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Blue Green Years
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Title Info
- alias: Mizuiro Jidai
- seen: 1-12 of 47
- type: TV
- grade: worthy
- genre: shoujo
- Series state: Can't find any more to watch.
- made: unknown
- Review created: Recently, but I didn't record the date.
- mod: none
A solid but very shoujo anime this one. And if you can't take shoujo in general then feel very safe in keeping away from this. The title is intended to refer to youth and inexperience, and is fitting as this is at the bottom end of age of a school drama (japanese grade 8). A young, and fairly reserved, schoolgirl suddenly discovers that her childhood buddy doesn't fit her memories anymore. Likewise the conversations and actions of her friends are pushing her into new area's of life and, potentially, love. And that is all that is required for a shoujo story, getting to watch scenes and experiences from a possible life.
The reason why non-shoujo fans should stay away is because there is a strong feeling of reality to this one. The lead character is, to be blunt, good hearted but far from strong. She dithers, she makes stupid mistakes, lacks confidence and is often confused about her own feelings. Meanwhile the drama has a fair share of tension, all trivial stuff from an absolute point of view, but reminding the viewer how complex, mean and uncertain life can be. Of course, in many ways, this makes the story all the more interesting...especially for a western fan. Indeed many shoujo fans who prefer the fantasy end of the spectrum might find this to be far too mundane for their interests. Fortunately her best friends (male and female) are strong and, while not without their own faults, loyal to her (most of the time). Indeed her best female friend is wonderfully done, an interesting and intriguing character. The dialog is good, the writing sufficient to draw you in (but impossible to explain to anyone) and the ability to draw character and drama from situations very skilled. I like it and want more, which I suspect i'll get because the calm pacing suggests the possibility of a long series.
The animation is exactly what you would expect from shoujo. Generally soft color and not overly complex line work. It has a good grasp for the detail in an environment and character design and expression is strong. In other words it has everything required to support the low key story. The voices are excellent and expressive. The degree of detail about japanese school life seems detailed and believable, and suprisingly interesting for a western fan. Watching the reality of music club, and the `status' between years seemed intriguingly Japanese.
I thought none of my sources had a review for this, but the dependable Lord Carnage comes to the rescue. In his review he mentions the realism, the low key stories, and the fact that this can result in the story not really `grabbing' you.
Words by Andrew Shelton, Web by Ticti, Last Compile: Wed Aug 5 12:39:15 WST 2009