“Now that I’ve come all the way here…”
Impression
sighs Okay, there’s probably a lot of explaining to do.
To begin with, Kimi no Iru Machi is a controversial series in itself – certain plot twists and events later on in the series have had people very aptly nickname this show “A Town Where You Rage”. Heck, even the current manga arc is criticized by many people (including me). This show will raise shitstorms, and I know it will. So then…why did Gonzo decide to start animating from the Tokyo Arc? It makes no sense – because now, new viewers will have to read the manga first before understanding anything. The OVA does provide a small snapshot into the first arc, but even then, it explains far too little to understand what’s properly going on. With no context, Haruto now seems like an obsessive stalker who can’t forget about Yuzuki and thus decided to chase her all the way to Tokyo for no good reason. In some ways, that’s what he’s actually doing. Anyway, I’ll say a bit about the first 40 or so chapters.
Kirishima Haruto is a standard guy living in a rural countryside town, Hiroshima. He’s lived there all his life, and grew up with his childhood friends Takashi and Akari. One day, a complete stranger comes to live with him – a Tokyo girl named Eba Yuzuki, who is far more cheerful than Haruto prefers. The actual issue is that many people now see Haruto and Yuzuki as a couple, when Haruto’s actually crushing on his classmate, Kanzaki Nanami. However, Yuzuki likes Haruto, and isn’t afraid of showing it. Many, many dramatic situations occur (slaps and bitchfights everywhere) and eventually, Haruto confesses to Kanzaki – who rejects him, realizing that he’s actually fallen in love with Yuzuki and just refuses to admit it. When Haruto finally decides to go for Yuzuki, she’s somewhat given up, and is preparing to move back to Tokyo. The two eventually decide to start a long-distance relationship amidst a sea of “ice flowers”, which is what the OVA focuses on. But one day, Yuzuki cuts off all contact with Haruto, refusing to reply to any of his mails or calls. Haruto thinks she’s in trouble instead, and decides to move to Tokyo to chase after her.
You know, I’d have thought that would make a perfectly good story in itself – they’d be able to animate that into one season, then do this Tokyo Arc if sales were good. It’s true this arc is far more dramatic than the first, though. And there’s Asuka! I’ve finally gotten to see her moving on the screen (: I’m an Asuka fan (over Yuzuki) if you can’t tell. She’s such a good girl…and I’ve always thought of her as a better companion for Haruto, and a better friend – that’ll be supported by some of the things she later does in the series. Even in this episode, Asuka’s decided to help out her fellow rural companion despite only knowing him for a few days – as Kazama said, they get along much better than either of them will admit.
As for Haruto…it’s possible to argue that he’s as much of a stalker as Rin says he is. He’s hung over Yuzuki to the point that everyone can kinda tell that something’s up – he’s transferring in at such a weird time, he’s refusing to interact with his classmates and he hangs out at a train station all day. That’s exactly what you’d do if you don’t want any friends, putting aside his great cooking. To be honest, I only think everyone was so welcoming because of Kazama standing up for him, back when he introduced himself. Seriously, Haruto’s pretty lucky to have met the two of them so soon after he moved into Tokyo.
I love the OP and ED – both are really poignant, and they fit extremely well with some of the themes and events later on in the story. The art seemed a little derpy to me though…hopefully I eventually get used to it. I mean, I’ve always thought Haruto was blond o.O
Anyway, I’ll probably be blogging this. No way am I missing the drama.
Possibility of Watching: Guaranteed
Possibility of Blogging: Guaranteed