I'd been wanting to see this anime for some time now, ever since I saw a scene on Youtube that was easily the sweetest clip ever. After two weeks of life kicking my butt, it was time. And my timing was just about perfect. This is the show you want to come home to after a bad day. At some points I felt myself get all relaxed, like I was either waking up or lulling into a pleasant nap. It was sweet, it was calming, it wasn't boring. Just the type of show to lift one's spirits.
Unfortunately, this doesn't mean the show is perfect. It has its flaws right along with it's good points. The plot was...predictable. There really weren't any surprises to be had and I could easily figure out what was going to happen before it did. It all became a matter of just watching the events unfold. The anime didn't even try to hide the obvious plot points, instead opting to concentrate more on how the story was told rather then what story was told. Which is OK. It's nice to just sit back and enjoy the ride once in a while. But if you're the type of person who loves deep, hidden plot goodies and mysteries to uncover and unravel as the show goes on, look elsewhere.
I have mixed feelings about the art. The art style was different. At times it seemed bland, but then they'd just go into something completely different. I loved the attention to detail, just little things that they were very good about keeping on top of. Also every so often a little music video would appear (oh yes) and the art goes through some drastic changes in one or two of them, but they fit the mood and it just worked.
And now the music. I had to get to this at some point in a musical anime. I am so lucky I actually liked the songs, because they sure liked to repeat them. It started to remind me of transformation sequences in magical girl anime; they showed the same scene for the one song every time. I was so relieved when the music videos came on, because that meant something different, but the second I saw three microphones appear out of nowhere I knew I was in for yet the same recycled scene. Don't get me wrong, I found myself humming some of the songs cheerfully in the shower this morning. It just would have been nice to see them singing something new.
The characters were all-around decent. There wasn't any substantial character development, but as I mentioned before the attention to detail is amazing. Especially when it comes to their unique personalities. All of the characters served their purposes, none were wasted and it worked. Nothing to call home about really.
Despite how this review may sound, I thoroughly enjoyed this show. It had a nice little message, got rid of some stress and had some nice music. I would most definitely recommend giving it a show. Just don't go in expecting a monumental work of art. The charm of this show is that it does not take itself too seriously and try to be something it's not. The show just is.
