Kimi no Iru Machi

Kimi no Iru Machi is an amazing series. Amazingly mediocre.

The show is almost feels like swimming in an ocean of rage and frustration for many reasons. For a romance based series, Kimi no Iru Machi sure likes to play around with the idea but then twists it in all sorts of angles. These angles do not connect well in any way but instead ends up making a shape out of wrong proportions. As a follower of the original manga that began to ran years before the debut of this anime series, I am definitely not satisfied from what I see. It feels like I’m drowning ... in a sea of despair.

Kimi no Iru Machi (A Town Where You Live) is an animated series based off the manga of the same name written by Seo Kouji. The author is previously known for his other work, Suzuka that also received an anime adaptation based off of his manga. So now it’s his time to once again step it up and bring forth a romantic comedy for people to enjoy. Unfortunately, it seems like the series doesn’t step itself up but rather falls even further behind from the OVAs that debuted prior to this.

The series follows main male protagonist Haruto Kirishima as a high school student living on the countryside. As a healthy boy of his age, he falls under the category of the typical high school student with thoughts running through his head. These thoughts includes schoolwork, his future, and the obvious: girls. This is because Haruto has a crush on another female student. Will have the courage to ask her out? What happens if he gets rejected? Will Haruto ever become a man? These might be a few questions for thought for potential anime only viewers at first glance. However, this isn't’ exactly what you might expect.

For whatever reason, the anime decides to skip around and go straight into an arc that is covered later on from the manga. It’s disappointing given the fact that important factors and development in the beginning between Haruto and another main female protagonist are left mostly in unexplored territory. The series does pull out the old trick in the book as in the form of flashbacks. But honestly though, this doesn’t work well in terms of a romance developing series. For our main female protagonist, Eba Yuzuki, this is even more frustrating to watch because the lack character driven concept. It also doesn’t help by the fact that Haruto himself is not exactly one of those characters where we get to know from the beginning.

As for Haruto, the boy clearly has eyes set on a particular someone but not exactly whom you might expect. As mentioned before, this series skips around and omits parts from the manga that clearly accelerates its plot. As for Haruto, the guy seems to lack a personality and often acts reserved around others. He is caring on the outside but often makes rash decisions while observing from the backgrounds. It is not until he sees truly sees reality that he decides to act. Often or not though, this is met with mixed results. However, Haruto does carry responsibilities and follows him through. He is hardworking and cares about the well-being of others so some respect can be handed out to him. Out of the girls that Haruto meets throughout the series, Eba is a magnet for responsibility to be delivered.

The duo of Haruto and Eba is also awkward to watch as they don’t seem very compatible. Haruto seems to be a guy that often keeps thoughts to himself. On the other hand, Eba is a girl with a sociable personality that speaks out her mind and often not afraid to act on her actions. Again though, these lead to mixed results similar to Haruto’s case and leaves both happy and painful scars.

Among other characters in the show includes Eba’s younger sister Rin that seemingly causes mischievous trouble for the duo. It’s also silly to note that she is almost nothing like her sister. At the same time, she seems to be a pivoting factor in order to get Haruto to open his eyes to the truth that lies in front of him. Then, there’s also Nanami Yuzuki, a girl that Haruto has his eyes set on from the beginning. She is depicted as a kind and forgiving girl. At many instances, she offers advise to others but is a bit insecure to herself at times. Other girls in the show also plays their minor roles but mostly stays in the background. For Haruto though, his eyes only focuses on what he thinks is in front of him. What reality show him though is much more painful but again, he keeps it to himself.

One prominent feature of the story in the series also features a main supporting male character that plays a more of a tragic role. In fact, he is more of the influence factor to Eba’s decision as well as Haruto’s. The result of that influence though leads to sorrow but also some hope for Haruto; an unfortunate feeling for hope but nonetheless. But as far as that goes, the series decides to twist around with the aspect of romance again and presents it in way to almost beyond repair. Even if a series is labeled as romance with drama and comedy, it should at least follow a straight forward plot. No, instead it decides to jump all over the place and loses focus to the point where viewers might not be sure who Haruto wants to be with. Coupled with the lackluster of a sociable personality, Haruto is a man that is both hard to be empathetic with or take pity for; emphasis on either.

On the more drama side, the series also tries to make viewers feel sorry for its characters. However, it gets hard to take pity on them because the decisions they make. Sure, decisions often can result in consequences but I find the choices the characters make in this series to be outright abrupt with nonsense. It doesn’t help by the fact that the series rushes its primary plot so there’s little focus on background or character development. Instead, it focuses on Haruto and his daily life with other girls. The guy is responsible but he sure doesn’t take some of his relationships as well as such. This is especially true later on with another girl that some can see as a golden egg. Unfortunately, it's a just another egg wasted by Haruto.

The comedy factor of Kimi no Iru Machi is second rated. It often tries to mix in comedy with drama at the same time but this doesn’t work out. At other times, it tries the typical and cliched misunderstandings with factors of fan service. As a fan though, I don’t feel serviced or satisfied. The dialogues spoken by most of the characters also lacks flavor. Rin is perhaps one of the more curious girls that often treats Haruto’s life as a game so her dialogues tends to add a bit of interest. For the rest of the cast though, the words often a loop of dull expressions.

For a more slice of life style series though, there are some hopes. The feeling of countryside brings forth a feeling of nostalgia through most of the flashbacks played throughout the series. It gives off a sense of feeling in terms of simplicity. After all, living on the countryside is simple rather than in a big crowded city. Furthermore, there is some sense of realism in terms of relationships. Examples of this includes the consequences of a long term relationship, dealing with tragedies, and getting yourself back up afterwards from it. It can be relatable too in a sort of way especially if viewers have been in a relationship in the past or is currently in one. I just hope that you won’t make some horrible decisions as some of the characters do in this series. That’s not a pretty sight to see honestly.

