Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou

After a disaster leaves the world in a state of decline, the remaining human population lives out their lives peacefully and quietly in the twilight of the human age. Alpha Hatsuseno is an android who works at a cafe bordering Yokohama that rarely gets visitors, and is waiting for her owner to return.

One day, another android, the courier Kokone Takatsu, brings Alpha a package from her master. Inside is a camera, given to Alpha so she can take pictures to reminisce about.

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is a slow and contemplative anime that follows an android girl as she takes beautiful pictures and experiences touching moments, all amidst a calming sense of peace.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Hatsuseno, Alpha Main

Shiina, Hekiru Japanese

Takatsu, Kokone Supporting

Nakagawa, Akiko Japanese

Ojisan Supporting

Terashima, Mikio Japanese

Takahiro Supporting

Suyama, Akio Japanese

Koumi'ishi Supporting

Sugita, Ikuko Japanese

Suzuki, Seiji Producer

Okamura, Masahiro Producer

Matsuyama, Ryuuichirou Assistant Producer

Annou, Takashi Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Aug 27, 2024

rooster_

Recommended

It would be very hard to do a straightforward adaptation of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, a highly-episodic manga about little scenes from everyday life. It's a type of loose story that lends itself well not only to the periodic-release manga format but also to the comic form, where your eyes can pass over scenes and panels at your own leisure. Not so much when animated, where you're forced to sit and contemplate what are sometimes static scenery paintings with superimposed characters (this was not a high-budget OVA), which can result in anxiety or frustration.

The YKK manga I think disappoints many people who are coming to it ... as an "ultimate relaxation experience" or "healing" (iyashikei) series. A lot of YKK involves boredom, for the main character Alpha and perhaps for the reader as well. It's a series about the residue of wasted time and the ordinary moments that later coalesce into memories and inform our sense of identity. But it's not a show with the market focus of later self-denominated "iyashikei" entertainment, like Yuru Camp or whatever. There's very little "emotional resolution" for the cast, a lot of questions are left unanswered, etc. It's a work of miniature sci-fi.

I think Abbas Kiarostami said that he likes movies he can fall asleep to, and maybe that's a relationship to entertainment that we should also learn to cultivate. There are shows and movies that I watch and feel immediately transfixed by, but at the same they put me into this somnolent state by virtue of their color palette, pacing, etc. Saying that a show makes you fall asleep is basically an insult in a world where we expect entertainment to, well, entertain. And especially in the anime sphere where the emotion most valued by shounen-centric watchers is "hype." But I think one can learn to sit with something like YKK and only be moved by it after the fact, or after multiple (failed) watches, or after a sort of self-imposed endurance test intended to restore your attention span.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Aug 18, 2023

Illuminerosy

Mixed Feelings

I hate to be that person, I really do, but the manga is better. Infinitely better. It’s hard for me to say this, because I really wanted to like the adaptation, but the manga just does everything the anime does without any of the problems the anime has. I’ll concede that most of my issues with it probably contain some bias, and that some issues might come off as nitpicks, but it nonetheless stands that they are problems not present in the original.

I suppose to start with a nitpick, I want to mention the starting song. I don’t like it (I did say nitpicks). ... Well, that’s not entirely true, because I don’t actually dislike the song itself. My main question is why this song. I guess I’m just confused as to what mood the song is supposed to establish. It has this reggae/surf vibe to it that while fitting with the relaxed atmosphere of the show, sort of clashes with everything else about the show. It could be used as a sort of adventurous track (maybe), but there really isn’t a need for that in the material they adapted. Additionally, the manga never had that atmosphere in the first place, so the song is completely out of place.

A bigger problem is our main character Alpha. She is not the same character as she is in the manga. In the manga she has this childish side to her; a slight silliness and clear social awkwardness resulting from years of isolation, but this part of her character really isn’t present in the adaptation. She definitely has a slightly awkward side to her, but it isn’t enough to support some of her reactions or dialogue that were originally a result of her somewhat childish nature. The results of excluding this part of her character are some awkward and unfitting dialogue and a character that feels a bit bland, if not somewhat shallow.

On a more personal note, the anime isn’t really as scenic as the manga is. I don’t really want to fault the show for that, though. It’s hard to match the beautiful and intricate line work of the manga, but overall I was never really left in awe of a visual like I was in the manga. Similarly, I never got quite the same emotional feeling from the anime. The atmosphere wasn’t the same. I don’t know if it’s because of the beginning song, or that it’s not black and white, or perhaps just the specific chapters adapted never had that feeling, but the manga always had this melancholic or nostalgic mood. Where if you weren’t already feeling somewhat introspective, it would make you feel that way. There was also always this slight emptiness to the world, even during scenes with character interaction. But none of this ever felt as present in the anime. They did try, with lots of wide scenic shots that were clearly trying to imitate what’s present in the manga, but it never felt the same to me. Like I said, these are more personal points, and are most definitely not going to be the same for every viewer, but they definitely affected my score and perception of the anime.

