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Kashimashi ~ Girl Meets Girl ~
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Animation - 8.1 |
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Sound - 7.6 |
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Story - 8.5 |
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Character - 8.6 |
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Value - 7.9 |
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Enjoyment - 8.8 |
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Average - 8.2 |
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| Average |
8.7 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Here is a rarity in anime - a clean, detailed, proper romance. The bonus - an all-female love triangle.
Shoujo-ai/yuri is usually something that is done without tact or decency. It is a common ground for an ecchi-fest and every anime cliche in the book in the form of a story and plot thinner than a G-string. So when seeing the title of this series, it took me a long time to gather the nerve to begin this, fearing I would be wasting my time. To my relief I didn't.
Try this - Hazumu, a very un-manly teen boy, has been lifelong friends with the energetic, firm tomboy Tomari. He's got a crush on the quiet girl, Yasuna, whom he gradually develops a friendship with. When he finally dares to confess his feelings (with Tomari's assistance), Yasuna turns him down. Sulking on a mountain, Hazumu is the fortunate recipient of an alien spaceship crash-landing on him and killing him. (Yes, I did mean to say fortunate just then! Keep reading!) The aliens responsible resurrect Hazumu - but they make a slight error - Hazumu is now female as a result. But on the upside, Yasuna is now after him like a bee to nectar. Tomari's feelings also grow, unable to accept losing Hazumu as a friend and unwilling to let someone take her away. Thus the love triangle begins.
Now don't let the fact the only people involved in the romance are all female throw you from watching this. I can't under-emphasise this. For once, someone took the concept seriously - they were able to do it with enough tact yet still be funny and a little saucy. It would be ever so easy to be gratuitous and let the story degenerate, but this never happens. This is genuine love. The two girls that Hazumu both values now suddenly like him - but who does he choose? How does he justify a choice? This dilemma and awkwardness is conveyed very well. There is no malice between Tomari and Yasuna, but neither is willing to yield in their pursuit for being Hazumu's significant other. Hazumu's transition to learn how to be 'female' and what comes with it is amusing yet tactful and honest. Scenes which are romantic are actually very genuine - they're not corny or sleazy. The affection and passion is genuine. It's very refreshing to see. Which then begs the question - if someone managed to get it right in this scenario, why can't one involving males and females?
The animation is very impressive. Character cels are detailed, crisp, have ideal tonings and shadow effects, the colours are vibrant and alluring (including what may be the best sunset I've ever seen in an anime series). However, the music is a fair letdown. There isn't much variation in style or pace. It's very soft and sugary - in episode it is a bit better but still nothing worth listening to outside of the show. The voices, however, are good. Hazumu's indecisiveness, honesty and simple nature are very well conveyed. Yui Horie as Yasuna is a good choice - the naive, cutesy, determined type is something she excels in (nice to know she is still capable of doing characters that aren't moe. I honestly wish she would do more non-moe characters). Tomari's voice is probably the best - you can just feel the sporty, forceful vibes in her conflicting with the swooning girl who is utterly smitten. The impacts of some events may be a bit weaker on a second watch but it still proves to be immersive and heart-warming.
If you are looking for a good romance - an ACTUAL one - which are so hard to find these days, Kashimashi is a good place to look for it. As long as you can handle two females being intimate, be sure this is a romance that will bring a smile to your face long after you see its climatic finale.
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| Average |
6.7 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| <i>Hazumu, a very feminine boy. Decides to take a walk on Kashima mountain- to help erase the rejection from his first crush. Yasuna. Little did he know- the wish he made on a shooting star, apparently was an alien ship...that will make him into a her.</i>
Boy confesses love.
Boy is denied.
Boy goes to mountain.
Boy wishes on a star.
Boy gets killed but than made into a girl.
Boy is now girl.
Girl who denied BoyGirl is in love.
Boygirl's childhood friend has mixed feelings.
Angst.
Tears.
Emoness.
Repeat?
Sounds interesting huh? The typical gender-bending, the rejection of a crush, and ultimately trying to understand "why me"?
Will the anime counterpart live up to the manga's expectations? I think not.
