Kanamemo

Stressed out from the most dragging of dragging unfunny and unimportant/fanservice-filled filler episodes ever? Trying to find a totally relaxed slice-of-life anime? Not terribly offended by yuri? (PROTIP: Yuri doesn't have an everlasting effect, there is little to mild yuri hinted here, may be disturbing but most of the time it is quite used in a comical sense) Then Kanamemo is easily one of the newer ones I would recommend to you. Remember though, that this is a very hit-or-miss thing. What you would benefit from, is to not think of it hugely as a comedy series but instead as a simple slice of life seriesthat is, very easily, a simple slice of life series. It has got the light-hearted atmosphere that some animes aim for but fail miserably at like it was nothing and it virtually looked like the crew didn't even try making it light-hearted, it was as if it was naturally light-hearted. Compared to some animes that force themselves to look so. Never put a huge expectation up for this anime for most of the time you will be disappointed. Of course I had an overall expectation of 8/10 and I did not walk away saying,"I am disappoint.", I instead just closed my video player and told myself how great I am by finishing an anime and did a backflip (lacking faith in some people's sarcasm radar, I will point out I was being sarcastic, seriously). With a very simple starter story of a run-away girl (grandmother passes away, title character runs away, finds new home in this newspaper center, starts life anew with her newer and more ecstatic friends, leaving behind her old life, although not completely) and an aftermath that doesn't even look much like a plot, there is as much worth to rating this plot as there is to rating Lucky Star's or even telling a refrigerator to make instant curry out of thin air. The soundtrack, is as of now, an unknown quantity to me. I haven't had a chance to properly listen to it. Most of the times, I don't get to listen to it properly (as I had done with Toradora!, which had a fantastic OST I still listen to today) unless it's in some way very attractive or the BGM was made much louder than the talking seiyuu (e.g Honey & Clover and CLANNAD's soundtrack caught my attention in not 10 minutes) so I don't deem myself too worthy to check on it yet. Its humour, although not sporadic throughout the whole series and not roll-around-die-laughing humourous, is quite enjoyable. It is very easy to see that some people will complain that its humour is totally non-existent and there are others who'd laugh at it without stop, either way, stuff like this are usually pretty hit-or-miss, but more hit than miss. To be honest, if you wanted a guarantee, it's not as hit-or-miss to most as Lucky Star or Bakemonogatari, that's for sure. With jokes that aren't at all original, Kanamemo still manages to deliver funny lines every now and then. Sometimes it gets me laughing or it gets me in the cold. Of course besides the joke itself, intonation is a pretty big factor and in anime, intonation is pretty much the characters. Speaking of the characters, it holds a pretty big all-girls cast with what I could say a great seiyuu line-up (brushing off a certain Tsundere Queen aside, since some people seem to have gotten sick of her). The cast (pretty much ALL cliched) are comprised of a timid little girl, also title character Kana, 'cheapskate' type-girl (although this isn't hugely shown by her daily attitude but is shown in scene) Hinata, strict-elementary-schooler-boss-but-never-blushing-tsundere Saki, the hyperactive Yume, her quiet companion + requited female love-interest, Yuuki and some yuri-craving/loving drunkard Haruka along with a later-introduced character, a pink-haired tsundere, Mika. Personally though I like Hinata the most as the rest are rather much more bland than her in general. And I never grew to LOVELOVELOVELOVE Kugimiya Rie Tsunderes™ either, aside from.. Toradora's? No never mind. Might not seem so loveable to you does it? Of course this again represents my plain saying of how hit-or-miss this show has been. I for one, like it. Simply because it's pretty easy to read, to understand, to pretty much just do anything. If I had to use a metaphor, it's as easy to understand as it is to see something. Views may vary, that's very obvious and here and there there will definitely be critics but really, I never did expect too much, and got what I wanted, if not marginally surpassed. So Kanamemo is definitely a title I would recommend to you (depending on who you are) if you said yes to either of my first questions.

"Kanamemo" is about Kana, an orphaned girl working at a newspaper delivery office after the passing of her grandmother. Animation: 4/10 Nothing spectacular about the animation, I would even say it's below par. Character design is pretty cute, and the vivid coloring was nice though. Some outdoor scenes had a decent atmosphere using blurring techniques, but overall, lacking detail. Sound: 3/10 Extremely poorly done and annoying voice acting. Perhaps it's my personal preference, but voicing of all the young girls sounded strained and tiring after couple of episodes. Music/OP/ED were bland, and didn't really stand out. Story: 8/10 Despite the technical flaws in this series, the story was extremely strong. Kana slowlylearns the job, and gets along with fellow workers while facing various obstacles of the tough delivery job. What really impressed me, was the focus of this story. Even though Kana is a middle-schooler, there were very few scenes in her junior high school, and very limited school life. Her classmates appear only to develop the story, and does not deviate the central theme of this anime, which is delivering newspapers. Use of Kana's 'memo' to grandma was also a very effective device for narration. Character Development: 5/10 Kana's character was developed fairly well from a hopeless new recruit to an unreliable yet vital existence in the team. She slowly found her place in the 'big family'. Sadly, the side characters were all overly predictable and lacked depth. In fact, all the coworkers can be characterized under two words. Saki: Chibi adult Hinata: Cheap Yume: Rich lesbian Yuuki: Quiet lesbian Haruka: Drunk pervert Kujiin Mika: Tsundere. Interaction with these side characters were always same: Kana is molested by Haruka, Hinata or Saki shows up and violently stops it, while Yume and Yuuki are making out in the back. The producers persistently pushed these developments long after they stopped being funny. Enjoyment: 5/10 I haven't seen the manga (as usual), but "Kanamemo" was clearly a failed attempt in anime adaption. The story and setting was good, but overall it was extremely poorly executed. It was neither slapstick nor drama. One thing I really enjoyed though, was the 'finding small joys in life' aspect of the story, but otherwise, this series had very little to offer. A typical loli/moe show.

