Genre: romance, drama, slice of life
Format: 12 episodes (23 min). Anime original.
An anime of Summer memories reviewed.
Romance anime generally
falls into two broad categories. Funny, ecchi, harem type anime and
heart wrenching tearjerkers. Ano Natsu de Matteru
falls somewhere in between. It follows the story of a group of friends who
decide to make a student film during their summer break.
 | |
| Kanna and Mio |
The main character,
Kaito, always carries an old 8mm video camera with him and is continually recording
the world around him. He is in love with Ichika, a transfer student who came from
space. So she's an alien. A very pretty one. Kanna is good friends
with Kaito and it's apparent early on that she does want to be more than just friends.
 |
| The composition of the scenes and artwork is fantastic. |
Tetsuro is a tall and
charming guy who is surprisingly humble and selfless. Mio is the quiet and
unassuming girl who ocassionally has the ability to surprise you.
Finally we have
Remon-senpai who is the oldest amongst the group but has the
appearance of
a loli. Where have we
seen that before? There is a mysterious aura about her and she
remains
shrouded in mystery for
most of the show.
 |
| Ichika, Tetsuro and Kaito. |
With a cast of
characters like this, it is clear that the romantic relationships between them won't
work. As the show progresses we learn who likes who and who is blissfully unaware of
someone else's feelings. At one stage two new female characters are introduced which
just makes things crazy!
 |
| Remon directing. |
This is short lived
however and the same can be said of the
entire season itself. The 12 episodes aren't enough to build up the characters and add
sufficient depth and originality to them. This means that the ending is slightly
inconclusive and unsatisfying. Summer was very short indeed.
Ano Natsu is a pleasant
enough show but it doesn't do anything new and didn't leave me with any lasting
impressions. It's beautiful to look at and well produced but it's
really just sweet nothings. Despite this, if you
want a decent, romantic, slice-of-life drama then Ano Natsu might do
it for you.
Extra
Some of the characters
in Anohana made me think that they had counterparts in Anonatsu. This is
hardly surprising since anime usually makes use of characters who fulfil archetypal
roles. It could also be my mind forcing the association to be made because both anime have
similar names and visual styles. Even so, there are striking parallels to be made
with some of these characters, not only aesthetically but in the way the behave as well. Still, Anohana is by far the better anime :)
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