In terms of artwork, Kimi no Iru Machi adapts a simple style with its characters looking natural but at the same time lacking any noticeable features. There’s noting particular standing out with any of the characters. Haruto looks normal and Eba is portrayed as the typical girl with a tip of naiveness. Given the fact that Seo Kouji is involved with the project, there’s also similarity in character designs between this series and his other work, Suzuka. The backgrounds does have a trace of naturalism to it though with the dancing leaves, souring winds, and seasonal weather.

For its soundtrack, Kimi no Iru Machi is amazingly mediocre. There’s almost nothing to praise about any of the VA’s performances. The main male protagonist Haruto (Yoshimasa Hosoya) seems to have tone of a mature character but his actions contradicts this. Most of the girls’ voices are typical with possibly Eba being the most outstanding with her somewhat elegant tone of voice. Music wise, the show does show some melancholy especially in regards to its flashback scenes. The OP song, “Sentimental Love” is presented with a calm tone along with traces of fan service and somewhat of hope for its characters. Its two contrasting ED songs brings forth a feeling of homesickness that seems to also walk down the memory lane.

Overall, Kimi no Iru Machi proves to be a lackluster romance anime that jumped way over itself. Its ineffective writing coupled by its lack of characterization makes its frustrating to watch. If that wasn’t enough, Haruto and Eba isn’t exactly what I would call the best of couple. The message that it tries to get across never seems to reach if there was one at all. Maybe it’s something on the line of ‘the truth hurts’, ‘face the reality’, or ‘love bites’. Whatever it is though doesn’t work out right. However, it does bring forth some sense of realism with relationships that takes on a path of drama. If you decide to choose the path to watch this anime though, just be aware of what’s ahead.

Okay this is a review for those of you have not read the manga and are walking in blindly, such as myself.

Kimi no Iru Machi (A Town Where You Live) is your basic romantic anime about your main character, Kirishima Haruto, and his love interest Eba Yuzuki. They have been childhood friends for a short period of time and they really bonded when Eba came back during the later years of her high school lift to attend school and various events befall them and get in the way of the love they have for each other, the most major being the distance between where the ... two live. Eba initially travels out to the countryside where Haruto lives but then has to go back to Tokyo, and this anime takes over from the OVA series where Haruto travels out to Tokyo to chase after Eba.

Story: 7
I was really disappointed with how quickly they moved this anime along. They were constantly jumping around between past and present and never spent more than about 2 episodes on any particular event or moment. The rate at which the relationships moved along as well was frustrating as you never really got a great grasp of what was going on and how the characters really felt. What was good about it however was the ability for the viewer to be able to relate to the situation at hand. It was a fairly good setup, just rushed.

Characters: 5
The way they rushed through the anime was really bad, and consequently that's how the characters have turned out. I mostly disliked all of the characters, but the one bright spark was the fact that you could relate to them in a way, regardless of the decisions they made. Kirishima Haruto is your fairly common main character, not much personality and just can't seem to let go of the main female interest. Eba Yuzuki is your typical bright, clumsy damsel in distress who needs someone around to help her all the time and to support her. Although I believe she was supposed to be a likeable character, I did not like her. To me she was just to needy and just made me frustrated with her decisions and the way she conducted herself, but I digress. Eba also has a younger sister Rin who comes into the story about halfway through. She has quite the personality as she is constatly pushing Eba and Haruto together, but I won't spoil too much about her and what goes on.

Art and Music: 7
The music for the anime was quite well chosen I believe, although nothing outstanding that would make you want to keep listening to it outside of the anime itself. The artworks are fairly good as well, but would've benefited from a little more time to get that smoother texture and brighter colours in general.

Overall Enjoyment: 7
I did enjoy this anime even with all of its flaws. I do recommend giving it a watch, but at the same time be warned that it will feel really rushed and you will not have a lot of time to be able to appreciate the situations and get to know the characters really well.

Recommendation:
From what other people tell me, they say the Manga is a lot better and ads in elements of comedy, as well as goes more in depth and is a lot more enjoyable overall

Kimi no Iru Machi takes a look at the complex nature of relationships, and human desire by focusing on a childhood romance, and the complications and obstacles that the relationship has to endure. What this anime should be applauded for, is its look at how fragile our desires can be, and the cruelty and selfishness that come as a result of it. Of course, this also means that the characters are often unlikable and frustrating. This isn't an anime where you really like the characters, and if anything at all, it's more of a study on the ups and downs of relationships, and ... the cruelty of love.

This is to say, this isn't the kind of material that is particularly enjoyable. But that doesn't make it bad by default. Even stories that aren't enjoyable, have legitimate merit as art. Afterall, not all romance stories are happy, and often in life relationships have hurdles and don't always end with happiness. These stories certainly should be told. Where Kimi no Iru Machi fails is in the final act and the overall pacing of the story. Because the story moves too quickly, there isn't enough depth given to the the main character's choice at the end, and it leaves the audience feeling frustrated and angry with the main characters. This again, doesn't make it bad. But the Manga tackled this subject a lot more seriously, and showed the consequences for this decision, and the new hurdles that arise when choosing your desires over others happiness.