Kanamemo is slow paced and for those who don't want something to take heavily. It's not bad, but has a few bumps in the road. Could be better, but for what it is you should have fun if you enjoy SoL/Comedies in general. Story: 4 What story? There is barely a story if you can call it one. The main character Kana's parents have passed and she was in the care of her grandmother who soon passed and now she is homeless and looking for work. She ends up finding a place to work and live, but it's filled with eccentrics and quite the busy place. Hernew found job is working as a papergirl delivering news to the neighborhood daily. This is the over-arcing story and all the rest is in a typical SoL episodic fashion. It's more or less cute girls doing cute things, but there is still some merit to this show despite the lack of plot. Note* There is one episode centered around going to a public bath and it's heavily censored with a comical cat face. May or may not affect the enjoyment of the series, just a warning. Pretty fanservicey and feels like an OVA instead of an actual episode. Art: 7 The art isn't bad, but not particularly good either. Nothing much stands out. I do enjoy the soft pallet of colors they use in general and the way it's colored and shaded adds very nicely to the laid back atmosphere. Animation is average at best, this is a SoL so expect stills and scenes without much animation as its very dialog heavy. Aesthetically it is pleasing, but nothing you'll be likely to remember. Sound: 7 The sound is a mixed bag for me. I personally dislike the main character's voice as it is at least to me somewhat annoying. The rest were pretty average to me, and that's not surprising considering this is mostly a comedy and SoL where they aren't trying to captivate you emotionally, so it is acceptable; and suits the atmosphere. Sound effects are pretty average themselves, not deviating from the norm either. Music I found was a bit better than most. There is one theme that is constantly used for most scenarios (Mainly a flute/recorder That mixes well with the show.) and its gotten stuck in my head, so if nothing else it's catchy. Don't expect anything too much from the OP or ED because both are pretty average; SoL fitting themes. Character: 7 This is the main catching point for this show and what gives it an edge over other shows in the genre. They use tropes that we all know of and have probably seen a handful of times, but executes them in a fresh feeling way. Not to mention this is the first time I saw a comedyesque show take a homosexual relationship seriously, without forcing it more than is necessary. They portray them extremely casually and never put an emphasis on "HOLY SHIT GIRLS KISSING WTF/BBQ!!!???!1 LOOK HOW EDGY OMG" (AHEM, Sakura Trick...) There is usually a joke about them every other episode but it's almost always lighthearted. We have the other characters that don't show much development or change outside the main, but none the less are all likeable. And since this is primarily a comedy that's OK. Their tropes are what set up certain jokes and changing from them too much would endanger the fun aspect since this show should be taken with a chill pill anyway. The only character I absolutely couldn't stand was Haruka (The child molester essentially.) because she was just so effing annoying, and the joke of her messing with Kana got old quick. Enjoyment/Overview 9/7 Kanamemo does everything by doing nothing, and has a few redeeming values. One of few SoL's I deem as something you should watch. While it isn't inherently great it has it's pluses that give it a pretty enjoyable feel. Something to be watched passively and without much thought because it is in essence just plain fun. It's a great laugh depending on your stance on humor and a laid back SoL without anything that serious happening. If you hate that then avoid it because there is a lack of plot, if you do enjoy something like Non Non Biyori you should check this out.

