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Background: After much hype, I waited for the Funimation dub release in theatres. The showing was near-full, and all patrons were respectful and engaged by the film.

STORY - 7
The plot is developed probably 1/4 to 1/2 way point of the film. While I was anticipating a big revelation or coherency to the main plot questions - why are they switching, why do they forget, etc. - it was never met. Overall it read as a slice of life with some quirks, some angst, some magic, and was very reminiscent of the manga/movie "Calling You".


ART - 10
Coming off of ''Bryousoku 5 Centimeter" I expected nothing less ... than a fantastical, engaging art style. The settings of the two characters were also strongly juxtaposed - a rural country village, and the big metro area that is Tokyo. Shinkai and his team did a phenomenal job with the art.

SOUND - 9
I was thoroughly surprised how tranquil and catchy the soundtrack was. RADWIMPS did great work in both Japanese and English. I downloaded the English versions as soon as I got out the theatre. The seiyuus in the Japanese versions were fitting and I felt both male voiceactors did a great job portraying the "change". I really like the casting for the dubbed versions.


CHARACTER - 7
It's with a heavy heart I'd have to critique that the true character of both protagonists was only hinted at, and we did not get a solid development of them as people (while they are still highschool students - most people have a pretty distinguishable characteristics). The most realistic thing is how "odd' those in their normal lives found how the acted, how they tried to live out their lives, etc.


ENJOYMENT - 10
Where the plot and character falls through, the climatic moments, artwork, and ending led to one of the most enjoyable films for me - in a true Shinkai fashion.

OVERALL - 9

Story - 8

If you're familiar with other reverse harems this takes a very commonplace narrative and presents it in a funny, light-hearted, near-realistic way (not quite as over-the-top in comedy The Wallflower, not as serious at times as Ouran). I felt that a lot of the story may have been rushed as sometimes this happens with adaptions to "keep up" with the manga. The premise of this series has a leg up on it's predecessors and is relatable to the average femme otaku or fujoshi (I am the former, not the latter - I'm not into BL as much as the protagonists, but can empathize). ...

Art - 8

I personally love the simple distinctive shoujo style, and the colours used and details to the main characters eyes are captivating. Everything else is pretty standard animation.

Sound - 7

Intro is pretty catchy and memorable, but the ending song isn't. Standard anime dramatic-ism and shoujo/comedy sound effects.

Character - 8

The main characters fit their tropes/types but have great build-able backstories. The only issue I had is the lack of personal development or background we have is from the protagonist, Kae - unlike predecessors that feature dramatic weightloss, she is shown to be just herself and there are seemingly no mental or physical repercussions to the sudden gain of popularity - aside from her constant note that she's not used to attention, gets flustered easily, and is not used to human contact.

Enjoyment - 8

Kae is relatable, and the boys that love her are strongly built and believable. I thoroughly enjoyed it and ended up binging the whole season in one night to get to some type of resolve (surprise - it's ongoing!).

Overall - 8

Story - 7

Overall the story is pretty simple with subplots woven in to compliment the bigger picture and introduce characters as well as elaborate on the desert setting to which the story takes place. I found the subplots very short though and wish they had been a little more drawn out. It was definitely a bit rushed and lacking some substance at times.

Art - 8

This is primarily what drew me to pick it up - though I was hesitant of it being another harem anime, the detail of the faces, flowing hair, and elaborate clothing is what made it so enticing. While I wish ... there was more body diversity (given the setting), I like how Yumeki (artist) portrays the hierarchy of the characters through their clothing styles and tends to make Mishe (heroine) look a little bit more tom-boyish (in a non-traditional shoujo way). One of the bothersome things to me is the placement of lace on clothing throughout the series as I find lace a more European fabric, as opposed to more traditional Middle-Eastern patterns that probably could have been utilized. There was also not a lot of facial diversity and the mangaka's style of thin, tall characters was prevalent.

Character - 8

The main characters are well-rounded and have very specific personalities and react to the situations in a very believable way. Unfortunately, I found that not as much care was taken into the background characters (among them, the 30 wives) and I felt particularly let down in some instances given the filler characters performances showing flat/no real merit. I also was confused on the names of the characters not flowing (they are a mix of Middle Eastern, English, and Scandanvian/European names). The heroine Mishe does take the cake and tends to shine outside of the traditional helpless shoujo trope - she is shaped by her experiences and learns to transgress her hurtful past, as do other main characters.

Enjoyment - 8

I thoroughly enjoyed it and found it so memorable and shared it with my significant other as soon as I had the chance (he doesn't read anything outside of DBZ, but enjoyed my excitement over this series). If I owned it I probably would give it another good read and would just be comfortable knowing it was in my collection.

Overall - 8