Middle schooler Kana Nakamachi's life drastically changes when her grandmother passes away. Leaving behind an empty house, Kana learns that no one can provide her lodging due to her young age. Eventually, she stumbles upon the Fuhshin Gazette, a local newspaper delivery business who is able to provide her with a place to stay if she works for them in return.
The small store is staffed by several unique people: the sweets-loving Yume Kitaoka and her girlfriend Yuuki Minami; the frugal Hinata Azuma; the alcoholic Haruka Nishida; and the young but mature Saki Amano. It is not all fun and games at the Fuhshin Gazette, though, as Kana must deal with long working hours, energetic dogs guarding mailboxes, and confusing delivery routes. Add in a small rivalry with Mika Kujiin, a girl from a competing store, and Kana will have more than enough to keep her hands full!
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
Nenhum episódio encontrado.
Comentários
CherryHawk
Here we have a yuri, ecchi, slice of life comedy with a little bit of a warm and fuzzy feel to it. If you like those genres then you should definitely check this one out. Allow me to break it down for you... STORY 7/10- Other than the story behind the main character's arrival we don't have much of a plot, which is fine given the anime's episodic nature which I personally find fitting for a comedy. There are numerous strong ecchi scenes which an outspoken population of anime viewers find distasteful, but I generally look at it as another form ofcomedy since my typical reaction is to laugh when I see vulgar acts groping and molestation. It all depends on your taste.
ART 7/10- Everything was drawn well, characters were cute in my opinion. Nothing particularly amazing, but it was all in good taste.
SOUND 8/10- Voice acting was great, a lot of big hitters in the cast: Toyosaki Aki (Shugo Chara, K-ON!), Horie Yui (Higurashi,Umineko), Kugimiya Rie (Gintama, Saki), and though not as popular but one of my personal favorites Hirohashi Ryou (Kaleido Star, Bamboo Blade). I must say though, pretty much all these roles are in the shadow of the work that you may find in these fine actors' resumes. Great nonetheless though. I also greatly enjoyed the song for the ED credits... Yahoooo! : )
CHARACTERS 8/10- Our main character is someone you feel very sorry for, which is where this show draws some of it's comedy. Some people might think that that's a horrible thing, but it's not as cruel as it may have been suggested and I personally saw the humor in it. The supporting cast are all very like-able, distinctive characters including a chief who for some unexplained reason is a small child that has the maturity of a 30 year old, a perverted drunk, a lesbian couple and someone who collects money (or something like that. She wasn't in the spotlight much) all female and all moe-tastic!
ENJOYMENT 8/10- I was always excited about this one. It's funny, charming and sentimental (and slightly explicit). I'm really glad I picked this one up.
So if you're looking for a light-hearted ecchi daytime comedy (I like to watch scary stuff and tear-jerkers at night XD) definitely check this one out!
8thSin
"Kanamemo" is about Kana, an orphaned girl working at a newspaper delivery office after the passing of her grandmother. Animation: 4/10 Nothing spectacular about the animation, I would even say it's below par. Character design is pretty cute, and the vivid coloring was nice though. Some outdoor scenes had a decent atmosphere using blurring techniques, but overall, lacking detail. Sound: 3/10 Extremely poorly done and annoying voice acting. Perhaps it's my personal preference, but voicing of all the young girls sounded strained and tiring after couple of episodes. Music/OP/ED were bland, and didn't really stand out. Story: 8/10 Despite the technical flaws in this series, the story was extremely strong. Kana slowlylearns the job, and gets along with fellow workers while facing various obstacles of the tough delivery job. What really impressed me, was the focus of this story. Even though Kana is a middle-schooler, there were very few scenes in her junior high school, and very limited school life. Her classmates appear only to develop the story, and does not deviate the central theme of this anime, which is delivering newspapers. Use of Kana's 'memo' to grandma was also a very effective device for narration.
Character Development: 5/10
Kana's character was developed fairly well from a hopeless new recruit to an unreliable yet vital existence in the team. She slowly found her place in the 'big family'.
Sadly, the side characters were all overly predictable and lacked depth. In fact, all the coworkers can be characterized under two words.
Saki: Chibi adult
Hinata: Cheap
Yume: Rich lesbian
Yuuki: Quiet lesbian
Haruka: Drunk pervert
Kujiin Mika: Tsundere.
Interaction with these side characters were always same: Kana is molested by Haruka, Hinata or Saki shows up and violently stops it, while Yume and Yuuki are making out in the back. The producers persistently pushed these developments long after they stopped being funny.
Enjoyment: 5/10
I haven't seen the manga (as usual), but "Kanamemo" was clearly a failed attempt in anime adaption. The story and setting was good, but overall it was extremely poorly executed. It was neither slapstick nor drama.
