The Troubled Life of Miss Kotoura - Reviews

Straight from my blog!

***This is a spoiler free review***

Well it’s finally over. I hate to say it but I had such high hopes for this show after seeing the opening episode but while Kotoura-san is energetic, beautiful to look at, and full of interesting characters, it falls far short of what I feel it was striving for.

Story: 5/10

This anime takes many steps forward in trying to make this drama/slice of life interesting but unfortunately falls down the stairs one too many times. The show opens up in such an amazing fashion; Haruka is a very young girl who was born with the ability to read peoples thoughts. Unknowingly she spreads out everyone’s feelings and soon finds herself all alone at a very vulnerable stage. She also in the process ruins her parents’ marriage by babbling out their personal plans with some not so ok people. She ends up at rock bottom with no one to turn to except her grandfather. Flash-forward a couple years to high school and she is still very shy and scared of reading people’s thoughts. Just when she is about to give up all hope, she is introduced to Yoshihisa who takes a liking to Haruka despite her ability to see and hear every one of his thoughts. So this premise is freaking awesome right!? The first three episodes had me completely hooked because the premise was interesting and it felt like it was going to be a semi-serious high school drama. Well though luck kids because this show runs down stale lane after about the fifth episode. What the show turns into is your typical “This is what our club (the ESP society) did today” which don’t get me wrong isn’t a bad thing for some shows. Why it doesn’t work in Kotoura-san is because there was this big whole setup to make me think this show could be more than a romantic comedy. Speaking of comedy, the slapstick style humor and running gags in this show were funny the first time they were introduced but when the main gag of a show is the main character thinking of really pervy stuff and getting slapped for it…like every episode, it gets a little boring. With crap airing right now like Da Capo III and Little Busters, I was really hoping this was going to be that somewhat awesome drama that Maoyuu Maou Yuusha also could have been (I found out that show was just all about boobs). After revising all the airing anime this season, I have to unfortunately agree with the rest of the internet in saying that there was just way too much moe stuff this season.

Animation: 7.9/10

Grr this is a tough thing to talk about because the animation in this show is both really basic looking but also fantastic…all at the same time. There really isn’t a lot of work done on the character models and in typical anime fashion when a comedic scene pops up, the facial expressions on the characters turn extremely basic looking for an added effect. Why I also fit in fantastic as an adjective is because the lighting, quality of the backdrops, and how the eyes were animated was just so…awesome. “What this guy is giving a good score based on eye animation?” Yes, yes I am because like I said in my Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo review the show has a “normal” feeling towards it but the little elements make it shine. The animation while a little too cartoony for my tastes was still unique and very pretty to look at. It would have scored even higher but I didn’t find some of the character models very appealing.

Awesome opening

Sound: 6.5/10

The sound design was in my opinion pretty average in this anime. I did enjoy the opening theme quite a lot as it was both catchy and the instrumentation was to my liking. The voice actors also did a pretty good job but I got so fu#$ing annoyed with Haruka saying in her high pitched voice “Ewww Manabe!” over…and over…and over again. Also the music used during the show was very generic and just not very appealing.

Characters: 6/10

The problem with the characters in Kotoura-san is that the ones that are interesting and unique don’t give you a reason to like them and the main characters (Haruka and Yoshihisa) annoy the fu#$ out of you. So see the problem here? Yuriko and Daichi are both interesting but Yuriko’s hidden agenda and true feelings just make her feel no remorse on my end and Hiyori is just an annoying tomboy third wheel. I do have to say that all the characters had good chemistry and created some funny and interesting moments throughout the season but as individuals not one of them stood out to me in an overly positive way.

Overall: 6.4/10

Yeah a 6.4 sounds just about right for this show. The only noteworthy things I can praise this anime for was the amazing opening episode, catchy opening theme, and the unique art style. Believe me I REALLY wanted to like this show but it really did fail on me. God I really hope there is some new unique anime coming out soon because while I like a romantic comedy just as much as the next person, I don’t want like five of them like this season. Go watch this though if you get bored because…well it’s better than watching School Days right?

Enjoyment: 5/10

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Sincerely,
Awesome Drummer

Kotoura-san is a cute, light-hearted comedy with some deeper themes carried throughout. There are a lot of really funny moments and reactions, including some hilariously perverted moments (although overall pretty clean). The characters are well developed and the story really grabs you and leaves you wanting more. The animation is cute and pleasant to watch.

What I really love most about this anime is how it makes you truly care for the main characters. There are moments I was moved to tears by how tragic her past is but how meaningful her friendships are. Manabe is seemingly an idiot but hiding behind his pervy thoughts are true feelings of loyalty, empathy, and acceptance. I also really like how this anime doesn't dance around the love story and the characters aren't afraid to focus on it when appropriate. For an addicting anime full of feels, it's definitely worth a try. :)

Kotoura-San is an absolutely adorable anime which knows how to make you smile.

The story is about this cute girl named Kotoura who can read minds and has been lonely her whole life because of it. She gets transferred to like her 7th high school which has an ESP club which she, of course, gets dragged into. There's a lot of things they do together as clubs and more things outside of it that happen.

Overall the story is well paced and positive but with a lot of feels moments. And there's something about it that just makes you support the main character.

The Animation is Absolutely GORGEOUS it is beautifully crafted with very nice colors and backgrounds. However, one of the main characters is in chibi form... or he just has a really round, really slouchy character and a short one at that. 

The sound is wonderful and all of the voice actors did an amazing job, I love the intro and ending songs.

The characters are all unique and have their own story though some of them are shorter than others and some of them weirder it doesn't mean the characters aren't lovable because they really are. 

Overall if you like chill, funny, and sometimes sad anime then I recommend this one.

Story: Kotoura-san's first 10 minutes truly suprised me. The unexpectedly dark and depressing theme in the beginning made me sympathize with the main character even though the main plot hadn't even begun. The first half of the show is full of touching and heartwarming stories but towards the second half things start to go downhill. Sloppy plot advancement and an overload of comedy made the anime uninteresting and repetitively boring. Just the way the second half was handled as a generic love story and a terrible crime mystery annoyed me so much and ruined my love for Kotoura-san.

Animation: For the most part, the anime wasn' that spectacular or great but it was decent enough to look at without being distracted. The comical chibi-like facial expressions were funny but I think they kind of did them too much.

Sound: OP is funny and cute. ED is actually very memorable with the pictures of the main character's past and other characters friendship. Character voices were good. In general, I thought the sounds in every scene were appropriate.

Characters: Characters were mostly funny and interesting, except for Manabe and one character that appears as the WORST villain ever. All of them do get some character development. The club's fun and friendly relationships was nice to see. It was disappointing to see Kotoura and her mother's relationship barely handled at all. I think  there should have been more focus on scenes with Kotoura and her mother instead of the overextended and repetitive scenes with Manabe always joking with Kotoura.

Overall: Kotoura-san is full of great moments in its first half but sadly loses its identity in the second half with bad and boring subplots and fails at trying to become a typical love comedy.

I enjoyed the anime if you looking for an anime that has a a painful story like but has alot of comedy and fun in it. this is it for you. Got very sad when the denoument came though but absolutely great. uWu XD <3