12 Days of Anime 2018 – the Year When Love Came in All Shapes and Sizes

Now, before I begin, let me just say this: I’m straight (whoa, where is she going with this, right?), so I’m not about to start acting like the voice of the LGBTQ+ community. That would be kind of inappropriate! That said, something that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed about this year’s anime is that they’ve featured quite the assortment of gay and otherwise unconventional pairings. In fact, I’d suggest that many of these are some of the best pairings we’ve had this year, regardless of whether the characters’ feelings are mutual or one-sided.

30 Day Anime Challenge – #8 My Favourite Anime Couple

#8 Who is your favourite anime couple?

Izumi and Sig Curtis

Sure, if I asked you to conjure up an image of an iconic Fullmetal Alchemist (FMA) couple Izumi and Sig Curtis probably wouldn’t be at the forefront of your mind! That’s understandable. The FMA franchise has several power couples, including: Ed and Winry, Roy and Riza, and Ling and Lan Fan, and compared to this trio, Izumi and Sig do not get much screen-time. Not to mention that they lack the excitement of will-they-won’t-they, as they were already married long before the shows began. Nevertheless, Izumi and Sig have long been my favourite FMA couple, no, my favourite anime couple, for a number of reasons…

Nazo no Kanojo X episode 6

So now that the show’s done enough establishing of the characters, strengthening the bond between our two love-birds and indicating an obvious attraction between them, I wanted to see a substantial amount of progression in their relationship with this episode, something like their first kiss, or whatever. It just feels that, providing the show is going to culminate in the pair losing their virginity to one another, (as suggested by episode one) it ought to start heading in that direction now that it’s half over. But, of course, Nazo no Kanojo X- always eager to buck the trend- was not quick to cater to this viewer’s expectations of it!

Nazo no Kanojo x episode 2

After last week’s brilliant opening episode I wasn’t sure how this week’s would be able to meet the expectations I had of it but, I needn’t have worried because this episode was also pretty outstanding! It followed on from the theme of Urabe deconstructing Tsubaki’s more traditional concepts of love and what being in a relationship is all about but, as par in Nazo no Kanojo, in a pretty unusual, strangely tender way.

Nazo no Kanojo X episode 1

So, this marks my first foray into episodic blogging. Scary stuff. I don’t know how far I’ll be able to provide deep philosophical insights into each episode I blog, or whatever it is you guys usually look for in episodic blog posts, as I tend to be quite oblivious to hidden messages. I’m just gonna do what comes natural. I’m sure everything’ll all slot into place once I gain a little bit of experience!