Kodomo no Jikan (TV)

Kodomo no Jikan is a heavily controversial title, and with good reason. But like most controversial titles, its subject matter is not exploited in vain, and the end result is something that can be credited, at the very least, as a decent series in its own right.

No series has dared to tell the story KoJikan tells and gotten away with it, but for all the underage fanservice it provides, the heartwarming drama beneath the disturbing ecchi comedy ultimately shines. Had KoJikan been solely about the fanservice, this series would deserve all the negative criticism it has received, but there's a heavy dollop of character-driven drama ... and unique relationships, the context of which have never been explored up until now. One of its more important plot aspects is the recognition of children as having the same emotional needs as the rest of us. It's a touchy subject, but handled with precision and never crossing the line, though toeing it on occasion. Though KoJikan still handles issues it brings up head-on, it does so in an abrupt and awkward presentation, constantly and abruptly switching between drama and comedy. It may flawed in its execution, but its heart is in the right place.

Likewise, no series has dared to have characters like KoJikan's and gotten away with it. This is in great part to the main character being far more than she appears on the surface, especially when her laudably deep and complex emotions are explored. Unfortunately for most characters, they are relegated to often insulting cliche traits substitued as personalities, though this may change in future seasons. For now, the only real depth is in Rin and her cousin Reiji. However, the series should be commended on portraying 8-year-old girls with relative intelligence while acknowledging that they are still physically and mentally children. It's territory anime often skips in favor of taking the "moe" way out and its nice to see a series that portrays kids as kids.

The art is bright and cute, though the character designs are a little off-putting, especially Rin and Mimi's hair. Outside of this flaw, everything looks nice and neat. It's a slightly above-average job all around.

The music didn't stick to me but I don't remember it intruding in any way. The OP is one of my favorites, not for being a good song, but because the lyrics fit the tone of the series to a T. The ED is a hyperactive J-pop number that the audience this kind of show often attracts will enjoy greatly.

For me, KoJikan was a mixed bag. It is not anywhere near the horror that it was constantly advertised as prior to its release, nor is it entirely redeemable due to its abrupt swings between the drama and its uncomfortable brand of comedy. The end result is quite commendable though, assuming one watches this without a die-hard need to find as many disturbing details as they can.

Overall, I give Kodomo no Jikan an 8 out of 10.

I'll be honest here, Kodomo no Jikan is not the most normal animes I've ever seen but it is worthy of a review. Now this anime does takes sexual innuendo and pushes a lot and puts it onto a level of adult and child and even a little of incest in between which is where I found it to be somewhat weird.

Story 2/10
What can I say, this anime doesn't really have any major conflict or plot development. Its mostly just about the three girls: Kagami, Kokonoe and Usa harrassing there teacher Aoki ever day. When I said the sexual innuendo was present I meant ... it was coming from the children not the adult in question which just makes it even weirder than it already is.

Art 7/10
It was good and very realistic indeed. It wasn't too heavy and it usually fit itself into every situation. Can't really say whats holding it back but meh, it just seems generic though thats not to say that it was bad just generic.

Sound 8/10
Music for intro and credits were very good to be honest. They fit into the anime but I didn't really felt moved by them after listening in a couple of times through but damn that little rolling sound of their logo at the intro scares the shit out of me every time.

Character 7/10
Hmm the characters here are quite unusual. Our three main girls are in the third grade but seem very affiliated with sexual slang and terms which I don't know means anything but it really bothered me. It makes me wonder, where did they even acquire such knowledge. However they were still somewhat of an enjoyable bunch of friends. Kokonoe is in love with the teacher Aoki and forces herself upon him with harrasment and even goes as far as kissing him on the lips its kind of disgusting but yet at the same time I found myself laughing at some of this stuff. It beats me but they did a really good job of modeling child-like shenanigans. Other than that the character development was present but I didn't really feel like it took off any until the final episode.

