Forum - View topic"Mature" romances?
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Ishmoo
 Posts: 413 Location: Fredericksburg, VA |
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Some interesting posts came up on the “Hidden Treasures/Ai no Kusabe” thread that I thought might fit into their own category. Please feel free to correct me if I’m mistaken. It seems as though there are others out there seeking romance titles with a more adult bent that don’t necessarily fall into the hentai or yaoi genres. I personally enjoy titles from both, but agree that I’ve seen few mature love stories centered around a male/female pairing that isn’t straight hentai. I’m a married woman and I’ll admit that I like a little spice in my romances. Titles like Nana, Honey and Clover, Kare Kano, and Rumbling Hearts depict more developed adult relationships than a lot of the shoujo out there and I’d love to see more along these lines, as well as some that might take things a bit further.
There’s a ton of manga out there that addresses this niche (some might call it “smut”) but very little seems to make it into anime. What does cross over is very watered down. Take Kaiken Phrase by Mayu Shinjou, for example. The manga is scorchingly sexual but the anime is tame by comparison. I wonder if there’s a place for anime that is erotic, but not hard-core hentai, like maybe the equivalent of an “R” rated love story. Some yaoi seems to accomplish this but, while I enjoy this genre, I’d like to see a female lead in there too. Ashita no Yukinojou is one show that seems to balance both a decent story and mature themes, but it’s definitely a hentai title, not that I find this to be a problem but some certainly will. I’d love to hear some other thoughts on this topic and learn what similar titles other people have enjoyed. |
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Levitz9
 Posts: 1022 Location: Puerto Rico |
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Crap, you know, ANN reviewed a good anime series that was like that in December...I don't recall the title, but it was just the way you described it: it was about a newly-married couple, and there was a lot of discussion about sex and masturbation, but the series kept to partial nudity.
If only I could remember the title...  I think that the main girl had blue hair...
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abunai
Old Regular
 Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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You're thinking of Futari Ecchi / Step Up Love Story.
- abunai |
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Ishmoo
Posts: 413 Location: Fredericksburg, VA |
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Hey, thanks guys. I've heard of that one but haven't gotten around to checking it out yet. I tend to shy away from the comedies unless I hear really good things about them, but I'll definately watch this one since you recommended it.
Has anyone seen the one I mentioned before, Although it's categorized as "hentai," Ashita no Yukinojou is a blend of mature themes mixed with a totally shoujo atmosphere. There is a solid story there, complete with all the romance and angst of a typical shoujo high school drama, but when the lead guy gets the girl, he really "gets" the girl if you catch my drift. Although it isn't available in English, I've been able to glean a lot of the story which is very solid, nothing like any hentai I've ever seen. The sexual aspects are secondary to the plot, as if a mainstream shoujo title simply added in a few, very well done and appropriate erotic scenes. It’s the only anime I've ever been compelled to watch entirely in Japanese. My fruitless wish is that it would someday be offered in English because this title would make any fan girl (or grown up) swoon. Anyone know anything about this show? I know its based on a game. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18445 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Haven't even heard of the one you're asking about, and this subgenre that you're asking about is a pretty rare one; titles like that don't often get made into anime and rarely get picked up for U.S. release if they do. Aside from the aforementioned Step Up Love Story (which is really more a sex comedy than a romance), these are the closest ones I could come up with that aren't flat-out hentai titles:
Diamond Daydreams is an anthology of six 2-episode vignettes about young women dealing with matters of the heart. Not all of the vignettes are flat-out romances (one concerns regaining a passion for a once-beloved pastime, another concerns a prickly father/daughter relationship) and they never get steamy, but some do get at least a bit racy in dealing with things like being the "other woman," falling for a man twice the woman's age, and so forth. Sakura Diaries is a sexy, fan service-oriented romp of the "guy is so focused on getting woman X that he doesn't seriously consider woman Y who's right under his nose and trying really hard to entice him" variety. Koi Kaze may be on the edge of what you're looking for, but it's too exquisitely well-made for me to not mention it. In this one a 25-year-old guy who's just been dumped by his girlfriend for not being able to satisfactorily emotionally commit to the relationship falls for a cute 15-year-old girl, only to discover that she's the kid sister that he hasn't seen in a dozen years due to a divorce. Most of the series is about him trying to fight off the growing attraction that he knows is wrong (complicated enormously by her coming to live with him and his father to attend school) and her trying to "feel out" her own emotions towards her brother. Its concept may sound gimmicky, and the fact that it deals with incest makes it too edgy for some to tolerate, but Koi Kaze is still the best-written and best-executed anime romance I've ever seen; in all the reviews I've done for this site, it's the only title I've ever given an A+ rating for Story. It takes a delicate, very mature approach to the developing relationship anchored by a flawless sense of timing and dialog and peppered with some decidedly mature content. |
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Ishmoo
Posts: 413 Location: Fredericksburg, VA |
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Thanks Key.
