Not sure if many have heard of this series, but for those that might be familiar with Strawberry Panic...might possibly like this one.
It's about a guy by the name of Miyanokouji Mizuho who attend a school his mother attended named Seiou Academy, because his grandfather willed it. He at first hesitates, but then his childhood friend Mariya manages to help him look like a girl. But once on campus...lots of the girls want to talk to him. Of course...the teacher Hisako Kajiura, Mizuho's homeroom teacher to his class of 3-A the headmistress, (guess you could say the "principal" of the school), Mariya, Shion (one of Mizuho's classmates), and Ichiko (a "ghost" (yuurei in Japanese) that resides in Mizuho's room (which originally was also his mother's room)).
Anyway...this series kinda has its dose of humor, but technically...it's a harem/school life/romance/yuri/comedy series (to make that short, a pseudo-yuri type of series). Also...this was based off an h-game.
Already saw all the episodes and the series was pretty good in my opinion. (Also where my siggy & avvy is from) (points to both).
Mizuho is a guy that...according to his friend Mariya, one who is extremely honest, very kind, and also one who is honest about what he feels. In the last episode she tries to make up loose ends with her old rival Takako (who's the president of the school), and explains that what he did was that he really wanted to save her (this is in reference to episode 11 (where she finds out Mizuho's real identity)), and wasn't worried as to whether his real identity would be exposed because of that, and sometimes thought of Mizuho as stupid, yet that's how he was at times.
All the episodes are already posted on YouTube. I downloaded the last episode off a torrent. Anyone that wants it, just please let me know.
Full Version: Otome wa Boku Ni Koishiteru
It sounds much like Hana Kimi turned inside out, where a girl makes herself up to look like a guy in order to attend the same school that her idol does. If well written, a show like this could be hilarious Yuki-san, so how did the story/plot/character writing turn out to be?
If Hana Kimi is such, that sounds quite a bit like the story of the manhwa Kiss Me, Kill Me or some variant of those four words. I can't quite remember the premise...but yeah. Though the likelihood of a girl dressing up as a boy just seems higher. It doesn't seem too accepted that a boy dress up like a girl. I bet it's the girls somehow look fine as guys, and boys don't look good as girls. Of course, somehow Mizuho looks like a girl. >> << >>
Anyway, it's of some note that Mizuho's childhood swimsuit is that of a girl's, he looks like a girl, acts like the stereotypical anime young girl of less than 10 years (cp. Akiha Tohno of Shingetsutan Tsukihime) etc. etc. Given this "history", I don't know if you could say Mizuho was absolutely shocked to hear his grandfather wanted him to go to Seiou Jogakuin. He could have wanted exactly that all this time and suppressed the desire simply because he was a guy. I simply came to the conclusion that Mizuho Miyanokouji was, in fact, a girl. [Though that of course isn't true.]
I don't know if you could say it had much of plot, unless you consider silly mishaps here and there a plot. It does give you quite a bit of a laugh until you get to episode eight or nine, where they start to try putting serious drama. In my opinion, this doesn't work out. With only twelve episodes, it seems strange to spend seven or eight episodes on almost pure humor, add drama in an eighth or ninth episode (late timing), then go back to humor now interspersed with drama for the last three or four episodes.
It's almost reminiscent of Shuffle! - Shuffle!'s first few episodes were funny. Then we started getting into some drama with the Primula arc, then the overbearing drama of the Kaede arc. The major difference is that the Shuffle! series is how well it utilized the dramatic element of its story. Having reached the climax about five episodes from the end, Shuffle! started on a steep falling action into a clumsy d?nouement where Shigure and Rin simply don't mention what happened between them, making for a somewhat iffy ending. (Regardless, if it is localized in the US, I will buy it.)
