Now the story is about young dispute mediator asked to guard a young girl. Now at first the only thing that came to mind was, there is something deeper afoot. Sure enough, Kure-nai is rather shy with it's revelations and that just begs for the viewer to continue on until everything is over. In this regard it is well executed. As always, some of the scenes may not make sense until it is later explained but that is to be expected of this offering.
They went for a realistic approach in Kure-nai, which works well at points but sometimes results are either a victim of the uncanny valley or just plain disturbing. Especially the a fight scene involving our protagonist and his principle's brother. Speaking of fight scenes, though they may be brief at points, they are a visual treat thanks to the fluid animation. What I especially liked as well was the background art. The hues and lighting really set mood and are very well done.
Sound on the other hand, could have been better handled. The background music is satisfactory already but what I really had a gripe with were the sound effects. Physical contact sounds like they were sprung out of a can of stock sounds or out of a video game (which I must admit I feel as if I've heard them from somewhere else before but I digress).
The plots is character driven and thus characterisation was given some priority as well. Our protagonists lives charmingly mature in to real people as they live, struggle and come to grips with each other. What is really admirable is their courage. For our protagonist hero it is how he deals with the mistakes of youth and protagonist heroine how she stands up for her freedom. Our supporting characters are not forgotten as well. Each have a deeper side to them as it is slowly revealed by others or inferred from what they say and how they say it.
Overall, I enjoyed Kure-nai. The well written characters and the plot that surrounds it. And to a lesser extent I enjoy the somewhat more realistically grounded fights. Personal favourite scene would be the episode involving the musical, which I would describe as classy. I'm heartily recommending this as something may not be unique to some but well executed. If you're looking for something nice and quick, this isn't for you since Kure-nai takes good time to enjoy.
