First Impression – Joukamachi no Dandelion
Inou-Elections with Everyday Royal Life
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Well, it looks like Castle Town Dandelion is starting off to be a really unusual moe slice of life style program… |
Very Candid Royalty
Akane is the shy type…
There never really is any shortage of moe programs out there. But that doesn’t mean that they all have to be the same. In fact, many of them are quite capable of spinning their tropes this way or that to make them their own. In that regard, Joukamachi no Dandelion is no exception and of course, has it’s very own special exceptions.
It seems this is takes place in one of those psuedo-European style kingdoms smack dab in the middle of urban Japan. It has a King, a Queen, and a Royal Family. They rule with consent of the populace. It’s weird, and it only exists in anime land as far as I can tell. But in this town, the Royal Siblings try to go about their daily lives. Mama and Papa want them to have as normal a life as possible outside the castle walls.
But all of them are very much in the public eye. They got hidden and not so hidden camera’s nearly everywhere (home and school being the exceptions). There is a special television channel devoted to their comings and goings. All of this is for the sake of finding the next, most likable, Monarch out of the bunch. It’s a royal family ongoing reality television show with super powered siblings and popularity contests. And our main character, Akane (voiced by Kana Hanazawa) is too darn shy….
Sibling Roll Call
It should happen to a Dandy little Lion…
It looks like the siblings are graded by basic likability, poise, public graces and how well they use their super powers in challenges. It’s all subject to the public, which gets to vote on their favorites. Most of this is used for light comedy, and displaying the silly antics, misunderstandings, and oddball foibles the character’s all possess. It has lots of charm, and pretty much succeeds in telling it’s own story.
Final Thoughts
This show isn’t looking to set records, or set the world on fire. It would be happy to just slow you down for about 23 minutes and enjoy it. It’s light-hearted, goofy, and fun. The characters are a mix of exuberance, caution, cool, shy, wonky, aloof, generous, and cute. I like the wonky premise, and wish real life was less stranger than fiction when it comes to elections. In my home country, we have twenty some odd souls champing at the bit to secure one parties’ ticket for the general election of POTUS. The election itself is, as of this writing, 16 months away. Given how we blanket it with news coverage 24/7….I’d sometimes rather participate in this show’s election cycle….So give Castle Town Dandelion a visit, and watch Akane live up to the promise she made. To get elected Monarch and stop these crazy shenanigans once and for all….
It’s all Dandy!
About skylion
All around nerd that enjoys just about any anime genre. I love history, politics, public policy, the sciences, literature, arts...pretty much anything can make me geeky...except sports. Follow me @theskylion
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
The character designs are by Kasuga Ayumu, who illustrated Ore Twintail ni Narimasu.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…good character design…hopefully not the same mid series animation derp…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I found that Akane’s fear of attention started to wear really thin rather quickly. You’d think that after 13 years, she might get a little bit used to it. Or maybe she’s going through a phase or something. Other than that, not bad.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yeah, I wouldn’t rule out a phase. But I didn’t find the quirk that bad….
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Agreed. Akane’s super shyness was just too much and I soon found it very annoying, despite KanaHana voicing her. Hopefully she’ll start growing out of it as the series progresses. Akane’s not thinking her plan through. Even if she gets rid of all the cameras as king she’ll still be very much in the public eye. She won’t be able to just shut herself up in the palace.
I really liked the interactions between the siblings. They all seem like decent persons who get along well with each other. None of them have given off any vibes as a snake who’ll try to manipulate the election in their favor or try to sabotage their siblings.
Right now Aoi would get my vote. I think her sense of responsibility is owed to more than just her being the oldest. We don’t know how much power the king actually has, but even if just a figurehead you want someone with a well-developed sense of responsibility in that role. And remembering everything could be a real asset, especially for a monarch who has real power. It’d be a powerful tool when negotiating with another country.
Plus, Aoi (with Kanade second) is my preferred physical type for an anime girl.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I’ll agree with one of the news casters and go for Shiori, cause that is the most interesting…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I think Haruka’s weakness (with the powers of probability) is that even after he figures out what the most probable thing to happen is, he can’t really do anything. Now he’s certain that he’s mostly likely to lose…
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I was just riffing on the weaknesses really.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Overall, an enjoyable first episode for me. I didn’t mind Akane’s shyness to be honest, even though it’s bordering (or rather, far into) irrational fear.
I liked the whole cast and the interactions, so definitely looking forward to more of the family antics. If I had to pick my favorite atm, it would probably be Shu, with his no tenki attitude. It’s all cool.
The one thing I wasn’t sure was, after the elections, are they the next King/Queen right away? Or in line when the current King retires?
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yeah, Akane isn’t that bad…
I’ve read some of the manga, and it looks like that family antics are the rule of the day…
I think the elections are for the next Monarch out of the bunch. In most cases that would be the eldest no matter what, gender or not. But I guess they like choices in their democratic monarchy? So yeah, next in line when dad either abdicates or….passes away (and that is sad!)…
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
But if they don’t ascend the throne right away, and in the next year or two the positions in ranking change, can the people change their vote? Hmmm. I voted No, but now Yes looks good. Or maybe the whole thing didn’t matter after all (it was really a farce).
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Dunno about that, I guess we shall see…