Essentially, the story just leaves you feeling terrible for the person that gets hurt, and frustrated and angry with the two lead characters. They chose their desires over everything else, despite the consequences of it effecting people beyond them. Which again is fine, but the anime doesn't really give us enough weight to the decisions being made. We don't even get to spend time with the characters after the fact to understand these consequences. And the final blow is that they essentially sweep it all under the rug, and try to pass it off as happiness trumping over everything, despite the consequences. Which again, fine, but we needed to see those consequences to understand the impact our desires can have on others, as well as why these characters are willing to suffer these consequences to fulfill their desires.

Instead of looking at the impact of the main characters actions, the character that is impacted by this the most says that her love is so strong, she'll wait for the main character if he ever breaks up with the girl that was chosen over her. This on some level, looks at the idea that we can't always choose or control our desires, even if they will never be fulfilled or reciprocated. It's the cruelty of love. But the rushed pacing makes it feel like a cheap ploy to release the main character from his actions and set up an ending that is more digestible. However, this has the opposite effect, as it makes it feel like the subject matter isn't being taken seriously enough.

Overall this anime has an interesting subject matter, but it doesn't take the time needed to properly study it. This ultimately leaves us with a bunch of a unlikable characters, and a story that isn't particularly enjoyable. However, the story is brave in its subject matter, I just wish it was more brave in going further with it (even if it makes for an uncomfortable experience), because these stories are worth telling. I would have preferred the Anime to have pushed the uncomfortable aspects of love, and left us with an ending that makes us question our own desires. Instead it comes off like a story between two people that make bad decisions, and ultimately burn everyone down around them for the sake of their love.

First of all, let me start this review off with a question: Do you hate indecisive characters who have trouble choosing which person they love much like the characters of “School Days” and “Kimi ga Nozomu Eien?” If the answer is ‘yes,’ then I recommend staying away from Kimi no Iru Machi. If ‘no’ or if you’re unsure, then you can decide for yourself whether you want to watch this or not.

“A Town Where You Live” is a romantic drama that differs from the norm when it comes to adapting manga into anime. Most anime start right from the beginning of the manga and proceed ... from there. I have not read the manga so I don’t know exactly where it starts relative to the rest of the story, but this anime starts from a later arc and instead uses many flashbacks to fill in the important details that happened prior to present events. This makes for some confusing switches in time periods and also results in a lack of connection to characters, especially the ones that mostly only appear in flashbacks.

The story of the anime begins with Kirishima Haruto, a country boy who is moving to Tokyo as he chases after the girl he loves, Eba Yuzuki. He leaves behind his friends and one of his other former crushes as he ventures alone into the big city to start his new life and his search for Eba. With him, he has brought a necklace which he hopes to give to her. Eba is a girl who is originally from Tokyo but due to family problems, bonded with Haruto on the few occasions she visited his hometown (one time was fairly short when they were young and another time she actually lived at his house for an extended period of time). Haruto starts living with his older sister, Aoi, and soon meets several other friends who go to his new high school, like his new female neighbor Mishima Asuka and the upbeat motorcycle-riding Kazama Kyousuke. Haruto begins his new everyday high school life while continuing to be an amazing cook and, most importantly, searching for Eba.

Aside from the inconsistent rhythm of the plot due to the many flashbacks which sometimes encompass entire episodes, I felt the plot also suffered from the characters' personalities. Haruto (as I mentioned at the beginning) is your typical indecisive male protagonist. Because of his indecisiveness, he ends up hurting not only the girls he is involved with, but himself and a few other people connected to the girls. Eba isn’t much better. She is also very indecisive and constantly tries to push Haruto away despite it still being blatantly obvious that she still has at least some feelings. These problems accumulate throughout the course of the show and end (in my opinion) with a rather unsatisfying and unrealistic ending.

As for the art, it’s unimpressive to say the least. The character designs are maybe the worst part of it as every single character’s face is just copied and pasted with a different hair style and color as well as different eye colors. Because all of their facial structures are exactly the same, every character has the same stupid looking smile (I think this is the first time I’ve genuinely disliked any anime characters’ smiles). As for the backgrounds, they are very colorful and add a lot of effect to the scenes which sometimes helps them but sometimes is overused and ends up making some scenes laughably overdramatic. By that I mean that there are only so many times when gusts of wind, lightning bugs, and sakura blossoms can show up at the perfect time before it seems to be more than a coincidence. The scenery around Tokyo and Haruto’s hometown however are much better and during the regular scenes, the scenery is much nicer and more realistic (as far as anime goes anyway).

The soundtrack consists of mostly instrumental pieces that sound generic in a romantic drama. None of the tracks stand out and the OP and ED are just average as well. The voice acting is impressive though as there are several different accents which (I assume since I don’t understand Japanese) the voice actors do well. It’s definitely clear even to a westerner like me that these accents are about as different as American and British ones.

Kimi no Iru Machi tries a little too hard to be a dramatic romance story. Whether it comes to the indecisive characters or the strange art style, the show just falls flat in almost every possible way and is nothing more than forgettable. I recommend skipping this or maybe trying the manga instead (I know I’m recommending something I have not read, but I would recommend starting at the beginning of the story instead of dealing with flashbacks as that seems to me like it would work a little better). Still as I said in the beginning, do not watch this if the thing you hate most in the world is indecisive characters in romance stories, because this will annoy you to no end if that is the case.

Kimi No Iru Machi or A Town Where You Live in English is a 13-episode anime series adapted from a manga. Our main protagonist something year old Haruto Kirishima transfers to Tokyo in pursuit of childhood friend and girlfriend Eba Yuzuki. Eba unexpectedly leaves Haruto’s home town Hiroshima and after a short while broke up with Haruto for unknown reasons, Haruto eventually tracks down Eba and demands an explanation for breaking up.

