Irodoku: The world in Colors

Irodoku is a slice of life, shojo anime with one short season of thirteen episodes. It's a sweet and cute show that isn't very plot intensive, but rather focuses on the sentiment behind its story progression. Watching Irodoku feels like staring at a cuddly teddy bear- it's attractive to look at, and makes you feel warm for a second, but you'll get bored if you keep looking. While I still do recommend giving it a watch, don't let it become your primary anime, it works better as something to fall back on when you need a break from everything else. 

The story of Irodoku follows a high school girl called Hitomi and is set in Japan 2078. It's well known that the world has rare individuals who are able to perform magic, Hitomi's family is full of such mages. Hitomi is colorblind and very introverted, she does not try to make friends and has some deep rooted abandonment issues because of her childhood. Determined to broaden Hitomis' perspective, her grandmother, Kohaku casts a spell on her and sends her 60 years into the past. In the past, Hitomi meets teenage Kohaku and now attends school with her as a transfer student, whilst trying to figure out how to return to the future. The story then explores how this extremely closed of girl manages to join an arts and photography club and makes genuine friends. She opens her heart to new experiences also falls in love for the first time. It's also interesting to see how she initially hates magic, but now begins to enjoy using it because it gives her a chance to see colors and make others happy. But as reality catches up, we must ask, what happens when she returns to the future?     

What I dislike about Irodoku, apart from its snails pace on story progression, is that it completely disregards any laws of time travel. There are no consequences or paradoxes that should be created by her actions in the past, which I find really illogical. They also have a great start to building characters, but don't really pull through in making them interesting enough to support the plot. In the end, just watch this anime for its 'feel good' factor, it does not have much else going for it. 

      

My personal ratings are:

Story: 2/5
Character Development: 3/5
Dialogue: 2/5
Music: 3/5 
Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall recommendation: A Monochromatic Photograph 

Irodoku is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.  

Natsume's Book of Friends

                 

Natsume's Book of Friends or Natsume Yuujinchou has aired six seasons and a movie, with season seven on the way. This is a special anime for me because it has such an immense calming effect that you can't help but smile and de-stress as you watch. I watch an episode of Natsume Yuujinchou exclusively on days that I need a pick-me-up and I refuse to watch the last episode of season six till there are more, because I won't be able to handle not having more to look forward to. It's not just me, Natsume Yuujinchou has a massive fan following due to its chill vibe and peaceful motif. This is a must watch for those of you who have a lot going on and want a few minutes of real peace in a day. Just shut off your phone and watch a single episode, I guarantee you tranquility (otherwise you're just not human). 

The story is that of a boy called Natsume (duh), who unlike most humans could see ghosts and spirits since he was a child. He also lost his parents at a young age and understandably had it really rough moving from one home to another and never finding any real friends. Thankfully Natsume finally gets taken in by an understanding and loving couple, and gets a stable school life with friends who find his behavior strange at first but eventually begin to understand him. The story really picks up when he inherits his grandmother's 'book of friends' which has entrapped the names and powers of several spirits and can be used to control them. Instead of looking for more power, the mild mannered Natsume decides to return each spirit's freedom to them and in the process meets Nyanko sensei, a cute cat like creature who can turn into a powerful dragon at will. Nyanko has never met anyone like Natsume and decides to help him and keep him out of danger as his 'pet cat'. Natsume who wants no trouble out of life is constantly pulled into various extraordinary situations and eventually learns how to rely on others to get through them. The rest of the story is an astonishingly good blend of making us see the world through his eyes and how others perceive him. In no time you'll find yourself invested in finding out what happens next. 

While Natsume Yuujinchou has the makings of a show that is full of exciting battles and riveting plot twists, it just isn't that. There are several powerful beings and potential mayhem causing plot points but the anime refuses to indulge in much action or trepidation that will harm its chill vibe. While I don't see this is a fault, turn away if you want to see any of these things or if you're looking for a fast paced show. 
                                                

My personal ratings are:

Story: 4/5
Character Development: 4/5
Dialogue: 3/5 
Music: 4/5

Overall Recommendation: One of Nyanko Sensei's Jelly Sweets 

Unfortunately options to watch Natsume's Book of Friends are limited in India. You'll have to find a streaming service online, but if you like what you see try to support the creators by buying the manga as well: https://www.amazon.in/Natsumes-Book-Friends-Vol-1/dp/1421532433/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=natsume&qid=1596127228&sr=8-2 

Your Name

          Your name or 'Kimi No Na Wa' is an iconic anime movie. Not only is it the world's highest grossing anime film with box office earnings just under 358 million dollars (hot damn!), but also has won more awards than I can list here. Why is it so good you ask? Well for starters it's because the creator of Your Name, Makoto Shinkai, is an artistic and creative genius. The visuals and animation style are in a league of their own. In fact every image is so vibrant that you'll be watching with a guaranteed glimmer in your eyes and you might even shed a tear just because of its beauty. Strange thing is, if you ask me to categorize this movie in just one genre, I simply can't. Your Name has everything in it, it's the very definition of a multi-layered plot. But more than that, this one movie encapsulates everything good about anime as a medium, not because of what qualities it has, but because of how it makes you feel.

I don't want to give away much here, but I'll describe he basics of its story. We follow the lives of Taki and Mitsuha who are starkly different people. Mitsuha lives in a rural town and wants nothing but to get out of there and live a fast paced city life. Inversely, Taki lives in Tokyo and is a student struggling to find a corporate job while working part time as a waiter. They one day realize that they're connected somehow and switch bodies from time to time, just for a short period. The story continues to explore the reason for this phenomenon and how the two begin to understand each other, without really meeting. Now I know you'll think this is a sappy and overdone body switching plot, but trust me this doesn't even scratch the surface, there's so much more to it that I can't talk about without spoilers. I'll say it again, the story is genius and unexpected, just go watch it (all hail Makoto-san). Now the cherry on the top here is an absolutely amazing soundtrack done by a band called The Radwimps. They even redid all their songs in English to go with the English dub of the movie which is just some sheer dedication. I genuinely listen to at least one long from this soundtrack everyday. 

I have no criticism for Your Name. I think it has everything a great anime needs and anyone who finds faults here is just reaching for something that isn't there. I actually think I just wrote this post as an excuse to re watch the movie despite having seen it eleven times before. Just go watch it, bring your non anime watching friends along and you might convert them too (I've used Your name to convert many a person into anime lovers).
        My personal ratings are:

Story: 5/5
Character Development: 5/5
Dialogue: 4/5
Music: 5/5 

Overall Recommendation: One Casual Introduction 

You can rent or buy your name on Amazon or Google Playstore for under five dollars. If you need to stream it illegally then at least try and buy its DVD in the future when you have the money.