This post will be my first general post, which will detail what I have been doing, and the plans I have for the near future. This includes things such as Innocence Seekers and my side projects, but also things unrelated to them, such as anime and manga.
Innocence Seekers
So far, I am working on three different entries of Innocence Seekers: The Black Rose. At the moment, I’m currently working out what will happen in the third chapter of Innocence Seekers: Akari of the Light. My plan is to have the first part of the chapter focus on Inori, before Akari and the others meet up with her. For Innocence Seekers: Mimori Flower Club, I’ve already posted the synopsis of the first episode on the wiki. Hopefully I’ll write it up and post the episode proper on it soon.
I’ve begun planning for Innocence Seekers: April Light. I’ve chosen the name based on the name of one of the main characters, Uzuki, and on the title of Innocence Seekers: Akari of the Light. Earlier I mentioned that I hadn’t decided who the protagonist should be. I’ve since decided it will be Uzuki who will be the protagonist. The other main characters are, as I mentioned earlier, Louise and Himawari (Erika’s sister, not the other Himawari). In an entry of Innocence Seekers: The Black Rose which I had worked on earlier but cancelled, I had a mysterious girl named Lyra as one of my characters. While she did not have much influence on the plot in that entry, she will have an important role in Innocence Seekers: April Light. In this case, she is befriended by Himawari after an incident in Haralni.
The following characters I’ve planned to appear in Innocence Seekers: April Light:
- Uzuki Miyana (宮奈 卯月) – star sign: Taurus
- Louise (ルイーズ) – star sign: Gemini
- Himawari (ひまわり) – star sign: Aries
- Wakaba Harumi (春海 若葉) – star sign: Scorpio
- Aoi Higasa (日傘 あおい) – star sign: Virgo
- Benio Shinokura (篠倉 紅緒)
- Lyra (ライラ)
Yume ni Aruku
So far, I haven’t made much progress on Yume ni Aruku. However, I may post the synopsis of the first episode on the wiki in the near future. I may also elaborate on the friendship between Shion, Yae and Tomoe, and its implications in the plot.
From the Scattered Petals, to the Blooming Flower
Before I begin talking about what I’ve done with From the Scattered Petals, to the Blooming Flower, I’ll explain the title itself. The title, which in Japanese is Chitta hanabira yori, saku hana made (散った花びらより、咲く花まで), is supposed to represent the cycle of hope and despair (through the metaphor of a new flower blooming in place of the old one, which had died), and is representative of Teru’s belief that one can change the world for the better, regardless of its current state. For convenience, the title can be shortened to Chitasaku (ちたさく), and this is what I will use as the tag for this project.
I’ve been working on this for a fair bit lately, although much of that is creating scenes for later segments of the story. However, I will mention the nature of the apocalyptic event which will strike in the first episode. The monsters which appeared out of nowhere that fateful day were sent by a being who wanted humanity eliminated (I haven’t decided why, though). The girls, all ten of them, then received the ability to use magic from another being as a response to this. I made it so that Mitsuki knew a fair bit about what will happen, as well as the preparations Mikura Elementary School and other institutions made in preparation for this event.
Anime and Manga
This section will detail some of the anime and manga I’ve watched or will watch in the near future. I mentioned in an earlier post what I plan to watch. Now that the Spring 2016 season has finished, I will give my impressions on some of the anime I’ve watched.
