Jan 5, 2011
Kuragehime is one of these romantic comedy anime series where, on first glance, tries to be refreshing by introducing a completely unorthodox premise along an atypical cast of characters and only end up a bit lacking, and while I still think that this is the case, the great direction that it had with it's great energy overshadowed it's weaknesses.
The energy in this series is just, palpitating. Every episode is refreshing to watch and there is no dull moment. The interaction between the cast of characters is extremely entertaining and its slapstick comedy never ceases to make me smile. Moreover, there are cliffhangers in virtually every
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episode of the series until the last one which keeps the viewer on the edges of the seat. That does not mean that the cliffhangers are good ones though. The conclusion of these cliffhangers were quite predictable on the second half and the conclusion to the cliffhanger of the penultimate episode was just plain stupid.
The pacing in the first half of the series is really good. It really had this perfect blend between romance and comedy and neither never feels too heavy. Though this changed on the second half. The comedy became less consistent and the drama sometimes felt a bit too heavy but always tolerable and interesting, in the sense of wanting to know what will happen next, to watch. Moreover, one could really see that the creators were trying to put the maximum things possible on the final episode and even though the chain of reactions remained natural, the pacing however started to feel very rushed and sometimes stepped out the boundaries of time.
Moreover, its cast of characters are both pleasant and entertaining to watch, not to mention that each character has a personality of his/her own. This really creates a colourful atmosphere where each personality clashes with one another. However this itself is its own downfall because the short amount of episodes restrained the bunch from being decently developed. Indeed, until the end it is as if the inhabitants in Amamizukan did not develop at all: nobody passed her fear of stylish people along her prejudice thoughts regarding them. Mayaya remained annoying, Juon is still trapped in her dark room and Banba is always afro-licious. Moreover, many of them feel so mono dimensional that they seem to be exaggerated caricatures of modern otakus. Which is not the glorified, sympathetic characters shown in some anime but rather judgemental people who only believe on their own words and delude themselves into thinking that they actually fit the norm, and the rest of us not so much.
As for the setting, it really remained safe throughout the end. The creators just basically threw the Amars on some unknown place to see their reaction. This is extremely safe because the reactions always tend to be either funny or exciting, the latter is usually used as a cliffhanger. And I am quite happy with this considering that the series is too short for them to be quite experimental with it.
The visuals here are very beautiful, with Kuranosuke being in a different dress a lot of times in a single episode. The animation though, not bad is still far from being perfect. Sometimes, not frequently there tend to some still frames. Forgivable though.
The music is constant, not good nor bad, just average. I love the OP and ED songs. Both of them were catchy and I actually find myself chain listening to them. The OP song fits Tsukimi's character while the ED song Kuranosuke's goal on making her feel more confident. The instrumental music though is nothing too remarkable, which is understandable considering what gave the series its life what its cast of characters and fast pacing.
The replayability of this series, like for any other noitamina anime series is really high.
All in all Kuragehime remains a favourite romantic comedy anime where the interaction between its atypical ensemble really masks its weaknesses.
Story/plot: Simple and quirky. Nothing that stands out though. 82.5%
Storytelling and pacing: Again, 11 episodes is just too few and the pacing felt very rush on the final episode. Other than that its fast pace gave it a very energetic feeling to it. 87.5%
Characters: The characters, however mono-dimensional they were, are really fun to follow and their energy kept the series dull-free. 90%
Setting: Very safe, does not stand out but does not disappoint. 80%
Visual and animation: very good visual albeit some still frames. 85%
Music: While the instrumental music was nothing special, the OP and ED songs were both catchy: 85%
Replayability: HIGH . Can be replayed a multitude of times without it getting dull. 95%
Overall score: 86%/100% (pretty good) (MAL does not let me do this kind of rating scheme.)
Recommended?: Yes
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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