Kita e.: Diamond Dust Drops

a TL;DR review by Nerpco

Story - individual love stories revolving around six woman (each getting their own two episodes) and a myth about diamond dust during the winter season. Some are done very nicely and others being fine. 8

Art - Has a nice style, good amount of detail. But their faces have a weird shape when at an angle. 7

Sound - Nice soundtrack with soothing pieces that remind me of the season. Provokes and influences emotion. 8

Characters - Each one of the main characters (and most of the supporting characters) are fleshed out nicely, which is impressive to do with only two episodes each. 9

Enjoyment/Verdict ... - For me, this was a nice feel-good romance/josei that has nice characterization and emotion. 8

Overall: 8.0/10

Recommendation: Buy it, you can find the cute looking 3-Disc thinpack set from ADV Films for less than ten dollars. Go for it!

Thanks for (quickly) reading.

-Nerpco

Diamond DustDaydreams is a very average and run and uninteresting anime through and though.
The story is just okay while some stories are definitely better than others and most of the girls are very average and bland while others do shine through a bit with their carefree or bossy attitude.
The series is broken up into 6 different stories each girl has two episodes to show her story before it moves on. Let's go over each story.

The first one is a 20 year old girl named Atsuko who helps her mother run a fishery after her father passed away leaving some debt behind as well. The girl ... is headstrong and wanting more out if life than marriage especially at her age, which is why she keeps pushing her fiancee away. It seems it was an arranged marriage that both of the mothers worked out to ensure the children would marry people that they approved of. Atsuko's mother wanted her to live a easier life than her and to not worry about the debt. Atsuko, however, is in love with a musician who is in his forties. I won't spoil what happened after that. Atsuko is okay and could be a likeable girl, but as with most of the girls, she hardly gets screen time enough to become likable. I still liked her over other girls however but didn't care for her story.

The second story is about a young girl in the hospital who dreams of a prince charming. This girl is Karin who has been in a hospital for 2 years and refuses the surgery that may help her. Her only solace is her web blog where she writes about a Wonderland of sorts, a land where she is a princess. I actually can't tell you anything about this one because it bored me so much that I skipped it and Karin just want interesting to me at all. I also had just gotten done watching Angel Beats which did the hospitalized young girl story much better than this. So I will leave it at that.

The third story is one that I do like quite a bit. It is about an amateur director named Kyoko who won a prize for her movie some time ago and wants to win again. Her boyfriend, also into film, supports her with his love and affection and wants her to be happy. Kyoko is at odds with him most of the story and with the club that she helped start and fund. She is irritated at the club for not taking things seriously since she badly wants, and feels, she needs to win another award. While the club wishes she would calm down and forgive the rudeness of one of the actresses. Things tend to not go her way and she loses something very dear to her due to her obsession with winning. She is one of the girls I like a lot more even though much of her screentime is getting mad at people. She had a goal and she had character even if it was bitchy. I quite liked her story and the ending of it.

The fourth story is my favorite however, as it follows a girl named Suomi, who is the best character in this show. She is nice, joyful, quirky, loveable, and really fun. The episode starts with her witnessing two young boys in an argument that ends their relationship. She ends up spending the day with one if the boys and tells him about a fight she had with her friend that made her give up something that she loved. Her story is simply the best because it doesn't center on a romance or on a crush and has the best characters out of the series. She is simply amazing and I loved every part of her story and didn't skip through any of it.

The fifth story is about a woman named Shoko who is a radio talk host and can be heard in some of the other episodes. She is in love with a man who is not only married but has a child as well. Meanwhile, she gives advice to young people about romance and other such topics. She's also being stalked by one of her fans. Her story is very much a soap opera with what happens but it gets wrapped up in two episodes quickly and it has a sweet ending. Shoko is the oldest woman here and is definitely the most mature. She's pretty great but has nothing on Suomi.

The final story is about a girl named Akari who works part time at a bakery while her father tries to find gold. He is a drunk and had to be forced to go to his job most of the time but loves his daughter very much. Akari's mother died some years back so they only have each other to rely on. Her dad is a very sweet man when it comes to his daughter and loves her more than anything in the world. This story has a romance in it that actually blossoms a lot in thanks to Akari's father. Akari is pretty alright and I liked her story okay.

The last episode is the best one as it brings back all the girls in a perfect way and has them meeting each other. It also shows where each of the girls are and gives them a happy ending. It's a really good last episode and is the reason I gave the series an extra star bringing it up to 5 stars. That's just how good the last episode was. Not to mention the Suomi parts were perfect.

All in all, a good series for those who like light and fluffy shows with a bit of drama and heartbeat and a touch of romance sprinkled in. If you liked things like Rumbling Hearts, Magical Stage Fancy Lala, or Piano, then you may just like this. And if you've never heard of those series, then you may want to stay away from this one.

A very simple minded and poorly done anime.

Story: The anime is broken into separate story lines following several different characters. All of the stories are obnoxiously cliché and simplistic. If you are looking for food for thought your brain will starve to death with this anime.

Art: Basic and not terrible but nothing that would count as high quality. The female characters all look very similar with kind of masculine odd-shaped jaws.

Sound: Bad synthesized background with a few acoustic overdubs. A kid could come up with this on his $80 Casio keyboard form Wal-Mart. Wasn't even good when ... this anime was new.

Character: This is really the killer for this anime. If you are going to do 2-3 episode story arcs you have to have noteworthy character development in that short period to grab interest. Every character is as vanilla and mundanely boring as it gets. Watching this is like driving in neutral.

The overall experience of this anime is just mind numbing boredom. Soon you will just want episodes to be over so you don't have to listen to more mundane dialogue with crappy midi music in the background. I wouldn't wish this crap on my worst enemy.