I preface because a lot of people online come to expect reviews to fit a mold of what they want which isn’t always realistic. For me, I just like to talk about anime I enjoy. And so this review is about such things. Sorry if this ain't what you're looking for.
Tonari no Kyukketsuki-san / Ms. vampire who lives in my neighborhood. Is a 12 episode TV anime series released in Fall 2018. It was animated by Studio Gokumi (Kirino Mosiac, Tsurezure Children) and directed by Noriaki Akitaya (Bakuman, Ore Suki). The anime’s source material is based on a manga by Amatou.
This story is branded as Comedy and Slice of Life on this listing which I can agree with. So, how will you the general viewer fare? I think you’ll be split between liking the show or dropping the show completely. Well that could be said for any show which you might argue. So, let me get more into the nitty gritty.
Camp 1: If you hate all of the characters in the beginning and cannot stand to continue with the show because of its generic storylines or otaku tropes, don’t bother trying. I don’t think the future episodes will convince you otherwise.
Camp 2: If you managed to enjoy the characters for what they are and the silly storylines they go through, you’ll enjoy this show for what it is. I feel like this show manages to get its footing around the halfway point but it’s not a huge improvement, don’t expect that.
I definitely felt like I was watching a very generic show in the beginning. However, as it went along, I liked the characters and storylines. It felt creative with what they were trying to do and I felt a sense of effort as the show progressed.
This show became a huge guilty pleasure.
Overall, this show did the job of just letting my brain go empty while watching CGDCT and so I give this a 7.5/10.
If you’re in Camp 1, I can see you rate this as average or below-average plus a possible drop. If you’re in Camp 2, I can see you rate this as average - above-average.
This show isn’t particularly super remarkable but it was entertaining and that’s what I want from my media at the end of the day.
For the rest of the review, I go more into detail about why my rating came to be.
I think the common mistake with ratings is that we all tend to judge and associate each review rating on our own personal scale. When people see an average anime - they see that as a 5, some see that as a 6, and others as a 7. As you all know, we all have different tastes hence different rating scales and this is why I’ll post my scale below.
My Personal Rating Scale (Anime):
4 and below = I would've dropped this show already but made myself suffer through it for some reason. Regardless, this is the drop zone generally.
5 = This was really meh and I wouldn't take the time to rewatch.
6 = This was meh and I wouldn't watch it again unless I was forced to.
7 = It was okay and acceptable, it was good entertainment and you enjoyed the ride.
8 = This was a great story and you enjoyed the show/movie but it wasn't considered one of the best experiences. Just a great time overall!
9 = If you watched this show/movie for the first time, you'll love this a lot. It ain't life-changing but god damn you'll have one of the best experiences.
10 = This show resonated with me so hard - chills and intense emotional catharsis.
I have a confession to make, I like CGDCT shows. It’s the slice of life and comedy aspects that personally really appeals to me. This bias/factor will make or break you in respect to liking this show or not. It definitely influences my rating and liking the show severely.
Also, as I said previously, I was watching this alongside Hibike Euphonium which really influenced my mood. Watching Hibike Euphonium was a huge delight that it made me tired out because I was fanboying a little bit too much. So, to rest, I wanted a chill anime and this one fit the bill when recommended from a friend. Head empty strong.
While watching the show, I was using DmonHiro subs and watched it in Japanese Audio, with English subtitles.
Now the review. I’ll be talking about the anime in the following categories:
1) Story / Plot / Characters
It’s structured as an episodic slice of life story, so don’t expect multiple episode arcs.
The story centres around two main characters - a Vampire and a human. It basically follows the lives of these two individuals and the surrounding circle of friends as well as network. A lot of it is silly hi-jinks at the end of the day which gave me some small chuckles here and there. Some of the story is illogical in respect to why certain things came to be but I never thought about it too much at the end of the day. It definitely follows some of the rules it places though which is nice, it actually does try to be logical when it needs to.
Also, I’m not sure why I was able to tolerate the otaku tropes, I generally dislike them. Am I… becoming an otaku??? Kidding, maybe. I think the otaku character tropes weren’t as obnoxious as I generally see or expected, like it fit the character and I just grew to enjoy them all as people.
Characters are incredibly one-dimensional with a unique quirk here and there. Quite repetitive and their development as people don’t have a lot of depth but I didn’t mind. The most unique characters are probably the Vampire characters because they do delve into their character backgrounds and thus the most interesting of the bunch.
2) Visuals / Animation
In the visual department, very serviceable. Nothing looked ugly or really out of place. When it wanted to look pretty, it did, but I can’t recall any stand-outs personally.
Animation-wise, very serviceable. Again, nothing stood out to me personally.
3) Audio / Soundtrack / Voice Acting
The audio was serviceable in what it was trying to do. Same as the soundtrack, though some tracks definitely fit the bill and scenes really well so good job to the composer on that. For the voice acting, it was pretty serviceable for the given scenes.
4) Overall
This show is so generic that I would’ve dropped this if I didn’t have a head empty desire for a show. In the end, I liked the show a lot as I went along and it ended up becoming a guilty pleasure. Who knew sticking to this show would actually satisfy me, I’m pretty happy considering some shows would disappoint me hard.
Hopefully, you learned something useful from the review. Thanks for reading. :)
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