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Title Info
- alias: Gokinjo Monogatari
- seen: 1-4 of 50
- type: TV
- grade: flawed
- made: 1995
- Review created: Recently, but I didn't record the date.
- mod: none
Eeeuh...take it away, take it away. This strange and unpleasant sorta-anime is worth seeing simply in order to try and guess what the makers were thinking. To start with lets consider the story first...perhaps not, because this story has been sewn up frankenstein-like from the remnants of every shoujo anime ever made. Start with a high school girl and boy, friends since childhood, but not a couple. Of course when another woman enters the scene they have to reconsider their true feelings for one another. See, easy wasn't it?
The truth is the story is just a framework for an exercise in `deep style'. The animation for this piece is done in a very simplistic, almost charicaturish fashion, with really simple use of color. It's really, really crude. The movement of the characters is almost like a series of diagrams. The design is equally unrealistic and strange, with the characters looking sort of like rough sketch's of 70's nightmares. There are lots of baggy caps, flared trousers and weird outfits in this one. The little I caught of the music also seemed to suggest a `style' focus, though this was in conflict with the very standard shoujo plot. If I had to guess I would say that, despite the japanese elements, this attempts to present an `american style' high school story. However having started out with this relatively fragile aim things fell apart from there.
Certainly the elements are a strange mix. While being high school students there is lots of makeup, ear-rings and weird 70's fashion. Perhaps this is a representation of a Japanese `tech' school? Or perhaps what the Japanese think of as an american style school? I know i'm reaching here, but take it as my confusion over what i've sat through. Certainly there is lots of cutting class, boys focused only on getting women and the only class the female character is ever doing is garment construction. When the `other woman' turned out to be the school prostitute and was honestly suprised the male lead didn't want sex I surrendered. I don't know where there this came from, and while it is original it is also very sad indeed. A Horrible mishmash of dead-standard shoujo plot, average writing and terrible animation.
While it is not anime the american animation `Daria' blows this one away, and then some. The only review I could find was from Lord Carnage who has a good review but little kindness to offer to the creators of this anime. He does identify that it is an arts school, which makes sense. A usenet comment from Steve Harrison identified that this was a replacement for marmalade boy, done by the same people, and was quite popular.
Words by Andrew Shelton, Web by Ticti, Last Compile: Wed Aug 5 12:39:22 WST 2009