Since it's been awhile since my last review, I thought I'd write one. I've decided to start calling reviews of shows I haven't finished yet "previews" and reviews of shows I have finished, well, "reviews". This is the former.

Preview: My Little Sister Can`t Be This Cute
Judging from the title alone, "creepy with incest overtones" is what comes to mind does it not? Worry not friends, My Little Sister Can`t Be This Cute (also known by it's Japanese title Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai) is certainly not that. Instead, we get a hilarious comedy series with a slant toward otaku humor. Read on!

My Little Sister Can`t Be This Cute is the story of two siblings, Kirino the younger sister and Kyousuke the older brother. Kirino seems like the average Japanese teenager, she's into fashion (to the point that she has a part-time job as a model) and hanging out with her friends. Kyousuke is the average high school senior, he studies hard and enjoys after school clubs. Like many siblings, Kirino and Kyousuke often don't see eye-to-eye and the two haven't gotten on well in years.

One day Kyousuke comes home and finds a dropped DVD for a magical girl anime called "Stardust Witch Merle" in the entranceway of his house. This is odd because he's not into anime, his parents are not (his dad is actually strongly against otaku culture, which will be an important plot point later) and as far as he knows, neither is his sister. Upon opening the DVD case, he's surprised to find it actually contains an adult game called "Love with Little Sister!"! In an attempt to fish out the owner of this game, he brings up the topic of magical girl anime at the dinner table, his parents voice their concerns about such products, while his sister stays quiet. Later that night, Kirino bursts into Kyousuke's room and tells him "they have something important to discuss". Kirino takes Kyousuke to her room, and in a hidden closet in her room she reveals... Her extensive collection of magical girl anime and porno games!

At long last, we have a contender for "most awesome otaku-themed comedy series", possibly set to take the crown from 2004's Genshiken. Though unlike Genshiken, My Little Sister Can`t Be This Cute isn't purely otaku-targeted, even non-otaku can enjoy this series thanks to it's wonderful characters brimming with personality, slick animation and humor. The interactions between the show's characters and the conversations they have are both realistic and incredibly funny (such as when Kirino argues the merits of her favourite anime with another otaku who hates that show) and are possibly the highlight of My Little Sister Can`t Be This Cute. If the characters are the highlight of the show, then the animation would be a close second. It's not just detailed and smooth, but it really gives life to the characters. One example would be where Kyousuke asks Kirino the obvious question: Most of her collection is themed around little sisters and their older brothers. Does this means she's "planning" something? The way she gets a chill up her spine and rubs the goosebumps on her upper arms speaks even louder about how creeped out this made her than anything she could say.

Fans of otaku comedies such as Genshiken and Comic Party should definitely check out My Little Sister Can`t Be This Cute. Even if you're not a fan of otaku comedy, but you like good character-based comedy, you should still give the show a look! The show can be watched streaming on websites like the Anime News Network and there's plenty of fansubs available.

Dusty, Dusty, Dusty......

Well after reading the updated list and looking over the latest post this threads really covered a lot of anime I have seen.

Most of the stuff I have seen could be called girly because it mostly focuses on romance or slice of life, but here are the few I have left that did not make it on here.

Area 88
An update of the OVA Area 88 is the story of Shin a young japanese man who career as a commercial airline pilot is derailed by his his jerkward best friend. Shin is tricked into signing into a mercenary air force located in a fictional middle eastern country embroiled in civil war. The only way out is to serve 3 years of unending combat, earn 1.5 million in kills, or desert which puts a death mark on you.

Boys over Flowers
Makino is a working class daughter enrolled in an elitist school for the rich due to her family wanting her to snag a rich husband. However her goal of keeping her head down and just making it through goes horribly wrong when she runs a foul of the F-4, a king of kings social clique. Targetted by the F-4 for with harrassment and hazing, including the whole student body, Makino has to turn the tables on the F-4.

Princess Nine
A high school offers nine young women to play baseball, a boys only sport, and will make to the top in only three years. A sports anime the series runs a mystery subplot with the ace pitcher being the daughter of a legendary pitcher who was run out of baseball after a unclear gambling scheme ruins his career.

Skip Beat
After being used by her child hood crush to launch his rock star career, Kyoko finds herself kick to the curb and the wants revenge. The only way to do that his defeat her former love is enter show business herself. However no longer having love in her heart Kyoko is slated into the Love Me Section of her agency. To make matters worse she has made enemies with the agancies leading actor.

Summer Wars
Kenji is tricked by Natsuki into playing the role of her fiancee at a extended family reunion. However things get out of control when a massive online system OZ is hacked by a vicious AI program who sends all of Japan into chaos. Only Kenji, Natsuki, and her massive extended family can stop the AI, love machine. It more of a movie than a series and it might not be so poular since the tsunamai occured.