Overall 6/10
Kodomo no Jikan is one of those animes that sticks holes in your morals if you got any but I did find it enjoyable to say the least. At first glance I was actually not going to watch it when I thought most of the character relationships were going to be the other way around [man on child] but was relieved when it was a child's doing. Though I do feel like there is something missing in this anime. The story if any, just didn't feel fulfilling at all and everything I saw was kind of expected from the git go. If you wanna watch something a little different for once I totally recommend this for you but don't take any of this anime to heart.

My first review was about the notorious School Days, so it was obvious that my next review will be about another piece of junk... Well not really, I intended to make Agame Ga Kill, but I was reading Horimiya, I took a brake and entered on MAL to check the original manga, and I dont know how, I found thise series at recomandation, and discovered that it has really great scoores: 8,9,10... WTF ?! So to save some pure souls from watching this series and maybe end up becoming lolicons (it can happen), I chose to leave Akame ga Kill for later and review ... this mediocre piece of shi... fan service...I must start by saying that I didnt finish the anime, I drop it after 3 episodes, then I read a little of manga, really fast between chapters, and spend a day reading summarys...Yep, I discovered that the manga was popular so because I am an M, I studied the story because my heart cant bear reading directly immoral stuffs or NTR. Just like I did with another series Cross and Roses, or something, about a beiach who is raped for 50 chapters, and she fall in love with the rapist... ah and she break up with the nice guy that loved her a lot to be with him - and i suffered for a week TT.TT...

