First Impression – Gugure! Kokkuri-san
Where do I sign up for a fox stalker housekeeper?
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With a voice cast like this (and also hints of a reverse harem, only not really since Kohina is an elementary student and that might be a bit weird), how could I say no? There’s not much to write about though, which may be a given, since this seems to predominantly be a comedy series. |
Okay, a loli summons an otherworldly bishie. Great. …And then they went straight for the stalker jokes. That was just a little surprising. Obviously there was the potential, since Kokkuri-san is basically Kohina’s glorified stalker, but I didn’t expect them to be so honest about it. On the other hand though, having Kokkuri-san be so obviously creepy gives Kohina’s personality a chance to shine through. She’s detached, but she also has such awesome responses to Kokkuri-san’s actions. What other elementary student wold go right for poking someone’s eyes out or beating someone twice her size up over being upset? Kohina seems kind of hopeless on a societal level, but at least she’s not totally helpless. It’s a good mix. Or at least, it’s a good mix for now; we’ll see is this gets old after a few episodes. If they don’t change up the formula, Kohina and Kokkuri-san’s interactions might get a bit stale.
But for now, Kokkuri-san seems to have a good mix of characteristics to him too. Yes, he’s kind of a stalker, but he also cooks. And really, that skill makes absolutely everything else forgivable. Also, he seems genuinely concerned for Kohina’s wellbeing for the most part. He’s not blinded completely, since even he realizes that Kohina’s current state is kind of… pathetic (not that he isn’t kind of pathetic himself), but he doesn’t seem like he’s going to abandon her anytime soon (the end of the episode aside, which wasn’t quite abandonment anyways). Will there be a heartwarming story about the beginning of his interest in Kohina? Maybe.
This anime seems to want to balance some actual plot in with the constant gag of Kohina’s detachment and Kokkuri-san’s borderline obsession. Despite the more dominant comedy portion, they still added a few heartwarming moments too at the end of the episode that might indicate that the plot might actually go somewhere. Or at least, throw in scenes that make it look like the plot is moving, even if it isn’t. There’s probably the potential for this show to regularly have it’s serious moments. It’s really interesting how they switch from the more chibi-ish Kohina to the more “normal” looking one in the scenes the seem to highlight her loneliness. Though expecting that issue to be solved in the course of the actual anime is probably asking for the impossible.
For the moment though, there was progress (kind of). Kohina is apparently attached to Kokkuri-san as well. Or at least enough to miss him when he was hiding from her. According to MAL (not that you should always go by what MAL says), this has the romance tag to it. …Which again, is just a bit odd, considering that Kohina is an elementary student and Kokkuri-san is “25”. Or maybe this just seems a bit odd to me since they were already so open about Kokkuri-san’s obsession with Kohina. Though it’s not impossible. Kokkuri-san is technically not human and Kohina isn’t exactly the typical elementary student, so maybe they can make it work out. Plus maybe that tag doesn’t apply to those characters in particular.
I was expecting something a little closer to Barakamon, just from the premise (…a comparison that was a bit unavoidable, considering that Barakamon just finished airing, so it’s fresh in my mind). This anime wasn’t nearly as heartwarming, but it was still pretty good for what it’s supposed to be as a lighthearted comedy. …Plus Gugure! Kokkuri-san came out of a 4-koma, so I guess I should have seen constant stream of punchlines coming. So I’m not disappointed in the lack of “hnnng” moments. Plus like I mentioned at the very beginning, the voice cast is excellent. OnoD was awesome as always, and Kohina’s seiyuu was great too (though I’m not overly familiar with Hirohashi Ryou). Despite their characters not doing much this episode, I’m not really expecting Sakurai or Nakata to screw up their roles at all either. Also, damn that ED song was fabulous.
About Karakuri
University student and the one at Metanorn who's known for wearing glasses. Likes blood, insanity and plot twists, but also plays otome games and adores cute romance anime. It balances out... somehow.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Wow. I loved this show. They never let up for a single moment, did they? Good call on catching Kohina’s design transition. That really underscored each scene so very well, and it also served to undercut our expectations. They just don’t stop pulling the rug out from moment to moment.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I rather enjoyed it too! I haven’t seen the 2nd episode yet, but from twitter, it seems to be going pretty good.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
It seems somewhat subversive in ways. Not in that way! But it seems to be challenging how we look at relationships. I don’t think it’s too strong in it’s tea, but it leads the way…
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
Mangaupdates also tagged this as Romance and MAL sometimes relies on it for the genre tags. But seeing as it’s a 4-koma, it’s probably a mistag and shouldn’t be there. It’s like saying there’s romance in Seitokai Yakuindomo or Nozaki-kun. I should probably report it there to be removed.
And kinda disappointed that Nakata didn’t really sing for the ED despite being in there. Though I can’t really imagine him singing. Imagine Kotomine Kirei singing.
