Story:
I mean…it’s a moe show where 5-8 different colored girls spend time in a European-themed town amidst rabbits and cute incidents. It was the same for the first two seasons, so why would it be any different here?
Well, contrary to the other two seasons of Gochiusa, Bloom somehow feels like a way for the story to move forward. While a majority of the story is still set in this cutesy atmosphere of moe blobs having fun with life, a surprising amount of the show is set in deciding in the futures of the girls, whether or not that be deciding where they’re going for high school or what’s next for them in life. It’s not a lot, but it’s surprisingly insightful and is genuinely cute in a show that’s already filled with insulin-filled moments.
The one thing that I still don’t really have a handle on still is the magical aspect of the series. Much of Chino’s family seems to have some kind of affiliation for the magical, or the supernatural, something that shows up a multitude of times especially given the fact that Chino’s grandfather is the rabbit that sits on top of her head for a majority of the series and now her mother is a part of all of this. The fact that we don’t get a lot of information on that still is a little sad because it’s one of the few things about Gochiusa that genuinely interests me as a viewer, and seeing more of that being added instead of being solved is a little disheartening since by the end of the series, surprisingly enough, there’re more questions being asked than answers given.
That being said, still a solid season around. Of course you can’t really go wrong with moe and its derivatives, but it’s still kind of nice to go back to something that’s a reliable piece of media every once in a while, especially when it’s been a while since you’ve seen any kind of significant moe fluff amidst any of your other seasonal picks.
Characters:
Chino, Cocoa, Rize, Chiya, and Syaro aren’t really much different this time around unless you’re talking strictly about their interactions with each other. The show plays around with the idea of different flavors mixing with others and putting characters that typically aren’t seen together, together. Something that becomes even more prevalent when you add in the rest of the Chimame corps. Since both Megumi and Maya add two more players that can mix and match weird combinations of characters that aren’t seen with each other. I think this season is the most they’ve ever played with the concept, and it’s kind of fun to see that since for the most part, the series has been pretty sparing with making weird combos with all of the girls involved.
The side cast isn’t much different either, but there seems to be some heavier emphasis this time around of showing off Aoyama and the weird game of hide and seek she and her editor play, and Grandpa Tippy being way more vocal than ever before. Which, still don’t have an answer for that one, but fine. I’ll just wait for Season 4. Which may or may not give me the answers I want, but I can hope.
Aesthetics:
I don’t know what the hell happened to the license of this series, but it’s changed hands like three times. Yet somehow looks the same. Encourage Films doesn’t make the show look much different if at all. The art is still colorful and very pretty and cute with a heavy emphasis of rabbit imagery since that seems to be the only animal in this town that’s worth a damn. There’s not a lot to praise or criticize about it since Gochiusa is very consistent and hardly screws up or stresses the budget like other shows can. Which I guess it the nature of moe.
For the record, both of these OP and ED songs are cutesy seiyuu pieces. “Tenkuu Cafeteria” sung by the seiyuus of the main five girls and “Nakayoshi! ○! Nakayoshi!” sung by the seiyuus of the Chimame corps are are very similar and I don’t think I need to spend much time on a pair of songs that sound almost identical and have a very similar flair to it.
Final Thoughts:
Some day I’ll get my answers about Grandpa Tippy. But for now, I guess a 3rd season will do. Gochiusa is one of those series’ that’s so inoffensive that there’s not much to say without repeating the same points over and over again. If anything, the series edging itself ever so slightly in a new direction is the biggest thing this series has ever done in terms of story development. Which is barely a step forward if this was any other show. By no means a bad thing, but it puts into perspective the kind of series we’re dealing with here.
That being said, one thing I do like about the series is its hilariously large amount of dry wit and comedy. Chino and a number of the girls’ comebacks are actually pretty funny, made even better when some of the topics they talk about make you want to do a double take because something they said just sounded a tiny bit too absurd, and we’re gonna need to back the fuck up to make sure I read that right. It happened a lot more than I expected, so I guess that’s a personal boon for me on my enjoyment factor for this show.
All that being said, it’s still moe fluff, and if you’re into that, go right on ahead. There’s a surprising amount of context in the first two seasons that still need to be watched prior, but aside from that, pretty good show all around. Not too much to hate on, but by contrast, not a lot to talk about either.
