Apologies for the late entry, but for some reason the raws took an unnaturally long time to show up n Share. I don’t like it, but it seems that even in Japan, this show isn’t that much viewed. I can imagine that Emily would be a hard character to swallow in a culture so often polite.
In any case, in this episode, Emily gets into a fight with Ilse, and it exactly shows the reason why I like this show so much. In most anime, the serious fights like this one almost always lead to some kind of worst-case scenario, or it at least takes till the final episodes before it gets resolved, but in this show, it just brings the different characters closer together. Another charm of this show is that even though there may be the better and worse episode, for episode I just know that it will give me a warm feeling during watching. Compare that to other series, where it’s always a question whether an episode will feature some amazing plot twists, or just spends its time building up. I suspect that Aria is another one of these kinds of series? (*note to self: watch it someday*)
By the way, one thing that surprised me was the fact that Teddy did spend most of the winter with his mother, inside the house. It’s not really put in the spotlights, but his mother does remain overprotective, and the only reason why he was probably allowed to go to the beach this episode was because he never really went out much during the winter. I think that’s the only really bad point of this series: Emily is an excellent character, but I want to see the other characters stand in the spotlights as well.]]>
Category: Finished Series: Slice of Life/Drama
Les Miserables – Shoujo Cosette – 26
Well, if this isn’t building up, then I don’t know anymore. Seriously, this episode gives a new meaning to the phrase “nothing happens”. Through the course of the episode, the characters keep getting chances to meet each other, and they keep missing these chances. The Thenardiers have buggered off for the episode, and even Eponine has only two seconds of airtime! Basically, the entire episode was about Cosette, nearly missing a reunion with Marius, and Gavroche actually seeing Jean and Cosette pass out bread to the hungry children, but not RECOGNIZING them.
Les Miserables is probably the only anime nowadays to come with such an episode. The events mentioned above may not have been the most exciting, but something tells me that they’re building up for something amazing. I actually expected the series to come with some kind of major climax in episode 26, but apparently the creators have different ideas.
Still, luckily there were more events going on than just that, which made this episode worthwhile. We get introduced to a huge wooden elephant, which has been discarded since Napoleon buggered off. Gavroche decides to make it his home-base, and the amis also seem to have plans with it. Gavroche really shows that he’s a son of the Tnenardiers, by the way. He may have been raised by Cosette, but the past few episodes have shown that he is very good in getting things without any money. But because he spent a lot of time with Cosette, he learned to care for his companions, or the other street-children.
Jean and Cosette also had each an important scene. Cosette, for the first time, starts to doubt Jean, because he refuses to go back to the park. This makes her think back of the time when he had to flee for Javert, and she also starts to wonder whether the reason for Fauche-les-Vent to change his name (Fauche-les-Vent apparently was fake) was because he was some kind of criminal. She forgets this immediately, but it’s quite an important event for the future, if I had to guess. Meanwhile, Jean, while outside with Cosette, sees a parade of policemen, transporting a carriage of some miserable-looking prisoners. They make him think back at the time he spent in prison, and he reckons that if he gets caught again, he’ll probably die in prison.
Like I said, if this isn’t building up, then I don’t know anymore.]]>
Kaze no Shoujo Emily – 13
As a Christmas-episode, it was clear that this episode again would become a success, and I couldn’t help but love this episode. Kaze no Shoujo always manages to give me a warm feeling after every episode, and its characters remain some of the most touching of the entire season. In other words, this series is awesomeness.
