Shizuku Mizutani has lived a lonely life. Through her childhood she has never felt any compassion or concern for those around her. She doesn't find anything wrong with this and accepts her peers shunning her for being cold. Her only concern is to be the top student and most of her free time is spent studying to stay that way. One day she is asked by her teacher to take paperwork to a classmate who has been absent after being suspended following a bad fight the first day. Reluctantly she goes because the teacher promised her a study guide in exchange. She arrives at a business that the student resides at and finds he isn't exactly what she expected. The delinquent, Haru Yoshida, jumps out of a second floor window upon seeing her. As she leaves to head home Haru attacks her and demands to know why she was at his home. When he's convinced she isn't there to make him go back he instantly acts like they are best of friends. The next day her teacher begs her to convince him to return to school but Shizuku refuses, vowing to never talk to him again. On her way home from school he again attacks her and makes her come with him to check out a 'stray' dog he saved. After she convinces him to find the dogs owner they get dinner. Haru's childlike innocence takes over and he tells her how he wants to be friends with her since he doesn't really have any and he wants to experience all sorts of idealized school life fantasies with her. He's so infatuated with her that he starts coming to school so he can spend more time with her. His return to school isn't with out problems. Haru has incredible strength and no control over his emotions. He soon starts beating up other classmates and causing everyone to fear his presence. Haru keeps pressuring Shizuku to be his friend which annoys her due to being focused solely on school work. When he confesses that he loves her out of the blue her world heads down a path of oddity and change. While she reluctantly accepts his friendship, but not his love, he starts to include her in his insanity as well as gather up a ragtag bunch of misfits to join in. Shizuku needs to figure out if she can maintain her life's goal with the distractions the odd Haru brings to her.
This was a really odd and somewhat enjoyable series. It's half absurdist comedy and half drama. Haru's actions are over the top as he punches people into oblivion at the drop of a hat and runs around searching for things like a grade school kid. His enthusiasm is incredible and Shizuku has a really hard time taking his blunt honesty. One thing that was good with this series is the bluntness of both of the main characters who easily and continuously speak their mind to each other and everyone around them...sometimes to a fault. The story just kind of ambles on though with out any real goal or intent aside from Haru continuing to persuade Shizuku to love him back. There are a couple of different plot lines that are brought up and run with for a little bit but never account for much when it comes to the story. There just seems to be a bit more that should have been told. Much of the series hints at and reveals pieces of Haru's part, which has been troubled and difficult. Yet they don't really take it anywhere in the end. There are a handful of side characters that they somewhat develop but much of their stories are left unfinished as well. It really feels like this series would have benefited from being longer. The manga ran 2008 to 2013 so there is bound to be more story in that format. The series also just kind of ends and it doesn't seem likely to expect any more...but who knows. Maybe some OAV's to fill in some of the gaps. It ends, sort of, like many romance stories with a good inkling of the future relationship between the characters but with nothing definitive. Over all it was a fun series. The comedy was well done and the drama was also well done. The characters were mostly likeable, especially the main ones. I liked and hated the animation. The characters looked odd when shown in profile, which happened frequently, and at times the animation for them speaking while in profile was really strange. There would be the outline of their mouth closed and just to the side of it their mouths movement was animated...it was odd. There is absolutely ZERO fan service!! YAY!!! Shizuku is actually rather homely. The series reminded me of Kare Kano in some ways. Haru is actually naturally intelligent and Skizuku despises him for that. Make sure to keep watching after the end credits as each episode contains omake like vignettes. On a side note, I haven't seen a girl get cold-cocked that much in any romance...it was actually pretty humorous.
Either way, this was a fun romantic comedy and is worth the time...although it may be more beneficial to read the manga instead... The series was released on Crunchyroll in North America, no word on any kind of disc release though. The manga is currently being released in North America by Kodansha Comics American division.
No comments:
Post a Comment