I also just don’t understand why YKK was adapted in the way it was. Minor spoilers ahead, if you hadn’t read or watched it already. Ok, so the first episode is based around Alpha and Kokone. A little weird, considering that Kokone is introduced in chapter seven, but still fine. And this makes you think that Kokone is going to be important for the rest of the adaptation, but she’s not. She is important in the manga, but not in what season one adapts. Additionally, episode two follows completely different characters that would’ve been better off introduced in episode one as there’s events and dialogue in episode two that are clearly supposed to be emotional, yet have no effect since we have hardly even seen them on screen, let alone having meaningful interactions. The only connecting point between episodes one and two is the camera Kokone delivers to Alpha, but that could easily be explained by just showing the camera as an object in Alpha’s house in episode one and Kokone would no longer be needed to deliver the camera. With Kokone not delivering the camera, and it no longer being an object of significance, episode one could be spent introducing the characters and relationships that would be important in episode two. The choice to make YKK only two episodes was idiotic in the first place, but then to not make every second of those two episodes count is just odd. I’ll give props that the scenes are well adapted and meaningful, but that doesn’t really make up for these failures that clearly come from not having enough runtime to accomplish everything they wanted to accomplish and not being able to decide which content to include. Either that or YKK was adapted with the thought that Alpha was the only character that mattered and all the others were just unimportant side characters; but not only does this seem unlikely, it would be even more baffling than the first conclusion.

With that aside, I don’t actually think this is bad (I still gave it a 7 after all). Aside from comparisons to the manga, there’s plenty I appreciate from the adaptation: the art (which is still pretty even if I don’t feel it's as impactful), the sparing (if not nonexistent) use of background music, the character design, the color palette, the fact that it’s actually a well made product (other than some animation bumps). This is not a bad adaptation or a bad show. I just think it could have been better and to be perfectly honest, I don’t think there’s much value in choosing to watch this over just reading the manga. And I guess that’s my point. Just read the manga. You’ll be left with a much more worthwhile experience.

Thanks for Reading.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Apr 24, 2010

SamildanachEmrys

Not Recommended

Funny

I've seen numerous 10/10 ratings for Yokohama Shopping Trip (or Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou), and almost never anything below 8/10. So I decided, since it's only two episodes long, it had to be worth a try.

It may well be the single most boring thing I have ever seen in my life. The main character spent a good fifteen minutes trying to take a photo but being unable to get the right shot. That's it. Later on, she looks at some lights under a lake. It's a pretty sight, no doubt, and there's nothing wrong with a scene of atmospheric tranquility, but it goes like this: lingering ... shot of lights, lingering shot of face, lingering shot of lights, lingering shot of face, lingering shot of lights, lingering shot of face, lingering shot of lights, lingering shot of face....in silence for at least five minutes. I can't see any way in which that's anything less than incredibly dull.

And the animation! I've seen reviews praising the way the animation brings the main character's personality out vividly - but it's a lie! The art isn't bad, but the animation is downright poor. Alpha (the main character) has two expressions: 'slack-jawed gawp', and 'suprise' - and it soon becomes obvious that 'surprise' is the same slack-jawed gawp but with pink cheeks. The only other recurring character is the old man down the road, and he has only one expression! His facial features never move more than a fraction of an inch!

The worst example of animation in this, though, was the scooter-sideways incident. There was a sustained shot of Alpha riding her scooter, 'filmed' from behind. This was fine on the straight stretch of road, but then she came to some kind of curve or bend - but it took me a moment to realise that's what it was meant to be, because what actually happens is she leans slightly and moves directly sideways. It's HIDEOUS.

I'm completely nonplussed by the seemingly universal love of this anime. It makes watching paint dry seem eventful; at least paint progresses from wet to dry. The technical ineptitude only serves to make the experience painful as well as boring, leaving me with a weird feeling of being sedated and then beaten with wads of damp tissue paper.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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	Manga Kafig - Oct 19, 2015	5 replies	by mydaddy »» Oct 4, 10:34 AM
	Poll: Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou Episode 2 Discussion stAtic91 - Nov 15, 2009	33 replies	by DRevan9 »» Sep 25, 9:03 AM
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