Urara Meirocho is based off a rather short manga panel series and is a comedy/supernatural genre manga. The combination of having both comedy and supernatural within a manga series I felt was rather unique why was why I decided to give this series a try. I have not read the original source material that this anime is adapted from but after watching this im interested to read it.
Story and setting
Urara’s story is a fantasy world that looks similar to a fantasy version of ancient Japan with the story’s theme being divination. The story is largely set in the town of Meirocho that is more well known as the Labyrinth town. Within the town are many diviners that are both divided by their skill level and by their divination practices with each rank of urara as the diviners are called being based in a specific sector. The anime follows the adventures of Four girls who come to the town in order to become urara’s with the main character Chiya hoping to become a first ranked Urara for a personal reason.
The Divination that serves as the main subject for this anime is in reality almost a form of magic and can take a great many forms from the Crystal ball divination used by Tokie to Kokkuri and Tarot card divination used by Kon and Koume. According to the lore of the show Urara powers are limited to usage by woman with the earliest age of training to become one if one has the talent to be 15. This I felt was interesting as I would have thought that earlier ages would have been better.
Although the main topic of the anime is divination and learning to become good urara’s there are other themes that are also explored in urara such as friendship, the forging of bonds and overcoming of challenges with teamwork and intellect. These are part of the training that the four girls go through as they learn and bond with each other. The aspect of taking four strangers that all have one goal in mind and get them to work together is interesting as although they are rivals when they become top ranked urara’s when they are still in learning they can still become friends. Watching the girls who each have their own divination specialty and personality traits and forge friendships and bond with each other was a great thing to see.
Chiya
Chiya voiced by new seiyuu Sayaka Harada in her second main role in her career is one of the main characters of the series and the main protagonist of the series. A 15-year-old year that grew up in the wild Chiya is a cheerful, positive and overactive girl that looks a bit like an animal due to the animal like ears and the tail that she has. Fast and agile Chiya is a relatively fast mover that is because of growing up with animals in the wild and can run on both the ground and on roofs in equal measure. Chiya has several notable traits that make her stand out with the first being that she hates wearing restrictive clothing which usually means any of the clothes that people wear in the town. In fact, Chiya wears her own outfit that is more suited to her personality which like the outfit is more open and emphasizes on freedom of movement. Her second trait is that as a result of growing up outside of populated areas Chiya’s understanding of how things work in towns such as the need to pay for something after you chosen to eat it is almost non-existent with the funniest part of this trait being how she apologizes in this case by showing her stomach and rubbing it. Though Chiya eventually learns about these things seeing it happen was just hilarious. In terms of character development Chiya actually gets developed pretty well with her recklessness and somewhat crazy habit of jumping on the roofs being curbed in gradually while making her more positive and caring towards her friends and allies. Unlike the other three girls at first Chiya did not have a specific divination specialty which made her somewhat less efficient than the other girls at times but this was offset by how hard she worked to study and the support of her friends and by the end of the series she too a power of sorts. All in all I felt that Chiya was a pretty good character and that her seiyuu Sayaka Harada despite being new did a pretty good job portraying her.
Kon
Kon voiced by veteran seiyuu Kaede Hondo is one of the main characters of the series and is one of Chiya’s fellow rookie Urara’s. A 15-year-old girl like the rest of her fellow rookies Kon is an intelligent, focused and calm person that also has a studious and serious personality. Unlike Chiya who tends to spend more of her time having fun Kon prefers to spend her time studying and improving her divination skills. However, while it’s easy to assume that these two characters may clash due to their different personalities its actually the opposite that happens. Due to Kon’s studious nature although she managed to learn a great deal when she was little this was at the cost of not having any close friends and as a result Kon does have trouble in making them. As a result, in the beginning of the series she had to battle between being studious and lonely and being loud and neglectful of her studies. This served as the main point of development for Kon’s character and in the end I was glad to see that she had adapted the middle ground between the two as her new personality with her still being serious and studious while at the same time taking the time out to help friends and be with them. Like all the girls Kon has her own specialized divination with Kon’s being Kokkuri divination. This form of divination I felt was actually quite interesting and funny in that what this essentially does is that Kon will summon a fox spirit through the use of a scroll that looks somewhat like a Ouija board and a movable object which in this case is a coin. Whats funny about this is that whenever Kon tries this she more often than not gets possessed by the spirit which has a rather spirited personality. While the spirit may appear haughty and dismissive of the girls its comical in that it always gets dominated by Chiya. Overall I thought that Kon was a pretty well designed character and that her seiyuu Hondo Kaede did a great job portraying her.
Koume
Koume voiced by veteran seiyuu Yurika Kubo of High school fleet fame is one of the main characters of the series and one of Chiya’s fellow Urara rookies. A positive, energetic and classy young girl that is from a relatively rich family Koume can be described as the image of a refined young lady. While appearing to be haughty and competitive at times Koume’s personality is rather simple in that while she doesn’t study as hard as Kon does or is as carefree as Chiya is she makes up for it by being diligent and hardworking when it counts and more importantly she cares about her friends and the friendships that they have formed. Besides Kon Koume is the one that knows more about Urara’s than the remaining girls and often Koume is the one that points out the facts that the others may be missing. Unlike the other girls that tend to dress conservatively in what can be considered the normal style of dress in the town Koume dresses in western dress which includes among others a corset and a skirt. This comes from the fact that Koume has a deep interest into western culture in part due to an encounter that she had in the past that led to her interest in divination. Like the other girls Koume has her own specialty in terms of divination with hers being tarot cards divination. Less often seen in Japan but more so outside of it Tarot cards are widely thought to have mythical powers so I thought that it was a good idea to an include a western divination method in for Koume as she is interested in western culture. Though all girls bring with them their own blend of comedic effect to the series Koume brings a lot with her usually wacky ideas or when her thoughts are visualized on screen. All in all I thought Koume was a pretty well designed character and that her seiyuu Yurika Kubo did a great job voicing her.
