aonyx

An extremely disappointing series that had a lot of potential with vibrant characters that goes absolutely no where At first glance, TNKK seems like a cute and different kind of story. The female lead, Shizuku Mizutani, is top of her class but not without a price. She's cold and emotionless, only caring about studying and becoming successful, very much the anti-shoujo stereotype of being obsessed with love. She meets Haru, an intimidating boy with natural smarts that outmatch hers, a vivid outlook on life and an extremely wild, aggressive streak. The two are natural opposites - id and ego - who are destined to fall inlove and grow together, to better themselves, right? Nah. TNKK falls short of being a slice-of-life type of romcom, with half-hearted life lessons and story arcs that don't lead to actual character growth. Beyond the first episode or two, the story isn't exactly "touching" either. There is this back-and-forth love story for the majority of the 13-episode anime which was extremely tiresome all too soon. Characters are introduced, such as 3rd party love interests or the main characters' relatives, that are irrelevant to the plot, get no character depth, or are rarely seen or heard from even though they are engaging and exciting. No plot lines get resolved and there is next to no character development. If anything, Haru and Shizuku regress into their 1-dimensional roles and become side-characters to others, such as Yamaken or Natsume (who, unfortunately, do not get their stories resolved either). It ends up being a chore to care about the two main characters. All in all, I just wouldn't recommend this series unless you REALLY have nothing better to watch. It has a few cute or sweet moments, but don't expect another Toradora or Chuunibyou. Having not read the manga, I can't be sure as to how well it goes along, but as a stand-alone anime, 13 episodes have left me wondering why I even bothered watching this show. And the fact that it can't hold its own, to me, is a mark of a bad show.

Raphies

So while scrolling through Netflix during the ungodly hours of the early morning, I came across Tonari no Kaibutsu-Kun. The premise seemed interesting; a studious, no nonsense, anti-social girl named Shizuku finds a friend in a hostile boy Haru. While not an entirely unique story nor complex, I still found it entertaining. The story is quite simplistic, but I didn't really mind that much. (I just finished Noragami yesterday and that one was very complex.) I will say that I almost clicked out on the first episode due to pacing issues. However, I'm glad I didn't, because it turned out to be quite enjoyable. The saidpacing issues were non-existent due to a scene that happens at the end of the first episode that surprised and intrigued me, but I won't spoil it here. It was listed under the comedy section, so I figured I'd give it a shot, to break it up from all the serious anime I've been watching lately.Needless to say, the comedy did not disappoint. On multiple occasions I found myself laughing out loud, I even almost squirted milk up my nose. The art while nice and clean, is nothing special, however there are aspects and moments that are really beautiful. The animation during any of the sunset scenes are absolutely stunning. In the second episode I believe it's raining and the shot holds on the rain and the puddle. It looked incredibly realistic. Though not as stunning as others, I also love the eye designs, especially Shizuku and Haru's. The opening song is pretty average for the Shouju genre (or at least the ones I've seen), and I admittedly don't think that much for the ending song either. I will say I adore the soundtrack though, it's really mellow, and I could probably listen to it whilst going to sleep. The characters, I found were all very unique and distinct from one another, yet still maintain their personality as they developed. That being said, I feel as if it could have used a few more episodes to further develop the characters, as it ended fairly ambiguously in regards to said characters. When I started this early this morning, (like at one or two am) I didn't want to stop. But after watching four episodes I figured I should go to sleep. The first thing I did when I woke up this morning, you ask? I watched more. I definitely had me hooked, and I really wanted to know what was going to happen. I was a touch disappointed at the ending however the journey paid off, more so than the destination.