Two that I've been watching:

BACCANO!

Told in a non-linear fashion it tells the tale of a group of immortals in the 1930's. It revolves around a train accident and a theft at different times, told simultaneously. It's a bit hard to follow due to this at first but it wraps up perfectly.

Romeo X Juliet

Roughly based on the Shakespeare play, only set in a fantasy land that floats in the sky, with flying dragons sword battles and cross-dressing.

Seitokai Yakuindomo
Is it possible to make a comedy revolving almost exclusively around sex jokes, and not have it come off low-brow and immature, ala American Pie? The answer? Seitokai Yakuindomo!



Thanks to clever wordplay, good writing and actual punchlines, Seitokai Yakuindomo manges to craft a sex comedy that avoids the pitfall of simply being crass for the sake of crassness and is all the more funnier for it. No matter how many jokes about ejaculation they make. By taking their sex jokes down the path of wordplay and and humorous misunderstandings, (instead of making shallow references to dicks and expecting the audience fall over dead from laughter), Seitokai Yakuindomo almost manages to give itself a sense of class. Almost. But more importantly, this makes the gags actually funny. Funny in the traditional comedy sense where the jokes are funny because the audience is required to actually use their brains. But make no mistake, the subject of the jokes are lewd. By the time you`ve finished the series, you`ve seen jokes about fellatio, heard English swearing, jokes about menstruation, jokes about S&M, jokes about vaginas, jokes about pedophilia, and multiple instances of vibrator jokes. There`s even a gag about being molested by a deer. Needless to say, those who hate sex jokes, or the easily offended, probably won`t enjoy Seitokai Yakuindomo. And yet somehow, the show manages to not be ridiculously offensive, despite containing gags that would make South Park blush. I think this is combination of the way the jokes are presented in an innocent, serious way (sort of like the characters are unaware what they`re saying is inappropriate for the situation, if that makes sense) and the colorful cheery art style.





Moving on to the plot, Ousai Private Academy, previously an all-girls school, has just become a co-ed school. Takatoshi Tsuda is attending this year as one of the school`s first and few male students, not with the intent of forming a harem like many of the other male students, but because it`s close to his house. On his first day, his sloppy attire catches the attention (and ire) of student council president Shino Amakusa, whom is a stickler for rules, and as Takatoshi will soon discover, has a habit of making deadpan lewd jokes. Takatoshi next meets the remaining members of the student council. There`s Suzu Hagimura, super intelligent, but has the height and build of a grade schooler with a fiery temper about said to match. And rounding out the cast (in more ways than one), is Aria Shichijou, gentle, kind and air-headed upper-class girl but probably the most perverse of them all. Shino quickly ropes Takatoshi into becoming the student counsel`s vice-president, mostly as a way of getting a male`s perspective on school matters, but also because there`s only so much you can learn about the male body from sex ed class. But the plot of Seitokai Yakuindomo is nothing more than an excuse for jokes, so don`t worry too much about it. And being based on a four panel comic series, there are a LOT of jokes.





Seitokai Yakuindomo`s animation is nothing too special, it`s decently animated with an average-looking art style, nothing about it really stands out. Likewise, audio and music is average. However, the acting is top caliber, the actors put their all into the jokes and play a huge role in making the humor work. However, most of the characters are stereotypes, with the type of voice you`ve come to expect for these classic archetypes. Aria is the typical "My! My! My!" soft-voiced air-head. Suzu is short-tempered and shouts a lot. Takatoshi is the "straight man". However, there are two standout characters in Seitokai Yakuindo that are a little more unique. Ranko Hata (played by Satomi Arai) is the wannabe paparazzi from the photography club who has this hilarious dull monotone voice that makes every scene she`s in a real treat. The next is Naruko Yokoshima (played by Yuu Kobayashi) the lusty, man-eating female teacher, who speaks in a low, breathy seductive manner as though she`s continually attempting to seduce everyone in the room.




This series makes no bones about what is is, that is, it`s nothing more than a platform for a rapid-fire series of sex jokes, and at this, I feel it`s a flying success. The show is absolutely hilarious, which is all it needs to be. As a result, there`s very little I can criticize it for. It`s only real flaw is the length, only thirteen episodes, which is average for most anime, but for Seitokai Yakuindomo, it feels like this isn`t enough and it has more jokes to tell. Thankfully, there`s a sequel, but the original series could have stood to have been longer. In conclusion, Seitokai Yakuindomo is an excellent comedy series, provided you don`t find it`s lewd subjects offensive, and you don`t mind that there`s very little story. Anyone who loves a well-written sex comedy should check it out!