Recorder to Randoseru Mi☆

Esta review también está en español.

Recorder to Randoseru Mi☆ is the third season (out of seven?) about the peculiar everyday adventures of the Miyagawa siblings: Atsumi, a high school student that barely reach 1,40 meters, and her little brother Atsushi, a fifth grader with a height of 1,80 m. This is the third season, so I'm assuming that you saw the previous two (if you didn't, go to the Recorder to Randoseru Do♪ page). Don't worry, there are no spoilers here, it's just to clarify what's new in Mi.

In regards to the story, we continue to see Atsushi and Atsumi being victims of various ... misunderstandings because of their height. Season three people, you know the drill. However, and in a very necessary way, Mi decides to go a step further and stop using the extremely worn off jokes of Do and Re. So, even if people are still shocked with Atsushi and his seemingly dangerous behavior with ten year old kids, not only the police is already aware of him being a kid, but they're also valuable allies in fixing misunderstandings, and from now on, recurring characters.
Then, what happens in the episodes? The truth is that de protagonism is very balanced between characters, and we see varied doses of Atsushi, Hina, Sayo, Take and Moriyama-sensei... but there's always going to be a prominent character, and in this season, Atsumi has a greater role... and that means she's victim of most jokes. This is partly thanks to the addition of two new characters: Makoto Kobayashi, a high school student almost as short as Atsumi, and Yoshioka, the basketball team ace… and little girl enthusiast. These two guys add lot of humor and funny moments to the series, and their inclusion was very, very necessary for the sake of, well, new situations.

But not everything is good in Mi, sadly. It seems that the staff spent their entire budget in better scripts, because, visually, this season is hideous compared with Re. Abuse of real scenery, neglected drawing and crude animation are prominent. Sometimes the wacky animation is appropriate with the occasional surreal atmosphere of the series (yes, there are various weird moments in Mi...), but truth to be told, its mostly cheap animation. Not unwatchable or anything, but it is a letdown (again, specially compared with the previous seasons).

Sound's fine. Same seiyuus, with the same good results. Also, the new ending is on par with the previous tracks of Do and Re (this time, sung by Nanami Kashiyama, Aono's voice in this series), but without the absurd fan-service of the previous season (seriously, Re was pretty disturbing).

Rounding up, things changed in Mi. The visual quality is absurdly low, that's a fact. The orientation of the jokes also changed, with a special focus in Atsumi and her new stalker. This issue is more polarizing than the animation: you can dislike the new loli jokes, and conclude that this season is a failure in every aspect... or you can laugh at the new situations and enjoy the new characters (while, also, some old ones are more and better used). It's on you, dear reader, if the changes are pleasing or not.
And that's it, see you in Fa! (if that actually happens).

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Recorder to Randoseru Mi ☆ es la tercera temporada (de siete?) de la serie de pintorescas andanzas de los hermanos Miyagawa: Atsumi, una estudiante de secundaria que no llega al metro cuarenta, y Atsushi, su hermanito de quinto grado que mide 1,80 metros. Esta es una tercera temporada, así que asumo que vieron las anteriores. Igual no hay spoilers, es solo para aclarar cuáles son las cosas nuevas que trae Mi.

En lo que se refiere a la historia, seguimos viendo a Atsushi y Atsumi siendo víctimas de los más diversos malentendidos por culpa de su estatura. Tercera temporada muchachos, ya sabemos de qué va. Sin embargo, y de forma muy, muy necesaria, Mi decide ir un paso más adelante y dejar de usar los muy gastados chistes de Do y Re. Así, si bien la gente se sigue escandalizando por que Atsushi se comporta de forma extraña con alumnos de primaria, la policía no solo ya está al tanto, sino que ahora son aliados y personajes recurrentes. Entonces, como transcurren los capítulos? La verdad, el protagonismo rota bastante bien entre los personajes, y a medida que pasan los capítulos vamos viendo dosis variadas de Atsushi, Hina, Sayo, Take y Moriyama-sensei… pero siempre va a haber un numero uno, y es Atsumi la que cobra un mayor protagonismo, y es víctima de, bueno, la mayoría de las situaciones cómicas. Esto es en parte gracias a la incorporación de dos nuevos personajes: Makoto Kobayashi, un alumno de secundaria casi tan minúsculo como ella, y Yoshioka, as del equipo de básquet y demente obsesionado con niñas pequeñas. Estos dos chicos son las adquisiciones doradas de Mi, y las hilarantes situaciones en las que participan suman mucho, mucho a la serie.

