Kimi no Iru Machi

Kimi No Iru Machi

When i first time watched the first episode, i felt like i'm going to watch a real romance anime, but then everything started to go a little wrong for me. Actually the beggining is making you to continue watching as long as you'll recognize every single character.

Story.
This anime has one of the most wonderful love stories ever. It shows how strong can be loving personality. And shows that love is stronger than any type of friendship. When friend challenges ill friend for his former girlfriend, that's really unbelievable. Actually if it was me, i would let him to die thinking that he ... has won. The end of the storyline was wonderful, but i was hoping they would show Asuka in the end with someone handsome and made for her.

Art.
Can't say anything good or bad about art, i think it was ok. Because in some animes because of bad art you star to hate that anime.

Sound.
Everything was beautiful, and sound is not an exepction.

Characters.
Lead characters
I don't think they were made for each other. Even though when they were together they were making the cutest scenes of the whole anime, but they were really not made for each other. I don't know. I feel like Haruto and Asuka would be wonderful couple if Haruto loved her.
About Supporting characters. None of them had his/her own storyline here. Some animes also show stories and loves of supporting characters, but here no one actually deserved it, because i think everything was based on lead ones.

Overall.
I'm really happy i've watched this anime because i've had 1000s of feelings watching this.
9/10

Please read through this before u skip on this story just for its not so positive reviews and rating.

(I am not an active social media person and this might actually be my one and only public comment/review ever. so please bear thru with this. Also please try to feel through the review rather than going by a word by word meaning because thats what this show is also about)

FEEL. The best word to decribe this show. It makes you feel so many emotions during its showtime and keeps you glued to watch the next scene. I am going to say this here and now, ... you might or might not(probably the later) like this show, but it will definetily be a worthy watch, atleast it was for me.
The characters aint perfect, they lie to both themselves and others, they cheat and they dont act as MC, Villain or SideKicks. The hearbreaks and rejection is raw, not all the time is remedy shown for the one who is suffering. Characters get hurt, just for falling in love. And you feels all those emotions with them. The story aint perfect, actually its neither good nor bad, its just there for you to watch it. But is it worth a watch? Definetily. Somehow this show feels so real that it might just take place in real life. The love depicted in the show just feels so true: slowly growing closer towards eachother, realising your true feelings but still being unable to show them, unable to move on after being rejected and re ignition of it after couple years when you go through a memorial incident that happened in the past. I might forget the character names, the place names, hell even the anime itself(tbh this is why wrote this review so i might rememeber to rewatch it later in life by finding this review in my mal history), but i m pretty sure i am going to remember this story in this way "there was this guy , he met her, she loved him, then this happened and then that...".

I am going to say this again, you need to first watch it to grow to hate it and even then you wont regret watching it, its that kind of show.

I know a lot of people say to read the manga because it's "better", but it's for good reason.

People who haven't read the manga may see us as some original source elitists, but you will never be able to experience everything the mangaka had to offer and his style of writing drama, through an the anime that plows through entire arcs within episodes.

The manga was like a roller coaster of feels that spanned through years of years of Haruto's life. However, the anime is just like a compiled highlight reel of all of that, and because of it, the effect is not as great.

Kimi no ... iru machi is a manga that a lot of other "romance" and "harem series don't really like to go through. It goes through relationships and breakups until he finds the one who he really feels that completes his life. This is shown through spanning arcs in the manga and you can really feel the sense of living his life as he goes through highschool, moving, graduating, and then living on his own.

Sadly, the anime only has 12 episodes and it becomes difficult to capture that sense of time passing by.

Finally, I'm not saying NOT to watch the anime, but it would be great if you all gave the manga a chance. I've read the manga twice and it made go through a variety of emotions and sometimes making me flip tables literally xD. I feel like it would be fun to share that same experience, so that's why I took the time to write this up!

Happy reading everyone!

Thanks,
-morekawaiipls

Disclaimer: I am not reviewing the manga, nor will I be basing this review on the accuracy of this story when compared to the source material, I am simply writing a review for the anime.

Now obviously, the very nature of reviews are anecdotal, but I hope that you will bypass all the other reviews that rate this show low, because to be frank people are f**king idiots and incredibly biased, don't listen to them, listen to me, the smart one. Okay, now that we have that out of the way, lets begin the review.

Reasons You Should Watch This Show: The realism of ... the relationships and situations portrayed in this series consisting of only 12 episodes and 4 OVA's are relatable and thought provoking. If you're anything like me you try to find as much meaning in a story as possible, and in my opinion the best selling point of this anime is in the way the story is told, and the ability to sway your emotions throughout the anime, as well as make you question the actions taken by the characters and whether or not they are the wrong or right ones; the ones you would take had it been you in their situation.

