Ranked #3949

Ajimu: Kaigan Monogatari

Ajimu ~ Beach Story~ is a Romance, Comedy, Drama that can be described in one word “tacky”. Like those horrid pickup lines no uses anymore, this is just a shabby attempt at some serious romance.

It’s about Nakaido Hirosuke, some guy who’s become infatuated over a girl who takes the same train to school as him but he’s too indecisive to do anything about it. Then after some typical misunderstandings, Nakaido soon grows some balls to do something about this ambiguous situation he has with her. I could go on about what this anime is about but that would just about spoil the only interesting thing about it, which is the romance. Sure the romance in this follows a typical pattern; making it highly predictable for the average romance watcher nonetheless it’s still interesting. Although it would have been much better without the random comedy and thoughtless characters that ruin whatever decent mood that is being set up.

The characters here are fairly ordinary for your average high school themed romance anime and some are more interesting than others. Like the main heroine Ajimu and the other one Suzue, who are pretty much the only characters that make this worth watching. I don’t know why time was wasted on that fat chick but at least she doesn’t get in the way of the adequately written story.

The animation is another aspect that’s just about passable, since there are factors like the date of its release (2001) and it being an ONA (Original Net Anime) to keep in mind. So even though the inconsistent animation and unappealing art style did bother me somewhat, at least the settings and scenery were nicely done. As for the sound department, the voice acting is nothing special but the music’s interesting, which is mostly due to the Hawaiian theme. This results in some great insert songs but there’s a particular song that will become repetitive, fast.

Overall Ajimu is certainly not a bad anime but all the clichés, pointless comedy and stale characters don’t make it a great anime. Even though it was only 4 episodes long the story developed surprisingly slowly, leaving the final episode to throw in the “all so predictable” twist. At least I wasn’t disappointed but it’s not as if I expected much from it. Let’s just say it’s a romance anime good enough for romance lovers who are bored and have nothing decent to watch.
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I wasn't too sure about this 4 parter when I started watching it, in fact the dated look of the artwork put me off quite a bit and I was in two minds whether to drop it or not.
The story revolves around a boy, Hirosuke, who sees a girl on the train on her way to school. Ajimu is pretty and one of those girls who you can only admire from a distance and who is seemingly unattainable. A series of events throws the pair of them together and the rest of the story revolves around their hesitant relationship and those around the couple.
Its not a great story, in fact there really isnt much of a story at all. The music has its moments and the feel of the surroundings is of a seaside resort that is experiencing a quiet season. What kept me watching was Ajimu who is not the usual pink haired moe anime girl, but rather an almost level headed person who is suffering the pangs of a lost love. In fact most of the characters had a sensible feel about them that was a refreshing change.
By the end of episode 3 I was considering that this was an anime that lost out. There is so much latent potential in it that could have been explored had there been more episodes, characters could have been fleshed out more and the story could have been given more substance. By the end of the series I was wishing it had been because I was actually enjoying it.
It is worth a watch, but dont take it too seriously because its just a light and fluffy 4 episodes and you wont be crying or rooting for the characters. But, do consider what could have been done here with a bit more work.
One of my favourite voice artists Chiba Saeko was responsible for voicing Ajimu and singing the OP and ED and that was an added attraction.
I do feel that there is merit here and in spite of its low rankings this is one of those animes that left me thinking, "this is one of those that needs to be redone."
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