Romantic comedies sure are great, especially when consumed by fan service.

I am not being sarcastic here, I actually do love romantic comedies and they make me laugh all the time. But the fan service I am a tad sarcastic about. Don't get me wrong, I love it from time to time, but it bothers me when that is all you get in an anime through the entire series. This is maybe one of those few exceptions that I can deal with. "Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu (Haruka Nogizaka's Secret)" is said exception. This anime is overflowing with maids, school uniforms, cosplay, and all the upper skirt shots you could want.

But this anime isn't bad! It actually contains a bit of substance to it beneath all of that. However, this plot does seem a bit over played. You get a small sense of Romeo & Juliet is they were a rich otaku and a normal, anime disliking, boy with a drunken older sister. Well, it doesn't exactly sound like it, but there are in fact traced in elements that sound a lot like the classic play.

The concept behind this anime though is that Haruka Nogizaka is a rich, beautiful, extremely talented girl that excels in everything and is adored by every single one of her classmates. It is presumed that the girl has no flaws at all and that she could do just about anything. However one day, the male lead, Yuto Ayase mistakenly bumps in to her, finding that she dropped a very popular anime magazine.

Usually, this shouldn't be much of an issue to anyone, but in Japan, being an "otaku" is supposedly looked down upon. It is sort of like the equivalent to a "geek" in America. This being the case, Haruka became fearful that her secret hobby would get out, so she made Yuto swear himself to secrecy that he wouldn't tell anyone that she adored anime and manga

This show just sort of torments you for a good two seasons. Each of which run a thirteen episode, half season slot. Why is this so tormenting? Despite everything, these two can never kiss. Haruka and Yuto overtime just become the most frustrating couple imaginable. They aren't even really a couple, but you can sense the tension between the two that there is clearly some sort of connection there. Eventually, you find yourself at the edge of your seat, begging the two to kiss. However, that scenario never occurs because there is always some character that barges in and you end up throwing your hands in to the air and shouting, "Come on!"

But on the concept of fanservice, if you love it, you will love this anime. It is literally FILLED with fanservice. We got school girls, panty shots, maids, cosplay, swimsuits, a moe character, you name it, this anime has it. Not that it is necessarily...bad...it actually fits with the idea of what this anime is about. I mean, they even go to Akihabara and a few conventions, so what can you really expect?

However, the music is catchy and the characters are pretty funny. There is a lot of underlying humor between Yuto and Haruka and it makes you giggle and blush. Why so hilarious? Well, whenever they are alone together at Haruka's house, her family has this tendency to want to listen in on everything. The conversation between the two is thus taken completely out of context from the other side of the door, and the things that the two say seem outwardly inappropriate but in actuality, they are doing something stupid like making pancakes.

Yes, this actually does happen.

Despite that though, I couldn't find myself to care for Haruka. Maybe it is just me, but I hate perfect characters that act cutesy and innocent. It is sickening and I have probably found a few exceptions in my years of anime watching, but normally characters like this are a big turn off.

Regardless of its flaws though, I stayed dedicated. The series was all together cute and somewhat entertaining to see. I would recommend this if someone wishes to watch a cute love story with a bit of a nerdy twist.Plus, the soundtracks all have very catchy songs

Oh! And I just remembered that this is the anime that holds the Dokuro Chan reference (Blog entry about that anime is here: Dokuro Chan Review )

On another note: Portfolio done for my art exam. However, I still have 3 more tests. So close to finishing!