Pero no todo es bueno en Mi, no. Parece que se gastaron todo el presupuesto en hacer mejores guiones porque, la verdad, el aspecto visual cayó en picada en comparación a Re. Abuso de fondos reales, dibujo descuidado y animación muchas veces tosca son notorias hasta para los más distraídos del público (como yo, por ejemplo). Muchas veces va a tono con la a veces surreal atmosfera de la serie (porque si, en Mi las cosas pueden ser un poco raras), pero el nivel bajo mucho. Ni por asomo inmirable, pero si sorprende.

En el sonido esta todo como siempre. Mismos seiyuus, con el mismo buen resultado. También el nuevo ending esta a la altura (cantado por Nanami Kashiyama, la voz de Aono en esta serie).

Resumiendo, en Mi las cosas cambiaron. La calidad visual bajo de forma dramática, eso es un hecho. También se cambiaron la orientación de los chistes, con un enfoque en Atsumi y su nuevo acosador. Esta cuestión es mas polarizante que lo de la animación: a uno o bien pueden no gustarle los chistes de lolis, y concluir que esta temporada es un fracaso en todos los aspectos… o bien pueden reírse de las nuevas situaciones y disfrutar de los nuevos personajes (al tiempo que se usan mas a algunos que solo aparecían poco en las temporadas anteriores). Esta en cada uno si el cambio de humor es de su agrado o no.
Y eso es todo, nos vemos en Fa (si es que hay cuarta temporada).

Last season of Recorder to Randoseru the anime itself is very entertaining. The only bad thing is that for this season they changed the animation and the direction. Personally, I liked the old animation that the anime had more, then the soundtrack is not to stand out, the character design is fine. In this season it's good that you get more characters to change a little the plot that was always the same, that's good but it doesn't go any further since the anime ends without knowing what the future holds for the main characters. I don't really recommend it, watch the first 2 seasons ... and act as if it didn't exist, it doesn't add practically anything new, so save your time.
En español:
Ultima temporada de Recorder to Randoseru el anime en si es muy entretenido. Lo unico malo es que para esta temporada cambiaron la animacion y la direccion. Personalamente me gustaba mas la animacion antigua que tenia el anime, despues la banda sonora no es para destacar, el diseño de personajes esta bien. En esta temporada esta bueno que te metan mas personajes para cambiar un poco la trama que siempre era la misma, esta bueno eso pero no llega a mas ya que ela nime termina sin saber que le depara en el futuro a los personajes principales. No lo recomiendo la verdad vean las primeras 2 temporadas y ahagan como si esta no existiera total no aporta practicamente nada nuevo asi que ahorrense el tiempo.

As there's a lack of a synopsis here, I'll give you a quick heads-up: Two main characters, one a fifth-grade elementary schooler who looks like an adult, and a second-year high schooler (apparently) who looks like an elementary schooler, and is the older sister of the former. That's all you need to know to understand this. If you wanna know more, check the page of the first season.

With that said, it's a shame this anime took kind of a dive. It feels like a different team worked on this, as the art seems completely different from the first two seasons, and the backgrounds are a ... bit more gloomy and lack the colorfulness the former seasons had. I was relieved the casting for the VAs hasn't changed, otherwise this would've gotten a lower rating from me than it has now.

The "story" is still the same, but with the introduction of a few more characters, giving us more of a variety of situations. The newcomers are just as fun and enjoyable, but lack proper substance. The main characters are still the same, and so are the side characters. There does seem to be an improvement in the overall storyline, albeit just on the relationship front.

Like I said before, the art has really changed. The shading and overall animation is simpler, and the backgrounds are not as colorful and "detailed" like the previous seasons (although the backgrounds were never really detailed to begin with, but they managed to make it look even less detailed). The sound and music has stayed the same, with no OP and a short ED like usual. If the art didn't change like that, this would've gotten the same rating from me as the other seasons, and I probably wouldn't have even written a review. But, with the small budget this anime probably had, it isn't all that surprising.

In conclusion, if you're a fan of the series, you can watch this and still have fun. Although the art way have taken a step backward, the characters are still there, and they're still fun. And if they ever manage to make a fourth season, I'll probably watch it too. It's sometimes just the idea of an anime that keeps you entertained, as long as the characters are interesting, the scenes are funny and as long as it's still enjoyable.