(L) Suzuka

[Quajafrie]

and what the hell... suzuka , the name of the anime , the main gal of the series... and they kissed only once in the whole series and that was forced lol

So Honoka must be the name of the anime because Yamato kissed her more times? So romance series are all about kissing and nothing else?

[grey_moon]

Originally Posted by Quajafrie

So Honoka must be the name of the anime because Yamato kissed her more times? So romance series are all about kissing and nothing else?

Heh it was the ending by the time Suzuka and Yamoto got together so it's hard so say how much they get up to (and what they get up to ;p), but I think that the point that was being made was that Honaka and Yamoto doing the couple things got far far far more air time then SuzukaXYamoto (them holding hands at the end...). Unless of course you consider arguing and harassment to be parts of a good relationship

[PsychItsMike]

It may seem like they should have kissed more but thats why you should read the manga and you'll find out .

[Pellissier]

Heh, sure this anime touched me a lot, and left me a lot.
I report here a bit of what I wrote a while ago about this series (it was just after 26's raw, but covered by spoiler tags), since my opinion basically hasn't changed since then, even after having rewatched the last ep (and the 25 as well) quite a number of times.

Suzuka is the fourth series that will reach the 10/10 in my book. Before of it, "Hime-chan no Ribon" , "Pita Ten" and "Aishiteruze Baby" were able to do the same (out of about a hundred titles I have watched).
This to state how I loved it. It's true, for fairness, I would supposedly rate this series with a "7" for animation , being 10 the others (sound, story, characters, value, enjoyment). But I also tend to help out weak spot of those anime who managed to reach my indepth.
Suzuka did, I felt touched since the beginning and I've lived Asahina and Akitsuki's romance in a very emotional way throughout these 5 months, and the happy ending was just so due
Also I had a great time first reading then also writing on this board (before and after the "disaster").

For sure, I won't forget these characters so easily, the secretly sweet ice queen Suzuka-chan , the late bloomer, but very brave and persistent, Yamato-kun, the high sweetness of Honoka , the happy spirit of Miki, the wise words of Hattori.

My credits go to:
- Lunar, which had me actually knew this series and indeed worked so good on it
- The manga author, for having create such an intense scenario
- The anime team, despite their low budget and their little flaws, they made me whisper.
- Mitsuhashi Kanako, Suzuka's Voice Actress, for giving such a strong characterization to Asahina. She almost gave her a life. I will surely hear again of her, but at this rate she's already labeled as "Suzuka" forever

- Also, in a brief exchange of opinions with Devil Doll, I specified also the "why" of my tens (here updated):

In a nutshell I will just explain why of my tens without wanting to be right or wrong. It's all in my very humble opinion, so please take it all how it comes

Animation = already said, it would be a 7. But I'll help it out as I do for everyone of my "beloved" shows.

Sound = 10 because it associates a perfect voice acting - I won't never forget Asahina's voice and tone - to a great set of bgms. A few of them, the most recurring, are often playing in a loop either on my stereo, either on winamp. Plus, ED2 "Kimi no Koto" has entered my top 10 for anime songs.

Story = 10 self-explaining by reading my other thoughts.

Characters = 10 since there's a great set of them. And the fact of how we did debate here on whom we loved or whom we didn't, implyes how well they were developed. Strong point of the show.

Value = as a sum of various factors, it gets a 10 for having been the best romance of 2005, and maybe also going back some years.

Enjoyment = 10 .. when I will miss some anime characters as they were a real person, it couldn't be different

Originally Posted by Muir Woods

Now, there's a question I want to pose because I'm quite interested in your opinions and justifications: Is Yamato's effort worth it to you?

To me, it's a "yes" to your question. If you strongly love someone, but above all when you see spirals of light on those love hopes of your, I think nothing would be capable of stopping you. And you could do every kind of madness (in the good way, of course ), often even surprising your own self.

I quite of experimented this on my skin, when I was younger.
Considering that Yamato and Suzuka are about 16 y.o. they're a lot alike real persons, to me.
Of course if you tell me that itsn't a proper trend to go, I may agree with you. Anyone behaves how he thinks it's better.

In Suzuka we saw love focused by a specific point of view. Of course it isn't the only love point of view, but if I had to judge, *this* very specific one has been dealt with marvellously.

Originally Posted by tabun

Last note: the shirt tug scene still wins over the holding hands scene by far. Just my 2 cents

I disagree
Reverse placement:
1)Finger interlocking
2)Shirt tug

As a side note, i find it wonderful when, at the graveyard, Suzuka says (not accurate, I'm just going with my memory) "he's clumsy, irresponsible, meddlesome, we always always fight but still I like him a lot". I loved this sequence so much! And overall, the way Mitsuhashi Kanako (Suzuka's seiyuu) interpreted those lines.

Sorry for lenght! It was a bit I was restraining myself from posting here since knowing the end already I didn't want to spoil anyone in any way.
So now that it's over I can bring my thoughts more peacefully!

And in the very end, SIGH .. for the loss of such a beautiful series. Hope that 2006 will bring something close to this.

[Radiosity]

Originally Posted by Pellisier

- Mitsuhashi Kanako, Suzuka's Voice Actress, for giving such a strong characterization to Asahina. She almost gave her a life. I will surely hear again of her, but at this rate she's already labeled as "Suzuka" forever

Nah, she's making a name for herself elsewhere. Zettai Shonen is a good example. She plays Miki very well, and personally I much preferred her calm and down to earth role in ZS compared to Suzuka (not saying I don't like her as Suzuka though, I just prefer Miki character wise).

[Pellissier]

Originally Posted by Radiosity

Nah, she's making a name for herself elsewhere. Zettai Shonen is a good example. She plays Miki very well, and personally I much preferred her calm and down to earth role in ZS compared to Suzuka (not saying I don't like her as Suzuka though, I just prefer Miki character wise).

