Ah, Shimotsuma Monogatari itself may not fit the general understanding of Otome culture I mentioned.
If you try reading the novel from an expectation of a noble, traditional figure of young ladies, you definitely wouldn't be satisfied.
The reason why Takemoto is seen as the establisher of the Otome boom is his activities as much as his novel.
He has written numerous articles about Otome culture that had existed long in Japan and led a new evaluation of Yoshiya.
The new boom for otome seems to contain various streams of modern element and traditional view.
One example is the lorita looks.
Shimotsuma also deals with lorita looks.
And Gothlori(Gothic +Lori) clothes are in fashion in Japan. : There are singers who intentionally seek lorita looks.
Rozen Maiden is featuring Goth Loris, too.
Some advocates of this newly introduced part of otome culture say it is girls' proud interest in their beauty.
But I personally think this is the most commercialized part of the recent Otome boom.
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Spoiler for about guest' comment:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by guest
This show is trying to challenge some controversial issues here, such as incest, pedophile (Limonode and Dominia), and out right lesbianism. I just hope that it won't fall into the category of "Kurau." Kurau was promising in the beginning but fell short in the end. It certainly develops well on the relationship of Kurau and Christmas but really nothing more than that. It never really explains what Rynax is, where they come from, and how they work. The whole scheme is not done well, either. In short, it had the potential of being a great story with depth but in the end, it doesn’t have much of it.
It is actually kind of like Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito and they have the same director or producer or something like that. It started out as a very interesting story but in the end, it just does not deliver what they promise. The ending seem to simplify (or try to avoid?) a complicated situation so that it just let everything slide.
I think I start to see these in Simoun, after these many of episodes, still not much about anything other than the girls’ relationships. I am not saying that a drama focusing on relationships is not good enough. There are a lot of shows which deal with similar category and have done it well. Simoun needs something or something else. I hope this time Simoun will be different.
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Welcome, guest.
I have to confess I don't really grasp what you are expecting from Simoun.
As Fignae pointed out, Simoun already surpassed them, at least in the relathionship description.
If you happen to expect other than relationship from Simoun,
I'd say the relationship is a part of Simoun's broad themes and messages, IMHO.
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Simoun novel series 1 comes out on 25th of this month from Megami bunko!