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Synopsis

Since she was a freshman, Haruka has liked Takayuki but was too shy to confess. Her friend Mitsuki—you know, the outspoken one, the athletic one—becomes friends with Takayuki and his buddies in an effort to get Haruka closer to them. It works, too, and Haruka is finally able to confess. But is Takayuki going out with her because he actually likes her or just to keep Mitsuki from beating the crap out of him? And does Mitsuki really want Takayuki for herself?

Impressions

Okay, I didn’t see anything special about Kiminozo when I first started watching. Haruka has hair antennae, so I checked it out for the cute-girl factor. It was obviously heading for a shallow love triangle thing between Takayuki, Haruka, and Mitsuki. And since I like a good romance that doesn’t involve aliens, angels, cross-dressing, or incest, this little h-game adaptation seemed to be the perfect guilty pleasure for me.

NOTE: A proper discussion of this anime requires a certain number of early-episode spoilers because the real plot doesn’t begin until the third episode. I will try to limit them to the first four episodes. However, if you don’t want to know what unexpected events occur at the end of the 2nd episode and in the following two, stop reading now.

Okay, so apparently Hayase has been selected by the military to become the Ultimate Weapon….

Don’t worry, just kidding.

The plot takes an unexpected left turn at the end of episode two. Haruka is injured in an accident while waiting for Takayuki to meet her.While Haruka is in a coma for three years, Takayuki and Mitsuki (she cut off her annoying pony tail, thank god) start doing the mattress mambo, much to the chargin of Haruka’s little sister Akane who feels they—ie, Mitsuki—are betraying her neesan. As Takayuki and Mitsuki are searching for an apartment suitable for them to move into together, Haruka wakes up still believing than it is their senior year in high school. Gosh.

So, the triangle is there but in a totally unexpected way. There’s a little extra depth to this shallow love story. And Haruka still has hair antennae, so that’s cool, too.

The series bogs down occassionally, and not everyone will be satisfied with the ending. But for my money, Kiminozo is more than I ever expected and consequently a worthwhile watch.

Random Thoughts

Don’t miss the little chibi skits after the ED. They are a nice change of pace after the heavy angst.

- 2004-01-14 18:56 -