None of the different endeavors of the characters from episode to episode are new, or presented in a refreshing way. A girl summons a ghost because she is lonely, and said ghost becomes her substitute mom, as, for some reason, those in charge of Gugure! felt the need to throw in angst in an otherwise comedic plot. While there are moments where the emotion and relationships between the characters shine through, it's all a bit disjointed.
Additionally, for a comedy, many of the jokes fall quite flat. There were times earlier one when I genuinely got a good laugh out of an episode, but that was back in the character introduction stages very early on. As Gugure! pushed to provide more of an emotional message of family or togetherness or what have you, getting laughs became second priority though that was the anime's strength.
In the end, Gugure! goes out not with a bang, but with a fizzle, retelling the age old 'friends are forever' cliche to close out episode twelve. Nothing new, memorable or humorous here.
A lot of the anime's best humor may lie in it's visual gags; when Gugure! is trying to be funny, the art is very on point. Images of Kohina's eyes coming off like stickers and the tanuki morphing into a grown man in Kohina's clothes come to mind.
Otherwise, for an anime at the end of 2014, I was not exactly impressed--not to say there were crossed eyes and miniature misshapen limbs all over the place, but the animation was nothing progressive.
Sound was what is expected from a sort of parody/comedy anime like this one, and there is nothing really worth mentioning here as well.
Characters, even the main ones, were very one note, which is something common but still depressing to see. Once introduced, most of the material coming from each personality was very predictable, and thus short lived. At times, it was almost as if the characters themselves were forcing out the laughter, and I could almost here the Kokkuri-san himself losing his voice over all the yelling that defined his nagging personality type. It all seemed a bit forced at times, and relaxed in others, creating an uncomfortable uneveness.
As is the case with tropes, the possibility of finding a favorite character is there. Unfortunately, throughout the course of the show I did find my favorite, and pitied them, a side character, more than Kohina, whose loneliness kept getting shoved in my face for plot reasons. Sorry Kohina, your monotone loner act makes you too flat and static for my liking.
Enjoyment decreased over time, sloping downward during the process of the jokes getting stale. This particular series may be better to viewers who are not already well immersed in anime, but know that there are also many references to Japanese culture that go unexplained and may deter a newer fan.
Wikipedia if you will, laugh stiffly if you will--I will mostly like smoothly move on from a supernatural comedy that is, in the end, a bit bland.
