Asatte no Houkou ep.01

October 7, 2006 | 19 Comments

Opening Theme: 「光の季節」- Hikari no Kisetsu by Suara
Download: AVI format (Pan/Scan, 21.8MB) | AVI format (Widescreen, 25.5MB) | PSP format (Pan/Scan 16.2MB)

Well, this is one of the nicest surprises this autumn. It looks like J.C Staff honed in the paint-like drawing that they started in Karin and use it to full effect in this series. The storyline is interesting as well with loads of drama and romantic implication. I do have to say that after watching the first episode, Shouko is not as sympathetic as she was in concept. The opening theme by Suara is beautiful to listen to and the same thing can be said about the ED theme by Yuumao. They both easily illustrate a hot, lazy summer season. I think if you're looking for a drama/romance series and haven't been able to find a good one this summer/autumn, then maybe you should give this series a look. I'm not sure how many episodes this series is scheduled for but it looks like a 13 episodes series.

A young woman riding her bike stops in the middle of a street when she notices a young girl praying at a small shrine. She asks the girl what is it that she prays for. The little girl tells the young woman it's a secret. The woman notices the strange green stones inside the shrine and wonders if it's a wish-granting stone. She then asks the girl if she can make a wish too. The girl agrees so the two of them pray solemnly at the shrine until the girl's older brother calls her name, Iokawa Karada. The older brother, Hiro, wants to know what Karada is doing at a place like this so Karada tells him that she's making a wish. Hiro, however, is shocked when he notices the young woman standing not far from Karada. The same thing can be said for the woman herself. The next morning, Karada wakes Hiro up. Hiro walks out of his room and looks at a piece of paper full of 'Promises'. This seems to be the kind of ground rules that the siblings promised to each other.

Listed on the board are: we will not fight, we will greet each other, we will not keep secret, we will eat together, Hiro will not treat Karada like a child, they will talk eloquently with each other, they will tidy things up..... On the right hand side, there is a mention on who gets to make breakfast. Karada gets to do it on odd-numbered days and Hiro gets to do it on even-numbered days. Hiro wonders if today is his turn to cook but he is surprised when he sees Bento boxes in the kitchen table. Karada smiles and tells him that today they are going to the sea. At a train station, a boy complaining because he doesn't get to go to Tokyo like his friends. He becomes happy again when he hears Karada calling his name, which turns out to be Amino Tetsu. However, that happiness turns out to be short-lived when he sees Karada coming with her brother, Hiro. Despite this, his sister still teases him, saying that surely he's happy that she comes with him today.

The siblings are surprised when they see an unknown woman coming with Karada and Hiro. Karada introduces the woman as Hiro's friend, Nogami Shouko. While inside the train, Karada, Hiro, Tetsu and his sister sits in the same area while Shouko sits on her own in another area. When Hiro is not looking, however, Shouko observes him. Shouko remembers how when she first met Karada, Karada had asked her if she's Hiro's friend. Shouko explains that an 'acquintance' is more appropriate. Apparently Hiro helped her when she were in America. When Karada asked Shouko why she decides to settle in this town, Shouko told Karada that it's because she thought she'll not meet anyone, hoping she can starts over from zero. That day, Karada also invited Shouko to go to the sea with her next Sunday. Inside the train, Shouko wonders why she came here. Her thought, however, is interrupted when they arrive at the beach.

Tetsu teases Karada for still using a floating device when she's going to junior high next year. Meanwhile, in order to involve Shouko in their activity, Tetsu's sister invites everyone to play volleyball. The game proceeds smoothly until Tetsu throws the ball to Karada and she ends up falling flat onto the sea trying to hit it. Tetsu tries to help Karada to stand up and becomes annoyed when Hiro thanks him for being nice to his sister. Shouko also looks unhappy to see the close bond between Hiro and Karada. When Hiro orders some drinks, he notices that there is an extra order of sandfish which has been dried overnight. He realises that Touko, Tetsu's sister was the one who asks for it. Touko praises Karada's handmade bento so Karada proudly tells Toukou that she's confident in her cooking skill. Tetsu, on the other hand, does not hesitate to criticise Karada's homemade Tamagoyaki, claiming that it's too salty for his taste. Touko punches her brother's head for being rude but Tetsu argues that he can't help it since it's the truth.