One thing I really enjoyed though, was the 'finding small joys in life' aspect of the story, but otherwise, this series had very little to offer. A typical loli/moe show.
reb3llist
Stressed out from the most dragging of dragging unfunny and unimportant/fanservice-filled filler episodes ever? Trying to find a totally relaxed slice-of-life anime? Not terribly offended by yuri? (PROTIP: Yuri doesn't have an everlasting effect, there is little to mild yuri hinted here, may be disturbing but most of the time it is quite used in a comical sense) Then Kanamemo is easily one of the newer ones I would recommend to you. Remember though, that this is a very hit-or-miss thing. What you would benefit from, is to not think of it hugely as a comedy series but instead as a simple slice of life seriesthat is, very easily, a simple slice of life series.
It has got the light-hearted atmosphere that some animes aim for but fail miserably at like it was nothing and it virtually looked like the crew didn't even try making it light-hearted, it was as if it was naturally light-hearted. Compared to some animes that force themselves to look so.
Never put a huge expectation up for this anime for most of the time you will be disappointed.
Of course I had an overall expectation of 8/10 and I did not walk away saying,"I am disappoint.", I instead just closed my video player and told myself how great I am by finishing an anime and did a backflip (lacking faith in some people's sarcasm radar, I will point out I was being sarcastic, seriously).
With a very simple starter story of a run-away girl (grandmother passes away, title character runs away, finds new home in this newspaper center, starts life anew with her newer and more ecstatic friends, leaving behind her old life, although not completely) and an aftermath that doesn't even look much like a plot, there is as much worth to rating this plot as there is to rating Lucky Star's or even telling a refrigerator to make instant curry out of thin air.
The soundtrack, is as of now, an unknown quantity to me. I haven't had a chance to properly listen to it. Most of the times, I don't get to listen to it properly (as I had done with Toradora!, which had a fantastic OST I still listen to today) unless it's in some way very attractive or the BGM was made much louder than the talking seiyuu (e.g Honey & Clover and CLANNAD's soundtrack caught my attention in not 10 minutes) so I don't deem myself too worthy to check on it yet.
Its humour, although not sporadic throughout the whole series and not roll-around-die-laughing humourous, is quite enjoyable. It is very easy to see that some people will complain that its humour is totally non-existent and there are others who'd laugh at it without stop, either way, stuff like this are usually pretty hit-or-miss, but more hit than miss. To be honest, if you wanted a guarantee, it's not as hit-or-miss to most as Lucky Star or Bakemonogatari, that's for sure.
With jokes that aren't at all original, Kanamemo still manages to deliver funny lines every now and then. Sometimes it gets me laughing or it gets me in the cold.
Of course besides the joke itself, intonation is a pretty big factor and in anime, intonation is pretty much the characters. Speaking of the characters, it holds a pretty big all-girls cast with what I could say a great seiyuu line-up (brushing off a certain Tsundere Queen aside, since some people seem to have gotten sick of her).
The cast (pretty much ALL cliched) are comprised of a timid little girl, also title character Kana, 'cheapskate' type-girl (although this isn't hugely shown by her daily attitude but is shown in scene) Hinata, strict-elementary-schooler-boss-but-never-blushing-tsundere Saki, the hyperactive Yume, her quiet companion + requited female love-interest, Yuuki and some yuri-craving/loving drunkard Haruka along with a later-introduced character, a pink-haired tsundere, Mika. Personally though I like Hinata the most as the rest are rather much more bland than her in general. And I never grew to LOVELOVELOVELOVE Kugimiya Rie Tsunderes™ either, aside from.. Toradora's? No never mind.
Might not seem so loveable to you does it?
Of course this again represents my plain saying of how hit-or-miss this show has been. I for one, like it. Simply because it's pretty easy to read, to understand, to pretty much just do anything. If I had to use a metaphor, it's as easy to understand as it is to see something.
Views may vary, that's very obvious and here and there there will definitely be critics but really, I never did expect too much, and got what I wanted, if not marginally surpassed.
So Kanamemo is definitely a title I would recommend to you (depending on who you are) if you said yes to either of my first questions.
FreakyTy
Kanamemo is slow paced and for those who don't want something to take heavily. It's not bad, but has a few bumps in the road. Could be better, but for what it is you should have fun if you enjoy SoL/Comedies in general. Story: 4 What story? There is barely a story if you can call it one. The main character Kana's parents have passed and she was in the care of her grandmother who soon passed and now she is homeless and looking for work. She ends up finding a place to work and live, but it's filled with eccentrics and quite the busy place. Hernew found job is working as a papergirl delivering news to the neighborhood daily. This is the over-arcing story and all the rest is in a typical SoL episodic fashion. It's more or less cute girls doing cute things, but there is still some merit to this show despite the lack of plot.