Story: The story isn't perfect, but it's far from bad. The story consists of the MC trying to figure out his heart and the lengths he's willing to go for the girl he loves. I really enjoyed the concept of the story and the amount of meaning that can be found within the plot. One issue some people had is that the story was a bit rushed compared to the manga, and to a certain extent I agree that at times it did feel rushed, but nothing too bad. 7/10

Characters: One of the best parts of this show is the characters, as the story goes on all of the major characters are developed. As they get older they act different towards each other and show their feelings differently. Just like most anime's though, the MC makes a lot of stupid decisions that could have easily been avoided, and although the characters are great, due to the 12 episode run time you miss out on a lot of potential character development. Imo though, I think this anime did the best job it could do on developing characters within such a short period. In addition you have 4 OVA's focused on tying up loose ends and providing extra backstory. 9/10

Sound/Music: The soundtrack written by Keiichi Oku fits the atmosphere nicely and there are plenty of great songs that stand out in their own right. The OP and ED are bomb as well. As far as voice acting goes, the Japanese actors did a phenomenal job portraying their characters. 8/10

Visuals/Animation: The art is very unique and is very pretty at times, though I noticed that the animation can be lazy. For example, they won't animate the characters talking if it's at the end of a sentence and the camera pans back to them. If you are familiar with the Monogatari series, the animation is very similar but not as "edgy". 8/10

Enjoyment: Overall I related a lot with the main character and the decisions he ended up making. I really enjoyed the way the story was told, it was predictable at times but it also had a lot of unpredictable moments that had me eager to watch the next episode to find out what would happen. If you're into romance and are looking for something to relate to, this anime is for you.

Story: 7/10
Characters: 9/10
Sound/Music: 8/10
Visuals/Animation: 8/10
Enjoyment: 10/10

Final Rating: 8/10

Trust me this is going to be the best anime you WILL ever watch. Ignore the other review they are just bots. After watching this anime my eyes have opened, there was not one episode that I was disappointed with. I'm pretty sure this anime will be considered one of the best of the decade, no best of the entire history of anime. Trust me, with this anime you will be able to find your true goals in life. I want to and I will become exactly like the protagonist in this amazing anime. You will love this, you must love this.

Highly underrated and misunderstood Anime. 9/10 in my personal opinion. Recommended for people that don't want a typical cliche humor romance, but something more realistic with a deeper meaning.

This will be an analytical interpretation of the story and thoughts passing through each character. I suffered from a lot of trauma (PTSD) in my life and have a very deep psychological understanding of sorrow, hope, despair, grief, depression and various other complex emotions and most importantly: LOVE.

SPOILERS INCLUDED.

The most highlighted emotion in this anime is that of true love. I am not talking about a simple crush like you have on someone you find attractive. This ... is the kind of love that you'll only experience once in your life if you are lucky enough (I for one was lucky enough). Your sense of logic and kindness gets overwritten by the deep desire to grasp that love that you lost, once more and this time hold on to it as tight as you can. It's the kind of love that will make you lose all reason. It's the kind of love that will fill your heart with pure bliss and turn your mind into a permanent happy drug. It's the kind of love that is impossible to understand unless you experienced it.

I hope this explanation of what true love is, helps you understand my analysis better.

Haruto is your run-off-the-mill typical high school student. Nothing special about him in the beginning, except that he has a crush on a high school girl. Then he stumbles upon his fateful encounter as a kid, but is unaware of what that means for his future life. He then meets his fated love in form of Yuzuki Eba during high school but forgot about her (pretty stupid plot flaw at this point as such an encounter is highly memorable, but let's give him the benifit of doubt).

She (Yuzuki Eba) invades his fairly boring life with so much energy, that he has no choice but to fall head over heels in that loveable person. Why is she so energetic though? Such coincidence is miraculous on paper, but she herself already fell in love with him at young age and that memory stuck with her as one of her happiest (very important for the plot development).

Sidestep into Yuzuki's life: Yuzuki returns to Tokyo after her childhood memory with Haruto. Get's mentally tormented by her younger sister. This kind of torment turns her entire psyche into a mess. At this point she is full of despair and pities herself, believing she is unwanted. The Kyousuke comes into the picture as the white knight that saves her from her misery. Slowly she accepts his kindness and sees him as a true friend that is too kind to be true (this is very real for someone that is suffering deeply, anyone that is remotely kind is idolized). He falls in love with her, she rejects him, but feels terrible for doing so.

Back to main story: Yuzuki is a lot more cheerful after being saved from misery and back together with the person she truly loves, Haruto. He then also notices that he is deeply in love with her too, but then ugly destiny pitches into their beautiful love and makes their life an entire utter mess. Kyousuke is the most to blame for this mess, although he is a good guy at heart with no ill intentions.

From the Anime itself it is unclear if Kyousuke indirectly blackmailed Yuzuki with his illness and abusing her weak and kind heart to give in to his desires. However, it is clear that Yuzuki feels terrible for the person that saved her from her weakest state and feels like she owes him all he desires, since his own life is about to run out.

Here on out the misunderstandings of the viewers occurs: "Yuzuki treating Haruto like trash and rejecting him". This statement is as wrong as can be. What really happens is: Yuzuki rejects Haruto because she is extremely confused. Not only that, but she is too kind of a person to let her "white knight" (Kyousuke) suffer any more than he already does, so she gives in to giving him the mutual love he desires (but it's fake love). Yuzuki isn't at fault here, she has no ill intentions at all and hopes it's the correct choice.

Kyousuke dies and now the REAL mess begins. Haruto lost a great friend, Yuzuki lost her saviour and good friend. Both of them are mentally broken at this point. Both of them drown in an ocean of despair and sorrow. The love they shared is lost in their extremely messy psyche.

Both of them are highly vulnerable at this point. Any kind of affection will give them comfort. Yuzuki probably gets the affection of her younger sister, because her younger sister starts to feel bad for her (this isn't clear in the anime but the best interpretation I have).