I’m wondering myself if we’ll get more of those serious moments or if it will just be straight comedy. I don’t mind either way I guess as long as it does it well and doesn’t detract the flow of the jokes.
Fun show and will continue watching.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Ahaha but the relationships in Nozaki-kun are perfect! xD
…Maybe someday Nakata will sing? Kotomine singing, I can’t really imagine though. F/Z should have released character singles like the original F/SN did, just to screw with everyone. All of my money for a Rider single.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
It reminded me, as well, of Barakamon, probably a little bit too much. And like that show, I thought this was nice enough, but nothing that really stood out for me.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I found Barakamon a lot funnier, but Kohina and Naru are completely different depictions of children. Maybe this will overtake the other anime given time though. Who knows.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Barakamon had a more natural flow to it. The adaptation was able to take alot of the mix from the manga, quick gags, heartfelt moments, and weave them into an episodic. Gurgure is happy to go another route.
The “real” Kohina is a polar opposite of of Naru, and the doll speaks volumes in so many different ways.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Ah right, that one wasn’t 4koma, was it? I imagine that helps the story flow more. With 4koma, there’s always the pressure of constantly needing a punchline.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
..and some can do it very well. GJ-bu was like that, able to take what work in four panels and give it episodic life.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
For once, loli is in-charge of harem.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
…I’d be okay with this happening more often.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
The LOLi Defender approves these messages.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
This was music to my ears. Hnnggss seiyuu love goes beyond stories for me there’s even plot to look forward to.
I really liked the first episode and the bland loli voice, add the huffing kitsune-god and you have so much potential. The dog-dude (voiced by Sakurai <3), looked like a Sebastian/Hibari mashup but I'm looking forward to the next episode.
And is it just me or it seems OnoD is being type-casted as a lolicon now, after Barakamon. xD
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
…Well, I assume there’s going to be some kind of plot. They could just fall into an endless cycles of jokes though. I may or may not be okay with either turnout depending on the execution.
Ahaha he kind of was one back in Dantalion no Shoka too. Maybe this can become a thing~
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
This was a cute show, it took me a while to get into it since the humor just didn’t grab me all that much. However, I love how
Handa-senseiKokkuri-san interacts with Kohina. She’s such a weird girl. I love her cute but strange like “doll” form. But is it really normal over there for a elementary school girl to be living by herself? How exactly does she earn money to pay for everything? I guess in a comedy series it really doesn’t matter.However, I’m glad that she now has a fox-spirit guardian to help take care of her. The sight of her living constantly on junk food, almost made me sick. o_o
The emotional moment at the end suckered me in though, so I’m going to keep watching. We’ll see how she works with the other spirits that come around…
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
….That’s a really good point. Uhh I don’t think that it’s even legal for her to be on her own.
Ahaha hopefully they’ll have some interesting character dynamics going on with the arrival of the rest of the cast.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
I really enjoyed this show and got a lot of laughs out of it. I loved how when Kokkuri came out of the shower wearing just a towel Kohina calmly called the police to report him. And earlier there was the bit where when he first appeared she closed the door in his face. She’s clearly socially inept, but in other ways she’s a little girl who really has it together. Of course, the wise-beyond-her-years and her deadpan reactions to situations is where much of the comedy will come from.
One episode isn’t much to go by, but right now I think this is the best comedy of the season.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Yeah, that sums it up really well. That character gap seems really well put together in this context though. The two traits work really well together here.
Hopefully it doesn’t lose it’s funniness. Comedy can grow stale sometimes…
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Not a big fan of the humour…It was honestly really repetitive until towards the end. I thought about dropping it, but the ED song won me over and now I’m going to try another episode. =w=
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
The ED’s fabulousness is too powerful to resist… but yeah, I can kind of see where you’re coming from. Maybe they’ll vary things as the series goes on.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Oh God… you forgot to mention all the OTHER kemonomimi that will be coming x_X. My… Only(not)… Weakness…
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
..and so much better as Chiwa Saito…
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Flandre Scarlet
Kotomine Kirei
Kongo
And a shotacon tengu.
… Shotacat approves!
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
da fakku?!?! The Librarian is the narrator?!?!
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
http://static.metanorn.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/noGameNoLife-5-650×365.jpg
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
[…] Kokkuri-san, Kokkuri-san, come to me and heed my humble call. Ah, who can forget that show?! A lonely girl that found companionship in new friends. That has quite a bit of resonance to this second part of the episode. The art of this sort of divination can be powerful, so it does come with it’s own special dangers. I think it’s mostly finding out things you wished you didn’t now know, then that realization comes to late. But, it’s Kon’s specialty, and as a result of a (you have to admit, short) lifetime of study – and just a touch of dramatic heartbreak – she knows more than the average student, a plot point that Chiya has to overcome before the show is over. That’s where it all gets fun… […]