Sekaiichi Hatsukoi

[warita200]

SEKAIICHI HATSUKOI



Title: Sekaiichi Hatsukoi
Japanese title: 世界一初恋
Genre: Yaoi
Original run: 8th April 2011–24th June 2011 (12 episodes)
Original creator: Shungiku Nakamura
Animation Studio: Studio DEEN
Official website (Japanese): http://sekai-ichi.jp/

TRAILER: CLICK HERE

Seiyuu cast
Katsuyuki Konishi as Masamune Takano
Shinnosuke Tachibana as Chiaki Yoshino
Takashi Kondo as Ritsu Onodera
Yuuichi Nakamura as Yoshiyuki Hatori

Hikaru Midorikawa as Kanade Mino
Hiroshi Kamiya as YÅ« Yanase
Kenyuu Horiuchi as Takafumi Yokozawa
Nobuhiko Okamoto as Shōta Kisa
Toshiyuki Morikawa as Ryūichirō Isaka

I have never created a thread for any scheduled anime in my life, mostly the job is done by some other fellow anime fan, but with the female fan base on FTV practically dead, I decided to put myself in charge of it this time.

Synopsis:

Onodera Ritsu has just transferred from his father's publishing company to Marukawa Shoten. Assigned to the shoujo manga division, he crosses path with the person he'd least expected to meet. Takano Masamune is the editor-in-chief of the division Ritsu's been assigned to, and the two seem get off on the wrong foot right from the very start when Takano unexpectedly kisses him. However, there is more to than what meets the eye: Takano is actually Saga, Ritsu's senpai and high school love, whom Ritsu had thought to have played him for a fool by taking his affections for granted when he confessed and summarily dumped him.
(Taken from: http://myanimelist.net/manga/10573/Sekaiichi_Hatsukoi )

My thoughts:

What strikes me first is the artwork, which looks exactly like Junjou romantica, my favourite anime of all times. If I had to rate Junjou, I would give it 11 out of 10 and I am hard to please. Lately, I have been thinking about Junjou a lot, wondering if it was popular enough for the creators to make a season 3 (however unlikely) or maybe create something similar to please the junjou fans. And voila, here comes Sekaiichi Hatsukoi.

The resemblance to Junjou isnt by any means coincidental, not only has this anime been created by the same studio, namely studio DEEN, the plot even takes place in the Junjou Romantica universe. Some of the minor characters from Junjou even make chameo appearances, but not the main characters, which is a pity I think, but on a second thought maybe it is for the better. If Misaki/Usagi or Nowaki/Hiro-san appeared, I would crave to see more of them, since I miss them so badly and well..... maybe it is better to just know they are still alive and happy somewhere in the background of the story.

What else am I going to tell you? After reading all of this, I GOT SO EXCITED, I could barely sit still. My heart is racing and I am counting the days until its premier. I cannot remember, when was the last time an anime got me THIS excited, I feel it is a good omen.

Otherwise, I noticed there are some OVAS out there. I didnt know, but I am planning to check it out. I will let you know later on.

 

[julez]

I'm glad that you are really excited about at least one new anime warita

for me I am really anticipating this one and Gintama' of course

I hope that this one has the same level of charm and good characters as Junjou. We'll have to wait and see.... in any case the voice cast looks good.

 

[warita200]

Looks like they took the OVAs and used it 1:1 for the first episode. Thats a bit disppointing, but ah, thee is always the next week.
I must say the first episode hasnt intrigued me all that much. By the looks of it, they had a thing going in high school and then one of them dumpted the other, judging by the summary of this anime, but I have problems understanding who was the dumper and who the dumpee. Ah, we will find out soon enough.

Btw I do wonder, to what extent this dream is based on what really happened and how much of it is just wishful thinking. I mean, the sakura leaves blowing constantly through the screen made it look so surreal and way too suger sweet for it to be real.

 

[julez]

The first part was very cheesy, especially with the sakura blossoms constantly blowing around them. I did like it when he awoke from his dream, and found himself with a tyrant of a boss

It is confusing though, that the person in his past looks the same as his boss, and from the synopsis it is the same person... but Onodera is the only one who can't seem to see that.
"Saga" seems to have changed his name to "Takano," which is the main reason why Onodera is so clueless. As to why he changed his name, I have a feeling it has something to do with his parents. Maybe he changed his name because he didn't want to have any ties to them anymore, so he could start a new life for himself.... why he didn't tell Onodera this is anyone's guess... maybe he likes playing this game, or seeing how Onodera acts around ppl normally as he was so shy and nervous around Saga senpai

 

[Shinobu's_Lover]

i'm not touching this one with a 100ft pole.

