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Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight!
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Animation - 7.3 |
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Sound - 8.0 |
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Story - 6.7 |
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Character - 7.0 |
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Value - 7.7 |
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Enjoyment - 8.0 |
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Average - 7.4 |
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| Average |
6.8 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| The first impression I would get when i saw an anime like Manabi Straight, I was thinking, oh no, not another high-school life anime? There's so many out there already, but why is the rating on ANN quite good for this anime? with Majority saying it's Very Good & a favourable number of "Excellents"... Thus, I decided to give it a try, hoping that i would too be able to see why Manabi Straight could be so good?
Firstly, the Animation is pretty well done. Very Cutesy but well done Character Designs, the backgrounds and sceneries are really nicely done too. Ranging from artistic wet-paintbrush styles to really detailed backgrounds, it really fits the overall relaxing mood that Manabi Straight tries to achieve, and it's all well done being manipulated to the appropriate atmospheres. =)
The music is pretty nice too... Nice theme songs, but especially enjoyed the inserts which were sung by Horie Yui. =) Oh yes, the Seiyuus all did a wonderful job, which isn't surprising cause they are all at the Top of their games, with a considerably all-star cast of Horie Yui, Nanoka Ai, Hirano Aya, even Hisakawa Aya all did very decent jobs at their parts. =)
For the storyline and plot, it's really hard to do anything groundbreaking and world-changing with only 12 episodes without sacrificing good character development, so, for an anime which wanted to bring back some Fun & Excitement into lives of Students, that's EXACTLY what Manabi Straight Did, & Exactly what they Achieved... At the benefits of Not only the students, even the teachers and principals too. =)
Well, the storyline is fairly cliche, it's been done before, and nothing new nor spectacular, but the characters and good seiyuus brought enough substance to carry Manabi Straight through to become enjoyable. What mainly made this anime Great was no doubt, thanks to the new transfer student, Manami who so naturally brought life into what had seemed like the crumbling and dying life of schools...
I don't want to spoil too much, but the characters have their base personalities, which are fairly stereotypes, but when they're all brought together, the "group" is so much funner, Enjoying & savouring each and every treasurable moment of their Student-lives.
Once again, a round of applause to the seiyuus for a great job well done, Especially to Horie Yui, because she really did achieve Manabi Straight's Goals, by giving life to Manami, being so Positive, & Influential... Sometimes, i laughed at how it got on the corny side sometimes, nevertheless, she got the message through, and it's not hard to be caught in the flow, being motivated and inspired, like a fire blazing back into their hearts. =)
Because of such great seiyuus who brought such great characters to life, Manabi Straight is able to stand out from the rest & is a nice way to pass the time. =)
However, i guess this genre isn't really generally for everyone (Definitely NOT FOR YOU if you're an action freak who loves to see their guns and mechas), OR if you're a real cynic, you probably won't enjoy this anime, OR might spend most of the time laughing your head off, because everything's positive, and everyone's nice deep inside, hoping for the best, and just purely wanting happiness and satisfaction... (which is entirely laughable at if you're the kind that loves your sadistic villains. =/)
Not a ground-breaking, award-winning anime that will change your life or anything, but it's not entirely a waste of time, and worth a watch if you're looking for something fairly short and sweet, and some hope and inspiration in your life. =)
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Encu |
(2008-03-10 00:47:03) 2007-05-29 14:34:46 |
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| Average |
6.7 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| I liked this anime for the most part. Manabi develops a fairly interesting plot in its short 12 episodes, but falters towards the end as the story muddles through a period where events are not sufficiently dense to intensify the theme and make the story more exciting.
It is good, though, because Manabi Straight has plenty of moments interspersed within a unique and well portrayed futuristic setting. There's some especially funny and rather subtle comedic moments throughout that really surprised me, for example.
The characters are unfortunately somewhat flat, despite being interesting, but they work well together to retain the anime's level of interest.
It's a good little anime and at a short 12 episodes is worth watching if you're in the mood for a lightly comedic, mostly inspirational anime.
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| Average |
8.8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Wow, what a gem. I almost skipped out on watching this anime, but finally decided to give it a shot and see if it was worth watching. As is the standard for me, if I don't watch an anime right away, I either start on the second or third episode after the show has gotten under way.
Initially, checking out the first episode, I was turned off and skipped the episode to see if the animation was interesting. Well, it was a bit lacking. The characters seemed underwhelming, a group of girls that are supposed to be high schoolers looking much more like elementary students. That, and the fact that they group of girls acted much more like 11-12 year olds instead of 15-16 year olds. It certainly turned me off.
Until I went back on it to check it out after 7 episodes were out. I'm glad I gave it a chance. Though the story is altogether not too interesting, the show has a lot of life. The pacing and sound I think are used to near perfection. The show charms the viewer as the group of girls go about their ways of enjoying themselves. Make no mistake though, the life of the show is the main character. In the one episode where the main character didn't have much of a part, the show lacked it's magic. That's because it lost the unpredictable and aloof nature of the one person you're always wondering what she's going to do next.
This show probably isn't for everyone. It's somewhat similar to "High School Girls" (Joshi Kosei), in that it's a group of girls enjoying the high school life. However, it has more charm if you can overlook the character styling. Other than that, the animation quality is pretty stunning.
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