Otoboku goes on it's exposition, a gradual gentle exposition. It then reaches a point where it decides to throw you into a "dramatic" episode that seems off the path. Off the path or it's a giant brick wall you have to climb over. I did not appreciate that at all (no reference to my inability to climb a brick wall). Afterwards, it was almost as if the twelfth episode was the climax itself, and it went on another clumsy d?nouement in which we see that Mizuho did in fact stay in the school (take a look at Yuki-san's sig) and all that drama between him and Takako was pointless. Since we have no clue about the OVA, we can't tell if they're going to use that as a true concluding episode or simply an episode that could have served as a filler in a longer series. We've heard of beginning in medias res, but this is like ending in medias res (cp. Fruits Basket).
Perhaps in other words, this is the story of the ups and downs of a person's life (albeit a strange transgender life), a story with an exposition (birth), then a gentle rising action (growing up and all the small tribulations of life), a climax at the confession of love (it's simply assumed that if Takako and Mizuho ended up together, they stayed together and grew old together), and a gradual falling action from then on (growing older, having fun with friends, getting into fights, etc. etc.). The assumed conclusion is that the character and his love interest die in old age, which is inevitable.
I am a bad critic, I will admit, and I mean to sway no one from watching this anime. I honestly enjoyed it with the exception of that dramatic episode with none of the familiar humor from the previous episodes. It must also be pointed out that I am overly critical, which makes me a not-so-wonderful reviewer (as can be seen from the Kyoushirou-Sora post). XD Now I will leave it to Yuki-san's opinion on Hikaru-san's question.
To those who will give it a chance, I wish you happy watching. ^^
My final thoughts...
Tokyo University Admissions Officer (TUAO): So then, you want to apply for Tokyo U, right?
Mizuho: That's right, sir.
TUAO: Your name is Mizuho Miyanokouji, you're 18 and you're male. Looks like you've been good in sports, so do you plan to participate in sports at the University?
Mizuho: I've thought about it.
TUAO: You also have excellent grades. What do you plan on taking in college?
Mizuho: [Enter Mizuho's prospective major here.]
TUAO: I see. There is one troubling piece of material here though. You are male, but suddenly you were accepted and attended Seiou Girl's Academy for your late high school education. Would you care to elaborate?
Mizuho: (thinking: Oh, crap...)
To be continued...?
Anyway, it's of some note that Mizuho's childhood swimsuit is that of a girl's, he looks like a girl, acts like the stereotypical anime young girl of less than 10 years (cp. Akiha Tohno of Shingetsutan Tsukihime) etc. etc. Given this "history", I don't know if you could say Mizuho was absolutely shocked to hear his grandfather wanted him to go to Seiou Jogakuin. He could have wanted exactly that all this time and suppressed the desire simply because he was a guy. I simply came to the conclusion that Mizuho Miyanokouji was, in fact, a girl. [Though that of course isn't true.]
I don't know if you could say it had much of plot, unless you consider silly mishaps here and there a plot. It does give you quite a bit of a laugh until you get to episode eight or nine, where they start to try putting serious drama. In my opinion, this doesn't work out. With only twelve episodes, it seems strange to spend seven or eight episodes on almost pure humor, add drama in an eighth or ninth episode (late timing), then go back to humor now interspersed with drama for the last three or four episodes.
It's almost reminiscent of Shuffle! - Shuffle!'s first few episodes were funny. Then we started getting into some drama with the Primula arc, then the overbearing drama of the Kaede arc. The major difference is that the Shuffle! series is how well it utilized the dramatic element of its story. Having reached the climax about five episodes from the end, Shuffle! started on a steep falling action into a clumsy d?nouement where Shigure and Rin simply don't mention what happened between them, making for a somewhat iffy ending. (Regardless, if it is localized in the US, I will buy it.)
