Completed: Otome Yokai Zakuro

or as NISA titled it... Zakuro.

this is my second time watching it.... i must have finished it just before i started writing these little blurbs hm.... Thing is i barely remember it from the first time watching it.... yet i gave it a 10 on My Anime List....
And i still can't figure out why i did that....

The show is good.... I like it but a 10? thats reserved for things like Natsume yuujinchou and Kuroko's basketball and Clannad..... not this.

ok.... so...

The plot is fairly simple.
It's around the turn of the century (Meiji Era i think?) Japan has just opened it's borders and is trying to accept the new influx of western culture...Though not everyone is happy about this.... for example the main character hates the western culture and it's Spirit hating attitude.... because she and her companions are all half spirits. Anyways their boss, a full fox spirit feels that they need to work together with the army to solve cases involving things that are supernatural.
Enter the eye candy.
We have Riken, the tall quiet type that looks scary but is fairly gentle, he pairs up with Susukihotaru who's main ability is being able to sense emotions of objects or people by touch. She's a little cowardly herself but she always tries hard.
then Ganryuu who has a baby face but continues to act tough. he gets the twin girls Bonbori and Hozuki who can finish each others sentences and are always fighting over the attention of the boy.
and finally Agemaki, the blond who is terrified of anything supernatural... that should make things interesting. he of course gets paired with Zakuro who just finds him a worthless person.... despite the handsom.

and then yeah the show just becomes about findingout more about the characters and eventually finding out more about Zakuro's past and why she is considered special among half spirits.

The good: 
Damn this show is pretty, like really really pretty... it just has such nice art direction and everything flows nicely... also the character designs are really really nice

The intro song is good, maybe i'm just a sucker for techno but i really like it.

Depending on who was the focus of the episode you get different ending songs.... i duno i always smile when they do this... granted i'm not a huge fan of any of them.... they are good and have gorgeous art to look at but the songs are just kinda.... bleh?

The story overall is cute and sweet and everyone has an ark. the ending is also pretty good and they leave it up for a second season.... but i don't think it'll get one any time soon... who knows

All the characters, despite their gender are strong and that is really refreshing.... yes the girls fight with singing but they also fight with a sword.... yes the men get saved a lot but thats only because they don't know how to handle the spirits they are up against... they still manage to be integral parts of the team.

The not so good: 
.... it's all.... kinda pointless... i mean we see the characters develop but i want to know more about their past... specifically susukihotaru, riken and ganryuu.... they get no backstory... i assume they do in the manga but i haven't read it so i am left wanting more..... they did leave it open for a second season but for a show like this they shouldn't have counted on that fact because it most likely not going to happen.

They all fall in love super fast.... Susukihotaru's being the most sincere and the cutest while zakuro is the most irritating only because of her fickleness... and her tsundere tendencies..... granted i'm getting a little tired of the Tsundere character type only because so many probably could be fixed if you just talk it out and it's frustrating to watch.

In fact the main plot point for the antagonist.... could easily be talked out... things didn't need to go the way they went.

The bad: 
Forgettable.... yes i watched it while i was fighting a fever but again i'm forgetting all the small details... i just don't care.... which is funny cause i really really enjoyed rewatching it...

 do i reccomend it....
...
i'm not sure.... agian i really like it and i don't begrudge the purcase cause it came with kickass art cards and a really pretty box... but i don't know if it's the type of show that has wide spread appeal...
so if your curious go to crunchyroll: http://www.crunchyroll.com/otome-yokai-zakuro watch a few episodes.... it's free and completely legal... if you like it watch the rest and maybe even buy the dvd to support NISA so they license more stuff and make more pretty boxsets. if you don't like it at least you gave it a shot and it cost you nothing.

alright time to change my MAL score on this to something more reasonable... and hopefully the other NISA box set i got starts working on my dvd player. i htink it's dying but i hope it waits a while before it finally kicks the bucket.... i dont hav the time to go buy a new one *sobs*