That’s about as much of the story I can give away without spoiling it. A Town Where You Live was released back in the summer of 2013 and was the last series of the ... summer line up that I wanted to watch. I only read the story briefly and I just assumed it would be a complicated love triangle, turns out I was right. So let’s go in to some detail.

When watching the first episode I was drawn in entirely by the character designs and animation, it was very shiny and a visual treat for the eyes. I thought that regardless of the story the visuals would make up for it. I was wrong. The story is clichéd and soap oriented which made it hard to watch at times. (A soap is a weekly television drama for those who don't know)

Then comes the god-awful characters that mess up the show entirely for me (with the exception of a few) I will start off with the biggest and main problem of the series which is Eba Yuzuki, she is undoubtedly the worst female character I have ever had the displeasure of watching for over 4 hours. Not only is she the dullest, most mind numbingly boring females leads I have ever seen, she is also one of the biggest bitches in this show! (Granted it was only her and her step-sister)

We also have our main protagonist Haruto, who needs a slap to help him get over his simplistic and shitty ex-girlfriend. Haruto has a common personality; he just seems like your common everyday nice guy, who is also lucky enough to get the attention of a few female characters in the show, but never acts on it. He has good cooking skills and his friends encourage him to become a chef, though he see’s cooking as more of a hobby. (Essentially, he's a boring twat)

Other mentionable characters include Kyouske Kazama a very cheerful guy who dreams of becoming a motorbike racer. His dreams are unlikely to happen because of his illness. (Anaemia) Kazama became friends with Haruto after giving Haruto some words of inspiration and encouragement not to give up on the woman he loves. Haruto finds out later that Kazama is dating Eba and the two begin a rivalry to win over Eba, the two are still very good friends though.

Finally we have Asuka Mishima who is Haruto’s neighbor when he moves to Tokyo to live with his sister. She and Haruto first met when a misunderstood Asuka thought he was a thief and attacked him with a baseball bat. The two eventually became friends and later began to date one another.

I don’t know whether the creator does it intentionally to make the two main characters so unlike-able. The main character is incredibly plain and generic. The supporting cast does a much better job; they are much more easy to relate to and have at least some desirable character traits.

Probably the greatest thing about this show was the animation. I mean Wow! When looking back at Gonzo’s previous work like Saikano or Full Metal Panic you can just see the drastic change in beauty. The one thing you cant fault about this series is the animation.

The sound of this anime was good I was content with the plate of music put in front of me, the opening theme is very good and I didn’t feel compelled to skip it after so many episodes. The ending theme was also likeable but I skipped it every now and then.

The reasons why I felt that this series was bad because of its mundane characters, overuse of a love-triangle storyline and the flawed execution. This series was not trying to attempt anything new, the pacing of the series was not to the right standard which can annoy the viewer and the only redeeming quality of this anime was the animation. This series was likeable at times with moments such as: the relationship between Haruto and Asuka plus the rivalry/friendship between Haruto and Kazama. Sadly those moments were insignificant on the train wreck that was ‘A Town Where You Live’.

Overall I did not like this anime it has one redeemable feature (animation style) that is not worth watching for this shitty, overused and stereotypical love triangle/love dilemma that occurs within this show. I would not recommend this to anyone unless they are fans of drama/romance genres. This show deserves a score of 5/10.

Thanks for reading guys

''If you are not happy, I'll be here, dont forget that''

This Anime really was one of the strangest Animes I recently watched. Don't missunderstand me, its not weird in a ''The-Characters-are-totally-strange-Over-The-Top-I-Dont-Understand-One-Thing Manner.
Its just the hole plot of the Anime. It has a huge amounf of potential which destroys itself by one-dimensional, totally dump & unrealistic acting main characters. Before beginning, I should mention, I only watched the anime. So this review is based on my experiences with the anime series only.

STORY
The male two main protagonists are Eba Yuzuki & Kirishima Haruto. The Story itself might sound simple if you read it ... the first time. Girl moves from Tokyo to the country side to join a school where her beloved boy studys. The boy, Haruto-San, doesn't like the idea of not only going to school with a foreign girl, even living with that girl together. At first, all that stuff sounds weird, more so it's like a joke. When I read the description the first time, I really thought, ''Oh no, really? unrealistic scenario incoming!''.
But its not. The move of Eba Yuzuki, the main heroine, is been described in a conceivable explanation. That was a surprise, I didn't expect. Actually, the story sounded pretty interesting after eliminating this potential of missunderstanding.
Long story short: The plot of the Anime has a good amount of potential but lacks extensviely in the rest, which I will explain now.

ART
Well, what can we expect from that Anime regarding to the art- & animation-design? First of all we should really look up when this anime was published. Kimi no Iru Machi is from 2013. So right now as I'm writing the review to Kimi no Iru Machi, we are talking about a difference of 2 years.
At no time, really no time, I felt that this Anime is really from the year 2013. More so, the art & animation really gave me the feeling, that the animations and the general art-design had to be older. The unfluent, robotic animations appear like, the anime was published in 2009 or 2010. The moves of the characters, in particular when they are running or even slowly walking appear ludicrously robotic, the colour-design expecially from the nature appears woolly & unfinished. Even the hair-styles of the main- and secondary characters seem like, they are from the late 90's and beginning of the 00's.
In contrast to that though, you have a beautiful art-design when it comes to Tokyo and the nereby surroundings. Especially at night, you notice a huge amount of light effects additionally with the awesome designed skyline of Tokyo. Nonetheless, at the end making bad design desicions regarding to the character- & nature art can't compensate the wonderfully animated city panorama.


