Subculture Anime Blog

Understand. My final impression is included!

Summary:

Kuro and Mimi notice that Daisuke is acting a bit strange during class, so they correctly guess that it is because Rin is absent. Daisuke apologizes to his fellow teachers later for what has happened, but Shirai suggests that such attitude was common for a child’s guardian. At the end of the day, Daisuke is finally able to send a message to Rin. This makes Rin happy, but she is quickly interrupted by Reiji. Reiji wonders what Rin would like to do at the amusement park they are at, but Rin insists that she would like to return to school. Rin tell Reiji about the worried messages from her friends, but he simply takes the phone from her afterwards. Daisuke is unable to reach Rin at her home, but he still slips the letter he brought into her mailbox. Thinking about what has happened up to this point, Daisuke declares that he cannot break his promise. Seeing the letter in the mailbox when she gets home, Rin quickly takes it inside before Reiji can see it. After opening it up, she realizes that everyone is waiting for her. Reiji has another nightmare, but he panics in his wake at the appearance of Rin’s face appearing this time. While he prepares breakfast in the morning, Reiji unstably believes that he is the only one who is able to protect Rin. Rin attempts to leave the house in her wake, but Reiji quickly stops her. Rin expresses that it is Reiji who truly does not understand, but he strikes fear into her by declaring that everything he is doing is in order to protect her. Leaving the house for awhile, Reiji locks Rin in her room. Thinking of her past, Rin is only able to think about her mother and how Reiji has changed.

Mimi and Kuro confront Daisuke at school, realizing that he is keeping something hidden from them. Daisuke pats Kuro on the head after realizing that she is worried about him as well as Rin, leaving her in a bit of surprise. The atmosphere is quickly changed, however, when Kyoko informs Daisuke of Reiji’s arrival at the school. Reiji suggests that Rin transfer schools, but Daisuke does not believe that this is what Rin wishes. Reiji expresses that an adult like Daisuke would not understand what Rin wants, but he leaves when Daisuke calls him an adult as well. Looking outside afterwards, Daisuke wonders when he became an adult himself. At home, Rin has been making paper cranes in her room. She panics when she hears Reiji’s talk of transfer, demanding to let her go to school. When Reiji sees the scissors in Rin’s hands, he panics at visions of his own nightmare. Hearing a scream from outside, Daisuke enters the house to see Reiji collapsed in front of Rin. Reiji thinks to himself that before he knew it, he became the same as those he could never forgive. In his dreams, Reiji believes that he has betrayed Aki’s promise. She believes that Reiji has protected Rin, however, and that Rin would protect Reiji as well. Reiji raises himself at this thought, but Aki is no longer anywhere to be found.

Daisuke assures Rin that Reiji is ok in his unconsciousness, while Rin worries to herself. She wants to return to school, yet she is unable to leave Reiji who has already been hurt in the past. Daisuke tells Rin that he understands, but then takes back his words. He tells her that he cannot understand, as he has lived a completely normal life until now. He states that he still wishes to understand those he cannot yet understand, and credits his realization to Rin. Although he does not understand, he can still learn. When Rin helps Daisuke leave the house, Reiji opens his eyes. Daisuke grasps Rin’s hand before leaving, reminding her that everyone is waiting for her. As he walks away, Rin recalls that Daisuke was the first adult that she could believe. In return, Daisuke believed Rin. Still waving goodbye to him, Rin states her love for Daisuke. Later at school, everything has returned to normal. At home, Reiji pays his respects to Aki. Rin meets and thanks Daisuke after school, before getting into the usual trouble with the other girls. Rin declares to herself that she will never forget; a child’s time.

ED: “Otome Chikku Shoshinsha desu” by Kitamura Eri, Shindou Kei, Kadowaki Mai – not a new song, but well placed. It plays in the background while the group’s antics continue.

Impression:

This wasn’t exactly the epic ending I was expecting, but it was decent considering the manga is still ongoing. I’m really not sure how I feel about the theme of understanding, especially with Reiji. Until the turn around, I was still pretty annoyed by his actions. I couldn’t really empathize with him afterwards though, and the ending just felt kind of empty. I really liked how the theme of adults and children played in with the episode, but it just felt like it came too early. The dream sequence seemed kind of odd as well, but the knife in Reiji’s chest was pretty hilarious. The rest of the episode was a lot like the rest of the series with the usual silliness, and I’m kind of disappointed that the censoring followed us all the way to the end. It would be unfair to judge the show overall though, because again, the anime can’t truly end when the manga hasn’t. I guess it’s on to the final impression!

Final Impression:

Although not extraordinary, Kodomo no Jikan was definitely one of the more interesting shows that I blogged this season. I had sampled the manga after all of the controversy earlier in the year, and became one of those who thought I understood the manga for what it was truly about. Ironically, I became unsure when I started watching the anime. I originally regretted picking it up, finding that it just wasn’t what I expected. I soon proved myself wrong again, however, slowly converting into a Kodomo no Jikan fan again. This might have worked well though, since this is typically what happens to the usual KnJ fan. On the surface, Kodomo no Jikan looks like a loli fanservice show with lots of laughs. Dig a bit deeper and you’ll find there’s a lot more to it than just that.

When it comes to the visuals of the show, it was probably a bit below average. I always found the video quality strange when firing up an episode of KnJ, though it didn’t really bother me that much. The real killer was the ridiculous censoring seen in every episode. I tried to keep it from bothering me, but it was impossible. With full screen censoring and bird chirps galore, it was hard to appreciate or even UNDERSTAND what was going on at times. I’m not sure if it would be fair to judge the show based on this though, since all of that is being removed in the dvd versions. In fact, I already know a few individuals who are waiting for those versions before even watching the series.

In the end, Kodomo no Jikan turned out to be quite a good and underrated show. I’ve always preferred anime over manga, but I might actually pick this one back up after such an unsatisfying ending. It’s rare that I do this, and I only do so when I am very interested in a series. I think just that proves what kind of potential this series has. I’m glad that I approached this show without spoiling myself by reading ahead though, as it really had a different impact on me. One of the funnier parts about this show was trying to figure out if you manga readers were really spoiling stuff for me or not. Haha, I’ll have to join the club now though!