(11 episodes ?)
What’s it about ?
Six kids used to be joined at the hip way back when, but now they’ve drifted apart. Can they come back together ?
Characters
Jinta “Jintan” Yadomi, our protagonist, who used to be the leader of the group but has now become a loser high-school dropout. It progressively becomes obvious why as the episode progresses.
Meiko “Meima” Honma, who keeps nagging him while being adorable. [SPOILER : her death years ago triggered the group’s dissolution]. Jinta figures he’s suddenly seeing her because of stress, but she acts far too real to be an hallucination (although he’s the only one who can see her, causing much awkwardness to ensue). It’s not clear yet how she died, the (numerous) flashbacks only show her running away and never coming back.
Naruko “Anaru” Anjo, whose metamorphosis from a mousy glasses girl to a member of the popular cliques is something to behold. Jinta keeps claiming she doesn’t like him, despite much evidence to the contrary (and her tsundere-lite denials only fool the both of them). The flashbacks even suggest that her jealousy about Jinta is the indirect cause of Meima running away.
Atsumu “Yukiatsu” Matsuyuki and Chiriko “Tsuruko” Tsurumi are the “successful” kids of the bunch, now enrolled into the local prestigious high school instead of the dump Jinta doesn’t attend. He despises what Jinta’s become ; she’s a bit more sympathetic. They’re obviously a couple.
Tetsudo “Poppo” Hisakawa used to be Jinta’s sidekick ; now he’s a lot more confident in himself and has taken over the group’s old hideout for his own purposes.
Production Values
Quite nice looking, and the various characters’ body language are very well done indeed.
Overall Impression
Now we’re talking. This isn’t Hanasaku Iroha, but the characters are well developed and feel real, which is essential for such a series. While there’s an obvious direction for this to go (Meima’s ghost helps the group to rekindle their friendships, Jinta to put his life back together, and sets him up with Naruko so that he can finally move on), it’s still a compelling journey and I’m in for the duration.
