Type: Josei, Shoujo, Romance
Year: 2005/ 2006 (Part I & II)
Studio: J.C Staff
Overall Rating: 3.9/ 5.0
Reccomendation: Must See
Apparently this belong to the ‘slice of life’ genre, but whatever it is it is totally different from what I’ve been reviewing thus far. Monster and Shigurui are ‘mature’ themed animes, but Hachikuro is much more mature in an entirely different way. It is down to earth, realistic, philosophical and captures a certain juncture in life that people pass through. It is intensely self-aware and rather stream-of-conciousness. Watching this anime is like going on a self-searching trip.
Ratings Breakdown:
Visuals: 4.5
Music: 4.5
Lovely. I’ve said before, the art is fitting for a series about art students (and art genuises). Like the ew Evangelion movie, this looks like a painting. I really really love – daisuki! – the two openings, both animation and songs. The animated plates are artsy and cute – both of which I’m a huge sucker for. Theme songs by Yuki (I think formerly of Judy and Mary) have very meaningful lyrics if you bother to look and an emotional depth that will hit you in the gut.
Setting: 2.5
Plot: 3.0
The setting and the plot are nothing to rave about. In fact, they are the weaknesses of this otherwise excellent anime. It is all about character development pure and simple, within a typical university type setting. The starting of the anime is slow – so much that I began yearning for shounen action series.
Characters: 5.0
The anime is devoted to its characters and fleshing them out, their loves, their likes, dislikes, ups and downs. By the end of the series, they feel like real-world university students, not some anime characters of a fantasy world. Hachikuro also has a few unique ones e.g. Hagu and Morita are characters you’d see in every anime and the rest e.g. Hanamoto, Mayama, Yamada all have their own quirks albeit much more down-to-earth.
Recent Comments