Romantic comedies are a dime a dozen nowadays. Few however can boast to be as well directed as Kuragehime, however.
Kuragehime may not have the characters with the biggest amount of realism or depth. In fact, a lot of the characters in the series are one dimensional. It may not have the best storyline. In fact, it’s second half is unbalanced and the ending leaves a lot of things unresolved. It may not have the most original premise. In fact, it’s centred around a bunch of fujoshi and cross dressers. From the outside, it may not look like much.
It is however one of those series where the execution totally makes up for it. The chemistry between the characters is downright addictive. This show bursts with energy while not losing itself in it. The characters, while lacking dimensions are incredibly fun to watch, and the acting is consistently excellent throughout the entire series. the characters here all have their own charms, from the super serious Shuu to the flamboyant cross dresser Kuranosuke. They all combine really well with each other and nearly each episode is a blast to watch.
In this day and age, female leads who aren’t designed to be as attractive as possible are hard to come by. The fujoshi in Kuragehime, including the lead Tsukimi are a breath of fresh air in this way so I really hope that this catches on. The series loses a bit of its steam in its second half, but despite that it’s a ridiculously fun and refreshing series to watch.
| Storytelling: | 9/10 – 11 episodes is not the right length, but it’s still presented with a ton of addictive energy, making it very accessible. |
| Characters: | 9/10 – A lovable cast of characters. They’re all adults, so no teenagers whatsoever. Especially the chemistry is really addictive here. Some of them are pretty static, though. |
| Production-Values: | 8/10 – Dynamic visual, very few still frames. |
| Setting: | 8/10 – Solid, but doesn’t really come together well in the end. |
Suggestions:
– Honey and Clover
– Nodame Cantabile
– Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge
I enjoyed this series so much despite the flaws. I’m really hoping for a second season 😀
I love this anime! I love the manga too. (Maybe even more. I’ve read it to the end of volume 6 so far.)
The last episode did go off the rails. It was really a trollish episode, with the resolutions to the tarp and Chieko’s mom, but I still loved it. I think that’s partly because the creators seem to have a lot of affection for the characters, even one-dimensional ones like Mayaya and antagonists like Inari. That really shows through.
Oh man, I really enjoyed this anime. Though I do admit that the second half was indeed botched in terms of pacing. Extending the amount of episodes would’ve been great but I also think if they had cut screen time with Tsukimi moping and some other things, they might have been able to fit in the 11.
Damn this needs more episodes so badly… I really want to see where the plot goes and what happens to the characters…