First Impressions – Kimi no Iru Machi
Why don’t I take this DRAMA and shove it down your throat?
Welcome to Drama: The Drama. If you’re looking for DRAMA, look no further. KNIM has all the DRAMA you could ever ask for, and more. And if you somehow get roped into reading the manga, then God help you. Because you’re gonna need all the blessings you can get to not rage.
What They Didn’t Show You
The troublemaker.
Ok, I’m being very tongue-in-cheek there, so time for some serious talk. KNIM starts us off in media res. Ok, so right off the bat you’re probably a little lost. No big deal, there’s a pair of OVAs that came out before this. If you watch them, you’ll be fine. Except not. Because the OVAs only directly preceed the events of the series. So I guess it would be better if I explain things for everyone. Or you could go read the manga like I do. But again, good luck with that. With that said, let’s start from the beginning. The very beginning, that is. The main girl Yuzuki, whom you barely catch a glimpse of in the premiere, is a city girl. The main guy Haruto, whom you can clearly see is a lady-killer, is a country boy. One day, city girl visits the country side for various reasons and meets country boy. The seeds have just been sown for this roller coaster ride. City girl goes home and, fast forward a few years, returns to the country side again to flirt with country boy. Country boy, ever the lady-killer, is caught between her and another girl. After some DRAMA, city girl goes home again and leaves country boy with promises of a long-distance relationship. It doesn’t work out. After consulting his bffs and receiving unanimous advice to forget about city girl (because she’s obviously trouble), country boy decides to step up his game and chase city girl to her home town: Tokyo.
The competition.
Still with me? Good. I’ve very heavily condensed about 75 chapters right there, so I must be Manglobe or something. What did you miss out on then? Oh, nothing much really. Just, you know, all the character building of the series. But that’s no biggie, because you have me here telling you what’s important. And the only thing you need to know at this point is that country boy is obsessed with city girl and will stop at nothing to be her man. So the OVAs, if my memory serves, cover his initial foray into Tokyo on a school trip. Things are still square with Yuzuki, though the distance between the two is evidently growing. And in between then and the start of this TV series, things have gone down the drain. Why? Well you’re definitely going to find out by the end of these 12 episodes because KNIM is delicious DRAMA.
It’s a little harrowing for me to tell you guys right off the bat that Haruto has eyes only for Yuzuki because it might kind of spoil things. But honestly it won’t take very long for you to figure it out for yourself, so I don’t think I’ve ruined too much for those who did manage to read through my entire regurgitation above. It looks like the second episode will in fact attempt to explain some of the backstory most likely in the form of a flashback, so I think with what I’ve told you and next week’s episode, you should be pretty much set for the rest of the show. Just remember that it doesn’t matter how many other friendly girls appear on screen over the course of the season. Yuzuki is the only one for Haruto. Everything else is just there for the sake of DRAMA.
About Sumairii
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I dunno, I found it fairly easy to get into the groove with the episode. Everyone was laid back, even when they were all upons about accents and various other things. The animation, and pacing told alot about the characters. I didn’t think I would be so easily sold on this show, but I’m really waiting for the next episode.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Interesting review. I’m not quite sure on picking up this series. Maybe I should check out other opinions before making a decision.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I dunno if I’ll keep watching this series because OMG CLOSEUP. I hear it’s a general tactic of this director, but does every single shot of a person need a vertical pan just to get all of their face on screen? And the art just didn’t look that good, it looked like it was supposed to be farther away, and they just brought the camera in too close.
Having seen the OVA and this first episode, as well as listening to other people, it’s certainly not a spoiler to realize that Haruto is completely stuck on his Manic Pixie Dream Girl who is just not that interested in him for whatever reason. I mean, if she wanted to be with him, she’d be with him, it’s not that hard. So she doesn’t want to, but he won’t give up, even to the extent of treating all the rest of the girls in the show like dirt.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Wow…I don’t know if I’m up for this.
I decided to try this series today just on the fly since I had nothing to do and a blogger recommended it. I’m not really into most SoLs, but if they interesting, or really good, I’ll give them a try.
Now, I know nothing about this series, and when I saw this first episode I was kind of confused because it didn’t seem to reflect at all what I read in the summary. I began to think that maybe this was the second season to something, but after looking it up, I found out there only a few OVAs before this a few years ago. So, I was confused as I saw this.
