judge80 - 2014-08-09 21:22:57

Story: This is the story of two poor sisters, Kyou is the older sister who is fifteen, and Asu is the younger sister at the age of nine. Their mother died shortly after Asu was born and their father left them after dealing with a crippling gambling debt so the two are all alone in their 40 year old one room no bath apartment.

Fortunately, with the change in the law system several years ago, Kyo is able to study and simultaneously take temporary jobs (such as distributing newspapers and tutoring) to make ends meet. On the other hand, Asu takes charge of household chores, prepares meals, and manages the finances to assist her older sister.

The two meet and talk to other friendly neighbors (not Spiderman... though that would be pretty interesting) and live on in their prosper lives despite the circumstances and getting some help from them occasionally. And although life can sometimes be difficult and painful, the two still love each other and make the most of it.

So yeah, its basically a nice story about two sisters. The premise isn't all that bad, and lets face it, the execution isn't so bad either... I think they were going for a story like Tamayura or Aria but... it doesn't work as well here. While there is interacting with characters and having a nice time as a family, there isn't much exploring on the world around or the fact that we don't know much about the main characters past until the very end.

Heck its even pretty formulaic if you ask me: The sisters find a problem (either with each other or someone else), they try to help out and solve it or make up, and then it gets resolved, happy ending. That... is basically almost all of the episodes in a nutshell. Now this isn't to say its a bad thing as I didn't notice that until after I finished the show and its nice to see the interactions, but its still noticeable and is pretty predictable. 7/10

Animation: Well the character animation is standard and at times pretty stiff but for a slice of life annime it looks good. The character designs are mediocre and pretty dated but for its time it looked... ok. I mean everything was fine, the eyes and hair all looked fine (it reminded me too much of Somedays Dreamers though), though it kind of bothered me how they would always blush almost every time they're onscreen :S

I love the scene with the piggybank though :P

Too bad the pig isn't in a whole lot of episodes, he's got the most personality out of everyone else in the show... but I digress. 6/10

Sound: The voice acting is bland and for the most part emotionless. Aside from the drama scenes (which happen rarely, like only in the beginning and end of the show) the voice acting is either characters acting all happy and stuff or them giving out weak lines.

The music isn't anything spectacular. The OP is dull and uninteresting (and is also pretty forgettable) and the ED song is only ok at best. I know they're trying to make it fit with the show but they made the adventure and journey sound so boring (also do we need for you to recap the story in the start of every episode?). Characters are all terrible at singing also. 5/10

Characters: Oh boy. Well I will give it one thing, there wasn't a single character in this that I hated or even disliked for that matter... but by god are they not fleshed out enough. The side characters the sisters talk and help have some generic roles and only show up in a few episodes, but the development they get in those episodes are fantastic and it makes them pretty memorable. However, by doing all of this, the anime doesn't even give that much time to develop and make you get to know the sisters. Usually you see them do their routines and laugh but that's it.

Ok so Kyou is the older sibling who gets carefree, free spirited, and clumsy, unable to take care of herself without help from her sis. And she's also scared of lightning... kind of like a certain someone I know (:c). Asu is a bit more grounded except for those times where she for some reason feels the bit to be a spoiled brat (episode is a perfect example of this... weakest episode of the show by far since it completely misses the point of what this anime is supposed to be and is SO predictable!), she is nice and looks up to her sis and all and I don't mean to be rude here since like I said I don't hate these characters. I think that if we had more episodes, we can learn about the characters and know a little bit more about them and see them live and breathe and for once not use the formulaic thing!

Heck, as I said before we don't see that until the end (which I won't give away... I came pretty close to crying too) and that's where the mom thing is brought up and is not just mentioned in the start of every episode... also we never even see their dad ONCE in this anime! I guess the sisters must hate him or something since they never mention him and even used a permanent marker to draw and cover up his face... I'm not joking. Go look it up if you want to...

But even so, the relationship between the two just seems and feels rather forced, like aside from the drama parts (again) they act like they are the best sisters ever and never argue... weird, huh? 8/10 Regardless.

Enjoyment: It was a pretty decent run through, yeah some parts were painful but the ending was really good and it made the whole experience worth it.

While they were a lot of good things in the show though, there certainly isn't any great things in it. Don't get me wrong, its fun, but I wouldn't say I'd come back to it time and time again. 7/10

Overall: If you have a sister (or more), love slice of life, just want to relax and sit back while watching an anime, this is definitely something that shouldn't be overlooked. Its only worth a watch once though, but I have a feeling you'll remember it for years to come... I think. Maybe. Don't quote me on that for sure, ok?

Anyways, thanks for reading my 55th review~

...Also what ever happened to that dog in the OP? How come he was never in the actual show? :S

bianka.langworth - 2013-06-28 11:26:37

Binbou Shimai Monogatari is a very good, sutible for all anime.Story:The story more or less, in every episode, the sisters encountering a problem, trying their very best to overcome it. The only problem is is that it happens every episode.Animation:The characters were drawn very well.Sound:The background music was very heartwarming and appropriate for the very sweet series. The opening and ending had a nice upbeat tune to them, the lyrics also were very meaningful.Character:There were only really ever two entire characters in the anime but you feel for Kyo and Asu alot, you can feel what they are going through.Enjoyment:The anime was very enjoyable to watch because you're thinking abut how the sisters are going to combat a problem.Overall:This was a very heartwarming piece and a unique anime. Everything about the anime was above average.I loved this anime and I hope to see many more like it.