Note* There is one episode centered around going to a public bath and it's heavily censored with a comical cat face. May or may not affect the enjoyment of the series, just a warning. Pretty fanservicey and feels like an OVA instead of an actual episode.
Art: 7
The art isn't bad, but not particularly good either. Nothing much stands out. I do enjoy the soft pallet of colors they use in general and the way it's colored and shaded adds very nicely to the laid back atmosphere. Animation is average at best, this is a SoL so expect stills and scenes without much animation as its very dialog heavy. Aesthetically it is pleasing, but nothing you'll be likely to remember.
Sound: 7
The sound is a mixed bag for me. I personally dislike the main character's voice as it is at least to me somewhat annoying. The rest were pretty average to me, and that's not surprising considering this is mostly a comedy and SoL where they aren't trying to captivate you emotionally, so it is acceptable; and suits the atmosphere. Sound effects are pretty average themselves, not deviating from the norm either. Music I found was a bit better than most. There is one theme that is constantly used for most scenarios (Mainly a flute/recorder That mixes well with the show.) and its gotten stuck in my head, so if nothing else it's catchy. Don't expect anything too much from the OP or ED because both are pretty average; SoL fitting themes.
Character: 7
This is the main catching point for this show and what gives it an edge over other shows in the genre. They use tropes that we all know of and have probably seen a handful of times, but executes them in a fresh feeling way. Not to mention this is the first time I saw a comedyesque show take a homosexual relationship seriously, without forcing it more than is necessary. They portray them extremely casually and never put an emphasis on "HOLY SHIT GIRLS KISSING WTF/BBQ!!!???!1 LOOK HOW EDGY OMG" (AHEM, Sakura Trick...) There is usually a joke about them every other episode but it's almost always lighthearted.
We have the other characters that don't show much development or change outside the main, but none the less are all likeable. And since this is primarily a comedy that's OK. Their tropes are what set up certain jokes and changing from them too much would endanger the fun aspect since this show should be taken with a chill pill anyway. The only character I absolutely couldn't stand was Haruka (The child molester essentially.) because she was just so effing annoying, and the joke of her messing with Kana got old quick.
Enjoyment/Overview 9/7
Kanamemo does everything by doing nothing, and has a few redeeming values. One of few SoL's I deem as something you should watch. While it isn't inherently great it has it's pluses that give it a pretty enjoyable feel. Something to be watched passively and without much thought because it is in essence just plain fun. It's a great laugh depending on your stance on humor and a laid back SoL without anything that serious happening. If you hate that then avoid it because there is a lack of plot, if you do enjoy something like Non Non Biyori you should check this out.
_Arcadia0
Kanamemo Ecchi, extra yuri, crazy cute slice of life/coming of age anime with 6 girls! The story starts off rather sad and simple; Kana’s only guardian and caretaker, her grandmother, has just passed away and now all her things are being taken/sold/moved (never really explained). Kana, upset and frightened panics and packs her things immediately and sets on her way to find a place to live. She ends up working for a newspaper delivery “place”; room and board are provided, just as long as you can do the work! So it’s a quite the sad start, but worry not! The actual anime is very happyand very fun and really super adorable and cute. BEWARE: This anime contains some ecchi scenes such as a bathing scenario and things; there is also a character who is quite perverse.
For the girls, it’s rather interesting. We have Kana, our new comer, she’s inexperienced, naïve, gullible and an incredibly nice middle school girl. There is Haruka, the college student who drinks a lot of sake (A LOT), she also happens to be a lolicon and will try to grope and feel Kana any chance she gets. We have the yuri couple Yume and Yuuki, Yume is rather codependent on Yuuki and Yuuki is in total love for Yume, in-fact Yuuki prefers knowing that Yume needs to rely on her because they can be together forever; there is a lot of implied sexual acts between them and they tend to have very cute yuri moments between each other, such as cute pecks on the cheek or hugging and holding each other and even kissing. They’re a super cute couple and it’s really fun to watch them get all lovey dovey with one another. Saki is the chief, she runs the newspaper organization and the best way to describe her is to think of Renge from Non Non Biyori, then add a whole ton more cute to her character! The last girl (I know I said 6, think of her as a + 1) is Mika. She’s also another middle school girl; she’s very tsundere and has a super crush on Kana. The yuri potential between them is huuuuuuge, but it’s never really expanded upon since Kanamemo is more about growing up and slice of life for Kana herself. Mika is funny though, her tsun side and dere side are often at conflict with one another and it creates some amazingly funny scenes to watch and experience.
