07-Ghost, episode 1

Coming to the rescue of any otaku who felt that there was a distinct lack of effeminate and angstful anime pretty boys staring deeply into each other's eyes, 07-Ghost has all the breathy-voiced bishis and baroque costume and set design one would expect. It's also about as boring as expected.

It covers the checklist:

• a brooding, amnesiac hero
• an overly chipper best friend who is always trying to get him to open up emotionally
• a doting mentor
• mysterious powers (though the show doesn't put any effort into demonstrating them, it just cuts to the chase and has another friend say that the hero is "special")
• a beautiful asshole who walks into the show and drives the hero into a rage, only to end up in power over him

The slash-fic almost writes itself, especially in the scene where the perfectly platonic friend insists on sleeping with the hero because it's going to be their last night together.


There's also some plot about a war between nations, lost members of a royal family, wanting to get revenge for a half-remembered and murdered father, but none of it really matters when the show is really only interested in having beautiful boys fling CGI magic attacks at each other. It's a Dragonball knock-off for the ladies who don't want to admit they'd rather just be watching straight-up yaoi.

The only saving grace at all are the mechanical designs, which are somewhat interesting in their baroque extravagance, but the airships only show up briefly in the first episode and certainly aren't compelling enough to justify attention.


Only recommended for slash-fic writers who simply can't come up with any interesting pairing of their own.

Based on one episode : ANN : Wikipedia

Hatenkou Yuugi

I tried to give it another chance (the fun banter between the leads lured me back) but the episodes simply continue to get worse. Predictable, trite plots made worse by ridiculous scripts intent on saying instead of showing just make it unbearable despite often very fun chemistry and bishonen boys who are just so ridiculously over the top it's impossible not to laugh at them.

So I'm done. Not recommended to anyone, unfortunately.

based on 4 episodes : ANN : Wikipedia : YouTube : Crunchyroll

Hatenko Yugi, episode 3

It's not entirely clear what's going on in this show. Rahzel is kicked out of her house with just a blind-folded teddy bear and a command to "see the world." She comes across an oh-so-myseriously-sexy albino-with-issues (and a gun) named Alzeido. They go on random adventures together (inexplicably joined by the playboy Baroqueheat) and learn the value of friendship and true love. Or something. Also, she has vague magic powers that seem to involve shooting generic energy blasts and the playboy can turn his hand into a... sword... thing. And don't worry about keeping any sense of time or space or tension during the fights, 'cause there is none.

It's got all the classic shoujo elements: a cheerful heroine, a silent-but-sexy type, and an overly affectionate hunk. The meandering "plot" and the lack of any distinct setting, per se, makes it difficult to follow - as do the stilted and heavy-handed references to Mysterious Pasts for both the bishis - but the actual dialogue was surprisingly sharp enough for me to give it a little time to develop. Our heroine isn't a swooning ditz, she's a reasonable bad-ass in her own right and her exchanges with both her gigolos are surprisingly entertaining. She's got a sharp tongue and so do they. Perhaps even more importantly, they don't insist on continually denying obvious feelings for each other. While they all certainly enjoy putting on the act that they don't care about each other, they all ultimately admit it and that gives Hatenko Yugi a leg up on my female harem shows.

Unfortunately, that's not really enough to overcome the show's central flaws. The hunks (and even Rahzel herself) are set up with intensely dramatic, mysterious and tragic backstories and we know this because we are told so. Flat out. Repeatedly. Usually by Rahzel herself. The accompanying heavy-handed metaphors drag whatever episodic plot they're foisted upon, giving everything a childish feeling at odds with the often dark and brutal subject matter. The undeniable gravitas is just shoved down the viewer's throat. It's possible it might have worked with some kind of central plot to hang on to, but instead it all collapses under its own meandering weight.

It's a shame, as I wouldn't have minded seeing more of Rahzel bickering with her man-whores. Fans of shoujo with a high tolerance for "Isn't that tragic?" who are looking for something a little different will probably find something to enjoy here, but everyone else can probably give it a pass. It could develop into something good, but with the level of storytelling presented thus far, it'll likely come at a high price.

based on 3 episodes : ANN : Wikipedia : YouTube