Weirdly...It's a Good Show. Very Similar to Love Live in a Way.

Hi, people! Well...it had been a while since I have posted anything. I had prepared a few drafts to talk about in this blog. Guess, this post will be about what anime?

Guess, who are they? And where is this from?

OK, here is the screenshot for it. Still can't guess it? OK, I will tell you if u read on but there will be spoilers down the road...Never mind, you know what? I will tell you. It's Hanayamata!!! OK...you know what? Let's move on.



WARNING:-

SPOILER ALERT!!! If you haven't watched it and plan to watch it without anyone being the spoiler, please DON'T CONTINUE READING!!!



P.S. If you want to be spoiled, well, go ahead and read it. You HAD been warned. Don't blame me for being spoiled if you INSIST on continuing to read this post.

Introduction

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manga cover...

OK...the anime, Hanayamata (in Japanese, ハナヤマタ) is adapted from a Japanese manga series by Sō Hamayumiba and animated by Madhouse. Anyway, the manga was serialized in Houbunsha's seinen manga magazine Manga Time Kirara Forward since June 2011. Since then, the manga has been collected in nine tankōbon volumes as of June 2017.

confused?

What is a tankōbon volume? It is a manga book that compiles several chapters of the manga. Since manga usually starts out as serialized comic in magazines, they do that when the manga is popular. This reduces cost and risk. It's a business strategy, I think. Anyway, the anime TV series was aired in Japan between July and September 2014. Anyway, the manga is also stylized as HaNaYaMaTa. Why? The girls who made up the yosakoi band. OK, you will know more details from here and also knowing more about yosakoi. OK, let's move on.

anime cover...

Plot

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The story starts...

Alright, here we go! The anime starts with a girl named Sekiya Naru, a very shy girl who attends middle school. She likes fairy tales but is worried about her lack of other interests. She found herself encountering with a fairy one night after delivering something for her father to Tami's father. Yes, that encounter that could one's life forever. Wait a minute, I have heard this kind of opening. The opening that never bores people out...The magic formula for a hero's story.

The destined meeting between the two of them...

Anyway, putting that aside, anyway, that so-called fairy whom she met that night is actually a foreign girl named Hana N. Fountainstand. She so happened to be practising dance at night. On a spur of the moment, Naru asks to join her and is introduced to the world of yosakoi dancing. Before she joins her, she was bugged by Hana throughout the day after she was introduced as a transfer student in her class.

Poor Naru...

Well, throughout the series, just like in the Love Live series, the Yosakoi club gain more and more members as the series progresses on. There are FIVE girls who joined the club, and that's why the series is named Hanayamata and being stylized as HaNaYaMaTa. The series name is a combination of the first two letters of the girls' first names: HAna, NAru, YAya, MAchi, and TAmi. So yes, the five girls who formed the school's yosakoi team are Sekiya Naru, Hana N. Fountainstand, Sasame Yaya, Nishimikado Tami, and Tokiwa Machi.

The members required are HERE!

The story is pretty similar to Love Live series because each member has their own personal problems before joining and also during their time together. There is at least some realism here: There is actually an advisory teacher in the club! Anyway, it's a good watch for me because I like them and also them building relationships with each other. Nice stuff, you know. OK, let's move on!

LOL...Now is HaNa 007 now?

Anime Rating

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Story (Rating: 9/10)

The story is pretty similar to the Hero's Journey thing as in a special encounter bringing the MC into a new world and eventually making the MC a better, stronger person. Feels like deja vu, isn't it? Anyway, the story is really good in portraying their friendships with each other and the hardship and sometimes, rub the wrong ways with each other. Decent story, I say. Nothing complicated.

Run, Naru, run!

Art and Animation (Rating: 8/10)

No fighting scene (duh!) but there are good arts within the show. You just need to find it. Overall, the art and animation are great. Plus, I'm quite fine with art style (although not my favourite kind of art style). So yeah, an 8 out of 10 easily.

Beautiful, isn't?

Sound and Music (Rating: 8/10)

BGM is decent...wait, I think I'm kinda repeating the same thing about BGMs. Anyway, the insert song, Kodoku Signal is my favourite song in the anime. The opening song is quite good too and it's the song that they dance to. As for the closing song, it's not really my cup of tea but it's actually a good song to listen to.

Insert song played by Yaya's band

Characters (Rating: 10/10)

The characters are cute! I like the development of the characters. The characters have development in character and have strengthened their friendship with each other. And of course, improving in their yosakoi dance! Although there are some typical characters in the anime, well, that's what drives the story, isn't it? BTW, I tell you what yosakoi is at the end of the post. Stay tuned!

Onsen time!

Enjoyment (Rating: 10/10)

Short answer, YES! And the long answer: The characters are enjoyable, the light-hearted moments are cute and sweet, the plot is decent and pretty decent music. WHAT MORE COULD I ASK?! Nothing.

Cute...should I make them wear sukumizu? Sounds like a good idea...hehe...

Overall Rating: 9 (8.75)/10

Screenshots

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Naru! Nice to see her smiling.

Oh...Yaya...why that face?

Oh...Tami...You have a cute side, don't you?

Don't cry...

Tami...not you too!

Machi is so cute!!!

Sukumizu! School swimsuits are the best!!!

NO!!! Hana, why?!

Oh, Hana is back! Wu-ho!!!

PV/Trailer

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Conclusion

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Congrats, you have reached the end! You wanna know what is this...yosakoi? OK, yosakoi is a dance that combines traditional Japanese dance movements with modern music. The style of dance is highly energetic, just like in the anime. AND...the dance is often performed by large teams. The 5-person team seemed a little lonely...Anyway, sorry about the introduction of Yosakoi being placed in the end. It's because I was too focused on plot and forgotten about yosakoi (which is essential to the plot). Plus, after remembering it, it's too late and it's quite difficult to find somewhere to slot it into (except here).

Yosakoi dancing...

Yosakoi by Hanayamata voice actors

Anyway, that's yosakoi in a nutshell. More details? You have to search for yourself. Sorry about that because this blog post is not about yosakoi. I might have a post on Yosakoi but not here. Anyway, with that, it is the end of this post. I hope that all of you enjoyed it. I hope to see ya again. Goodbye, and God bless you!

Before you go, a cute Tami for you!