And Asuke who always had a crush on Haruto, finally makes a move on him in his most vulnerable state. He takes it as a substitute love, but it's truly just a substitute to his true love. Asuka may be genuine about the love, she is fairly simple and probably also seeks comfort after the loss of her seemingly best friend Kyousuke. And so Haruto and Asuka intertwine in a mostly onesided and fake relationship. While on surface the relationship they have looks like they make a cute couple, Haruto still suffers deeply from losing so many things along the line.

Haruto got driven into so many corners, that he can't act like a nice person anymore and stops caring about trying to make everyone happy. So instead he pursues his own dream of reclaiming his one and only true love.

Yuzuki finally having dealt with all her past issues, can now let her heart roam freely and thus inevitably floating back to the only person she ever truly loved, her fated encounter: Haruto. Initially she just acts like she just wants a friendship with him (trust me, I am in a similar boat right now), but in reality she just wants to not lose Haruto anymore and get closer to him once more with the last grain of hope she has for fulfilling her love wish.

Haruto becomes a scumbag towards Asuka, because loves rules over reason. If you think Haruto is just a simple asshole, you never suffered enough in your life to understand the pain he is actually going through (or okay, yes it is an anime and fictional character, so just imagine a real person like me).

What do both characters suffer from? Let's name the issues and constant stress they deal with:
-> Heartbroken (mostly depression)
-> Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (leads to depression and various other terrible things)
-> Hopelessness (caused by the constant obstacles their relationship gets plagued with)
-> Distance
-> a few additonal minor issues that add up to the count but not worth mentioning to keep the list focused on the main issues

I suffer from more than that, but less is enough to drive them insane in their rational mindset. So ofcourse Haruto can't play Mr. Niceguy towards Asuka anymore and the pre-doomed fake relationship they had together comes to an obvious end. Asuka doesn't deserve to be treated like that, but there is no helping his attitude. Many viewers are probably aggrevated for Haruto's behaviour towards Asuka, especially when he lies all the time. Rather than hating him tho, pity him instead. He is suffering so much, that he feels like he needs to lie to one of his most precious people in life.

Then after their breakup, Haruto feels terrible about himself and Yuzuki notices that Haruto is severely hurt and highly vulnerable once again from having to break the heart of Asuka. The pain he suffers at that point is immeasurable and extremely hard to put into words, just imagine staring into eternal emptiness.

After coming clean with Asuka, he can finally pursue his dream of fulfilling his deepest desire once again: Come together with Yuzuki one final time and enjoy their long awaited mutual and beautiful true love.

The ending and how it's displayed in a tone of despair with a dark rainy mood setting at the end really shows that true love comes with a price when so much shit got between you and your true love.

People that understand this kind of psychological aspect of the characters, can really respect the author for trying his best at displaying such realistic and beautiful love to the audience without all the cliche anime garbage that floods the anime market. I am talking about all the nonsense humor that usually gets put on display in romance animes with the addition of pointless pantyshots and other fanservice.

This anime was an interesting one to say the least. It had many flaws but also many pros that made it an enjoyable one to watch.

Story:
The story of this anime was good, but in my opinion, it lacked clarity. Often throughout the anime, you find yourself confused or puzzled in regards to what is actually happening. Constantly, there are flashbacks that generally complicated the story and ultimately made it hard to follow. In my opinion, i did not hate the story. Instead, i quite enjoyed it despite the countless flaws that were present.

Art:
Many can criticize the animation by saying that the characters and setting ... were poorly drawn. However, i could argue otherwise because i honestly believe that the animation in this anime was not bad. Although, there were many parts that were terribly done, i would still say that the art was not bad. If i were to give my honest opinion, i would say that the art was fair. There was nothing special as the anime contained simplistic animations and ordinary color use.

Sound:
This was probably the best thing the show had going for it. Oddly enough, i quite enjoyed the music and sounds used within this anime. I felt as though the producers used music/sounds effectively draw out a particular mood within the anime.

Character:
The characters were good, but was not excellent. At times, it is seen that the characters lacked substance. In other words, it can be seen that the producers rushed the development of the characters resulting in dull and vague personalities. Personally, i did not mind the characters, but i do feel as though they could have been developed more.

Enjoyment:
I could honestly say that i enjoyed this anime, despite all its flaws. There were easily more cons than pros in this anime, but even so, the anime was one that was quite amusing to watch.

Overall:
As a final statement, i can say that this was a good anime. To anyone who enjoys watching anime that involves romance then this is definitely one that is worth checking out. After watching this anime, i can honestly recommend it to everyone as it was one that was quite enjoyable.

Kimi Ni Machi Iru is a finely paced romance about Haruto, the protagonist, searching and hoping to reunite with an old flame. The audience is strung along the main characters quest as he tries to reconnect with his long lost love, with many questions, secrets, trials and tribulations along the way. Romance stories, or at least good ones, are always roller coasters to say the least and usually are always told in the same way. However, Kimi Ni Machi Iru finds its way to reuse the old methodology and turn it into a new refreshing tale of love. Watching the main characters journey unfold is ... definitely worth watching.

Story: 8.3 -
The story isn't innovative by any means, and it usually revolves around the same concept. A good way to compare Kimi Ni Machi Iru is like comparing it to a Korean Drama show. They always tell it the same way, but it is how they use it, is the key to success. Throughout the story, there are well placed literary devices (symbolism/foreshadowing/irony etc.) and without a keen eye, one could miss out on a completely well developed scene.

Animation: 8.5 -
The art direction definitely has a stylized theme to it, from hues or rather colors depicting the mood and setting of the situation or scene to, warm, calming and serene pastel like colors. Oftentimes, there is no attention to detail, which can be confusing and the question of why it couldn't have just been consistent arises, however overall, it does deserve an honorable mention.

