Am I losing my touch?

Lately I am making mistakes telling apart the demographic designation of manga/anime, which surprises me to no end. I thought I had a grip on that - leaving aside the issue of the source of publication which defies common sense in the final analysis.

But seriouslly, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai is seinen? I was going to bet my head it was shounen! And I agreed that yes, maybe Chihayafuru was indeed josei, but that was more of a wishful thinking on my part at the stage when I've read all the scanlated chapters (10) and saw three episodes released to date.

Oh well. For now I've edited the labels, hoping that the confirmation is not too far ahead.

omg my dreams of Kyoya-centic shoujo came true!

Before you get too taken in by the imagery, I probably need to apologize. The anime is not about him, BUT DARN IT doesnt he look just like baby Kyoya of your dreams?

Ahem I might be getting carried away here, sorry.

Let be start from the beginning. It's my first year of discovering a new season - meaning the season when most spring-summer animes get their finales and new ones start airing - as it slowly unfolds. Never before have I seen first episodes for anime only days after they started airing, sampling various projects to see which ones I liked enough to continue watching. To tell the truth, the experience feels great, since there wasn't time for any of the shows to get enough reviews to establish either a positive or a negative reputation and therefore letting me make up my own mind about them first.

I've decided to give a few of the shows a try - namely, Tamayura, which had lovely OVAs, Phi Brain, Kimi to Boku, Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai, and Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai which I already wrote about.

Of this season's premiers I was probably expecting least from Chihayafuru, and that's why it took me by surprise. The annonation gave me a really vague idea, showed me some startled-looking girl in a kimono and promised some youthful romance. What I got in the first episode was so many things I like: childhood friends harbouring romantic feelings, one girl-two guys triangle, cute boys (seriously, smart, pale and outcast boy in glasses vs outgoing, doomed-to-be-friend firy one - what else do I want for my shoujo triange?), a pretty but really goofy girl (I liked how they straightaway acknowledged both facts), and a poetry card game called karuta that looks surprisingly hot for such an innocent pastime. I have to say I like the stories that incorporate traditional Japanese activities like tea ceremonies, calligraphy or ikebana into romantic stories, and I remember I liked this game from one of Motomi Kyousuke's short stories, One Thousand Year Love Song. Funfact: it also features my all-time favourite best friends to lovers romance.

My verdict, judging solely by the first - and so far only - aired episode: I'll be watching that. Unless they screw something royally, there's always a pleasure of exploring childhood friendship and growing romance inside a triangle, and I'm excited to see more of karuta. And can a girl hope to see Arata (that's what baby Kyoya is called) all grown-up and in a kimono? I mean, they certainly showed us the girl wearing one. Just saying:)