene – Mina’s innocent side always makes her come off as a good guy, and this scene makes Mina looks sooo sweet and innocent. She doesn’t know how to cook at all, and yet she’ll try to her hardest just to make something good for Akira!

(-) She stole Akira’s ring – While it was probably out of jealousy and not some grand evil scheme, it still isn’t a very nice thing to do! Yuki has been quite kind to her, and this cruelty of showing off how she is now in possession of Yuki’s token to Akira is very harsh on Mina’s part.

(-) The “vampire way” of doing things – Mina’s conversation with the prime minister is very menacing, mostly for her warning that if things don’t go her way when she is nice and diplomatic, then she’ll move on to doing things the “vampire way”, implying that vampires are not good creatures at all.

(+) Remorse – After her meeting with the prime minister is over, however, Mina shows a great deal of remorse when she calls Akira. It comes off as though all of her threats are just acts and that the true Mina doesn’t want to be so cruel. Oh, and calling Akira is another of those reminders that Mina can be quite innocent and vulnerable.

(-) …Um, did she just kidnap a young child?! – It’s quite self-explanatory why this is bad.

A lot of topics opened up in this episode and basically none have reached any conclusions: Who is that mystery girl? What are these vampires doing in the school? Is Yuki actually a romantic rival? Is Mina good or bad? We’re going to have to keep watching to find out!

Katt sank her teeth into Dance in the Vampire Bund episode 5…9/10
Katt’s blood craving for Dance in the Vampire Bund episode 6…9/10

Minnie: Hello everyone and welcome to the newest countdown at our disposal. This is the Shipping Countdown brought to you by Minnie and Katt. For the sake of my sanity, I will be calling her TZM from now on. Hopefully, you guys don’t get lost. I’m teasing.

Katt: Lucky for you all, I will still be calling Minnie ‘Minnie’ because I am not nearly as much of a nickname-fanatic as she is. Aren’t I so sweet for making our readers’ lives easier?

(more…)

Katt: No, that is not a typo of ‘many’ in the title–I intentionally wrote ‘manly’. While Kajika got plenty of screentime in this episode too, it was stolen by the array of male characters that are in this series. It seems that we are saying ‘goodbye’ to more and more of said guys as this series moves into its final episodes (only three left…I can’t believe it!). For this entry, I’m going to acknowledge the partings that are taking place and how undeniably bromantic they are in nature. Oh, and of course I’ll bring up that final scene that almost made me shed manly tears too… um, womanly tears. Right.

(more…)

Katt: Uh oh. I have something to confess… I think my sudden intrigue in the Erin/Ial pairing from a few episodes back has grown into a genuine love for it. Thanks to that, I’m going to have to use this Erin/Ial-centred episode as an opportunity to do a bit of fangirling. Sorry– I have to, or else I’ll explode from containing my inner fangirl-squeals. It’s a bad way to go. Aside from that, I just have to say: only four episodes left?! I’m getting depressed just thinking about this series ending!

So on to releasing my inner fangirl… Oh, and this means adapting a Minnie style of blogging just for this one time. Once this is out of my system, I promise that I won’t dedicate any more entire posts to Erin/Ial again…maybe…

Wounded and poisoned, Ial gathers up all of the energy that he has left and goes to the beastlords’ stable where he knows Erin will be. He has lost his ‘mother’ figure and has been betrayed by the people who gave him a new life when he was forced to leave his old one–Erin is the only person in the world that he has left. The poor guy!

Thankfully Erin can help: she’s a doctor! Well, a beastlord vet…but I guess that stitches come down to the same procedure for humans and beasts. Except humans have to be stripped to get stitches. I bet Erin doesn’t mind.

If Damiya were watching someone sleep, it would be creepy, but it’s okay because Erin is the one doing it so it just seems sweet. Ial is very vulnerable in his sleep, showing emotional reactions to his dreams that he’d never show if he were conscious.

Erin apparently finds this vulnerablility endearing, so she holds his hand to comfort him in his sleep. Big awwww~ In these two who have lost almost everyone dear to them, they only have each other to find comfort in. If Ial will only accept comfort in his sleep, then so be it! When he wakes up though, the frail part of him still shows when he tears up upon remembering Erin’s words from the last time that they met one-on-one. As someone who has been trained as a shield and not as a human being, Ial really needs Erin to bring back that human part of him.

Pretty much everything that Erin and Ial say to each other is incredibly endearing–albeit very typical. Which is fine by me because 1) romance is really just an aside in this series, and 2) being typical doesn’t stop it from making me go AWWW THEY LOVE EACH OTHER. Case and point: this “I will leave you to protect you!”/”No no, don’t leave scene!”