Otoboku goes on it's exposition, a gradual gentle exposition. It then reaches a point where it decides to throw you into a "dramatic" episode that seems off the path. Off the path or it's a giant brick wall you have to climb over. I did not appreciate that at all (no reference to my inability to climb a brick wall). Afterwards, it was almost as if the twelfth episode was the climax itself, and it went on another clumsy d?nouement in which we see that Mizuho did in fact stay in the school (take a look at Yuki-san's sig) and all that drama between him and Takako was pointless. Since we have no clue about the OVA, we can't tell if they're going to use that as a true concluding episode or simply an episode that could have served as a filler in a longer series. We've heard of beginning in medias res, but this is like ending in medias res (cp. Fruits Basket).
Perhaps in other words, this is the story of the ups and downs of a person's life (albeit a strange transgender life), a story with an exposition (birth), then a gentle rising action (growing up and all the small tribulations of life), a climax at the confession of love (it's simply assumed that if Takako and Mizuho ended up together, they stayed together and grew old together), and a gradual falling action from then on (growing older, having fun with friends, getting into fights, etc. etc.). The assumed conclusion is that the character and his love interest die in old age, which is inevitable.
I am a bad critic, I will admit, and I mean to sway no one from watching this anime. I honestly enjoyed it with the exception of that dramatic episode with none of the familiar humor from the previous episodes. It must also be pointed out that I am overly critical, which makes me a not-so-wonderful reviewer (as can be seen from the Kyoushirou-Sora post). XD Now I will leave it to Yuki-san's opinion on Hikaru-san's question.
To those who will give it a chance, I wish you happy watching. ^^
My final thoughts...
Tokyo University Admissions Officer (TUAO): So then, you want to apply for Tokyo U, right?
Mizuho: That's right, sir.
TUAO: Your name is Mizuho Miyanokouji, you're 18 and you're male. Looks like you've been good in sports, so do you plan to participate in sports at the University?
Mizuho: I've thought about it.
TUAO: You also have excellent grades. What do you plan on taking in college?
Mizuho: [Enter Mizuho's prospective major here.]
TUAO: I see. There is one troubling piece of material here though. You are male, but suddenly you were accepted and attended Seiou Girl's Academy for your late high school education. Would you care to elaborate?
Mizuho: (thinking: Oh, crap...)
To be continued...?
Well...to put it somewhat simply...there's this one character that me & Shiro-kun don't get tired of a bit...well...more me than him. Her name's Ichiko and she's...well...a ghost that resides in the room where Mizuho sleeps. Her voice actor...who speaks SUPER fast...(the speed is like 5x as fast as the song Pokemon Hara Hara Relay) just cracks me up when she speaks fast and how she reacts. Anyway...the fact that Mizuho has to undergo a gender change with Mariya's help, things got somewhat hectic after a while. The president of Seiou Academy, Takako (which Shiro-kun despises and I don't) 
, found Mizuho slightly a bit suspicious, yet later, when Mizuho is elected as "Elder" (basically a girl with that title is referred to as "oneesama"), things start to change pretty quickly. In episode 9 if I recall, Takako slowly starts to open herself to Mizuho a bit, but it's when it gets to the eleventh episode where the cat is out of the bag, leaving Takako in shock. Despite that fact however (if you look back to my first post), Mariya simply explains how he usually is.
, found Mizuho slightly a bit suspicious, yet later, when Mizuho is elected as "Elder" (basically a girl with that title is referred to as "oneesama"), things start to change pretty quickly. In episode 9 if I recall, Takako slowly starts to open herself to Mizuho a bit, but it's when it gets to the eleventh episode where the cat is out of the bag, leaving Takako in shock. Despite that fact however (if you look back to my first post), Mariya simply explains how he usually is.
The president of the Student Body - Seito Kaichou. It's kind of...ambiguous, I suppose to simply say the president of Seiou.
