Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu | |
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| | Alternate title : Haruka Nogizaka's Secret
Studio : Studio Barcelona
Length : 12 Episodes
Year : 2008
Genre : Comedy - Romance
Synopsis :
Nogizaka Haruka is the idol of her school. The perfect girl, ideal in every way. Smart, tough, talented, beautiful. Everyone from the girls to the guys idolizes her. However Yuuto accidentally stumbles upon her secret shame. She is a closet Otaku, who lives for the anime world. Now, Yuuto is being dragged along, forced to keep her secret, all the while getting closer and closer to the ideal girl.
Added : 2008-07-07
Synopsis by : Molenir
Last update : 2008-10-02
Last update details : Production staff added to studd
Score : 6.57
Number of reviews : 7
Link(s) :
Official #1 : Official Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu Website (Japanese)
Song(s) :
Opening #1 : Miran Himemiya, Chocolate Rockers - Tomadoi Bitter Tune
Ending #1 : N's - Hitosashiyubi Quiet!
Release(s) :
2009-01-06 -- Episode(s) 12 by Aquastar-Anime. BT Link
2009-01-06 -- Episode(s) 12 by Aquastar-Anime. BT Link
2008-12-23 -- Episode(s) 11 by Aquastar-Anime. BT Link
Found 66 releases. Click here to [ Find them! ]
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Posted by : Lightningcount12 
Posted on : 2009-01-02 
A pretty solid show!
story (8/10): The story is about an aloof guy named Yuuto discovering that the most popular and beautiful girl, Nogizaka Haruka, in school is a big Akibahara otaku. But Haruka is shy and very embarrassed about her secret so Yuuto agrees to keep her secret. The rest of the story deals with their growing relationship, with some other girls in the mix for harem purposes. It is actually a pretty good story. Yes, it recycles a lot of the harem plotlines (school culture fair anyone?) but it feels fresh with Haruka's otaku ways and Yuuto covering for her. Because of this primary circumstance, Yuuto faces some rather funny situations. While only a 13 episode comedy, the anime actually has a definite ending.
characters (9/10): Yuuto is a nice change-up, not being the typical harem star as he is not dorky. He has an otaku friend who is actually a pretty entertaining side-character, but Yuuto himself is just very aloof. Until he meets Haruka, Yuuto expresses no interest in girls due to his home situation (taking care of his slob sister and her friend, Yuuto's horny teacher). A lot of other quirky characters provide good comedy, like Haruka's ...umm... "mature" little sister (granted, it can be a little disturbing to hear sexual innuendo from a character that young, but it is still hilarious). Haruka definitely steals the show with her cutesy otaku poses and occasionally air-headed behavior. You cannot help but love all her characteristics. This is one where I thought the voice acting for everyone was perfect. Haruka's voice actress particularly does a great job acting innocent, yet worrisome (and does a great Shana impression in one episode). The unfortunate part of a 13 episode series is that not all the characters are developed, like one of the maids. Still, they do well to choose a few characters to focus on and run with them.
music (9/10): Not only are the OP and ED very catchy, but the flow of the animation in both is neat. Gotta love the screensaver of Haruka posing in a Santa suit in the OP. I liked seeing the maids on the bottom of the screen keep the rhythm in the ED. Also great were the girls' movements as they danced to the music. I liked the detailed lip movements at the end of the ED too. I enjoyed overhearing the Shana theme in one episode and kind of wished they used that device more, given how Haruka was always thinking of anime.
animation (7.5/10): Haruka looked really cute. Other characters were pretty simple; they sufficed. The animation was not special, which was fine as great, unique animation was not really required for this anime.
entertainment (8.5/10): This is a pretty funny series. Had its dramatic and romantic moments that were usually decent. I was a little bothered with the last two episodes as the whole "rich" factor was overdone and frankly Yuuto's dilemma seemed unfounded, but I guess they needed some dramatic situation to progress the relationship.
This is a good 13 episode series that is worth watching. It is nothing too special, but Haruka makes it highly recommended.
Posted by : Molenir
Posted on : 2008-10-29 
Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu is about a girl who is secretly an Otaku. Apparently, if this secret gets out, she'll become a social outcast rather then the super popular girl she is. So of course her secret is discovered by a boy who in order to protect her, agrees to keep her secret. Because of this, as the person who knows her secret, she spends lots of time with him, and eventually they fall in love.
