In fact, I'm not sure how I was able to get through it. But that's for another time. Here are some of my honest thoughts on the bizzare, yet captivating world of Yamibo.
First of all, a question on everyone's mind, what in god's good graces is going on here? Well to be frank, the plot is simple. Two sisters, Hatzuki and Hatsumi live together. As an added bonus, Hatzuki has a giant prevalent crush on Hatsumi. Aside from that, on Hatsumi's 16th birthday she disappears out of nowhere. However, Hatzuki is able to follow her with the help of a creature named Ken, where they end up in a place called The Great Library.
On a positive note, for an anime released in 2003 I was expecting much lower quality art and animation. As well as character design. Though, all of these things are the strongest point of the show. One of the reasons I was able to endure the absolutely deranged plot was because of how striking and unique the characters were.
Now to the issue I have. The writing. This is where the show falls flat on its face. With such a unique storyline and characters, one would expect that the writing meets the same standards that I had walked in with. A lot of the characters, especially Hatsumi, have extremely boring and unlikable personalities and fall under severe cliches. Of course this is isekai, of course it's going to be cliche to all hell, but this is the kind that isn't handled properly.
The only characters I can say that I enjoyed the presence of are Hatzuki, Kuiru, and Milka. Yet, that's already bad enough. Hatzuki is the main character with the most shown depth, however, a grand portion of that depth relies on the sister incest subplot that plays an unnecessarily large role in the series. Incest anime is one thing, for sure it exists and I acknowledge that it's just simply not my thing, and that's ok. I have an issue, though, with shows that just don't need it. Not even as a plot twist (I'm looking at you, Vampire Knight).
Characters like Hatsumi are handled very poorly, she's written as a damsel-like, meekly, and almost fanservice-y character. Again, I have no issue with these sorts of things. In some shows, it's vital and I can see why it's utilized. Once again, the issue lies more with the fact that these tropes don't need to be utilized here. The series would've been much more entertaining if it weren't for the constant overuse of uninteresting narratives. Maybe the incest is interesting, I can't speak on that, but these things don't hold good reputation with my immersion in the series.
In conclusion, and on a semi positive note, Yamibo wasn't horrible. In fact, I can say with my chest that I've seen worse. If you enjoy bizzare, short, and snappy shows with an almost indescribably awkward and strange nature to them, you'll love this. If you aren't a fan of those things, it still isn't a terrible watch for those into the early 2000s period of anime.
My final ranking, I give it a 6/10. This was my first ever longform review so that's exciting.
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