Muromi-san

YoakeCassidy Jun 19, 2013

7.5

Overall Let's start with one major warning: you don't like nonsense anime with a touch of romance? Please don't watch this. It won't do you any good. Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-san has now eleven episodes, the twelth is on the way. Now, this isn't an anime you are waiting for in anticipation. But it isn anime whose new episode you will click every week when you see it. When it's finished, I figure Muromi-san will be the perfect let's-get-my-head-away-from-studying-for-about-ten-minutes-anime. Each episode is only about ten minutes long, after all, and surely takes your mind of things, discussing absolutely nothing. Some may say it's a waste of time, others may say it's a happiness-boost on a rainy day. It just depends on your view, I suppose. Story Don't expect serious content, you'll be disappointed. Muromi-san is basically the story of a boy, Takerou, who one day meets a mermaid when he's fishing. This mermaid decides to be his friend and from that moment on comes back every day to see him. Although the bright and relaxed Muromi annoys the hell out of Takerou, he's not happy when he's faced with the prospect of never seeing her again somewhere halfway the series. This Muromi starts using him as a meeting point for her friends, who are all mystical creatures with their own stories. Everyone seems to know and like Muromi, she's got tons of those friends. They use lots of puns and Japanese legends, which is on one hand hard to follow and on the other hand very interesting for the none-Japanese people among us. Animation The animation is quite good, with lots of bright colours and fluffy faces, a little chibi at times. The main form is definitely round. The animators seem to love playing with different perspectives and reflect the character’s personality. Sound Lots of sound effects to make things get out of proportion. The voices are all quite good, nothing really disturbingly annoying.  A little more high-pitched for the girls, but that’s always the case. Characters They’re cute. The average high school boy Takerou, desperately trying to hold onto his own normal-ness while dealing with the overly excited, shameless Muromi. In episode one already has she decided she has a crush on him and she doesn’t let him off the hook easy. But he handles her pretty well (with a fishing hook) and their relationship seems to be peaceful. Muromi’s friends are all a bit strange, naturally. The mermaids as well as the other creatures all have their personal little traits that lift your eyebrows. The most messed up, of course, is Muromi herself. She’s been from alien-friends to major heartbreak to making friends all over the world to hating on dolphins for thousands of years and she’s not getting any better. Which assures everyone that whatever it may be, something strange will happen every single day.

RingoStarr1991 Jul 6, 2013

8.1

***This is a spoiler free review*** For a short time format anime, Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-san sure packs a huge punch with it’s amazing animation and voice acting. Story: 5.5/10 Let’s get this straight; there is no plot in this anime. While some of the episodes build on each other, most are self contained. What you get in this anime is exactly what it does well; gag skits. Literally every episode is something leading up to a gag. While most of the content in the show pertains to Japanese common knowledge, most subs will provide tooltips for the things you might not understand. Overall the show is really funny and enjoyable; there just isn’t anything overly interesting going on. Animation: 9.9/10 The animation is fresh, unique, and oozing with quality. Every scene looks amazing due to the lighting effects and over exaggeration animation style. The character models look great and the amount of quality in the shots remains constant if not better as the show progresses. Sound: 8.5/10 The soundtrack was pretty interesting and diverse for an anime of this style. The opening song was some sort of weird mix of heavy metal and pop rock but was pretty good regardless. The voice actors did a tremendous job in this anime; each character’s personality was brought out extremely well due to some quality voiceovers. Characters: 8.5/10 While I gave the character score a pretty good number, it’s not because the characters themselves are good (they are quite average actually); what the anime excels at is how well the interactions play off. The anime is so funny because of how the characters present themselves around others. While we do have some of the typical characters (big boob airhead, Cute airhead, ext.), Takurou and Muromi are surprisingly interesting. When put together, their performance is quite good due to the chemistry that slowly forms over time. Overall: 8.1/10 This was a real shocker; while I normally stray away from the shorter time format anime, I am so glad I followed this one. The amazing animation style coupled with the funny characters and comedic scenes makes this anime a must watch for those looking for a quick laugh. Enjoyment: 10/10 Thanks for reading my review! If you liked my writing style, would like to see some other reviews, or just want to talk, please stop by my page! Sincerely, Awesome Drummer