More truth than you’ll get in real election campaigns.
With only one more Now and Then, Here and There post left to go, the time has come to choose my next retroblogging project. Similar to the first show I retroblogged, I’m letting you, the readers, decide which show I’ll be watching and blogging. In this post there will be three series from at least 10 years ago to choose from, a more lighthearted selection after the brutal reality of Now and Then, Here and There. So do your civic duty, click here, and place your vote! Voting will be open until next Tuesday, 27 April.
Just a quick note, in my first retroblogging vote I mentioned wanting to get to the other two series at some point, Uchyuu Senkan Yamato and Maison Ikkoku. While in my brand new blogger naivete I didn’t realize that Maison Ikkoku is something that probably would have taken me years to cover, after the next show is picked Yamato will be back on the ballot.
Candidate #1: Kimagure Orange Road
Invasion of the flying saucer hat!
A classic rom-com show from 1987-1988, Kimagure Orange Road features love triangles, ESPers that would fit right in with BiriBiri and crew, and character design reminiscent of some of Rumiko Takahashi’s early work. From MAL: Fifteen year old Kyosuke Kasuga moves to a new city and becomes enamoured by one Madoka Ayukawa, whom often treats him coldly even though she seemed friendly the first time they met, when he caught her red straw hat on the stairs. Kyosuke also must try to avoid breaking the heart of the slightly childish Hikaru Hiyama, whom fell in love with him after she saw him make an impossible shot with a basketball and whom likes to shower him with affection. Also, just to make things interesting, Kyosuke, his sisters, his grandfather, and his cousins all have various powers (teleportation, psychokinesis, hypnosis, time travel, personality transferrence) which Kyosuke desperately tries to keep a secret, though some of the other family members have no such qualms against using their powers in public.
Candidate #2: Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO)
Excellence in teaching.
Great Teacher Onizuka, from 1999-2000, is about a former biker gang member turned reformed high school teacher, sort of. Being a badass dies hard, and Onizuka is not above returning to his delinquent ways or calling upon old friends in the service of education. No child left unscarred. From MAL: Onizuka is a reformed biker gang leader who has his sights set on an honorable new ambition: to become the world’s greatest teacher … for the purpose of meeting sexy high school girls. Okay, so he’s mostly reformed. However, strict administrators and a class of ruthless delinquents stand between Onizuka and his goal and they will use any means, however illegal or low, to drive the new teacher away. Perfect, because Onizuka’s methods won’t be found in any teaching manual; he cares about the difference between legal and illegal activities about as much as he cares for the age difference between himself and a high school girl. So get ready for math that doesn’t add up, language you’d be slapped for using, and biology that would make a grown man blush … unless of course, you’re the Great Teacher Onizuka.
Candidate #3: Kare Kano
Yukino’s tutor was Machiavelli, her coach von Clausewitz, and her role model Lady Macbeth.
From 1998-1999, Kare Kano is a series I’ve always meant to get around to watching. Considered a classic shoujo romance, Kare Kano follows Yukino and Soichiro as they attend high school, Soichiro uncovers her bit of deception, and the two eventually start to fall for each other. From MAL: Miyazawa Yukino is the perfect student. Kind, intelligent, pretty and modest, it’s unbelievable that such a person could exist. Little did everyone know Yukino’s perfection was just a facade. An act to fulfill her desire for praise and admiration. Her life took a turn however, as a newcomer to their school Arima Soichiro topped the exam rankings. Arima is more then just intelligent, he’s also kind, handsome and modest, an unbelievable person who can actually exist. Even worse luck, Arima found out Yukino’s secret, blackmailing her to help him out. Their odd relationship soon develops into friendship and eventually into love. But can their love prevail through the many problems that come their way? Based on the manga by Masami Tsuda.
Voting: Please choose the show you would like to see retroblogged. Thanks for voting!
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.
33 Comments
Onizuka, I think it’ll be fun. Kare Kano — I love this show and all, but near the end your post will degenerate into rant-fests I tell you. Watch the show, skip the 9967653455347677564 recap episodes, then read the manga which is wonderful.
I second this warning.
Agreed. The manga is a better alternative to the end of the anime.
