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Jun 19, 2021
In short, this is a slice-of-life romance series that takes place in a fantasy world.
27-year-old Ryo pursues a relationship with Ichika, a high-school-girl 10 years younger than him. That through line alone would raise all sorts of eyebrows in Japan and any other modernized society, and the nonconsensual nature of Ryo's pursuit would definitely be grounds for a criminal case.
Yet throughout this series, only one character was strongly opposed to the relationship. Every other supporting character has either been supportive or enabling. I was most disappointed in Ichika's mother, who was obviously won over by Ryo's charms and allowed him near her daughter.
What I
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think about adult-minor age gaps or borderline-predatory behavior doesn't matter. Fictional works rightfully serve as risk-free space to depict deeds and scenarios that would otherwise be illegal or horrifying in the real world. But although Koikimo purportedly takes place in the real world, there is hardly any potential that Ryo will face any real consequences for his actions. That alone eroded my suspension of disbelief, which damaged the story.
I struggle to make sense how there is any chemistry between Ichika and Ryo. She was clearly very disgusted initially by his improper and incessant advances, which rises into stalker territory at some points. Yet she is gradually drawn to him.
I won't place much blame on Ichika since she is still a minor, but this raises the question of why she wasn't more forceful in rejecting Ryo—even calling the police if necessary. Although this was not addressed in the anime, I assume Ichika felt trapped because Ryo is the older brother of her best friend, Rio, and Ichika didn't want to hurt Rio by having her brother arrested.
It also doesn't hurt that Ryo is good looking, is smart and has a good job with career prospects. I suspect if Ryo lacked these qualities, the story wouldn't last past the first episode.
So this created the opening for Ryo to advance on Ichika. He kept sending Ichika gifts (in the manga, Rio told Ryo Ichika's address because "I'm not his package deliverer"), and he calls her every day late into the night (Ryo got Ichika's number after she called him to stop bothering her. A wrong move by Ichika that reveals her inexperience.)
After a while (half a year to be exact), Ryo became such an overwhelming presence in Ichika's life that she lowers her guard and can't imagine life without him. To put it in a charitable way, it's a trope you see as far back as Jane Austen novels: familiarity (mixed with some abandonment play) breeds romance. Of course, the not-so-charitable interpretation is that this the end result of an adult man grooming a minor.
Like I said, I am not opposed to the airing or publishing of so-called "problematic stories." But if you are going to romanticize such stories, it had better make sense. The series would have been a lot better if Ryo was staring at real consequences for going after Ichika. At the very least, have Rio and the rest of Ichika's friends think Ryo is being sketchy. I also think Ichika should have dialed up her disgust with Ryo a lot more, so he should have to work harder to prove that he is worthy of Ichika's affections.
Story = 4: I can't take the story seriously
Art = 6: Animators did their jobs adequately for this slice of life show. Scarcely any opportunities for sakuga, except for the soccer game, which was animated just as sparingly as "Sayonara, Watashi no Cramer."
Sound = 5: Really standard OST and soundtrack for a shoujo romance series.
Characters = 3: Characters almost uniformly unbelievable: There has to be more than a few high school girls that don't think any of this is okay. Ryo is completely unlikeable, even if Ichika *is* of age.
Enjoyment = 5: Despite the series overall breaking the suspension of disbelief, I sort of liked the otaku-related B stories.
Overall = 4: The series ignored opportunities to include real-world tension in favor of presenting a romanticized depiction of an age-gap relationship.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Sep 16, 2012
This show can be summed up with one screenshot:
http://sadpanda.us/images/1211550-TXUA5YF.jpg
Yeah, how much you enjoy this show will determine whether or not you like unintentional humor. Too bad it's intentional humor often falls flat, and everything else seems uninspired. Three.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Mar 11, 2010
I might as well write a review of this anime since I was the one who provided (most of) the raws, translated it and reviewed each episode at least three times before it was released, which in my opinion counts for at least something.
Well, as much as I am loathed to put labels on what are clearly three-dimensional characters, here we have a show where Ai Yazawa pretty much presented us with what could be a psychological profile of a tsundere before such a term even came to existence. She's brassy, full of herself and can sometimes be unfairly cruel, but that is
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just a front she she feels she has to put up in order to shield her vulnerable side.
Yes, it would be convenient to say Mikako is the way she is because of the childhood trauma of a divorce (and what her Mom did afterwards). But alas, the reason behind her disagreeable personality is artistically anticlimatic. That is simply the way she is, as is evident from the flashbacks from her childhood and later when she becomes "honest with herself." This is the place where I feel the anime succeeds because we become too used to seeing the lead female character who is cutesy, klutsy, timid, moe or whatever stereotype that is supposed to appeal to the regular anime audience. She is truly one of the more variated full-rounded characters you'd find in any narrative.
