Asatte no Houkou eps 1 to 3 Review

Asatte no Houkou is one of the other new series’ I started watching recently. I picked this one just because it sounded “different.” And it is, but in a good way…

…it’s really one of those series’ that will only appeal to a certain type of anime fan(usually a pretty hardcore one.) In these first few episodes, and probably throughout the entire series, there’s no flashy action, no complex subplots, and very little comedy…it really just has its story to tell and tells it. I’ve noticed some slight fanservice in these episodes, but that’s about it as far as catering to what most fans would want. The story and feel of the show itself is very gentle, quiet, and mysterious. I think that it’s interesting, but as I said before, it probably won’t appeal to a whole variety of anime fans because there really isn’t much in it that couldn’t be pulled off with live-action rather than anime.

As for the relatively few characters in the show, they seem pretty fitting. Shouko and Karada seem like good, unique characters and I’m interested to see how their relationship will develop through the rest of the series. I also like the music. The opening and ending songs are very pretty, as well as the background music. I also noticed how very little background music is used in the show. Having many still scenes or scenes with only characters talking and no music playing in the background really helps add to the show’s realism and mystery. I can’t give it too many points for animation though. Although the character designs are nice, the general animation, especially the background scenes, look pretty low budget. But since it’s such a slow-paced anime, it doesn’t really matter as much as it could I guess.

Well, I really don’t have much else to say about these first three episodes. I like Asatte no Houkou so far, but it’s not for everyone…if you mostly watch anime for the action, fantasy, and/or comedy, then you’d probably find this series pretty boring. But if you enjoy the general style of anime as well as “slice-of-life” series’ like Kanon and Nana, then you might want to give this one a try ^_^