Koi iji

 Koi Iji (こいいじ) is a slice of live romance by Shimura Takako.  The manga was written between 2014 and 2019 and has been collected into 10 tankoubon.

    When Akai Haruko passed away, after a long illness, everything changed.  Ohara Mame didn't know how to process Haru's death.  The funeral was held on Mame's 30th birthday.  Haru's husband, Souta, grew up with Mame and she has harbored feelings for him since they were teenagers..  Souta, Sou for short, had stomped out the last of Mame's hope when he told her he was going to be a father and husband at her coming of age ceremony.  When he married Haru and their daughter Yu was born, Mame thought she was done with her feelings for him, understanding they would never be returned.  But Haru is no longer part of Sou's life.  As Haru was dying Sou went ahead with their plan to open a cafe.  The spot they chose filled a vacancy in the buness next to the bath house that Mame's parents run and she works/lives at.

    A year after Haru's death, Mame's older sister, Yume, returns home after living in Brazil for more than a decade.  Mame knows that Sou had feelings for Yume, who is three years older than him, and fears that her return will once again take him away.  Sensing something brewing with Mame, Sou tries to tell her to forget about him once and for all, that he can only ever think of her as a younger sister and that he doesn't want to forget his dead wife.  He wonders at why she never got together with his younger brother, Shun, who is the same age as her.  Mame brushes that off, not thinking of Shun that way, only and always focused on Sou.  Yu further complicates things, sensing something as well, and begins to encourag Mame to pursue her father.  Mame has been a part of Yu's life since she was a baby, helping to care for her while Haru was in the hospital.

    While Sou thinks his brother Shun would be a better option for Mame, Shun has his own plans.  He begins dating a much younger woman named Chika and they quickly get married.  Chika's father runs a business painting murals in bath houses and Shun agrees to take on the family name and take over the business when he retires.  More and more people begin to prod Mame about her feelings for Sou and she decides its best to move away to suppress those feelings, recognizing that Sou is not interested..  She works with a realtor, Kawada-san, whom she has dealt with in the past to find a new apartment, away from her childhood neighborhood.  She begins to entertain the idea of dating him to get ride of her feelings for Sou.  Kawada is recently divorced and in a rather strained relationship with his young daughter and ex-wife because of it.  Looking for some companionship as well, he suggests test dating to see where it leads, not having any set expectations for further development.

    Mame is blunt about her twenty year crush on Sou and Kawada struggles with lingering feelings she has for the other man.  As their relationship begins, Sou is forced to find a new location for his cafe, leading him to seek out the services of Kawada's realty company.  The two learn about each others relationship with Mame quickly, further complicating Kawada's courtship of her.  Even though she has tried to get away from him, he continues to land in her life.  The new location for his cafe is near her apartment, causing them to interact almost as much as when she lived at home.  Yu is still clinging onto the idea that Mame and her father can become a couple as well and unintentionally inserts her self in between Kawada and Mame's relationship.

 

    Yu continues to pester Mame about dating her father, working to convince her that he would be open to the idea.  But its not as simple as that, Mame fears that Sou still harbors feelings for her sister Yume.  With Yume being eight years older than Mame and having lived out of the country for so long, she recognizes that she doesn't really know who her sister is or what her motivations are.  But she knows that Sou had an unrequited crush on her for a long time and Yume may be willing to reciprocate that now.  But that matter its self is complicated as Haruko was one of Yume's best friends and the reason Sou even met her.  Unknown to Mame, Yume and Sou dated when he was in high school and she broke his heart when she left for Brazil. 

    Mame's heart grows weary as she spends more time around Sou.  Sou struggles with the love of his dead wife and how Mame's continued infatuation with him is preventing her from find happiness outside of him.  He is also troubled about her growing relationship with Kawada, who inadvertently confessed to Sou that he has been seeing his ex-wife while dating Mame.  he chooses not to interfere, but is relieved  when he finds out that their relationship came to an end on its own, largely do to both of them realizing they still had to deal with feelings for other people.  With Mame now focused wholly on Sou again will he be able to continue to reject her feelings for him.  He doesn't know what to do about the memories and legacy of his dead wife coupled with the urging of his young daughter.

    With out spoiling a lot of other context and further plot, the synopsis will have to stop there.  This has been a very rough look at the first 4 volumes of this fantastically melodramatic manga.  And what drama there is!  This is absolutely a soap opera romance.  There are a lot of interconnected relationships and a lot of muddied water when it comes to who feels what for who.  This pool is very small and some people just like to piss in it to amuse themselves, shaking up the entire foundation in the process.  I picked this series up to fill in some space while I wait for the next volume of Even Though We're Adults to come out, craving more Shimura-sensai adult drama and boy howdy, did that drama come in spades.  This series hit the spot and did a lot of work to push me further away from the typical high school romance fare.  There is a lot of interconnected emotion and characters frequently have some pretty open lines of communication, but their convictions are far stronger than their words.  At times you just want to strangle some characters or even Shimura-sensei, but the payoff in the end is well worth the back and forth and round and round.

    By the end you get to see a lot of story about many of the characters and deeper explanations about how everyone is connected while building on their personalities and motivations.  At times the narration  can be murky as time jumps can be random and not apparent at first.  I had to back up a few pages at times to reset my bearings on the story when a flashback took place.  I reread the first chapter of the first volume twice before I fully understood the implications of what was going on, as you are dropped right into the thick of the story and have to learn about everyone and everything as it progresses.   I then reread the first chapter after finishing the manga to look for anything I may have misunderstood.  In the end, this is a well laid out, realistic, drama about adults being adults and it was a satisfying read...I need more!!  It makes one look at something like Rent-A-Girlfriend with greater criticism and to scoff at its unrealistic and immature story and characters.  This is the real meat of romantic drama about adults and it was very welcome.