I liked how, even though this was a Christmas-episode, the episode itself didn’t try to be something more than it was. It focused this time developing Elizabeth’s and Emily’s relationship even more, and made use of the Christmas-party that was held at the New Moon. It seems that Elizabeth has become stricter after the past few episodes, and even though she likes Emily, she stil tries to learn her a few lessons. I’m especially surprised at how much she seems to disapprove of Emily skating. Of course, it is dangerous and all for her, but for her to be this much against it, I wonder whether she speaks from experience…
In any case, Emily seems to screw up and breaks a bunch of promises, so as a result, Elizabeth doesn’t let her join the party and she spends the evening in her room, until Jimmy brings her a bit of food. She then even went as far as believing that Elizabeth believes that she doesn’t belong to the family. A woman then discovers her and the tears in her eyes (she had been crying for quite a while now). Usually in similar cases, the adult would cut the child some slack, but Elizabeth really intended to keep Emily away from the party as punishment. The woman really needs to bring Emily downstairs and confront Elizabeth with how she treated the poor girl, and even went as far as offering to take care of her. Elizabeth then really had to show some mercy to Emily, and the results were really touching.
Oh, and Emily and Ilse looked awesome in their formal dresses. I love it when anime spend attention to clothing like that, and don’t end up giving the same outfit to a character for every episode (which is another reason I tend to dislike school uniforms. Everyone now looks the same). This definitely is one of my favourite series to have aired in the spring-season!]]>
Les Miserables – Shoujo Cosette – 25
Just like Toward the Terra, Les Miserables is in dire need of a new OP and ED. It feels weird to see the characters still in their child-forms. ^^; Still, I suspect that either with episode 26 or 27, we’ll get a new one. Speaking of which, I wonder what the creators have in store for us to close off the first half of this series. Now that I think of it, I have reason to believe that the current episode was slowly paced on purpose, in order to save a big event for episode 26. After all, it seems that Eponine will be breaking into the house in the next episode, and something tells me that something’s going to happen to her.
This episode, meanwhile, slowly spends its time developing the relationships between Jean, Cosette, Marius and Eponine, yet again we see how the events of seven years ago still haunt Cosette and Jean. I didn’t realize it, but Jean continuously stayed with Cosette up to this episode. This episode, we see him go out and buy a present for her, and she immediately begins to feel lonely again. Jean, meanwhile, learns a bit more about Cosette’s feelings, as it seems he’s been quite oblivious to them. Javert also still is heavily on his mind, since he actually moved out when he suspected Marius to be a spy of the police!
I’m also curious at the amount of money that Jean possesses. Obviously, it’s a lot, but it’ll have to run out someday. Especially when they’re living in such an expensive building with an expensive dinner every night, I really wonder how much money he still has left. I’m looking forward to the next half of the series, and I can’t wait to see for the fourth arc to arrive. Right now, the anime is still building up, but based on the things I’ve heard about the second half, I can’t wait to see how Cosette and Jean will turn out.]]>
Kaze no Shoujo Emily – 12
Seriously, it’s going to be extremely difficult choosing a number one for my upcoming June summary. This episode was once again excellent, and really heart-warming. One thing’s for sure, though: Kaze no Shoujo Emily definitely is the best slice-of-life series of the season and I urge every slice-of-life fan to check this series out as soon as it gets subbed. Seriously, why are shows like these unpopular with the fansubbers?
When it comes to feel-good humour, Kaze no Shoujo does a much better job than Lucky Star, in my opinion and on top of that it provides some excellent drama. This episode focuses on Emily’s relationship with Jimmy, and her poetic character causes some misunderstandings again. Jimmy shows her the local newspaper where every week a different poem from a reader gets featured, and he urges Emily to enter as well. Obviously, the poem wouldn’t make it, but Emily spends lots of time, fantasizing about what would happen once her poem appeared in the newspaper.
It’s strange. Usually when we see people fantasize it gets annoying. People fantasize about ridiculous things as a means of comic relief, but with Emily, it’s really a part of her character, and therefore very well developed, resulting in me, loving these scenes. Things get even better when Jimmy tries to prevent Emily from finding out that her poem didn’t make it, by buying up all of the newspapers from the local store.
Jimmy really was adorable. He seems to really enjoy seeing the energetic Emily happy, and every time he saw her enthusiasm, we saw him with a smile on his face.
