Just like in the Anime!

School is almost out, and summer is quickly approaching! Wouldn't it be great to sit down in the park while enjoying a freshly made bento box? Let Chef and Francis take you on a journey to making a traditional Japanese Bento Box!

Tis the Season to watch Junjou Romantica

Christmas is the best time of year, to sit down with family, enjoy a cup of hot chocolate, and open a generous amount of presents. For some people, Christmas means sitting in front of there computer with a bag of chips, and watching anime day and night.
So for this holiday season, I give to you the gift of Junjou Romantica. Written by Shungiku Nakamura, Junjou Romantica released in 2003 in a very successful manga series. The anime adaptation was released in 2008, and Junjou Romantica fans went wild.

Romantica

Junjou Romantica is broken up into three different couples. The first, and main couple, is named Romantica. The second is Egoist, and the third is Terrorist. These three couples are loosely intertwined with each other, and often bump into each other throughout the series.

Let's start with Romantica. This couple contains two people named  Takashi Misaki and Usami Akihiko, or better known as "Usagi-san".  He is a well known author for Marukawa Publishing, and writes novels as well as BL novels. Along with being an author,  Usagi-san and Misaki's brother, Takahiro, were best friends since high school. Ever since that time, Usagi-san had a crush on him. Unfortunately, Usagi-san never told him his feelings.
Misaki wants to get into collage, but he is in need of desperate tutoring in order to up his grades. This is when his brother suggests that Usagi-san should tutor him. Shortly after meeting Misaki, Takahiro gets engaged which crushes Usagi-san. After seeing how much Misaki cares for him, he then falls in love with the younger brother.



Egoist



The second couple is named Egoist. Kamijo Hiroki has been friends with Usagi-san ever since childhood. He's a literary teacher in the same college Misaki goes to. Hiroki initially loved Usagi-san at first, but then fell in love with Nowaki. Hiroki is a bit of a loner, and has a bad temper, but he's really shy and can be really flustered at times. Kusama Nowaki meets Hiroki as he's crying after realizing that Usagi-san will never return his feelings for him. He then begs him to be his tutor. Pretty soon, a love grows between the two, but the road ahead is far from smooth.

Terrorist

 The final couple in Junjou Romantica, is named Terrorist. Miyagi Yo is also works in the college along with Hiroki. He was married at one time, but then got divorced. His ex brother-in-law, named Shinobu Takatsuki, takes an interest in Miyagi and believes that it's fate that he fell in love with him. There's just one problem, Shinobu is 17 years younger than him.

I personally loved this anime. The infiltration of pandas and teddy bears, really help calm the mood if it begins to get a bit awkward. I find all the couples unique and interesting in there own ways, and it's never a bore to watch.

Here's a link to the trailer for anyone who is interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GSmjrg0rC0&feature=relmfu

The best thing to happen to me since Starbucks!

YES!! A few weeks ago Sekaiichi Hatsukoi season 2 released. For those of you who don't know what the first series is about, here it is.
Back in high school Onodora Ritsu fell in love with his senior Saga Masamune, who he stalks for three years. They go out for a bit but then something causes them to break up. Now ten years later, Onodora Ritsu is working in his father's literature company. He's beginning to be put down by his co-workers, so he quits to prove that he's the better than them. There ends up being a mix-up at his new publishing company, and he is now supposed to edit shojo manga. It's there he meets The Maiden Club, which has four of the best shojo manga editors in the company. Out of them, he meets the head editor Takano Masamune. We find out later that Takano Masamune was the same Saga Masamune from his high school. From that point, Takano-san is determined to make Onodora say "I love you" again.
Both of the series consist of 3 different couples. The first is the main couple: Takano and Onodora.
The second couple is: Yoshiyuki Hatori and Chiaki Yoshino. The final couple is: Ko Yukina and Shota Kisa.

Onodora Ritsu (left) & Takano Masamune (right)



Yoshiyuki Hatori (left) & Chiaki Yoshino (right)



Ko Yukina (right) & Shota Kisa (left)

 All the couples are tied to each other by the company one way or another. For example, Hatori is Yoshino's editor and childhood friend. All of there stories are cute and unique in there own way.
Season 2 takes place directly after season 1 left off, so there isn't to big of a time gap. I really like how in season 2 we get to see how the different couples are turning out after they get together.
If you want to watch this series then you can go to these websites.

Crunchyroll: http://www.crunchyroll.com/sekai-ichi-hatsukoi-worlds-greatest-first-love New episodes come out Fridays at 12:35pm

GoGo Anime: http://www.gogoanime.com/category/sekai-ichi-hatsukoi New episodes come out Fridays at 10:00am

Hope you enjoy!