You know, despite the fact I’ve been writing here for over a year, Sora no Manimani is only the second series I’ve finished blogging from start to finish, the other being Natsume Yuujinchou from last summer. I dropped Michiko to Hatchin from last Autumn. From this winter, Hetalia is still ongoing and I didn’t pick up anything from the spring season. So I’m not yet used to finishing blogging series. It’s an odd and slightly lonely feeling when you realise you won’t be writing about this group of nutters ever again.
Then again, there could still be a season 2 so maybe I’m not done writing about this lot yet.
Now I know it’s the last episode and most of you are here because you want someone to reminisce with you over this simple yet effective little series and don’t want anyone to rain on its parade but I’m going to have to be my usual harsh self. The Roma X Oumi scenes were a bit forced, random and lacked life. They were just tossed in at the end and lacked any real life. Flash-romance sequences never work for me. I like my romance series to gradually build up the tension and can never get into those side-romances they often toss into anime. This whole scene, heck then entire episode would have felt better in the second-to-last episode with maybe leaving Hime out in the snow as a cliffhanger. It would have given the final episode a greater sense that they had accomplished something rather than this rather anticlimactic ending.
This last episode was basically a fan-service end. While anti-climactic, this is quite often thrown in when the creators have intentions to create a new season, although don’t quote me on that one. I would really like a new season so they could solve that nasty love-triangle that’s currently going on. At least get some love going for Hime even if her chances with Saku are less than zero.
Altair, Deneb and Vega. That’s the summer triangle…wait Scamp, stop making Bakemonogatari references and alienating half of your audience!
It tried and tried but never once could Sora no Manimani convince me that I would enjoy star-gazing, except maybe as an excuse to meet some women. That’s what Edogawa does, as did that guy who tried to chat up Hime before she whooped his ass.Although I must admit that seeing Saturn is actually pretty cool. One thing I do appreciate about this show is that it was highly accurate at portraying what an astronomy club actually does (not that I’d know personally but I got links on astronomy forum sites and reading those comments from more fanatical star-gazers told me that the facts in Sora no Manimani were bang on target). But it still never really interested me. Over the course of the series I moved from Ireland to England and neither of them have prime conditions for viewing the heavens. Ireland has four season: Cloudy season, cloudier season, not-quite-so-cloudy-but-still-pretty-cloudy season and drizzle.
Probably the most enjoyable aspect of blogging Sora no Manimani was Hime shipping. Before this series I looked down on shippers as idiots who got into stupid arguments. I never realised how much fun it would be to root for somebody! Another belief that changed while blogging this series was the idea that any other blogs following the same series were mortal enemies who stole my loyal followers. Instead this time round I had huge fun with the shipping wars against Rabbitpoets (on the side of Mihoshi) and Executive_Otaku from THAT (on the side of Fumie). I’m going to set out my stall now though: If I had to pick someone to end up with Saku apart from Hime it would have to be Mihoshi. While I think Fumie could handle the idea that Saku has been taken, the idea of a depressed Mihoshi when she sees Saku and Fumin together as she only then realises that she actually loved him is a sight I wouldn’t be able to take. Ideally, Hime would end up with me some absolutely lovely guy, Mihoshi would end up with Saku and Fumin would end up with that fellow who follows her around the entire time.
HOW COULD YOU SAY NO!!!!
I did enjoy Sora no Manimani but as I’ve said many times before, it’s hurt too much by its total lack of originality. It’s completely inoffensive and that really holds the series back. The characters did grow on me though, especially Edogawa. And Hime. I admit I did exaggerate my love for her but she really was my favorite character of the series by far. They even called her fluffy-chan in the last episode, which is exactly what I called her several episodes back! How do I descibe her, it’s like a shy person who’s really making the effort to socialize. No, even that does not give her justice. She’s fantastic, ‘nuf said. If a second season does make an appearance, I’ll blog that season too just because of her. Ah Hime, I think you deserve an image dump.
One of the biggest pre="biggest ">dissapointments of the season: Hime never took off her top
D’aww, little Hime!
Anywho, time to end this post and this series. Hope you enjoyed reading my posts with my Hime fascination, totally random off-topic rants, Hime image spams, deep philosophical insights into the meaning of love, moar Hime and so on. Until next time 🙂
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Bokutachi no BLOG 
While you didn’t get as into it as myself or RabbitPoets I’m glad you still got some fun out of it and stuck with it. It’s been fun shipping against you (and for a brief while while Fumie was out of the picture, with you), and I have to say I kind of shared your sentiments about shipping before falling into it myself. Though I prefer to think of us three as ‘executive shippers’ and not those ‘weirdo shippers’ who actually get into real, angry fights about couples, to borrow Eddie Izzard’s phrasing that I took my username from.
