I'm slightly disappointed with this episode mostly because there is a slight downgrade in the quality of the artwork. There are some instances where the characters look poorly drawn and at times, unproportional. This is especially noticeable in long shots and indoor shots. Thankfully the background drawing reminds as good as ever and close up shots are also still high in quality. The storyline also remains interesting and it doesn't look as if the horrifying plot will rear its ugly head. At least so far that has not happened yet. As a side note, the full OP theme has been released this week and it's even better than the TV version, which is quite good already. CD Japan also reported that the first DVD for the series will come out on the 26th of January next year. It seems textless OP and ED are going to be included as some of the extras.
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Impressions: Asatte no Houkou has now become one of my favourites this season (I haven’t said that before, have I?) There was quite a less than noticeable quality drop, but since the mood of the story changed for a much more light-hearted one, I found myself enjoying the episode more than the first two. However, I [...]
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Opening: "Hikari no Kisetsu" by Suara Short Summary: Shouko and Hiro meet studying abroad in the United States of America. They fall in love, even live together. Suddenly Hiro gets a call and flys back to Japan. He promises to return soon, but after months of waiting Shouko receives a letter he will never return, because he has to take care for his little sister Karada. Four years later Shouko and Karada meet each other at a little shrine with a stone thats supposed to fulfill wishes. Through his little sister Shouko remeets Hiro and gets into a fight with him. She can't understand why she "lost" to his sister and says something that hurts Karada so much she wishes to be an adult fast. Again at the shrine the prophecy and so Karadas wish comes true...the only problem is Shouko turns into a child, although she did not wish for it and Karada has to cope with the fact she looks like an adolescent person, but her brain is still that of a young girl. She's afraid of confessing to Hiro what happend, so she stays at Shouko's flat and the two try to master the situation as good as they can. My opinion: Asatte no Houkou is different from other shows. Its quiet though not peaceful; J.C. Stuff did once again a beautiful animation job with backgrounds that look like watercolour. The tension between the characters was feelable from the start, even before the magical touch of Shouko and Karada's transformation came in. While the childish Karada panics Shouko's phlegmatic character is the strong opposite. Together they make an intersting couple. Spiced up with the background of Hiro and Shouko being lovers it gets even more interesting. But what interests me the most now, at the end of episode three is what consequences the revelation of Karada being not related by blood to Hiro will implicate. May it be he falls in love with her, who looks like a young woman now? Or will this be no topic at all because she's only his little sister too him. Will Shouko and Karada stay in their current form till the end of the show? How will Karada make it to go for work instead of Shouko and when will Hiro cut his hair? When his eyes fall ill with an inflammation I guess... Ending: "Sweet Home Song" by Yuumao
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In all aspects, this episode was highly entertaining. While I was not bawling with laughter like I would while watching Muteki or Keroro, I was amused a number of times this episode. Physically Shouko is indistinguishable from an average kid, except maybe for the specs and her constant pissed off look. Similarly Karada looks like a [...]
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Shoukou is reviving her childhood. Still, she is hell cute in kid form. The third episode deals with Shoukou and how she is adapting to the whole situation of turning into a kid. We see less of Karada this episode as it is a Shoukou-centric section, with flashbacks and memories of Hiro and the likes. [...]
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In the time-honored tradition of Freaky Friday and Big, Asatte no Houkou is a tale of people suddenly changing ages. Unlike these precursors, Asatte no Houkou takes itself seriously, which can be both a good and a bad thing. As a basic premise, there’s a lot that can be done with giving a [...]
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I'm sorry for the late entry but I had too much of a problem yesterday to be able to do any writing beyond the first 2 entries. First Nightmare host made it difficult for me to post anything and then I accidentally locked myself out of my house. At the end of that day, I was too tired to do anything else apart from finishing up Code Geass entry. Oh well, it's probably a good thing this way because I think I would have reacted to this new plot twist badly otherwise. I still have reservation about it and I hope the writers won't go there. Unfortunately, I think they will do this so I'll just have to see how they do it. As a side note, there is actually a Widescreen version of this series being aired 3 weeks later than the original version. This is similar to other TBS series like Rozen Maiden and xxxHOLiC. I've changed the screenshots in episode 1 and uploaded the Widescreen OP and ED in case you want to see the changes. Opening Theme: 「光の季節」 - Hikari no Kisetsu by Suara (AVI Widescreen, 25.5MB) Ending Theme: 「スイートホームソング」 - Sweet Home Song by Yuumao (AVI Widescreen, 21.5MB)
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Why didn't I noticed this at the start? The OP theme of Asatte no Houkou is really soothing, and it has the original Japanese feeling. I had really enjoyed listenning to it. Somehow, I feel really close to those type of songs, really farmiliar, especially the "...Oikakete," part. The singer/band who is singing the song is Suara. "Suara" means "Voice" in Bahasa Melayu.Now, back on topic. I was rather questioned by this anime. The theme of this anime is more of summer than of fall, and so I wondered why it was showed during fall season in Japan. Although so, I couldn't care less, due to the fact that there isn't 4 seasons in Malaysia. We don't even have daylight saving time, yo! The story was indeed boring like I said before, but I might as well continue watching it till the end....what happened...?"Let's go to my apartment so that you can get changed"Hiro trying to contact Shouko. "The number you have dialed is either out of range of turned off...""Karada-chan was absent from school today...""It's my fault, I wanted to be an adult...""Sorry...!"The title of episode 2 is "Passing By", and I don't get it at all. Continued from the last episode where Karada had suddenly grown up and Shouko suddenly shrunk, Karada ended up staying at Shouko's apartment. Karada's elder brother, Hiro, became really worried and went all over to look for his sister. He suspected that it had something to do with Shouko and tried to contact her, but Shouko did not picked up the phone. In the morning, Karada was absent from school. Tetsu, Karada's classmate, became worried, and gave Karada's house a visit, but only to find that she isn't at home but hasn't returned since last night. Hiro had already checked every place Karada would go when she is depressed. Suddenly, he remembered the place, the place with the pile of stone where Karada wished that she were an adult. Karada blamed herself for her wish, and now it's granted and she regretted it. Now, even her own brother couldn't recognize her...
