Super Lovers – 06 – 10 (END)
And they live in Yaoiland happily ever after (at least until season 2)
Howdy howdy. After being absent due to real life things, I didn’t even realize that Super Lovers end already. Oh well, might as well make a final review instead of going through all the episodes one by one. That kind of stuff is boring.
Summary // Before starting the review, maybe I should make a quick summary of episode 6 until 10. Except, really, there is nothing to review about because episode 6 to 8 is basically the same thing as episode 3 to 5. More conflicts that look different but really it’s just the same conflict which is caused by miscommunication and insecurities, just with a conflict with more sub-topic. Episode 6 to 8 is probably the most boring part of Super Lovers for me due to the repetitive formula it keeps using despite of the so-called resolves at the end of each problem. They keep repeating the same thing over and over again. This isn’t a Super Lovers thing though. It’s every yaoi problem (with few exceptions).
The highlights of those 5 episodes are actually episode 9 and 10. Episode 9 deals with physical phenomena Ren goes through. They are normal men problems, but due to the lack of experience from Ren, it’s understandable how he gets panicked over his boner. It was cute. It’s nice seeing him acting like a boy instead of the same unnatural behavior he has. Moreover, fanservice is always more than welcomed.
Things escalated quickly
Episode 10 deals with Ren’s background. Haruko investigated his background, and it turned out that Ren is a victim of human trafficking that was sold for drugs by his dead mother. Although the anime wasn’t able to deliver the emotional tone just like the manga did, Ren’s question for the lack of parenthood in his life is still heartbreaking. Kids aren’t supposed to say things like that. Kids are supposed to be happy. But then Ren went ahead and did things like that *sadface* Seeing a child questioning his own behavior for something he did not do is a sad sight to see, so Haru’s presence and assurance is definitely something to be thankful again. This brings them closer too, of course. So yeah, despite of the unnatural relationship the two develops, this episode proves how the two are meant to be for each other. But damn, the cliffhanger was a surprise. I didn’t expect them to end season 1 with such cliffhanger. This anime is a pro when it comes to cliffhangers.
Review // Now that the quick summary is done, let’s do the review. First, the story. Super Lovers’ story is… How do I say this? It’s not bland, but it’s not unique either. It’s not bland because it started with an interesting premise for a yaoi. Well, not an interesting premise, but it was delivered uniquely. This is because the author did an excellent job at putting down the foundation between the two characters in the first episode. So instead of developing the relationship as the episodes go by, the relationship has already been developed. What we see in episode 4 to 10 is their developed relationship that’s developing into a relationship that is more complex and better. One does not see this in yaoi often, and watching such thing makes me feel refreshed for some reason.
Haruko: “Look, we’re drawing the wrong kid. It’s supposed to be a boy, not a girl”
Unfortunately, there are still shortcomings of this anime. It started out great. Episode 1 to 4 was great. Then we have episode 5 to 8 (and kind of 9) as the problems. In those episodes, Haru and Ren started to have problems with their relationship. I think having problems in a relationship is fine. However, it’s not fine when the problem is alllwaayysss the same, and that’s what happened in those episodes. The conflict Haru and Ren had in episode 5 to 8 are the same conflicts, but with a different topic that is not far off with the previous topic. The first conflict is about Haru’s friendly manner. The second problem is Haru’s friendly manner and how he interact with girls. The third problem is about Haru’s treatment to Ren because of his friendly manner. So it’s like that. The conflicts are too repetitive, making me wonder whether the characters have learned from the resolution or not. Except there is no resolution! Every time there is a conflict, it always ends with the two characters making out or getting friendly again. That’s it, no heart-to-heart conversation, whatsoever (except episode 10). The resolution is always implicitly stated between the lines, and that’s annoying as hell because one line can be interpreted in soooo many ways. So yeah, the conflicts created in this anime are never resolved properly, and they are always left hanging while a new conflict appears. I don’t think that’s a good execution of a story, and that’s the most disappointing part of this anime.
Fortunately, the animation for Super Lovers is able to make up for the horrible implementation of the conflicts. The animation is not the best, and sometimes it’s not consistent at all. At times, I see Haru’s face shape changes two times in one episode. The characters during zoom out panels look like a child’s scribble too. However, when it comes to close-up panels, this anime is its experts. I was amazed at the amount of details they put for face shots. From the hair strands to the shape of the chins and the wrinkles of the shirts, everything was so detailed during close-ups. The still images are also amazing. Not the still images mind you, because still images are never good. However, the colors and the effects during the still images are superb. The colors are so bright and so powerful, and they always fit the air of the still images’ themes. The same can be said about the SFXs and comedic effects. The backgrounds are pretty ordinary, but the effects during so-called comedic effects are actually impressive. Turning into stone, flat face, dark aura, dots, thunders, spilling drinks, you name it, this anime has it. There are lots of varieties when it comes to the comedic scenes, and all of them are pretty creative. Now, if only the comedic scenes are actually as funny as the comedic effects…
My face when I found out there will be season 2
Overall, this anime gives me a mixed feeling. The animation is not bad, and the story is pretty good… At the beginning. Then everything became horrible and was dragged on until episode 9ish, and it ends with a banging episode 10. But hey, things are actually getting more interesting in the manga now, so I guess season 2 will be better than the first season? I’ll definitely watch season 2, and maybe I’ll blog it with more diligence.