Whom I despise? That's right, I'm disregarding the rule of using neuter pronouns for characters in analysis. Am I supposed to treat the characters I have gotten attached to and loved or even hated as neuters? How dare those English language rulemakers. (i.e. "The character that" is correct, not "The character who")
By the end I found some joy in watching Takako - thus I retract such a statement and lessen my dislike. Heck, there seems a stronger connection between her and Mizuho than anyone else. Of course, being based on a game in which there are likely multiple endings, Mizuho "did" what would make Takako get closer to him than anyone else. Like me focusing all my kindnesses on Arietta from Growlanser, of course without neglecting the happiness of the other characters (as is shown by Mizuho's kindness to all), and thus what came from it is Wein (pronounced Wayne) getting Arietta's ending. That means if the makers of the anime had made a storyline in which Shion was the targeted ending, it would seem like only Shion was made for Mizuho. Such is the "reality" of simulation games.
By the way, I don't even recall saying I despised her (mainly because I never say "despise") - I do remember saying I don't like her though; and I may have said "hate," but the word "despise" is much stronger than "hate." And I don't feel such a strong emotion for an anime character I don't know much about.
Whom I despise? That's right, I'm disregarding the rule of using neuter pronouns for characters in analysis. Am I supposed to treat the characters I have gotten attached to and loved or even hated as neuters? How dare those English language rulemakers. (i.e. "The character that" is correct, not "The character who")
By the end I found some joy in watching Takako - thus I retract such a statement and lessen my dislike. Heck, there seems a stronger connection between her and Mizuho than anyone else. Of course, being based on a game in which there are likely multiple endings, Mizuho "did" what would make Takako get closer to him than anyone else. Like me focusing all my kindnesses on Arietta from Growlanser, of course without neglecting the happiness of the other characters (as is shown by Mizuho's kindness to all), and thus what came from it is Wein (pronounced Wayne) getting Arietta's ending. That means if the makers of the anime had made a storyline in which Shion was the targeted ending, it would seem like only Shion was made for Mizuho. Such is the "reality" of simulation games.
By the way, I don't even recall saying I despised her (mainly because I never say "despise") - I do remember saying I don't like her though; and I may have said "hate," but the word "despise" is much stronger than "hate." And I don't feel such a strong emotion for an anime character I don't know much about.
Heh...ok. So maybe I do need to work on a bit with my wording.
Anyway...a really good example of humor in this series (which still happens to be one of my favorite types) is the usual "being surprised suddenly and talking quickly" reaction. This part was used somewhat in episode 10 of the series when Mizuho was going with Shion to the library to return some books. Upon arriving, when Mizuho saw Takako working on some posters to put up, she suddenly not only becomes surprised but acted a bit funny as well when dropping the rolled up posters she was holding.
(There are certain parts in this anime that remind me of old classic times (basically reactions) from certain anime series and old cartoons).
As for those that speak fast (only one that does is Ichiko (who is actually a ghost))...there is also another part in which Takako speaks quite quickly when Mizuho mentions the word "yuuri" (or was it spelt yuurei?) which means "ghost".
Anyway...a really good example of humor in this series (which still happens to be one of my favorite types) is the usual "being surprised suddenly and talking quickly" reaction. This part was used somewhat in episode 10 of the series when Mizuho was going with Shion to the library to return some books. Upon arriving, when Mizuho saw Takako working on some posters to put up, she suddenly not only becomes surprised but acted a bit funny as well when dropping the rolled up posters she was holding.
(There are certain parts in this anime that remind me of old classic times (basically reactions) from certain anime series and old cartoons).
As for those that speak fast (only one that does is Ichiko (who is actually a ghost))...there is also another part in which Takako speaks quite quickly when Mizuho mentions the word "yuuri" (or was it spelt yuurei?) which means "ghost".
...did you not have school today or something?
It's "yuurei." The best indicator is that the Japanese actually tend not to say the diphthong "ei," but rather a long "e," so it would have sounded like "yuuree."
It's "yuurei." The best indicator is that the Japanese actually tend not to say the diphthong "ei," but rather a long "e," so it would have sounded like "yuuree."
My little brother was supposed to, but I don't.
In regards to this series, I've finally managed to download the OST to the series.