Kilik is a voyeeeeeur. He walks up, peeks into the stable with the intention of ambushing Ial, but then he sees them together and thinks that they are a damn fine couple and thus leaves them be. Makes perfect sense in my head. (Although I’d like the point out that he stands there for quite a long time, so maybe he was hoping to see a little something more. …yeah, I’m abusing the winking smilie a bit in this entry.)

“I have a favour to ask. Can you play the lyre for me? I want to hear the pure melodies that you create.”

The harp was the thing that brought this two together–what, seven or eight years ago? Back then it was Ial playing for Erin, but now it is her playing that has become a soothing factor for him. And she still has that same old (altered, mind you) harp that he left for her all those years back then.

Mandatory moment of ’awwww, they fell asleep on each other’s shoulers~~’ fangirling. I think I found it cuter when Ial fell asleep on Erin than when she fell asleep on him…is that weird?

But their sweet little moment can’t last, of course, because…..

CREEPER ALERT. Damiya follows the trail of Ial’s blood to the beastlord stables and finds Erin there. When he encounters her, he exposes a big secret about himself. Do you know what that is? It’s that he’s a closet Erin/Ial shipper! That’s why he asks Erin if she likes him (and in my head it’s asked in a, “Ooh, do you liiiike~ that man?” tone). He wants fodder for his canon pairing.

Yeesh, I knew that Erin would hide Ial in with the beastlords, but I didn’t know that she would hide him under Lilan! That is not a place that I would like to be.

Erin and Ial have an exchange of innermost thoughts. Erin admits that her biggest dream is to have the beastlords live free as they are meant to, and that she would willingly sacrifice herself in order to attain that. Unlike Kilik who freaks out when he finds that Erin might have the intention of killing herself, Ial processes it in a composed manner. Even if there is some kind of love developing between these two, Erin’s main passion is life is the freedom of the beastlords and Ial respects that.

And finally, we get the chance to hear Ial’s backstory straight from his mouth. None of these sporadic flashbacks or Damiya-gossip. He runs it all by Erin in the same manner that she did when she told him about where she grew up, her mother’s death, and all of those other secrets of her past that she kept quiet about. I loved the parallel between that past scene and this one.

“When I heard you play the lyre, Ial-san, I felt something warm. It felt like I was with my late mother.”

The jury’s still out on whether this is cute or creepy, though my bias is leaning towards cute. Erin likens the warmth and comfort that she felt hearing Ial’s harp-playing so many years ago to the presence of her mother. It’s kind of like Kilik looking at Erin and seeing his sister in her, and yet giving off hmm-I-might-like-her vibes. I don’t think that it’s meant to be taken as creepy, though, but instead as Erin finding the comfort of family in someone else. And really, when people become a couple or even very close friends, their bond is as close as that of family, right? It’s a wonderful thing that Erin could find that in someone else–and it would do Ial good, too, since he doesn’t have any family to speak of, either.

Ah, the stained solider… Once he’s seen death, been the cause of it, he can never return wholeheartedly to the ‘normal’ world. He clearly needs the affections of a fair maiden to help him settle down into the family life that he’s always dreamed of~

“Your life is like that of the tohdas. As eggs, they’re taken away from the mother. They were just bred to fight. They are such lonely beasts.”

This comparison between Ial and the tohdas is so very Erin that I can’t help but love it. Even though it’s a situation that we’ve seen a squillion times before–the soldier forced to abandon emotion, the woman who wants to break that cold barrier–Erin doesn’t reach into clichés to explain it. She reaches into her own experiences and compares Ial to her experiences in the field she’s passionate about. This is why Erin is my hero.

Mind you, Ial doesn’t seem to get it. I guess he isn’t as up on his tohda-raising knowledge as Erin is. He still sees fighting as the only way to go, the only way to help Erin reach Semiya and crush Damiya’s plans to raise a beastlord army. His words make it seem like he should be coming off as the knight in shining armour, but… 

“I will keep fighting with these hands that you protected. For the late Queen also. I will fight until the end!”
“That’s how you’ve lived your life. For the Majesty Shin-Oh. You’re really a person that cares for your family, but…the silent whistle that binds you is no longer there. Why? Why don’t you want to grab a hold of happiness with this? Your right hand?!”

Erin JUST SAID that he didn’t have to fight anymore. Damnit, Ial, LISTEN! Now you’ve made her use more veterenary metaphors.