Karada admits that she made it that way because Hiro likes salty foods. Touko realises that naturally Karada is already used to make it that way since she makes it everyday for Hiro. Shouko picks one of the Tamagoyaki and tastes it so Karada asks her if it tastes bad. Shouko tells her it's delicious and asks her if she uses other seasonings apart from salt. When Karada tells Shouko that it's a secret, Shouko tells the girl that it seems she has many secrets. Karada agrees with this. This piece of information intrigues the Amino siblings so they ask the two what they are talking about. Karada tells them that they were making wish using this stone. Karada, of course, won't tell her secret so Touko asks Shouko what she wished for. When Hiro sees Shouko hesitates, he tells them that it's probably world peace. The corny answer of course makes the Amino siblings laugh. Shouko, on the other hand, looks a bit upset after hearing Hiro's answer.

After lunch, Touko notices that Shouko has been looking at Hiro secretly so she wonders if Shouko also thinks that Hiro is cute. Upon hearing this, Shouko asks Touko if she and Hiro are in a relationship. Touko, however, tells Shouko that she was joking around. Hiro is actually just a regular customer at her coffee shop. In addition to this, Karada and Tetsu are classmates so he comes alot. She then asks Shouko if she and Hiro were involved and want to know what happened, promising to help her. All of a sudden, however, Shouko raises her voice, asking Touko not to misunderstand her. She claims that her arrival in Kanouchou (the town where they are now) is purely accidental. She wasn't looking for Hiro's whereabouts because....Their conversation comes to a halt when Karada comes over, asking if something happened. Touko assures her that it's nothing while Shouko thinks it's okay for children not to know.

Touko immediately backs Shouko's words, saying that this is just a conversation between two adults. Shouko promises Karada that when she grows up a little bit more, she'd tell her. Karada has no choice but to agree with this. Judging from her reaction, however, it's clear that she's not happy being treated as a kid. Later on, while Karada is playing on the beach with Tetsu, Hiro informs Shouko that Karada doesn't like it when someone treats her like a child. Through flashback, it is revealed that Karada and Hiro lost their parents 4 years ago. Hiro became busy taking care of Karada on his own that Karada feels bad about this. Because of this, she sneaked out of her room one night and added an additional request into their 'Promise' list: a request for Hiro not to treat her like a child. Upon hearing this, Shouko wants to ask something to Hiro but before she can do this, Karada already waves her hand at Hiro so Hiro tells them that they're going home soon.

Later on, while Shouko is in a shop looking for Omiyage, she notices that Hiro is buying a white ribbon for Karada. Shouko is jealous to see this and tries to walk away. Before she can walk far, however, Karada spots her and asks her if the ribbons that Hiro bought her suit her well. Shouko intentionally tells Karada that it really suits her since it looks child-like. Karada becomes upset to hear this and runs away from the place. Tetsu who sees Karada running away decides to chase her. Hiro also notices this and realises that Shouko is the one who upset Karada. Meanwhile, Tetsu manages to catch up with Karada, asking her what happened. Instead of answering, Karada tells him that it must be nice to be big like him. To cheer Karada up, Tetsu asks her to go see a film with him tomorrow. Karada smiles and reminds Tetsu that they have school tomorrow. Karada tells Tetsu that he's the same as always and the two laughs happily.