Another thing I love about this series is how it takes place in Canada. The thing with anime is that most of the series just take place in Japan, while it’s fascinating to see other cultures portrayed. That’s why I usually dismiss anime that have Japanese high-schools as their setting: it’s been done so often, what can possibly be added by the umpth series focusing on it? The Canadian setting of Kaze no Shoujo therefore is really appreciated, and the difference is really noticeable. This episode introduced the winter-clothing of the different characters, and it may be me, but I never saw such outfits in Japan before. That’s probably because the winters in Canada are so much colder than those in Japan.]]>
Les Miserables – Shoujo Cosette – 24
Ah, the first steps have been made towards Cosette and Marius’s relationship: in this episode, the two see each other for the first time, and it’s as if cupid himself interfered, as they both start to notice each other at that point. I suspect that in the next episode, they’ll be able to talk to each other, because due to Marius’s shyness, all they did for the entire episode was stare at each other. Now all that’s left is to wait and see how their relationship turns out.
In anime, love relationships can either strengthen an anime, or completely ruin it, depending on the amount of development put in both the characters and their relationship. That’s why I’ve got a lot of faith in this one, as there is no other anime, aired in 2007 that has better character-development than Les Miserables.
Another major part of the episode focused on the poverty in Paris, and I suspect that it’s a sign of things to come. Jean may have a lot of money, but it doesn’t seem that he has some sort of job, and the money will run out someday. In this episode, we see Jean and Cosette pass out a bunch of breads to a group of children, and only then it becomes apparent how much they’re suffering, and how much they’re longing for a loaf of bread. It seems that Cosette has adopted the need to save others from the years she spent with Jean. It’s also interesting to note that Gavroche also ended up with these children, but he actually tries to do something about this situation, like stealing a bunch of vegetables from merchants. It’ll be interesting to see how he’ll end up if he goes on like this.
Still, my favourite character remains Eponine. She really reminds me of Atori from Noein, who first started out as a nasty person as well, but then suddenly made a huge personality-shift. She’s also going to get it tough in the next episode, when it seems that Thenardier plans to use her and Azelma to scout for a dirty job that he’s got in mind. Something tells me that that isn’t going to end in her favour.]]>
Kaze no Shoujo Emily – 11
Fans of Kaze no Shoujo Emily will rejoice with this episode: it’s all about Perry this time. Finally he gets a fair amount of development, and I must say that the result was awesome. This series just continues to surprise me with its characters, as they turn more likable with every episode progressing. It’s an incredible shame that not even ONE episode has been subbed yet.
In any case, Perry has troubles with his family as well, just like Emily and Teddy. We already knew that he’s from a poor family, but with this episode, it becomes clear that he lives together with his grandmother, which suggests that his parents both died. The reason he works on the New Moon farm is to get enough money for the both of them to survive. The problem though is that Perry’s grandmother doesn’t approve of him going to school and studying.
That, however, changes with this episode, when Perry gets even more motivation to study than he already had. It starts when Emily gives him a book about Abraham Lincoln, who immediately becomes Perry’s hero and source of determination. He wants to be like Lincoln, no matter what. Then it seems that the new teacher decides to host a speech contest: talk about your dreams to a considerable audience. With this, Emily and Ilse immediately think of entering Perry as well.
Perry really was amazing in this episode. Even though he only recently learned to read and write and despite his financial situation, he continues to work hard at both his job in the farm and his speech. His determination for his goals was great to watch. All goes well, until his grandmother becomes sick because she went out in a storm when she worried about Perry. Because of this, he spent the Speech contest taking care of her, so Emily won in the end. In the end, though, his grandmother allows him to go to school as well, after which Perry makes an interesting confession about planning to propose to Emily once his dreams have been reached. ^^;
I’m more excited about this show than ever, now that it has started to seriously develop its side-characters. I really can’t wait till Ilse and Teddy also get their own episode, and it’ll be great to see Teddy develop. I also wonder if Lola will be getting any serious role in the future. We now know that she comes from an important family, and her little screw-up was quite funny, but I’d love to see her character developed as well.]]>
Les Miserables – Shoujo Cosette – 23
In this episode, Cosette and Jean move in to a neat apartment somewhere in Paris, but who cares! Eponine is back!!
