Muromi-san on the Shore is a comedy in which the protagonist Takurou's life is gatecrashed by the titular Muromi when he accidentally catches her whilst trying to fish. Over the course of the series Takurou meets more mythical creatures, all of which are drastically different to what he was expecting. The show is made up of 13 minute episodes, and this short length is definitely a good thing; it means that the pacing is fast and concise, which is perfect for the humour used. Additionally it means that the show cannot string out jokes so that they become dull and monotonous. With reduced time slot,there is only an opening, which is catchy, energetic, and crazy.
This is just as well, because it suits the show rather well. The humour is off the wall, Muromi herself is crazy, thoughtless and flirtatious. Most of the jokes revolve around "Takkun" dealing with Muromi and her friends. The humour is a mix of weird stories into Muromi's past, adult jokes, mythical creatures being rather different to expectations, and the bizarre actions of Muromi and those around her.
The characters lack the depth of the seas they reside in, being made up of a couple of distinct character traits, however this is enough to fulfil their comedic roles. Yeti is absolutely adorable, so be prepared to clutch your heart when she appears on screen.
The character designs are very 90's; huge eyes on a big round face, thus it's rather unique amongst anime being released in this decade. It serves the humour well as it allows Muromi to pull a wide variety of faces, and it is pleasant enough to look at, so although it's unusual, it's appealing. The quality of animation is low, however the basics are done right and so it isn't appalling to look at. Regardless the series has no need of a high budget, and so it doesn't undermine the viewing experience.
Muromi-san on the Shore is a comedy and nothing more, so everything rides on how funny the jokes are. Whilst there are a fair few misses, the show is consistently amusing throughout its run, which will be more than enough to keep a smile on your face. That said, whilst amusing, only occasionally was it hilarious enough to evoke laughter. The gags are solid, but for a show that needs to rely so heavily upon its comedy they weren't good enough to carry the show to higher heights.
Also, there will be many people who will not agree with the humour at all, in which case the show will be torturous to watch. After watching the first episode I would strongly recommend dropping it if you did not like what you saw, because it'll only be more of the same style of humour. For most people though this will not be a problem, since the zany humour is incredibly accessible.
Overall, Muromi on the Shore is a show that will keep you well entertained, having some incredibly funny moments that will catch you off guard. However since it isn't good enough to keep you laughing consistently, the show, whilst being entertaining, is nothing more than that. It may be a forgettable anime, but for what it's worth it provided me with a great couple of hours of amusement.
Recommended
So, I just finish watching the last ep of this 12 min omake. So, my ratings: Story: Fair 6 Frankly there isn't any, this more like your cliche pesky girl coming into boy's life and makes a mess out of it, but then again, the comedy genre was the one that makes up for this anime. Art: Dreadful 2 The art form was simply too messy and it look like some wanna be mangaka did a lousy job.Sound: Good 7
The rating is for the opening theme and the seiyuu's who did Takkun and Muromi's voice.
Character: Good 7
I'd say for a character were one might wanna give Muromi a karate chop one here head for being so immature was basically the most entertaining part of this 12 min omake, Takkun on the other hand was this character whom one would wish to Muromi that Karate chop but I got to hand it to him since he is that opposite that gives the laughs.
Enjoyment and overall: Good 7
It was enjoyable though, it would have been nice if this 12 min omake would have been aired in the winter season because of the last episode which New Year is still a couple of months away. Anyway, if it wasn't for the comedy aspect of this omake then this would have been very boring, so overall if Half H.P Studios and Studio Tulip plans to make a season 2, I'd probably say they better not, co'z it looks like that Shounen Magazine genre concept of this thing is very limited.
Gracias amigos
Btw I know that this omake goes beyond 12 mins, but the actual number of mins is my unlucky number to write it in my review, so, Lo Siento Amigos.
Recommended
***This is a spoiler free review*** For a short time format anime, Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-san sure packs a huge punch with it’s amazing animation and voice acting. Story: 5.5/10 Let’s get this straight; there is no plot in this anime. While some of the episodes build on each other, most are self contained. What you get in this anime is exactly what it does well; gag skits. Literally every episode is something leading up to a gag. While most of the content in the show pertains to Japanese common knowledge, most subs will provide tooltips for the things you might not understand. Overall the show is really funny andenjoyable; there just isn’t anything overly interesting going on.
Animation: 9.9/10
The animation is fresh, unique, and oozing with quality. Every scene looks amazing due to the lighting effects and over exaggeration animation style. The character models look great and the amount of quality in the shots remains constant if not better as the show progresses.
Sound: 8.5/10
The soundtrack was pretty interesting and diverse for an anime of this style. The opening song was some sort of weird mix of heavy metal and pop rock but was pretty good regardless. The voice actors did a tremendous job in this anime; each character’s personality was brought out extremely well due to some quality voiceovers.
Characters: 8.5/10
While I gave the character score a pretty good number, it’s not because the characters themselves are good (they are quite average actually); what the anime excels at is how well the interactions play off. The anime is so funny because of how the characters present themselves around others. While we do have some of the typical characters (big boob airhead, Cute airhead, ext.), Takurou and Muromi are surprisingly interesting. When put together, their performance is quite good due to the chemistry that slowly forms over time.
Overall: 8.1/10
This was a real shocker; while I normally stray away from the shorter time format anime, I am so glad I followed this one. The amazing animation style coupled with the funny characters and comedic scenes makes this anime a must watch for those looking for a quick laugh.
Enjoyment: 8/10
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Sincerely,
Awesome Drummer
Mixed Feelings
Aww it's only 12 min per episode. But I quite like it. Silly little stupid comedy but the art style is kinda nice, even if it's cheap. Design of Muromi is what got me hooked (get it? ok, I'll show myself out). ...She just looks visually amazing (or I might be just weak to that particular nuance of green hair... yeah). But the humor is genuinely funny so I like it for that. I wish it was more solid, plot and duration wise, like Ika-musume, but this is charming in it's own way. And it keeps getting better towards the middle, I almost fell ofthe chair laughing around episodes 3 and 4. Mid season was good as well, but unfortunately, the show starts going downhill after episode 6, as it doesn't feel as inspired anymore. So later episodes are quite meh.
Overall, it's way too ecchi and that's its biggest problem. Ecchi just wasn't necessary in this show, it doesn't make it any better, it just takes away from it. Along with second half not living up to first, it's not something I can easily recommend, other than maybe watching first 4 episodes for the kicks.