SOUND
When it comes to the sound of the anime I can shortly summarize it as ''mediocore''. Allthough the anime has drastical and important turning points the sound in general is NOT doing it's job in supporting the plot, in particular the dramatic situations. At least, it is not horribly bad at all.


CHARACTER
The Characters, the meat and potatoes when it comes to creating a decent anime. Allthough this section is one of the most important aspects for the success, Kimi No Iru Machi totally fails at this point. The main problem is the totally nonexistent empathy for the two main protagonists Eba Yuzuki & Kirishima Haruto. Both are acting in a totally scripted & iditotic manner without any sense at all. What I mean is, both characters appear totally unlikely & implausible. At no time you have the feeling of dealing with natural human beings. Instead you deal with an extreme version of stereotypes, even unusual for animes. One unrealistic conversation follows the other. Actually at various situation during the series I felt embarrassed for the characters. Kirishima ''retard'' Haruto is acting like a 14 years old boy who discovered love a few minutes ago. Eba Yuzuki is one more character whom I didn't feel any kind of empathy for. She trys to act ''kawaii'' but appeals unrealstically dump. Since in Japan this kawaii-stuff is crucial when it comes to creating a female character, Eba Yuzuki fails in every single aspect. The authors tried to pigeon-hole Eba into the kawaii-drawer and this came out. Unnatural character acting not comprehensible, appearing like an onvoiced secondary character, allthough she is the main heroine besides Haruto.
The only credible characters in the anime were a handful of secondary characters, especially Mishima Asuka & Eba Rin, the younder sister of Yuzuki-San.


ENJOYMENT
All in all I still enjoyed watching the anime. Sometimes it is okay watching animes that are not outstanding and deal with problems in character creation and art-design. Sadly, the anime had the potential to be more then mediocore. But the fatal & unrealistic characters compared with the squishy art design can't mask the lack of common theme.

Before I start I'm gonna say that I watched this anime and then read the manga afterwards.

I know many, many people would say things like "anime should not be compared to manga" etc etc. HOWEVER, in this case I feel like this anime was a complete disgrace to the manga and mangaka himself.

But get this: this anime adapted 144 CHAPTERS from the manga into 12 EPISODES. Anyone with a right mind would think that's bizarre.

The anime starts at chapter 80 in the manga, and "tries" to make a decent story from there by making chapters 1-80 into a 2 episode flash back and then ... going from chapter 80-144 in only 10 episodes. Because of this, from an anime only point of view, you never know why the MC even likes the main heroine in the first place, and the beginning of the anime starts at such an awkward place that it's hard to connect with how the MC is feeling. It would have been fine if this anime just started from chapter 1, so we could have a fresh start with the characters rather than starting the anime with a character that's supposed to have gone through a lot of insane development already. The flash backs barely help because it's a MUCH different experience to watch flash backs than seeing those events actually happen chronologically. To make matters worse, the ending to this anime was so dry and abrupt that it basically forces you to read the manga. Anime should be able to stand alone without a manga, right? Well this anime is simply mediocre without reading the manga.

The art is actually pretty nice. The opening looks beautiful and the characters are true to their manga forms. However, sometimes the art on certain characters look off. Other than that the art is great.

The characters are one of the main problems in this anime. The characters simply lack development. The set-up for this anime makes the MC look like a stalker and the main heroine look like an a** hole, but if you actually know what truly happened in chapters 1-80, you'd know why the MCs act the way they do. The anime rushes development for the side characters as well due the fact that there was 144 chapters adapted into a 12 episode anime.

For enjoyment, I was simply left hanging at the end. At the end of the anime, I felt like I wasted my time. The events were so weirdly scattered, and I could barely connect with the characters until, BAM, the anime was over when things started getting good. It's really sadenning for anime only watchers, cuz the manga actually goes on for another 100+ chapters after it ends at the anime, and the anime skipped tons of chapters from the beginning. It's simply a mess.

I would ONLY recommend watching this anime if you have read the entire manga already. I only consider this anime as eye-candy, meaning that I would only watch this to see how the manga would look animated. And it's definitely not bad in the animation/art department. But storywise, this anime is just mediocre at BEST. The manga is a masterpiece that should have gotten a true anime adaptation. Sadly most animes nowadays are just "trailers" for the manga, and this anime is a perfect example of that.

My review is completely my opinion.
I think that the ending of the anime was really good. Kazama and Asuka, in my perspective, were 3rd persons in between Haruto and Yuzuki. And here I'm not denying the fact that Kazama and Asuka loved Yuzuki and Haruto respectively. I've not read the manga, so my review is purely based on the anime.

Story:
This anime has one of the most wonderful love stories ever. It shows that love is stronger than any type of friendship. When a friend challenges ill friend for his former girlfriend, that's really unbelievable. Actually if it was me, I would let him have ... her and accept that he has won her. The end of the storyline was wonderful, but I was hoping they would show Asuka in the end with someone who loved her dearly.

Art:
Nothing in particular but it was ok.

Sound:
Everything was beautiful and very apt to the characters.

Characters:
Lead characters-
I think they were made for each other. I don't feel like Haruto and Asuka would've been a wonderful couple.
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 was given a particular past. But they did a great job as side characters.

Overall:
I am very happy that I've watched this anime and I don't hate it as some do.
But I feel it's adaptation could have been much much much better.

