Review: Koi Kaze (TV)

Running time: 23 minutes
Number of episodes: 13
Vintage: 2004-04-01 to 2004-06-17
Age rating: Mature (May contain sex, drugs, and extreme graphic violence)
Genres: Drama, Psychological, Romance, Slice of Life
Animation Production: A.C.G.T.
Broadcaster: KIDS STATION, TV Asahi
Music Production: Lantis
Production: Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc., Geneon Entertainment, Inc., Rondo Robe, TV Asahi

Source: Anime News Network

Koi Kaze takes a journey into the mindset of two people very much in love but torn by the exterior pressures that they must face if their love should ever be the way they wish it to be. Before even trying to lay out the storyline, it’s important to warn you what you’re up against. Koi Kaze tells a gritty tale of two siblings who fall in love without knowing they were siblings when they meet several years after separating. They are then are smitten by the crime of forbidden love and work hard to suppress these feelings they have while trying to live a normal life together. I don’t necessarily condone incest in real life, but after witnessing the way things unfold in Koi Kaze as a fiction story, you can’t help but blind yourself to certain parts of this equation because of how true and meaningful the feelings these two people have towards each other are.

The main characters are Saeki Koushiro and Kohinata Nanoka. Koushiro is a 27 year old man that lives his life as a regular salaryman. He has never once in his life been truly affectionate about something or someone which has lead to his current slump. His girlfriend breaks up with him because she doesn’t feel like Koushiro really has feelings for her. Koushiro isn’t surprised by her actions because he himself doubts what he truly feels about her and lets her go easily.

One day on his way to work, Koushiro notices a cute 15 year old high school girl named Nanoka on the same train with him. The girl suddenly gets off the train once it reached a stop, but in the middle of pushing her way out she drops her I.D. card. Koushiro quickly fumbles through the chaos, picks it up, and gets off the train so that he can give it back. He calls out to her and she turns around to face him. In the midst of their confrontation sakura leaves blow right past them and in the few seconds it lasts they are in a profound sudden rush of emotion. They part ways with a smile once the good deed was done. As fate would have it, they meet again the next day when the same girl is passing by Koushro’s workplace by coincidence just as he’s about to leave. Koushiro received some tickets to an amusement park and he decides to give them to Nanoka. Nanoka happens to need to kill some time while waiting for someone so she decides to go with Koushiro. Thus, they end up taking a quick innocent date at the park. While they spend time at the park they slowly open up to each other and say the things that have been bothering them in their lives to cool off. The quality of the voice acting and the detail in the music helps transmit the emergent sensations that these two people feel and how they connect while being together at the park.

When the day is finally over and they are about to part their separate ways, a much older man yells at them from a distance. This man happens to be their father, Saeki Zensou. He’s happy that they are together and jokes around since he’s convinced they knew they were siblings and that’s how they ended up together. Obviously, Koushiro and Nanoka are really surprised by this and the path down a bumpy road begins from here.

Rather than focus only on the pure emotions these characters feel, the show instead takes a more direct path down the reality of two people in love. It’s not always about how they felt when they first met, or the beautiful things they may say, but the gritty truth that they just can’t be apart. In real life the layers of desire, emotion, and temptation all unfold in humanly ways, thus real life is not beautifully scripted like in a sugar coated fiction love story. In those stories characters say what they mean with certain levels of eloquence and confidence while also doing the right things that trigger the beauty of their profuse love; this doesn’t happen in Koi Kaze for the most part and instead we get to see a more rough yet truer transmission of feelings and emotion. The fact that people make mistakes and let their emotions get the best of them is not an understatement and it is well presented here.

While the show is very powerful and delivers an emotional drive of taboo love, once it ends it’s a little less explicit. I must say the end of Koi Kaze employs a level subtlety that’s very effective but may require re-watching to fully understand it. It won’t change your views on the subject matter at hand, but once you pick up on the details you’ll be able to piece it together and create your own conclusion. I really enjoyed Koi Kaze despite the shortcomings of assimilating a scenario of blood related siblings falling in love. The music and the voice acting helped elevate the delivery of quality on the whole package. If you can swallow the premise and accept the consequences, you will most likely enjoy Koi Kaze.

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Review: NHK ni Youkoso! (TV)

Running time: 24 minutes
Number of episodes: 24
Vintage: 2006-07-09 to 2006-12-17
Age rating: ???
Genres: Comedy, Psychological, Romance, Slice of Life
Animation Production: GONZO

Source: Anime News Network

Strange. Weird. Odd. Peculiar. These are words you’ll likely use to describe NHK ni Youkoso! (Welcome to the NHK!) when you first start watching it. It immediately takes you into the mind of Tatsuhiro Satou, a 22 year old hikikomori. Being a hikikomori Satou is self restrained and is not able to handle society. His anxiety locks him in his one-room apartment and he can’t leave without feeling remorse and pressure from the outside world. This condition forced him to drop out of college and live off allowance from his parents. This situation also makes him a NEET (Not in Employment, Education, or Training) and thus his life revolves around him and the things in his room. His TV, computer, and air conditioner are the only things that allow him to live a comfortable life in seclusion.