    Sadly, this is not commercially available in North America...maybe some time in the future...maybe.  I need to see if this was made into a drama series though.

Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible

 Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible (久保さんは僕を許さない) is a 12 episode romantic comedy based on the manga of the same name by Yukinori Nene.  The anime originally aired split up between the Winter and Spring seasons of 2023.

    Kubo Nagisa is deeply infatuated with the boy who sits next to her in class  She goes out of her way to talk with him, spend time with him and playfully tease him.  She drops little hints in her teasing to try and get him to recognize her feelings.  The target of her affection is a boy who has an unnatural ability to stay hidden in the background.  Shiraishi Junta is a lonely child who has long recognized that he goes unnoticed by others.  He considers himself a background character in his own life.  Unless he makes a point of attracting attention to himself in class, his teacher and classmates will think he isn't there.  He struggles with automatic doors detecting his presence and even struggles to be detected by smartphones.  Kubo is immune to his natural ability to remain hidden, something she uses to her advantage.  She plays with him, knowing he assumes she doesn't notice him, to trap him into doing things with and for her.

    Through her persuasive personality and Shirashi's passive attitude, Kubo is able to grow closer to him.  Yet crippling lack of self confidence prevents Shiraishi for recognizing her increasingly obvious advances.  Kubo doesn't let this deter her ambition and she continues to force more time with the bewildered boy.  As the weeks and months fall away, Kubo's fondness for the socially inept boy grows stronger.  Those close to her quickly soon recognize the change in her, encouraging her once she admits to her infatuation.

    This was one of the most satisfying anime I have watched in quite a while.  Everything about it was incredibly wholesome and enjoyable.  The joy of this series centers around how lovable Kubo is and the innocent ways she tests Shiraishi's perception of her.  She loves to tease him but never goes into the territory of being vindictive or cruel.  All of her actions and motivations are to learn more about him and to grow closer to him.  Shiraishi on the other hand is dramatically passive, overly so, sometimes annoyingly so.  The story does not make his unnatural invisibility the focual point.  It uses that as the initial catalyst and infrequent trope.  Instead the focus is largely on the two main characters getting to know each other and the lengths Kubo goes to get closer to him.

    The artwork isn't the most detailed, with simple color palette and plain character design.  What stood out was the attention to staging and movement with the characters.  The direction of the show was handled with a lot of care and attention, focused on enhancing the dialogue and emotions.  While I dump on Shiraishi as being a bit of a single dimensional character, his trope is far better than putting up with another empty vessel of an MC that is only there to be a stand in for the viewer.This attention was important, after so many recent slice of life romances that cut corners with the animation, to see a series put effort into realistically animating characters walking.  I have no idea whats going on these days in the slice of life genre, but its gotten really lazy and inconsistent.  Another note on the animation is the frequent and well timed use of chibi through out the series.  One thing that stands out is the quality in the voice acting, particularly by Kubo's VA, Hanazawa Kana.  She's been in the industry for quite a while and has a long list of roles.  But this role in particular was notably high quality.  I am not sure if I will dive into the manga for this one, as it feels like a lot of the joy came from the animation and sound in the series.  In the end, just a great package all around. 

    The series was simulcast on Hidive and is currently only available in sub format.

Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid - movie

  Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid (青春ブタ野郎はランドセルガールの夢を見ない) is a slice of life super natural drama based on the light novel of the same name by Kamoshide Hajime and MIzoguchii Keeji.  The film had its original theatrical release in Japan in December of 2023.

 

    Life is moving forward for Sakuta and those around him.  His younger sister Kaede has seen success in joining the ranks of her peers by completing middle school and enrolling in a virtual high school.  She will be attending the same high school as the lead singer of the idol group Sweet Bullet, the same group Mai's younger sister is a member of.  On top of that their mother, who has been hospitalized since Kaede's 'adolescent syndrome' induced amnesia, is progressing well enough to return to their parents apartment.  The Azusagawa siblings jump at the invitation to join their parents for dinner following Kaede's graduation.   With the whole family together for the first time in more than two years, joy overflows.  As evening approaches their parents suggest for them to spend the night.  Kaede jumps as the opportunity to spend more time reconnecting with her mother.  Sakuta declines, citing the need to feed their cat and go to school.  He heads back on his own, going over the progress in his mind.

    The following day he goes to school but quickly understands that something if wrong.  None is acknowledging his existence.  His place in the world has been erased, much like Mai's own bout of 'adolescent syndrome'.  Panicked, he attempts various things to get someone to pay attention to him.  When that doesn't work he tries to call Mai but finds he is unable to interact with ta payphone.  After failing to attract attention while dressed in a costume he finds himself wallowing in misery at the beach.  A young girl approaches him, wondering what is wrong.  The girl is a younger version of Mai, whom he has seen before in dreams and visions.  The girl offers to return him to his home and extends her hand to the desperate boy.

    Home isn't exactly what he was looking for as he finds himself waking up in his bed at the apartment he had shared with his parents prior to moving.  It seems that his sister had never lost her memory and they did not need to move, Sakuta had resolved her bullying issues through his own actions.  He was still enrolled in Minegahara high school, requiring him to endure a much longer commute.  He was still dating the famous child actor Sakurajima Mai and has his same friend group and part time job.  Sakuta knows deep down this is not his world, something has caused him to swap into an alternate, closely identical reality that was not his own.  While this version of his life is ideal and comforting, he knows he didn't make it that way and understands he needs to return to his own reality to continue the work he has struggles with this whole time.  What will it take for him to return to version of his life he is familiar with, even if it is a more painful version than the one he finds himself in?

