So keep in mind that i won't go into too much details about the show. I'm just gonna give my normal review of this anime to explain what i loved about this anime and about a few that i didn't.
Anyway, with all that said, what is this show's about?
Azuki-chan is an anime series based off the manga of the same name by Yasushi Akimoto. Who believe it or not, he has been involved in the Idol industry since he's known for creating a group of idols such as AKB48 and 22/7 (Which also got it's own anime and it also so happens to be one of my favourite anime shows ever).
The show was animated by MADHOUSE. The same studio that brought us Cardcaptor Sakura, Death Note, Kaiji, Hunter X Hunter and of course One Punch Man.
Again, not much is known about this show other than thoses facts that i mentioned. In fact, not many people seem to talk about this show nor even had made a fansub to this anime other than Episode 1 and the movie that it was based off.
So why is this one's forgotten as well? I guess that's where i have to enter in action to see it for myself.
First off, the story is very simple:
It tells a story about a girl named Azusa Noyama. Who was always nicknamed by her friends as "Azuki-chan" mostly because of one of the kids named Ken, who was the one who gave her her nickname and teased her about it.
At first, Azusa used to hate that nickname because she always gets made fun off because of it and not a single person seem like the name.
But things has changed when a new student named Yunosuke Ogasawara, met her for the first time and heard of her nickname. But unlike Ken, Yunosuke liked her name since he finds it to be a nice nickname for a girl like Azusa.
From there, Azusa became surprised with the response to the point that she starts to have a crush on him, Even to the point of falling in love with him.
As the show progresses, both Azusa and Yunosuke would begin to talk each others more often and start to like each other. From having a conversation to have some fun to visit some certain places they like to go. From there, Azusa starts to have feelings to him. Though, she gets a bit jealous when he's talking to other girls. Especially Yoko, who also happens to have a crush on Yunosuke.
Outside of the romance, each episodes tells a story about certain things that kids would usually do and sometimes some crazy ones as well. Especially if we have Makoto involved.
Now, even though i'm no good at japanese, the stories are much simpler, fun and a bit easier to follow, thankfully. So i have no issues with the stories. Although some episodes can get a bit silly and sometimes even weird, like there's one episode where Makoto had to be taking care of a old chimpanzee at the Zoo. Pretty Awkward for a kids show, don't you think?
The characters are, for the most part, pretty good. You have of course the main character Azusa, who basically does have a few days where she had a hardtime having some of the stuff that she doesn't like, but there are other days where things go pretty well for her. She's usually bothered with how Ken would make fun of her and eventually tease her and, like i said, gets jealous when Yunosuke is talking with Yoko.
Yunosuke is also great here. He serves as a pretty good love interest. He's kindhearted and does treat everyone with respect. Especially Azusa. He would every so often go out with her, talk to her, have fun with her and help her out whenever she needs it. Showing a heart of gold.
There are also other characters who do serve a purpose to each stories. You have Azusa's friends, Kaoru and Midori (Also known as "Jidama"). Kaoru is usually a shy girl who has a crush on Ken, while Midori/Jidama is a tomboy who shows no interest in boys since she doesn't give a crap about love.
There's also Yoko, who is Azusa's rival who has a crush on Yunosuke and would eventually try to take him away from her whenever she can. But she's never able to do it.
And finally, Tomo, who although doesn't show that much through out the show, she does appears occasionally when it has to do with Makoto and talking with Azusa and her friends.
As for the boys, outside of Yunosuke, you have Daizu, who's Azusa's little brother who enjoys annoying her big sister and sometimes would complain when doesn't get what he wants.
There's also Makoto, who is an absolute dork and the one that makes me laugh. He's one silly guy who always puts himself into trouble and his friends would have to try to help him out before things gets out of hands.
And finally, you have probably the worst character in the show named Ken, who's not only an complete jerk to Azusa who enjoys making fun of her name and pull her skirt and make fun of her panties (Typical bullying stuff), but he's also quite an asshole to the people. Sometimes when someone tries to have an conversation with him, especially Kaoru who has a crush on him, he wants them to shut up and let him do his own thing. Not to mention the way he talks to others. Once again, asshole.
There are also other characters that appear in the show, like the parents, the teachers and other people that Azusa and her friends meet. Though not much to say about them, other than some other adults that are not the kids' parents that gets some episodes about them.
So far, other than Ken and some other bullies, the characters are fun to watch. They all serve a purpose to make you smile even when you have a bad day.
As for the animation and character designs, they all look very simple, but cute to look at. You have many characters who have only have dot eyes while others have their eyes closed and some foreign characters have their dot eyes colored.
Same thing with the background animations. They all look good and they fit the mood of certain characters and situations.
As for the sound, the Music is pretty good to listen to. It's very relaxing, can be sometimes joyful, others can be funny and sometimes a bit sad whenever it needs to. Again, fitting the mood of certain moments in the anime's episodes.
The voice acting is pretty good as well, many seiyuus have done a pretty good job voicing each characters and giving more life to them. You have Yukana voicing Azusa, who's known for voicing Cure White/Honoka from Futari Wa! Precure and Meiling from Cardcaptor Sakura, Then you have Rei Sakuma voicing Yoko, who's known for voicing My Melody from Onegai My Melody and Shampoo from Ranma 1/2, you have Taeko Kawata voicing Kaoru, who's also known for voicing Amy Rose in the Sonic The Hedgehog video games, you have Mitsuaki voicing Ken, who also voices Close from Go! Princess Precure and Part 8 Josuke Higashikata from JoJolion in the JoJo's Bizzare Adventure video games and you even have Rica Matsumoto voicing Jidama, who not only she's known for voicing Ash Ketchum/Satoshi from the Pokémon series, but she's also known for being the singer for most Pokémon songs and being one of the founding members of JAM Project. Yes. That Rica Matsumoto!
Sorry for the mouthfull, but i couldn't resist how great the performances were during my watchthrough of this anime.
Aaaanyway, what do i have to say about this anime, overall? Well... It's pretty good! I loved the stories about each of the characters, minus Ken, again, the music is great, the characters are mostly great and the animation is very cute and charming to look at.
I can say that i had a good time watching this anime without worrying too much about having a bad day.
Sadly, like i said before, there's only one episode and a movie translated into english. The show itself has yet to be translated into english anytime soon. So the only real way to watch this show is if you understand Japanese and watch the show with no english subs. But even then, the language used in this anime is very simple and easy to understand, minus some of the quirky words used in the anime. So maybe you'll be able to watch it with little to no problems, whatsoever.
But if you do manage to find all the RAW episodes of this anime, i recommend you guys to watch it if you're into romance anime or kids anime in general. Though beware of the scene where Yunosuke gets punched in the stomach by the bullies. While it's not that violence, it can be a bit shocking to look at. And of course that dumbass Ken being a jerk to Azusa, as well.
But even then, for the most part, you'll definitely enjoy the anime regardless of theses scenes. it's cute, colorful and gives out that Peanuts cartoons vibe to it. It's definitely a hidden gem that i will not forget.
My rating for Azuki-chan is definitely an 8 out of 10. It's an cute show and i'm glad that i got around to watch it, even without any fansubs.
Anyway, there you have it. My review on Azuki-chan. My name's José Diogo and i'll see you guys next time.