However, as I got through the whole thing I began to understand that the beginning was taking place in the middle of the plot timeline and that the story was going to be told in retrospect. Well, I’m alright with that.
All and all, it was actually the start of a really good romantic drama. This boy comes from Hiroshima to Tokyo against everyone else’s advice, transfers schools, and goes to live with his sister so that he can meet the girl he fell in love with but got separated from. He meets a few side characters, including a tomboy girl who I think is perfect for him. I can’t help rooting for her since I’m know nothing about this mysterious other girl who is obviously avoiding him.
This other girl who only gets about a single frame of screentime (not counting flashbacks and dream sequences) seems to be avoiding this guy like the plague and the look that her little sister gave the boy doesn’t help matters. I’m wondering what went on between the two, but since I can take a guess that things didn’t want to work out, I really just want to tell him. “She doesn’t want you! It’s time to move on!” And eventually have him get with neighbor softball chick.
However, now that you have informed me that this guy has such a tragic, one-track mind and cannot see all these other great girls all around him, well, that just utterly disappoints me. And I don’t know if I’m going to sit around watching him go through flashbacks for 10 episodes of his time with her, only for it to end at the same point in which it began, with him still going after her in Tokyo.
I don’t know if I can take that…I just don’t know. 🙁
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Ahaha, you’re beginning to see why KNIM is such a rage fest. In all honesty, it isn’t really all that bad, but the characters can definitely get grating.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 163 comments
Don’t root for tomboy chick.
I know you want to. Don’t.
Spare yourself the bad feeling later. You’ll thank me.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
I’m honestly a bit scared by all the RAEG post I saw. The show looks OK so far and then you guys said the RAEG and DRAMA is coming…
Also anime design > manga design. Aside frm the amount of closeups, it certainly got me hooked. Tht and the food porn. But I watched some KDrama and quite HK drama in the past and I don’t have tht big of a reaction to them. But I can’t take the MELODRAMA in those Taiwan dramas so…. (Yet I am mostly OK for BRS anime) 3 episode test!
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 88 comments
No wonder I felt lost watching the first episode. It’s like watching a second season of something.
I heard how much drama this one has but I’ve never invested time in reading the manga, but if the anime turns out good, I just might check out the original material.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 163 comments
The problem with KNIM is the same problem with Suzuka.
The damn story won’t finish. I followed KNIM pretty hardcore for a while and actually liked it up to the high school in the big city arc (my wife hated it looong before that – she has higher standards than I do). But then it just kept going… and going… and going.
And it was always the same – let’s introduce another girl on the same character model who magically wants to jump Haruto’s bones on-sight. This will create misunderstandings and conflict!
When it got the point of Akari wanting to bed Haruto on her wedding night to another guy, I was ready to gouge my eyes out with a spoon.
Seriously? I don’t care if Haruto was developed enough at that point to turn her down. That was just sick. And it’s done to pretty-much all the girls in this series.
They exist for no other reason than to flash their panties and try to bed Haruto. They aren’t even human beings – just amoral plot devices.
This isn’t so bad when you’re talking a stupid fanservice comedy like Princess Lucia, where the hot bods drawn by potato-kun’s magical female-attracting musk is just good comedy material.
But in a drama where the author is trying to make us care and take it seriously, it’s just frankly sick. And I’m sick of this manga.
It’s at the point where I only read every 7 chapter updates now – just to get a vague sense of where things have gone and remind myself why I don’t want to read the rest of this.
Haruto, just get a damn job and end this hellish test of endurance.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
^Does this count as spoilers?
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 163 comments
One can hope the anime doesn’t go that far into the manga timeline.
One can hope….
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 163 comments
And the real kicker is…
I’m probably going to watch this episode anyway.
Damn you Seo Kouji!
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
The thing about shows like this is that I love the feelings that you can get from shoujo romance (and yeah, this is more seinen romance, without being necessarily harem, but it’s basically a gender-flipped shoujo, if you ask me) but HATE the screwing around they do. The first shoujos I ever finished the anime for were Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun and Sukitte ii na yo. Why? Because both of them actually had a couple for most of the show (Sukitte actually had one the whole time, it was great!). Usually, it’s Kimi no Todoke where “we almost told each other how we feel, but then something happened and there was a dumb misunderstanding” or Itazura no Kiss where “I am really falling for him… and he pulls a dick move and now I hate him again, but then he gets all nice and I don’t know what to do!”
This is why I said my anime rule would be “If there is a romance show, it MUST end with a couple.”