Megax’s favorite characters #1B: Not your typical chuuni

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, but my anticipation levels keep rising for next month’s airing; thus I felt writing this would help get some of that energy out. In May 2012, I translated the first Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! light novel and thought it was a cute read, but nothing I would grow immensely attached to. After a little break, I finished translating the second novel in July of that year and something kept gnawing at me. I couldn’t get someone out of my head. Throughout the last year and a half, I’ve been involved in many other franchises, but my mind keeps coming back to one character from the novels, specifically the second novel. Her name: Satone Shichimiya. This post will delve further into exactly why I like her so much and why she’s on the same level as Itsuki Koizumi in my favorites. Of course, novel 2 spoilers await.

Haruhi Suzumiya re-viewing: Melancholy I&II

Earlier this year, the Japanese cable station AT-X re-ran the entire Haruhi anime series beginning with the 28 TV episodes and ending with the movie. Today, they have begun airing the TV series again, and I thought it would be fun to tag along. Joining me on this re-viewing is Yumeka (star anime blogger) and Goggen (K-On! fan supreme). We’ll watch two episodes per week (the same that will be aired) and submit our comments on those episodes. Let’s begin with the first two: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya I/II! (ultimatemegax:Koizumi, Yumeka:Haruhi, Goggen: Mio)

Megax’s Favorite Characters #3: A Surprising addition to the Haruhi franchise

After reading through the Haruhi light novels, there is one character who has yet to be animated who has jumped up onto my favorite characters list. Since my list is for characters who have actually appeared in an anime, I can’t rank her yet so this is an “extra” analysis of her character. Let’s just say that there’ll be some competition at the top of the list (not from Koizumi though). Introduced in the ninth novel of the franchise, The Dissociation of Haruhi Suzumiya, this character won over many on both sides of the Pacific and was the most anticipated character in the new novels. I’m running out of non-spoilerish things to say, so here is a post about the girl who’s on the cover of The Astonishment of Haruhi Suzumiya (Final)!

From basics to Koizumimegax

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while, but now feels to be the best time to complete it. As my many avatars, posts, research, translations, imports, and news attest, I am a immense fan of the Haruhi Suzumiya series. But why this series? Aren’t there better series that can be used as examples of why anime is great, much less ones that would appeal to a broader audience? I’ll get back to the former and yes to the latter. I can’t deny that Haruhi is not technically the greatest series. In fact it has quite a few flaws in comparison to other series but it holds much more significance to me. This is why I’m a Haruhi fanatic.

Megax’s Favorite Character #10: A Melancholic, Sighful, Boring, Disappearing, Rampaging, Wavering, Intriguing, Angry, Dissociating, and Surprising Young Woman

And so the final character to round out my top ten favorite characters should come as no surprise (after four years of course). As the titular character in the franchise that is synonymous with the phrase Light Novel in Japan, this character appealed to many all around the world. She’s been in many countries, even as a sign of peace during wartime, and is known to most anime fans. The final member of my top ten is the one who Saved the World by Overloading it with Fun: Haruhi Suzumiya! That is all!

Megax’s Favorite Characters #9: The Taiga Tamer

After amazement that I do actually realize that most forms of anime do include the male population, let’s begin talking about a rare species: the memorable male character that people generally like. In Toradora! we are immediately introduced to our male protagonist of the series, Ryuji Takasu, and throughout the series we follow his point of view through one year in high school that changed his life. With a lack of merchandise and promotional artwork compared to the females in that series, it’s easy to overlook him but he’s number 9 on my favorite characters list.

Megax’s Favorite Characters #8: A bear-y good girl

Hello, it’s nice to meet you.
I’m Kotomi Ichinose from class 3-A.
I enjoy reading quite a lot.
I would like to become friends with you.

Featured as one of the five heroines in Clannad, Kotomi Ichinose is a character that had her storyline changed drastically for the anime adaptation. In the original work, Kotomi is mostly in the school library and the player has to focus only on her storyline, which does bring Nagisa, Kyou, and Ryou into the game as well. Due to this, Kyoto Animation had to make some changes to allow Kotomi to become part of Nagisa’s (and the main plot’s) storyline. Regardless of the storyline, Kotomi is my favorite heroine from Clannad and my next favorite character. I’ll also mention that this post does contain spoilers for the first Clannad series as well as for the visual novel.

Megax’s Favorite Characters #6: Bad luck need not apply

Beginning in June 2006, the Saki manga created by Ritz Kobayashi in Square-Enix’s monthly magazine Young Gangan was adapted into an anime produced by Gonzo in Spring 2009. Late last year I had the opportunity to view it on a whim and immensely enjoyed it. From that series, one character stood alone as my favorite: Hisa Takei.