Beware, I will be comparing and relating some things from the anime and the manga. For constructive criticism and to bring my views out. If you have not read the manga entity- I suggest you to yield to reading this since it also contains manga spoilers.
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Mylez |
2008-07-25 23:38:49 |
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| Average |
9.2 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I enjoyed this one Because the story was interesting , you connect with the characters and the concept wasn't too over done. This anime has alot of emotion, one moment your smiling and the next your sympathizing for one of the characters. The ending worked, more or less gave closure and left you with a good feeling. I recommend this one for anyone with an open mind (or heart).
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nauXolo |
(2007-01-28 19:41:48) 2007-01-28 19:39:40 |
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| Average |
5.2 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
5 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
| Kashimashi is a really plain anime. Other than its semi-unique storytelling, there isn't much here. (although, boys turning into girls? puh-lease, it's been done many times). After watching 6 episodes, I soon started getting tired. Everything was extremely predictable - how the events were going to unfold. I even predicted why the aliens were there and what Yasuna's condition was. The only thing that kept me watching to the end was to see who Hasumu would pick.
Really, all this anime depends on is its yuri themes. Even though the animation was not down-right ugly, it was quite unimpressive. None of the characters were memorable, and even though I just finished it 1 hour ago, I don't remember any of their names. Everytime I saw that black haired girl, I always thought about Tomoyo from CCS, because she had no other defining characteristics other than her medical condition.
The humor is really, really crappy - with recurrent themes such as the stupid teacher falling in love with the alien, Asuta's obsession with the boy-now-girl best friend, the dad's obsession with the girl, and all that. Please, I don't want side humor like that. Especially in something this short of an anime. They try to extract cheap laughs that really lost their oomph the 3rd time (out of like 50) they executed it, instead of focusing on a better developed story.
Well, to the more important question: How persuasive is the romance among the three girls? Answer: very lacking. Although I can't really call the girls stereotypical, the reason is because it is actually much worse. They don't have any personality to begin with. Aside from sporty Tomari who has a hard time expressing her feelings, the other two girls fall in love with each other for the silliest reasons. I don't even know why the main character picked who she picked. Actually, it wasn't even clear about this. Although she picks someone, it doesn't really show what happens afterward. Perhaps there will be a second season??
If you like yuri-themes, if you like girl on girl romance, if you like romance, if you like pretty girls, if you like nice animation, if you like well-done OSTs, if like a persuasive story, if you like good drama, if you like well-rounded characters- do NOT watch this. If all you really care for is some really cheesy and predictable love drama (or you haven't watched many animes), you might be able to tolerate Kashimashi ~girl meets girl~.
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0 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
7.5 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| A truly weird anime that deals with the question: does your sex really make a difference when it comes to love?
A love triangle, between three individuals who are unsure of their real feelings.
It's an anime that truly makes you question your own taboo's. Is it really necessary to have these prejudices about homosexuals and bisexuals? Is it really any different.
Looking for an unusual lovestory, with moral ethics in central question? Look no further.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
7.5 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| I agree mostly with the reviews I saw so far.
The personalities of the key Characters is well developed. I regret this serie hold on 12 eps only, but it means I enjoyed it a lot.
True, this is a cute anime with feelings that are sensible and genuine. no ecchi, some humour and some drama. The unuseful meddling of the aliens did not add anything but hopefully did not sabotage either.
I got attached to the key characters and look forward to see them in an OVA. Overall, a very enjoyable anime that I recommand to everybody. Deserves the top 50 easily.
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| Average |
8.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Kashimashi was a nice series which I enjoyed watching. They did a particularly nice job with displaying the emotions of the girls, and I thought that their relations were believable and it felt genuine. That's nice! The romance (with it's twist) were definitely the main thing about the series.
There were also a couple of funny moments, but not too many to disturb the story. Perfect! The sad moments were also present (of course) and I really got a little sad as the ending got closer. I didn't went as far as tears but a little wetness were there sometimes :)
The alien story felt a little out of place, but okay, at least I accept it. It's definitely the weak point in the anime though.
I've never seen a yuri anime before but I liked it. I mean, love is beautiful, no matter if it's a guy and girl in their twenties, two teenage girls or two 50yr old men. If you absolutely can't stand homosexuality, then maybe you should look for some other series to watch.