 

[warita200]

QUOTE (Shinobu's_Lover @ Apr 11 2011, 07:52 AM) i'm not touching this one with a 100ft pole.
Do you come to this thread to get this out of your system???? Please refrain from such comments in the future.

If you want to critisize a series, then watch it first, otherwise you lose the right to say anything. If you have a problem with the genre, nobody forces you to like it. This is discussion about sekaiichi, not your personal genre prefrence in anime!!!

 

[warita200]

Juli, you were right with your theory why he has a different last name all of the sudden.

As for the plot.....I cant help comparing it to Junjo and unfortunately I find Sekaiichi lacking. I know I shouldnt compare, this simply isnt Junjo and comparing it will only spoil the fun, but I cant help it. Somehow the show doesnt have the emotional complexity of Junjo. So far it is quite linear, the typical shoujo manga plot if you want, where you have 2 people in love, then a misunderstanding and now one of them will play hard to get. By the looks of the preview, we have 3 couples again, but only 12 episodes, which is way too short to explore all the relationships in the depth they deserve. So far Sekaiichi looks like a weak copy of Junjo, like a teabag that has been used twice.

Takano does remind me a little of Usagi.... i mean, he is also selfish, even though they tried to make it look like there is a soft spot inside his hard shell in the last episode, but somehow this sudden chara development didnt feel natural for me and I couldnt swallow it. He does have some Usagi attributes like the mentioned selfishness, he is also tall and aloof..... but lacks Usagis sexiness. His voice doesnt make me melt in my knees.... somehow he fails to do anything for me at all. See Usagis charm consisted in his eccentric personality, and even though he behaved like a an egoistic bastard at times, you could tell he is a nice guy somewhere down there, he is just very picky about who he lets to see it. One could develop an instant liking in Usagi, because lets face it, us women find Usagis way sexy, dont we? We want our guy to be confident, almost arrogant in behaviour, yet protective, with a hint of jealousy and possesivness, but soft and vulnerable in the right moments...... Does Takano have these traits? Not that I can see, he is somewhat plain and 2D so far. Hence it is not surprising, that I feel no butterflies in my belly, when Takano kisses Onodera. I remember the excitement I felt, when Usagi pressed Misaki against the wall, bent over him and with a half smile on his lips he whispered into Misakis ear with his smokey sexy voice the right words to both throw Misaki off balance and work him to a ball of emmotional goo, just to catch him off guard with a passionate kiss. Ahhhh, how I enjoyed those moments..... I could identify myself with Misaki so well...... and boy was I turned on!!!

My only hope then are the other two couples, but I am afraid I might be disappointed, because just like with Junjo, the anime opens with the main pairing and thats where the emphasis will be.

 

[julez]

I try not to compare it to Junjo, because I know it will be inferior, especially comparing Usagi to Takano. Usagi's voice is super sexy, I'm surprised his voice actor is not more popular. Even just listening to his voice makes me melt inside. Warita-chan you described Usagi's appeal perfectly, I could not have said it better myself.
As for Sekaiichi, I hope that the chemistry between Takano and Onodera will get better as the show progresses, we'll have to wait and see.
I still think it is a good show, just lacking in some areas compared to Junjo.

 

[warita200]

Watched episode 3 yesterday and it was slightly better.

One of the possible weaknesses of this anime is, it focuses too much on the process of manga production and not enough on emmotions. I dont read manga, so that doesnt grab my interest.
Plotwise we finally get some development, Takano realised Onodera is avoiding him, so he is now on the frontal attack approach. I wonder if that will work.
Onodera on his side is jealous, even though he is SO NOT INTERESTED, hahahaha
But sadly, the sales guy and Takano had much more chemistry so far then Takano/Onodera....

The very last scene was a cliffhanger, I wonder how much the sales guy actually saw. Either way, I have high hopes for the next episode to see some action between T/O. Jealousy has always been the driving factor in Junjou, could be in this series as well and the jealousy background is well set. Nyaaaa