Nono
Nono voiced by veteran seiyuu Haruka Yoshimura of Asterisk wars fame is one of the main characters of the series and one of Chiya’s fellow rookie. The younger sister of the girl’s teacher Nina sensei Nono is a quiet, withdrawn and shy person which is a contrast to her sister who is positive, cheerful and talkative. However, while Nono can be quite shy and timid beneath that nature lies a fierce sense of determination that she can make use of when she’s brave enough. One of the main part of the series main plot line is the development of each of the characters through effective character development. At the start of the series Nono was quiet, shy and relatively timid and as a result she was unable to properly express her views and opinions to others that well. This caused a great deal for not just Chiya and her fellow Urara’s but also for her sister Nina as well. However, as the series goes on Nono eventually learns to become braver mostly due to Chiya’s help and she eventually is able to become a more talkative person and able to express her opinions more easily. Like all the girls Nono has some notable traits that make her stand out. The first is that despite her shy personality Nono has a pretty amazing singing voice which really surprised me when she sang for the first time. The second trait is Nono’s relationship with her doll that she uses as a medium for her divination. As with Chiya and the others Nono has her own Divination and arguably she has the most unique method. Nono’s method revolves around the use of her doll that she calls Matsuko that seems to be alive to a degree in that its able to perform actions on her own which includes assisting Nono with many different things. I feel that Nono’s seiyuu Haruka Yoshimura did a great job portraying Nono.
Nina
Nina voiced by veteran seiyuu Ai Kayano of Guilty crown and Anohana fame and one of my favourite seiyuu’s is one of the main support characters of the series serving as the girl’s master and teacher as they began to learn how to become a good urara. A rank 5 urara Nina is a positive, cheerful and caring person that apart from teaching the girls all they need to know about becoming a urara also cares deeply about each of them referring to them as her precious students. Equally strict and carefree Nina understands that sometimes they girls must take time to relax and not study every hour of the day and as such gives the girls some leeway in their behavior. However, Nina while rarely getting angry does do so on occasion which is more comical than serious. A notable trait of Nina is that when she gets drunk Nina becomes rather hyperactive and excitable which has the effect of making her look funny. Like all Urara Nina is specialized towards a certain discipline with hers being tea leaves divination. Overall I felt that Ai Kayano did a great job portraying Nina.
Tokie
Tokie played by veteran seiyuu Mamiko Noto of Persona 3 movies and Muv Luv alternative is a veteran urara and a rank 2 urara within the city and is a friend of Nina. Like Nina Tokie manages her own school of Urara and as such Nina and Tokie can be considered rivals. Not introduced until much later in the series Tokie is a powerful Urara that is also sassy and has a bit of a sadistic personality evident in the series final test. Despite that Tokie does care about the well-being of young urara’s and does try to rein this in when possible. A practitioner of the crystal ball divination which is arguably one of the most famous types of divination Tokie plays a important part in the plot in the latter part of the series. Though mainly a support character I felt that Mamiko Noto did a great job portraying Tokie and I hope to see her again in the sequel.
Saku
Saku voiced by veteran seiyuu Ayaka Suwa of absolute Duo and Asterisk wars fame is one of the main support characters of the series. The commander of district 10’s guard and patrol force Saku and Nina are old friends and as such Saku also serves to guild and protect her charges. A dutiful, honorable and innocent person that believes heavily in law and justice and the fact that it’s the guards duties to protect the people of the district from harm. However, Saku usually has her hands full in not just dealing with criminals but also with her fan club subordinates and the antics of Nina’s students particularly Chiya. A running gag about Saku is that she gets embarrassed by Chiya just about every time she meets her and losing her usual calm composure. This I felt was quite funny. Additionally, Saku’s relationship with Nina is rather interesting as well. All in all I felt that Ayaka Suwa did a great job portraying Saku.
Arts and animation
The arts and animation for the series I felt was good. The character designs for each of the characters was well done and designed and I liked the animation and the design of the town environments that the series takes part in. Animation itself was good and there was a wide range and balance of colors for the environments that were shown.
Music
Music for the series I felt was good with the opening and ending themes being cheery and positive and catchy.
Voice acting
Voice acting, I felt was pretty good in the series with each member of the cast doing an excellent job voicing their respective characters. Sayaka Harada, Kaeda Hondo, Yurika Kobo and Haruka Yoshimura who voiced the characters of Chiya, Kon, Koume and Nono respectively I felt deserve special praise as I felt that they were able to portray their characters reasonably well.
Overall conclusion
Overall I quite enjoyed Urara as I found the subject matter of Divination and the various divination methods that were shown in the anime to be quite interesting. The overall story as well as the characters that were in it I thought was pretty good and Chiya’s quest added a more personal stake into the story for her that I felt only enhanced the story and made it better. Character designs and voice acting were both things that I felt was pretty strong in this series as I liked that apart from their personalities each character was unique enough not just in terms of their divination skills but also in their character designs. As anime that contains both comedy and supernatural elements it must be able to balance out the two while also featuring enough of them to make a difference and in that o felt that it was successful. This is one anime that I hope will be one that gets a sequel as the series hints at the end.
