Grand Opening!

Step back, you are entering "Massugu Straight!"

Welcome to the grand opening of Massugu Straight, an anime blog started based completely on whim and for me to have something to do in between episodes of Manabi Straight (lol).

Not coincidentally, Manabi Straight is the one anime that we're gonna look at. Since the January season started, this (along with Saint October) is the one that really jumps out and sets the tone as the season's best anime.

Honestly I didn't know what to expect when I watched episode 1 last week. Loli cuteness ^^ + a huge seiyuu cast sold me. Come on guys, it's the revered Yui-sama in the lead role, you just don't say no to that. But as I watched on, I found much more than the oh-so-cute loli-ness. Manabi's personality just radiates and her cheerfulness cannot be missed. One episode was not enough, I soon wanted more.

Then came episode 2. Manabi's first week as seitokaicho (student council president) and how she inspires everyone (even the tsundere Mee-chan, voiced by Haru--- I mean, Aya Hirano) to help out on renovating the council room. The plot seems simple enough, a girl with endless energy and enthusiasm transfers into a school with school spirit on the decline, and she aims to change everything. But there's just an element of cheerfulness and everything that's nice and right in the world, that you could do nothing but smile when you see these girls. Since Haruhi I haven't watched anything that I've looked forward to this much every week, and not since Mahoraba ~Heartful Days~ have I watched something that comes close to this touching (an incredibly amazing and underrated series, by the way. Watch it if you can). Let's hope the series keeps going straight towards greatness!

On to the logistic side of the anime, things look good so far. Voice casting is the obvious strong suit of this series. You can never go wrong with Yui-sama in a lead role, and she does very well to capture the energetic feel of Manabi-chan. Mikan-chan is voiced by Ai Nonaka, who is quickly becoming one of my favourites as well (Ichijou-san in Pani Poni, Konoka in Negima). And we can never forget Aya Hirano as the lovable Mee-chan. I would say this is a mix of Tequila (not the drink... Tequila from Galaxy Angel Rune ^^) and Haruhi. Gotta love the flexibility of Aya-sama (second to only Megumi-sama, who might as well do all the female voices in anime lol). Mucchi and Momoha's seiyuus are less known, but they sound suitable for their roles. ufotable seems to do a decent job with the animation; they're no Kyo Ani but then again who is? I'm not complaining so it's fine.

Another great thing is that the character image singles have all come out by now. So far, we've been treated to a number of memorable songs, with Mee-chan's "Rule de my chitsujo", Mikan-chan's "school days" and Mucchi's "Tomodachi kurai janai mono tanai" being the best ones (Manabi's was surprisingly average, poor Yui-sama gets stuck with the crappy songs; I have yet to listen to Momoha's).

Personally I can't wait for the new episodes to come out. The other new series are good, but right now nothing compares to Manabi, therefore, in light of this revelation, this site shall now be known as "Massugu Straight" and y'all can call me Manabi ^^

~~Seitokaicho style~~