Sora no Manimani: First Impressions

Best. Show. This. Season! Kyaa~ I love it already. I expected it to be good, but it went past my expectations! :D I just hope I don’t get disappointed later like Maria+Holic (oh yes, I’m too lazy to get the cross). But anyways, I love it. Sorry the post is late, but I was waiting for subs…that didn’t come out when I started the post. -_- Anyways, I had to get this post in before my excitement for the show begins fading with waiting. No…I don’t want that! Anyways, love it~ ^_^ I even started reading the manga. :D Just saying though, it might be biased because I love the series already! XD It is probably my favorite show this season so far.

(Yeah, I’m putting this post before Monthly Mania. I’m such a procrastinator, but this show is that awesome!)

And sorry the layout is sort of messy….since I made the character part a little different than usual, just for this series. Again, sorry! Dx

Story & Plot

The episode starts off with a flashback. Akeno Mihoshi, is a star-enthusiast, who drags Ooyagi Saku, a bookworm, everywhere she goes. This tortures him, because she always takes his books as hostage when he just wants to read. She takes him one night to look at the stars, and shows him a special necklace her dad gave her. She decides to climb up a tree, but ends up slipping, while Saku dives to catch her. Saku wakes up, realizing it is a dream, also hitting his elbow. He’s on his way to school, while his mother causes a ruckus for him tieing his ties, etc.

When he arrives at school, he sees paper stars falling from the sky. A girl from the school roof is promoting the astronomy club. Saku looks up, and realizes it’s Mihoshi, the girl who terrorized him when he was little. He says her name too loudly, and so she hears him. She realizes it’s Saku, and chases after him when he runs away. He tries to deny who she says he is, even though it’s true. After she finally catches him, her other friends save Saku. Her friend asks if Saku was a friend, and she says yes, but Saku says no. Mihoshi also asks Saku to join the astronomy club. The student council president comes and is upset by the chaos that Mihoshi caused. Afterwards, rumors start flying around about a first-year (Saku) and second-year (Mihoshi). Mihoshi continuously goes to Saku’s class to see him, only to find him each time missing. She finally finds him at the library, which scares Saku. Mihoshi asks if Saku remembers the memories they had together, even bringing out the necklace, but he says he doesn’t. She asks why he doesn’t remember the wonderful memories they had together, only angering Saku more. He tells her that they were wonderful to her, but torture to him. He even broke his arm after diving to catch her. He says that she wasn’t even there when he moved, but she rebuts saying that she was hospitalized. This leads to Saku remembering that whenever someone brought up Mihoshi, he wouldn’t listen to the rest of it. He apologizes to her, and admits that he remembers her and everything. He even joins the Astronomy Club. This makes Mihoshi happy and she dives to hug Saku once again.

Mihoshi shows Saku around the Astronomy Club’s room. Later on they begin to promote the Astronomy Club. However, it seems like they don’t have a uniform, so Mihoshi writes on Saku’s back. The club leader is willing to have his shirt written on, but he coughs up blood first. The Student Council president comes and sees that they have another member. Later on, Saku notices that she is in the Literary Club. This leads to a little blush-blush moment since Saku loves books, also causing Mihoshi to panic from the good atmosphere between them. Later on, Mihoshi explains that she wants to share the stars in the sky for everyone to see, like how her father did. This small monologue makes Saku surprised about her words. Mihoshi decides to get the binoculars to do a project with the sun. However, when the two arrive, it begins to rain. It’s later nighttime, and they are able to see the full night sky.

I don’t plan to write out summaries for all of the episodes, since I think it would just ruin my enjoyment of the series. But anyways, the story seems like a nice slice-of-life story. I sort of get that Toradora atmosphere though, but I love Toradora, so it’s okay. xD But anyways, even though it’s not the most original thing in the world, it’s still a nice storyline and is executed well. It’s just that nice, fluffy, refreshing story that just makes me happy watching it. It’s cute, fluffy, fun, and hilarious. I just love every element of it. And the astronomy part makes it nice and is actually getting me interested in astronomy. :D I guess it just clicks so perfectly with all of my tastes that I just love it (or maybe I should phrase it as, “It  hit all of the right spots”).

Characters

Ooyagi Saku:

Saku…Saku’s voiced by Tomoaki Maedo, who just does so well voicing him which I’m glad he gets a better role since he also voiced the White Album guy. Anyways, Saku is an awesome main character, and is one of those rare main guy characters that I actually like. I just love his RAGE~ and chibi-fied rage~ It’s just so fun to watch. I don’t know why, but I seem to lol whenever it shows him with a broken arm as a little kid. xD Anyways, his anger and variation just makes me like him. And then when he blushes~ Kya! It’s cute seeing his face fully red. Anyways, win! Saku gets my approval for main guy character!