Characters: 8.3 -
The characters are probably the hardest thing to rate in Kimi Ni Machi Iru, and it's definitely going to be opinionated. Each character in the story are very like-able and most likely the audience will end up choosing their favorites (Here comes the rage!). Get ready to see the males name x females name on youtube or comment posts, although the story is most likely predetermined. The characters display their emotions quite vividly, which is also complemented with the art & animation, which can be truly taxing on the soul. These characters deliver a very realistic and very human emotions, that often the viewer can definitely relate to, even if sometimes we might not agree with from a story standpoint or perspective.

Wow Factor: 8.5 -
Kimi Ni Machi Iru does not disappoint and will keep the audience quite amused/engaged until the very end or perhaps just the opposite, to people who compare it to the manga. The story and its characters in it will take you for a heart felt, possibly tear jerking melodramatic journey that is absolutely worth a watch.

Final Grade: 8.4 / 10 - > 8 (Anime List)
+ Good use of Literary Devices (Used in story telling, ex: Foreshadowing, Symbolism etc.)
+ Good use of flash backs
+ Opening Intro & Song (MIMI MEME MIMI - Sentimental Love)

- Sometimes too easy to read & generic of whats to come
- More consistency with the Art style

Review by: AzurexSky of AniRaters

Kimi no Iru Machi - a twisted love story.

I'll just start off with saying, I haven't read the manga yet, so I'm not going to say anything about the manga. The anime however, was a whole different animal in essence and I personally felt that the animators did a poor job on this then they have with other works I've known them to do.

The Plot ~
Overall the plot depicted by the anime is ok. At first the fast pace of the anime had me entertained, but as I progressed through the story I realized just how down to earth and simple it was. There ... was a lot of going back and forth between past and present, and sometimes this was pieced together in a way that simply became incomprehensible and incoherent to the manga.

The story itself (as depicted by the anime) seems downright flawed and cruel, basically weak-willed boy (Haruto) has his girl (Eba) cheat on him, he wants her back but she's with a friend of his who's about to die, so he's stuck with a dilemma. So he hitches another girl (Asuka) nearby. Then he cheats on that girl.

So between the characters cheating, that really all they let you see in this anime and its kind of depressing as a whole.

The Art ~
The art wasn't that bad. It seemed more like Modern Shoujo to me. There seems to be this presence of "static" in the motions created by the animators, but this should not diminish your viewing of the anime--just minor lighting aspects could have been tweaked to make the anime more bold and color-appealing like other animes.

The Sound ~
The OP and ED aren't half bad for this song. I gave this a 9 out of 10. The anime as a whole could've used more string orchestra sound tracks in my honest opinion.

Characters~
This had me pretty sad. Not only do the animators show you so little of the characters' character, but also the fast paced story doesn't give you time to breathe and analyze the characters as a whole.

Haruto basically lacks a pair and when he gets it he's stuck with a dilemma of friendship. At first I pitied him because Eba leaves him, but towards the end I kind of understand why. I hated him when he cheats on Asuka and doesn't do anything when Asuka confronts him. To be honest when they were coming clean to each other I wish Haruto got up and stopped Asuka from leaving, beg her and tell her he was sorry and tell her not to leave.

But then again, thats another story.

Eba more or less PMS's half the story. First she likes Haruto like crazy, then she likes this other guy, then she wants to steal Haruto back when Haruto's going out with another girl? What's her problem?

Asuka is perhaps my favorite, as she's the most human and understandable character throughout the entire anime. She portrays the every day girl, in essence, and when she is betrayed she is the only character I actually was able to sympathize with.

Rin is your archetypal tsundere. She likes Haruto and hates her older sister, and yet gives Haruto advice and even aids the two in getting back together. I don't really understand her--why doesn't she just grab Haruto herself?

As for the rest of the characters--I can't really say much. And the reason is because the animators failed to show more of each character--the only image you're able to grasp is a shallow image of one.

Overall ~
To be honest this piece could have used more work.

If you like twisted and denied Romance then this is the anime for you. 3.5 out of 5 stars for the undeniably twisted and cruel Romance "Kimi no Iru Machi".

I've been reading the manga since the last 2 years. I quite enjoy it then stopped. It got boring maybe because I saw no ending to it AND maybe because there's many readers that they won't put an ending to it. Wait, I'm not here to talk bout the manga, WELL, i realized the story is very good for it has finally became an anime. The anime is not as good as the manga thou. But you must give it a try coz the twist of the story is really3x great!

The story is about a hometown boy named Haruto who chased a girl to the ... big city because he realized he loved her. That girl is Yuzuki Eba. Yuzuki is a city girl from Tokyo who went to Haruto's hometown to study because her father sent her there. But the truth is, Yuzuki is also looking for the promise boy she met when she were a kid, and that is Haruto. They lived in the same roof. But Haruto doesn't seem like Yuzuki(maybe coz Yuzuki is a little clingy, and flirty. LOL). When Yuzuki is about to leave the hometown, Haruto saw a picture of them when they were a kid. And that thing gave Haruto a hint that Yuzuki is being like that because he promised something to Yuzuki.

That's all I wanna share. The story is really great, like, you'll be surprise most often.

P.S Haruto is HOTTER in manga BELIEVE ME. Ck it out!

