Binbou Shimai Monogatari
[Score: 83% = Buy-. Other recommended Silent Drama animes: Haibane Renmei, Uta Kata, Asatte no Houkou, Aishiteru Ze Baby, Piano, Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto]
- Drama: Med/High (mostly children's issues but keep your tissue at hand)
- Comedy: Low (there must be some, it's a children scenario after all)
- Action: None (the drama plays on a different level)
- SciFi: None (plain old earth, normal people)
- Ecchi: None (clean and pure, recommended for children)
With overly childish Music (but a wonderful score in the final episode), cute Art (with occasional SD elements) and rather simple Animation, it's the storytelling what this series is all about (as there's not a lot of Character Development taking place, most of it happening to side characters, but both sisters are almost awfully cute). Large parts of this story are told from the angle of two nine-year-old girls (Asu and Ginko), so this story may appear a bit childish to the older audience; then again, that's part of the charm this series offers. And whether an event was important from some 'objective' point of view isn't really relevant for the size of children's tears anyway. Each episode has plucked my heartstrings, calling for the best Episode Story rating available.
What does this anime offer you? Most notably, tears - lots and lots and lots of tears. Stay far away from this series if you're out for an action comedy of any kind (albeit this series does have its funny moments, such as the "guidelines how to survive with almost no money" during the commercial break, or Kyou's nice little weaknesses). But if you look for a pure, charming Story of the type of Whisper of the Heart, Aishiteru Ze Baby or Piano with a strong positive message (of two sisters helping each other as much as they can despite their obvious limitations), considering what's really important for a human being, with an ending that resolves all open questions, something you would really want your own kids to watch (as this series is probably targetting a much younger audience with its idealized view of the world - somehow it is hard to believe there will ever be a real problem for those sisters if they're so good at surviving under these conditions), you're absolutely on the right track. Imagine NieA_7 without the aliens - only better. Or Tonari no Totoro without the fantasy element, turned into a series.
All in all this series seems like the very definition of Moé to me. I'm laughing as well as crying in every episode. How could I not give a "Buy" to this anime? If it were up to me I'd order everyone who considers himself part of the "no future generation" to watch it.
I've been reading the manga in parallel to watching this show, and the animated version is a huge improvement over the original bits and pieces that have been put together forming reasonable stories in the TV series (which nonetheless remains fully compatible to the manga's story and characters).
Last updated Friday, June 06 2008.
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