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Princess Princess, Gakuen Heaven, Gakuen Alice, School Rumble

Princess Princess
The series is about blue-haired freshman Kouno Tooru who transferred to an all-boys school because of some conflict with his family. When he entered the school every guy was looking at him. He was then told about the school’s “princess system”, wherein good-looking freshmen students will be working as “princesses”, wearing girls and Gothic Lolita costumes to enlighten the dull environment of the all-boys school. Together with two other princesses, blonde Shihoudani Yuujirou and rose-haired Yutaka Mikoto, they will work as “princesses” and make their school a more interesting place.

I’m not really a fan of (subtle) shounen-ai anime but this was really interesting. I also started watching the Live Action drama of this series which stars one of my favorite Japanese actors, Kamakari Kenta as Yutaka Mikoto. Anyway, there’s nothing much to say about the animation but the lead characters really looked good, and the plot’s a typical way to increase boy love fangirling to another level. It was entertaining nonetheless.

Gakuen Heaven
This is another all-boys series when an average student, Ito Keita, received an invitation to transfer to the prestigious BL Academy. Keita was wondering why he got the invitation since BL students are really talented and intelligent, and he thinks that he is nothing special. The series basically tackles how Keita managed to stay at the academy and what was the reason behind the invitation.

Gakuen Heaven is actually based from a computer game which eventually became an anime and a PS2 game. The animation was great, there are too many casts, thus, it fails in terms of the development of the characters. The reason behind Keita’s transfer was really predictable when I finished watching the first five episodes. The characters seem to be open to the idea of boy love, that I find it really amusing.

Gakuen Alice
Gakuen Alice really reminds me of other series such as CardCaptor Sakura and Psychic Academy. Gakuen Alice is about two 10-year old friends Sakura Mikan and Imai Hotaru. These two girls seem to be at the other end of the rope since they’re very different — Mikan is very sensitive, emotional, and at times stupid, while Hotaru is intelligent, level-headed and a little cold-hearted. One day Mikan discovered that Hotaru is about to transfer to Tokyo to enter Gakuen Alice, a very prestigious school. Mikan decided to follow her, only to learn that Gakuen Alice is a “specialized” school wherein students with Alice (special powers) are trained until they graduate in high school. Incidentally, when a teacher discovered Mikan outside the school campus, the said teacher also tapped into Mikan’s very own Alice, which lead her to her transfer as a new student.

I actually think that this is a good series. Again, there are a lot of characters, so not all of them were given enough exposure throughout the show. The characters are cute too. However, the series left a lot of unanswered questions, especially about Mikan’s background. I am very interested with the love triangle between Hotaru and best friends Ruka-pyon and Natsume.

Hotaru’s invention Alice is very amusing as well, and her inventions are really cute. My personal favorites are “Moron Gun” and the “Moron Canon”, wherein when you try aiming it at a (stupid) person, the gun and the cannon will emit strong force that will hit and hurt the target. You also get to hear the word “Baka” (stupid) everytime you shoot the person.

School Rumble
I just started watching this and I have to admit that School Rumble is a fun show to watch. I actually thought that School Rumble was a Street Fighter-like series, but it’s not. The series is about sophomore Tsukamoto Tenma who was having a hard time confessing to the boy she likes, Karasuma Ooji. However, Tsukamoto doesn’t realize that someone also likes her, Harima Kenji, the renowned gangster and delinquent of their school. To add some spice to the already confusing turn of events, the students thought that Harima is going out with Tenma’s younger sister, Yakumo, and that one of their classmates has feelings Harima.

I somehow understand why the series was called School Rumble. It’s funny how Tenma tries to confess to the stoic Karasuma and eventually fails with every trial. Harima also fails every time he tries to tell Tenma how he likes her. I’m a little annoyed with Karasuma but seeing that he has this very weird side of him (especially during band practice), I came to like him as well. I actually think that Tenma and Harima are perfect for each other, but it seems that Tenma hasn’t noticed that yet.