The three "main" girls were absolutely wonderful characters and they easily get 10/10... also their two friends the same age were great. But, I thought that the two aliens were quite boring... they didn't ruin anything and I guess they were kind of needed for the story.
And the absolutely disgusting father... I mean, it was just gross. Imagine a father being that horny about his own daughter and it probably makes most of you feel queasy. Normally, I don't have problems with a little more... unethic themes, Koi Kaze is for example a masterpiece, but this was over the top a little. "oh I just happened to walk in on my nude daughter in the bath, every day". Please spare me, it just made me sick.
And the teacher... a more useless characters has seldom been seen. 0/10, that's it.
Animation and sound were good but not great, I can't complain at all but I don't remember anything really special about them either.
I totally enjoyed the series, but I got a little confused in the last moment of the last episode. I've heard about an upcoming OVA that maybe will explain it, so I guess it's okay.
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| Average |
8.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~ was a series with a *really* high potential which indeed was not blatantly wasted (as it was, in example, in "Uta~Kata"), but of which it hasn't been taken total advantage of.
The stronger point of Kashimashi imho has been the high ability to render the romance, to transmit feelings to the viewer. Not many series involved me in certain moments as Kashimashi did. Even though, operation incomplete. The climax felt down in the last episodes. Certain events were too abruptly put on spotlight. The resolution was poorly believable (or too cheap?) and basically creating unsatisfaction in the viewers.
The choice of making 12 episodes: a total failure. This anime had lots and lots more space for characters' introspections, but since they put even a sort of filler it must mean there probably were not much more to say. I'm disappointed also by this too, and it bonds with the wasted potential pattern.
A nice thing has been the pace. Slow and peaceful but never boring. I appreciated it a lot, as well as some very poetic moments.
Characters: 4 of them worthy of a role (Hazumu, Tomari, Yasuna, Ayuki) , 1 complement (the alien), 1 complement of the complement (Janpuu), a *potentially* interesting character (Asuta) and then 2 of the silliest and useless persons ever seen in a anime in ages (Hazumu's father and teacher).
The 4 main quite shone. They were rendered magnificently and their feeling almost always felt real (I'm not taking into account the abrupt ending). Mention for Ayuki, I don't remember a single moments of her which didn't bring a benefit for the show.
The aliens, well, their presence was silly in the first place, at least it made some sense in the end. Janpuu was kawaii etc.etc. , yes, but all in all they left me cold.
The presence of Asuta could have been depicted definitely better. At the end, he looked stupid, while he probably wasn't. And his role could have been way more important (and meaningful) than it has been.
And then thumbs down for Hazumu's father and for the Teacher. Those their gags were already stupid to start with. Shown one time they made me laugh, a second time made my smile, from the third and so on made me sick. So useless.
Rapid comment for the technical themes such as graphics and sound. The arts clearly were quite poor if compared to nowadays anime (think of what KyoAni is doing with Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsuu , or Studio Deen with Fate/stay night and Higurashi). This for character designs. The animations weren't bad instead, I have to say I appreciated the lots of natural backgrounds shown, and some effect was actually good.
As for the sound - well the magnificent trio lead to a magnificent job. Even if Tamura Yukari must have been quite an hard time here, I never heard this range of voice from her. Horie Yui made her extremely moe role, as good as she's capable of. The best perfomance though, belongs to Ueda Kana (almost omnipresent in the current series), really a sweet and pleasurable voice. She was new to me before Kashimashi. A very nice acquaitance.
High mark for enjoyment, very soothing and pleasurable show.
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| Average |
9.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| First of all I have to say, that I am new to this kind of anime (shoujo-ai or yuri). I have never been into romantic plots and stuff like that. However after seeing this anime I must change my opinion. I was very surprised, it is so sweet anime. The plot is about a boy who turned into girl. His body was "reconstructed" by aliens who accidentally injured him. It was quite hard for him to get accustomed to the life as a girl. His/her friends are helping, it was funny, because he didn't know much about girl life, so he was asking a lot funny questions. However when the story goes on. He's in love with a girl, that's the main point. And since it is shoujo-ai anime I think you can imagine it. There's let's say girl's triangle. Of course I am not telling you what it ends up like. Find out yourself. This anime is definitely worth watching.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.7 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
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This was a great little series. A very "straight" love triangle between three female characters, livened up with some occasional quirky humor, with a nice satisfying conclusion.