Like all too many other shows, the characters are completely mismatched. The girl is this beautiful rich lady, while the guy is your basic average loser boy. Makes you wonder why she chooses him out of all the guys who are in love with her. The story was way too predictable as well. And sometimes just painful to watch. While the artwork and characters were really well done, with lots of beautiful girls and scenery, the actual animation wasn't nearly as well done. For example when the characters are walking down the hall, their movements occasionally look clunky.
There were two things that redeemed this show in my mind. The first was the music, with both the OP and ED being very well done, and enjoyable to watch and listen to. The dance number, fits in well with MoHS. The occasionally flash of humor in the story likewise was fun, lightening the mood, and keeping things from becoming too serious.
Overall, this is a forgettable anime. It doesn't really have a lot of replay value either. However there were moments of brilliance that I would watch again. While it certainly isn't a much watch show by any stretch of the imagination, it was a fun little series. Not too long, and not too short. With light humor, and light romance. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.
Posted by : du5k
Posted on : 2008-10-14
I don't see what's the big deal about this anime. Sure, its Mamiko Noto, it's a pretty girl and an otaku at the same time, the romance is kind of innocent and cute... and there's a Lunamaria clone. Haven't we seen this, like over 9000 times already?
I don't see any other points of the story worth mentioning. It's a very common uncool-guy-gets-hot-girl lovecom, which reminds me strongly of Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun. Sure, this kind of anime would probably be popular a number of years back...
Personally, I never liked the voice of Mamiko Noto. Despite being a cute soft-spoken type, I find it really fake and unrealistic. Haruka has several long dialogues in the series, and that's where it gets a bit unbearable, with her blabbering non-stop. I didn't like Haruka's character design either; they seem to try too hard to make into the princess type, and I don't think she's visually appealing like other lovecom female leads. Besides Mika-chan, the other side characters have no feel to them.
I give the producers some credit for the OP and ED themes, but the animation was crap. The colours are pale, the detail was pretty low and every now and then the transitions suck real bad.
I watched 30% of the series at x1.5 speed. This anime sells by relating to the otaku community, but it didn't work for me.
Plot-wise: 4
Story Style: 5
Production Quality: 5
Value: 4
Posted by : NatureDragon
Posted on : 2008-10-05 
Storyline/plot: 8/10
This is an anime which focused quite a bit on Otaku culture. The story begins with a simple accident and slower develops into a love story containing bits of comedy. With a short span of episodes, the plot seems to feel rather simple. However, it is a simple romance story and thus I was not expecting anything very serious or complex. The ending was good and manages to give this short anime a good conclusion.
Character development: 9/10
There is diverse selection of characters present in this anime and all of them show off their uniqueness. The main protagonists, Haruka Nogizaka and Yūto Ayase were just made for one another as both of their personalities are very compatible with each other. Supporting cast such as Haruka's younger sister, Mika, and her two maids also play an important role in getting the two lovebirds together.
Animation/Graphics: 9/10
The cheerful choice of colours and quite detailed environmental settings gives a pleasant overall appearance which suits the anime's theme. Characters are cute and effort have been put into clothing design. Character expressions were also well drawn.
Songs/Music: 9/10
I love both the opening and the ending themes of this anime, as both of them are contain the fast tempo (plus cuteness of the ending theme "Hitosashiyubi Quiet!" by N's: Kana Ueda, Mai Goto, Rina Satou, Kaori Shimizu, Mamiko Noto) which is very suitable for a love comedy style anime.
Overall: 9.5/10
I find this anime very interesting as it contains another 'anime' (Clumsy girl Aki-chan) and contains other anime spoofs (mostly from Shakugan no Shana). The cute characters and the lovely ending theme is also a plus for this anime. This one is a great anime if you are looking for a simple love comedy.
Posted by : kevinchaosvs
Posted on : 2008-10-01
Story & Characters/Dev: 50%
I picked up this series for mainly one reason: this series, according to the synopsis, is about a closet otaku. So what was I expecting? Parodies, anime references, maybe with a nice touch of those simple, sweet school romances and such. Seeing as how it is only a short series of 13 episodes, I certainly wasn’t giving it high expectations i.e., the caliber of Hayate no Gotoku, Lucky Star, or in the case of romance: Rumbling Hearts, School Days (okay School Days was mentioned as a jest :D ) Indeed, the fact that this series stars a closet otaku made it appear different from most otaku-based series, which usually feature Konata archetypes who aren’t afraid to uh… "show their love for anime".
