Year In Review: N-Squared List
Just like last year, I guess some things have not changed. This could be a reference.
Healing: Kimi ni Todoke, Cross Game, Kämpfer
I remember one of the jokes from Kampfer was Mamiko Noto’s healing voice. Is that the first adjective that comes to your mind when you think about what is remarkable about Mamiko Noto’s voice?
And if anything, that’s the one and primary reason why I am still watching Kimi ni Todoke. I think one thing I find totally fascinating about anime generally (as opposed to manga) is that there are people, putting on voices, in an attempt to act. And sometimes, the acting is one of the best thing about a show. It can also be the worse thing, or the most interesting thing (eg., Kampfer). It’s something that adds an entire dimension to the overall work.
The basic idea about Kimi ni Todoke is that it’s a shoujo manga adaptation transformed into an healing anime. You know, it’s an iyashikei anime. So when the protagonist is played by someone known for her healing properties or whatever, I don’t think they can go wrong. It also satisfies one of the three rules when it comes to shoujo manga adaptations that I follow:
- The protagonist’s acting cannot be irritating
- It has to have important elements of humor
- It has to have a brisk pace
Of course, I don’t really think humor is Kimi ni Todoke’s forte, although it is humorous at times. Nor is it proceeding in a brisk manner–so far each episode advances by an average of 5 major scenes or so (napkin mental math here), which is not fast but not too slow. Although the bathroom scene in the latest episode took up nearly the whole run time, it’s somewhat of an emotional climax so it is forgivable.