The stories are cute, it’s episodic and they tend to deal with issues that Kana may be going through, though the girls she works with are always there to help her. We have many clichéd anime stories, but even at this stage of watching anime, I still find them to be fun and honestly, Haruka + co make the entire anime so much fun to watch, full of great laughs and heartfelt moments. All the girls get a large portion of screen time, aiding us in understanding their motives and feelings towards one another, even Saki, who’s very serious and is all about making money and getting new subscribers, has some very soft sides to her that are shown incredibly well.
Art is incredibly soft. It’s peaceful to look at and everyone is drawn in a way that it feels like everyone is rather dreamy. The lines are soft, the background art is soft and cute, the girls are drawn well and animated well too, it’s a cute anime to watch and you can tell from the second you start watching that it’s very very very cute. The colors aren’t pastel, not overtly vibrant either, rather, they’re just colorful and soft enough to give pleasant smiles to the viewers; the combination of it all works so well that you can’t help but feel at peace with the ongoing commotion in Kanamemo, a job well done if you ask me. (Soft soft soft, I couldn’t have used that word more!) The reaction faces for Kana are simply amazing and will make you laugh so hard, they’re unbelievable and truly funny.
Music is surprisingly enough, very good! OP and ED though are amazing, full of energy and happiness and being over all super cute and mega fun. The BGM is well executed and the sounds are done well enough too. Seiyuu are your very moe, super cute type of seiyuu, expect to be battered by the constant cuteness of Kana’s voice and Mika’s voice, just hit after hit after hit until your heart just explodes with “AHHHHHHH, Kana you’re so cuuuuute!!!” Yeah, it’s really good.
Kanamemo is great fun and I enjoyed my time with it 100%, would recommend if you’re looking for a cute slice of life/coming of age type of story, though keep in mind about the ecchi things that Kanamemo has.
NiCL
Story: The story of Kanamemo is short, sweet, and overall, quite enjoyable. The characters and very likeable and realistic. One of my personal favorite aspects of this show is that there is a girl x girl couple, but they're not there just for the sexual appeal, yuri, or fanservice aspect many other girl x girl couples are. So, kudos to you, Kanamemo. :) Art: The art in this series wasn't anything special, really, but it was in no way an eyesore. It was your typical animation, with bright colors and soft backgrounds. While it was nice, it didn't leave any major lasting impressions on me, unlikeother shows, like Attack on Titan (the backgrounds), or Puella Magi Madoka Magica (also backgrounds).
Sound: A personal favorite episode of mine was episode four, where the entire cast performs several songs for the viewer, all of which I found hilarious and have since searched for again. Other than that, the soundtrack wasn't memorable, though the ending and opening were very catchy, and have earned a place on my playlist.
Character: The characters, as I touched on earlier, were very well written, likable, and memorable. The viewer can see relationships forming between each character, and each episode showed more development of the main character, Kana.
Enjoyment: This show was a nice break from all the other dramas, horrors, and generally sad shows I'd watched prior to this one. It was very sweet and innocent (to some point, considering the actions another character, Haruka, exhibits), and, if/when another season comes out, I would definitely watch it.
Overall: Kanamemo was great. It was a likable show, with likable characters, and some catchy and memorable songs. It wasn't my most favorite show, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and would waste no time in watching another season.
kaskue
So here we have a slice of life "ecchi" comedy. And what i think of this show as a whole is one of the hardest things to judge ever due to some episodes being extremly funny while i literally fell asleep during other episodes. But i will try to review the story, characters, animation Story: the story is based around a girl named Kana who just lost her grandma and in search for a place stumble on a newspaper were the other characters are living so she start to live there and from there it's the typical slice of life story were each episode isindividual. But due to liking slice of life types of animes i give the story 8/10
Characters: The characters is were this anime fail due to it is so little ch development and every ch has there personallity through the entire show whitout any development with the only exceptions being Kana and Mika. Score 4/10
Animation: For an untrained eye i fell that the animation was quite on spot whit the exceptions being some of the background ch when there was a big crowd but i didnt notice it that much. Score 8.5/10
Overall score 6.5/10 yes the score may fel low but in a slice of life serie i fell that the ch development is wheighing wery heavy.