To top things off, Satou believes there’s a large conspiracy of epic proportions behind all of his mishaps in life. He calls the sinister secret organization after him the N.H.K., Nihon Hikikomori Kyokai, or “The Japanese Hikikomori Association.” (It’s pretty obvious this is a parody of the Japanese TV station N.H.K. for mass producing otaku’s) Thanks to this he’s conflicted and confused in his head which leads him to sleep 16 hours a day at irregular hours. All of this is happens while in total isolation from the rest of the world. There’s no doubt you’ll quickly agree that something isn’t right about Satou and his behavior, yet you may find similarities between yourself and Satou.

One day a cute high school girl arrives at his door accompanied by an older woman. The woman seems to do soliciting from neighbors to become aware of social problems and join some kind of religious group. The woman tries to get Satou interested in a booklet that has an article on the very problem he is experiencing. He quickly denies being a hikikomori or a NEET, but reflexively blurts out the truth in the process. Surprisingly, the cute girl just smiles at him. His hikikomori state of mind throws him into a turmoil of confusion and he decides he’s going to try to get a job. He thinks the neighborhood is aware of his situation, so getting a job and going to work for a while should be able to fool them. Shaved, clean cut, bathed, and armed with his resume, he sets off to a nearby manga cafe called Comic Break that is looking for part-time employees. Shockingly, he meets the same cute girl he met before at the shop and finds out she’s working there. He instantly gets nervous the moment he makes eye contact and makes a quick attempt to leave the shop. In the process of leaving he drops his resume on the floor.

Back at his apartment Satou is even more troubled and burdened by his luck of meeting the one girl that exemplified the type of person he wanted to fool by getting the job in the first place. After a while Satou hears the doorbell ring again but this time he doesn’t answer. When he finally decides to look through his door’s peek hole he notices the girl from the shop showed up at his apartment. She dropped off his resume with a note on the back that said to meet her at a park by 9PM that night. Satou always goes to that park to relax because its the only place besides his apartment where he can be alone and think. He has trouble deciding if he’s going to go to the park or not, since he would of gone whether or not he got the invitation, but he eventually ends up at the park anyway. Surely enough, the girl is there and she welcomes Satou into her project that she assures him will cure his hikikomori way of life.

From here on the project to cure Satou begins, for better or for worse. The adventures and misadventures of Satou, Misaki, and a few other characters have many interesting developments. Although the show alludes to being about hikikomori and NEET’s, it will soon introduce new characters and new social problems. Everyone in this show has some kind of issue and it’s explored in interesting ways. The journey is long but hard earned, and many surprises are sure to be revealed.

Watching NHK ni Youkoso! is undoubtedly a unique and refreshing experience. Many of us who enjoy anime can admit to being a little secluded at times, and some of us are also on the extreme of being real hikikomori. To keep up with most of the anime that is pumped out of Japan we need a lot of free time. I’ve had the experience of being a NEET and staying at home for months, which has lead to the creation of this blog. This is one of the reasons I instantly related to this show. Those of you who live more vivid and social lives and watch anime more casually may not notice anything that will grab your attention at first, but later on there’s plenty of diversified content you may find interesting.

The very core of NHK ni Youkoso! is all about troubled youth and their perception of the world. The most enjoyable aspect of it is seeing how these problem ridden people cope with each other and the rest of society. Because of their similarities you’ll find the characters form special bonds within their small circle of friends, and in a special case this allows for the strongest human emotion to flourish. Watching everything unfold in NHK ni Youkoso! is most of the fun, so I don’t want to give away too much, but I’m sure you’ll eventually agree that NHK ni Youkoso! is an interesting concept that hides a very special romance story. The real cure to a hikikomori state is found somewhere between these very strong feelings the characters develop. In retrospect, this show serves as a good lesson to us all who suffer from some kind of social anxiety.

Unfortunately, I did not find the conclusion to the show to be fulfilling enough, especially after such a grand beginning. However, if there is ever a case where the journey is better than the destination, this is one such example. I really enjoyed the story and how most of it unfolds, especially since I could find some way to relate to many of the characters’ troubles. Too bad it gets derailed several times, but at least it doesn’t lose its quality of storytelling. If you’re a passionate anime fan who’s had your share of lonely time, you owe it to yourself to check this one out. I wholeheartedly enjoyed it and you should too.

Thanks Zaitou for the recommendation; you’re spot on as always!

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