_A_Arcadia0
September 9, 2015
Recommended
Pita Ten The way Pita Ten is structured is like that of any other slice of life anime. It’s episodic in nature, allowing itself to get away with no true over-arcing plot; sometimes I think it’s harder for anime studios to create something (goes for manga too) like this because each episode needs to be filled with an event or something, though there are plenty of clichés to use like going to the beach/ocean or having a festival, they haven’t gotten old or boring for me and in Pita Ten, those two clichés actually have a spin on them that is funny, cute and exposing innature. Most slice of life, and Pita Ten included, typically won’t expand on characters or develop them beyond what they’re like since we meet them, this is essentially true for Pita Ten as well. If you absolutely need characters to grow up or be developed, Pita Ten probably isn’t for you.
In Pita Ten, we follow a small group of young kids; Kotarou, probably the most main of all the main characters involved, aside from Misha. He’s the reserved and level headed kid who has been through an incredibly difficult hardship so early in his life. His father is almost never home due to business so he’s home alone often. It’s not until one day when an angel appears from nowhere and asks to go out with him that his life takes a turn for the better! (Or his life got twisted upside down…)
This angel is Misha, a super adorable mega cutie with long flowing pink hair. She’s not exactly the best angel there is since she’s an apprentice, but that’s okay, she makes up for it by trying her best and having one the cutest ways to talk in the world. Almost all her sentences end with the word “desu” shortened to just “su”. It’s so cute that I think it competes with Ayu’s “uguu~”, Makoto’s “auu~” and things like “Ara ara” or “nyaa”; I love love love it.
Along with Misha, we have Shia, who is an apprentice akuma (demon/devil). The most interesting thing about Shia is that even though she’s a demon, she’s actually more angelic than Misha could ever be. She’s neat, organized, clean, helpful and always caring and worrying about everyone’s feelings. Shia is a surprise too, since she’s incredibly adorable and her quiet and refined speaking is just so much cute.
Another main girl is Koboshi, the youngest of the four girls, a classmate to Kotarou and having a mega huge crush on him; she has cat ears and is downright too cute, if too cute were a thing (not really), Koboshi is what it would be pictured by; large eyes, a cute voice, the cat ears, the adorable reaction faces, it’s actually unbelievably adorable.
The last girl is Hiroshi’s sister, Kaoru; her personality mimics that of Hiroshi’s and if it wasn’t for how adorable she was, I don’t think I’d like her. Loud, wild and always seemingly in a bad mood, she throws fits and never really learns about the main cast. It’s a good thing she’s not a main at all and only appears for several episodes, I couldn’t handle another Hiroshi. The best thing about Kaoru is her appearance. She wears long ribbons in her hair and the combination of her cute outfit and the ribbons makes for a beautiful combination. She’s a total cutie, but her personality isn’t.
The rest of the cast is filled in by Ayanokouji Takashi, the stud of the show; he’s the smartest, fastest, most athletic and all the girls swoon over him…. So he’s really just boring. We also have Hiroshi Mitarai the loud and obnoxious kid who always has to yell and get pent up on all things related to Takashi, he actually doesn’t belong in this show at all and it’s the biggest problem I have with Pita Ten; which is sad, I’ve never had an issue with an anime before, but the personality that Hiroshi encompasses is just too much for me to handle. Every scene he’s in, it’s him getting angry and wild because Takashi is better than him at everything. Aside from one episode that expands on why he does this, he really should have been axed from Pita Ten.
Since Pita Ten has no story, the most important aspect to talk about is the ending really. Pita Ten changes directions ever so slightly and begins to really include drama. The last two episodes are chock full of dramatic moments that if tweaked a little, could fit into any Key produced anime. The whole disappearing aspect that happens in anime is gut wrenchingly hard to watch. Kanon was the first anime where I experienced this and it wrecked me so hard, then Clannad had to have a similar story and of all the things I have watched, I never expected a show for kids to even go through such a scene. Sure we all know it’s going to end on a happy note, but that doesn’t make it any easier to watch. It brought me to tears and was incredibly sad. A lot goes on too, the way we understand why Kotarou acts the way he does, the reasoning behind Misha’s actions and most of all, the way it affects everyone.
One of the best aspects about Pita Ten is sound and art style. It enforces the “for everyone” rating by being incredibly adorable. The details of everyone and everything are really simple; in fact so simple that detail doesn’t even exist. It’s very plain, but not bland (don’t ask me how). The colors are very light and easy going, the animation is most definitely simple and the entire world is just cute. The sound is really good in Pita Ten too. Huge props to the people behind it. One of the best BGM’s that occurs is for when scary things are happening, the melody or beat involved is infectious and even now, after not hearing it for quite some time, I still know how it goes. There were a lot of other great BGM’s too, a lot of the hectic scenes (or… as hectic as they can be) have good music. The biggest surprise is the ED used. If you’ve ever seen Clannad then you know about Dango Daikazoku. The ED used in Pita Ten, the first three notes that you hear are so familiar to Dango you’d think they’re the same. Every single time I heard those three notes, I felt the Dango song resonate through me, it’s made even better because the ED is slow and peaceful, unlike the OP. Speaking of which, the OP is much more Pita Ten than the ED. It’s fast, it’s upbeat, it employs cute vocals and is very fun, whereas the ED is more akin to the last two episodes of the anime. Slow, peaceful, almost sad, but never actually being sad, it’s a special ED. NOTE: I may be hearing things that aren’t exactly there with the comparison between Dango and the Pita Ten ending, but it’s just what I feel. (I’ll be watching Clannad again soon, because of this though).
So we have really cute characters, a nice episodic slice of life adventure, a cast that is almost perfection, adorable seiyuu performances, pretty art and an easy to watch anime. It’s all really good, aside from my Hiroshi and Kaoru issues, which is really unfortunate. Even with the issues I had, I enjoyed Pita Ten a lot and although I didn’t delve on it, it’s a good comedy too. The simple humor is enough to even get me to crack a smile and laugh out loud when I’m down, so that’s a pretty good testament for Pita Ten and its comedic values. Another thing I should mention is the romance angle planted within Pita Ten; it’s a polygonal love, where almost everyone likes someone who likes someone else. It’s never expanded upon and there is never any development either, both the guys and girls will get giddy towards the one they like, but are ultimately ignored; since Pita Ten is about elementary students and is rated for all people to watch, it makes sense for the romance to never take off, but it’s a warning, a lot of lovey dovey face reactions happen and feelings are shown, just never go anywhere.
Before I forget, one of the cutest things shown in all of Pita Ten are the pajamas that Misha and Shia wear, full body pajamas and they’re incredible cute… like seriously cute!!!
Pita Ten, 9/10 for me.
