Yay or Nay?: Hiiro No Kakera (Anime)

So I'm late to this show by like, five years or so. I digress. But this might be the last otome post for a while! We have a surprise for you guys next month as we venture into August! 

This show has an interesting beginning, and when I say interesting, I mean unconventional beginning. If you're an otome game player, you may know this one. So I know the general tale because this myth that this game is based on has been used in several games, such as Shall We Date Scarlet Fate which I can never fucking finish because I always get bored around chapter 3. But I've heard good things. It's just slow. Actually, I think I did finish one route but it was "meh". 

Similarly, so is this show. (Olga: I agree with you there. Watching it I felt like it was about nothing). Once upon a time, I was looking for some new reverse-harem anime to start watching, and this show was suggested. Or something. I forget exactly how I came across it. I'm beginning to wonder if it was shortly after I started playing Eternal Vows which is a game based off the best reverse-harem manga I've read, and proudly own in print (albeit in Japanese), Nise No Chigiri. I think it was. All I know is I tried so hard to get through two seasons of it that I took a three-month break and finished the series last August. (Olga: And you made me watch this fucking shit. You're such a dick sometimes)

So, this show is ported from a PS Vita game of the same name, if I'm not wrong. So, basically, it was a game one could play that got super popular and they decided to make a show out of it using the exact same voice actors from the game. 

So, I guess this is like the anime version of Prince of Persia. 

Ah yes. More sand jokes. 

The Story

So, this anime stars Tamaki Kasuga, a girl who goes to live with her grandmother in Kifumura. After being attacked by strange beings in a forest she meets five men who bring her to her grandmother. Tamaki finds out that the females of her line have the powers of the Tamayori Princess, and their responsibility is to keep monsters and demons at bay from the general public. Soon after this ,Tamaki begins the journey to becoming the next Tamayori Princess, guided by her five guardians, one of which, she may have fallen in love with.  (The last line sounds like a Bachelor preview)

So yeah, it has the beginnings and storyline of an otome game, but since you can't choose your options, they stick with the canon storyline. Definitely, this show is directed at a female based audience, down to the number of male characters and their actions, and at the ending of each episode where one male character will "speak" and ask you to join them for the next installment. I actually enjoyed that part, although a little cheesy, it was cute, and broke the fourth wall to make it have the overall "feel" of an otome anime while still including the audience. (Olga: This was fucking creepy! I don't want some cartoon teenagers speaking suggestive things to me, watching this anime is already stressful enough)

Did I like the first season story? Yes. It was enjoyable, and a good story, but it began to drag on, to the point where it felt like they wanted to make a season 2 just because. This could've easily been a good 1 season anime that had a good plot, good character development, and didn't drag on. However, one of the biggest issues with this game is that after the first season there are episodes about literally nothing. Like, with my review on Hand Maid May they also had those, but there was still something going on, even if it wasn't the main plot storyline. Here, it's as if you're just watching the endless discussion about Tamaki trying to be a "Princess" and how much she loves Takuma, one of her guardians, and how they can never be together, over and over and over again. I mean yes, there are some episodes that have great development and plots, but those only happen strictly at the beginning and end. In Season 2, it's literally as if it's the middle of a season for the entire thing, up until the finale. I remember that's the reason I took a 3-month break from it. At some point during the second season, I just got really turned off. But I also wanted the main issue at hand that they introduced, in the beginning, to be solved, so I stayed with it. But already, those were the glaring issues I had to deal with in this show. 

Take this with a grain of salt too, because I loved the initial premise of the story. I mean, who doesn't want to be a godly princess who must save the world, surrounded by hot men? (or is that just me?)

My personal favourite character from this show, Mahiro. He's basically an adorable eating machine that has no patience. So, possibly like me :P 

Mahiro is one of the good things about this show. Seriously, he calls out most of the shitty aspects of the characters, especially one specific instance I will talk about later in this review.

My Thoughts- Voice Acting, Art, and More Story

Now I'll start off with what I loved about this show since I've already mentioned some problems I have with the story. Keep those in mind though because its story and character that you're likely going to have an issue with if you decide to watch this. The voice acting is incredible. Every actor does a great job of making their own character unique. Mahiro's for instance, stands out, even to his mannerisms. Same goes for Takuma, Oomi, etc. The art is gorgeous without a doubt. The use of colours, specifically of "autumn" shades such as oranges, reds, and yellows really dominate the scenes, and each one is beautiful and detailed to breathtaking proportions. If only the story had been done half as well as the artwork had. (Olga: I'll agree with you there, the fall shades were beautiful)

Similarly, the opening themes of both seasons were breathtaking as well. Colour, animation, it's all really good. 

You can watch both here: 

Season 1- Nee

Season 2

Personally, I preferred the first one. It's really dark and brooding, but also colourful and dramatic. Like, the first one almost makes the show look better than it actually is. And, it had the potential to be as dramatic and amazing as the opening promised. But, sadly, that's not the anime you'll get, although to its credit you will get some good action scenes and dramatic plotlines (at least in Season 1).