    My initial reaction to this story when reading the light novels was a little bit of boredom at first when it appeared to rehash the original novels plot line with Sakuta disappearing from the world.  When it shifted to the alternate reality and started to introduce another key player in the later novels, things become more enjoyable.  This story does a lot of work to wrap up what is seen as the high school arc of the franchise.  Kaede is well on her way to progressing, Sakuta has been the hero to a growing group of teenage girls with social anxiety issues and his parents are becoming a more viable part of their lives.  Yet, this story is not as dramatic and impactful as prior arcs in the series.  We spend a good portion setting up the event then rush through two different scenarios both of which get resolved through hand waving more than development of character and plot.  Instead, as with the second movie, this feels like more set up for the college arc of the story.  The most important things that take place between both the second and third movies are the introduction of Kirishima Toko and Akagi Ikumi.

    Aside from these two arcs being the least interesting of the entire franchise, they are vital to the progression of the story and required viewing/reading for fans of the story.  As with the other movies, the artwork is higher quality than the TV series but still lacks a lot of depth and detail that one would want to see in such a well crafted story.  I could imagine how beautiful and more impactful this series could have been if handled by KyoAni.  But, that's irrelevant.  This move in particular highlights how much of a melodrama this story is with its subdued tone, back ground music and general reliance on internal dialogues.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love this franchise and will eagerly buy the Blu-rays for both of the newer movies when they become available, but it could have been so much better in a lot of ways.

There is no word as of yet about an English language disk release of this movie, and it was only given a 2 day screening across America.  At the time of the writing, its not even out on disk in Japan.  Fingers crossed we won't have to wait too long and even more so for the next arc in the story to be animated.

Sasaki and Peeps

Sasaki and Peeps (佐々木とピーちゃん) is a 12 episode fantasy anime based on the light novel series of the same name by Buncololi.  The series originally aired during the Winter of 2024

    Sasaki is a low level salary man facing down forty.  He's unmarried, has no children and scrapes by in an unfulfilling and meaningless existence.  Out of pity he decides to get a pet.  Unable to afford a dog or a cat, he settles on a Java sparrow.  When the bird begins to talk to him, he questions his own sanity.  The bird proves to be quite persistent and informs the bewildered man that he is a great magic user known as the Star Sage Piercarlo.  In exchange for being saved, he agrees to impart some of his power into Sasaki.  He agrees, nicknaming the bird Peep's and the two are transported to his home world.  Sasaki, having learned a thing or two while working as a salary-man, realizes that the ability to transport freely between disparate worlds can come in handy financially for him and gets to work setting up and import/export business.  Both he and Peeps seek to set themselves up for a carefree, worry-free, life after a little bit of work.

    Things don't work out as smoothly as either of them would expect as the import business into Peeps world leads to them being ingrained in one countries political issues due to the interest their goods have stirred in the aristocracy.  He soon finds himself embroiled in political intrigue and outright war with a neighboring kingdom due to the alliances he establishes for the trade of merchandise he's transporting from modern day Japan.  Peeps is able to teach Sasaki some magic, lessening the burden on himself in that field.  This presents its self with problems when Sasaki uses magic to rescue a girl back in Tokyo.  The girl, Hoshizaki, reveals that she works for a secretive government organization that tracks down and suppress ESPers.  Not wanting to reveal the nature of the magic he used, he tells the young woman that he too is an ESPer, causing her to force him to join the ranks of the organization.  As a newly minted government agent he has to investigate and combat ESPers that are unwilling to bend to the will of the agency, causing a greater workload on him, just when his import business in the other world is picking up.  To further complicate things...a strange dumpster diving girl with magic powers starts hunting ESPers.

    There is a lot to unpack with this show.  It defies genre classification as it checks off a large swath of story styles.  Slice of life, reverse isekai, mercantilism, psychic powers, magic girls, historical politics...the list goes on.  A new genre is introduced into the story with almost every new episode, further expanding the workload Sasaki has to endure, as all he tries to do is build up a nest egg.  Sasaki works even harder to obscure portions of his new reality from others.  In the other world he tells everyone hes from a far off distant land.  The attempt to hide his growing magical abilities by telling people who know hes actually an ESPer.  The only one who knows everything he's doing is Peep's, his partner in crime.  Invariably juggling so much secrecy would lead to a series of calamities but the story activates Sasaki's plot armor quite effectively and does a really good job of maintaining the suspension of belief.  The complexity, world building and progression of the story are all really well done.  In the end this was a really satisfying story, checking all manner of story lines I wouldn't normally seek out.

   While the characters, plot progression, world building and insane genre mashing is brilliantly handled, the artwork is another story.  Once the insanity of whats going on becomes acceptable by the viewer they are able to take in the scenery.  There is a noticeable lack of quality and attention to detail through out the show.  A prime example of this is the less than realistic hand artwork.  There are segments where a characters blocking is unrealistic given their perspective and placement.  The action sequences as well cut plenty of corners so don't expect something flashy like Jujutsu Kaisen within this story.  The quality of the story far outweighs the uninspiring artwork though so don't let that stop you from enjoying this crazy show...which doesn't have an ending or any hint of a second season.  The series has covered a good portion of the light novels that exist and we will probably never see anything else animated for this weirdly satisfying show.