Kimi No Iru Machi is a Japanese shōnen manga written by Kōji Seo. The love/drama story which has captivated many readers all over japan finally earned a animation. Originally starting with 2 OVA's. The series takes place in the Author Seo's hometown and is a character-driven romance set in the same universe as the Suzuka manga . It follows Haruto Kirishima, a self-conscious teenager, and Yuzuki Eba, an extroverted teenage girl who moves from Tokyo into the Kirishima family's home in Hiroshima Prefecture.


-Story & Overall-
To be honest this adaption is not living up to standards set by the manga. The manga itself has been running ... for four years strong so as a reader I did have high expectations for Gonzo and TV TOKYO. They have a great story in there hands which in my opinion is on par with the better romance/drama anime out there. With that said it doesn't mean I downright hate the adaption. It's just hard to comprehend how a great story can be slimmed down to likes of a 12 episode run. With the format they have with running flashbacks and then reverting to present will take a toll on the readers and those who have not read the manga, If the adaption was a 24 episode series and maybe a different animation studio this could have been a masterpiece.

-Art-

Art may seem like a little aspect but in reality its those awe moments that art really has an important factor. In the anime the art might come as a surprise. Its unique in its own aspect. The use of rich vibrant colors really brings out the character designs and features. It also beautifully enhances the environment and gives those awe moments there impact. On the downside the animation can be choppy at times almost seeming slowed down. Excluding the animation the overall look of the scenery and character really brings out the story and was pleasure to be seen by me as a reader.


-Sound-
Music wise it was on point with how the moments were and the feelings in the air. With the great music provided, the moments where music and scenery collided, the collaboration was effective and was a pleasant surprise.


-Characters-

Haruto Kirishima-

For those who haven't read the manga the Main Character is with the highest tiers. The sad fact is the adaption couldn't portray him as good as he was in the manga due to the limited time constraint. He is a good Main Character who won't cause you to yell at the screen ask WTF?. Everything has reason and his are acceptable.

Yuzki Eba-

The heroine of the story, the damsel in distress. She a beautiful young women who has history with are MC. Its either you like her or you don't. For me my reasons are based on the manga.






-Enjoyment-

The enjoyment is there and its fairly good. The reason I can enjoy this story so much is that I can relate to the Main Character and the situation at hand. The story isn't something conjured up and not bound to happen. If anything it's happen to a fair amount of us. It provides a good story on a battlefield called love.

+ Good Story Line
+ Good Protagonist
+ Awesome Girls
+ (NO) Excessive Fan Service

- 12 episodes
- Choppy Animation
- Complicated for (NON) Manga Readers


-It's either you love it or you hate it. For those who think that it was the latter, I highly suggest you read manga. You won't regret it.
-Sorry to all you Manga Readers who are in love with the adaption, the truth hurts.

İnsanın moralini bozmak için 1'e 1 olan bu animeyi izlemenizi tavsiye etmiyorum.Ana karakter bildiğin abaza.İlk önce bir kızdan hoşlanıyorum diyor daha sonra uyuz olduğu kıza yazmaya başlıyor en sonunda başka bir kızla işi pişirmeye kadar götürüyor.Sonra eski kıza yeniden dönüyor falan feşmekan.Sondaki kıza mı üzülsem yoksa uyuz olduğu kızın yaşadıklarına mı bilemedim.Hikayeden gitsek diyeceğim çok fazla soru işareti var ben mesela Eba'nın hala neden Tokyo'ya geri dönüp ana karakteri bıraktığını çözemedim.Ve tabi bu karakterin ilk başta yiyiştiği bir kız daha var o ne oluyor anlamadım kankayız diyor sonra yiyişiyorlar sonra ne yani WTF? La başlayacam aaa bir türlü kabul etmedi daha uzun bir eleştiri yaz ... daha uzun bir eleştiri yaz sıçtırı boktan sistem yapmışlar buraya.

This review will be spoiler-free, but will begin with a warning: this series is not a rom-com and is also not a good match, if you are looking for a well-told slice-of-life romance. "Kimi no Iru Machi" is filled with inordinate amount of frustration and is at times difficult to watch, revealing both the harshness of life and the uncompromising nature of desire, selfishness, and the consequences of indecision.

What is also strange about this series is the fact that it adapts only about 80 of the 270 chapters from the original manga series, and it begins only around Chapter 80 (and ends around Chapter 150), ... omitting in the process the entire Hiroshima arc, which is, in many ways, the most enjoyable part of the series. As the characters grow up, their horizons darken, and the anime captures some of this too. Reading the manga series itself is a quasi-masochistic experience that often ends in frustration and fury. The anime stays somewhat true to this "furious" tonality, and will please the most those who like substantive drama, emotional turmoil, and lots of missed connections. If you like series like "citrus" or "Domestic Girlfriend", "Kimi no Iru Machi" will fit the bill!

I don't want to reveal any major details about the two main characters, Haruto Kirishima and Yuzuki Eba, but, by beginning nearly in the middle of their story, the anime naturally misses a lot of details about their prehistory (which the manga lays out). This results in a somewhat different representation of the two characters, especially of Haruto, and makes certain choices later in the anime strange and difficult to justify.

The animation quality itself is rather poor, low-budget, and nondescript. I am writing this review in 2022, but I saw the original series back in 2015, and rewatched it recently, after reading the manga. For an anime made after 2012, "Kimi no Iru Machi" looks as if it were made around 2005-2006, as it resembles more the animation style of series like "Clannad" than what was already a turning point in the style and quality of animations (after 2012).