Don't let the yuri aspect of the show put you off. As others have mentioned, it isn't the center of attention at all because the two female love interests both think of Hazumu as a guy. In fact this seems like a rather clever move; a "sexual orientation neutral" love triangle :p. Yes, yes, it's not the first, but Kashimashi certainly pulls it off with aplomb.
In conclusion, Kashimashi is certainly one of the better romantic comedies out there and I would certainly recommend it.
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|
Daniel |
(2006-04-21 04:30:58) 2006-04-20 10:05:23 |
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| Average |
8.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| The entire story focuses on a love triangle between 3 girls, one of whom started off as a boy, but was transformed into a girl in a freak accident, thus laying the foundation for the target of infatuation for the other two female leads, Yasuna and Tomari.
Although the beginning episodes were light hearted and punctuated with gags (sometimes overdone gags), the series progressed to be quite an interesting one in the later episodes. There was a rather good balance of humour but yet the focus of the story was still there. In fact, I felt the balance of comedy and yet being able to stick to the flow of the serious love story was done very well; the seriousness did not become too serious while the comedy did not become too lame, and so it did keep my interest there.
The final episode was especially good; the emotions were really captured well. And the portrayal of emotions were close real, as how it would have been in the real world if the same thing had happened. One of the few good series I've watched where the ending for the multiple love interests actually ended in a different and interesting way.... I'm not going to spoil it for you by going into the details, so go on and watch it and see what I mean. Definitely one of the few good animes of 2006.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| The lines between being in love with a boy and being in love with a girl are incredibly blurred in this series about a boy who is killed by a crashing spaceship, then revived as a girl and observed as his best friend and his crush, both girls as well, vie for his/her affection. At first glance, Kashimashi looks like it was made for fanservice and shoujo-ai, then does a complete 180 delivering a compelling romance instead.
The animation for Kashimashi is pretty standard for today's anime. Clean and full of happy bright colors. It flows very well together, and especially succeeds with it's contrast of girls and boys through Yasuna's eyes, which is a critical part of the series.
I was not heavily impressed with the BGM, nor was I heavily disappointed. It was rather meh actually, especially since the only good piece of BGM was played over and over and over to the point where it just got annoying as well. The opening is a good light piece with happy vocals, but the ending theme is the real seller, a beautiful piano piece with incredible vocals and a melancholy feel. As far as the seiyuu goes, I can't agree with having Kana Ueda voice both Hazumu as a guy and a girl as there is no distinction between the two. Guy Hazumu is incredibly girly, to the point where you wonder if he was even a boy to begin with. Yasuna and Tomari are done incredibly well thanks to seiyuu veterans Yui Horie and Yukari Tamura as well, the latter possibly being one of her best roles ever in my humble opinion.
Storywise, Kashimashi succeeds and fails back and forth. What starts off as an incredibly bogus and unbelievable plot quickly turns into a love triangle between the two girls and Hazumu the he/she, which lends itself to a much richer romantic storyline than the joke of a premise we had been given. Unfortunately, this is sacrificed right as it starts picking up steam fast in exchange for giving the supporting characters their own needless episodes, when everyone knows that we just want to see Hazumu decide between the adorable Yasuna and the irresistable Tomari. The final episodes get back to that and in incredible style too, as some major events occur that put everything back into context and remind us once more that this is not a throw-away romance, but one with a rich foundation that really forces us to choose sides whether we want to or not. Another wonderful thing about this romance is that while Hazumu is now a girl, that does not stop Yasuna and Tomari from seeing him as a guy still. There's no emphasis at all on "I'm a lesbian!" in the least, which is incredibly refreshing, given how most shoujo-ai series turn out.
