Series Synopsis
Tomoya’s (voiced by Aimi Terakawa) father has gotten remarried and with that came a weird older sister
named Ichika (voiced by Juri Nagatsuma).
A reserved and soft
spoken person, Tomoya’s low key life suddenly gets a lot more frustrating because Ichika has always wanted a sibling and thus she
instantly falls in love with her new younger brother. Already with a loud and outgoing
personality, she fawns over Tomoya night and day; much to his chagrin.
Things would be rough enough
if it were only limited to home, but Ichika has a nasty habit of showing up
whenever she suspects, whether true or not, Tomoya might be in trouble; or God
forbid, talking with another girl. It’s a handful and it does make living an
average life quite difficult.
Despite his best efforts,
Tomoya is never able to escape his sister’s watch or good intentions. However,
it has been only him and his father since his mother died, so the new constant excitement
provided by Ichika is much more comforting than the usual silence.
Series Positives
Oneechan ga Kita is another of those short form anime that's difficult to talk about since saying that I liked is more than a sufficient summary of my thoughts. So don't be expecting a long review.
That being said there is
something that I want to talk about.
The Cast
This is a big group of
characters for a show that's not long at all. Yet Oneechan ga Kita does a good job of illustrating exactly who these
people are and how they interact with one another.
Tomoya is genuinely a nice
guy and would probably be a lot more open to having a new family. He does say
things that are unquestionably harsh, but he understands when he goes too
far and reflects. He also doesn’t try to kid himself and realizes
that this arrangement, albeit exhausting, is much more fun that what he's
accustomed to.
Still, Tomoya does have it
rough because Ichika is a lot to deal with. She's overly clingy, a tad intrusive,
and doesn’t know the concept of backing off. But in her defense, a younger sibling
is something she's always wanted and is only trying to get the most out of it.
Although she's always at level eleven, she's coming from a good place and
therefore, as an observer looking in, she’s only an extremely protective
sister. For Tomoya it might be tough, but that’s for him to deal with not me.
So while the show does well with
its two mains, it also manages to bring together many more characters. No one
feels random or useless, instead, if this series where full length, everyone
would probably have some role to play.
In fact that brings me to my
biggest question about this show. What wasn’t Oneechan ga Kita made into a full length anime?
Series Negatives
There's more that can come
from this show. So much so that it’s short length is definitely holding it back. With the sole exception being Yamishibai, the short form anime that I tend like, I tend to believe can be made into a decent standard production.
I do want to get to know these characters more, I want to see them interact with different problems and
situations. I want to see Tomoya struggle with Ichika. And I really
want to see the two them become closer as siblings. There’s more that can be done, so
it’s a shame to not see this show give its full potential.
However, there is one thing I
don’t think a full length series will fix.
Pacing
The pacing in Oneechan ga Kita is incredibly fast, too
much so in fact.
This has nothing to do with each
episode only being three minutes. The rate of jokes, the speed of delivery, the
pace of the action, it’s all so quick. There are times where I got completely lost and had to
watch a scene (a.k.a. episode) three, four, or five times over and over again.
There’s a lot of background humor,
which can be hilarious, but there's also a lot going on in the foreground that
your brain struggles to pick which one it should be focusing on.
Perhaps it was because each
episode has an incredibly limited amount of time and that's why the show tried to jam
as many jokes in as it could. If this were the case, then it is another reason
why this series should have been full length.
However, if this was a
deliberate style choice, than a standard twenty minuet episode would have been
a nightmare to sit through. I honestly don’t think I could've handled a full
series with this pacing. The show’s funny, don’t get
me wrong, but had Oneechan ga Kita
only slowed down and focused on one or two main jokes an episode, then it would
have been a lot more enjoyable overall.
Final Thoughts
Even though the pacing is insanely
fast, Oneechan ga Kita is still one
of the more enjoyable short form anime I have come across.
You really get a good sense
of who everyone is despite not given a lot of time to meet them. Because of this,
the series remains fun and entertaining. This is an anime that perhaps should
have been given the chance to spread its wings.
Regardless, Oneechan ga Kita is totally worth a look
once. However, it’s also something that will still be fun should you choose to
watch a second or third time.
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