If you plan on watching this anime, then allow me to give you a fair heads up: it is best to read the manga first.
I found that this anime (same with the OVA's) are more orientated for the fans of the manga, it gives off a vibe of nostalgia.
Obviously the anime has some pros and cons, but note that I view the shows differently, and as far as a review goes, this is my first.

Story: It is pretty basic. Boy meets Girl, Boy loses Girl, Boy gets Girl back, happy.
However in this case, you can by-pass the "Boy meets Girl" part, and add ... alot of little twists and troubles in there.

Art: There are times when the animation seems to be sloppy, as if at times the animators said "meh..no-one will notice..", and the faces appear to be very generic, but that's about it. The background/scenery art was pretty cool, and at times when there was a still frame, they made it look like a water colour based painting.

Sound: Voice acting was good, alot of emotion put into the acting. Also the 2nd Ed (end of episode 6?) made me cry, the music (and the music throughout) suited the anime. If it was sad, the music gave that vibe, and so-forth.

Character: Well if you watched the anime as an introduction to the series, you may not be too attached to the characters. Haruto is the indecisive protagonist, Eba is "the one who got away" (literally!) and the MC's main love interest. However! All the characters can be relate-able. What ever decision Haruto made, you can see where he's getting at and understand why he did as such. you feel for Eba when all is revealed why she left Haruto, and the interactions between the two (and all other characters) is heart wrenching.

Now I for one greatly enjoyed this anime. It gave me nostalgia, made me cry, made me want to falcon punch my laptop so many times, and made me happy. If you want to watch a show that tugs on your heart strings and can make you feel empty at times, the I recommend this. HOWEVER! I highly suggest you read the manga, or up til vol 10 (therefore you know the characters and understand the anime's setting) If not, then the OVA's do a re-cap of the first 5 or 7 volumes of the manga.

Kimi no iru machi is an interesting anime about a teenager (16-17) who falls in love at a young age to another teenager who had moved from Tokyo to the countryside but she then has to return to Tokyo. The protagonist then becomes an adult pretty much and goes to Tokyo to chase after the girl of his dreams. But of course it's not that simple, the protagonist is lead through multiple emotional hurdles and it's up for him to decide, if giving up relationships is worth continuing his venture for his love.

Story: 8
The structure of the anime is quite unique and at first ... I found it sort of annoying and almost didn't understand how they were going to fit everything in as there were constant flashbacks but the further you get into the anime, the more you can understand and respect the flashbacks as they actually add a reasonable amount of character development; slowly releasing some information to add contextual value to the current point you're at. I've seen this outside of anime but not too often in anime so it's nice to see some more structural techniques in that regard. In addition, the anime is split in half meaning halfway through the anime there'll be a huge leap in time, I think was two years (could be one) and the protagonist went in a different direction to then return back to his original direction through an interesting process and the moral at the end of story was quite nice. And that leads us to the ending, personally I was quite happy due to the sour but sweet ending leaving really no cliches and actually came to a conclusion. Meaning, no cliffhangers.

Characters: 8
In regards to the characters, I felt the protagonist Kirishima lacked good character development probably due to the squeeze upon the content in the first half of the anime but he has good qualities, which definitely brought interest at least and for some perhaps respect for what he was trying to achieve being hooking up with Eba. For example, his dedication is admirable and the troubles he went through to achieve his goals are relatable. Should I break this friendship to be with my love? Those sort of troubles/decisions. Character wise for Eba, the girl who the protagonist is trying to hook up could be seen as missing contextual value and etc but honestly I think this was done on purpose because we're slowly feed context about her at particular times and some may detest that but honestly I think it creates a bit of a hole, but a hole you wish to fill. Even at the end, we don't fully understand her and I think that's great because it shows the future isn't going to just be smooth sailing but a normal typical relationship that has its ups and downs. In addition, not fulling understanding her makes you want to know more and for the context they do give, it's more valuable. In that regard, you'll either love it or finding it irritating so you'll just have to find out yourself.

Art & music: 6.5
Music was quite nice and executed at appropriate times and additionally the art was nice but lack true colors, in other words it came off almost mildly washed out or bland, which was disappointing since the actual art is nice but it's just the colors. I'm not saying it's awful, most definitely tolerable but it could of been more colorful.

Conclusion:

Definitely would recommend to people a fan of romance, I'd considered it a must but definitely isn't a masterpiece. But honestly, the rushed areas at the beginning weren't nice; in fact the anime should of added more episodes because this problem occurs all the time where developers shove too much content into episodes. But the characters are memorable for their goals and it's definitely a chill anime to watch so check it out at least.