As the plot is something more than it seems, so does it lend itself to deeper character development than the average anime of this genre. Hazumu and all his/her indecisiveness is key to the series in many ways. One of the only major problems with his character though is his/her quick adaptation to being a girl, which seems a bit too unrealistic if given the circumstances. Yasuna and Tomari are what make the series incredibly interesting as right at the beginning, you more-or-less know that Hazumu will end up with one of these girls (this IS a shoujo-ai after all), but the circumstances of each girl as well as the lengths they will go to make them especially interesting. They do not hate one another at all, in fact, they decide to become friends because they both want to be a part of Hazumu's life together. While this seems a bit naive for characters, both of them have deep personal conflict boiling within them as they do this. They are more afraid of giving Hazumu up than of having to share him/her. As the series shows, this is where all three of them really shine later on. The supporting cast is also a riot. From Hazumu's best friend, Asuta who now wants to be more with him to Jan Pu, the organic alien computer who has an almost magnetic attraction to Hazumu's breasts to Namiko-sensei, 35 years old and never had a boyfriend, who now spends her days trying to woo Sora, the alien monitoring Hazumu. It's quite a mixture but is never that overdone.
Overall, Kashimashi is a very enjoyable shoujo-ai series that strived to be the best romance it could be and did quite a good job in the process. While it would have been nice to have a few more episodes, the series ends nicely, though I'd advise you not to watch the last 10 seconds as it's a giant cliffhanger. NOT good for a last episode, but apparently there is an OVA coming out which explains the end so fans have that to look forward to.
Putting romance ahead of fanservice, Kashimashi is a nice little surprise of a series that, while a little too cliched, never gives up at being something more than throw-away anime.
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| Average |
8.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| With having only seen 10 of the available 12 episodes (13 if you count the bonus OVA being released on DVD in Japan), I'd have to say that this is already one of my top 10 favorite anime.
The thing that got me started on this one was the premise of the story. For one, I had never seen a shojo-ai anime before (sorry, Sailor Moon was before my time) and was interested as to see how it would be protrayed. I had already seen Gravitation, a well-known shounen-ai series, so I guess I was expecting more of that, though they're both vastly different as well.
A boy transforming into a girl; where had I heard that one before? Well of course Ranma 1/2, though that was only temporary at best. The fact that Hazumu was stuck as a female in the middle of a love triangle really throws a wrench into the inner working of the character's relastionships, though this is done in a cute way throughout the series.
Of the songs that I've heard, I've found it interesting how many different versions of the ED theme there are, sung by the different voice actors of the main characters (the female characters anyway). And each song has slightly different lyrics too; definately something I had never seen before. The OP theme is nice too.
I don't have a problem with any of the characters, though my least favorite would probably just be Tomari, while Hazumu would be my favorite. :P
This series also touches on the subtle difficulties of entering into a homosexual relationship as viewed by society, so there is also a sense of realism among all the wackiness.
So far, I've found this anime very enjoyable, and would recommend it to many.
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cowman345 |
(2006-03-23 23:33:00) 2006-03-20 22:38:29 |
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| Average |
8.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| YAAAAAYYYY LESBIANISM!!
seriously though, this show has enough of it... but seriously this is an interesting anime.
on the immediate surface the plot is sheer stupidity... a wacky alien ship crashes into a human boy, and the aliens repair his broken body but could only return him as a girl (apparently the ever so advanced alien civilization ran out of penises). admitedly LAME.
but underneath this crud, there's a real story... if you occasionally like heavy romance, light drama (so far, i'm on ep 9), with intermittant comedic (wacky) moments like I do, then this anime might be for you.
**UPDATE**
Seriously, with each episode I watch I get more and more hooked... this is really shaping up into one of my favorites!
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| While I don't like reviewing half-finished anime, I have to express my surprise at finding this gem of a show. While other series have mined the shoujo-ai universe to varying effect, this is the first show that doesn't rely on that novelty alone to carry the show. The relationships each character has with another are so well thought out and believable. While the comedy is a bit redundant, it never really intrudes upon the core storyline: a group of friends who re-explore the nature of their relationships after one of them has gone through a life-changing experience. While that experience itself seems silly and designed to placate homosexual fears, what resonates is the honesty and sensitivity in which these characters are treated. As a warning, if you only want gender-bending hijinx and hilarity to ensue, you will be disappointed. For everyone else, this thoughtful take on the nature of gender in romance comes highly recommended.
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