Agreed, the last few episodes are horrific examples of what happens when the production company runs out of money. Not to mention the paper cutouts on Popsicle sticks episode…
That being said, it’s a great anime (baring lacks of money) and an amazing manga.
I know a guy who vehemently insists that Kare Kano ends one volume short of its actual print run. That final volume is like blow-the-top-of-your-head-off infuriating to readers of a certain bent.
That being said, I think Kare Kano’s the only one of this list which is still in print in North America. AnimEigo let the KOR license drop, and I think GTO is OOP, too. Who put that out, Media Blasters or TokyoPop?
Have to agree with Ghostlightning on Kare Kano, you will RAEG if you love it pieces. Tough call between the last two though.
I third on this. Kare Kano anime will get to you in the later episodes, but they are also pretty good when it comes to some of the more serious scenes. But Id still recomend you watch it, finish it, and read the manga starting from volume 8 or 9…( i need to go back to and check)
GTO, pl0x! His antics are classic. It would be fun.
I prefer the manga versions of both Kare Kano and GTO personally. I voted for GTO, though I’ve never seen Kimagure Orange Road so it would be interesting to read about that as well.
I picked GTO, because Urumi is awesome.
I haven’t seen GTO (I know, blasphemy), but I gather that it would be more fun to blog than Kare Kano once it starts to self-destruct. Mind, I LOVE Kare Kano despite that, and I greatly enjoyed blogging the first two-thirds of it (even though all my posts were tl;dr), but I probably put that project on hold at the right time, haha.
EDIT: I must add that even if you don’t blog it, you should watch Kare Kano anyway.
don’t think i ever finished reading Kimagure Orange Road so it will be interesting if you retroblogged it
anything but orange road plz
i’ve only seen Kare Kano out of those so that’s my pick. i even liked the last episodes unlike everyone else XD
Hmm i don’t know if it is that old. But i’d like to make a trip down memory lane for Kimmi ga Nozomu eien tv. I remeber it being filled with drama.
We need an excellent show to blog about, one which is far superior to the current flood of moe crap and spineless male harem leads, one where a punk can overcome his frail flesh and complete lack of common sense, all for a harem of high school girls…
We need the GERMAN SUPLEX…
Onizuka is what High School should be like.
The Manga is better though
It looks like GTO is in the lead, which is good. I always wanted to see someone go through it in an episode by episode basis like this. Even if it doesn’t win, you should still do it at some point.
Kare Kano. Its basically like Kimi ni Todoke, but done a decade earlier.
Oh god, I really had a hard time choosing between Kare Kano and GTO.
Take GTO over Kare Kano even if Kare gets a higher vote count. The studio people making Kare Kano ran out of money. Also, Tsuda got in a big fight with the director (Anno, I think) and as a result the anime in the later episodes is poor. A good compromise would be to do GTO and then do a review of Kare Kano- the manga.
Heed those warnings….
You can’t just not obey the poll, ya know? Kare Kano and GTO have alot of fans, wonder which one will make it..
Kare Kano. Totally.
GTO…but can I write in 0080…it is quick and short!
GTO, all the Way. As said by others the Manga has the better ending but i still can watch this Show again and again.
I love Kare Kano, but it’d be hell to blog with 3 recap eps, a non-ending, etc. etc. You should definitely watch it on your own time, it’s worth it, but blogging about it is something else.
Onizuka just works much better for blogging, it’s in a class of it’s own (no pun intended).
I WANT KARE-KANO!!! Please!!! This is like the best during my highschool days!
I WANT KARE-KANO!!! Please!!! This is like the best during my highschool days!
You can do GTO next time…
Please!!!
oh noes I’m too late, I should have casted my vote for kare kano XD.
Thank you everyone for voting! The competition between Kare Kano and GTO was always close, but I never expected a tie! I will take everyone’s comments into consideration when I figure out what to do with these results. Tomorrow, once my final paper is done and I am finally free of final coursework I will announce what the next step will be. Options on the table include: breaking the tie based on comments, random chance, a runoff vote, asking readers to convince me via comments on another post, blogging both series in some fashion (maybe both but shorter posts for each), or some elaborate points system. We shall see tomorrow, once again thank you for reading and voting!
kare kano
KARE KANO!!!! Please