Posted 30 June 2011 - 11:58 PM
You have such a kindly face.
Ristorante. Paradiso. MMMMMMM <3
I see the manga quite often when I go in to Barnes and Noble, but it's always when I have no money, or only enough for the one book I specifically went to get. Tried finding it online, with no luck, and decided to settle for the anime instead. Stayed up until 4:30 this morning watching it, and it was so worth it.
It's not the best series I've ever seen--one of the biggest things that peeved me was how some shots/frames were used repeatedly, making it seem kinda cheap at points--but it was certainly a very...lingering one. It's got that wonderfully calm and unhurried feeling that the best slice-of-life's can bring, and the characters (oh the characters!) were all very endearing.
Which is amusing to me, since the cast is mostly older gentlemen just going about their lives. My favorites would have to be (in this order) :
1) Nicoletta
2) Gigi
3) Claudio
4) Luciano
1) This surprised me, since it's not often the main female character catches my attention and affection above an amusing/adorable male side character. Nicoletta, though, was very relatable for me, and while she kind of became the "o-hime in a box of men", she didn't turn into an annoying girl that relies too much on the group of guys that come to care for her and support her in their own ways. She was cheerful, but not overly so like a lot of "cheerful and bubbly" characters in anime tend to be--she displayed other emotions as well, and her moods fluctuated like an actual human being's would. And she wasn't a total idiot (another plus, since a lot of cheerful anime characters seem to trade their brain for their good nature); she was a young adult trying to understand things around her, while also retaining some childlike selfishness. Overall, she was very appealing, and I found myself rooting for her throughout the entire series.
2) Giiigiiiii <333 First off, he gets bonus points for having the name I used in French class back in high school--I stole the name from the movie "Gigi" and have felt like it's "mine" every since. Sort of like a secret nickname that no one calls me by XD;;
The name aside, though, he was very....cute, in a weird old-man-that-never-stops-eating-and-rarely-speaks kind of way. He reminded me of a kid, because he was always stuffing his face, would use his fingers and objects to speak for him (like tapping a wine bottle to get someone's attention, then pointing at what had his focus), and would do random things like pop up behind Nicoletta while she was peeking on someone and just stand there watching with her. Almost every time he was on screen, he managed to do something that made me go AWWWWWWW.
3) I would have ranked Claudio above Gigi, if it weren't for the fact that his end of the romance with Nicoletta didn't really seem completely resolved by the end of the series. It was clear throughout the series that he was growing sweet on her, and that he really was happy to start a relationship with her, but the issue with his ex-wife was dealt with....oddly. It was repeatedly hinted at by other characters that he still had feelings for her, which was why he didn't take off his ring, but not once did we actually get a word about it from Claudio himself. He'd be shown looking unsure of what he felt, and then would put a smile back on when Nicoletta or Gabriella entered the scene. He just seemed....like the least involved player in the whole triangle, and while I'm very satisfied with the ending (and with him being the one to start the relationship, telling Nicoletta that she didn't have to worry about being rejected), I still kinda wish it'd been made clearer what his feelings were on the matter of his ex-wife and Nicoletta.
Erm....all that aside though ( >>;; ), I liked that Claudio was *the* sought after guy with the perfect personality, but wasn't actually made out to be perfect. He had his flaws, and his doubts, which made the "perfect" parts of him seem sweet and naive rather than unrealistic. Once his past was revealed, his present personality became much more understandable and much more likable--to me it seemed like he'd never really grown up from who he was in his 20s; he'd just aged and gained experiences that made him feel a bit more tired, but all in all, still the same clumsy and gentle man he was in his youth.
4) Aaaah, Luciano, you grumpy old bastard. I knew from the get-go that I'd like this guy--he's the grumpy old man that means well and always looks out for those around him but never wants to say so. What a coincidence, that's one of my favorite kind of characters! XD
His devotion's probably the thing about him I like the best (besides his curmudgeonly way of badgering Nicoletta), to his coworkers, to his family, to Nicoletta, and especially to his wife. All the other guys have someone they are married to/end up dating except for Luciano and Gigi. Gigi's in love with Olga, but it doesn't seem to cause him much grief, as far as anyone can tell... And Luciano's forever in love with his deceased wife. He never gets wishy-washy over it, and he never goes on a tirade about how he doesn't need everyone setting him up with women--he just ignores it all and makes it clear that there was only one woman in his life, and her passing on doesn't change that. Most anything involving Luciano was heart-warming--my favorite bits being the times when he showed that he cared for Nicoletta and was looking out for her, like one time when he noticed she was down. He had been in the same room as her, glanced her way, and walked out. On his way out he passed Claudio, and without bothering to look at him just said something to the effect of, "She's depressed. Go fix her". Big AWWWW YOU REALLY CARE moment <3