Akeno Mihoshi:

Mihoshi!!!~ Meet Mihoshi, my favorite character already, who is voiced by Kanae Ito-san. In fact, she’s starting to become one of my favorite characters of all time already. I seriously should wait awhile, but reading the manga and watching it has kept my love for her going on. At first I was worried that I would only think about Amu whenever I heard Kanae Ito’s voice, but she made her voice work perfectly for Mihoshi. And her name totally fits for having “hoshi” in it. Anyways, Mihoshi is such a fun, lovable, cute character=more than awesome. Sure she’s hyperactive, but I love it. I think that’s what makes her so cute and adds to her charm. She’s hilarious, and I love all of the expressions she makes. In fact, I made a gif of some of them. But it sucks. xD So no showing. X) But anyways, I just love her already! Her glomps on Saku are win! Not much to elaborate on her, but like Saku, she is win~ I already made her my icon! xD

Others:

Gah, I forgot everyone else’s name. xD Lol, the guy who coughs up blood a lot is hilarious. I like him, he’s just so funny (like most of the characters), especially in that scene when he was ready to write on his back, but then suddenly coughs up blood and faints. xD It’s hilarious (but my explanation may not make it sound so). But I like him so far. The other girl with blue hair is also cool, since she seems to mediate Mihoshi’s hyperactive-ness. She also seems like the mature one out of the group. x) Saku’s mom is also fun to watch, since she acts oh-so melodramatic. xD Eh, the student council president is the only person I’m iffy on. I just don’t like her because she wants the astronomy club to fail or something. And also because she’s getting in the way of Saku x Mihoshi! Gar! But does anyone else think she has a big forehead?

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Overall, so far I find the main characters lovable, and the main two are just…great! I just love them! Again, I think the chemistry and everything between the characters is my favorite part about the show. They make the show stand out from the rest of the other shows. So yes, love the characters! ^_^ More characters are going to be introduced later though, but so far, loving most of the characters! ^_^

Music

OP: Super Noisy Nova by sphere

The opening was an okay I guess. :/ I didn’t find it spectacular, but just normal. The scenes are cute, just like a typical opening. I loved the Saku x Mihoshi shots. It’s just…cute! Especially when they were little, that was a great scene. For once Saku actually looked like he was interested when he was little. The group shots are cute when they were all lying down looking at the stars. But the animation for the opening totally fits, and so I guess it’s fine.

The song was okay. It wasn’t that catchy, but again, it fits. The title is kind of funny though. xD But not much to say on it. I guess it’s a typical, sort of upbeat song.

ED: Hoshikuzu no Surround by CooRie

I don’t know why, but I guess I really find the ending song appealing. I guess it’s one of those songs that I just find surprisingly nice and again, hits the spot. The song fits with the show well, and I just love the tune of it. I liked how the song was inserted into the episode, but I’m kind of hoping for the official ending (so I don’t have talking). But again, I really like the ending song much more compared to the opening song. I guess it’s sort of a relaxed, nice feel to it?

Animation

Didn't know what image to use. >_<

The animation was average. It wasn’t special, but I guess it “fits” the show’s style. It’s average. Nothing outstanding. I guess the stars and the paper stars look really pretty though. But everything else…meh. But it’s decent and livable. I mean, I am so glad that we did not get some CG thing or something. That’s not livable. But anyways, onto Sora no Manimani. The chibis were animated well, which makes me glad. I’m able to look at it, and it’s simplicity makes it at least nice. It doesn’t repulse me, so we’re good. :]

(Also, apologies for the poor quality screencaps, it was best quality video I could find)

Preview

Looks like we’ll be introducing the next character. I forgot her name from the manga. x_x But I remember not liking her that much, even though she’s pretty. Ah well, I might like her later on. Anyways, it still looks interesting, especially since we’re still going to get some of Mihoshi’s awesome expressions. XD Yay! Anyways, the preview’s pretty short, but I’m still looking forward to the next episode. :D

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Overall, the series is WIN. It’s the best show this season for me. I already have the pair I’m shipping, and I can fangirl a lot too. I just love the characters’ chemistry. And the show so far has a good first impression. I think we’ll be in a for a good series. But I wish it’d be longer! D:< But anyways, I definitely will follow this show. And I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to do episode posts for this series. As I’ve mentioned before, I just don’t feel like doing summaries since I think that’ll just ruin my excitement and make me bored. It’ll make it feel more like work, and I want to enjoy the series. Because surprisingly enough, it was pretty easy making this post since I was so enthusiastic to do it. It’s only 12 episodes though, so episodic blogging seems more possible. The only drawback may be that I have piano lessons on Tuesdays, so Tuesdays are always sort of busy. But worst case scenario, I’ll just do the post later, or skip it completely if I have nothing to say. We’ll see if I have stuff to say I guess. But so far, love the series (as I have said a dozen times before)!~ ^_^