Almost immediately Kimikiss reminded me of Boys Be, another ensemble style HS romance with a slice of life feel. This can be attributed to Kasai splitting the main character from the game into 2. Because of this he was able to follow multiple stories lines and cause controversy with game fans. However, I applaud his gutsy move as it solves the problems with the narrative structure associated with typical visual novel conversions (ie episode 1 girl 1, episode 2 girl 2, etc). The story follows a more realistic slice of life path where we see the life of these high schooler’s and their romances. In addition, the story is very much character driven and fairly typical of the romance genre. So if you don’t like romance stories then you won’t like this and why the hell are you reading this anyway?
As I said, Kimikiss is purely character driven; here is where the meat of this anime lays. I found all the characters very likable and charming. Most of the fun of Kimikiss comes from watching these characters interact and watch their lives unfold. Also, due to the story structure all the characters get plenty of screen time and development. I’ll have to admit most the characters aren’t exactly the deepest or most complex. In addition, many of the characters feel a bit too idealized. However, Kimikiss is a light romance/drama so I can forgive this aspect, as I don’t think Kimikiss was ever meant to be very complex. Kimikiss also lacks the extremes in terms of drama and comedy. It stays at a very comfortable level between those 2 things, neither extremely dramatic nor extremely comedic. Ok it does get a bit dramatic in the end but that’s to be expected.
Kimikiss features a soft, water color like animation/art, similar to Kasai previous works and the original game art. For the most part the animation/art was fairly consistent however, there were a few episodes where there were noticeable differences in characters faces. Its not on the same level as their previous works in terms of animation quality nevertheless above average.
In terms of sound there isn’t anything to really note. The OP gave me a bad impression the first time I heard it however, it did grow on me. I particularly liked how they changed the ED theme in the 2nd half to represent the more dramatic tone. Once again nothing really note worthy.
For a show that took several risks the ending felt too conventional. I was in a bit of shock as I watched one of the most clique endings I seen in anime. In addition, the ending felt a bit off in terms of overall consistency. They seem to be going in one direction and ignore that go in another at the very end. No, this isn’t necessary a related to who the main character picks. However, I’m only talking about one of the love triangles, the other was very consistent and focused.
Kimikiss is a charming and enjoyable character driven romance anime. It is strongly character driven and takes a slice of life approach. Hell most of what they do is walk to school, come back from school, and various other ‘normal’ things. However, for a series that took chances and very slice of life, I was let down by the extremely conventional romantic ending. Also, I was annoyed by the slight inconsistency in one of the love triangles.