Notice that this is my first ever review.
captjoe213
(updated 9/20/18 for format and slight content revision) Hi! Another Robert's Too Late Review coming down! As always, synopsis, minor spoilers maybe, yada, yada. Today we're going to be looking at the interesting case of Kanamemo. This anime is very interesting in that I discovered it via recommendations that don't really fit the style and type that this anime holds. I'll not deny my enjoyment of ecchi and yuri anime genres, and I came to Kanamemo via recommendations about it being one or the other. The thing is, only one character fits the ecchi side of things, and not in any kind of good way, andthe yuri aspects are limited to that same character we'll discuss, and a lesbian couple that are smaller parts of the overall cast. Let's talk about now, if this show works as a slice of life comedy, and about the overall series in general, and answer the age-old question as to if this anime rates a place on the Great Wall of RTLR fame.
Story: 7
I liked the story for the most part, which is firmly in the slice of life category, with the homeless Kana finding a place first to stay, then a place to call home, in the newspaper office. Most episodes deal with issues that Kana has to face and is framed around her speaking to her now deceased grandmother and assuring the woman's soul that she is learning to make it on her own. The episodes are for the most part self contained, maybe having slight references to the previous one, which of course is a common things among the slice of life genre. Some of the stories are simple, like going to the public bath for the first time, or the first time Kana weathers a bad storm and power outage with her coworkers, who tell ghost stories and scare Kana out of her wits. This bite sized set works well, and keeps the story from bogging down.
If you are looking for something meaty to hold your interest, then pass on, that's not to be found here. In fact there is room for them to have done more with the story than what was done. The Fate series, this is *not*. That's okay, as one doesn't have to have a Game-of-Throne-ish level of story complexity for enjoyment. Some people even prefer simpler, cleaner stories, believe it or not! What we get here is a young girl who faces a new problem at the beginning of each episode, and resolves it by the end with a hopeful prayer to her grandmother.
Art: 4
I did not care for the art form at all. The coloring is agreeable, but the style isn't my bag for sure. I can't put a single word down on the problem, just that the art doesn't seem as expressive as it could be, the lines are too simplistic for the most part, and this makes some of the supporting cast seem a bit wooden. I have heard complaints that the censored version featured overly large grey-out boxes in certain scenes. I have only the uncensored version to go by, but acknowledge that I'm aware of the issue, and that it's reported to be quite overblown, so I'll take the word of those that have reported on this, and pass it along for you guys that do watch the censored version.
Sound: 5
I agree with some of the other reviewers in that the voices are not very well done, and the younger girls' voices can sound strained and/or make you grimace as they are a bit overdone. Overall, some of them seemed to be going over the top, and the others weren't very good matches to the characters they portrayed. The musical aspect felt jarring to me, the themes not seeming like a fair fit to my ears. In fact, I usually skipped the songs.
Character: 6
Here we go. First off, the entire newspaper is ran by Saki, who appears to be a 10 year old girl. They all call her 'chief' though she is the chief's assistant, she's still the highest ranking character we have contact with. She's basically an adult (and a jaded one at that) in a little girl's body. It's a slightly humorous setup for the first few minutes, then the joke wears off. I think the choice to make Saki a child is because there were too many young adult/college aged cast members already, so they didn't want another, and to make Saki a possible target for Haruka. Otherwise she could easily been depicted much older without having to lose the hardnosed edge she has, and none of the 'boss humor' would stop working, like where she's often yelling "pay cuts for everyone!" This would not have been compromised by her being older.
Then we have Yumi and Yuuki, the resident lesbians and where I think some people came to think of this as an 'yuri' anime. These two are not overtly romantic beyond a few small measures such as momentary jealousy and such. They were often referred to being in the back in their room and being 'busy'. Considering they live in the same room, sex is the obviously implied event taking place. We are not party to any scenes with them that would show any part of this aspect between the two, nor do we see any real romantic growth between these two either. This is not a yuri anime. It is an anime that features a lesbian couple (and Haruka, we'll get to her) that are treated as normally as any other newspaper staff member.
Hinata is the real cheapskate of the group, being very stingy with her money most of the time. She's not a negative character, however, and is quite likeable in and of herself, just she's the resident money hoarder. I found her a little self centered and selfish, but at least that added a layer to her depiction. She's not a bad person, just a little more fleshed out than the quiet Yuuki of the lesbian couple who comes across as quite one dimensional.
Finally the elephant in the room, the college aged alcoholic perverted (and possibly pedophile) lesbian serial groper, Haruka. This girl is mainly drunk, VERY quick to sexually assault Kana, and even Saki herself. This gets bad enough that the other girls are required to come in and smack Haruka around to get her to stop her lecherous activities. The few times Kana is alone with Haruka, there is tension in the air, and Kana acts like she's kind of scared for her innocence if not her life. This is our ecchi character, and the only one to truly engage in lewd acts, hands all over breasts or butts as often as possible, and when she's not touching, she's fantasizing about sexual encounters with the younger girls. Haruka is played off comedic relief, but most of her actions just come across as utterly creepy.