Back to our review... Kodomo no Jikan is a story about horny 7-11 years girls who tires to seduce their teacher. This would be the story on short. You have this little girl who develops a crush on her teacher, a pretty normal thing (I dont know about girls, but boys had, and I had a crush for a female teacher or 2)... so is something that every normal kid would do, the problem is that this girl unlike a normal child ends up trying to get his di_k, in other words to seduce him, and she even does stuffs like blackmailing... Is pretty difficult to talk about something else, because this is the story.... Sure many would say: ''Is more than this, is a deep and dramatic story... that has some ecchi moments.'' WRONG! KnJ is an ECCHI manga about the sexualization of childrens that has some dramatic elements too - not a dramatic story that has ecchi elements... Basically, the cheap and forced drama is put there just to make this series a little more acceptable. What is really shocking is that the mangaka is actually a woman - and that is the reason why Knj has some drama, this is why KnJ wasnt just an ecchi comedy for phedophiles... Even so that doesent really help, because the series - for commercial purpouse or because of the editor - was transformed in a ecchi shouen. This series would had been much much better, maybe even become a classic, if it was a Seinen, without ecchi elements (or at least they could had been done in a mature and realistic way, not as fan-service and comedy), the ideea wasnt 100% bad, but the way it was done is horrible (90% lolicon fan-service and 10% some good elements). So why is the story done bad ? Well, in an ecchi comedy, something like a scene of masturbation for example, becomes fan-service - you will have a 7-8 years old loli rubing her pu#@y watching porns, and in the real world the Faps will be strong. That is the difference between this and Seinen, this would be seen not as erotic but as something natural, and the sturggle of a growing child, etc (of course there are some who would fap even to cracked walls, but here i am talking about responsable peoples).
Lets talk a little about, CHARACTERS. You have the horny manipulative and too mature for her age (mentally, not phisically), 7-11 years old, (that because the story follows 4 years of their life) and has a dramatic story, a lesbian loli who has a bad mounth and knows what a virgin is at her age, a too well developed girl (she has oppai... now, the problem is that I live in Europe, here girls develop fast, my sister had really big boobs at 13, another sister that is 12 now, she start do develop her boobs pretty well too... but they did it after the age of 11, and was seen as EARLY... I never, ever heard of a 7 years old with boobs - maybe only a sick one... Japnese womans are flat like a surf board, they look at 40 like Europeans at 16, so in an anime, a 7-10 years old gil with boobs, can only be seen as a fetish not reality), and the all known Male protagonist who is boring and shady like fuck, has nothing special and at 23+ is still a virgin... and a guy with a trauma. Basically the characters arent that bad, especially a 7 years girl who seem to be lesbian, in a more serious story, this would be interesting and dramatic, but is not the case here...
To keep this shorter, KnJ is a story made for phedophiles, for peoples with sick fetish about assertive little girls, who would be ready to trow in a sexual relationshp, and maybe even be experts. The difference is the protagonist, who try to keep the distance.. but in the end he falls in love with a 11 years old. And all the drama and shit wont change this fact, I see them as excuses. I actually find this offensive to great anime that got severe critics for having some 'bad'' elements... Like SAO for example (averge anime, but good example), where everyone said it suck because it had incest (- a girl in love with her cousin, who didnt feel the same. Nothing happened, he didnt sake the butty, but it was incest -_-), and on the other side anime like KissxSis or Oreimo, who are about incest are great and popular... or No Game No Life, who scared the shit of the anime fans, because of the sexualization of childrens (there where some panty shots of Shiro), it doesent matter the great plot, characters, world, artbehind the anime - there is child sexualization so it sucks, but an anime about the sexualization of childrens like this one, is great because has something deeper in it (well Rin had something deep in her in the list chapter, so...), is just like how a 10 years girl in bikini licking a banana, is Art in U15 Japanese magazine for the middle age mans who buy them.. And Yeah, ATENTION SPOILER, in the end, in manga, Aoki fuck the children on her 16th birthday... you could say is acceptable, in parts of Japan the consent age is 13, so he didnt brake the law, and he waited for her to grow up and become more mature, he is not a phedophile.. well, here is the problem, in the 5 years in which they didnt meet (but they remained in love and loyal to each other by a miracle), she didnt grow at all, she still had the body of a 9 years old, so all the phedo.. fans, recived their expected fan service with Rin over Aoki trying to fit his Alpha Male mature di@K in her little undeveloped pu@#y... and yes, she was still flat chested.
This anime doesent bring anything extraordinary to the industry, is far from being a masterpiece, is far from being even average, is a dumb an ecchi comedy, that tries to bring some serious issues and drama, but it fails, because the mangaka chose the wrong genre. The comedy even trough a main genre, is dumb, you will actually laugh at how weak and average it is, the only comedy you will get will the the lesby loli calling the MC a virgin, pantsu and ecchi stuffs, and some dumb ''funny'' situation that are still erotic (like Rin sending the MC a photo of her pu@#y by mistake). The Romance is.... you have an 11 years girl who for some reason is able to wait 5 years to be with the one she love, be loyal and give him her virginity in the end, even trough at the age of 7 she was horny like a rabbit - and yet, at the age we all get horny, our little pervert is a good future waifu... and a 23-27 guy, who wait for his 11 years old love interest to grow up and lose his virginity at 32 with her (and is unable to get a damn woman in 5 years)... More importantly you have an 7-11 years old, who is able to chose the man with which she wants to spend the rest of her life, and is able to get over some difficulties to be with him =_=... I was mature and smart at her age, and yet I would fap on playboy magazines and I was in love with the most popular girl in my class, whose name I dont even remeber now... Drama, there is drama, but is really forced, sometimes too dark, and it really feels out of the story... is to serious fo the non-serious story. In 7 years I saw many anime (my anime list is far from complete, and there is no real category for incomplete anime), I think every anime has its magic, but Kodomo no Jikan is the first anime I trought it suck, right next to KissxSis (the series).

If I recomand ? Well, you can watch this if you are someone who cant get a boner if the naked girl in front of him isnt under 12... You will most definetly enjoy, even if you arent a phedophile but you are a lolicon (boner for 2D girls under 13), you have here naked loli, masturbation, end even more at the final + tons of pantsu, so. You wont enjoy, if like me you are a normal human being with morality and normal sexual orientation (I mean towards a normal ages).
Finnal Score: 3.