Recommended
After my re-watch of Toradora which anime that I strongly recommend I decided to look for some more romance anime on the net. while I was browsing the net looking for romance anime to watch my friend recommend me another great romance comedy called Kodocha and he told how great it was. Then I decided to go to Amazon.co.uk and decided to blind buy the series but I couldn't because it was out of print in the US and the whole series would cost me £100+ pounds. One month later something hilarious happened. Despite this show being out of print for a long time, someseller on Amazon was selling the first 6 single DVD volumes of the series for £20 pounds while an eBay seller was bidding season 2 (Episodes 25-51) for £6 pounds.
I am sure that the sellers didn't know how rare and valuable the series was but I took the advantage anyway and decide to buy the Kodocha DVDs for the total of £26.00 making the second cheapest out of print anime I have ever brought only losing to Bezz My-Hime Anime Legends complete collection set which I brought for £15 on my local CEX store. A week later I got myself the set and I immediately binge-watch it and after watching both season 1 (Episode 1-51) DVD and season 2 (Episode 52-102) online am going to be truly honest with you. This show is not only the best romance anime I have ever seen but it's also one of the best animes I have ever seen period.
Like with Eureka Seven, My Hero Academia, Full Moon Wo Sagashite and Gundam Build Fighters I never really expected this show to be good but man did this show proves me wrong in every way possible. This was the anime that made not judge an anime based on its cover because while this show has a funky childish cover but man this show completely fooled me because outside the goofy cover this show is pretty dark.
So what made this show so great you may ask? You will soon find out.
Story.
The story of Kodocha follows Sana Kurata who is a star of a popular TV show called child’s toy while being in 5th grade. One originally day at school as she goes into class the boys in her class are raising hell. The ringleader of the group Akito has counted the teacher into silence in some sort of blackmail. So, the boys are free too, reach havoc as they please. Very determined too, lead a normal school life Sana targets the ringleader Akito with all of her energy and the relationship and daily lives of Sana and Akito begin.
Now, what do I think of the story of Kodocha? The story of Kodocha is executed perfectly. The story starts off a very simple as boy’s vs girl’s rivalry but as the series progresses it story become surprisingly complex and it becomes a great coming of age story.
The one that I really liked about Kodocha is how it was able to synergize its comedy and romance elements meaning it's was able to have a nice blend of comedy and romance.
The one problem that I have with a lot of romcom anime in recent memory is how they don't have a balance of romance and comedy elements meaning they have one genre element taking over the other which is not a good thing for a romcom anime
Kodocha doesn’t suffer from any of those problems because the show knows how to an element in an appropriate manner. The comedy in Kodocha is just amazing because not only they are funny and original but the execution and the timing for the jokes are flawless.
The pacing in Kodocha is great. It knows hows to pace itself for certain arcs and scenes and too, be honest you will never get bored when watching this show.
Surprisingly the show really explores really hard-hitting themes and social topics such as child abuse, divorced parents, teenage pregnancy, homelessness, and adoption and these themes are explored in a very mature way too, the point where the viewer can sympathize with the characters.
Also, when those themes are explored the show goes into a different tone that is suitable for those themes and this show knows how to to use its tone correctly as well blend them.
The one thing I loved about Kodocha is the use of foreshadowing. As early as episode 8 the show does a brilliant job at foreshadowing later events that will happen.
On top, of the shows great directing and clever dialogue Kodocha is very unpredictable with its writing which the writing itself it was great, to begin with.
Kodocha is an anime that will make you laugh, cry, happy and it will keep your edge too, your seats from to finish with great plot twists great and interesting arcs and good pacing.
Overall the story of Kodocha was amazing from start to finish and it's easily favourite coming of age story in all anime.
10/10
Chararters.
When it comes to the characters in Kodocha I thought they were all pretty awesome.
Sana Kurata is an 11-year-old cute redheaded TV film star girl with an uncontrollably hyper and active personality.
Sana is just an amazing character. She starts off a simply uncontrollably hyper character with a lot of passion but as the series progresses she becomes an amazing multi-dimensional character with lots of emotion and depth. Sana is a perfect example of flawed charterer in anime. She is a chararter who barely reacts to emotions and love and every time when facing the reality of life, she will just sing a song so she can keep her positive outlook on life. This obviously, later on, backfires on her because as series progresses others chararters like Akito, Fuka, Tsuyoushi, and Misako start to make Sana face reality where they are grown out of Sana antics completely where they tell her to take life more seriously. Her chararter development in the series is fantastic as this hyperactive girl slowly transforming into a mature young girl who is able to understand love and people feelings.
Overall Sana Kurata is an amazing character and she became one of my favourite female characters of all time.
Next up we have Akito. I personally really like this character Like Sana he is a multi-dimensional character who is realistically flawed in his own right. Not to mention I really adored his character development from start to finish.
