Story: 3/10
Sure you got your cute animals and cute characters, but let’s look at the bigger picture here. Yes…the idea of how bloody slow….this….anime….is……. I was very close to dropping it if it wasn’t for the humour hidden in each episode. But what the heck is with the creators making such a big fuss about a part in the plot then brush it off as…nothing. NOTHING HAPPENS UNTIL THE END! Annoying? You got it. The pace was slow going, unnecessary, and characters that should’ve and could’ve done so much more…just didn’t. There was nothing special about this plot. It was overused like every other high school romance story. The only difference is they put characters as zodiac members. The theme was cheesy, the atmosphere was dull and boring; it wasn’t a good story. It gave no purpose or message. It was just plain boring.
Art: 5/10
Not bad, but still kind of strange. I wasn’t a fan of how they designed the characters. I’m not the biggest fan of big eyed anime characters to begin with but there is a limit on how big the eyes can be. If there was a contest for what anime character had the biggest eyes, Tooru Honda would win hands down! The male characters were perfect example on how they should’ve been in this anime, and Tooru just…no. Just no.
And the zodiac characters….okay, they aren’t fuzzy little plush toys you can cuddle. I think the dog and cat was the only normal design. The dragon is not….BLAHHH! A dragon is a dragon! And I was so disappointed on how they designed the dragon as so….soft! What ever happened to the old days when the zodiac animals weren’t…a cartoon?
Sound: 3/10
Word of advice…watch this in subbed. I feel like I probably would’ve enjoyed it….you know what…it wouldn’t have changed either way for me. But I watched it in dubbed, meaning I had to live through the squeaky and high voice of Tooru Honda. I love Laura Baily, but this character wasn’t for her. Every time I heard that Tooru speak made my head hurt. I’m disappointed in the dub cast of this anime. I regret not watching this in subbed.
The opening song was a good choice! Until the episode started. When you watch an anime, the opening is a crucial element to the whole story. It’s what sets the watcher up, prepares them for an epic journey, gets them pumped and makes them feel what the anime is all about. The opening song gave a clear message: This anime has a tragic/ angst type story. The slow beats and the melancholy feeling it gave me was promising, but it didn’t tie into the genre, style, or atmosphere of the story. I mean sure it might’ve in the ending episodes, but through the first twenty, when they showed happy scenes with happy characters, it just made me shake my head. I skipped the opening since I had no interest in it.
Character: 2/10
One character: Tooru Honda. I think from reading the last part of my review will tell you all how I feel about this character. She’s whiny. She’s annoying. She’s someone who pretends that nothing is wrong. Okay…the world is not all sunshine and rainbows and this girl tries way too much to try and make it so. Can I please shake her to her senses? Does she not have an angry bone in her body? I don’t think she shows more emotion than just joy until the climax. She’s probably one of my least favourite characters.
Through the zodiac members, the only one I really liked was Shigure Souma and Kyou Souma. They should the humour in the anime and made me keep watching. Perhaps it was Kyou’s past that made me want to know more about him. These two characters were the only interesting part of the anime. End of story.
Enjoyment/Overall: 3/10
In short, or to summarize what I just said, this anime was a basket full of rotten fruit. And when your fruit gets rotten, you throw it out. I just didn’t throw it out in time. This anime may be well known, but don’t waste your time. If you do want to watch it…watch in subbed.
I give this a 32% on the Rotten Fruits Basket scale.