Here's the link:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/zv5i6l
And the link to the list of tracks. I've checked it on this website:
http://my-animedaisuki.blogspot.com/search...ni%20Koishiteru
Some of the bgm's are ok in my opinion...but my most favorite is track 25. Last Elegy
Here's the link:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/zv5i6l
And the link to the list of tracks. I've checked it on this website:
http://my-animedaisuki.blogspot.com/search...ni%20Koishiteru
Some of the bgm's are ok in my opinion...but my most favorite is track 25. Last Elegy
o.o; This sounds like an anime I'd like to see. I wonder why I haven't heard of it already. >.> <.< >.<
QUOTE(Yuki Fukurou @ Feb 12 2007, 01:08 PM) 
As for those that speak fast (only one that does is Ichiko (who is actually a ghost))...there is also another part in which Takako speaks quite quickly when Mizuho mentions the word "yuuri" (or was it spelt yuurei?) which means "ghost".
Wait a second...I just noticed you already spelt it correctly in your first post *points to quote below*! Ah, how quickly humans forget. *sweatdrops*
QUOTE(Yuki Fukurou @ Jan 27 2007, 11:32 PM)
and Ichiko (a "ghost" (yuurei in Japanese) that resides in Mizuho's room (which originally was also his mother's room)).
QUOTE(Batou @ Feb 18 2007, 05:08 PM)
Maybe she's actually a Shimeru?
Well, I just looked up what a "Shimeru" is...perhaps, and perhaps not. A few scenes evidence that he is in fact biologically male...but that pales in comparison to the numerous scenes in which he is female behavior-wise. Regardless of his biological gender, he appears to have been female transgendered, even before his "sex change" performed by Mariya and lessons of the "female way" under Shion.
The biggest obstacles to determining his psychological gender are his actions in the anime rendition (taken as an independent entity with the minimal romance it has) and the original visual novel. A firm masculine probably would not willingly undertake lessons in how to be a girl, no matter how much his life and survival depended on it. Even if he did complete such "lessons," unless he was willing to some degree to discard part of his masculinity, he would not pull off his female act with such flawlessness as does Mizuho. How many people can fool an entire high school of girls who would know when something is not "feminine" into thinking they're really female? Only a few times did he make a mistake by showing his male physical build, and even then the girls thought that "she" was merely unusually athletic for a girl, increasing his popularity. This in some way supports my conclusion that Mizuho is psychologically female and that there was less surprise in attending Seiou than was portrayed.
On the other hand, the visual novel is classified as an H-game. With only one male and a host of female characters, it's implied that there is a romance to be had between Mizuho, the "male" and one of the female characters. From a number of images I've scene from the game, there is intimate involvement between Mizuho and the female characters, meaning there is still psychological acceptance of his biological gender and a bending of his will to male hormones. One may ask "Well, what if he's acting like he's "homosexual"?" I don't want to go there, and the reason should be obvious.
Mizuho then has feminine and masculine characteristics. He's probably more willing than would appear to be a girl than not. But intimacy with the girls in a way that still suggests a heterosexual relationship (the key is suggest. I have no proof that he acted as a male in these scenes - to protect himself, he probably didn't) dictates he still has his male identity. Would it be more appropriate, then, to call him androgynous and not psychologically male or female?
Well, I haven't formally studied psychology and don't claim to be well-versed in psychological studies so I can only look at this in my opinion. I don't think it's possible for anyone to be purely "feminine" or purely "masculine," so of course Mizuho must still have masculine traits, but the feminine and masculine traits simply don't seem to balance each other and his feminine side seems to govern his actions, as if they were something even more than natural to him. This degree of naturality of his actions would suggest to me that Mizuho may be biologically male, but psychologically female.
QUOTE(Docs Fox @ Feb 18 2007, 11:37 PM)
o.o; This sounds like an anime I'd like to see. I wonder why I haven't heard of it already. >.> <.< >.<
If I hadn't heard of this anime from a journal, I would never have heard of it, I don't think. Its nature as an anime based on an H-game may have pushed it even lower in "publicity," so yeah. But now that you know about it, go watch it. ^^
I watched 4 episodes last night. lol I'm addicted.