The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll.

Mr. Villain's Day Off

 Mr. Villain's Day Off (休日のわるものさん) is a 12 episode slice of life comedy based on the manga of the same name by Morikawa Yuu.  The series originally aired over the Winter of 2024.

    Eponymous 'Mr. Villain' is a general in the Evil League, a group of aliens bent on destroying humanity and taking over the Earth.  While they have infiltrated the planet and live among its populace in secret, their plans continue to be foiled by a group of Rangers, super hero defenders of the planet.  Destroying humanity is a job like any other to Mr. Villain and he strives to separate his working life from his non working life, cherishing his days off as much as he can. He has come to adore panda's, excited to befriend them once humans are out of the way.  He frequently visits the panda exhibit at the local zoo, eats panda themed sweets and generally gravitates toward panda emblazoned merchandise.

    As he goes about doing chores, shopping and generally relaxing on his days off he frequently encounters members of the Rangers.  His unwillingness to fight them while off the clock makes them reconsider their own position when dealing with him.  He isn't always aware of the identity of the people he encounters through out the city, but has a strong sense of duty that leads him to help out those he feels needs help.  He's not a bad guy, his side just views humans as a danger to the Earth and their on ambitions, so its just a matter of removing them once and for all.  The lack of ill will in his mission influences how he interacts with them outside of work, leading him to ignore them in an antagonistic sense.

    This series delivered what it promised but had a hard time holding my attention.  After a few episodes all of the mundane eccentricities are well established and the rest of the show is callbacks mixed with increased lore.  You can only go through some many segments of him being disappointment by the seasonally changing snacks at his local kombini and the internal monologue of the girls who is always at the counter.  Panda's are inherently boring beings and its hard to make it interesting and exciting as he stares at them for hours at a time, internalizing his plans to be friends with them following the death of humanity.  He cleans his house diligently, maintains a stoic and serious attitude at all times and has a generous heart.  The entire set up for his personality being an evil general for the race of beings bent on destroying mankind doesn't come through in his off work persona, but that joke only stretches the story so far.  What was interesting was breaking down the Rangers near the end of the show, but it felt too little too late to really make it worth the task of watching all 12 episodes.

    Aside from the show running out of steam halfway through, if not earlier, the artwork isn't the greatest and can be ignored for the most part.  Honestly, there is little that remains in my brain for this show that makes me want to tell others about it or watch it again or find the original manga and read it.  This was quite a leave it series in the end that I pushed myself to get through for little more than something to talk about.  I can't have every series I finish be something I deeply love and sometimes need to stick with these shows that are really not worth anyone's time.

The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll and is currently only available in sub format.  But its really not worth the time.

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (涼宮ハルヒの消失) is the theatrical adaptation of the slice of life supernatural light novel of the same name by Tanigawa Nagaru and Ito Noizi.  The film had its initial theatrical release in Japan in 2010.

    The winter break fast approaches and the cold weather does little to dampen Haruhi's endless energy.  To celebrate the birth of Jesus she plans to secretly hold a hot pot party in the SOS Brigades club room.  A few days later, Kyon wakes up to a bitterly cold morning that has more in store for him than discomfort.  The first sign that something is wrong is Taniguchi suffering in misery with a terrible head cold.  The day prior he was full of energy and boasting about an upcoming date he had scheduled for Christmas Eve.  Suspecting the date thing was a lie and the cold is a terrible attempt to cover it up, Kyon thinks nothing of it, heading to the normal classroom.

    To his surprise, the cold that Taniguchi has come down with has taken out a sizable portion of his classmates.  When questioning Kunikida about it, learning its been going around for a while, he assumes he just hasn't been paying much attention.  What has him concerned is that it was powerful enough to take out Haruhi, who's desk has been absent all morning.  Before he can bring it up to Kunikida the last person he ever expected to see again strolls into the classroom, acting as if they belonged there.  Standing before him is the human interface for the same alien god that created Nagato and someone who almost killed him back in the Fall, Asakura Ryoko.  Blindsided by her sudden reappearance he begins to verbally attack her, confusing her with his declarations of intent.  He begins to question why Asakura is there but Haruhi is missing.  No one seems to know who he's talking about and when the seating chart is presented to him he doesn't see her name anywhere on it.

    Something is definitely wrong, he has woken up to find himself in a world where Asakura is a member of their class and Haruhi has been wiped from everyone's memories.  He flees the classroom, searching for some sort of familiarity to validate his expectations.  Koizumi's classroom does not physically exist in the school, the version of Nagato he finds in the SOS Brigade club room is still wearing glasses and is far more emotional and vulnerable than the robot-like version he's come to respect and rely on.  His beloved Asahina has no idea who he is and fears him as a perverted stalker with Tsuruya acting as her personal bodyguard.  Kyon is lost and confused.  

     The world has gone crazy around him, returning to a state that existed before Haruhi, a world of boring normalcy.  He is unwilling to accept this world and anticipates there is something that will let him return to his world, hinging everything on some sort of escape program set up by Nagato.  His suspicions prove correct and while browsing the tomes in the literary clubroom a book mark falls to the floor with a simple and direct statement.  Gather the keys in 3 days.  He doesn't know what the keys are but before he can put much thought into it he receives a break the next day when Taniguchi returns to class.  He grills Kyon during lunch about his erratic behavior a few days earlier.  When Kunikida relays the sequence of events, Taniguchi offhandedly questions him about being so obsessed with a crazy girl like Haruhi.  This snaps Kyon out of his haze and he forces Taniguchi to confirm her existence to him.  She does exist, but in this world she decided to go to a different school.

