Wednesday
Oct072009
Sora no Manimani Series (almost) Wrap-up - Come for the Astronomy, Stay for the Story
Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 12:00PM
I have noticed a trend in both anime story pacing and my attention span. You usually will get 2 or 3 introductory episodes, some filler, then an ending arc. And after those first episodes, my attention takes a nose dive. This was the case with Sora no Manimani, which I dropped after episode 4. But thanks to the astronmy club theme, I revisited it this week, powered through a few episode, and found myself devouring the latest 5 episodes in one sitting. What I discovered as I reveled in the astronomy club flashbacks (which are frightningly similar to my own, minus the love interests) was that there was a decent story and some lovable characters buried in this quirky show.
Up front, this show does suffer from Main Characteritice, where the central character is actually the weakest, but the story is bolstered by the cast (see Suzumiya, Haruhi). Mihoshi is eternally happy despite the tragedy in her life, and only ONCE in the first 11 episodes do we see a real chink in that facade. Saku just kind of wanders through the show as things happen to him. It's a common male anime character trait, but none the less annoying.
Yes, she's a Muppet
That leaves the rest of the cast to carry the show, which they do with gusto. Starting from the bottom up, Sayo is underwritten and underutilized, but maintains the adhesion of the group thanks to being the one person who knows everything from the beginning. I was hoping the story would focus on her at some point, but it appears not to be.
Oh, the potential
The President takes a bit to get going, but he develops into a strong personality despite the weak body. Heck, he even seems to be the one guy who gets a girl out of all this.
Dawg is a playa, what can we say?
Hime and Edogawa are played a lot for comic relief, but Hime especially develops as a fleshed out character, and not just the foil for the main character. She tugs on my heart strings for the simple reason that she develops into a full fledged member of the Astronomy Club after joining simple to stick near Saku. It doesn't hurt that the comic relief is actually funny too.
what you lookin' at?
Fumei is the most interesting of all. She is set up as the foil to Mihoshi, both in school activities and in romantic interests (if I believed Mihoshi had any). Over time, she is fleshed out as a character, shown to be a real leader and friend of Mihoshi's. As is usually the case with my favorite characters, I'm sure she'll be completely forgotten by the end of the series.
Get out there!
One episode remains for Manimani, the season finale. Once I find it translated, I'll be back to see if it changes these conclusions any.
Up front, this show does suffer from Main Characteritice, where the central character is actually the weakest, but the story is bolstered by the cast (see Suzumiya, Haruhi). Mihoshi is eternally happy despite the tragedy in her life, and only ONCE in the first 11 episodes do we see a real chink in that facade. Saku just kind of wanders through the show as things happen to him. It's a common male anime character trait, but none the less annoying.
Yes, she's a Muppet
That leaves the rest of the cast to carry the show, which they do with gusto. Starting from the bottom up, Sayo is underwritten and underutilized, but maintains the adhesion of the group thanks to being the one person who knows everything from the beginning. I was hoping the story would focus on her at some point, but it appears not to be.
Oh, the potential
The President takes a bit to get going, but he develops into a strong personality despite the weak body. Heck, he even seems to be the one guy who gets a girl out of all this.
Dawg is a playa, what can we say?
Hime and Edogawa are played a lot for comic relief, but Hime especially develops as a fleshed out character, and not just the foil for the main character. She tugs on my heart strings for the simple reason that she develops into a full fledged member of the Astronomy Club after joining simple to stick near Saku. It doesn't hurt that the comic relief is actually funny too.
what you lookin' at?
Fumei is the most interesting of all. She is set up as the foil to Mihoshi, both in school activities and in romantic interests (if I believed Mihoshi had any). Over time, she is fleshed out as a character, shown to be a real leader and friend of Mihoshi's. As is usually the case with my favorite characters, I'm sure she'll be completely forgotten by the end of the series.
Get out there!
One episode remains for Manimani, the season finale. Once I find it translated, I'll be back to see if it changes these conclusions any.
Reader Comments (1)
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