The other thing is, as I've mentioned, the characters. At least for the guys, I was a little surprised. I mean sure, they're stock characters from an otome game, but the show took advantage of using the medium to dig into their individual backstories and personalities more. I genuinely liked (and hated) some characters, while respecting the dilemmas of others (specifically Oomi comes to mind, as his story is kinda sad). The "villains" LOGOs, a group that opposes Tamaki and her family has some good characters, and get a lot of focus throughout the series. They're not just stock villains, and even get explored more and have a genuine role throughout the show other than being "just villains". Although, I'm still not sure why they do what they do. That wasn't really fleshed out as much as I would've liked. Here, the member Vier comes to mind (it's funny because the henchmen that serve Aria, the leader, and likewise Tamaki's opposite, are named German numbers). There's even a small plotline about Aria, LOGOs's leader, which I appreciated and thought brought some humanity to otherwise confusing and irritating (at some points) characters. Everyone has their own personal darkness following them, and the lines between true good and evil are often times blurred here. I can really get on board with that, because there are no black and white areas truly, even in real life.


So that's good. And don't get me wrong, there are a fair bit of good things in this anime, so I want to be clear that I'm not completely trashing it. At the same time though, its most glaring faults are its most important parts. In this instance, let's talk about our main character, Tamaki.

Okay, I know she's supposed to be based off an otome MC, which, seriously, if you've read my stuff by now you know my issues with them (stock, bland, likeable for no specific reason, and clueless damsels). Here, they had the opportunity to vamp her up a bit. Give her more personality and quality, as they did with the other characters. 

They. Do. Not. Do. This. 

WHYYYY

Of all the characters you NEED to revamp, update, etc, to fit the anime style THIS WAS ONE. 

Here's why: do you remember when I just ranted about the story being repetitive and boring? Tamaki tends to be the reason. She's infuriatingly frustrating throughout most of the show, which is a pretty big problem! So she's a Tamayori Princess right? Well, every-goddamn-time she's expected to help during a battle, or learn to harness and use her abilities, she can't. EXCEPT, if it's a season finale or some critical moment, but even then, she doesn't fully have control until the END OF SEASON TWO. The episodes up until critical moments or failed attempts go something like this: something happens, i.e. LOGOs stealing a relic or something, the guys fighting and because Tamaki isn't powerfully strong enough, as they tie themselves to her, lose their strength. They call on Tamaki to help them, and she fails. Miserably. She gets sad, says she'll try her best next time, and the guys agree (for the most part). Rinse and repeat. Her grandmother even has to sometimes help them out, but when LOGOs is after the sacred relics that protect their village, one by one they're gone. Seriously, it's like taking candy from a baby at that point, which pissed me the fuck off to watch. 

One or two times of this is fine, and even welcomed for character development's sake. But she doesn't ...try. Like at all. She laments about herself never harnessing these powers, and that they won't come to her, but she doesn't really do anything to force it to come. (Olga: WHEN YOU WANT SOMETHING YOU HAVE TO GRAB IT BY THE TITS AND TAKE IT). She just stands in the background and lets her guardians take the blunt force they can't fight, because of her. I am amazed that Tamaki is so bland and useless that she became an Anime MC. She's supposed to be this princess and there's almost no mention of her training for it or anything, although that's supposedly what happens between episodes. She's called out on it by Mahiro and a few others, and honestly, they're not wrong. 

I mean, of course, she gets better but still. It's infuriating when your main character does literally nothing to help herself throughout the bulk of the first season of a show you want to like. Easily, as I've said most of this "development" and "arcs" could've been wrapped up in a few episodes rather than the span of two seasons. 

BUT!!!!! Here's the other thing, it's not completely Tamaki who is to blame, sadly. Upon rewatching the first three episodes of season 1 and the guys that are supposed to protect Tamaki, as well as her own grandmother, don't really help her out or give her any direction. She arrives, she's told what she is, and they (Takuma especially) expect her to start using powers that have barely even matured for her. They call her "useless" and "clumsy", but honestly, I noticed they don't do anything to give her any assistance along the way. Tamaki even mentions that this isn't fair, their presence and duty as being "fated" to her, and they don't disagree. 

But nothing is stopping them from leaving, and in fact, if I were Tamaki or any of the boys, I would have left. But how can you expect anyone to do a job they're supposed to if they don't have a good support network, or any guidance or help to do the job? I would've much rather liked to see a bond between Tamaki and her grandmother on the side, showing that she's helping her harness her abilities, rather than Tamaki having an awakening several episodes into the story. Yet, her "uselessness" is a frustrating point of focus that is never fixed early on. It also doesn't make me like characters like Takuma, even though he eventually will grow on you. (Olga: For me, liking Takuma was the opposite. I liked him at first cause he was sassy and did crosswords. Then later he was just lovey-dovey and boring and blahblha stuff I don't like)

 Also, Tamaki's uselessness I believe was an excuse to try to insert and assert Takuma x Tamaki's romance. Except that was dragged on to shit too, which was also pointlessly annoying. 

Like the arc that I really wanted to see more of, and which is dragged on to the point of annoyance is Takuma's Oni arc. That was really the meat of the show, and it's not really answered until the show finishes. 

LOOK AT THIS ANIMATION ITS SO COOL AND AWESOME AND YET THIS IS NOT THE FOCUS. 

My Rating

So, we've seen the good and we've seen the bad, so what do I think? Well, the show is annoying at some points but really good at others, so, all in all, it kinda balances itself out. It's not great, not bad. Just meh. So for that my rating is: 

⭐⭐⭐

Average, neutral and nothing exciting or overly great. It's as it is, and nothing more. So because of this, I wouldn't recommend buying it, but you can stream it just about anywhere if you're curious. (Olga: Don't waste your money please!!!!!!!!!!!!!! if you wanna grow the economy, buy better animes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Has anyone else watched this show? What did you think? Let me know in the comments!

This looks like 2 girls.

~Meghan