Anime 23579 12-sai

The first few minutes of this short may give the impression that this is another cheesy romance story aimed at the tween-age audience. The main character is excited about being “grown-up”, and yet we adults know those in the tween-age years really aren't as grown-up as they think. Something to keep in mind is that in the mind of many kids in their tween-years they are “grown-up” – meaning they're no longer little kids, but not yet adults either. This time period is a complicated time period of discovery for this age group.

That is one of the charms of this particular short – it manages ... to capture the complicated feelings of a tween as they start the transition from being a child to being an adult. The work also covers other subjects that result from that including many of the peer issues this age group does in fact have to deal with, and it manages to do so in such a short period of time. I felt more drawn to that, then I did the actual romance aspect. The ending for the piece wrapped everything up nicely as well.

The art work on the other hand isn't much to write home about. I think one of the things that stood out to me was the fact I've seen this style used in so many shows that I didn't feel it stood out. The only time it did was when the artists depicted the characters feeling bummed out, and I personally feel there is a better way to portray that feeling then the way they did. On the flip side it's not ugly art except for that point either.

The sound for the music fit the piece as well and was pleasant to listen to. Again though it didn't stand out. The voice acting though had a nice blend, and worked for the characters.

I felt the characterization was spot on – this is how kids in their tween-years act. In some ways it is sad as some of the behaviors are bothersome, but it also reflects the fact they are growing up. I think that this is a major pointer for the piece. There is also the fact they don't over exaggerate the stereotypes used. Hamana Kokoa for example could easily have ended up being like Koshiro Miya from the Yumeiro Patissiere series.

Ultimately I enjoyed picking up the piece despite the fact I expected it to be a typical fluff piece. The reason for this is because the characterization was accurate for the age group, nor was I forced to suspend my disbelief for this piece. There is also something heart warming about the piece as well.

My scoring of this show might seem weird at first but you should be able to see why soon. this super short story is adorable in its presentation however it is so very realistic in its storytelling. The story involves a class of 12 year olds and they react and do things you would expect from 12 year olds. the main point i liked about this anime was that the relationship was one of the most realistic i have seen. as they don't understand the real meaning behind a kiss there is no faffing about with the development. as kids normally do they say they ... love another person quickly and there relationship develops at a quick pace usually ending quickly also. this is presented outstandingly within this show. This really is a quick review for a quick show but i loved it.

With a 14 minute run time there isn't much to go off of, but it is still a significant amount of time to do something right. Hard to review something that's 14 minutes without any spoilers, but trust me it won't really matter either way.

Story: 2

Boy meets girl, other boys are asses. Her classmate also likes said boy and is trying to manipulate the two of them apart when they were assigned a lesson together. Cliched as hell. The merit this story had was lost on the fact that these are 12 year olds doing stupid shit in front of their teacher, and the teacher ... not once intervenes. Even when the whole class is up in the middle of a presentation and blaming each other for messing up on purpose as part of some conspiracy against the boys for being jerks. It literally just portrays her as not even being in the room its ridiculous and there is nothing here for anyone outside of kids falling in love over something meaningless.

Art: 3

HOLY SHIT WHAT ARE, oh those are your eyes I thought those were some flesh eating parasites clinging to your face, my bad.

Shoujo art at its worst, I mean seriously I understand they are kids, but there is a freaking limit on how big eyes can get before its just stupid. Oh and don't forget that this is a 14 minute OVA with fucking stills. Yeah mind as well have went with manga 2.5 or some shite because that was just appalling.

Sound: 3

Not much to say barely any music, voices are OK, and that's about it, you won't get much from here.

Character: 3

They are plain. It's 14 minutes not much to play off of here so I can forgive them for this a bit, but still they are just what you'd expect. And their teacher is a complete dumb ass that just doesn't give a flying fuck what her students do in the middle of class, really responsible...

Enjoyment/Overview: 4/3

This isn't the worst thing I've seen, but it could've been. It was short so sitting through it wasn't so bad, but five minutes in and I felt like it had been a half an hour already. This was a very bad attempt at making something that was short and told a legitimate story. Not much here for anyone and would never recommend unless I hated you, seriously don't waste your time. If it wanted to be good or in the very least mediocre they would have been better of going with 3 min episodes instead and have better fucking animation. THIS WAS 2014 PEOPLE SERIOUSLY.