I think I could have knocked the character score a bit more because of Haruka's hijinks, but I understand what they were trying to do; they were going for a silly pervert. They just failed, so it was clearly a bad idea.
Enjoyment: 7
I actually think this show is a bit more than the sum of its parts. Kana is sweet, and her overall story of coming to be self reliant and coming into fitting in with her new newspaper family are enjoyable. Saki is gruff, but even she's given an episode that shows her softer side. The characters are thin on attributes, but a lot of the time, they aren't really needed to be more than they are. I just can't find Haruka all that funny when she's drunkenly trying to grope a 10 year old girl.
I would cautiously recommend Kanamemo, as it comes together well enough. It has rough edges but if you can look past them, then its a sweet little slice of life with a positive message that life can go on even in the face of loss. I say give it a couple episodes before passing your full judgment on the series. I keep printed pictures of characters from every anime I enjoy on my bedroom walls, so I remember how much I liked those shows. I do recommend Kanamemo, but sadly, she did not make it on my wall.
ktulu007
Kansmemo is an anime from '09 based off of a manga by Iwami Shouko. It was brought to anime form by feel. One of the studios behind the 4th series of Galaxy Angel, which I'll get to eventually & the studio behind Oregairu. It's a shoujo-ai slice of life, so it should be pretty firmly within my area of expertise. Let's have a look. Story: The plot is simple enough. Young Nakamachi Kana loses her grandmother and finds herself without any relatives to look after her. Fortunately, she manages to find a job at a paper and it comes with boarding. It also comes with a bunch ofquirky co-workers, which results in either completely normal events or shenanigans. As a premise for a slice of life comedy, that's fine but the true test lies in the execution.
My big issue with the way the comedy is handled goes back to one of Kana's co-workers, Haruka. Haruka's comedic quirk is based around two things: She drinks a lot and she tries her utmost to molest little girls. That's the big "joke" with her. And it's not funny. At best, it comes across as uncomfortable and cringey. Haruka's big scenes are, by a wide margin, the worst part of this series.
That being said, a lot of the humour that ignores her character works pretty well and the series does have a lot of funny moments. It goes in some weird directions as well, like having a musical episode but it generally does it well. I also appreciate Kana's character arc as she becomes more secure and capable thanks to her determination and the help of those around her, besides Haruka who's just interested in groping the thirteen year old. Have I mentioned that Haruka is horrible
Characters:
The big flaw in the characters is probably obvious after the preceding discussion. I do have to say, Haruka isn't exactly a unique character type. She's reminiscent of Akane in Yuru Yuri or Kimura from Azumanga Daioh. The problem that Kanamemo encounters is that she's a much more prominent character than either of those two. You can go episodes without an appearance by Akane or Kimura. You can have episodes where they appear for maybe a minute and the rest of the episode is good. Haruka, in contrast, does something despicable in every single episode. Usually in longish segments.
That being said, there are some great characters in this too. We have the love birds, Yume & Yuuki. The two of them are consistently adorable. We also have Hinata, the stingy ronin who's trying to get her life together and has a bit of a clueless attitude when it comes to judging others. For example, there's a scene where she calls Yume out for being irresponsible. When really, Yume has things together pretty well, certainly better than Hinata. She's studying to be a pastry chef, she works hard, she has her bride lined up and their relationship dynamic is pretty well defined. She's just weird and can come across as childish. We also have Saki, the strangely serious "chief" of the newspaper, who also happens to be in grade school. Then there's Mika, an employee at a rival paper with a serious crush on Kana. What I like about her character is just what a genuine portrayal you get of a young teenager's awkward first love.
One thing I do appreciate about the characters in general is that they're shown as having goals and lives outside of the paper. Even Haruka is trying to become a sommelier. Although, in her case, that pretty much just translates to drinking a lot. I also like the way Kana's character arc and consequential development are handled. If you exclude Haruka, I also like the dynamics you get with the characters. They work well for comedic purposes and characterisation purposes.
All of these characters are shown as having positive aspects to their personalities, except Haruka and negative as well. Which helps make them a bit more rounded. For example, Saki can come across as cold and, possibly too serious, but she also displays genuine concern for her employees. Yume can be childish but she also has a kind heart and tries to bring joy to those around her. Yuuki can be possessive and needy when it comes to Yume but she's also a hard worker, loyal and she mitigates her jealous tendencies with understanding.
So, if Iwami can write characters this well, why did she just decide not to bother with Haruka? Inquiring minds want to know.