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The episode starts out surprisingly light, when compared with the previous one. It features Karada and Shoko shopping for the things they need. Shoko needs a new pair of glasses, and both of them need new clothes, as their sizes aren’t the same to wear each other’s clothes without any problems. Especially Shoko was so [...]
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There have been a lot of people talking about Kanon or Death Note and it pains me that the anime that deserve mention this season have been kept under the radar for the most part, with many sub-groups over-subbing the said series. Kanon didn’t really get to me as much as Asatte no Houkou did, [...]
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Harada and Shouko both deal with the aftermath of their body swap in different ways; unsurprisingly, Shouko takes it with a sense of resignation, whilst Harada dissolves into tears. After a whole lot of very compelling nothing happens, they end up back at the shrine with the wishing stone, and who should find them [...]
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Yeah, the image above is actually a 2006 calendar by CLAMP featuring their works. You can get the rest from here. Note that I'm not the one who scan them. As some of you should know, Lunar released two new anime series which they are going to sub, and they are Asatte no Houkou and Yoake mae yori ruriiro na ~Crescent Love~. I went for Asatte no Houkou because of the "school" genre, plus Cresent Love sounds boring with it's describtion in Anime News Network, plus with an image of a maid, nah, I'll skip, I had thought then. But then, I found out that Asatte no Houkou was rather boring, while Cresent Love has some pantsu scenes. Okay, so I do like ecchi stuffs, mainly it tends to be hillarious. I might as well go for "Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku wo!" when their subs are released. I had just officially finished all my exams for the year, and from now onwards, it's free time all the way for me, although my siblings will continue to have their exam. I have just finished downloading Kanon #2, Asatte no Houkou #2 and Tsubasa Chronicle #41 till #46 (#Yugioh released a batch torrent, I don't know why).Man, fatcatlim is also into Kanon. XDI wonder, what happened to animenano? I had submitted this blog to be listed on the directory, but until now, it hasn't been listed. Whoever should be in charge of the thing is sleeping, and has been sleeping for around a month, I suppose? =\It's about to be midnight in about 10 minutes in my side. I shall be making a few other reviews before going to sleep.Edit: Fans of Jigoku Shoujo living in the Malaysia-Singapore area should take note of this. Animax is having a contest... or maybe a contest, I don't know how to describe it, and it sounds like this: "DO YOU HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST SOMEONE? Girl from hell wants to hear from you. The 20 best grudges will be awarded with an exclusive Animax Straw doll. BUT FOR A PRICE BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR". Nah, read here instead.
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Impressions: That was unexpectedly good, and now that I think about it, it’s even more unexpectedly good. What I mean is, I didn’t expect to like the episode as much as I do now beforehand, and now that I’ve watched it, I’ve realised just how slow the pace is; yet I still liked it. What [...]
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She’s cute. I think I have a dangerous CCS (Compulsive Cuteness Swooning, not cardcapter sakura) problem. I profess myself not to be a pedo but the Shoukou in child mood can be so cute, simply because she is a cynical woman right down. Notice I avoid the word bitch because she is not that bad yet. [...]
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After watching the first two episodes, I've found Asatte no Houkou to be an acceptable mix of drama, slice-of-life, and emo. Not the same emo you think of when people say emo, but more like softcore emo. Kind of like softcore porn, you don't really see it, but rather you "know" the deed is being done. Well, thats how this show is, softcore emo. This gets my seal of approval.
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I really can’t believe how emotionally strong this anime works. It’s already set a perfect mood, developed characters more than other series can only accomplish in one season, and the piano music accompanying all this works awesome. I’m really becoming a fan of this series. It’s so interesting that while Karada and Shoko changed bodies, [...]
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I'm impressed. This episode has at least alleviate one of my biggest worries about the series. Prior to watching this, I was afraid that the body change will facilitate some sort of silly, slapstick comedy. Thankfully the director made the choice to keep this as 'realistic' as possible within the confine of the magic wish. I think the reactions that the characters show in this episode are far closer to what would happen in reality if someone has to go through something similar. On the downside, the animation is quite minimal and even the dialogue is sparse. Having said that, what the episode lacks in both aspects, it makes up a lot in atmosphere. Now I'm just hoping that there won't be any kind of nasty surprises along the way. If the writers keep up the good work, I think this would be one of the best series this season. Again, sorry for the brief summary. I'll expand all of the entries that I've written today after I return home.
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OP - Hikari no Kisetsu (Suara) - it’s a pretty song, the animation’s pretty, it’s all… pretty. This is so wrong! Why do I like this show? ED - Sweet Home Song (Yuumao) - another nice song. I do worry that Karada’s going to get hit by a train someday, though. Karada and her elder [...]
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What happens with you switch ages with someone else? Are you astonished? Are you afraid, or are you relieved that your persistently unfufillable dream has finally come true? Asatte no Houkou starts off with a calm scenery and a scene of Karuda’s meeting with Shoukou. From then on, thigns start to unfold, culminating in an impressive [...]
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Studio: J.C. Staff OP: “Hikari no Kisetsu” by Suara ED: “Sweet Home Song” by Yuumao Official Site: http://www.tbs.co.jp/asatteno/ Impressions: Not something I would’ve watched if not for recommendations from other blogs. I didn’t expect it to be much; it just looked like a slice of life story between a mother and her child, but that’s not it. The episode was [...]
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