Jun 29, 2013
Photokano was described as the spiritual successor to Amagami SS prior to it's airing. This fact alone made wanting to watch Photokano appealing. However, in the end, this particular anime did not satisfy the romantic in me and likely not in you.
Story:
The story is an omnibus format which simply means the show is split into stand alone arcs. This is arguable the biggest flaw. There are simply not enough episodes to flesh out any meaning in the relationships given the number of heroines. Being a romance at it's core, Photokano does a very average job in capturing the emotions
...
of the audience in any meaningful way. The relationships are bland and the transition from bonding to falling in love happens in a matter of transitions throughout a 20 minutes episode. It takes the fun and joy out of watching the relationship develop. More importantly, you can't connect with the couple to be. Additionally, it seems that too much emphasis was placed on seduction and eroticism during the photo sessions. Not a bad thing I suppose, but did seem really out of place.
Art:
No way this is Madhouse! In all seriousness, the art is fairly lackluster. The backgrounds are stagnant and everything has a very dull feeling to it. There are inconsistencies between episodes unfortunately. The only really stand out part about the animation comes when you get the behind the viewfinder approach. The still image which Maeda takes are usually a pleasure to look at.
Sound:
The most redeeming aspect of this show was the music. Although not wonderful, the BGM pieces are appropriate and easy on the ears. The OP and ED are well placed. I personally don't have any major complaints with the voice acting. Given the bland story and development, there weren't any of those "moments" were you find yourself sucked into the dialogue for any period of time to later find yourself appreciating the voice acting or more superficially that character.
Characters:
The characters...the characters were, again, nothing special. It's suppose to be a romance. If you can't bond to a heroine or say the coveted "best girl" then what's the point. Although a very subjective remark, it is somewhat important in this category. Each heroine has their own issue and Maeda helps them overcome to live a happier and brighter high school life. While nothing expressly makes one particular character bad, there is nothing that makes them good either. Add in the transition found in the finale and all hope is about lost. I would have to say the character that was the most interesting, being Yuuko, was never given an arc. The entire photography club is annoying to say the least and their efforts are repeated so many times it just adds to the displeasure of seeing them on screen. I will say the president of said club did make the episode previews...unique.
Enjoyment:
It's unfortunate that this show never really took off. The four starter episodes gave a false hope to an already struggling show in the romance department. It failed at where it should accel, the relationships. If wanting to watch a school romance is the lure that brought you to Photokano then I do suggest picking something that is more likely to make an impression on you. Although my personal rating of Amagami SS may be very high, I do believe it is a very well done school romance anime that you should enjoy given the appeal the this genre has already to you. Yosuga no Sora may be another option however it is much more...adult.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
