The anime itself is a set of twelve episodes, each containing two sub-episodes, that are loosely tied together through a plot-line based on the unrequited feelings of romance a kinder garden student, Anzu, has towards her teacher, Tsuchida ‘sensei’, and the subsequent events that occur in their lives when together and apart. Anzu’s friends include Koume, a shy and gentle character, and Hiiragi, a cos-playing child prodigy. Strangely, yet with good reasoning, no other characters raise an objection to this blase relationship between student and teacher, and there is even some degree of acceptance, understanding and even support, especially by those that would normally be apposed to this behavior, such as the child’s parents. However, everyone manages to best live their lives alongside an almost sadistically humorous love triangle between Anzu, Tsuchida and the beautiful Yamamoto sensei.
The second response to this anime is that it is boring, having no sufficient development in the storyline and lacking in length. This response is largely due to the viewer’s lack of understanding; yes, the episodes are loosely strung together by a thin plot, but this is not the defining point of the anime, such as it is with those that follow the gradual changes in characters. Rather, the two sub-episodes cover a specific time frame during one of the main character’s lives that makes others and themselves change and grow, yet cuts out all the unnecessary in-between events, delivering only the relative material to the audience to best outline the idea or value that is to be portrayed to the audience in that sub-episode, hence the room for split stories in one twenty minute time block. Also, another point is that this type of anime utilizes a stasis plot, which is used correctly in this case to allow the episodes to branch off into smaller sub-plots yet still retain a link to the main story.
The final response is rather negative; heavy criticisms that are based on art, storyline and the characters of Anzu and Tsuchida. My views on storyline have already been outlined, so I shall proceed directly to the critiques on art. Once again, these criticisms are caused by lack of understanding. True, the artistic style used to draw the children is over-exaggerated, and detail is lost in the drawings of the adult characters and scenery. However, this is done to really drive home the idea of the distance between children and adults in society, and to present to the audience the view of the world from a ‘young child’s’ perspective, having alliterations to a child’s drawing and it’s innocent representations of character, giving rise to an almost childish drawing style that takes into account these factors.
Though it involves many adult characters, this story is ultimately based on the idea of children living in an adult world. This is why Anzu can show unseemly displays of romance towards an older character and not be ostracized by society, and also why she has a very mature personality for her age that is readily accepted by the other characters.
Though viewers may disagree with the anime on moral grounds, this is still a personal bias that doesn’t affect the quality of the anime. If taken into account the understanding of symbolism and important conventions that are often overlooked or mistaken as incorrect development, then the anime would truly have no criticisms. Of course, the average viewer does not consider these things when watching an anime for enjoyment, however it is important to note that harsh criticisms should be made after careful analysis.
Though not on this site, I have seen many blatant reviews that dismiss this anime for the reasons mentioned above. Because of that, this review may seem like an over-endorsement or over-hyped defense of the anime, however all I wish to do is present a more deeper view into the some of the aspects of the anime that have been criticized too unfairly in ways that would put off someone from what I believe to be a very good anime that I have been looking forward to every Monday for the past twelve weeks. I also look foreword to the making of a second season, and hope that it will be as deeply satisfying as the first.