Seriously though, for Jean and Cosette, the entire episode was just an introduction with nothing special. What happened when the two of them were out of the picture was interesting. Marius is really having trouble surviving on his own, and his job as a translator isn’t earning enough to pay for his current room. His friend then shows him to the cheapest area of the city, and he finds a room for only two franc a month/week.
Doesn’t that ring a bell somewhere? ^^;
Of course, it makes perfect sense for the Thenardiers to also be in the same place, since their money is gone and they do have a knack for finding the cheapest way possible. We finally get to see Eponine and Azelma grown up, and I have to say that Eponine was awesome. I never really stood still by it, but the fact remains that Cosette has been gone for nine years now, and someone had to take over her role. I guess that that someone was Eponine. Especially now that she’s grown up, and the Thenardiers don’t have the money to treat her like a princess anymore, she suddenly gets treated extremely harsh.
It also seems that the future episodes are going to work on a love-triangle between Cosette, Eponine and Marius. While most love-triangle are rather obnoxious, due to the fact that they just are horribly developed, I’m pretty much confident that this’ll actually be pulled off right in Les Miserables, due to the large amount of attention it spends on developing its characters. It also makes perfect sense for Eponine to fall in love with Marius. After all, she’s treated harshly, she lives in poverty while she was used to living without too much money-worries, and here a guy lives right next to her, in a tidy suit. Obviously, she’d cling to some signs of wealth, even though Marius is extremely poor as well.
Oh, now that I think of it, there was one interesting event regarding Jean: he’s as scared of policemen as ever. Even though it’s been nine years, it would be a miracle for someone to recognize him. But indeed, for the same matter it could be Javert.]]>
Kaze no Shoujo Emily – 10
Very interesting, a Teddy/Emily episode. Finally a side-character is put alongside Emily on the spotlight again. This mostly is because of a new teacher that arrives on the Blair Water School, who has especially influence on the two of them. He’s a rather middle-aged man who encourages everyone to work on their potential. That’s something that Teddy’s mother opposes with all her power. Here again we see how overprotective she is.
Emily, again, shows how overly poetic she is when she doesn’t like the new teacher because he jokingly insults her and her poetry when he first sees her (based on information he got from the previous teacher). It takes her nearly half an episode to forgive him. ^^; I also couldn’t help but notice that Emily and Teddy were quite close in this episode. 🙂
Perry, meanwhile, continues to slowly develop each episode. We only see him for a limited amount of time in each episode, but he’s definitely growing. This time, we see him participate in a class play to illustrate the battle of Waterloo, even though he’s not supposed to be in the class. We also see him envy Emily, Ilse and Teddy for actually having education. The best he has is Jimmy, who is more of a gardening-expert than a teacher. Ilse, meanwhile spent her time in the background. She never really was that important in the episode, but she was really fun to watch, with all her different antics. :)]]>
Les Miserables – Shoujo Cosette – 22
Quite an important episode, as lots of things happen that will be important for the rest of the anime. To give a small summary, Gavroche moves to Paris, Marius couldn’t find the Thenardiers and moves in with a friend, Javert still is obsessed with catching Jean, Fauche-le-Vent dies and Jean and Cosette move out of the monastery, after having lived there for six years.
It was great to see Gavroche and Shushu back, by the way. Now that thugs are looking for the Thenardiers he needs to be careful, as they’re probably going to see him as the payments for accumulated dept. If you live in a city, it’ll become really hard to track someone down, and I suspect that he secretly wants to see Cosette again. I wonder what his role will be in the next couple of episodes, and where did the Thenardiers flee to, by the way?
It also seems that Marius won’t be forgiving his uncle anytime soon. He even wouldn’t accept any money that his aunt offered. It’ll be interesting once he meets Cosette: he’ll be looking for the people she fears most in this world. What’s also apparent in this episode is how he has to get used to having a limited amount of money. He probably lived his entire life in the luxury that his uncle provided to him, and he really looks awkward when all he has for dinner is a plate of cheap soup and a bit of bread.]]>