Man, I remember when I started watching and there were only two episodes out...x.x
Glad you're enjoying it. ^^;
Glad you're enjoying it. ^^;
QUOTE
That I think is nonsense.
Yeah, after thinking back on it a number of times throughout yesterday, quite a bit of that thing was nonsense.
QUOTE
Heck, you were sent a dress because you came off as a female on forums weren't you? You should have the basic figured out better then someone who's purely looking at it from the inherent mechanics. ... Being able to play a good female doesn't necessarily insure the person actually has gender identity issues.
Now, actually that occurence was before I discovered the internet, but anyway...
Just wow. Indeed, I totally overlooked that. *shot*
QUOTE
It looks to me like that guys writing the game basically were sitting around a table, intoxicated, trying to figure out a new story idea and the conversation went something like this: (etc.)
I really don't doubt that. Inspiration through inebriation...too much of that circulates...
Hmmm...lets see...4 episodes a night = me finishing the anime in 3 day. xD
Now now, I enjoyed the anime quite a bit, but that's not to say there was a good plot involved. For me this was one of those cute 'distraction' shows that makes you smile for little while, and it wouldn't have been able to do that without all its cute characters.
As for Mizuho being a boy, it really wouldn't have changed anything if he was just girl from the start. He acted so much like a girl and didn't have any problems fitting in at all. Also, we never saw his face when he was a male. So what was the point of saying he was a boy? Maybe its like Batou said, and just a way to get more ratings.
But in any case, this cured my disappointments from the ending of Strawberry Panic! and made me smile. =P
Now now, I enjoyed the anime quite a bit, but that's not to say there was a good plot involved. For me this was one of those cute 'distraction' shows that makes you smile for little while, and it wouldn't have been able to do that without all its cute characters.
As for Mizuho being a boy, it really wouldn't have changed anything if he was just girl from the start. He acted so much like a girl and didn't have any problems fitting in at all. Also, we never saw his face when he was a male. So what was the point of saying he was a boy? Maybe its like Batou said, and just a way to get more ratings.
But in any case, this cured my disappointments from the ending of Strawberry Panic! and made me smile. =P
All this cross-dressing stuff makes me think of a manga I just finished reading called W Juliet...
It's about this guy who dresses up as a girl at this one high school (forgot the name), 'cuz he made a deal with his Dad, that if he could get through graduation (2 years 'till, I think) having everyone believe that he was a girl, he wouldn't force him to manage the dojo they run, and he could choose whatever lifestyle he wanted (which is to be an actor)--but on the one condition that no one finds out he's a guy. However, one of the girls in the class who coincidentally dresses like a guy (extreme tomboy type) finds out his true identity (pretty quickly, too--but on accident, otherwise she prolly woulda never known). But after hearing his situation, she promises to keep it a secret, and they become allies to get him through high school. It's a pretty cool series. They're both in the drama club, and of course end up falling in love with each other, and then there are so many problems and stuff they have to work through, but it all works out in the end. All in all--pretty cool series.
It's about this guy who dresses up as a girl at this one high school (forgot the name), 'cuz he made a deal with his Dad, that if he could get through graduation (2 years 'till, I think) having everyone believe that he was a girl, he wouldn't force him to manage the dojo they run, and he could choose whatever lifestyle he wanted (which is to be an actor)--but on the one condition that no one finds out he's a guy. However, one of the girls in the class who coincidentally dresses like a guy (extreme tomboy type) finds out his true identity (pretty quickly, too--but on accident, otherwise she prolly woulda never known). But after hearing his situation, she promises to keep it a secret, and they become allies to get him through high school. It's a pretty cool series. They're both in the drama club, and of course end up falling in love with each other, and then there are so many problems and stuff they have to work through, but it all works out in the end. All in all--pretty cool series.
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