Art:
As a whole, the art is fine. It's not among the best I've seen, even for the genre, but it's passable. The big thing I don't really like about it is the way animals are drawn. They're portrayed with these tiny, button-like eyes that makes their faces look huge by comparison. Especially when it comes to dogs. One thing that's a bit interesting is that the series likes to censor out its potential fan-service with little cat pictures. Which is better than being fan-servicey, but it's also kind of bizarre.
Sound:
Feel did get some strong actresses for this. With excellent performances from Toyosaki Aki, Hirohashi Ryou, Kugimiya Rie, Endou Aya & Mizuhara Kaoru. Even with Haruka's actress, Horie Yui, I can't fault her performance. She does about as well as anyone could when voicing such a trash character. Hashimoto Yukari's music is good. Then again, she's done well in every series I've reviewed that used her music. So, no surprise there.
Ho-yay:
There is a lot and of greatly varying quality. Any time Haruka gets involved, it's awful. Yume and Yuuki are the opposite. These two are like really affectionate newly weds and they make for an adorable couple. Any time there's a scene of them lying in bed together, sneaking a kiss or just interacting, it's fantastic. There's also Mika's obvious feelings for Kana, Kana's friends even notice and use that fact to tease Mika, and some strong indications that they're reciprocated.
Areas of Improvement:
1. Get rid of Haruka. This one is really simple. Haruka single-handedly brings the series down. I would say there are two ways to go with this. The first is to just have one less major character. The second is to replace her with a not despicable character. Maybe a charming womanising girl who isn't a rapey paedophile.
2. Learn to draw animals. I just really don't like the way animal eyes are drawn in this.
3. Give us the scene where Mika learns that Johnny is a goldfish. This one, I just think would be really funny and probably cute. So, I'd like to see it. And I'm sure someone is going to say "oh, that's in the manga. Just read it." I intend to check the manga. I'd still like to see it animated.
Final Thoughts:
Kanamemo is one of those series that really works when it's doing what it's good at. Unfortunately, it also has a massive flaw that really hurts it. And her name is Haruka. Without her, I could say this was great, maybe even fantastic, and whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone who likes slice of life. With her, I have to pull back and say it's just okay. If you can tolerate Haruka in all her horribleness, you'll probably appreciate all the fun, charming moments it does have. And it may be worth watching just for the Yume and Yuuki scenes. So, I'll give it a 6/10.
Romie-chan
I downloaded this series to watch something funny, and I found more than what I was looking for. Kanamemo is jam packed full of moe with familiar characters and back stories. ~Story 8/10~ Kana's grandma dies leaving her all alone in this big scary world. When looking for a job and a place to stay she stumbles upon a group of weird chicks at a local newspaper business. She promptly skips this option and tries to look for other opportunities, but all either need her parents permission or have no living place available for her. Kana inevitably finds herself getting run over by one of the chicksof the freakish newspaper place, cementing her place in the household and the job.
The story felt a bit unique, but also familiar, a good combination for a comedy.
~Art 6/10~
The art is okay, but with a combination of constant bright colors and incomplete backgrounds, I often found myself getting blurry vision. The mouthing when a character speaks looks cheap and effortlessly drawn.
~Sounds 6/10~
There wasn't anything really remarkable about the sound. The characters sometimes sang songs, but that was mainly focused in one episode. One of my favorite voice actresses plays a supporting character, so that automatically makes me happier.
~Character 6/10~
The different types of characters is okay, I guess. They all seem familiar and predictable. A Yuri couple, a perverted drunk, an elementary kid (who is the smartest) that runs the local newspaper business, and an innocent girl who is often attacked with insults and perverted hands. The characters often fained ignorance and stupidity, I do believe there is a place where Dumb and Dumber makes a good comedy, but the scenarios that the characters have themselves put in are pretty damn childish. The characters also don't have much depth to them as well, it's like watching a elementary kid acting out a scene with cardboard figures that have little to no background.
~Overall 7/10~
Overall, I liked the show, I found myself laughing here and there, but the blurry vision thing really doesn't sit well with me. The moe was gushing from the seams and yet again, here is another show that is made purely for simple enjoyment.
There are pros and cons to this show, but it is worth giving a chance if you want to watch something that is mindless and somewhat repetitive.
~~Subs Used~~
CoalGirls
Fujaku
Slice-of-life anime have a tendency to get thrown to the side once they're done airing, unless if they were made by KyoAni and sometimes Shaft. Which is sad, as while they are plenty of boring slice-of-life shows, they are a whole lot of good ones too. Kanamemo is one of those. Based off of a manga by Iwami Shoko, who has done nothing else of note, and directed by Takayanagi Shigehito, who was also the director for the first two seasons of The World God Only Knows, it tells the tale of a girl named Kana. Her grandma, who was also her guardian died, anddue to the fact she apparently has no other living relatives, she is all alone. She flees her house when the movers begin moving stuff of her grandma out, fearing they will take her too, and ends up finding a job at a newspaper place that also offers room and board, giving her a place to stay. The other people working at this newspaper cafe are of course a group of eccentric girls, and the comedy begins.