On Oumi X Roma I have to disagree though, I thought the relationship was quietly developed on the margins ever since the two met again for the HSAN gathering. That episode was the start, they shared time together in the past, and you see them together while Saku, Hime, Edogawa, and Sayo were out stalking Mihoshi and Souma-sensei, as well as hear them mentioned being together now and then when the rest of the club takes their trip to the mountains. As you say it didn’t really have tension to it, but relationships develop smoothly like their’s did so it was realistic if not very dramatic. I <3'd it anyway.
Your posts and point of view were very interesting and entertaining, and I'll look forward to other series you cover later on. What series are you watching this season, btw? Aside from Letter Bee obviously.
That first pic is fantastic, is that original series art? Everyone looks great, but I really like how Mii-chan’s hair isn’t so plain.
I don’t know if I’d say that the Oumi x Roma pairing was a flash romance either, but I hear what you’re saying. The relationship lacked that little bit of drama that I think is necessary. It was always on the periphery and could’ve used a little extra spotlight. Definitely one of those spots where an extra episode would’ve come in handy to fill in the gaps.
Looking forward to having ya on my side vs. ExecO when Hime gets paired off with Musa-kun next season. As they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. 😉
Anyway, it was cool reading along, seeing you and EO focusing on different things, and things I’d missed. Definitely the most “in-sync” blogging I’ve had a pleasure to be part of, sort of like the Summer Triangle of blogging! *ducks* >_<
@ Executive Otaku: 'Executive shippers' and 'weirdo shippers' are a good distinction. Or if you take 'weirdo shippers,; to the extreme those damn 'Twilight shippers.' Man, those people are intense and freak me out.
@ExecutiveOtaku
I like the term ‘executive shippers’. I think I may be using that one myself in the future.
The thing is I just can’t get into romance stories that are done with very little time. For example, I didn’t like Hatsukoi Limited because each of it’s little romance stories got very little time and I couldn’t get into any of them. My favorite romance anime are stuff where it starts from when the two first meet each other right until the time where the romance is finished, such as Chobits and Nodame.
What am I watching this season? God, too much. Darker than Black, Letter Bee, Book of Bantorra, Kobato, Natsu no Arashi, Sacred Blacksmith. Then there’s still FMA, Hetalia and Uminko contuning on. Oh, and Gintama if I ever get around to starting it again.
@RP
The first and last pictures are both official artwork I took of Danbooru (while ensuring that safe search is on. Seriously, some of the shit on that site…)
I hope Hime gets paired off with someone, it’s would be a bit painful to watch if she went the entire series without any loving whatsoever. And if we are the summer triangle of Sora no Manimani blogging than I have dibs on being Vega. She strikes me as being my sort of women (I’m taking a leaf out of the book of those two fetish star-gazers)
“the idea of a depressed Mihoshi when she sees Saku and Fumin together as she only then realises that she actually loved him is a sight I wouldn’t be able to take.”
While this would be very sad, it can be the inevitable and regrettably necessary outcome of total shipping war. Just as much suffering comes about even from just wars, so this may have to happen for the greater good of making the world safe for
democracymy OTP. Also, thanks for the indirect acknowledgement of the strength of my ship 😛Good, someone else watching Natsu no Arashi! The series needs more love, so I’m really torn between blogging that or Kimi ni Todoke. Looking forward to more Hetalia and your posts on it.
@ RP
Calling Deneb for this Summer Triangle thing. I’ll be the bridge of magpies that ships together the two destined lovers.
Crap! I wanted Deneb or Vega.
Ah, the end of hte season….so sad! 😦 Unfortunatly, I’m having ahard time finding a subbed version…niyah, where did you guys find yours? I’ve tried veoh and several different sites… even YouTube…(I know, bad, right?)
@ Humanity_Cat
Downloaded mine, I’ll never understand how people can watch stuff streamed, heh. Koharubi has done the most recent subs.
@Humanity_Cat
Right, it’s about time you learned how to download your anime. It doesn’t really matter with Hetalia because it’s a web broadcast anyway but if you’re watching something like Kobato or Darker than Black then it’s criminal to watch it any other way.
Most people use bittorrent but that can be a bit over-whelming for a newbie. I’d reccomend going to http://www.animesenshi.com/ and downloading the episodes directly from there (make sure you save the files instead of just opening them). Then type cccp into google, go onto the first site and download that thingy. Now you should be ready to watch your anime you’ve downloaded. Try watching it on Windows Media player classic (your computer should have this already unless you are a pretentious twat and own a Mac).
It can be all a bit confusing at the start but the difference is phenomenal. I still remember the shock I got at the difference between streamed Spice and Wolf and downloaded. When you’ve gotten that figured out you should try make heads or tails of Bitorrent because it’s far more convinient to use.
Hope you find that easy enough to use. I wish somebody told me how to download anime back when I started instead of the endless amounts of false starts I had
I was afraid you might say to start downloading episode….hurr, I guess I’ll have to get going on that. 😉 Thanks!