    Not wanting to waste a moment, desperate to see her, he rushes out of school to wait for her outside of the private high school shes enrolled in.  Before long he see's her, striding confidently through the gates, hair as long as it was when he first met her, with Koizumi following next to her.  Panic overtakes him and he forces himself to confront her, afraid he will miss his chance.  Harui has no idea who he is and almost beats him down until she is stopped by a simple phrase, 'remember John Smith'.  A phrase that only she and the strange older kid that helped her three years earlier during Tanabata would remember.  Her interest is piqued and she agrees to here Kyon out and the three of them retire to a nearby cafe.  He lays out to them the insane reality he finds himself in, telling them about the Brigade, Haruhi's abilities, the other members supernatural status and his sudden transition into this normal world.  She's more than willing to believe the unbelievable story and suddenly wants to create the Brigade in this world.  The wheels begin to spin and Haruhi once again pulls everyone into her gravity well, forcing the disparate members of the Brigade to join in the literary club once more.

    Kyon is still unsure what to do, but the keys appear to have been gathered.  Before he can push his brain further the club rooms old computer comes to life with a simple line of text.  Nagato, his Nagato, is communicating with him.  She presents him with a choice, a god like power that only has one use and is only available for a limited time.  Which version of the world does he want to exist in?  The current one, where the consistent existential threat of annihilation does not exist or the old world where super natural occurrences pepper his ordinary life with adventure and excitement?  He knew the answer even before she asked him and initiates the mechanism to shift him back to the realty he knows and loves.  But he doesn't return to the point he left, instead he is once again back to the night of Tanabata three years ago.  He needs to find the reason for the split in the world and a way to fix it before he can return to the hot pot party celebrating Christmas.

    This has long been a favorite movie of mine, typically watching it once a year.  The past year saw three viewing of it...I might want to mention that the movie is close to three hours longs.  I digress, this is a fantastic cap to the legendary Haruhi anime adaptation.  After reading all of the available light novels for the franchise, this being the end cap for the anime works rather well.  There is still more story beyond this and one very specific thing is not resolved within its runtime, this is handled quite a bit later in the light novels.  But this is the perfect culmination of everything that is the Haruhi world.

    That said, the animation is high quality, some of the best work by KyoAni in my opinion.  It's hard to really come up with things that can improve this film.  It's far stronger than the series in both design and story.  It's superior even to the source material, which does lack the life that KyoAni breathed into the franchise with the TV anime and this movie.  The only downside is that the casual views has to watch all of the TV anime before diving into this, given how much story needs to be understood beforehand.  The English dub is just as satisfying as the original Japanese as well.

The anime has been widely available for a long time in North America.  It is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out - movie

Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out (青春ブタ野郎はおでかけシスターの夢を見ない) is a slice of life super natural drama based on the light novel of the same name by Kamoshide Hajime and MIzoguchii Keeji.  The film had its original theatrical release in Japan in June of 2023.

    The story picks up not to long after the reset experienced at the end of Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl there will be some spoilers if you have not yet seen that movie or the original series, Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai.  Things seem to be behind them now, with Shoko's 'adolescent syndrome' resolved.  Even though the future as we understood it was rewritten, the circumstances around all of the characters connecting occurred.  Everything hinged on Shoko forcing a future where the events of her inevitable death would shape both Sakuta and Mai's decisions moving forward.  A pivotal moment was the younger Mai turning down a role in a horror movie, that she was famous for, in favor of a role about a girl living with a terminal heart disease.  The role led to a surge in people signing up to be organ donors, allowing Shoko to receive her much needed heart transplant with out the need for Sakuta or Mai to die.  Shoko recalls all of the previous future versions of her self, which helped her to guide them all into a future where no one suffered because of her.  After encountering her years later for the first time, Sakuta's memories of those other realities manifested in himself.

    Things seem to be going well for everyone, especially with Kaede continuing to improve.  But the school year is almost completed and Kaede is faced with a difficult choice, what to do about attending high school.  Kaede is focused on attending Minegahara  High with her brother, but there are doubts and reservations about her ability to do so.  Even though she has become less of a shut in, it is still difficult for her to be near her peers.  She constantly worries that everyone in public spaces are judging her and when she crosses paths with someone wearing the same uniform as the middle school she is struggling to attend, the old fears and pain return.  Sakuta and her guidance counselor want her to consider an alternative high school, one that would work to shield her from the pressures of fitting in.  While Sakuta researches online schools as an alternative, Kaede pushes herself to prepare for the rigorous Minegaham entrance exam.  The stresses of studying and the fear of having to face a new environment and unknown pressures is taking its toll on her.  The mysterious bruises are returning and her attempts to hide them from Sakuta fail, causing him more concern for her well being.  Kaede is lost, after losing two years of her life to a different version of herself.  The weight of the new people in her life and their perception of her versus the version of her they first met bears down on her decisions as she tries to fulfill that Kaede's final wish.

    As I said in the review of the light novel, this is largely a set up for things to come and doesn't have the major arc progressions like the viewer has come to expect in the different story arcs.  This is also a very short film, clocking in at 70 minutes or so.  When it comes to the earlier arcs, the manifestation of 'adolescent syndrome' in Kaede, built around her stress and worry, is minimal in comparison.  Sakuta doesn't go on the heroic journey to correct her condition like he has in the past, instead the situation is remarkably mundane and resolves in a realistic manner.  The entire arc with Kaede choosing how to proceed in her education is built around her brothers acceptance of who she is and her ability to recognize her comfort level.  It's almost like none of it matters when compared to the passing things that appear in this movie, which lead to important aspects of the college arc.  The introduction of Kirishima Toko and the second member of Sweet Bullet being pulled into the orbit that is Sakuta.

