(Note: this review refers to the Shugo Chara - Doki! season and not the more recent Party series)
Shugo Chara is still a nice series, but it isn't what it used to be. The characters are still engaging, the music is still prime J-Pop and the animation is well-drawn, but storyline has fallen into a "? egg of the week" mode for more than half the episodes of the season. Granted, some of this was ...
(Note: this review refers to the Shugo Chara - Doki! season and not the more recent Party series)
Shugo Chara is still a nice series, but it isn't what it used to be. The characters are still engaging, the music is still prime J-Pop and the animation is well-drawn, but storyline has fallen into a "? egg of the week" mode for more than half the episodes of the season. Granted, some of this was to set up the reveal (to Amu) that
Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide
Lulu was the person causing all the ? eggs,
and they did spend a bunch of episodes on Ikuto's situation. Then there were a few episodes that escalated the romantic conflict between Tadase and Ikuto over Amu (Such as it is: We're talking about a 6th grader here.), but both of those storylines have been stalled for quite a while now, and none of them have really changed much from where they were at the beginning of the season. And Dia hasn't appeared since the beginning of the season! With so many episodes that just involve meeting a new kid, having that kid generate a ? egg for some reason and then saving the kid, we're talking heavy doses of filler here.
I have some hope for improvement and new momentum. There was a major revelation in the current episode (June 12) and there aren't that many episodes left before the end of the season. The technical merits of this series are still pretty high, especially when you consider it's really just a kids show. I mean compare the artwork to Pokemon, and Shugo Chara wins hands down. All they really have to do to regain their momentum is return to the long-term plotlines of the story.
Disclosure: Yes, I'm too old for this series. I watch it with my daughter.
Storyline: Several open plotlines that have stagnated recently. When they keep the story moving, the show works
Music: As I said, prime Jpop. Every song has had some kind of a nice hook at a minimum. Looking for LEGAL mp3 of the 2nd opener.
Characters: Amu and Tadase have some character development that has shown over the season. Ikuto and Utau haven't had their final bows and could develop as well. The remaining guardians appear to remain the same. Everyone is so cuuuute!
Animation: Some short-cuts panning stills, etc. But the character styles are appealing. It takes imagination to have to come up with different costumes for the number of kids, guardian characters and ? characters that appear in the show. Not al of them succeed, but most do.
Overall: call it 4 stars including a bonus for giving me some family time.