Once they all return to Kanouchou station, the Amino takes a taxi to go back home. Hiro asks Karada to go home on her own since he wants to talk to Shouko. Hiro then takes Shouko to a small river bridge and confronts her for saying cruel words to Karada back then. In return, Shouko tells Hiro that she didn't know that he likes salty foods. Shouko reveals that 4 years ago, Hiro left her. Back then she believed in his words, thinking that he'll return to her soon. She asks Hiro if he left her to take care of Karada. Hiro points out that Karada is his only sister but Shouko tells him that she didn't know he has a sister and wants to know why he didn't tell her. Instead of answering her question, Hiro pulls out a cigarette and smokes in front of her. He then asks Shouko if she still likes him even now. Shouko walks over to Hiro and slaps him in the face, telling him that he's the lowest of the low before running away from the guy.

Because she's crying and doesn't pay attention to her surrounding, Shouko trips over and falls onto the ground. As she sobs on the ground, she asks herself why she's in this town. When she lifts her head, however, she realises that she's not far from the shrine where she first met Karada. Much to her surprise, Karada is now there praying as usual. When Shouko approaches Karada, the wind starts to blow in ominous way. Darkness then covers the shrine and causes one of the rock to fall down. Cut to a shot of the 'Promise' list where Karada had written that she doesn't want Hiro to treat her like a child. Meanwhile Hiro is still on the bridge, picking up a cigarrete which obviously was used only to make Shouko upset. When the moonlight unveils the darkness, the stone's colour turns into blue. In addition to this, Shouko has now turned into a child while Karada has turned into an adult. The episode ends with Shouko dropping her oversized glasses.

Impression:

I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised about this show. It has an understated quality feel to it, which I like very much. The story is interesting without having to resort to over the top comedy. The main focus seems to be on the relationship between the characters as well as Karada and Shouko's insecurities. In general, the characters are all intriguing and have their own flaws. The most notable one is Shouko, who is quite antagonistic in this episode and at first came across as stalker. It was also cruel of her to play on Karada's insecurity to exact revenge on her brother. Having said that, it's hard not to feel sorry for her as well since Hiro left her without giving her the real reason. At the same time, after looking at the flashback, I can't blame Hiro either for calling off the relationship. Taking care of Karada while trying to make ends meet clearly take its toll on him. On a hindsight, he probably should have told Shouko about it.

In addition to the current entanglement, there is also a mystery in the form of Shouko's reason for coming to Kanouchou in the first place. She mentions about starting over from zero since she thought she won't meet anyone that she knows. The question what was she running away from? If it's just her disappointing relationship with Hiro, then the question is pretty much answered. I hope, however, that this is not the case. After all, she did say to Toukou that her arrival in Kanouchou is purely coincidental. If Shouko didn't lie then it means something else happened to her in the past and now she tries to make a living here. Unfortunately for her, moving to Kanouchou reunites her with Hiro, who she clearly still has feelings for. In addition to this, Hiro seems quite keen on pushing her away from him judging from the way he smokes the cigarrete just to disgust her. I assume the shot of the cigarette on the ground suggests that he normally doesn't smoke.

I wonder how things will turn out from here on now that Karada turns into an adult and Shouko reverts back to a child form. I hope this will actually lead to some interesting storyline as opposed to pure fanservice and comedy. For once I'd like to see a story like this being given a serious treatment as opposed to a comedic one. Obviously Shouko won't be able to work like she used to now that she turns into a little girl. Karada will probably want to give career a try now that she has the body of an adult. She will finally be able to help her brother and stop being a burden. Having said that, I think Karada will find that being an adult is not as easy as it seems while Shouko will clearly find that being a child won't make her any more important in Hiro's eyes. Overall, the first episode is very promising. I especially like the art style, which is quite unique and looks water-painted at a glance. I hope the second one will continue to be as interesting as this one.

Ending Theme: 「Sweet Home Song」 by Yuumao
Download: AVI format (Pan/Scan, 15.5MB) | AVI format (Widescreen, 21.5MB) | PSP format (Pan/Scan 9.8MB)

A simple yet pleasant song to listen to. I really want to get the full version of this song as well as the OP theme.

Preview

On next week's episode: Will Hiro figure out the transformation?

© memento 2003