Splitter

Kodomo no Jikan is a heavily controversial title, and with good reason. But like most controversial titles, its subject matter is not exploited in vain, and the end result is something that can be credited, at the very least, as a decent series in its own right. No series has dared to tell the story KoJikan tells and gotten away with it, but for all the underage fanservice it provides, the heartwarming drama beneath the disturbing ecchi comedy ultimately shines. Had KoJikan been solely about the fanservice, this series would deserve all the negative criticism it has received, but there's a heavy dollop of character-driven dramaand unique relationships, the context of which have never been explored up until now. One of its more important plot aspects is the recognition of children as having the same emotional needs as the rest of us. It's a touchy subject, but handled with precision and never crossing the line, though toeing it on occasion. Though KoJikan still handles issues it brings up head-on, it does so in an abrupt and awkward presentation, constantly and abruptly switching between drama and comedy. It may flawed in its execution, but its heart is in the right place. Likewise, no series has dared to have characters like KoJikan's and gotten away with it. This is in great part to the main character being far more than she appears on the surface, especially when her laudably deep and complex emotions are explored. Unfortunately for most characters, they are relegated to often insulting cliche traits substitued as personalities, though this may change in future seasons. For now, the only real depth is in Rin and her cousin Reiji. However, the series should be commended on portraying 8-year-old girls with relative intelligence while acknowledging that they are still physically and mentally children. It's territory anime often skips in favor of taking the "moe" way out and its nice to see a series that portrays kids as kids. The art is bright and cute, though the character designs are a little off-putting, especially Rin and Mimi's hair. Outside of this flaw, everything looks nice and neat. It's a slightly above-average job all around. The music didn't stick to me but I don't remember it intruding in any way. The OP is one of my favorites, not for being a good song, but because the lyrics fit the tone of the series to a T. The ED is a hyperactive J-pop number that the audience this kind of show often attracts will enjoy greatly. For me, KoJikan was a mixed bag. It is not anywhere near the horror that it was constantly advertised as prior to its release, nor is it entirely redeemable due to its abrupt swings between the drama and its uncomfortable brand of comedy. The end result is quite commendable though, assuming one watches this without a die-hard need to find as many disturbing details as they can. Overall, I give Kodomo no Jikan an 8 out of 10.

Ranivus

What can I say about this show that isn't absurd, offensive, or down right politically incorrect? As a forewarning to those who are offended by lolicon-esque (kids in ecchi situations) anime DO NOT WATCH THIS SHOW. With that aside, for what its worth, the show minus the loli porn wouldn't be that bad BUT there are ALOT of things wrong with the show in the technical sense. From episode one, you can tell this is only worth watching if you got the DVD version (if there is such a thing). Alot of jokes don't get off the ground because they're bleeped out and i don'tthink i need to mention about the lolicon/comedy situations. I don't mind them censoring the scenes but at least leave the speech in tact. Having whole sentences at a time bleeped out, funny words or emotions replaced with a duck or a dog sound or even the fabled comedy car horn definitely kills most of the shows main ingredient, shock comedy. So you get past how perverted a set of 3rd grade the girls are, how are their personalities? Well it seems like they borrowed a few character types from a few popular anime of previous airings. For instance Mimi is very moe and has large breasts especially for the age group she is supposed to be in. Kagamine Rin's other friend Kurogame pretty much Rin's polar opposite, very conservative, conceited, and mean. She is also in charge of pulling in the viewers that love the nekomimi girls (whereas Mimi pulls in the moe viewers). Lastly, Kagamine Rin can be easily labeled into the 'tsundere' fan base but her personality is more unique than what you normally see in an anime. She basically displays the oppositie traits from Kuro-chan most of the time but she does have her good moments and ecchi moments. Rin is a very unpredictable character that you will either learn to love, hate, or even both. Although they don't cover Kuro's or Mimi's background as much, you will come to know all about Rin and how she's become how she is today which is rather interesting. Character styles isn't the main draw for this anime in my opinion, but rather the artwork is very top notch. Not only is the animation is very clean and detailed. The girls get different (and detailed) outfits for every episode. Their eyes in this show is some of the best eyes i have ever seen drawn in an anime. Not just because of their general size, but in detail and color variation. The classroom children ALL look different from each other, complete with different types of clothing and hair styles. There are so many variations in this show its hard not to notice the hard work the staff has put into this anime. Theres even a scene when the kids have their cellphones and DS's out and they all looked unique from each other. They even take use of distance blur to an effect which is impressive itself. If there was any blemish about the artwork of the show would be the lack of different scene locations. It was either at school or one of three different homes (the automatic beach episode doesn't count). Also, some people will not care for the hair at all. Their hair is a very hit and miss subject, and as for me, i couldn't care less after episode two. I cared vary little about the story or the ecchiness of the show but the main reason i watched this was simply because of how high quality the artwork is. The story is easily forgettable but most of the time you'll pay more attention to what is going on at the moment than the overall story, all though the overall story wont kick in for a while. But for the most part, you start to feel alot of things for Aoki-sensei. Sometimes you'll get mad at him, or wonder why he's so stupid, or how he can do something so reckless, or even wonder why he would bother to put himselves in certain situations. But for the most part you'll be worrying about him more than anything else. Also if you look past all the ecchiness, the three girls are really cute in their own way. And not because of their moe-ness but their voice acting is perfect and their range in emotions are spot on. Its hard to pick who my favorite seiyu would be out of the three because they are all that good of a seiyu. That brings me to another great part of the show, sound and music. Elementary school sounds just like school with rowdy children. Even when theres scenes when the school halls are empty, you can hear the bustling of the over sized air conditioning unit. Basically what I'm trying to say is that the environmental sounds are pretty spot on. Its kinda sad that not most anime can't copy this much detail in environmental sounds as they do in here. It really brings out an anime from being a cut and paste low budget series. Even the music (mood or background) is very high quality. And the music varies in type as well, at times there would be techno and at times a comedy flute and also the suspenseful string quartet is even here. And since this is first and foremost a comedy anime, all the comedy bells and whistles are there, but not as much as you would expect. Lastly, the OP/ED songs are very catchy and energetic just like how the girls are. They fit the anime very well and its been a while since i actually appreciated a good OP and ED song from one anime. It's a shame that so many things get censored out, specifically the audio. Also it didn't help that the fansub didn't bother to translate some on screen text. But thats not the anime's fault. So what do you get when you plan to air a non-TV friendly show on TV? You get a lost in translation TV show. Although it would make a hell of a lot more sense if the school in question was high school instead of elementary school but then it wouldn't appeal to the lolicons right? Not many anime appeal to the lolicons so im sure this was made as a niche anime to seize that market. Most shows with little girls are supposed to appeal to little girls (Ichigo Mashimaro, Moetan, etc, etc) but this one is so obviously blatant with its use of ecchi its ridiculous. It tests a fine line between serious drama and ecchi comedy that it actually works. If it didn't, why would there be a second season? It would definitely be more understandable if it was a direct to DVD instead of airing on TV.