Minami-ke Okawari and Hakaba Kitarou

Posted On January 27, 2008

It goes without saying that Doumo’s rendition of Minami-ke was brilliant, and that such brilliance would be difficult to replicate, especially by a completely different studio. Though, surprisingly enough, Asread’s doing pretty alright. Asread is a fairly new studio, with their resume being chock full of a lot of in-betweening credits and various other wishy-washy roles. Their only true work is Shuffle!, which was spectacular, but with newer studios it’s hard to tell if further works will be just as good as the other one or two things they made. I remember being psyched about Doujin Work, given Remic worked on Magical Pokaan, only to find that it was absolute dreck. Asread, however, doesn’t disappoint with their version of the three Minami sisters.

Now, it’s not all candy and sugar and shit. The show kind of got off on the wrong foot. The first episode was very awkward, like it was trying too hard to duplicate the charming scriptwriting of the first series. About four or so episodes in though, I’m starting to dig it. It could be a case of me just getting used to it, or the series just settled into its groove. The approach to the material is different, yes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad. I can’t say I prefer Doumo’s episode structure to Asread’s or vice-versa, but they’re both entertaining, that’s what matters. However, what I do like more about this one are the visuals.

The first thing that struck me about the Shuffle! TV show was how it looked. I loved the character designs, and the use of colour and shading. It all just worked for me. Okawari looks basically the same, so naturally I love it. Everything from the detailed backgrounds, to the colour selections, to the sharp character design– I love it all. This isn’t to say Doumo’s look is inferior. I love the character designs in that one, too (they’re closer to the original, I think?) but as far as the rest goes, it’s good but doesn’t really hit my weak spots.

Anyway, here’s hoping for nine more wonderful episodes.

Ever since I found out what Gegege No Kitarou was, I simply had to partake of it in some form. Everything about it just looked like tons of fun, but it was all in a language that I could just barely understand. What a fucking cocktease. It’s good to know that at least one group of individuals out there cares and have decided to translate what is probably the most faithful Gegege No Kitarou adaptation to date? I dunno, I’m hardly familiar with the franchise at all, but seeing as this is based on the original ORIGINAL Kitarou, I don’t think I’m too wrong in making that claim.

The show doesn’t disappoint. It has a striking visual style, is deliciously dark, and is, as expected, just a lot fun. I can’t write too much about it, since I barely know anything about the characters or the franchise, but what I can say is watch it. If you do maybe Shinsen will sub it faster.

Not really related, but Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei episode 4 was more awesome than all of the first season combined. If you can even fathom that.