From The Gallery

Valentines Day

Okay I need some help here; Valentine's Day is around the corner. Ah yes Valentine's, within my club I've always had a reputation for not being so kind around this time…for obvious reasons. I always have some nasty thing to say or show during that time and everytime no one has ever been able to stop me. Well almost everytime, my constant attempts to show episode 20 of Outlaw Star always seems to fail.

I guess I should actually ask for that help I mentioned. My old club usually has their shows weekly on Thursdays. That means we'll be having a show the day before Valentine's Day on February 13th. One thing I normally do during the breaks is to play anime music videos, something I've gotten into collecting lately. Obviously I want to keep a theme here and base my video selections on some of the most famous couples in anime.

So who are your favourite anime and manga couples? Perhaps to get the conversation going, I should mention a few of my own.

I guess the most obvious couples would come from some of the greatest anime romance stories ever.

Kyoko and Godai: Many will say that Maison Ikkoku is perhaps the greatest romance manga ever. After reading it, I won't easily disagree. In Kyoko Ontonashi you have a melancholy young woman who in trying to come to terms with the death of her first husband, becomes manager of a small apartment complex owned by her father in law. Yusaku Godai is the daydreaming tenant who although clumsy, is more than determined to find a place in the world, and prove himself a worthy man to the only woman he has ever fallen for. Mix in the obligatory other love interests, as well as a nosey bunch of neighbours, and you have what many consider the benchmark in romance anime.

Kyosuke and Madoka: Well I make it no real secret that the anime that hooked me in was Kimagure Orange Road, and why not? It really is set in a time and place that we wish we could have grown up in. Kyosuke is the obligatory absent minded idiot who has to hide the fact that he and his family have telepathic abilities, and falls for an attractive girl via a chance meeting and a red hat. But he soon realizes that Madoka has two sides to her life. On one hand she is a tough, street smart girl who can more than hold her own in a fight. On the other hand she is a sensitive kind person with an obvious love for music. This mysterious aura around Madoka is what keeps Kyosuke interested throughout. But can he pursue her without letting his abilities get too far out? Add to all that Madoka's best friend, the very bubbly Hikaru. Doesn't help Kyosuke's case that Hikaru is so attached to him. Even though it still comes down to Kyosuke and Madoka, Hikaru makes this perhaps anime's most famous love triangle.

Kenshin and Kaoru: Okay, Rurouni Kenshin may not be remembered as a romance anime. But you know we had to add in a samurai flavour sooner or later and its tough to forget this pair. On one hand you have Kenshin, the wandering samurai trying to escape the pain of his past as an assassin (among other things). Then you have Kaoru, the woman who cares about him and remains loyal to him regardless of his past. Even though Kaoru is a kendo master as well, you can't help feel that this seems so stereotypical of samurai couples. Still though, we can't help but be drawn to them and their story either.

Well those are my top three, but of course there are many others. There's Keiichi and Belldandy from Ah! My Goddess as an obvious one. What about Yukino and Arima from Kare Kano? Miaka and Tamahome from Fushigi Yugi or Miki and Yuu from Marmalade Boy? I guess if you want to put in love/hate relationships you could always mention Ranma and Akane, or even Shinji and Asuka.

While we're on the subject of some of the most popular romance anime ever made, what about the romance anime coming out now? I tend to think a lot of it would stack up rather favourably. Love Hina or hate it, Keitaro and Naru have quickly put up a good case as the first anime couple of this decade. Of course on the horizon, a case could be put up by Chi and Hideki from Chobits, or Kaoru and Aoi from Ai Yori Aoshi.

So who are your favourite anime couples? I'd love hear what others have to say, so please write me and tell me why they're your favourite.

Well I still got some music videos to choose based on all of this for the show. Maybe if I am lucky, I'll get to enjoy more than just the duty chocolate I buy for my club this year…trust me, you're not reading that wrong.

In any event, I hope you'll spend February 14^th with that special someone. Happy Valentine's Day or as I'd like to call it…April Fool's Day six weeks early.