I’m in such a Shugo Chara mood! I rewatched all of episodes that have aired! (Again) I was missing my kitty boy Ikuto and Amu’s blushing. So yet again, I spent about 30 hours of my life on Shugo Chara! Are you happy now, Peach-Pit?! Are you?!…You should be! 
My love for Amu needs to be expressed! Sadly, I can not do this in my current Top 5 Countdown, because Amu isn’t a Badass, she’s cute and completely mahou shoujo! I did a miniature review on Amu’s character in my previous post, Shugo Chara – Becoming Chara! But I really didn’t feel that enough was said to do moe girl justice. (Yes, she is moe! Especially to me! XD) Because obviously, Amu has been blessed with Kawaii-Syndrome and has won many of us over with her attitude and charm!
Hinamori Amu, is the leading role in the anime Shugo Chara! (As if anyone didn’t know by now. o.o ) And I find her to be one of the best female leads in mahou shoujo that I have seen yet. When I began Shugo Chara! I wasn’t really expecting much of anything. I figured it would probably be just another failure in the magical girl genre that would yet again, bring the genre shame. I was so wrong. When we met Amu and her “Cool and Spicy” attitude, I was so blown away that it was like I’d been hit by my own personal hurricane. Such a cute girl putting up a tsundere front?! I felt like I’d been clonked on the head with an anvil! (I seem to experience this feeling a lot. ^.^)
I felt so bad for Amu once we learned that it was a front. (Which was pretty obvious, really) Even though I felt sorry for her, I found myself saying “Cool and Spicy!” along with rest of the characters.
Honestly though, I felt that Amu knew that she could let her girly character out and be accepted. She was just to afraid to do it, which is understandable. Once you’ve acted a certain way for so long is hard to break those habits. But if Amu only knew how damn cute she is this wouldn’t have been a problem in the first place!
Amu became all the more moe to me when we see her lack of self-confidence. It’s okay not to be confident all the time, but she should have had some faith in herself! Come on, at least a little! But if she did I guess we wouldn’t have gotten Ran, Miki, and Suu and the story never really would have started…XD
The shock from love Shugo Chara only intensified as we delved further into the semi-original plot! (There is always something that grants wishes in mahou shoujo) Amu makes friends with Nadeshiko, who I just adore, and the rest of the Guardians emerge and so does one VERY hot neko mimi cosplaying boy! *Drools*
I love the way Amu began to grow through the fillers, and within the actual plot line. She soon had some of the confidence that she lacked and was able to stand on her own two feet with honesty. Well, more honesty then in the beginning of the series.
Her tsundere side began to weaken and the underlying moe started to emerge. Most of the characters in the anime were unaware of the slight changes in Amu from time to time, except for Ikuto.
Ikuto was able to actually see the real Amu beneath the fake from the beginning. He knew she wasn’t as strong as she tried to be, (though she was unusual, with the Chara-naris and all) and he slowly began to bond with her. (whenever Statelight would acutally allow him in an episode) Ikuto brought forth a lot of the confidence in Amu that we see now. And he brought forth the gushing fangirl in me…>.<
When the “Cool and Spicy” aspect of Amu toned down and the cute, sweet Amu finally came out, we get slammed with the Daiya arc. Amu’s confidence is shattered all over again and for a while it’s like that character growth never even happened. She was basically curled up in the emo corner, waiting for someone to tell her it was all right. Of course it’s all right, she’s the heroine, doesn’t she know that?!
I really found myself wishing for the energetic and happy Amu back. Amu was usually so good with dealing with problems, but because she was lonely and sad she got an X smacked on her egg. She became even more depressed and then even more depressed when Utau got a hold of Daiya.
Well, Amu got a hold of Eru, so I think it’s a fair trade. More than fair actually, cause Eru PWNS Daiya.
And recently, finally, Amu redeemed her long lost egg and got back some of her peppiness. I was so happy, cause when Amu is feeling down, how can she save the world? How can she find the fabled embryo? She needs self-esteem for that and a little faith in herself and everyone who cares about her.
A few extra things that I just love about Amu, that have been mentioned in previous posts! (lol) Obviously, I’m in love with her clothes. I don’t know what she was talking about in the beginning of the anime about wanting to be cute, because all of her clothes are cute. I want every single thing she wears! (Except for the pink jacket that she wears to Utau’s Live, I could live without that…)
Her ability to give advice to others and lift their spirits even when hers are down is an astounding thing. Sure in shoujo you usually get that overly-nice anime girl thrown in, always willing to help..yada yada…But Amu isn’t like that. She is nice, sure, but she is capable of selfishness. I approve of this because it really humanizes the characters. When a character is too sweet and good with no known flaws, I just don’t take interest.
For some reason though, Amu always knows the right things to say. When someone’s sad, she cheers them up. She give people the faith that she once lacked, and helps them believe in the themselves. And when Amu is having troubles, Ikuto gives her faith and helps her believe in herself! (Lol, he shows up a lot when she’s sad! Super-Neko to save the day!)
I pretty much knew from the first episode that I was going to love Amu though, the biggest warning sign was the hair. I have a closet love of anime girls with pink hair. I also love anime characters with big amber eyes, like Inuyasha!
So I was expecting the Amu love! However, I wasn’t expecting the love for the other characters that welled up in me either. Amu and Ikuto are both understable, but I was shocked when I turned out to like Utau, Rima and Yaya. All characters I usually would find annoying or overbearing, I enjoyed watching. I loved seeing Amu being cute and open with them. (Well maybe not Utau…)
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