Yotsunoha

At first Yotsunoha did look quite promising and interesting. The story was something we all seen before - Childhood friends reuniting after years of separation. Yotsunoha is about a couple of childhood friends returning back to their abandon school where the group re-kindles their relationship. Elements of romance is present in the anime and a couple of jokes are pulled into play as well. However the anime proves to be something quite dull and boring.


Story: The anime is only 2 episodes long, each explains their past relationship with each other. The story is quite simple and unoriginal, however the viewer won't be looking forward ... as how the story will unfold but rather which character the protagonist will choose. Though the story is simple, one part was different from the ordinary. The teacher hid the 'time capsule' that was filled with the characters past memories and the characters must find clues to find where it was hidden. It may sound interesting to you, but the process of collecting clues just wasn't there, the viewer won't feel enticed by any of the problem solving.

Summary: You will find yourself bored with the uneventful storyline. There is no drama, despite the tags, comedy wasn't a strong point either. The story had a series of flashbacks which reveal the character's past which then leads to who the protagonist will choose.

Animation: The animation was good better than the average anime, however that would be because there was only two episodes to cover. All the characters look nice and the background shines with colour. There weren’t any flaws in the animation and that was probably the best part of the anime.

Sound: The music isn't really noticeable and the OP and ED don't appeal to the watcher. The character's voices were fine, expect for one. Nono's. Her voice just didn't fit with the whole anime, I personally found her voice annoying and sometimes wanted her to not talk. However the music wasn't bad, it just wasn't outstanding either.

Character: The anime only focuses two characters, the rest where just there to look pretty. However the other female characters do add to the excitement level by putting the viewer in clueless state to which the protagonist will choose. All the characters you see in this OVA, will be characters you have already seen in previous animes. No character really gave a good appeal to me, except for the lolicon like Nono. She was a little different from the average anime, however her presence made the anime worst not better.

Enjoyment: There was no drama, no twists, no excitement or climax. This anime was boring, not much was revealed through the two episodes. The comedy was hardly there, however there was a particular scene near the end that did make me smile a bit, but that was it. Even the harem was hardly visible.

Overall: I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, however the story gives a relaxing feel.
Drama? No
Twists? No
School days? No
So if you are looking for an anime along those lines, then try out Yotsunoha


Seriously don't watch it, you'll probably be better off with School days.

Yotsunoha is a short romance OVA with a solid concept, but somewhat underwhelming execution. Beginning with the story, it follows a group of childhood friends who have returned to their former middle school for their time capsule, and how they have a sleepover there which facilitates a fraught navigation of complex feelings like love, friendship, and loneliness. It's a cute concept, and many of the moments in the show itself are well-executed, though there are a couple of problems which hold it back in the end. First, the protagonist, Makoto, acts and talks like no human man ever would. He ... feels stilted, awkward, oblivious, and makes bizarre, jarring attempts at conversation that really make it feel like there's genuinely something wrong with him. Outside of that he's just your typical self-insert, but his outlandish comments make even that a difficult feat. Second, Yotsunoha is way too short to fully explore the story and its themes. The story is a fairly engaging romance, with the unraveling of years-old issues and the unloading of immense emotional baggage. It manages to be somewhat compelling, but it all feels rushed with only two episodes. The random flashbacks interrupt the pacing, even for how necessary they are to comprehend the plot, which is a shame. Motivations are even glossed over entirely in order to get to the next part of the story, leaving some scenes and transitions feeling confused or undeveloped, when a full 12 episode run would have been more than enough to let this story come into full bloom.

The art is good, exhibiting a relatively high production value while maintaining its thoroughly mid-2000s aesthetic. Namely, the soft color palate comes off as graceful and somewhat immersive, and the character design is unique and compelling. Though, there are a couple of issues with the quality that betray a limited time frame, namely in how it handles depth, with objects in the foreground feeling almost laid on top of the scene after the fact.

The sound is solid, and the strongest aspect of this anime. The soundtrack is light and fun with room for dramatic sorrow, the sounds of life are detailed, and the voice work is distinctive and richly emotional.

The characters are all around fairly strong, with the exception of Makoto, and I feel the ending of this brief anime reached its conclusion in the best way it could have given the circumstances. Though, Nono does get more screentime than the other girls, and as such develops a little further. Overall, Yotsunoha is an anime with a lot of wasted potential due to a poor execution of a strong story- give it a shot if you like the unique concept, or find yourself fascinated by relatively obscure titles.