Like the majority of slice-of-life anime, Kanamemo is a rather episodic show, with no true plot for it. One episode Kana is attempting to put on a perfect work smile, another all the girls want to go to the beach but can't as they all have different days off (doubled with the musical episode also. Don't see those too much in anime), and another episode has Kana believe one of the girls left the place and it also has them playing with sparklers and a meeting between two characters at a vending machine tacked on the end, because hey, they need to fill 23 minutes. Things are not purely comedy however, Kana just lost her grandma and her only family after all. However, all the drama is purely light and fluffy and works, but it's enough for the characters to develop a bit. Due to this, I consider Kanamemo to be more of a iyashikei or a healing-type slice-of-life show instead of a purely comedic one. Speaking of comedy, the show has nothing spectacular in that section, but nothing bad either. It did make me smile a lot and laugh like, twice I think. They are a few running gags that get annoying though, but even then they still aren't that bad.
You cannot talk about a slice-of-life show without the characters. There is of course Kana, who fulfills the role as the ditz in the cast, but it's actually used. Kana feels somewhat guilty a few times as she's not that good of a worker compared to the rest of the cast. But yeah, most of the times she's just another ditz, nothing truly special. Then there's Saki, who is somehow the boss of the place despite only being 10, younger than Kana. She is rather mature, typically has a deadpan snarker air about her, and seems to care a whole lot about her job. However, she is hinted to care more about the other workers more than she seems, and is actually called a tsundere at one point (though a character I'll discuss later fits the archetype much more). Then we have Hinata, an idiot who has failed her entrance exams 3 times and cares a whole lot about money. Then we have Yume and Yuuki, the yuri couple in this cast. Yume is always bright and happy and Yuuki is much more calmer, though does get jealous when Yume gets too close to another one of the cast members, but despite this they still manage to have a rather cute relationship. Now, all of these above cast members are good, but the final worker at the newspaper place is not very good. Haruka, who is a lolicon that loves to try and group Kana. Now, I wouldn't mind this, but this is literally the only element to her personality. It is taken to such extremes that Kana yells for her to stop- While the other members of the group do nothing but watch as Haruka more or less molests Kana. She takes away some of this show's purity and makes it more into otaku bait. Oh, and there's one more, Mika, who works at a rivaling newspaper company and is tsundere for Kana. Despite the fact she seems to be a rich girl, she is for some reason working at a newspaper company, which sort of makes no sense, but ah well.
Now, there is one more thing you need to know about this show- The censoring. Most of the censoring is done by these huge boxes with a picture of a cat on them (it's a slice-of-life show starring a bunch of cute girls, of course there's gonna be a cat in there). These boxes are humongous and whenever they appear on the screen they are distracting. And they're so big too, you can't see anything at all. At least make them a little smaller, or just find more better ways to censor. And some of the stuff they censor does get useless (Kana's pants rip, and they put a big huge cat box over the rip. Either she's not wearing any underwear, or the TV station that aired this was so paranoid they didn't want to get sued over seeing a young girl's panties or something like that, I don't know. The censorship gets in the way, is what I'm trying to say.
Besides that, the show is rather nice. Soundtrack is good enough, though the opening is an idol song of the dull variety instead of the catchy one and the ending theme I think I already forgot and I finished this like, 20 minutes ago, but besides that it's good. The animation is on-par from what you expect from slice-of-life shows, with a rather colorful color pallet in there. It looks cute at least.
Kanamemo is a good slice-of-life show. It has enough drama to make it relaxing but concentrates enough on comedy to not make it boring, unlike a few other iyashikei slice-of-life shows, like, say Tamayura (which suffers from a few other problems, but I'll review that some other time). While one annoying character and some nonsense censorship get in the way a little bit, it remains an entertaining show from beginning to end. A must-see for all slice-of-life fans.
liljames326
my main qualm is it got cheap. the first episodes were good start, then the anime got great, but at the end id say 9-13 it was just rushed, no story and good moments but overall crap. id say its about 6-7 for enjoyment overall because of the earlier episodes. so much i can see done but i hate very much when the producers take a good story and decent characters and turn them upside down in an attempt to finish what they started. Mika and Kana couldve been so much more, the yuri is actually slight aside from the underage perversions. but it couldhave been so much more. i wish it couldve been and i believe there could be a second season but i would hope the time would be invested equally in every episode with each one being fufilling instead of rushing it out.
