I finished this anime pretty much as fast as I could, and not because I hated it, but because I loved it.

Well, I don't know, maybe just liked, because it isn't my top favorite anime (actually, I don't even know what my favorite is anymore). Still, I really did enjoy it; it has action, comedy, and romance, as well as characters that I like (except for two of the villains, but it's unusual for the antagonists to be more charming than the protagonists anyways). Not to mention that I do have a bit of a penchant for tsunderes, and at certain points, the main character, Zakuro, displays some very tsundere-like behavior.

The anime starts out with Zakuro and her fellow half-spirit girls finding out that they are going to have to work together with soldiers to take care of the trouble that spirits have been causing. I won't reveal anything else, so if you want to find out, give it the 3 episode test - basically, watch 3 episodes of the anime, and decide where you want to finish it. Actually, for me, sometimes I only watch the 1st episode. That was enough to make me decide I didn't want to watch Akikan or Omamori Himari (urgh, too much ecchi, no thank you). So, whatever # of episodes floats your boat.

Anyways, Otome Youkai Zakuro seriously has a lot of characters that look like characters from other series.

Takatoshi "Omodaka" Hanadate (Otome Youkai Zakuro)


Matsuyuki "Yukiatsu" Atsumu (Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai)


Both of them pretend to be something that they're not. Hanadate poses as a lieutenant but turns out to be after Zakuro for his own sinister reasons. As for Yukiatsu, he can't get over Meiko Honma (or Menma, as she is called in Anohana) and dresses up as her. Also note that both Hanadate and Yukiatsu are interested in the main female character of their respective animes, but in both cases the girls like someone else. And at one point Hanadate says he's stuck in the past because of his mother's death and her supposed rejection of him. That reminded me a lot of Yukiatsu, who was unable to move on after Menma's death.

Aya Orikata (Otome Youkai Zakuro)


Yuuko Ichihara (xxxHolic)


Both of them are the owners of unusual shops, have mythical beings as their assistants (Mugi is Aya's helper, and Maru and Moro help out Yuuko), and of course, the signature pipes they're smoking.

Tsukuhane (Otome Youkai Zakuro)


Kohane Tsuyuri (xxxHolic)


Besides the similarities in their names and appearances, I can't think of much, except...Both of them lived lonely and secluded lives. Tsukuhane's husband had her live in the mountains, alone except for the fox spirit Kushimatsu, and later on, when her daughter Zakuro was born, Tsukuhane fled with Zakuro to keep her safe. As for Kohane, her mother becomes distant from her.

Actually, now that I think of it, xxxHolic and Otome Youkai Zakuro do have some profound similarities. Spirits are a big part of both animes, both of the main characters' parents are dead, and both are sometimes funny, sometimes slightly disturbing. It does make me wonder if the author of the Otome Youkai Zakuro manga ever read or watched xxxHolic.

Labels: 3 episode test, anime, ano hi mita hana no namae wo bokutachi wa mada shiranai, anohana, characters, comparison, manga, otome youkai zakuro, similar, similarities, xxxholic

I've seen so many animal deaths by roadkill lately. Just today I saw something strange on the road. It looked like squirrel guts...Scary. So that makes three squirrels and one deer run over on the road recently. Do you know what my mom had to say about seeing a dead deer? First she said, "Why aren't people more careful? Probably the deer was killed at night when people have to rely on the headlights, but there's even a yellow sign that shows a picture of a deer crossing." Then she added, "It's worse to kill a deer than a squirrel. It could damage the car." This really surprised me, because I thought she was going to say something like how there are more squirrels than deer in the area anyways, but she talked about cars getting damaged. Never mind the car! Cars aren't even alive! Think about the animal that died. That animal was someone's sister or brother, someone's mother or father, someone's child. And now that life is gone. That's why in the anime/manga XXXHolic, Yuuko says there is no way you can ever pay for taking a life. It is a very heavy burden. (Pssh, though, some people hunt ducks for fun. Seriously.)

I have realized recently that I don't know much about celebrities, because my dad was watching a movie called Wanted. He watches tons of movies, I probably couldn't name them all. He's watched some James Bond movies, and Ocean 11/12/13 movies, and mostly foreign movies particularly from France. Wanted is a movie that features Angelina Jolie and some other dude who I don't know about.

Me: Hey, isn't that Lara Croft?
Dad: No, it's not. This movie is called Wanted.
Me: Oh. I thought it was Lara Croft.
Dad: It's Angelina Jolie. She plays Lara Croft.
Me: *has a D: face* I didn't know that.

Speaking of celebrities, there's been two deaths recently. The less noted one was Farrah Fawcett, who is an actress. Her kind of hairstyle is named after her. I heard that she'd been fighting cancer for years and finally succumbed. So people who were close to her had realized it was only a matter of time...Sad to die from such a sickness, caused by your own body, no less! And the other death is much more well-known: MICHAEL JACKSON.

He was 50 years old when he died. He's a male African American singer who had multiple brothers and a sister, but he's the most famous of them. (He's had plastic surgery, so that's why some say he looks...well...odd.) But you know, even my dad had listened to his music a long time ago, back when he was young and lived in China. He would listen to a radio station called The Voice of America and that's how he heard Michael Jackson's music. I guess it's true when my painting teacher said Michael's music had reached farther than just the USA. It had touched the world. (I know, that sounds cheesy) Apparently, Michael died of cardiac arrest. My father says that he was not healthy, but it's possible there was some foul play (meaning someone caused or contributed to Michael's death. Suspicious! So police are trying to talk to Michael's personal doctor, the only one present when Michael had collapsed). Anyhow, rest in peace for both of them. What an unlucky day yesterday was.

I don't want to be depressing you all too much. Instead, I'd like to share with you a really awesome game! It's called "Who Wants to Live a Million Years" and it's fairly simple. You pick three animals to start with and you hope they live as long as possible in a changing environment. (You can use life preservers if you think you're doomed) Here's the link to it. Who Wants to Live a Million Years?

Labels: angelina jolie, animals, car accident, celebrities, death, farrah fawcett, games, health, lara croft, michael jackson, movie, music, roadkill, who wants to live a million years, xxxholic

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