At least he realizes that he didn’t say the right words and hugs it out instead of talking anymore. It’s the right course of action to comfort Erin and, more importantly, it gets a big AWWWWWWW and many <3s from me: <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Katt’s rating for Kemono no Souja episode 46: 9.5/10 (-0.5 because of a failure to react to the poison that is still kind of Ial’s body…antitode, please? Also Ial’s failure to notice Erin’s missing fingers. You two still have ways to go together.)
Katt’s anticipation for Kemono no Souja Erin episode 47: 9/10

Katt: After weeks of waiting anxiously, the moment has finally come. The episode in which we get to find out whyyyy Quinza and Najayra are all over each other. Sure, there are some other plot developments like the Raginei struggle for power being a three-way thing instead of two, or Eugene being held hostage, or Li-Ren and Kajika having a disagreement…But this blog entry on episode 26? It’s going to be a moment for Quinza/Najayra. (A brief moment, at that, because I have other stuff to blog…plus homework–yipes.)

I don’t know how many people actually read my Hanasakeru Seishounen posts these days, but in case someone other than Serenity is reading this, I’ll just point out that this Quinza/Najayra thing first came up in HSA! in the episode 24 post comments. At first as a kind of random thing, then as a crack pairing that seemed on the fun side, then hmm hey maybe it’s plausible, then wham! Najayra stroking Quinza in the preview for episode 26. The messed up non-Kajika-related pairing may very well be becoming a reality…

What I was expecting

Quinza and Najayra together: what fairy tale psychologically unhealthy relationship would this prove to be? Honestly, these two together would not be based on love, oh no no. When Quinza first showed his face to Najayra, the chemistry (for better or worse) between them was evident. I mean, there was some water-splashing in the face and then a chase around the palace, but oddly enough there was a sense that each of them enjoyed it in their own ways. Quinza has a fondness for wrapping people around his finger and Najayra’s on a constant search for entertainment. It was almost certain that any relationship that developed between them would be based on manipulation; the question was, who would be manipulating who?

What came to be

As of now, Quinza is the great manipulator! Of course, his is the only perspective that we’ve really gotten to see since he had a one-on-one conversation with Eugene, but I’ll get to my thoughts on Najayra in a minute. With Quinza, he’s got one goal (that being Rumaty attaining the throne) and he is doing everything possible to achieve it, no matter how dirty the tactics he uses are. In this case, he’s getting close to Najayra to be able to better control her actions, such as convincing her to marry Somand, which would therefore give Quinza more control higher-up. Not to mention that Najayra’s family supposedly can hear the will of god, and Quinza is an extremist as far as religion goes, so he’d definitely appreciate some guiding oracles. Oh, you devious bastard! Your love for Najayra is all an act! Though could that go two ways…?

I wouldn’t put it past Najayra to be pulling quite a few strings herself. She isn’t stupid. She knows that Quinza has a great influence over Somand, I am sure–and without that influence Somand wouldn’t agree to marry her. While their conversation with Eugene makes it sound as though Quinza talked Najayra into becoming queen, I somehow doubt that the idea hadn’t crossed her mind before. All she wants is a cure for boredom, and surely she’d find that at the heart of all of Raginei’s drama. For all of the knowledge that we are given, it could very well be that Najayra has succeeded in hearing the voice of god and is just witholding oracles from Quinza. While Quinza is made out to be the greatest, most devilish manipulator of them all in this episode, I wouldn’t discard Najayra as a pawn just yet. Nooo way.

So while, no, thisQuinza/Najayra business isn’t at all a healthy relationship, that doesn’t mean I can’t ship it, right? When you think about it, Kajika is supposed to be finding a husband to appease Harry’s motives; I think it’s fair that Quinza and Najayra can use each other in their screwed up love affair. Everything is more interesting when it gets more complicated than plain ol’ mutual based-0n-love feelings.

The next episode has some moves being made by all parties, it seems, while Kajika is stuck in Singapore thanks to Li-Ren forbidding her to go to Raginei. Also, a new girl appears! A love rival, perhaps? We’ll find out in a week~

Katt’s love-metre for Hanasakeru Seishounen episode 26 measures…8/10
Katt’s love-metre expects Hanasakeru Seishounen episode 27 to be…9/10

Katt: I want to keep myself from skipping blogging episodes of this series, especially for these last ten episodes (wah, the end is so close!), but at the same time I don’t really have time for in-depth entries all the time. So instead of looking at plot for this one–with the exception of the main plot point being that Erin realized the tohda who attacked the queen were not the grand duke’s–I want to reflect on something that’s been bothering me for a while. It’s nothing in regard to the plot, or even the characters really. It’s a question buried deep in my soul: should I be looking for pairings in this series?! I feel like I’m Minnie and wearing pairing-goggles, but I just can’t help it! Especially now that Erin is older, I just can’t ignore the fact that romance can happen. Don’t get me wrong; I do not not not want to see it become a focus, though I certainly won’t complain if there are more Erin-Ial moments like this episode was quite full of.

