It's about a boy named Yasaka Hajime (voiced by Yuuko Sanpei) who's having the summer of his life by working in a cafe during the summer with a ghost named Arashiyama (voiced by Ryoko Shiraishi) who has the ability to time travel to the past. Both Arashiyama and Yasaka worked in the cafe with their boss Sayaka (voiced by Hitomi Nabatame), Yasaka's friend Jun (voiced by Chiaki Omigawa) along with other ghosts including a German girl named Kaja (voiced by Kaori Nazuka), and two of Arashiyama's school mates Kanako (voiced by Yui Horie) and Yayoi (voiced by Nonaka Ai). And frequenting the cafe is a detective named Hideo Murata (voiced by Hiroki Yasumoto) and several characters voiced by Tomokazu Sugita.
The thing i love about this series is the music. The OP and ED for this anime is based on the groovy late 60s to mid 70's music that was popular in Asia. My parents were raised by the music of the 60's and 70's, and listening to the OPs and EDs of this anime brought me back to the days of my mom & dad listening to vinyl records of the 60's and 70's. And the that 60's/70's influenced sounds are littered throughout the series. it's even played during the scenes in the cafe, which makes you feel liek you are there.
The visuals and art are okay. However, i do not think that Shinbo and Oonuma's directing is fit with the art of this series. There is something i felt missing whenever i look at the art and direction of Natsu no Arashi. I always think the designs of Jin Kobayashi's anime are more suited for straightforward directing like you see in Schol Rumble. But Shinbo and Oonuma does manage to make their direction work well sometimes and since this animne is less absurd and less weird than his other works, i think he along with Azuma Kouji, Watanabe Mayumi and Hibino Jin pulled it off really good.
There are subplots in this anime, including a backstory on Arashiyama's past, along with backstories on other ghosts like Kaja, Yayoi and Kanako. There's even an episode discussing the ideas of time travel paradoxes, and it's hilarious. Seeing Sayaka and Kaja debating ontological paradox for an entire episode is just amusing to my sake.
Now the characters to me are very good and likeable. Yasaka is a rare male character. He's enthusiastic, playful and he doesn't give a fuck. You don't see guys like him being main characters nowadays. And what's better is that he works in a cafe full of female employees, and yet this series does it well in refusing to give a harem subplot for Yasaka. He doesn't go around and flirt with his female colleagues. He just wants to have fun working with a time travelling ghost in a cafe which is filled with female employees.
This is very underrated. Infact, it's so underrated that you don't see this anime being discussed alot unlike other anime series by SHAFT. If you really love works by SHAFT, then i suggest you should go and watch this. It deserves more recognition and more DVD sales because while it has 2 seasons, i think a 3rd season would be great as well.
Oh, and can you pass me some salt please?