    The idea by the distributors for release this and the third movie, Rascal Does Not Dream of  Knapsack Kid, as a double feature in theaters was the correct move.  This film is too short and doesn't offer a lot by its self to justify the audience paying full ticket price to see.  They would feel cheated.  I wonder how this will end up being packaged on Blu-ray...I suspect as a standalone volume, but it would be better to package both movies together.  But, this is an integral part of the story, even though it fails to be as impactful as everything we have seen so far in the series.  It still has its place in the cannon of this fantastic story and is required viewing by the fan base.  This movie unfortunately emphasis some of the weaknesses of the story over all.  The dialogue is noticeably juvenile and amateurish.  One thing that I have noticed since the beginning, and continued into this movie, is the lack of emotional range in Sakuta and Mai's characters.  I am not sure if its a problem with the voice actors or choices by the script writers/director.  But...they really are too monotone, and this was painfully obvious in this movie given the lack of spectacle.  Its caused me to re-think the series and the simplicity of the dialogue.  It's still a great story, with enjoyable characters that leave a warm feeling in your heart, but I wonder why it feels like the audience is being talked down to now.

At the time of this review the movie has not yet been released streaming or on disk in North America.  It has however been released in both sub and dub formats in theaters for a limited engagement...and it will be interesting to see how long it takes for the dub of the prior episodes/movie will take to come out.

A Quick Look at the Spring 2024 anime season

    As soon as it began, the Winter season is almost over with.  It had some relatively solid choices in the slice of life and romance area's with some unexpected surprises in other genres.  The relentless march of time presses and the Spring cour is almost here.  Here is a list of new titles that have piqued my interest.

Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included

    The set up for this feels a lot like the set up to A Certain Magical Index, but without all of the shonen action aspects.  Not sure how good this will be but I'm willing to give it a few episodes.  I suspect it will be more like a lopsided moe rendition of Aa Megami-sama instead.  Who would have thought that a series from over 30 years ago would have a stronger, meek, female lead than this one potentially?  We are sliding backwards folks!!

Train to the End of the World

    One of the newer shows to show up on my radar, this could go either really dark or not.  How close to Girls Last Tour could it be?  I still need to finish that fantastic show.  Though it really just seems like a slice of life set in a post apocalyptic landscape with an heavy emphasis on a group of cute girls and their growth in the journey to the legendary..Ikebukuro?

Spice & Wolf: merchant meets wise wolf

    One of the legacy romance series', I still have not cracked into.  Since this is a remake it seems like a good time to finally watch this...and see what all the fuss is about.

Bartender: Glass of God

    Everyone has been hyped about this for a long time know.  I know nothing about it and I want to keep it that way.  I want to see what all the excitement is about this story and experience it fresh for myself.  I highly doubt it will be anything like the last bartender based series I watched...Death Parade.

A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics

    At first glance of the overview of this series, it seems like it could just be a boring reverse-isekai.  But something about it also makes me think of Hinamatsuri so I am absolutely willing to check this show out.

Laid Back Camp season 3

    Great to have this super chill and comfortable anime return.  The movie was fine, but it lacked some of the cozy warmth of the TV series.  Time to wrap up in a chunky yarn, oversized scarf and sip hot cocoa.

A Condition Called Love

    One of this seasons atypical high school romances...check.  Just need to add it to the ever growing list of sub par romance anime to consume.  I don't suspect anything out of the ordinary with this one.  But...maybe it will be this years Skip & Loafer.  I doubt it will impact me as much as Insomniacs After School did last year though.  I am not opposed to the character design though.

Astro Note

    A guy loses his job as a chef and has to move into a boarding house.  Could this be another attempt to capture the spirit of Maison Ikkoku?  The preview checks off a lot of the standards set in that series, but with some unnatural twists.  This looks incredibly amusing either way!

The Fable

    This could be a really fun and well executed fish out of water story, revolving around a legendary assassin who has to be a normal human being for once.

Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night

    Sadly, not a return to the fantastic world of Princess Jellyfish...but the trailer makes this story look really interesting and dramatic.  I really like the artwork and may just be surprised with how good this is.  Hopefully it pulls off a more compelling story that Wonder Egg Priority, even though I don't sense any supernatural aspects in this one.

Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again

    Whats not to love about a cute story of two, life time, lovers getting an extension on their lives together?  That's a powerful Notch apple!

Tadaima, Okaeri

    Adult centered slice of life romance about a married couple?  Sign me the hell up! I suspect it will be a bit more dramatic than I Can't Understand What My Husband is Saying.

Rinkai!

    I love cycling and love watching track racing, so a sports anime about a group of female keirin racers.  I am all there!  Go fast, turn left, no breaks, no gears, can't stop, won't stop.

The Many Sides of Voice Actors Radio

    Industry based anime can be fun or entertaining, not sure how this one will pan out, but its worth checking out for a few episodes at least.  Though it seems like this type of show, about two voice actors who do radio shows together and dislike each other in real life, would have hit a better audience 15 years ago.

Whisper Me a Love Song

    This seasons yuri about an underclassman who falls for her musically inclined senpai.  We will see how good it is, or if its just more formulaic romance, either way, I'm in!

 

Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!

Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! (30歳まで童貞だと魔法使いになれるらしい) is a 12 episode slice of life yaoi romance based on the manga of the same name by Toyota Yuu.  The series aired over the Winter season of 2024.