So okay, let’s flash back a bit. What’s the basis of my fondness for Ial/Erin? (There. I said it: I’m fond of it.) Their first meeting is not what I’d call ‘love at first sight’ considering that Erin was ten years old at the time. Ial, I’d guess, was in his early twenties at the oldest. A ten-year age difference, give or take a few years, is pretty significant, especially when you consider how young Erin was when the two first encountered. Nonetheless, because of the way that Erin and Ial’s occasional follow-up meetings happened, the age difference doesn’t seem all that awkward. There was no sense of the two growing up together, but instead only coming face-to-face once every few years and really realizing how much the other had grown–more Ial’s observation of Erin, of course. There isn’t that sense of the sibling-like relationship that can sometimes exist when two characters know each other from a younger age.

The way that the bond between Erin and Ial grows with each of their encounters only really hits home in episode 40, though in retrospect it’s endearing to see the ways they’ve helped each other out. Ial’s support and secrecy has been invaluable to Erin after the losses of her mother and John, as she works to help the beast-lords; if you think about it, aside from Nukku and Mokku, Ial is the character who has known Erin the longest. And then for Ial, his chance meetings with Erin have always been a way to restore his attachment to humanity. He’s been trained as emotionless, fixed on one goal, and yet with each time that he happens upon Erin or she happens upon him, he shows a growing interest in her and in her spirit, and goes through great lengths to help her and keep her safe.

With their bond building up and building up with each subsequent meeting that these two characters have, the strength of it is really driven home in this most recent episode. After dropping little hints into each other’s pasts for so long, Erin finally tells Ial her entire history. This level of trust is greater than Erin’s with anyone else. Yes, other characters might know bits and pieces, but not the entire story like this. She needs someone like this in her life, who can listen and be supportive in his silence, and who she can trust to not speak a word to anyone else. And Ial, he needs someone like Erin, who gives him words of encouragement as he struggles to come to terms with his failure to protect the queen.

It’s always upsetting to see these two part ways again, but at least I can always anxiously await the next meeting that will be sure to come. I worry a bit for Ial’s future, I have to admit…though this can’t be the last time that he and Erin see each other, right? I’ll be waiting for another moment, and…damn, I really do like this pairing, don’t I?! Wasn’t I, in my last entry, just laughing at people who found pairings in this series? Well, I still have to question the people who are completely invested in Erin and Ial getting together. That isn’t what I’m watching this series for, even if I find their ‘moments’ added perks. I’m here to continue watching Erin’s growth as she approaches the end of her journey.

Katt’s rating for Kemono no Souja Erin episode 40: 9.5/10
Katt’s anticipation for Kemono no Souja Erin episode 41: 8/10

Garrick: So, unofficially, the new theme of our blog is the one… and only… Yamashita Tomohisa, aka YamaP (Yamapi). Thanks to Minnie’s obsession (as I would like to say) with this Japanese born actor-singer, her and I have found ourselves watching many of the dramas he has acted in.

Minnie: YAMAPI!!!!!! <3 Actually, I didn’t discover him through doramas because I have this negative affiliation with dorama since Duke aka Gay Brother reported a horrible and unrealistic one he watched a few years ago. I discover Yamapi through his songs in the boy band NEWS actually. Well, more accurately, I discover him through Jin Akanishi (my love for life) from KATTUN but that’s a story for another day! Anyways, HSA is indeed a Yamapi fanclub in the background but we never actually think about anything to post about him on… that’s anime-related until now…

Garrick: Anyways, so, the format of this tag-team post will be to locate a few of the similarities between this drama, Dragon Zakura, and the anime world in general (and trust me, there are many). The fact that Dragonzakura was actually based on a manga… makes this all the simpler.

Minnie: Unfortunately, for us, the manga is impossible to find so we can’t make any manga to drama comparisons (unlike other doramas like Hana Kimi or Nodame Cantabile) but we can make other comparisons like Koala spoke above. I realize after watching a handful of doramas that most of them are really similar to anime and you’ll see why in the following review!

(more…)

Minnie: I admit I almost forgot it is Valentine’s Day today. The only reason why I remember is because I receive some obligatory chocolate from Koala. Actually, I’m eating it right now as I type this. My little sister is in elementary school so she has this whole rountine of giving everyone in her class a card and a piece of candy. It’s cute back in elementary school when Valentine Day is still so innocent. I don’t even want to think of how it is in high school. Been there. Done that. Don’t want to remember thanks. Anyways, my love is for my writing and my fictional characters so I am perfectly content with chocolate from Koala (for those of you who don’t know, I have an obsession over white/milk chocolate). Anyways, my life is boring so let’s move on to the juicy stuff okay?

(more…)