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