(updated 9/20/18 for format and slight content revision) Hi! Another Robert's Too Late Review coming down! As always, synopsis, minor spoilers maybe, yada, yada. Today we're going to be looking at the interesting case of Kanamemo. This anime is very interesting in that I discovered it via recommendations that don't really fit the style and type that this anime holds. I'll not deny my enjoyment of ecchi and yuri anime genres, and I came to Kanamemo via recommendations about it being one or the other. The thing is, only one character fits the ecchi side of things, and not in any kind of good way, andthe yuri aspects are limited to that same character we'll discuss, and a lesbian couple that are smaller parts of the overall cast. Let's talk about now, if this show works as a slice of life comedy, and about the overall series in general, and answer the age-old question as to if this anime rates a place on the Great Wall of RTLR fame. Story: 7 I liked the story for the most part, which is firmly in the slice of life category, with the homeless Kana finding a place first to stay, then a place to call home, in the newspaper office. Most episodes deal with issues that Kana has to face and is framed around her speaking to her now deceased grandmother and assuring the woman's soul that she is learning to make it on her own. The episodes are for the most part self contained, maybe having slight references to the previous one, which of course is a common things among the slice of life genre. Some of the stories are simple, like going to the public bath for the first time, or the first time Kana weathers a bad storm and power outage with her coworkers, who tell ghost stories and scare Kana out of her wits. This bite sized set works well, and keeps the story from bogging down. If you are looking for something meaty to hold your interest, then pass on, that's not to be found here. In fact there is room for them to have done more with the story than what was done. The Fate series, this is *not*. That's okay, as one doesn't have to have a Game-of-Throne-ish level of story complexity for enjoyment. Some people even prefer simpler, cleaner stories, believe it or not! What we get here is a young girl who faces a new problem at the beginning of each episode, and resolves it by the end with a hopeful prayer to her grandmother. Art: 4 I did not care for the art form at all. The coloring is agreeable, but the style isn't my bag for sure. I can't put a single word down on the problem, just that the art doesn't seem as expressive as it could be, the lines are too simplistic for the most part, and this makes some of the supporting cast seem a bit wooden. I have heard complaints that the censored version featured overly large grey-out boxes in certain scenes. I have only the uncensored version to go by, but acknowledge that I'm aware of the issue, and that it's reported to be quite overblown, so I'll take the word of those that have reported on this, and pass it along for you guys that do watch the censored version. Sound: 5 I agree with some of the other reviewers in that the voices are not very well done, and the younger girls' voices can sound strained and/or make you grimace as they are a bit overdone. Overall, some of them seemed to be going over the top, and the others weren't very good matches to the characters they portrayed. The musical aspect felt jarring to me, the themes not seeming like a fair fit to my ears. In fact, I usually skipped the songs. Character: 6 Here we go. First off, the entire newspaper is ran by Saki, who appears to be a 10 year old girl. They all call her 'chief' though she is the chief's assistant, she's still the highest ranking character we have contact with. She's basically an adult (and a jaded one at that) in a little girl's body. It's a slightly humorous setup for the first few minutes, then the joke wears off. I think the choice to make Saki a child is because there were too many young adult/college aged cast members already, so they didn't want another, and to make Saki a possible target for Haruka. Otherwise she could easily been depicted much older without having to lose the hardnosed edge she has, and none of the 'boss humor' would stop working, like where she's often yelling "pay cuts for everyone!" This would not have been compromised by her being older. Then we have Yumi and Yuuki, the resident lesbians and where I think some people came to think of this as an 'yuri' anime. These two are not overtly romantic beyond a few small measures such as momentary jealousy and such. They were often referred to being in the back in their room and being 'busy'. Considering they live in the same room, sex is the obviously implied event taking place. We are not party to any scenes with them that would show any part of this aspect between the two, nor do we see any real romantic growth between these two either. This is not a yuri anime. It is an anime that features a lesbian couple (and Haruka, we'll get to her) that are treated as normally as any other newspaper staff member. Hinata is the real cheapskate of the group, being very stingy with her money most of the time. She's not a negative character, however, and is quite likeable in and of herself, just she's the resident money hoarder. I found her a little self centered and selfish, but at least that added a layer to her depiction. She's not a bad person, just a little more fleshed out than the quiet Yuuki of the lesbian couple who comes across as quite one dimensional. Finally the elephant in the room, the college aged alcoholic perverted (and possibly pedophile) lesbian serial groper, Haruka. This girl is mainly drunk, VERY quick to sexually assault Kana, and even Saki herself. This gets bad enough that the other girls are required to come in and smack Haruka around to get her to stop her lecherous activities. The few times Kana is alone with Haruka, there is tension in the air, and Kana acts like she's kind of scared for her innocence if not her life. This is our ecchi character, and the only one to truly engage in lewd acts, hands all over breasts or butts as often as possible, and when she's not touching, she's fantasizing about sexual encounters with the younger girls. Haruka is played off comedic relief, but most of her actions just come across as utterly creepy. I think I could have knocked the character score a bit more because of Haruka's hijinks, but I understand what they were trying to do; they were going for a silly pervert. They just failed, so it was clearly a bad idea. Enjoyment: 7 I actually think this show is a bit more than the sum of its parts. Kana is sweet, and her overall story of coming to be self reliant and coming into fitting in with her new newspaper family are enjoyable. Saki is gruff, but even she's given an episode that shows her softer side. The characters are thin on attributes, but a lot of the time, they aren't really needed to be more than they are. I just can't find Haruka all that funny when she's drunkenly trying to grope a 10 year old girl. I would cautiously recommend Kanamemo, as it comes together well enough. It has rough edges but if you can look past them, then its a sweet little slice of life with a positive message that life can go on even in the face of loss. I say give it a couple episodes before passing your full judgment on the series. I keep printed pictures of characters from every anime I enjoy on my bedroom walls, so I remember how much I liked those shows. I do recommend Kanamemo, but sadly, she did not make it on my wall.

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