Koi Kaze has been on my radar for a while now. I think, though I'm pretty open minded, that the incest angle has been giving me pause. Its gotten such rave reviews from so many people that I'm going to have to get over it though. I enjoyed Angel Sanctuary so I think I can take it. I tried to watch Sakura Diaries and lost interest. Sometimes you have to give a show more than just the first couple of episodes though. Maybe I'll try that one again one of these days. I'm giving Koi Kaze priority right now. Diamond Daydreams looks interesting too. I really do appreciate all the suggestions. Like you said, this isn't the most popular genre so getting tips from other viewers is super helpful. |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7994 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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There's also the Kimagure Orange Road franchise which wraps up very conclusively in the final film where the main relationship gets a pretty solid and sweet conclusion in the way you're looking for. I would definitely recomend this. It consists of 48 episode TV series, a short OVA, and two feature films.
Some series are kind of half and half like Shuffle for instance. The first half is basicly for humor and fluffy comedy while the second half switches gears and is far more mature, dramatic and soap operatic with some surprising twists. I'd recomend that for lack of anything else since most of what I've seen as already been mentioned. |
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Ishmoo
Posts: 413 Location: Fredericksburg, VA |
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For whatever reason, sexual content with male/female pairings seems to be rather consistently comedic, while yaoi titles have no problem approaching it from a more dramatic perspective. Ai no Kusabe, Our Road of no Return, Song of the Wind and the Trees, Legend of the Blue Wolves and Fujimi Orchestra are just a few examples. I wonder why sexuality can't be portrayed in a serious way, but must always be rendered foolish when it is heterosexual in nature. Nana is one of the few titles I can think of that satisfies in this way. I'll check out Shuffle again too. That's one of those I gave up on after only a couple of episodes. Its probably a real omission in my viewing history not to have seen Kimagure Orange Road, something I intend to rectify at some point.
What I’d really love to see animated are things like Hot Gimmick (which is pretty mild), Kare First Love(silly and immature, but an enjoyable trashy read), or Desire Climax (NEVER going to happen). We have Honey X Honey Drops, but its unclear if this will follow the manga or get castrated like Kaiken Phrase. Its also kind of hard to find. With the soaring popularity in romance novels it seems there would be an impressive audience for this stuff stateside. Just a thought. It's possible that there aren't many freaky chicks like me trolling for racy anime. Thanks for the posts!!! |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18445 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Incest normally creeps me out, but this series handles it so carefully, naturally, and plausibly (what goes on here is based on an actual psychological phenomenon, where siblings not raised together are actually slightly more likely than the norm to be attracted to one another) that few who give the series a try ultimately end up having a major problem with it.
Aside from a couple of key dramatic scenes later on, what you see in the first couple of episodes is fairly accurately representative of the series as a whole. |
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angel_lover
 Posts: 645 Location: UK |
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Top of my list in that category would be Koi Kaze, as already recommended by Key. Next to that, I'd put SaiKano. Depressing, heartbreaking, one of the saddest anime ever made, etc. etc., but for all that in my opinion it's a romance equalled by few others.
There was a case reported here in the UK last week where a pair of twins separated at birth and adopted by different families had met, fallen in love and actually got married before they found out they were siblings. |
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Mohawk52
 Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
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Ishmoo
Posts: 413 Location: Fredericksburg, VA |
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That has got to be one of the saddest things I've ever heard. Those poor poor people. I don't know if you could get enough therapy to recover from that one.
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Randall Miyashiro
 Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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This is one of the most underrated titles out there. Each character has such a distinct story that each episode stands out in my mind. Even the younger girls (the skater and the hospital) have stories that seem aimed towards older fans. My other vote goes to Maison Ikkoku especially with the TRSI Viz sale going on at the moment. I bought all the volumes in a previous Viz sale only to have the fifth volume "canceled by manufacturer." It's been a good number of months and Viz has yet to reprint this volume which isn't even available on eBay, amazon, or the Viz shop at this time. I felt that this series comes across as a bit more mature version of the also excellent Orange Road. Takahashi Anthology also has some nice stories with middle aged and elderly characters that deal with the heart, although being an anthology it covers many topics. |
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Ishmoo
Posts: 413 Location: Fredericksburg, VA |
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Thanks everybody. You've all given me a great list of stuff to check out.
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rti9
 Posts: 1241 |
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We must accept the reality that mature relationships is one of the weakest links in anime. It is probably just natural that if you want to watch this kind of subject you tend to rely on live action. It is wrong to expect anime to depict every existent theme well. You won't find anything like Closer, Before Sunrise, or Un Homme et Une Femme. I'm not saying that there are no "adult" relationships in anime. There are plenty, but always as glimpses, never as main theme.
"Twins who accidentally got married" is probably an urban legend. |
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