Natsuiro Kiseki – 08

Saki packs up the things in her room as the moving day nears. The group decides to visit the place where she’s moving, which is technically Tokyo but in reality it’s Hachijo-jima, 178 miles from the city proper. Saki’s dad tries to reassure her, but she has distressing dreams in which her friends can’t see or hear her. They soak in a couple of Tokyo sights before boarding the overnight ship, which they run around until lights out, when they huddle under a blanket. Yuka gets seasick, and if the waves get too rough, the ship will turn around. In the morning, though, the clouds are gone and Hachijo is in sight. Natsumi finds Saki on the deck and confronts her about whether moving is what she wants.

Every episode of Natsuiro Kiseki has had some form of supernatural phenomenon brought on by the wishing rock…until now. Even so, this may be the best episode yet, capturing the excitement and adventure of a voyage, exentuating how that journey can be the destination. To Rinko and Yuka, it’s enough that it’s an adventure with their good friends. But to Saki, it’s almost a dry run for her actual move, since they decided to visit her home in “Tokyo”, which is actually the most southern and isolated of the Izu Islands, which are indeed administrated by Tokyo. Moving from one’s friends is always tough, and it’s definitely starting to sink in for Saki, now that she’s packed everything in her bedroom away (making her sudden awakening from an unsettling dream in the empty, lonely room all the more unnerving). The episode perfectly captures the bubbly sense of awe one gets from visiting a great city for the first time, as the Tokyo Tower and Rainbow Bridge make brief cameos.

Despite it’s distance, Hachijo-jima is still Tokyo. Despite not wanting to move at all – signifying a difference of intent with her father, for whom working on an island is his dream – Saki is willing to submit to her father’s wishes, not wanting to hurt or disappoint him by voicing her discontent with the decision to move. Natsumi picks up on this; it’s Saki’s M.O. to just “live” with things she believes she can “do nothing about”. Natsumi insists Saki fight for what she wants, and if she doesn’t, then Natsumi will do it for her. The island is a gorgeous paradise at first glance (and in the preview), but the first local they encounter (who has to rescue an un-stretched Yuka from the sea) takes an instant dislike to the “mainlanders”, unaware Saki may be a future neighbor. This was an all-round brilliant and beautiful episode, and we can’t wait for the conclusion.

Rating: 9 (Superior)

Natsuiro Kiseki – 01

Natsumi, Yuka, Saki, and Rinko have been inseparable for years, but Saki and Natsumi have a bad falling-out when Saki’s family plans to move away and she doesn’t tell anyone. Yuka and Rin trick them into meeting at the rock on temple grounds where the four of them made a wish years ago which came true. When Rinko idly wishes to fly, the other three wish the same thing and end up suspended hundreds of feet in the air. When they return to earth, Saki stalks away, but the fact remains, a miracle occured that day.

AnoHana was our second-favorite series of 2011 partly because it so effortlessly and seamlessly combined elements of drama, coming-of-age, slice-of-life, with a light sprinkling of the supernatural. That’s similar to what we get here. You have a grouping of old friends, swept up in time and circumstances that wreak havoc on their friendships. There’s Natsumi the serious jock with the carrot top; Yuka the raven-haired goof; Rin(ko) the quiet pinkhead, and Saki, the blonde sourpuss. As they’ve grown older Saki and Natsumi in particular drifted apart, perhaps because they never really got along as well as the other two members of the gorup, or perhaps because the women they’re growing up to be just aren’t compatible personalities.

Whatever the case, the group’s sudden and unexpected flight will definitely plant a seed in everyone’s head about just what’s possible with their wishing stone…or not. When the magic was over, Saki seemed unimpressed on the surface, while Yuka and Rin’s sense of wonder was tempered by their exasperation at not being able to get through to their pessimistic friend. But on the whole, we liked what we saw in this opening episode. There’s lots of really well-drawn and detailed facial expressions, and lots of great voice talent that really breathes life into the characters. This definitely looks to have more drama conflict than, say, Tamayura ~hitotose~, but likely less over supernatural content than AnoHana, and plenty of lovingly-depicted slice-of-life.

Rating: 7 (Very Good)