I knew about that, but since I haven't watched ZS much (just 1 ep).. do you know that so called "imprinting" phenomen?
That's what it happened to me with Mitsuhashi Kanako/Suzuka. And it already happened, ie for Nakahara Mai, who to me will always remain "Midori" (Midori no Hibi) or Tamura Yukari, to me always Misha from "Pita Ten"

And it's a matter of fact that when I watched Zettai Shonen ep.1, and listened to Miki's voice, I thought.. "Suzuka!" . I think these factors depend both on a chronological bases, both on how much you did like a certain series/character. Just my 2 cents about it

[Observation]

She has to go through the whole range of emotions while voicing Suzuka, happy, sadness, anger, etc. Not detracting from the fact she was very good as Miki's voice in ZS, but I feel she's just simply excels and shines more as Suzuka's voice. You can feel the intensity as she screams at Yamato after giving him the slaps, then the gentle softness from the graveyard confession, ahh she's so good.

[Radiosity]

Originally Posted by Pellisier

I knew about that, but since I haven't watched ZS much (just 1 ep).. do you know that so called "imprinting" phenomen?

Aye, I know exactly what you mean. I find that with Yui Horie when I hear her in an anime. First thought is always 'Naru!' (Makie in Negima, Kotori in DC, Eri in School Rumble, etc etc, every time I've gone 'Ah, it's Naru' lol). So yes, I know all about imprinting

[Kaiko]

Hey. I'm about to get the manga but I already watched the anime. What chapter starts where the anime left off?

[yangster]

Originally Posted by Kaiko

Hey. I'm about to get the manga but I already watched the anime. What chapter starts where the anime left off?

From past posts that I've read, it ended at ch. 72.

[fynefilo]

A little late but thanks Mentar and the Lunar Anime people for subbing this series. I downloaded the first episode, without knowing what it was about, just because it was Lunar subbing it. Thanks so much!

Suzuka = Best drama/romance anime of 2005

[jiashore]

*glomps* lunar staff...

although i have not seen the last ep, just seeing you guys comments have made me so happy and sad in a way... this will definitely leave a hole in my heart....

anyways... great work lunar staff.... thank you all for doing the subbings and putting in the effort to give us constant updates...

cheers,

jiashore

[Sinestra]

i just finished watching final episode of Suzuka and just the series its self i was not impressed i think one of the main problems of the series is the main charcter Akitsuki was just a weak charcter the whole series centers around him winning all the damn time the final episode finished everything off in a predictable manner the only good points about the series were the 2 drunk girls and the stuff about track. if anyone has any feed back please feel free to share your points of view thanks

[Zappster]

In future you may want to check the Fansubs forum as there is a thread there for all things related to Suzuka discussion(the anime at least). Don't really see why this needs a thread all on it's own, much less in the general anime forum.

[Radiosity]

And this required a new thread why? There's a multipage thread for Suzuka discussion in the fansubs forum already:

http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=26356



edit: Gah, always someone faster on the Submit button...

[shikamarufoo]

Just watched the final episode...
I loved the way the ended it with the holding hands scene...Overall I loved the whole story and hope that maybe a second season will come out...Leaving another anime once again makes me feel empty inside waaah!
~Thanks lunar staff for subbing this series.

[Buwoy]

Just finished watching it this morning, and now i'm going through a sense of loss. Waiting for an episode each week was bad, but now knowing that no more will come out is worse.

I did like how Honoka developed. From being weak at the start, she turned out to be far, far more stronger than Suzuka. I liked how she was honest about her feelings, and yet can let go and become a friend.

Suzuka was finally honest to herself, though i see her relationship with Yamato to be full of ups and down.

Yamato still hasn't matured though. He's still a kid who's clumsy, and irresponsible and.. *insert suzuka's description of yamato here*

I'd like to thank Lunar for bringing to us this very very good series, and for everyone who ever posted on this thread for all the good discussions. Thanks guys (and gals)! *raises hand in salute*

I recall mentar telling me a long time ago that we'd get a errr... I forgot his term, but i think it was something like a satisfactory ending. Now that the two of them are together, I'm starting to wonder what happens in the manga. It's seems so anti-climactic... something like Love Hina after the christmas special.

[ayyo]

Just marathond the last 6 episodes in two sittings. Only got a couple thngs worth adding:

1. The talks between Suzuka and Honoka-chan was extremely predictable and cliche to hell. I was 3 to 4 on that episode with only the forced kiss the thing I didn't predict. Character A saying an excuse or what not and begins walking away so B saids [name]...you like [male] don't you? Check. The two of the stopping, facing same direction while wind blows by and eyes of Character A opens after Char B said that. Check. Character A denies relationship with male and after some pause and no movement, Character B says either Lair or thats a lie. Check, check CHECK.
2. It might also be fair to say that the ending was easily predicted by the end of Honoka arc if not much earlier.
3. Suzuka still haven't redeemed herself, one 'kawaii' smile? Okie, thats +1 point for Suzuka, bring total score of likeable female lead to one. Being an ice queen for 25 and a half episodes didn't help neither.
4. Oh, and thank god Honoka-chan didn't end up with one dimensional junk character, carrot top.

[ForeverGoNe]

Great stuff Lunar Staff, I appreciate the work you did!


.. just not the series :\. It just ended as one of those cliche'd endings and the only thing that was worth mentioning at the end was Honoka (she deserves an applaud).

[VC Matsumoto]

To: All, RE: Ep 26[End] .......

Thanks Lunar for bringing-us such a wonderfully derived anime that makes the stuff on T.V. look so pale and predictable; no more "reality TV plz!

VC