Fusion post: Top 5 Anime/Manga Couples

Hey there audience! 

In the spirit of ol' Saint Valentine (you know, the guy who was beheaded in Rome for marrying lovers in secret in opposition to the tyrannical rule of Emperor Claudius the Cruel?) Alice and I have gotten together to present our own personal Top 5 Anime/Manga Couples!

Now, Alice brought up a pretty good point when we were talking about the idea, we are guys and girls. In fact, I even think that it is safe to say that about 92% of all anime watchers on this planet are boys and girls.

So, not only will our lists and opinions differ semi-radically but the way that our readers will be looking at this lists might also play into this here... We will just have to see!

If we haven't included any of your favorites, we likely have not seen the anime that the couple is featured in. So we apologize in advance for that! 

We had hoped to post this on Valentines Day, but because science beckoned and we got into our writing/perfectionist modes, we came a bit late.

So without further adeu, we dive into the world of the animangaverse to ask the question "What is love?" and to ultimately decide from our viewing/reading experiences who plays that game the best.

Here are your countdowns offered by your very own dynamic duo: Alice and AvatarHippo!

We both hope you enjoy!

Full Moon wo Sagashite: An Endless Search; The Truth About Eichi-kun

Anime:

Ok, I feel like I need to say this: I memorized this song...And I am incredibly proud of that :). It's such a beautiful song. Her feelings of love, of the heartbreak she's been through, everything! is depicted in this. You don't even need to know what it means to feel the truth behind the lyrics. My favorite line? I love you, namida tomaranai. Konnan ja Kimi no koto, shirazuni ireba Yokatta yo (I love you, I can't keep my tears from falling. I also wish, that I had never met you) Falling in love: the one thing that can be the best thing in your life, while hurting you so much. My singing still sounds pretty strange, and nothing close to how Mitsuki sings it, but come on! It's japanese! That's a mile stone for me :).

So, I decided to post this video to explain what exactly happened in the anime. I must say, angelicsnow did a great job depicting the anime up until Eichi's death (episode 42)...Oh! I gave it away! Yes, people...Eichi is dead :'(. In the anime, Mitsuki won the International Pop Idol of the year or something like that and was given a trip to America. She also went with Wakaouji-sensei and Full Moon's manager (who know of Meroko and Takuto) to investigate a treatment so she won't lose her voice during surgery. Along the way, they search for Eichi, and we learn that he and his adopted parents died 3 months after moving to America. As shown in the video, Mistuki was devistated. Having worked so hard just to see Eichi, having no one else in mind but him, made her hit rock bottom. She laid at his headstone till Takuto rescued her and carried her back to the house.

Manga                                                           Chapter 16

The chains keep moving, which I can't control,
and even though you stay still,
I keep on moving

I hate you all, because you keep me away from Eichi.
You keep pulling me away from him...
But he's waiting. Alone. At the bottom of the deep dark sea :(

Mitsuki: Why do you keep helping me?
Takuto: Because...you're still alive

Ok, here's one of the many differences between the manga and anime: Mitsuki already knew that Eichi was dead. Takuto, Meroko, and Izumi (who has a different personality than the anime) search to find Eichi. That's when Takuto remembers one of his first jobs as a shinigami; a plane flight to America...Eichi's plane. He said he saw a young boy turning into an angel, telling him that he "hated shinigami." We also find out that Mitsuki was one of the first to know this, she's just been repressing the truth. Each time she's told that Eichi is dead, she feels as though she's being pulled farther and farther away from him. In the manga, Takuto works to help her forget about Eichi while keeping him close to her heart, but still love herself enough to want to live.

I'd say that the manga (as always) had a bigger effect on me than the anime. I understand Mitsuki's pain, having worked so hard for something only to learn that it's already gone. However, the fact that she's been holding those feelings inside her for so long, not willing to let go of her loved one, really hit my heart. We finally realize why Mitsuki wasn't afraid to die, which we never understand from the anime. It won't only spur on a more interesting plot, but it also gives us a realistic situation that many people go through. I have a friend who lost her father, and everyday I see her suffer because of it. The manga shows us that it may be hard, but sometimes letting go is the healthiest thing to do.

Full Moon wo Sagashite: Depression Point

Until now, the theme of death and lost love was always prominant, but never really recognized. Like a needle in a haystack: just waiting to be found. Well, I've officially found it! I think it was episode 35 that set off this turn for the worse.


Until now, I've never seen what shinigami really do. Having Meroko and Takuto as our only reference I had this image in my mind that shinigami help children, hate their job, and wouldn't kill anyone even if their lives depended on it. That's what I thought before episode 35, but now, with the introduction on Izumi-kun, realize how close death really is. In episode 35 Mitsuki meets an old man who can see shinigami aswell. Long story short we watch Izumi-kun point his arrow and take his soul, vowing that Mitsuki is next on his list. Immediately after this episode, Mitsuki finally realizes that death is near. That she says she's ready, but is actually very afraid.


The manga of this series is 10 times better than the anime, mostly because it deals with more sensitve issues like life and death in a stronger way. I'm actually happy that the anime has become more sad. I feel like it lacked the emotional aspect that the manga brought.

Newest Anime: Full Moon wo Sagashite

From left to right:
Top: Johnathan,  Izumi, Madoka, Eichi,
Wakaouji, Oshige
Main Characters: Meroko, Mitzuki/Full Moon,
Takuto

Hey readers! It's been a while, hasn't it? I blame Thanksgiving break (haven't had internet for an entire week). But anyway, since I finished my last anime (which I believe was Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne) I've decided to take the safe road and stay with a manga artist I was familiar with. Her name? Tanemura Arina, author of the aformentioned anime/manga, and my current series, "Full Moon wo Sagashite" or "Searching for the Full Moon" 
 She has a pureness to her stories, even though they usually deal with subjects less thanhappy or pure. I think her characters are always someone you can relate to, or at least symathize with. What I love about them is their ever trusting nature, their honesty, their strenght even through serious heartbreak. Maron and Mitsuki are perfect examples. Both have lost someone they love yet they keep on pushing through, putting their best face forward. However, they're determination to stay strong happens to be one of their worst traits. I suppose you could call her main characters...masochistic. Putting themself in harms way in order to make someone else happy or proud.
"Full Moon wo Sagashite" is practically based off the concept, "I'll do it for him!" Full Moon is about a 12-year-old girl named Mitsuki, who suffers from throat cancer. Both of her parents died in an accident and she lives with her prude of a grandmother. One day she is visited by two shinigami in blue and bright red costumes, one with cat ears and the other with bunny ears. May I say that they put shame to the ones in Death Note, but I must keep in mind that it is a children's show. Well, long story short, when Mitsuki finds out she won't live more than a year, she sneaks out and tries to go to a singing audition. We then learn that she promised the love of her life, Eichi, that she'll be closer to her dreams the next time they meet. Feeling sorry for her, the male shinigami, Takuto, turns her into a 16-year-old so she can enter the audition. The rest of the anime/manga is about her career, her love, her drive to meet him again and be noticed by him through singing, and the struggles she faces in coping with her emotions.
All in all, this is a heart-touching, heart-warming series. It's almost like Fruits Basket, in the sense that you both experience extreme warmth and compassion mixed with sorrow and tears. I would recommend that you both watch and read this series. The manga provides better story lines, more twists, more heartfelt moments, whereas the anime allows you to hear one of the many beautiful songs the series has to offer.
P.S: the songs will get stuck in your head, and since it's in Japanese it'll sound something like, "doushite, unetaka waka oujiiiii, humenooo..nnnnaaa oh ahh naahh" ;)