In a nutshell - this is a hard-hitting and biting love drama, at times ugly, uncompromising, and even brutal. It specializes in missed connections, in deliberate interference, in frustrating mishaps, in romantic triangles, in hurting others, and in tragic circumstances that do not happen to the main characters but affect them significantly. It is also a boiling pot of angst and emotions running often above a respectable point. I have mixed feelings both about the anime and the manga. On a more positive note, the anime seems to be trying to present life and romance as forces that often don't help each other, and that may, in time, become mutually destructive, but in doing so, these forces also teach us something and do show a possible path to overcome both. Will the main characters take this path? The answer in the anime series is somewhat tentative, but there will be one.

Kimi no Iru Machi is a series that fits very well into the genres of Drama, Romance and Slice of Life. In all other aspects however, the anime seems to be a jumble of inconsistencies and gives too many reasons for viewers to become frustrated as the episodes go by. A small-town guy meets a city girl where their back and forth indecisiveness of their feelings creates an interesting and momentous story with an unsatisfying resolution.

Story- 7

You could almost write a few different reviews for the vast amount of switching between plot and setting throughout the story. Although flashbacks to the past were necessary ... for the connections/relationships between the characters to feel real, too often these threw me off the progression of the story. This series excels at wriggling into the mold of drama with tragedy that grips you. Conflict, breaking of trust and love triangles are all there, but the potential ends with no ambition to create a unique narrative. It hits the spots effectively, but to summarize its generic. Although to me it didn't end pleasingly, the story feels complete and is the strongest aspect to Kimi no Iru Machi.

Art- 5

The style is certainly unique, both the characters and setting. From a 2013 anime however you would expect a more refined animation, which is especially the case for the opening and the expressions which just feel lazy. The lighting sometimes seems overly bright and too contrasting.

Sound- 6

The op and ending theme are nothing out of the ordinary, the latter being quite memorable. The dialogue isn't cheesy and quite realistic for the context, which is a strong point that evades the risk of being over the top for a drama.

Characters- 5

Here is where many viewers get a bad aftertaste. The main "protagonist" - Haruto Kirishima - is introduced as a reasonably confident and isn't overly soft like many cliche dramas. A little further into the series we find out he is actually just stone cold. His obsession with his summer crush, Yuziki Eba seems to eliminate any empathy for the few likable characters who already suffer from other hardships. The only likable character for me - Asuka Mishima - gets the worst treatment out of them all. Regardless being a loyal and affectionate girlfriend, this was clearly not enough for Haruto to stop him from crapping on her trust. Yes its a drama and conflicts are crucial the development of characters, but the further we get into the episodes the less likable and just downright a*hole the pledged couple becomes. Most of these characters were quite bland and actually took some effort to remember between the overly frequent flashbacks.

Enjoyment- 6

My enjoyment was somewhat limited by the dynamics of the main roles, but each episode did leave me wanting to watch more. The writers didn't shy away from affectionate moments and emotional connections and still Haruto's obsession over Eba ruined too many opportunities to satisfy a romance that you don't resent. The story and different settings were nice and immersive, but left me without sympathy and certainly not a satisfying watch.

Overall- 6

On the surface Kimi no Iru Machi is emotional and gripping, though the sparks weren't sufficient to ignite the lack of gratifying characters. The show started with enough potential to create a successful series that may seem rushed, but as an okay drama it did not leave me with lasting appreciation.

Let me start by pointing out that I did not finish this anime.

Normally, I give an anime a chance to fully presenting its vision/story but even at the start, I was already disagreeing, annoyed, disappointed with the male MC. In my opinion, it was totally lame to move your whole life if your main objective is just to find out the reason why the girl you fell in love with left you. I mean you can just visit or stay a few weeks if that is all you mean to do. And then if you discover that you were replaced by your girl because of ... a charitable act of your girl to be the GF of a sick/dying guy, isn't that a clear sign that she does not respect, let alone love, you to do that twisted hurt to you ? Come on!

Despite the male MC's foolishness, blindness, etc. though, he was able to create a healthy relationship with a cute, devoted, loving girl. Happy ending it wasn't because somehow he still had a flame for his old flame. And he kept it a secret from his new GF that he was seeing his old GF. He was cheating! I drew the line there. His new GF did not deserve to be deceived nor cheated on. No matter if Eba and Haruto are destined to be with each other, what was being done to Asuka was totally unacceptable to me. Also, even if the male MC was such a "catch" (definitely was not), I really hated his lack of scruples or morality or whatever you want to call that, in his treatment of Asuka. I knew where the story was going so I said that's it for me.

I watched some few episodes of this anime and just simply wanted to write my review about the anime. What I specifically want to talk about this anime is the love triangle in it which is way too difficult to understand.

The plot is about Haruto who confessed his feeling to Yuzuki but got rejected because she had to move to Tokyo without telling him. For Haruto, she just suddenly disappeared from his life leaving him with a lot of questions to himself. A couple of years later, Haruto had to live with his sister and therefore moved to Tokyo so his main motive was ... of course hopefully getting the chance with Yuzuki once again. Throughout the anime, Haruto ended up getting feelings for Asuka and confessed them to her and they ended up happily together. A couple of years later again, Yuzuki ended up stealing him from Asuka arrogantly, leaving Asuka in despair which does not make any sense in my opinion at all when she did not want to be with him from the start.

Why would Yuzuki go that far, showing she is so mighty, until it is getting disgusting to watch?

Plot 6
The story got ruined by being too difficult to understand what the characters' motives.

Art 8
The art overall was pretty good as in the designs of the characters are pretty good especially the hair colours but some parts in the anime were ruining it.
The design of the character is pretty good and the hair colors were pretty cool.

Soundtrack 7
a lot of sounds added in the pretty well done.

