blittel - 2014-06-08 08:17:28

I wrote this review for the Random Button Review Project:

http://forums.hummingbird.me/t/welcome-to-the-rbrp-the-random-button-review-project/9440

I don't often write negative reviews, and when I do I don't usually enjoy doing so (see my review of Galilei Donna). This would be the second truly negative review in my books. The thing is though, what I found watching this anime, and Galilei Donna, was that despite being not good (details to follow) it still drew me into its world, even if that world was poorly written, bland and at times illogical. And so upon these qualities becoming evident, it made me a little sad.

I like anime. I feel like I can really get attached to and empathise with anime characters, possibly just because of the artistic style most anime share. So it always makes me a little sad when a series is just not good; and Kakyuusei 2: Hitomi no Naka no Shoujotachi is not very good.

My first warning sign came after a little research, as I was curious about the "2" and whether this was a sequel or not. Turns out it is a sequel to a "light hentai series" and even has an "alternate telling" which is also hentai. So we're off to a good start.

Kakyuusei 2 is...um, some kind of slice-of-life anime with barely explored science-fiction elements to it. It actually sounded like it could have been interesting, and even touching, when I first read the description. But alas, none of that was really to be, and what I got instead was a 13-episode series filled with a meandering, weak plot that basically went nowhere and left a whole bunch of questions unanswered, which is really rather frustrating because it spent the whole time sowing seeds and making me wonder what was going on, vainly expecting it to be explained eventually.

The story is about a bunch of girls and women who all have memories of a teenage boy, but remember him all at different times in their life. What could that possibly mean? Well...it's pretty obvious he's some kind of time-traveller, or that he doesn't age, but the thing I want to know is, why? What's his purpose? I don't know, and the series didn't seem to either. The same questions can be asked for some other characters, but the same [lack of] answers are given. So don't hope for answers, if you're planning on watching this.

So if there are no answers, what's the point of watching it? Good question. I'm not sure there's a good answer. The story doesn't really go anywhere and the only interesting thing about it is the mystery surrounding this boy, but it isn't addressed by the end.

What we're left with then is a bit of an odd, clumsily-patched-together character-driven...thing. Nothing you haven't seen before; it's boring and uninspired, and also kind of random. But not random in an interesting way.

So if it's the characters we're left with, are they any good? Well, if I can tell you one thing; there are too many of them. This show has a "harem" tag, but it's actually fairly well balanced gender-wise, and the girls aren't all fawning over the main male lead. So it's less of a harem than I was expecting, with a good ratio of male-to-female characters, but just too many over all. They are all stretched thin and are left undeveloped, bland and uninteresting. I can't even remember half of their names.

What I do know is that the main characters appear to be Rouma and Tamaki, the only two members of the school kickboxing club. Tamaki has a boyfriend, but things aren't going well between them. Rouma is a distractible, lazy joker who she is trying to train for an upcoming tournament in order to keep the club alive. They are childhood friends, and easily the two with the most spotlight.

Each episode seems to focus on a different female character, which is probably where the harem part comes in. Some of these characters aren't even introduced until the last few episodes and seem to serve no purpose other than to give this anime it's harem tag. They are just oddly inserted and have little relevance to the "plot" or characters, and basically drop off the radar after their episode is over.

Then there's this guy in a martial arts uniform who is on a vendetta against Rouma. Why? I don't know. Is there any sort of resolution for this plot-line? No. Not really. I don't get it.

Hmm, currently we're zero for two. How will Kakyuusei 2 fair in the final two departments?

Well, I must say that when I saw the image attached to this page I quite liked the look of the art-style/character design, and to some extent it gives off that nostalgic feeling that older animation often brings for us who grew up with older cartoons/anime (well, '90s cartoons/anime for me, I know there is much older animation).

For the most part it simply looks old, which does limit what it can do. The animation quality itself, considering it was made in 2004, is definitely under-par, I'd say. On a few occasions it looked somewhat ugly, but for the most part it was okay. Nothing special, but I wasn't expecting anything good.

What I don't appreciate is the amount of recycled footage it used. Many of the episodes begin the same way, and every time a character remembers something we are transported back in time to watch the entire scene again. Hell, parts of the final few minutes are recycled footage, and what was new barely added anything to the end anyway.

The character designs themselves were okay. I liked Tamaki and Yuuri's designs, but again they were nothing special; I'm just trying to find something positive to talk about here.

So finally we have the sound, which is probably the best part of the anime, but still a mixed bag. The soundtrack isn't bad and actually has a few nice themes that I liked, but they are repeated a fair bit. The OP is also pretty good, save for a weird skipping bit at the beginning and part way through. The ED was alright.

Oh, haha, and I almost forgot, there was a brief insert song performed by a character with an acoustic guitar, but the song itself sounded like it was an electric guitar supported by other instruments as well. Just another illogical moment.

Where the soundtrack is alright, the voice acting drags it down. Most of the characters sound like their VAs were bored while recording and just droned their lines out to get paid. Our time-travelling friend is a boy but sounds like a girl, and the overall dubbing just sounded off; poorly integrated.

So overall, Kakyuusei 2: Hitomi no naka no Shoujotachi has a meandering plot without a satisfying conclusion, an overfilled, bland cast of characters, dated animation and an alright soundtrack brought down by poor voice acting.

As I said, it just makes me a little sad inside when a show fails. The solemn music doesn't help but make me feel that it could have been much better had they focussed and actually thought up some answers. Every anime, whether good or bad, is a little world of its own, and when it's not well-constructed, I can't help but feel like that world is lost to time; doomed to exist but remain unacknowledged, save for occasional criticism and woeful "what-could-have-beens". Unfortunately, Kakyuusei 2 is just this kind of anime.