     Adachi Kiyoshi is a gloomy office worker who has struggled to find love through out his life.  He suddenly gained the ability to hear peoples internal thoughts when he comes into physical contact with them.  His world changes when he learns the secret thoughts of a coworker, Kurosawa Yuichi, a handsome well respected sales rep.  Adachi struggles with the idea that a man can fall in love with him, let alone the most desired bachelor at his company.  He also struggles with uncertainty around being able to reciprocate his coworkers feelings and desires.  Using his supernatural abilities he cheats to understand Kurosawa's motives and desires.  As the two men spend more time together and Adachi comes into closer contact with Kurosawa's heart he begins to accept the feelings welling up inside of him but has to figure out a way to express them, unsure of his own worth.

   Kurosawa struggles to maintain his polished veneer, always battles against his desires and urges.  As he spends more time with Adachi he begins to push him to find out if there is a chance of him getting his wishes.  Unknown to him, the object of his affection can hear everything he's thinking when they are in physical contact.  Even without that, Kurosawa does what he can to express his feelings for him without risking too much if rejected.  As time goes on he finds it harder and harder to hold back and when he confesses and isn't rejected an unbalanced relationship begins to unfold.  Adachi, inexperienced in love, begins to lean into his strange powers to help him be a better partner for Kurosawa, but how long can he keep a secret like that from someone who loves him so openly?

    This was a cute and slow burning romance that played into some standard yaoi tropes with out coming off as trashy of voyeuristic.  Kurosawa's seme qualities were blunted by his literal school girl giddiness and barely controlled perversion.  Adachi was a typical self hating gloom boy uke.  What drove the story to be interesting is how Adachi navigated around his ability to read peoples thoughts, or more accurately, their hearts.  Even with this massive cheat code enabled he struggled with how to respond to the other persons affection.  Some of this hesitation and uncertainty stems from his own lack of confidence.  He struggled to understand why a guy who could catch anyone he desired would be interested in an introverted loner like himself and hesitated to express his feelings clearly even after they had begun to date.

    There was a parallel side story dealing with a college friend of Adachi's who also ends up gaining the mind reading via prolonged virginity ability and an infatuation with a younger delivery boy.  I'm not sure what literary purpose this plot line provided other than checking off a shota trope but some aspects of it felt a little creepy and forced.  The object of Adachi's friends affection happened to be a college friend of one of Adachi and Kurosawa's younger coworkers.  Honestly though it was fine, just seemed to distract too many times from the core story around the main characters.  On a final note the art work seemed to suffer near the end of the series with consistency.  The artwork wasn't the highest of caliber to begin with, the character designs being pure shojo and not highly detailed.  But in the end the story was cute and lovely and it might be fun to see a one shot of the couples later in life.

    The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll and is currently only available in sub format.

Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable!

 Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable! (道産子ギャルはなまらめんこい) is a romantic comedy based on the manga of the same name by Ikada Kai.  The series originally aired during the 2024 Winter season.

    Shiki Tsubasa transfers from Tokyo to small town in Hokkaido in the middle of his first year as a high school student.  Excitement for the new experiences in Japans rural north leads him to underestimate traveling distances on his way into town.  He has the taxi driver drop him off kilometers from his new home with his grandmother, misunderstanding the time it takes to travel far in the middle of nowhere versus the bustling metropolis.  Standing among the piled snow, under dressed for the cold, the severity of his mistake begins to set in.  Just as panic sets in he notices an under-dressed gyaru casually waiting around, unbothered by the cold.  As he struggles with a safe way to travel the rest of the distance, she invites him to ride the incoming city bus with her.  When she learns that he's from Tokyo and will be attending the same school she goes to her interest in blossoms to an uncontrollable level.  He gets distracted by the beauty before him, coming from a school situation where he found himself largely ignored and unpopular.  He neglects to get on the bus with her, but learns her name, Fuyuki Minami.

    Surviving his first day in the snowy north, the first day of school proves to be just as interesting as Minami is one of his new classmates.  She's excited to be able to spend more time with the kid from the big city and teach him all about how to live in Hokkaido.  In a short time the two become good friends as she show him around the city and what it means to live in Hokkaido.  Tsubasa struggles with how to interpret the things she does, considering most of her advances as teasing instead of actual affection.  He is an honest and supportive person, who will do anything he can to help those close to him.  She really enjoys hi honesty and naivety, teasing him as much as she can.  As they spend more time together she begins to develop feelings for him, but doesn't put too much pressure on herself to make it more obvious to him, instead she tries to enjoy spending as much time with him as she can.

    Given the title, context and character design, particularly of Minami, one would expect this to be a low brow ecchi comedy instead of the simple but endearing slice of life it turns into.  The characters have one dimensional personalities but their open honesty makes them endearing to the viewer.  Tsubasa is a reserved rich kid, who lives under the controlling thumb of his grandmother.  He is driven to please and support everyone around him, almost to a fault.  Minami is free spirited, unashamed and passionate about life.  Eventually two other girls from school get sucked into the orbit of the main characters, but their impact is minimal at best and doesn't generate any of the drama and tension one would expect from a shonen aimed romance.  Minami's character design lies heavily in the buxom gyaru trope, complete with revealing outfits and plent of tepid fanservice.  Perhaos due to Tsubasa's reserved and refined nature, there is very little attention drawn to the constant cleavage and ample curvature of Tsubasa or the other characters, its largely ignored from the other casts viewpoint.  The story focuses more on the growing and unforced friendship of the two main characters and as a field guide to live in the frozen north.

