The Scrumptious Anime Chefs bring to you an almost complete list of this winter season’s anime. Yes, it’s back, albeit late! With a rather large disparity in our tastes, we’ve included “Chef Chaff” in each of our preview, to give you an idea of what we think of the title.

Don’t forget to tell us what YOU will be watching. Bon app�tit.

Popularity: 16% [?]

I was browsing MOONPHASE today, checking out updates regarding Skip Beat’s website, much to surprise that what I saw was this new anime among the list (with its homepage now up too!): Asaki Yumemishi. The first thing that came to my mind was the recently released PC game of the same name, but of course there’s no way that could happen. Just as I [later on] thought, it’s the adaptation of Waki Yamato’s epic Tale of Genji manga (based on the epic Tale of Genji novel, of course). Now, all the ones who watched Kure-nai and had no prior knowledge about this novel will be able to see the light! Or something.

Popularity: 3% [?]

One of the things I like most about Kure-nai, aside from the adorable Murasaki, is its slice-of-Japanese-life elements, a topic which has already been discussed to no end by other bloggers. It’s a [gaijin's] window to the Japanese culture, providing insights on the Japanese way of life of characters like no other animes I’ve watched.

That said, I find it surprising that despite the number of people who mentioned the Japan-esque aspect of Kure-nai, no one seemed to have bothered looking into the significance of the Hina-doll and why the Kuhouins found it detestable that Souju died while holding onto this doll. Oh wait, there’s one, Teeif. Even Japanese blogs never seemed to have mentioned anything about this, I guess this was no longer a mystery to them since they’re, well, Japanese o.O Nonetheless, I found this subject fascinating enough to take a plunge into the Hina festival, to find out what the Hina doll really symbolizes.

Popularity: 5% [?]