Asatte no Houkou, is such a simple anime, about two girls both wanting better times. Who doesn’t want that?

Karada wanting to be an adult, no longer a burden on her brother. Shouko, wanting to be a child again, no longer the worries and burdens that come with adulthood. To relive those times of her childhood when she was regarded as a prodigy, a genius. But at the same time, while they each get their wish granted in a way, it goes to show, ‘Be careful of what you wish for.’

Though it is a simple story told in a carefree way, one could easily get bored with it. But for some reason, that just doesn’t happen.

Animation - Excellent

The animation is astounding; backgrounds look great although not overly detailed. Which is nice that it isn’t distracting from what is going on with the anime itself. The characters look great, I love the way they look, the way they move. There is such a livelyness about them. Their hair moves when they move, everything has such realism to it.

But the realism isn’t overpowering. It doesn’t make you pause and criticize the animation for being TOO life like. It is enough to make you notice that this animation is better than most, especially during 2006, sure there were some top notch titles like Haruhi and NHK that had stellar animation, but considering those are only 3 out of a year that produced hundreds…

Sound - Beautiful OP/ED Combo

While the sound isn’t distracting, it isn’t anything to write home about. The seiyuu’s certainly seem like they liked their roles. Which that is always refreshing to see, er hear. Just the simplicity of liking your role instead of just reading lines on a paper. It makes the atmosphere and the likability so much better. In general, the bgm just fits, there is nothing that stands out in memory, nothing that stands out as I watch it now. Maybe that is a bad thing, nothing noteworthy. But it is definately a good thing, no funky ackward music that distracts you from what is going on. Nothing that causes you to pause and think, ‘WTF!?’

I’ve always been a fan of the OP/ED, even when I was watching it as it aired, even now on my ‘umteenth’ rewatch. Everything about the show is slow, which I find a refreshing change of pace. There are no flashy action sequences, no over the top fights, no uber cool transformation scenes where you can peer at their nude bodies sans detail.

Story - The Meat

Ok, here is the meat of the review, as I stated in the opening, it is about two girls getting their wishes granted. Shouko, being a child genius, misses her childhood. One where she was admired for her intellect. However, because of that intellect she didn’t have many friends. Which makes you wonder why someone would want to go back to a rather lonely childhood. Then there is Karada, her brother was previously in love with Shouko, things were going great. They were living together in America while going to school, they had planned on getting married and living happily ever after. However things don’t always go the way they are planned.

He ends up having to come back to Japan to take care of his little sister anyway, Shouko starts to hate him for leaving her, however she continues on. Until she meets him again.

That is where the story starts. Karada and Shouko each have a wish to be a different age, the wish is granted and each realize how great it is, although terrifying. However, they realize that things aren’t what they seem. Contrary to the old saying, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Karada begins to realize how hard adult life can be, just how terrifying the world is. She begins to want her childhood back, where her only worries were school work and whether Amino-kun likes her or not. In parallel, Shouko realizes that being a child again isn’t what she wanted, but she, unlike Karada, can reinvent herself. She is a child, she will age back into an adult. If she was unhappy with the way things were, she can change them now. But through a girl, I believe to be Amino’s cousin, which she is only in the anime, not the manga, she gets put out in the world, she gets to enjoy her childhood, run around with other children. It is really a great story, and it doesn’t seem that the 12 episodes were enough to tell it, good thing there is a manga right?

Characters - Kind of included it in animation

Ok, the characters, aside from the story, are the rest of the meat. It really requires you to care about the characters. What happens to them, will everything be alright in the end? If you don’t like the characters, well forget it. I’d recommend that you skip the Slice of Life genre all together.

Anyway, the characters are:

Iokawa Karada: Karada is a cheerful young girl who is about to enter her first year of junior high school. Her parents died when she was two years old, and has since lived together with her older brother, Hiro. She looks younger than she really is and wishes to grow up faster, due to hating being treated like a child. She has also learned how to cook and do house chores herself, due to her not wanting to worry Hiro. Her friend and classmate, Amino-kun, seems to have feelings for her. She finds out that Hiro wasn’t her older brother before her parents died.

Iokawa Hiro: Hiro is a young man who was Shōko’s boyfriend when he was studying abroad. They went to the same university in Boston. One day he had to leave in order to attend to his parents’ funeral, but never came back as he had to stay in Japan to take care of his sister, Karada. Several months later he sent a letter to Shōko that said he would never come back, without explaining the reason. It is later revealed that he isn’t Karada’s older brother, and he met her for the first time at her parents’ funeral. He thought that he would return to America right after the funeral, but he couldn’t leave her alone. He works in a pharmacy.

Nogami Shouko: Shouko is a young woman who has just recently returned from overseas in the United States. She first meets Karada at the shrine that contained a fated wishing stone. She used to be Hiro’s girlfriend, whom she met while in America and it seems that they were very close. Hiro told her that he would return right after the funeral, but she waited for months and then she received a letter saying he would not be coming back. Also, she did not know Hiro had a younger sister.

Amino Tetsumasa: Karada’s friend. After Karada disappears (according to Hiro) he spends all of his time looking for her. Even though he has several encounters with her and even spends the whole day with adult Karada, he doesn’t recognize her.

Amino Touko: Tetsumasa’s older sister and owner of a coffee shop that Hiro usually hangs out in.

As I said with the story, it requires you to like the characters. There are many ups and downs in the story, some that will put a huge smile on your face, some that will make you want to cry. But you’ll be enjoying yourself the entire time!

Value/Enjoyment - I love this show

Well, I’ve tried to be as unbiased as I can, although it is rather hard to do that with a show you absolutely love. I love the music, the way it is told, the characters. I love how they move, how they look. I understand that SoL isn’t for everyone, it wasn’t for me when I first got into anime, I loved the long Shounen shows with tons of action, but I guess my tastes have matured. I love the drama and romance, the unfolding, grow with you characters of SoL… Which is something this anime contains.