Characterisation 8

Enjoyment 2
The relationship and the choices the characters makes are terrible.

Overall 6


RIP Asuka. ❤️

I am writing this review not really to help others, but try to understand the clusterfuack of what this anime was supposed to do. I understand that this story was meant to not be an enjoyable one. It was meant to look at the complex nature of relationships, the selfishness of a person, the fragility of our desires and how it can easily hurt those closest to us. But it packs punches just like a toddler can beat an empty boxing bag. The characters are under developed, the pacing was slow. It was hard to understand the reasoning behind not why but HOW they came ... to their decisions so quickly and with no remorse. So really by the finale I was looking at empty characters despite knowing they share history that justified their selfish feelings and that is a shame. Sad romances exists, where a girl or guy is left behind. But the choosing man or woman psyche should have been explored. Yukuki's complicated homelife being the stepdaughter to her dad's new family should have been explored. Haruto's adjustment to city life and accepting Yuzuki left him the first time should have been explored. It had such promise if they delved deeper than just "Haruto is deeply in love with Yuzuki and he will do everything to make it happen". Anyway... this story had real, harsh great points but it was drowned by it's weak development and linear characters.

I'll keep this review as short as I can.
The main point is: Kimi no Iru Machi is as a mediocre anime adaptation of a great manga. Unless you hate to read mangas, I would really reccomend that you choose it over the anime.

The story here is all mixed up. It starts aroun chapter 80 of the manga and goes back to the part they skipped with flashbacks. That it makes it confusing and loses a lot of the characters' developement. The way it's presented can make you even hate Yuzuki for just playing with Haruto's feelings. The manga at least tries to make you understand ... that she has reasons to do it and her intentions are always good.
The relationship with Kazama was also really poorly adapted, and even with his childhood friends, but I can understand the last because they don't really do much in this part of the story.

The art and sound are nothing special, though I liked the first ending song.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
At first do I think you should watch this anime : probably not there is better romance anime with the same theme and they do everything better than this anime like golden time but if you have watched everything with this theme and you want to be hurt again yeah you should probably even tho you will probably just be disappointed (again).
Why don't you choose your friend why don't you choose the girl that deserve love why this series is full of why the main character deserves none of the love he have.
But why, why am I so sad after watching this it was not ... good but it did touch me this is why I cannot hate this anime
Pls Let me give the love Kiyomi Asakura deserve, pls let me rewrite the story and give Kyousuke Kazama he wanted .....

Definity a love/hate mentality with this one. Pretty pretty mixed feelings. Altough i did somewhat like this and could maybe, very unlikely recommend this, this has to be a mixed feelings to not recommend.

First thing off my head is the love triangle or love square that is done ok, meh. I did not like the fact that we as watchers already knew what was going to happen. It's common is these types of romance/ semi harem, but the way the anime spends a lot of time with these other characters is crazy. We spend Alot of time with these characters and to then just ... have a weak ending with each one is weirdly lazy bobo writing. Some don't even get a concrete finish. Fact is, i think one heroine is such a better written character than fmc and mc combined.

Mc is such an alpha lol. Bro is really the anti-villian. The destroyer, the SLAYER, What an disgustingly good character. The rizz/fizz this dude has is limitless thug. BUT he is still an villian lol. Something people are going to be put off by is around episode 6-9, and you will either be with him or go against him. Its like a telltale game, stand with him or against him. Lie to yourself or accept the truth.
And these episodes were really hard lol, even for me. I wanted to just drop it, but curiosity got the better of me. (At this point i was lying to myself, to make myself feel better.)

Fmc is not likable at all, you will hate her, despise her. What a goddam Vermin. A rat, snake. Not your fault, she is just written bad. Exploiting the Mc like a Vampire, Sucking off all his blood and when she has had enough, goes off to such someone else off, literarily.
Her choices are predetermined, like the ending, smh.
She just HAS to do that, and later do that. And we just have to get unnecessary drama
She is also stupid, Baka stupid. Orihime stupid.

They have flaws and are well-rounded, some are triangle formed, some look like a cube. (Some characters are written bad). Some just disappear from the story entirely.
Art is whatever really, dont think you will have a keen eye here, palette is systematic, and is nice.

HOWEVER. Ill have to say this... At least they are realistic. Which is a good ground to get on, after so much romcom/harem bullsh.
They act human, and humans make mistakes. Could not tell you the same about the episodes and storyline.

I personally would not tell a friend to see this one, i wouldnt tell a boyfriend to see this one. But i think some will enjoy this because it is very realistic.
Ending sucked tho. LOL IT SUCKED. I HATE THE ENDING

If you wanna watch a good slice-of-life, it's a good place to start. Starting really to the bottom.
Show how some choices in life can be dramatic, maybe hard. But gives some good info about how not to do it.

Pros:
- Art
- Music

-Cons
- History

...

[SPOILERS]


How to be a patetic person. Maybe another good name for it.
This is the summary of this anime. In the end, all they do is hurt those who helped when they need, then come back to those who hurt then first.

Is the summary of the humanity.
For me, was kind revolting seeing how things got developed in the end.

here are some positives and negatives
+ characters with accent
+ very heartbreaking
+ sometimes beautiful
+ interesting plot
+ some good lessons to learn
+ i liked the music i have to say

- flow of the story feels odd in a way that you dont see things coming and its not explained but it happens for some reason and also at the end everything feels hastened
- the intro at least to me feels a little bit cringe
... - some things dont make sense in a way that they are contradictory

overall a good plot made floppy with an interesting style and a cringe intro i dont regrent watching it but i wonder why a lot of things were made like that