    The artwork on the other had is rather lacking with inconsistencies and lack of detail.  The character designs for the women are more caricatures than real, even when compared to the Euro-centric designs that are the norm in anime.  Minami is a fantasy more than anything close to a reality, a highly sculpted anime rendition of a Kardashian and all the money they have poured into surgery and shaping wear.  The character designs for Tsubasa however are closer to realistic.  Theres not a lot of detail in the characters themselves, in how they move and how they are colored, but there is noticeable amount of attention in their clothing, which is done quite naturally.  The strongest part of the story is the interactions and realistic relationship between Tsubasa and Minami, which make this series, with all of its faults and short comings, a fun casual watch.  While no where near the top of the slice of life of romance best of list, its way more enjoyable than its title, premise and character design would suggest.  I was pleasantly surprised with how the story evolved and ended up.  It was really just a cute and heartfelt story.

    The anime was simulcast on Crunchyroll in sub or dub formats but its still too soon to know if it will recieve any sort of physical release.  I may have to check out the manga, which is on Shueisha's Manga Plus app for free in English.

A Sign of Affection

 A Sign of Affection (ゆびさきと恋々) is a 13 episode slice of life romance based on the manga of the same name by the writing/art duo suu Morishita.  The anime aired during the Winter of 2024

    Itose Yuki is a college student who has previously only attended school designed for deaf students.  After graduating high school she wanted to break out of her insular world, built around those with hearing impairments, to experience the greater world around her.  She decided to attend a traditional university for just such an experience, even if it meant having to overcome numerous obstacles in a world that has little consideration for people in her position.  She navigates the world not catering to her needs as best she can, relying on her ability to read lips, text messaging and a note pad to communicate with those around her.  She has become friends with a classmate, Fujishiro Rin, who helps her by transcribing lectures.  While commuting one day he is approached by a foreign man, who is unaware of her inability to hear him, let alone understand the language he is speaking.  As she struggles to let him know she is unable to help him a tall man steps in to assist the lost traveler.  As the new stranger helps the foreigner, Yuki realizes she has seen him before, as one of the members of the club Rin is a part of.  The man and her exchange brief pleasantries and she continues on her way to school, lost in thought.

    In class she brings up meeting the mystery man to Rin who instantly identifies him as Nagi Itsuomi.  She tells Yuki that he travels all over the world back packing and meeting new people and is quite personable.  She also suggest that Yuki accompany her to a local bar that Itsuomi's cousin runs, on the change that he will be there as well.  Rin is infatuated with his cousin and sees this as an opportunity to  help both of them out.  Later that evening they step into the quaint corner pub and Yuki is greeted by the same man from the train.  They exchange more pleasantries, but she is unsure of how to proceed, shy and awkward, uncomfortable with how to approach him.  Another group enters the bar soon afterward, a group of unidentifiable foreigners and she observes how natural and easy it is for him to interact with other people.  She marvels at the world he's seen and the vastness of it compared to her closed one.  As the bar closes, Rin suggest that Itsuomi accompany Yuki on her way home, hoping that something with spark between them.  Before they part ways, they exchange contact information.  Seizing the moment she sparks a conversation with him that enables him to express his interest in getting to know her more.

    Yuki has taken the first step in getting closer to the mysterious and well traveled man, but is hesitant and uncertain if she is reading into the situation accurately.  As she spends more time with him she wants to learn more about the world he sees through his eyes.  At the same time, Itusomi is striving to learn signing, in order to meet her in her world instead of relying on her to negotiate his.  Through assistance from Rin and both of them attending the same college, the two continue to interact with each other more and more, both in school and out.  But not everyone is enthusiastic about the development.  Both Yuki and Itsuomi have people in their lives that have harbored feelings that they have trouble expressing.

    We are in a golden era of slice of life romance anime.  A Sign of Affection does not disappoint in the least.  The story and characters are realistic and approachable.  The situations are believable and the characters actions don't detract from the warmth of the story.  The artwork moves between serious and cute depending on the situation and mood, done with a fine eye by the directing team.  The progression of the plot flows along in a well kept pace, not circling around the drain endlessly.  While not exactly spoiling things, we don't have to wait until the final episode for any sort of progression in the main characters relationship.  Anime has always been full of characters with unnatural hair colors and at first glance this would fall into that category.  Except, refreshingly, it isn't.  Itsuomi's best friend is a hair stylist and uses his friend to test new ideas, thus his hair is dyed silver.  Yuki as well decided to change her hair upon entering college for a fresh look as she embarks on a new world in her life.

    The original authors are not hearing impaired themselves but put in a lot of effort to help them understand what someone living in that world may be like.  Ensuring they could correctly represent the way they navigate a world not built for them and to represent the signing in a realistic manner.  Difficulties in interacting with others in society who are not actively aware of the way the communicate is expressed through out the story.  In many moments, sometimes pivotal, Yuki is not aware of the flow of the conversation around her due to not being able to read everyone's lips or through the speed of the conversation.  Again though...I struggle with why Yuki's mom never bothered to interact with her daughter in a more meaningful way.  On top of that shes super strict on the young woman's ability to care for her self.  Same with the boy who love/hates her from her childhood.  It seems like everyone from her earlier life does what they can to prevent her from growing into her self, instead trying to shelter her.  Itsuomi presents a pathway to a wider world, both through his frequent travels and as someone who does not know anything about her.

The anime simulcast on Crunchyroll and is available in both dub and sub formats.  This is one of those I should start the manga for!