I'm sure not many people like this anime because of obvious reasons, biggest one of all is the huge emotion rollercoaster that it is, and how it was developed. Well, I do not know if anybody will read this, but this anime will only be good for a select few because of the realism in it (not in the way that it turned out), somebody has to suffer, and almost always, it is the person least deserving of it. I know this because I am doing this right now. In my last year at elementary school I met a girl which just shook my ... world, left we gasping for air, was the only thing I was looking forward in the day, just to look at her. It was the first time, and maybe last, what I experienced to be in love. Even so, I was the most shy guy, so I did not get to talk to her much, but since I was so God dang obvious, people caught up, and so did she. Turns out we both liked each other, but nothing happened due to our mutual shyness. Here's the thing, we went to the same middle school, and when I finally got the courage to, on that summer after the 8th grade, confess, she actually said she liked me back, only to see her in a relationship with some other guy on the start of 9th grade, and that fucked me up bigtime. Thing is, things did not last long with the guy, and by mid second semester, she was single, and we started talking (Yeah, I know, why the fuck should I talk to her after that, but my feelings just wouldnt go away). I actually confessed one more time, which was the last time. She reciprocated my feelings, however, she moved to a distant country on the end of that summer (Great, I know). This is where things differ from what this anime is and my own life, but it is still a great lesson for you, and will help you aprreciate the anime. Time passed, I never felt the same about anybody again. It wasnt until my junior year of highschool in which I felt alone, and i felt like i should not be suffering like this. Because of this, I dated a girl which I liked, but wasn't exactly in love with, and that's why, after a year, it did not work out, me getting bored and probably destroying the girl's feelings. Then senior year went by and I decided to just hang with by friends and all that, and it went by.
We each went our separate ways, with only 2 of my close friends joining me at the state university which I chose. On my first year of college I met this girl, which I like alot and am currently still with her, after a year, two months and twenty days (yup, im in second year on college RN). Issue is, that girl from the 8th grade, remember her? Well she came back, and although she is not on the same state university as me, she is in the one of my hometown. CAN YOU FUCKING BELIEVE IT! Even today, although I know she toyed with me, although not on purpose, and did many more things to me, I still feel feelings toward her, even though I'm very happy on my current relationship. However, if she were to pop up in front of me one day, I seriously don't know what I would do. Yes, even though I have not seen her in years, have not talked to her, I still feel a strong affection... I guess that might be the difference between your first/true love, which I think is what this anime is about, how that feeling is never fully over, as I, after 8 years, still feel it. Life is rough, relationships are hard, somebody has to suffer, and sometimes, it is the person me want to suffer the least, but either we just go with the flow, or we step up, do what we have to do, and accept the consequences head on.
Sorry, I guess its not much of a review but a vent huh... But, for some reason, I think this story will be truly useful to you guys wondering if this anime is worth watching. For me? It sure as hell was

PS. Sorry about grammar and stuff (especially since by my age, I should be writting properly) but it's 2 am over here and I am quite tired.

This anime is definitely my no.1 drama/romance. It talks about drama in anywhere I've watched this series. Although I was kinda shocked a little bit that some in the episodes they jump into the future, a future where some of the characters has grown up. Somehow somewhat the name of this anime although it's just simple as that but still, it gives an impact towards the series itself. Kimi no Iru Machi : A Town Where You Live, where the main character chasing her love in Tokyo because he loves her too much. It's weird how the main character at first didn't care or found ... the main heroine attractive. I was like, "What happened with his old crush before?". I honestly love this anime because I feel like I got hooked because of the drama. I feel like I have to know what happens next. I sometimes wish that I could love someone like this series would. A love that is just beautiful in a lot of ways. Unlike my reality, a crush is just a crush in which leads to a hopeless one at fact. This series is just beautiful and just heart-wrecking when it comes to romance with drama. But still, Kimi no Iru Machi, I wish this has a second season after quite awhile. I mean, I really wanna know after the original series.

By way of storytelling that uses flow back and forth, not just anime is immediately able to become curious because it gives a kind of mystery, he also managed to give astrong foundation to the story immediately explain the fact that started everything, which is why Haruto until compelled to pursue Yuzuki to Tokyo. But strangely, at the same time, this anime overlook one other important facts, whichis why it's time Yuzuki had to suddenly return to Tokyo. Although later it became less relevant, there are questions that have overshadowed when the story between Haruto and Yuzuki kept walking. If they are so fond of ... each other, why then they split up? But on the other hand,in spite of the problems surrounding theirpast, including about how many times the actual Yuzuki visiting Hiroshima, it still presents drama anime Haruto and Yuzuki quite nice. He was not anything special, but at least this anime is able to provide all the fans of this genre will want. Poignant moments or moments adorable, there is a true curiosity that appears when watching this anime to see if in the end will Haruto along with Yuzuki or not.

First things first. My "reviews" system is explained on a blog entry. Which can be found through my profile.
------
Also I should notice, this is a bit of odd/unique case. Precisely this is probably the first Anime where I read Manga first before watching Anime. Reasoning for that would be that Anime skipped first 60 chapters or so of Manga. Thus I decided to pick up the Manga before watching Anime. Manga I absolutely loved, and Anime version of this work I pretty much watched right after manga [few days inbetween).

Wanted to add +1 score modifier because of this, but scratch that Idea. Even if ... I love romance genre, I don't want bump up score for such reason.

✦Story
Well, to not write exactly same thing as I did for Manga, I shalt keep the common element short. TLDR; Beautiful and dramatic pure love/vanilla romance with the shade of moronic drama.

Well, it would be just romance without stupidity factor that I call drama. (that what makes drama, drama)

So anyhow, I should probably mention the Issues I had with this Anime (might be also somewhat affect from reading beforehand). Main Issue I had with it, was the world was less richer, lot of characters didn't get the affection they deserver in its Animated glory. Also the first 60-80 Manga chapters were skipped in Anime, but presented somewhat in flashbacks form. Basically, to rate by Anime itself as standalone, it was okay for most part. But with only 13 episodes, it just didn't build itself up as good. Felt as many important factors were not present, emotions deliverance was a tad weak, rushed story. But in the end it was enjoyable and for most part pretty vanilla romance/pure love/successful true love and so on. Finale was acceptable I guess, though kinda was closed with a "scar".

✦Art

First all let me get this off the chest. It's different from Manga that's for sure, and not in enjoyable direction.

