A chance encounter or fate?
Genre - Drama, Fantasy, Slice of Life, Supernatural
Length – 12 Episodes
Run - Oct 6, 2006 to Dec 22, 2006
Animation Production – J.C. Staff, Bandai Visual, Lantis, Sentai FilmworksL
Very few anime series manage to keep me glued to the screen, mostly because I've seen so many I already know what to expect. But there was something different about Asatte no Houkou, yes; something about this series captured my complete attention into its first 10 minutes. Seeing J.C. Staff taking part in the making of this series already assured me it would be a hit...
The world of Asatte no Houkou is very serene, calm, and...well...very normal. It's what you would expect from a "Slice of Life" type of anime, but it does however have a slight dose of magic which is what sets the events onwards from the first episode. Prior to the events of the series, Shouko Nogami decides to leave America and move back to Japan now that she has no reason to live there anymore. As she heads to her new home she sees a small girl crouched over by a shrine and approaches her. Karada Iokawa is a very cheerful and hard working young girl who will be entering junior high soon. She has an older brother named Hiro Iokawa for whom she cares for dearly. Her parents died when she was a toddler and Hiro has been taking care of her by himself ever since. Hiro at first glance looks like, for lack of a better word...a bum. From my perspective he looks like a very lazy man with no aspirations at all. Though he works as a pharmacist which indicates he must have had education beyond high school. As already stated, Karada cares for him deeply. It is because she cares for him so much she wishes to be less of a burden to him. It is here that one day while she prays at a small shrine a young woman approaches her on her way home. This meeting sets the framework for the events to come as the three characters above interact and set themselves to the hell they have to live.
Genre - Drama, Fantasy, Slice of Life, Supernatural
Length – 12 Episodes
Run - Oct 6, 2006 to Dec 22, 2006
Animation Production – J.C. Staff, Bandai Visual, Lantis, Sentai FilmworksL
Very few anime series manage to keep me glued to the screen, mostly because I've seen so many I already know what to expect. But there was something different about Asatte no Houkou, yes; something about this series captured my complete attention into its first 10 minutes. Seeing J.C. Staff taking part in the making of this series already assured me it would be a hit...
The world of Asatte no Houkou is very serene, calm, and...well...very normal. It's what you would expect from a "Slice of Life" type of anime, but it does however have a slight dose of magic which is what sets the events onwards from the first episode. Prior to the events of the series, Shouko Nogami decides to leave America and move back to Japan now that she has no reason to live there anymore. As she heads to her new home she sees a small girl crouched over by a shrine and approaches her. Karada Iokawa is a very cheerful and hard working young girl who will be entering junior high soon. She has an older brother named Hiro Iokawa for whom she cares for dearly. Her parents died when she was a toddler and Hiro has been taking care of her by himself ever since. Hiro at first glance looks like, for lack of a better word...a bum. From my perspective he looks like a very lazy man with no aspirations at all. Though he works as a pharmacist which indicates he must have had education beyond high school. As already stated, Karada cares for him deeply. It is because she cares for him so much she wishes to be less of a burden to him. It is here that one day while she prays at a small shrine a young woman approaches her on her way home. This meeting sets the framework for the events to come as the three characters above interact and set themselves to the hell they have to live.
Their moment in hell begins...
You will notice as you watch that the story deals with guilt and
selfishness, as all of the characters seem to be motivated by their own
ends and desiring their lives to return to an ideal that cannot be
regained. This is set along the backdrop of sleepy rural Japan one
beautiful summer and focuses on how everyone deals with the fact that we
all do selfish things, hurt one another, and we can't just all hug and
make up and everything will be better again.
The story at this point is centered on both Karada and Shouko switching places as in, Karada becomes a childlike adult woman and Shouko becomes an adultlike child. I know, you have seen this plot device before somewhere I'm sure. I really liked seeing Karada (the girl) and Shouko (the woman) react to and quickly (especially in Shouko’s case) accept their changes. They both showed maturity in that situation, yet Shouko seemed more realistic in my opinion.
The story at this point is centered on both Karada and Shouko switching places as in, Karada becomes a childlike adult woman and Shouko becomes an adultlike child. I know, you have seen this plot device before somewhere I'm sure. I really liked seeing Karada (the girl) and Shouko (the woman) react to and quickly (especially in Shouko’s case) accept their changes. They both showed maturity in that situation, yet Shouko seemed more realistic in my opinion.
Kids can't wear adult sized glasses right?
Throughout the series, character developments are well done, albeit a bit lacking in certain places in my opinion. The two main characters are excellent and really drive the series forward. They inject life into this series and are the major source of what makes this series appealing. I started every episode in anticipation to see what each one of them will do next.
The art was okay at first. It gradually got better. You certainly feel the mood portrayed which is what counts. You have to remember this is pre-HD so don't set your expectations high. Voice actors fit their roles perfectly; I have no complaints in that department. One thing I really liked in this anime was the use of sounds. The anime is set in a village by a sea. Thus you would expect sounds found in nature, which you do. Unlike other series this anime uses more of these nature sounds as opposed to musical scores. It makes each scenery realistic and really sets the mood.
Despite its lack of musical scores, its opening song is one to adore and gives you a good idea of how the anime will be.
Throughout the series, character developments are well done, albeit a bit lacking in certain places in my opinion. The two main characters are excellent and really drive the series forward. They inject life into this series and are the major source of what makes this series appealing. I started every episode in anticipation to see what each one of them will do next.
The art was okay at first. It gradually got better. You certainly feel the mood portrayed which is what counts. You have to remember this is pre-HD so don't set your expectations high. Voice actors fit their roles perfectly; I have no complaints in that department. One thing I really liked in this anime was the use of sounds. The anime is set in a village by a sea. Thus you would expect sounds found in nature, which you do. Unlike other series this anime uses more of these nature sounds as opposed to musical scores. It makes each scenery realistic and really sets the mood.
Despite its lack of musical scores, its opening song is one to adore and gives you a good idea of how the anime will be.
For me it really helps that there are no single episodes here that are wasted, with each dedicated in advancing the story or doing character developments or even both. My major and probably only complaint about Asatte no Houkou, was in the pacing near the end. While it was good that all problems were solved and relationships forged and or strengthened, everything felt too rushed. This results in nice coincidences and some of the conclusions that some characters found didn’t work too well. For example Hiro’s resolution at the end was all well and good, but I didn’t see enough character development out of him to really have him justify that.
All in all I enjoyed this series very much. Aside from my complaint with the ending, it's an endearing series that deals with emotions we all go through, thus making this series easy to identify with. "Bro, score plox?"
Art - (7/10) Sound - (8/10) Plot - (9/10) Enjoyment - (9/10)
Overall
8.25/10
Note: I feel it could have been a 24 episode series, it had enough plot to do so.
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