kenikki

Story: 6.5/10

The setup here works alright with a short series like this. Even if the plot is farfetched and the main love story is quickly put on the backburner and hardly moves for most of the show it’s still much better than the too played out “girls in high school” setup. And I like it that most episodes deals with developing a character and his/her past one at a time. I do think that it would’ve been nice to do more development on Furio (the chef) and Claudio though.

Animation/Artwork/Visual Effects: 8/10

While the animation isn’t very good, the show looks great. I love how the surroundings look. They look extraordinary, like a beautiful painting.

I didn’t particularly care for the character designs at first, but i quickly grew to like them.

There are some subpar 3D images here and there that kinda takes away the wonderfulness of the background though. I didn’t care for them, they just didn't fit in.

Sound: 9/10

The sound is enchanting and always interesting. I feel that the voice actors all fit with their characters as well. Nice work here. I guess Olga is the “worst” character imo, but she does a fine job as well.

The OP/ED songs are pretty good.

I haven’t really listened to any OSTs this year, but I got a feeling this will stay on as my favorite.

Characters: 7.5/10

I’m not all that fond of Olga, but imo she’s definitely not a bad characters. And Furio should definitely have gotten more (read; some real) development. I really like all the other characters though. At first I was very unsure of the cast because I just saw them as the usual “bishounen team” that inhabits most shoujo titles, except that these guys are older and more refined. Now, don’t get me wrong, that’s in fact what they are, but with the development they recieve and their “gentlemen ways” they quickly grew on me. I guess I’m not much different from the women in this show, even if I am a guy.

Gigi is definitely my favorite.

Overall: 7.5/10

The initial premise is a bit silly & farfetched, but once it got set in it’s way it was peaceful and entertaining, and while we got a pretty sweet conclusion, it would’ve been nice if it was a bit more fleshed out. Preferably by (like I stated earlier) fleshing out Furio’s character a bit more and maybe a bit more about Nicoletta’s past with her grandmother.

But overall I enjoyed it. I like these kinds of relaxing and peaceful series. But it wasn’t as heartwarming as Aria or Kamichu, and it was a bit slow at times.