The main drawback from this show, like a lot of the shoujo anime that aired around that time (Marmalade Boy, Kodocha) is the number of episodes. I really believe they could have more effectively told the story that they presented if they instead aired around half the episodes. Of course I am talking about filler episodes that sometimes introduced inconsistencies (***spoiler****e.g. why would Mikako be unable to sell her wrong-sized clothes at the second flea market if she was able to sell out all those exact same clothes at the first flea market?***spoiler***), but that is a minor quibble compared to the parade of episodes that occupied the middle featuring a love triangle between three supporting characters. They could have easily settled that matter in a handful of episodes, but they stretched it out over at least ten episodes, padding those with situations based on uselessly masochistic self-abnegations so contrived that my suspension of disbelief almost never recovered.
But thankfully, it didn't overtake the main story of the show, which was the real draw in the first place. It's clear the creator had a lot of fun with her inaugural anime adaptation and it shows through her somewhat unconventional artwork and character designs. The whole thing sort of reminds me of "Doug". The animation certainly shows its age, although it's pretty solid for what was shown at the time. For those who are expecting the quality put into Yazawa's other two animes by Madhouse Studio, be warned that you've been spoiled.
The music, mostly provided by Mikako's seiyuu Rumi Shishido might be an acquired taste for some (for those who don't like unsteady singing voices), but it grows on you, at least it did for me. The story, as long as it focuses on the two main characters, is pretty solid-grade work as it navigates you through the ups and downs of a teenage girl trying to cope with her contrary personality. As for enjoyment - well I wouldn't have spent at least 62 total hours going over the series if I didn't enjoy it. So in the end it would have received a higher grade for the story and characterization if it weren't for the mostly repetitive fillers.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 31, 2007
Now that the first season is over, a damage assessment is in order. Look for criticisms in the usual places, the points against this series should be legion. It's pointless loli-fanservice trash. It panders to pedophiles. It's yet another retread of overly precocious kids whose dialogues are contrived by writers who have no least idea how normal kids would interact. And as a prominent blogger puts it, even if you thought the series wasn't half bad, the other half is censored.
I won't sugarcoat or paper over the fact that the show revolves around a nine-year-old continuously making mature sexual advances against her
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twenty-three-year-old teacher, some of which would be actionable by law even if she is of age. It is what it is. I understand and respect the position of those of you who simply will not entertain that aspect of the show. The boundaries that the show puts up that might give the brave viewer at least partial absolution in watching the show would be the fact that none of the adults neither make nor return any of the propositions, all the adults in the series have the kids' best interests at heart, and even if Rin were to encounter an adult that might pose a threat to her, she has shown time and again that she can stand up for herself and take them down.
It is the psychology behind the actions that brings me back to the series every week, despite the censorship and the remaining fanservice that serves to give the show notoriety. Rin may be more sexually aware than a girl her age has any right to be, but when it comes to relating to adults, she is still like a kid who has just learned a new swearword: she simply doesn't know when it's appropriate to put such knowledge to use and she seems to think that purience is the only way to win love. And like a child, she can be easily hurt if she feels the love she gives is not reciprocated
As a result, Aoki Daisuke finds himself in a bind that he in part created for himself. In his quest to become Great Teacher Aoki, he wants to be on friendly terms with his students and avoids antagonizing them unnecessarily. But in closing the gap between the student-teacher relationship, he allowed Rin to get close enough so that if he unequivocally rejects her sexual overtures, he risks irrevocably hurting her. Hurting her is not an option for Daisuke since he truly cares for her well-being, despite the daily discomfort she puts him through. It also doesn't help that he has little to no experience in the practice of love which prevents him from adequately dealing with Rin's behavior.
Watching the interactions between Rin and Daisuke and seeing their complexities of their relationship manifest themselves really carries the show. However the show would have been stronger if some time were spent developing the side characters instead of using them as simple foils. I would like to see more of why Mimi, Kuro and Rin need each other in their lives and more of what makes Shirai-sensei and Hoin-sensei tick. Also I am disappointed in how they made Reiji into a dislikable character towards the end. Also, the removal of the distracting censorship would help the series tremendously.
The technical aspects of the show were so-so. If every episode were animated as brightly, as detailed, and as fluidly like the OVA, we would encounter little criticisms here. But the way animation budgets are, we watch the series that we have, not the series that we wish. The sound could be summarized by any of one of three backqrouund music: xylophones, a recorder, or a violin piece. The OP and ED were standard J-pop fare that are not the least bit memorable. All in all, the anime adaptation of the manga still passed the test and I would highly recommend the series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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