REIMU KOUME AT 9 O’CLOCK: Digiboy, if there’s someone I can clearly blame on this, that would really have to be you.
Okay, fine. I’m convinced that there’s actually something that’s good for Winter season. I admit defeat, Winter. You too, GAINAX. You both happy now?
Hanamaru Yochien. A seemingly harmless, slice-of-life-ish show featuring kindergarten life: Kids, caretakers, parents and all. But before you (or in a much more dramatic case, I) can think it’s going to be the same mundane type of show that has a 99.9% probability to mutate into a case of KODOMO NO JIKAN, the show suddenly shows an inner gem in a setting where innocence is so abundant and sustaining, it defeats any sense of precociousness and false instances of maturity.
First, see the characters. Tsuchida-sensei is a guy who likes video games, but probably has to play a millenia’s worth of it to surpass the kids in his Sakura class. Then, there’s Anzu’s mom Sakura-senpai, whose precociousness landed her in early marriage, a fact she doesn’t hide but is rather proud of. Then there’s Hiragi’s dad, who, by majority vote on appearance, is probably Yotsuba’s dad from Yotsuba&! You see ordinary people being given an extraordinary kind of “flavor”, which in turn spices the overall appeal of the show. Yeah, yeah, this fact’s a staple on slice-of-life shows, even though 90% of those shows don’t do it extraordinarily well, and 97% of said shows can’t do it PROPERLY with kids.
Hii-chan: Because doing a variation of a certain loli anime’s ED dance while in cat cosplay is cute.
Second, see the setting. No, not just Hanamaru Kindergarten itself, but the whole community setting. There’s big emphasis on connectivity not only with the characters, but also with the places they go. In fact, even a single location in the kindergarten itself (say, the slide, or the “legendary” bench) can be made big and interesting. And it’s especially cute if you take it from the kindergartners’ points of view.
Third, the activities, especially those of the kindergartners. Almost everything is focused on what they do, and all we can do is see them through. The adults are defeated in this kind of approach, and any attention focused on them would only be because of the kids’ doing. I mean, come on, the episode about Tsucchi liking Yamamoto and Yamamoto being dense is most probably spurred by Anzu (on Tsucchi) and the kids’ (on Yamamoto). We’ve yet to see if they do have enough focus on the adults without being related to kids, but for now, it’s mostly the former.
Fourth, the relation and the show’s nature. You see Hanamaru Yochien trying to walk the borderline tightrope, and it’s amazing how it can maintain itself on walking. The adults are okay on the supportive role, and they stay like that. On the other hand, the kids maintain or are “restricted” on a certain level of curiosity and precociousness that even the most amorous or intelligent advance would look like child’s play, even if said kindergartner is dead serious about it. The show shifts is focus from the adults point of view, to the kids, and this back-and-forth transition enforces absolute equilibrium. Pure enjoyment derived from “complex simplicity” comes afterward.
You’re probably blind if you didn’t see two girls we all know so well.
Last prominent thing I saw on the show (for now): Blatant reference dropping. It’s doing subtle reference drops AT AN ALARMING RATE. Seriously, Plus-Minus Zero? Big Angry Monster Destroying The City? Space Starcruisers Based On Modern Aircraft? Milfeulle? Music Club Members Beside The Local Bar? Science Ninja Cosplay? If you didn’t get any of these after watching it once or twice, you’re either enjoying the show too much, while doing it wrong in a positive kind of way.
So yeah, Hanamaru Yochien is currently on my to-watch list now, and judging from the first four episodes, it’s going to be enjoyable for the follow-up.
And yes, moar Hii-chan, because adult Hii-chan is fine while ruining Shin‘s fantasies altogether, even if but for a fleeting moment.
Further Reading
Too late when I found this, but it shows my sentiments for the show right on the money:
First Look: Hanamaru Kindergarten – Metanorn
Convince me, with this “This season doesn’t disappoint” you speak of:
Hanamaru Kindergerten 1 -Nostalgic Days – THAT Anime Blog
Well to be fair, I chanced upon the manga long ago though I never actually followed it because it was really just cute and not pedo. Of course, the anime’s changed my opinion about it, and I’m also glad that there can be an anime about toddlers that everyone can enjoy.
p.s I prefer Koume
You implying you like toddlers now that they’re shown in a super-precocious-but-still-innocent way? I DEMAND a better reasoning, and you’re not going to convince me otherwise unless you give me a valid argument aside from the loli implication you’re trying to shove on my face.
Also, you like innocent toddlers since they don’t fight back if you do something to them, right? RIGHT?
I think in this case Mille-feuille is just a cake. It and the Mont Blanc are popular French-style cakes in Japan… But forgive me, I’m a dessert geek.
I loved the ED for Hiiragi’s episode, references and all. I’m sure they loved making it just as much, which is what charms me. I’m really glad you found something to like this season!
Hey, I’m a dessert geek too. Remember those cakes from Railgun we talked about back then? Still never fails to make me drool. And yes! Hii-chan is the coolest kindergartner I know now. Any other toddler will have to prove themselves worthy before her.
I can personally say that Hanamaru Youchien is 100% entertaining without being too pedophilic. The thing about Hanamaru is that it’s harmless comedy, and the references are nicely presented (most of the time by a certain cosplaying 5-year-old). Hiiragi is completely legendary and badass that it melts me.
Unlike you, I just can’t manage to convince myself that their precociousness is insignificant. I get where you’re coming from, but with the teenage pregnancies being treated as nothing, and kindergarten girls trying to achieve greater sex appeal… I rub my temples and feel something isn’t right, and it’s not about to be drowned out by the otherwise innocence of it.
http://badenbadenlily.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/snapshot20100202160026.jpg
The reference bombing is okay though. It’s less than subtle at times (with the Gatchaman and Macross ED), but it didn’t seem to bother me.
Which is why I simply noted it on the post. This side says it’s okay or accepted, that side says it’s not. I’m way too otaku to disagree on the former (because I have my own deranged fantasies), but my sense of morals make me consider the latter (human upbringing). Instead of choosing which of the which is which, I’ll stand on the thinly defined neutral line and see how both sides go.