Shugo Chara!

I don't feel like sugar coating this, so I'll just come out and say it: I hated Shugo Chara. Despite the pages of praise, the only thing I found I actually liked about this were the characters. Not all of them, mind. Just five or six. The premise was cute, I'll admit, having a special place in your heart for who you want to be, and sometimes being able to meet that person. But by episode 30, I really wanted to stop watching it. By episode 35, I did, until someone told me the final arc of Doki was really good. Man, am I gullible.The sad thing is, most of the fanfiction of this utilizes this idea in a better way than the canon story. Most episodes being filler didn't help, either. They even had a formula: Amu meets n, a person who is skilled at/in love with n. At/before a really important event, n will somehow mess up/be rejected, and a member of Easter will replace n's heart's egg with an X egg. Amu wil find the egg, make the same gasping noise, character transform,l then spew some stunningly cliche trite and purify n's heart egg. n then usually proceeds to never show his or her face again. They eventually do some variations, such as the x eggs hatching (Gasp.), or the X egg is a person's chara. Expanding on that more, if someone is not a Guardian or an employee of Easter ends up with a chara, you can bet it's going to become an X Egg. Out of the 50 episodes, I recall about 30 being filler. Characters in Shugo Chara vary greatly. Amongst the main cast, there was a pleasant diversity, although there were a few obnoxious characters. I'm not talking about the reoccurring characters like Saaya, I'm thinking of Kiseki. Was he supposed to be funny? He almost annoyed me as much as Tadase. Why did I find Tadase irritating? Because a main character should be memorable, but I can barely remember anything about him other Amu's endless fawning over him. Onto aesthetics! The art in Shugo Chara is fine, but there isn't anything truly outstanding. I liked most day to day outfits for the characters, Amu's in particular, but I disliked ALL of the character transformations, though. If I had to pick the absolute worst of the transformations, I'd say Amulet Clover, Clown Drop, and Dear Baby. They missed cute by miles, and strayed far into the territories of awkwardness and stupidity. As for the music in the anime, the openings are all guaranteed starters of uncomfortable conversations. Generally, the sound track was unimpressive unless Ikuto was playing on his violin, or Utau was debuting a new song. So to sum up, Shugo Chara is an anime I might have enjoyed, however the huge portion of filler, and the general dragged out impression it gave me ruined it. For me, the show (including Doki!) was dull and altogether not worth the 102 episodes I struggled through, and certainly not deserving of the praise many of the reviews give it. The fact that so many animes I adore have run for a single season, while this one goes on for 3, with two of the seasons having double, or even quadruple times the amount of episodes as them really annoys me, especially as a simple story like this could have been done in half the episodes at double quality. I wouldn't really recommend this for a person who likes seeing characters ending up together (due to how it has the most disappointing romance ending ever devised by man) , but if you're a magical girl fan, go nuts.

I've re-watched this anime 3 times and I keep on coming back. Its my all-time favourite anime and I never get tired of it and have zero complaints. I've been re-watching animes lately and it's been 5 years since I first watched. I have changed my mind about a lot of animes, but this one still gets me giddy and excited. The story is pretty typical, one main girl character, two guys and a guardian angel. But there's something so fundamentally true about this story. Everyone hides their true self more than most would like to admit, it's about being true to yourself.

