Kimi ni Todoke is a popular romantic comedy series that first started off as a manga. It then got an animated series which gradually got the series a bit more popularity. NIS America has confirmed with Anime News Network that the second season will be released in North America next year, continuing where it left off from the first season.

Sources: [Anime News Network]

Sekai-Ichi Hatsukoi is a romance anime (airing originally on April 8, 2011) between two individuals working in the exciting world of shoujo manga publishing. The anime centers on characters Onodera Ritsu and Masamune Takano.

Onodera Ritsu resigns from his father’s publishing company due to snide comments from his coworkers, who attribute his success due to nepotism rather than Ritsu’s own hard work. Ritsu leaves his father’s company to create his own success. He applies to work as a literature publisher, but winds up being stuck as a Shoujo manga publisher. As he copes with the difficulties of his new job, Ritsu encounters Masamune Takano who is the head of the Shoujo Manga Publishing group known as the Emerald Department.

Apparently all of the Shoujo Manga Publishers are male. Go figure! Takano convinces Ritsu to stay in Shoujo publishing by calling him “useless,” effectively manipulating his pride. However, Takano has ulterior motives. Takano was Ritsu’s childhood crush and they had a love affair. Due to a misunderstanding, they broke it off and never spoke to each other again. Since then Ritsu has become embittered and forces himself to never accept love into his heart. Takano vows to Ritsu that he will get Ritsu to fall in love with him again. The anime focuses around the Shoujo Manga editor's department and their own individual love problem. There are several arcs containing various characters that are uniquely different from Ritsu and Takano.

Plot: The plot is deep, considering it is a shonen ai. It is interesting and the characters are distinctive and easy to connect with, but it’s also straightforward and doesn’t hide many things. Ritsu fits the stereotypical anime female archtype, always suspecting an ulterior motive and gets into hilarious hijinks as well as coming up with delusional fantasies that are quite entertaining.

Music/Voice acting: Both are aptly chosen and are well done and well represented. Although I do not know the voice actors individually, they represent their characters well. Ritsu’s voice actor is a bit whiny and nasally, fitting his immature personality, while deeper voice acting for Takano, which works for his cool, aloof personality. The opening and endings are both great songs and nice to listen to over and over again.

Graphically everything is clean and smooth. Characters have distinctive appearances and change their clothing. The graphics for the anime have a high production value, and were produced by Studio Deen. It’s how an anime ought to be.

The anime is vastly different from the manga. This anime is surprising, because it has a very strong plot like one you’d find in most shoujo romance. It isn’t a yaoi smut anime, with the dainty feminine men; like shoujo-esque interpretations of yaoi. There are conflicts, well fleshed out characters, and great voice acting. This original series is created by Shungiku Nakamura who is also accredited with creating famous Junjo Romantica Series.

It’s got great depth and is probably one of the better yaoi animes out there with a deeper plot than most in the genre. It really does fit the genre well and redefines it, giving it greater depth. The only critique I have about it are the really blatant shoujo style scenes that occur rarely in the anime.

I give this yaoi anime 4.8 out of 5. I recommend this series to individuals who like the romance genre, to fans of yaoi, and finally to individuals who just like a nice story with great animation.

Disclaimer: The anime is great to watch, however the Manga has really EXPLICIT images. Just a warning.

Yosuga no Sora / ヨスガノソラ (“Sky of Connection”) is a romance anime that tests how mature of a show can really be broadcasted on television. As with a lot of romance animes, this show has been adapted from a visual novel. An interesting aspect of Yosuga no Sora is that it goes in the direction of separate arcs for each heroine compared to only the main canon route for one heroine. The anime aired from Oct 4, 2010 to Dec 20, 2010 and the manga is still continuing. Little to no spoilers will be mentioned. Please note that this series contains nudity and sexual themes and should be viewed by mature audiences. The review however, will be safe for work.

I promise this will be one of the few shots of pantsu I will ever have

With multiple arcs, each heroine’s story must appeal to the viewer. Yosuga no Sora however, successfully does a great job in drawing out emotional impact from each of the heroines’ arcs. The series starts off with the protagonist, Kasugano Haruka, moving in with his sister, Sora. The first episode starts off as a regular starting point for each route and then as the show progresses, the plot diverges at certain points. This enables the viewers to understand how each of the girls came to know Haruka and their feelings for him. Seriousness is the tone throughout the show as it focuses heavily on building the Haruka's relationships, but it does have some comedic bits at the end of each episode for one of the heroines’ side story. I have not played through the anime or read through much of the manga, so no comparisons will be made between them.