Also despite being a troublesome stoic individual he actually cares for Sana deeply. Not to mention he's chararter reactions towards the other chararters including Sana was great.
His character chemistry with Sana was just awesome as they start off as enemies but as the series goes on they eventually stop being enemies and they start helping with other peoples problems and eventually in the second half of the show they start having feelings for each other.
Overall Akito is an awesome character and he’s easily one of the best Shoujo main leads I have seen in anime.
Misako is easily one of the best moms in anime. She is a great mother figure to Sana she is very likeable and very entertaining to watch and she has a great and well-told backstory. This is how you do a mom-type character.
Rei is another great character that I really liked and he is a great surrogate father figure for Sana. Like with Misako Rei has a really tragic and well-told backstory that the audience can relate.
Tsuyoushi is Akito best friend and the main voice of reason for Akito. Like with the other characters I just mention he is also another fascinating and well-written character that I really enjoyed from start to finish.
Naozumi is another fascinating character I really liked.
Like with Sana he is an orphan where he was abandoned as a baby and both Sana and Naozumi used to spend time a lot with each.
He also has a great story/character arc that was well executed. He's an also a great love interest for Sana and I really liked the love rivalry with Akito as they fight who is worthy of being Sana's girlfriend
Fuka gets a special mention to me because she gets a lot of hate from fans of the show for being a backstabber and overall annoying but I actually don't Fuka as a character, in fact, I liked her quite a bit. Sure I will admit she can be a bit of a pain of the ass to deal with in the beginning but the end of the series she does redeem herself as a charter.
The rest of the characters are all pretty great that have a lot of charm into them.
Overall the characters in Kodocha are perfect. This is easily one of my favourite charter cast in anime.
10/10
Visuals.
Visually Kodocha has surprisingly has aged well for the most part least. Studio Gallop really did a great job on the charterers designs, character moment, and the backgrounds scenery while dated was still pretty solid for what it is. It totally has aged well and for a 102 episode series that’s really impressive. If I had any nitpicks with the shows visuals than it would be some use of recycled animation in some of the episodes.
Other than that the visuals were pretty good for the most part.
8/10
Sound.
The soundtrack is honestly great and well executed.
There wasn’t a dull track whatsoever and all of the tracks fit the tone of the series perfectly. My favourite track from Kodocha is hands down Always Be With You. This song is amazingly well made as it perfectly captures the tone with the more emotional moments of the series. Other favourite tracks include Sana Tomorrow, Don't Cry For Me, Vitamin Love, Goodbye Love, Harmony of Sana and Hayama, Sepia Wind and Kennema De Fuka.
Both openings of Kodocha were really good, catchy and they really fit the mood and the tone of the show. I personally prefer opening 2 over opening 1.
As for the ending themes they were all great.
The first ending theme Panic by Still Small Voice is a great catchy ending theme that I adore. Easily one of my favourite anime ending themes.
While I wasn't a fan of the second ending theme DAIJO-BU by Tomoko Hikita at first however as time went by the second ending theme grew on me to a point where I liked it as much as the first ending theme.
The Third Ending theme Pinch (Love Me Deeper)" by Rina Chinen is one of my favourite anime ending themes period as it was very catchy and it song itself fits well with the second season of Kodocha as a whole.
Now for sub vs dub.
Both are honestly fantastic for what they All of the actors in both dub and sub really did a great performance in the roles.
Funimation did an amazing job with the dub overall and it added more life to this wonderful series.
Laura Bailey did a fantastic job at voicing the hyperactive Sana Kurata. She is filled with range and her portrayal of Sana was amazing. Easily the best performance in the dub.
The rest of the voice actors did a great job in the roles.
If I had to pick which one is I prefer I would pick the dub even though the dub cuts off after episode 51. Sad times.
Overall the soundtrack is great, the openings were amazing the ending themes were good and both sub and dub are really good.
9.5/10
Final Thoughts.
I absolutely adored Kodocha.
It has everything that I love about romcom. The story is amazing, has great pacing, wonderful theme exploration and its handled in a very mature way. Great and well-developed characters that are relatable to, the viewer. Visuals that have aged well for the most part and the soundtrack is amazing.
Kodocha is a romcom anime done right and it’s not the best romcom anime I was seen but it’s now one of the best animes I have ever seen.
If you're looking for a great romcom series that deals with heavy themes as well as having great and interesting characters then I strongly recommend Kodocha.
Sadly, Kodocha hasn’t been licensed in the UK by any UK DVD studio but it was once available by Funimation in the USA before going out of print.
I hope Kodocha gets re-licensed someday as well getting a Blu Ray with a new English Dub that has episodes 52-102 dubbed.
Final Score 10/10