Anyhow, the Art/animation of this Anime felt quite a low budget. Characters and shading felt oddly weird and not as beautiful I remembered it from OVA (quite different feel from Manga as well, if matters). Animation felt at times very cheap or simply not packing enough punch. With budget choices artistic scenes were for the most part actually quite a nice touch. Should add that the camera angle switches, characters constantly moving, was obnoxious at times. Don't try shaft, you didn't succeed.

Fanservice, "meh". (if matters, then very toned down and plain in comparison to Manga, where I absolutely loved it, but as have to mention again. They are quite a different things)

✦Sound

Voice acting on some characters felt somewhat bad. Also hated how actual children were voice acting in some flashback sequences. That just sounds horrible no matter where.

Opening song was okay, but ending I absolutely loved. "Kimi No Iru Machi" songs, not the Kazama one.

Soundtrack itself I have mixed feelings about. It definitely had presence, but it also had very odd style. In odd in a way I wasn't fond of.

✦Character
Kind yet indecisive main guy, wanted to hurt noone, kept also at some things his distance and so on. Main girl cheerful, but not honest with herself.

Lot of cute side-characters. Some tomboys as well, and some that sadly didn't get barely any screentime.

Kanzaki and Kiyomi were my favorite.

✦Enjoyment/overall

First it disappointed me, gave it 6, then I could get into usual mindset that Manga/Anime are 2 different things. Watch/read them as different pieces of work. Then I could enjoy it a bit more, halfway I could give it 7.

Yes, I did have quite some parts that disappointed me, but the core of pure love and their struggle in a moronic drama, remained. Thus I in the end, enjoyed it. But I simply couldn't enjoy it as much as I did manga. Many important factors were missing.

Short and sweet review. Do you know what to expect from romance anime and are tired of people pointing out the "genre stereotypes" and then judging the anime around that? Just want to know if you should watch it? I've got you covered.

So this was just a standard romance anime for me. It wasn't bad. It wasn't amazing. It was just good. Solid example of the genre. Animation looked unique, but wasn't particularly amazing for me personally.

Story is standard love interest with feelings realized too late, a plot twist mid story that pits friends against each other, and some more twists near the end ... that lead full circle.

However, the beginning of the show is a little weird. The timeline is all over the place, since they kinda throw you in halfway through right out of the gate and use flashbacks to fill in the story over the course of the first few episodes. This initially turned me off and I put off watching this for a while. I eventually came back to it and once you watch the first couple episodes everything starts coming together story-wise once you have some of the flashbacks under your belt. Additional flashbacks happen throughout the short season. I like the time skips ahead, which serve to advance the plot and create additional drama due to the short nature of the show.

If you've exhausted better options already, this is a good show that won't leave you feeling disappointed. Plot points are tied up and the ending is mostly happy. Just don't expect the moon and you'll enjoy it.

HIGHLIGHTS: Short and to the point, plot twistsssss, time skips forward, Solid young romance anime entry

DISAPPOINTMENTS: Time skips backwards, a little too short and to the point, plot twistssssss, nothing really stands out.

I’ll start off by saying some people in the reviews are mad at how irresponsible and reckless the characters are with others - but that is EXACTLY how humans are in real life. Humans cheat, they lie, they break up, get together and love, get with someone while wanting someone else. It’s the nature of human beings. So, I do not dislike the show because of how it shows that nature of humans, I dislike it because it doesn’t get too deep on WHY the characters are doing those behaviors. In the show they usually say “oh because of love” okay? Cool? Yes people make ... stupid decisions because of love, but I wanted the show to really delve into the characters insecurities/toxic behaviors - which they did not. So a lot of the decisions being made seemed shallow - but also understandable because sometimes human actions are not able to be understood.

So, that is why I’m stuck between giving this show a 7 or an 8. I decided to chose a 7 just because of how predictable the ending was and how shallow the characters were.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

ART: The art style of this show was really nice, I actually liked it and I liked the opening as well. The music was fine too.

PLOT: The plot was pretty self explanatory. Boy and girl fall in love in high school in a rural area, girl leaves to go back to the city (Tokyo), boy moves to the city to see why she left/broke up with him. Drama begins.

Characters:

Okay, so this is where my real review comes in. The main character is a male - Haruto. Haruto is the most shallow and dense guy ever!! At the beginning of the show I felt sorry for him because of how shitty the lead girl was, but as the show continues I realized what a piece of shit he was. I honestly cannot even be mad because there are guys in real life that act just like Haruto, so how can I say this is unrealistic?

When Haruto moves to Tokyo to track down his love Eba Yuzuki, he finds out the reason she broke up with him is because she made a promise to date a guy (Kazama, I will bring him up later because he is one of the only characters I actually liked) who is literally about to DIE. Eba begs Haruto not to say anything to Kazama because she wants him to die happy, but what does Haruto do? He ends up telling his best friend (don’t know how you can be best friends with someone in a month, but Kazama had such a good personality they just clicked) that Eba is the girl he is in love with and the real reason he moved to Tokyo.

So not only is he telling his friend he loves the girl he loves, he doesn’t care he’s dying. He thinks it would be unfair to not say anything and makes it a “bet” to see who can win her. I don’t know man, after this happened I was like wow, Haruto is a selfish POS. Anyway, Haruto continues to try to win her, but after Kazama dies, he literally just stops? A year passes and he ends up dating Asuka (another great character I actually liked who I will touch on later). Haruto basically takes her for granted any chance he can, and lowkey tries to get back with Eba any chance he can (Rin Eba - Yuzuki’s sister, was the cause of some of this).

