Story: Tsurezure Children follows a rotating cast of characters where each of its twelve minute long episode is split into three parts, each part focusing on a different couple or in some cases, successive parts that focus on the same pair. With it, the show gives off a sense of progress as each couple grows closer to each other and gives the viewer a variety of stories varying from those that lead up to the typical confession scene in most romance shows, or show us the rockiness or steadiness of different relationships given the two parties involved. As a result, the show is quite varied and despite the flipflop, feels like it has more to it due to the progressive feeling of the show.
The one downside for the story however is how a good number of the couples really don't get that much screentime. More than half of all of the featured couples in this show are barely given any attention, so it becomes awkward to watch when you're following one couple and their story for the past two weeks, but all of a sudden, these people who haven't gotten any mention since episode two show up and suddenly get a bit to themselves. The imbalance is quite clear towards the end of the series, and it's a bit of a disappointment cause some of my more favorite couples are those that didn't get much attention at all.
Overview:
+ Varied show with a sense of progress
- Heavy imbalance with the presentation of some couples
Characters: Honestly there is no way you're gonna remember the characters. At least a majority of them. More than anything, the show sets them up in such a way that should you forget their names, the interactions with their partner are recognizable enough for you to remember which couple is being featured at a given time, something that was quite common for me because the later episodes pretty much focused on only two to three of the total eight or so couples in this series.
The imbalance with the stories becomes painfully clear when Gouda and Kamine or Kana and Chiaki become the only centerpieces the show is willing to focus on. (Maybe Sugawara and Takano too.) I remember those names specifically because the show liked to focus on their story so much that they completely disregarded the astronomy girl or even the couple who had the first scene in the whole series without batting an eye. Indeed while some of the lesser stories got enough attention to fulfill some kind of small saga, and others are larger in detail and require more time for an overarching story, I can't help but shake the feeling that things could've turned out better with better screentime balance.
Overview:
+ Large cast of still recognizable characters
- Imbalance becomes painfully clear later on in the series (I only remember about half of the couples' names by heart.)
Art: Produced by Studio Gokumi, Tsurezure Children bears a simple style with bold and easy colors complimented by the cartoonish nature of the character designs. While the art quality itself isn't that amazing, it's the character designs that's the art's selling point.
Every character is defined in both hair color and hair design. Personally I think this is a really good way of distinguishing a large cast because during the switch to a different story, the couples's hair color ends up becoming the main indicator for the audience as to who we're focusing on since pretty much everyone has a different style or color to their hair, making us think "Oh, this couple" rather than struggling to remember their names and what quirk they have.
Overview:
+ Simple yet bold artstyle
+ Different hair colors makes couple distinguishing easy (Probably overthinking it, but it's my theory.)
Sound: Performed by Inori Minase, the show's OP "Aimai Moko" is a cheerful and happy song that despite sounding good, isn't really all that memorable if I may be honest. There's nothing about it that screams memorable and honestly wasn't a song that appeared in my radar. The rest of the soundtrack I feel is the same way so there's really nothing special to note here.
Personal Enjoyment: Despite the imbalance, Tsurezure Children was a fun watch. It had all of the elements of a bunch of different romance anime without cluttering itself because the show always focused on only one story at a time. I admit I was mildly annoyed by how the show only just told the story of two of the existing couples. Especially because there were so many others who were just as deserving of that screentime but didn't get the time of day to really show a lot of progress.
Did I like this anime?
More specifically, I like Hanakana's character, Minagawa. Her and Furuya were my favorite couple out of the lot and I'm so sad that they didn't get more screentime. It was fucking gold and I wanted more. Why didn't you give us more?!
What didn't I like about this anime?
Honestly, Gouda and Kamine's relationship is...boring. Or at least the show made it boring. Every time they came on, it was the exact same thing with not much progression to move things along. Puppy love is cute and all, but if you're not gonna do much with it, you might as well give the screentime to a couple who needs it.
Would I recommend this anime?
If you want something cute, Tsurezure Children is a really good fit. It fits along a broad spectrum of different romance stories and packs them all in a neat little series that works surprisingly well despite having eight or so different stories happening at once. Indeed the imbalance is annoying and your favorite couple might not get the time of day, but the show is still fun and enjoyable to watch, so I would recommend it.