Giving Shugo Chara! a try is an absolute must for anyone who is a fan of shoujo or mahou shoujo: because basically, it has all the ingrediants for one. Costumes that cannot possibly be practical but are cute, enemies that are defeated by the power of good, bright colours, younger aged characters and so on. But it doesn't only have that. It has a lot more alongside it. Much more - stuff that other mahou shoujo doesn't tend to have. It's geared for younger viewers esentially, but Shugo Chara! is one of those animes that has many levels. It''s underneath its typical deminour that it shines.It's in those many levels that it has the ability to span to so many different people in so many different ways. STORY: As I've said before, it's typically beat the bad guys by cleansing the eggs, lots of sparkles and shiny moments and some romance here and there. There's also a lot of laughs and unsuspecting moments along the way, which makes watching SC! all the more worthwhile. But it has a very essential message behind it, a message that everyone can connect with. How many times have you pretended to be different to fit in? How many times have you wished you could be more like your true self in front of everyone? That's what Shugo Chara seems to ask and addresses. The focus is on the characters and the routes they take to become their true selves; it's not all about defeating good and evil. ART: To be blunt, it's adorable. It's quite bright to appeal to younger viewers, but it isn't blinding. The colours all work together to create a believable world. It's very rare for any of it to be cheaply done - it's usually very good quality animation and artwork. Overall, it really adds to the atmosphere Shugo Chara brings - and even if the story and everything else is wonderful, if the art is bad, it isn't likely you're going to be able to watch it week in week out. SOUND: Typically simple, nice sounds throughout the episodes with recurring ones for the themes of characters and the cleansing of X-Eggs, with slight changes for each transformation. But I like the sound - it adds to the atmosphere. The opening and endings also deserve a mention here - Buono! was a wonderful creation for SC!, and even if I don't have the time or should be doing something else, I always watch through the opening and endings because I like the music. It's very cutesy, which isn't typically what I'm into, but I like it. It's different. Lastly for sound, the voices are all a wonderful pick. I'd say a shout out for Kanae Ito (Amu) is in order here - it's her first role, but she does it all perfectly. She isn't overbearing or annoying or frustrating - but she's believable. CHARACTERS: This is another area where SC! shines. The characters are not so-mind-blowingly-over-powered that they're unbelievable. Each one has their own flaws, their own doubts and personal problems. Each character is loveable on varying degrees, and that's because they're so believable. For several characters, too, I didn't like them for the first few episodes they were in. But as I grew to understand them and learn why they act like they do, what they're hiding behind the mask they give to the outside world, you start to fall in love with them. Because you can relate. Amu is also a refreshing heroine for shoujo. She completely contradicts the trend of cute characters that need protecting by everyone around her - she can be cute, but not overbearingly so. Her complete attitude is a draw in which is why peope like her, even though she fines it fake. Overall, the characters will grow on you in their own way over time. ENJOYMENT: It's funny, it has romance, it's not too hard to understand and isn't at all confusing. It's simple in some respects but very effective. And it's easy to connect to, so very much easy to enjoy.

Shugo Chara! Stands out amoungst mahou shojou (magical girl) anime. While it appeases all aspects of mahou shoujo, girl with powers, transformations, roamance, 'cute' themes and such it also includes just that little something that stands out so much. Story: The basic theme of every episode is simple, beat the bad guys, cleanse some eggs, drabble in romance and the such. However, Shugo Chara! has an over all story which brings the main cahracter, Amu, to the brink of depression and the theme of becoming ones true self is interesting. Rather than the story being about the powers and the magic and some war that's been goingon for years, the story is about the characters themselves, finding themselves and others. This is something that stands out for me. Art: The orignal style of Peach-Pit carries over to the anime. It's a sweet style that dosn't have the cliche 'my-eyes-are-twice-the-size-of-my-face'. The proportions are nice and the characters are cute, suiting the anime perfectly! Sound: I can't particully say I love the op's and ed's however they are fun. The voices are not ear splitting nor whining, it's very refreshing. Character: Amu is a character that impresses me alot. She isn't overly ditsy or loud. Instead she is character who eveyone thinks is cool and calm but is actually shy and cute. She reminds me of Ryuuji from ToraDora (looks like a deliquint but is actually quite kind). This is so rare in a magical girl it's also quite refreshing. Another thing that amazes me is the love triangles. This developed to the point of a RPG game! While she could fall for the prince, Tadase, her relationship with the cliche boy seems so shallow and a much deeper understanding is shown between her and Ikuto. But you never know. Enjoyment and overall: I personally love this anime, it's a nice surprise and twist on the mahou shoujo genre that was much needed! Thankyou Peach-Pit!