Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou Review – 85/100

I’ve got a few announcements to make with this post, but they’ll follow after I’ve sung some praises of the charming OVA of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou and its continuation: Quiet Country Cafe that got aired five years later. And really, it can’t get more slice-of-life than this. Throughout the four episodes, we get to see an excellent balance between ordinary activities of our main character Alpha and two or three events that majorly alter her life. Not only that, but the OVAs also shine in originality. The setting is the Japanese countryside, somewhere in the future, with Alpha being a robot. It’s an age where robots have been able to perfectly emulate the emotions and weaknesses of humans, and where the entire country of Japan has fallen apart into small provinces. A lot of previous urban areas seem to have been flooded, and something happened to Mount Fuji to blow off a major part of its height. It’s a shame that we don’t get any extra information on it, because I would have loved to see more. But yeah, the real star of this OVA is Alpha herself. This series differs from usual slice-of-life series by showing her alone most of the time, doing things like getting up, cooking, just sitting randomly. This works great along with the side-characters, who sometimes pop up, and yet find enough time to develop. I especially liked the old guy, who defies the clichés of the perverted geezers and turns into a nice, down-to-earth owner of a small gas station. Regarding the bad points, well, this is another manga adaptation. While you usually don’t notice anything of it, the fact does remain that a few side-characters are underdeveloped. There is one particular naked girl who shows up in one scene, does nothing, and then leaves without leaving a single trace. I still don’t understand why the creators let her in that scene anyway; it’s just good for some cheap fanservice. I also would have loved to se a few more of Alpha’s money problems, to add to the level of realism (that already is quite high, actually). Overall, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is an excellent recommendation for slice-of-life fans who are looking for something quick to watch. It may not be perfect, but it manages to stay heart-warming throughout the entire four episodes of both OVAs. Okay, so now the announcements. First of all, those who look in the side-menu will notice that this is my 150th review for this site. Next up are going to be the Ghibli-movies, though it may take a month before I’m going to start with them. We’ve reached the end of another season, and I’m about to finish more series than ever. For this and the next week, I’ll probably be too busy to write reviews for them to check out any movies, and once that wave is done, the new season will be starting, which is going to keep me busy as well. It’s definitely going to be fun, but I don’t think I’ll be able to handle movie-reviews at the same time. ^^;]]>