- Anne Happy – A-
I liked the concept of the girls having specific misfortunes, but was a bit uneasy on the “happiness training” given. At times, I felt the school was being a bit sadistic to the happiness class, and didn’t even know how to ameliorate the students’ misfortunes. But, then again, the class has Anne Hanakoizumi, whose luck is in the negative (and bad things will happen if she loses her good luck charm). The things I liked the most were the interactions between the five main girls, and Timothy (especially the rap). - Flying Witch – A+
This is one of my favourites of the season. I found it enjoyable and relaxing to see Makoto train as a witch while living with her cousins. In some ways it felt like Non Non Biyori to me. On a side note, I liked Chinatsu, especially her reactions to the parts of the witch world normal people don’t usually see during the earlier episodes. - High School Fleet – A
Again an anime which subverted expectations in the first episode. Very few people expected this to be anything other than a “cute girls doing cute things” show (the only reason I didn’t expect this to be a CGDCT show was a tweet somewhere I can’t remember). I found the naval battles to be somewhat realistic, but I also found the fact that Akeno kept leaving the ship for whatever reason (à la Captain Kirk of Star Trek) a bit annoying, as you’re not supposed to do that as a captain. This anime would’ve scored an A+, or even an S-, if it weren’t for the mind-controlling rodents (given the only plausible explanation for the phenomenon is nanomachines). Also, many of the characters were underdeveloped; I couldn’t even keep track of them all. - Three Leaves, Three Colors – A
I quite liked this anime, and I also consider it one of my favourites. The concept is that three girls with wildly different personalities become friends with each other: the former rich girl who still acts like one, the girl with a bottomless stomach, and the girl who appears to be a nice girl but is, in reality, “demonic”. The main cast is supplemented by a bunch of other wacky characters (my favourites are the former butler-turned-stalker Yamaji, and the “angel” who cooks horrendous-tasting, yet nutritious meals, Kō). One thing I noticed was that the anime actually deviated from the manga; for example, in the original manga, Futaba is a transfer student, but in the anime, she’s already friends with Teru when they befriend Yōko. The parts I didn’t like, other than Sakura’s singing, include the fact that Yū has a crush on Yōko despite the age difference (of course, Yōko thinks he’s not serious), and the fact that Sakura is in love with Yū (although not the fact that she’s way too overbearing, to the point of chasing him; no wonder he doesn’t like her). A nice touch in the final episode was adapting the chapter where Sei (Yōko’s old friend from middle school) and Hiyori (Sei’s cousin) of Seinaru Megumi visit Sonobe’s shop, while Yōko is working.
These aren’t all the anime I’ve watched, but simply the ones I’ll mention here.
A couple of days ago, the Manga Time Kirara Festa was held. It featured merchandise for Anne Happy, Is the Order a Rabbit?, Kiniro Mosaic, Magic of Stella, New Game!, School-Live!, Three Leaves, Three Colors and Yuyushiki, as well as announcements for some of them. These included information on the extra episode of Kiniro Mosaic, titled Kiniro Mosaic Pretty Days, to premiere on November 12, as well as the voice cast of Magic of Stella.
For the cast of Magic of Stella, there are some familiar names in them. For Rie Murakawa (Shiina Murakami), this is her fourth time voicing a character in a Manga Time Kirara anime (having voiced Mitsuki Inokuma of Kiniro Mosaic, Megumi “Megu” Natsu of Is the Order a Rabbit and Nao Mashiba of Wakaba*Girl). For Ari Ozawa (Ayame Seki), this is her third time (having voiced Kurumi Ebisuzawa of School-Live! and Wakaba Kohashi of Wakaba*Girl). For Aoi Yūki (Kayo Fujikawa), this is her third time (her most famous role is Madoka Kaname of Puella Magi Madoka Magica; she also voiced Tōru Ichii of A-Channel). The other two voice actresses, Maria Naganawa (Tamaki Honda) and Ryōko Maekawa (Yumine Fuda), are relatively new voice actresses.
In other news, the YuruYuri manga recently received an official Twitter account. And apparently, the account has been tweeting inappropriate messages, to the point where fans asked Ichijinsha to intervene (which they did, along with apologies from them, the editor-in-chief of Comic Yuri Hime, and Namori herself).
P.S. I wish a happy birthday to Suzuko Mimori, who is now 30 years old.
Edit (7/7/2016): I got my notes mixed up. It’s Aoi’s older sister who’s a Gemini, not Erika’s younger sister.