Japan has a rich literary history. One that even stretches beyond manga! I can’t say I’ve actually studied any of it, or really know much more than maybe some incredibly basic stuff, but I know enough to say that their poetry is kind of a Big Deal. Enough that one of the most famous works [...]
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This is review number ninety two and holy crap, I’m close to a hundred. I’ll be reviewing a Summer 2012 anime this time. It’s Utakoi and its thirteen episodes long. It’s a historical anime and it’s really hard to follow. It’s a bit difficult for a twelve episode anime that are mostly a single story [...]
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Chouyaku Hyakunin Isshu: Uta Koi is now over. I rather enjoyed this series, which offered many things one does not usually get from anime. Many of the characters were older, there was a lot of poetry, the artwork was quite distinctive, and the Classical Japanese setting were all important factors in making this series stand [...]
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Chouyaku Hyakunin Isshu: Uta Koi is now over. I rather enjoyed this series, which offered many things one does not usually get from anime. Many of the characters were older, there was a lot of poetry, the artwork was quite distinctive, and the Classical Japanese setting were all important factors in making this series stand [...]
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「定家と式子 式子内親王 権中納言定家」 (Teika to Noriko Shokushi Nishinou Gon Chunagon Teika) "Teika and Noriko Princess Shokushi Gon Chunagon Teika" Just as quietly as it began, Uta Koi ends its run without much fanfare.
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「定家と式子 式子内親王 権中納言定家」 (Teika to Noriko Shokushi Nishinou Gon Chunagon Teika) "Teika and Noriko Princess Shokushi Gon Chunagon Teika" Just as quietly as it began, Uta Koi ends its run without much fanfare.
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Anime is a commercial medium. It has to be catered in a way in order to attact sales, so concessions have to be made with the premises that get adapted. With that in mind, there sometimes just appear series that make me really glad that they got made, while avoiding all this. Uta Koi is [...]
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Ah, of course. With the series going through time like that, the only logical story to end with would be the one about Fujiwara no Teika, the guy who composed everything. A very fitting end, both in its themes, and execution. Also, with this the creators found a nice explanation of why al lot of [...]
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They may have been one of the best episodes of Uta Koi yet. In any case the emotional impact it had on me was one of the highest. It’s one of the more whimsical stories of the season (yet again of a love unfulfilled), and it also has this energy that was very addictive, and [...]
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  I don’t know what’s been up with these last few episodes of Uta Koi. Maybe something’s circulating in the water that makes writing good mid-Heian period pieces a 100% certainty, but hot damn has it picked up in quality since the Sei Shonagon arc ended. It’s not that Sei Shonagon was a bad character [...]
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「道雅と当子 左京大夫道雅／うき世の月 三条院」 (Michinasa to Masako Sakyou Taifu Michinasa/Ukise no Tsuki Sanjou In) "Michinasa and Msako Minister of Left Kyoto Michimasa/Midnight Moon Former Emperor Sanjou" No show is complete without a healthy dose of HanaKana!
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「道雅と当子 左京大夫道雅／うき世の月 三条院」 (Michinasa to Masako Sakyou Taifu Michinasa/Ukise no Tsuki Sanjou In) "Michinasa and Msako Minister of Left Kyoto Michimasa/Midnight Moon Former Emperor Sanjou" No show is complete without a healthy dose of HanaKana!
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Uta Koi already was a great series to provide background for Chihayafuru while we wait for the second season (Winter 2013, hell yeah!), but this episode showed a little detour. A detour into Genji Monogatari, to be exact. This episode was entirely dedicated to its writer: Murasaki Shikibu, offering its own interpretation of what her [...]
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「名古曽の滝 大納言公任」 (Nakoso no Taki Dainagon Kinto) "Nakoso Falls Dainagon Kinto" Will there ever be a happy end to any of these love stories?
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Dressing up like towers… I get that kind of symbolism. The silly fifth episode had a great point to make. But why, dear god WHY, did you stuff Fujiwari no Teika in a tutu and make him perform bad ballet? Just… what was the meaning of that? After that the episode started, and I actually [...]
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「少納言と行成 清少納言」 (Shounagon to Yukinari Sei Shounagon) "Shounagon and Yukinari Sei Shounagon" Even though the living conditions of the past are simplified and primitive by today's standards, love has never seemed so complicated.
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