I just hated how Haruto never took accountability for ANYTHING, while he literally CHEATS on his amazing girlfriend and blames Rin. He literally goes back to his childhood home KNOWING his ex that he was in love with will be there at the same time. Why TF wouldn’t you go be with Asuka and her family ? You’re girlfriend?? Haruto wanted Eba the entire time and I’m glad those two people got with each other, because honestly trash people deserve to be with trash people and I’m glad Asuka dodged a bullet.

Eba Yuzuki - I’m not gonna write too much about her, I just stopped liking her after episode 4 I think? She was so manipulative but put on this innocent girl act. It made me gag. In the show when they had flashback scenes, Haruto had a crush on a girl in the town and Eba, who literally KNEW this - kissed him when said girl was right outside the door on the phone. She did the same shit, when Haruto got with Asuka - she showed up to his fucking job, flirted with him and acted all innocent. Sis, you knew what you were doing. Instead of being an adult and communicating her feelings she waits until Haruto is in a full relationship knowing damn well he loved her/still did. She was sick and twisted, don’t get me started on how she only dated a guy because he was about to DIE. And then when her ex showed up she didn’t even have the decency to tell the guy herself, her ex ended up doing it as a way to “challenge” him. I started out liking her because she seemed sweet when she visited the countryside where Haruto first lived, but as the show went on my rating for her dropped. All she did was cry, and try to manipulate the men in her life. Her and Haruto deserve to be together tbh.

Asuka - she was sort of cringy when the show started, but as I kept watching I grew fond of her character. She cared deeply about her friends, especially Kazama, and she cared about Haruto too. I wish she got more screen time outside of her relationship with Haruto because I actually liked her. When they were dating she was such a chill, and trusting girlfriend. She also played sports and was sort of a tom boy, it was a typical storyline of the MC dating a Tom boy until he realizes his real love again for the “feminine, doe-eyed, heroine”. Asuka deserved better.

Kazama - he didn’t have a ton of screen time either and the fact that he died was all too easy for Haruto to get Eba. I wish he didn’t die and they actually made it a little harder for Haruto, but whatever. Kazama was one of the best characters because his personality was easy to connect with. He seemed like the type of person you would WANT to be friends with. Every-time he was on screen he made me smile. They did him dirty by offing him.

There are a few other characters but I honestly don’t think they are worth mentioning. Haruto has a sister who is always naked or drinking. Rin Eba was supposed to be an antagonist but she lowkey was just annoying and messy, and not in a good way. She also would flirt with Haruto and at times I think he was falling into it, which was weird as she was his loves sister. Haruto had two friends from the countryside who were decent but they didn’t have enough screen time for me to write anything about them. They were just there.

Overall, if the characters were more interesting and they dug deep into their insecurities/why they do what they do (kind of like how Scum’s Wish did) I would have given this an 8 or 9. I give it a 7 because even though the plot made me roll my eyes at times, I couldn’t stop watching it. I knew what was going to happen and I still wanted to watch lol. So I guess that’s why I didn’t rate this any lower. It’s a decent watch if you like romance and drama, but there ARE better shows too.

I feel like, to me, this one was a little predictable. Maybe I’ve seen way too many romance anime in my lifetime. I don’t feel like there is anything wrong with it, but I just sort of feel moth about it. From Haruto’s perspective, I get it. New, charming, energetic girl comes into your life; you feel all of these new feelings and experience all of these new experiences, and then she suddenly walks out of you life without any warning leaving you unresolved and upset about how things turned out. I get that. But for me, Yuzuki just could not pull on my heartstrings ... or do anything for me. I just couldn’t get it.

I could relate to Asuka very well and I really liked her character. I really feel like I “got” her. Haruto even said it himself, se’s the perfect girlfriend; and for every reason he listed about her, was the reason I thought the same. Now, while I think about all these things about both Yuzuki and Asuka - Haruto included, it’s not enough. There is just not really enough there in the writing, I feel like, for me to really connect with these characters. I really tried to pay attention to what was unsaid in their nonverbal interaction because I felt like maybe if I did that, I would understand more, and that wasn’t the case. So, I like the direction of where the plot was going, but I just can’t latch onto it. There isn’t enough, and so trying to put my thoughts and feelings into this review is a little hard for me because the anime use left me scatter-brained about everything.

Overall, it’s good, but the writing and character development is lacking.

RUSHED! The anime itself was good without reading the manga. However, now that I've finished reading the manga. This adaptation is a total disappointment.

Story: The story was good. I like how this series felt realistic. It's unique because unlike other romance animes, this tends to be a serious one. Haruto, the male main character, kept on pursuing the one his loved one. This focused on their romantic relationship.

Art: The adaptation stuck to the art style of the manga which is a bit weird. The body parts (mainly women) are not proportional in both the adaptation and manga. Anyways, I have nothing against that. It's ... still good: it doesn't affect the anime.

Sound: The voice actors and actresses really sound good. Aside from that, the background soundtracks used were fitting to every scene. Calm and comfortable.

Character: My main point is that the character development in this adaptation was terrible. Ending the anime series left me with whats, hows and whys.

Enjoyment: If you like a drama romance anime, I think you would enjoy this.

If you haven't read the manga yet, I suggest you read it. There were so many parts skipped. This deserves to have 40+ episodes.