Outlook: Itazura na Kiss
A brief preview of a recently released, ongoing and unlicensed anime available through bittorrent.
Itazura na Kiss
Usually when I write Outlook previews I am trying to let you know about an anime you may want to watch. Itazura na Kiss is different. Let’s just say I am trying to protect you from an anime you shouldn’t be watching. First, however, what is Itazura na Kiss… besides total crap? The main protagonist is a girl named Kotoko Aihara, a high school student, who has been in love with Naoki Irie, a genius at the top of the class, since she first saw him. She finally summons up the courage and presents Irie with a confession letter which he promptly rejects. Then, after a series of unfortunate events, she somehow arrives at Irie’s house to live with him after her house gets destroyed in an earthquake. Itazura na Kiss is based on an extremely popular manga written by Kaoru Tada. The manga was adapted into two TV live action dramas, however, the author died in a tragic accident leaving the manga unfinished. The manga is still serialized without Tada with permission from her husband.
The Truth The animation is horrible. Let’s rewind to the early 90’s and use their animation shall we? Let’s say it’s Sailor Moon (Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn) except without the flashy transformations. In a time of the extravagant settings of Hayao Miyazaki, the spectacular battle sequences of Seirei no Moribito, to the wondrous landscapes of Makoto Shinkai it’s hard to imagine animes like this exist. It’s not funny at all. I didn’t laugh, chuckle… hell, I didn’t even smile while I watched the entire thing. The voice acting is atrocious. I’ve never heard such plain, uninspired voice acting since coming across Itazura na Kiss. I can’t help but wonder if the seiyus were so bored with the dialog they weren’t compelled either that or they just suck along with the anime.
Redeeming Factor There is one redeeming factor. All the stuff I listed above is bad, yeah, but the anime is based off the manga. Not all the plot could be lost right? Naoki Irie is a total jerk. He’s just a plain jerk. It’s really quite interesting to see a romance anime where one of the partners isn’t your total make-the-right-decisions-robot. I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to like Irie, but I sure did since there was nothing else I liked in the anime. It was glorious watching Kotoko get shutdown over and over again.
Bottomline This anime is really bad. It rivals the hideously awful Fighting Beauty Wulong. There are so many better romance/drama animes out there you could be watching instead of hoping that Itazura na Kiss picks up. If you really want it you’re better off reading the manga or even watching the live action TV adaptations.
Where can you get it? Wait… you really want it? Even after all that? Here it is… have fun… Bakawolf & m.3.3.w
Why pick this up? The place where Bus Gamer really shines is its characters. The three members of the team, called AAA for anonymous, are made up of Mishiba Toki (the reticent cool guy), Nakajyo Nobuto (the badass), and Saitoh Kazuo (the lighthearded nice dude). The uniting factor between these three that really don’t share too much in common is the need for money, a large sum of money. This driving factor serves to bind the team, but not only that, to advance the plot. The question posed at the beginning of the anime is “Why do each of them need so much money?” This serves as a clever plot device and will encourage you to find out the answer to this question as each member struggles to protect his secret. Furthermore, the companies too seem to have their own secrets. I suspect that the characters are mired in a network shrouded by mystery.
