Ranked #1187

Nanatsuiro Drops

Length: 12 episodes
Original Airdates: 7/07 - 9/07
Demographic: Unknown (guessing Shoujo)
Genres: Fantasy, Magical Girl, Romance
Also Known As: Stardrops

One-Sentence Summary: "A surefire way to melt your heart"

Plot Synopsis
Tsuwabuki is a normal student, though not very social. One day he meets a new transfer student, named Sumomo Akihime, and another girl, both the only members of the gardening club. Tsuwabuki is forced by a teacher to join this club. But then he bumps into a strange guy with dog ears, switching his drink with they guy's by mistake. Drinking it, he is turned in a stuffed animal. The teacher tells him that the only way to turn back to normal is to find the chosen girl and let her catch the seven stardrops. This girl is Sumomo, that accepts to help him, though she's not allowed to know the animal's true identity.
(From ANN)

Personal Opinion
So I'll confess... ever since I had an embarrassing walk-in by my friends when I was intently watching Sailor Moon when I was 7 years old, I have avoided the mahou shoujo (magical girl) genre of anime. A week or so before writing this post, I managed to convince myself to get over this irrational fear. So now i write this post as my first completed Mahou Shoujo anime in over 11 years.

Okay, so to tell the truth, Nanatsuiro Drops isn't like most mahou shoujo animes. From what I read, a lot of MS animes have romance in as a side-genre... In Nanatsuiro Drops, Romance is the main genre and MS is a side genre. ND is nothing more than the cute story of first love. ... okay that was an understatement. Nanatsuiro was probably the CUTEST lovestory that I have EVER seen. Just every aspect about it warms your heart. Sumomo, even though her crying can get annoying, is one of the cutest protagonists that I've ever seen. She's incredibly shy, somewhat weak, has a tendency to cry, quite clumsy... As Konata from Lucky Star would say... "She's a walking pillar of turn-ons". And the show only gets cuter... especially when the main two character deals with their feelings for each other. And then, when it got to the ending.... It melted my manly heart :_)

There were a few problems with some of the characters, and I would've liked to see more background info on a lot of the characters

Other then that... this anime is an instant remedy to depression that can be taken many time without fear of overdose.

RATING: 8/10

Similar to...
- Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora
Both are tales of first love, and both couple have to overcome obstacles

- Shakugan no Shana, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Same art style in all of these three. In fact, the character artworks are done by the same person. read more

“First love that encompasses you” is the tagline of the anime title Nanatsuiro Drops. A seemly contradictory tagline to what seems to be a magical girl anime. However, in reality Nanatsuiro Drops is more of a sweet story of one’s first love than a magical girl anime. This is unlike most magical girl anime, where the love story is tacked on.

The first thing I noticed was the art style and the animation. The colors were bright yet very soft, almost dreamlike. Its quite unique in that respects, the only comparison I can make is with respects to the flashback scenes in Mizuiro (2003). As I said in my Mizuiro review, the art/colors gave it a nostalgic/warm feeling. The designs in Nanatsuiro Drops are really close to the original ones done by Noizi Ito (Shana, Haruhi, etc), in fact it’s the closest I’ve seen in any of her works adapted to anime. In addition, her designs are freakishly cute and combined with the warm/soft colors it creates quite a unique atmosphere. The ost also adds to the atmosphere, especially during the magical girl scenes. There’s a mysterious/magical feel to the music during those scenes. The other BGM tracks give off this really warm feel that’s very consistent with the anime in general.

Story-wise, chances are you’ve seen this as well as all the cliques. Really not much to say here in regards to the story. The characters are also pretty clique. Also, did I mention how much Sumomo cries way too much? Well she does and cries for the most seemingly pointless things. I guess that’s just the way she is. Don’t watch this if you can’t stand crybabies or else you’ll end up throwing things at your screen. However, what makes Nanatsuiro Drops are the cute interactions between the characters, especially between Tsuwabuki and Sumomo. Their growing relationship is as innocent as you can get, once again referring back to the tagline “First love that encompasses you.” There is no sexual tension what so ever, and their thoughts are as pure as you can get, realistic, no but this anime is all about idealizing one’s first love. Which reminds me of the source material, an eroge, a fact that I couldn’t really accept because the story is do damn innocent.

Nanatsuiro Drops is a predictable clique filled story that is freakishly cute, in fact its probably too cute for its own damn good. In addition, the story and the characters are simple, yet nevertheless quite charming/entertaining to watch, a fact that I refuse to acknowledge in real life. Now if you excuse me I need some insulin shots.
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