Junkers Come Here: Memories of You - Reviews

This review contains major spoilers

A bespectacled girl is a victim of constant bullying at school because of her short and unattractive appearance. One day, after school, she vents her frustrations about being constantly ridiculed. That's when she meets the dog Junkers, and through a cleverly executed joke, he surprises her with his ability to talk. Furthermore, this magical canine is not only a conversationalist but also a genie who grants three wishes.

But here's the twist - that whole introduction turns out to be irrelevant. The actual story is about four sisters who live alone together because their mom disappeared in Paris and their dad died from grief. But then they see their mom on TV and decide to travel to Paris to find her. What a subversive red herring introduction, right?

The story had a bit of unnecessary drama in the beginning, with the youngest sister not wanting to meet her long-lost mother. But honestly, her hesitation is pretty understandable - what if their mother had intentionally left them for another man or something? Plus, the youngest sister was probably too young to remember their mother and form a deep bond with her. But, of course, the useless drama quickly gets resolved with some good old-fashioned sweet talking.

Moving on, they make it to Paris, only to discover that their mother has amnesia because of a car accident. And not just any car accident, but one caused by a Frenchman who has been guilt-tripping them about his daughter who lost her mother and how the sisters' mother brings back his daughter's smile. Talk about bad luck! Initially, the sisters thought about using the genie's wishing superpowers to solve the problem, but instead of using the genie's wishes to fix the problem, they just left their amnesiac mom with the Frenchman...

I get that they felt bad for little French girl, but come on, they could have at least tried to find a solution that worked for everyone. I mean, I respect their decision, but it's not like there were limited alternatives. Couldn't that stinkingly rich Frenchman have let them live within his mansion with their mother? Maybe they could have convinced the Frenchman to build them a guest house or something. Or, you know, they could have just ASKED THEIR MOM WHAT SHE WANTED! But hey, who needs common sense when you can have unnecessary drama, right? It's not like their mother was so selfish that she would suddenly stop taking care of that girl just because she regained her memories, right? Maybe the sisters didn't even have faith in their own mother, who knows?

So after they got back to Japan, the sisters (or maybe just the one with glasses) had this wild dream where they were flying and saw their dad in the sky. He was all like, 'Wow, you guys have gotten so mature!' and praised them for leaving their mom with the Frenchman to take care of that little French girl. And that's pretty much the end of the story, lol.

What about Junkers' three wishes you may ask? Well...

1ST WISH:
The first wish nobody asked for was about growing a permission tree in their yard because it brought them nostalgia about their mother.

2ND WISH:
The second wish was wasted on the second oldest sister acting like early Dragon Ball's Bulma and wishing for a hot hubby. But in this case, she already knows this handsome dude, and he had already rejected her. No worries though, the wish worked like some creepy love potion and he ended up being mind-controlled into accepting her proposal. Ahh, just another heartwarming tale of true love... or something like that.

3RD and FINAL WISH:
Guess what the third miracle was? The fricking dog apparently used the last remaining wish to bring back their mother's memory anyway! Hilarious, right? Like, what was the whole point of the previous drama and letting the sisters make their own decision in the first place? And why show their dead father commending them for leaving their amnesiac mother for a Frenchman and 'making the right decision' when the story literally contradicts itself by having Junkers heal their mother with his miracle. So much for character growth right?

Their mother then visits her real daughters in Japan, but still permanently lives in France, and the daughters live happily ever after. Ha! See, nothing would have happened if they had used the last wish from the beginning. Even Junkers changed his mind later and agreed with this notion. So much drama for nothing, talk about a waste of time and miracles.
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Putting all the wacky genie stuff and unnecessary drama aside, 'Junkers Come Here: Memories of You' actually had some pretty good merits. The four sisters had likable and distinctive personalities, and the anime did a good job of introducing them without resorting too much on exposition. The sisters were fun to watch, with their unique personalities and quirks. Plus, the way they interacted felt more realistic than your average drama anime, like they were actual sisters... you know, minus the whole 'finding their long-lost mom with a genie' thing. But hey, that kind of down-to-earth character writing is rare these days. You gotta go back to retro to find that level of maturity in anime!

Well, if there's one thing you can say about old retro OVAs, it's that their art details were really taken care of, and this OVA isn't an exception, it was clearly made with care and passion. The animation fluidity, on the other hand, had some issues. I mean, I wasn't expecting Studio Ghibli level smoothness, but even compared to other old anime, the animation here was a little jarring. Particularly during the fast sequences, the youngest sister's movements were particularly fast and unnatural, like she had just chugged a gallon of Red Bull. It felt like there were too few in-between frames between the keyframes, which made the movement look unnaturally fast and awkward.

The dialogue had some unintentionally hilarious lines, like Junkers telling the youngest sister in all seriousness, 'I have a cool personality, wouldn't you agree?' But despite that, the voice acting was mature and natural. It's rare to find that kind of realism in modern anime, where every character sounds like they're trying to break the sound barrier with their high-pitched squeals. Some might argue the voice actors in this OVA aren't seasoned veterans, but I think that adds to the charm. Their natural delivery makes it feel like you're eavesdropping on a real conversation instead of watching a scripted anime.

Overall, the anime was a bit of a mixed bag. The writing was a mess, even by the standards of the magical realism subgenre, but somehow it still managed to be entertaining. It had some decent comedy, likeable characters, and beautiful background art. I can't say I'd give it a glowing recommendation, but if you're a fan of retro anime aesthetics, you might still find it worth watching.