However, this series turned out to be quite a disappointment. Rants about stereotypical cast aside, this is the first time I didn’t laugh at an anime reference/parody. As for the romance part, well, love-com such as Love Hina, Maburaho are much more enjoyable and also funnier. What was annoying about the romance part is that the little sister "stumbles" into the "critical scenes" a little too often. Also, the treatment of the issue of otakus being viewed as weirdoes was not resolved well, making it seemed like Haruka has practically wasted her time trying to hide her secret hobby. The Voice Acting for the main characters weren’t anything fantastic as well.
Animation/Graphics/Design:60%
The animation quality didn’t impress either. They seemed to have put in the effort in the graphics only in the OP and ED. Indeed, the only thing that stuck in my mind was the beginning animation: the Photoshopping of the Magazine sequence.
Music: 75%
Admittedly, I enjoyed the OP and ED – catchy tune, but I’m giving this section a rather low score due to the bgms (or rather, the lack of it).
And then there’s also the dance routine – another series trying to jump onto the bandwagon of the trend set by Hare Hare Yukai (Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi), it seems. Sadly, the series itself wasn’t anything outstanding so I doubt the dance routine will gain much recognition. (that reminds me: the character designs for the Maids bear uncanny resemblances to two certain Humanoid Interfaces form Haruhi )
Summary:
A rather typical series. Not recommended; there are other love-com that much better. This series is given a low rating not because it's bad, rather, it's due to the fact that there weren't anything memorable.
Though I’ll recommend watching the OP and ED at the very least.
personal overall rating:53%
Posted by : doctodd
Posted on : 2008-09-30
I liked this anime. It wasn't anything really great or new, but it was entertaining and funny. It's a rather cliche'd story about a boy who discovers the perfect girl has a shameful secret, which allows him to get close to her. It seems kind of unrealistic that anime otakus are that scorned in Japan, but the writers seemed to have done that in order to parody the anime culture. The funniest moment was when the maid showed up at the comic convention with a chainsaw while singing the theme song to "Dokuro-Chan." There were also a lot of plot elements and characters that were over the top. Haruka herself is one of those idealistic perfect girls who are way too nice, while Yuuto is a very generic looking male character who is totally spineless and lacks balls to make a move on the girl.
By the time it was over, I felt that this anime totally had missed its potential. Watching this series, I was reminded of themes from other, better animes such as Kare Kano, Love Hina, Genshiken, and Lucky Star. Kare Kano and Love Hina for the romance element of a guy discovering a girl's "true self," and Genshiken and Lucky Star for the anime culture commentary. The anime is billed as a romantic comedy but the "romance" seems very superficial and contrived. The filmmakers are content merely to get in a few ecchi shots and clumsy embarrassing "accidental" moments, instead of an honest emotional depiction of the characters' feelings for one another. So instead of being a great series, it's merely okay. Nice animation, cute romantic parts, lots of humor, but could have been a lot better.
Posted by : Chikage_Shampoo
Posted on : 2008-09-29
Continuing with the line of faltering animes from this season is Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu, a series about how a "perfect girl"'s hidden hobby - anime - is revealed.
It would have become a pretty neat, run-of-the-mill romance/comedy with a twist, had not everything seemed so...perfect. Yuuto and Haruka basically remain static throughout the series, with no character or relationship development at all. One can see the ending right from the beginning, probably, and it's pretty apparent that this show caters mainly towards a male audience, what with all the blatant innuendo and cute girls.
The other characters, on the other hand, serve primarily for one reason: usher Yuuto's and Haruka's relationship "onward." Basically, they're a bunch of pack mules who spy on the other two, hoping to catch dirty little secrets on the sly. (Hey, this anime is all about secrets.) Otherwise, they're people who either: ostracize anime fans, love anime, or love Haruka.
The songs were okay - but I think the Haruka dance might be used alongside the Haruhi dance now. Animation-wise, the series was a little flat, though quite colorful.
I honestly can't find very much to praise about this anime. Sure, there's the cuteness, and Yuuto is likeable (though he's also stereotypical), but that's really all there is to it.
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