kimikiss pure rouge is turning out to be surprisingly realistic, thoroughly enjoyable, and almost Shinkai-sque in terms of endearment. I’ve come to the conclusion that the multiple main character approach employed is working for rather than against it, contrary to what I’ve heard: those who’ve played the game have reportedly been upset about the decision to split it rather than have the one guy go through all the girls before settling down with one like every other harem anime out there.

You know there’s something inexcusably wrong when fans would rather settle for an approach that’s been done to death and worn to bits so many times. Do we really have to settle for second-best just for the sake of adhering rigidly to the source’s structure? Not if the director of kimikiss has his way about it.

What I liked about this episode was how it’s finally revealing its hand, showing the way it’s playing out the theme of distance — not the tragic romance, almost idealistic, explored-to-death by Shinkai distance, but a distance much closer to home that we can all relate to; whether it’s the hesitant attraction of a shy couple, aloof and distant partners, or even a dream being lived out through another, it’s not a far stretch of the imagination, and I’m liking it.

I don’t know what’s worse, really — finding out that a show you thought sucked actually becomes quite decent a few episodes later on, or realizing that the promising premise that a show kicks off with was nothing but smoke and mirrors. After watching sola 02 & 03 I think it’s developing into one of the latter, and I might be wrong, as I was before, but this definitely looks like Harem For Dummies.

my eyes were doing a Limp Bizkit at this point. you know, ROLLING ROLLING ROLLING.

While we’re on the topic, let’s not forget how comparing what was meant to be an hour-long (perhaps one and a half, two?) play to a television series adaptation spanning a likely 26 episodes, is ridiculous. I mean, ridiculous on a scale of comparing all twelve volumes of Death Note to the two 45+ minute movie adaptations and gnashing your teeth while going “THEY TOTALLY SHAFTED THE FANS, I WANT MY MELLO/NEAR/OBSCURE SIDE CHARACTER/ANIME-EXCLUSIVE YAOI FOOT WASHING SCENE”. So let’s not get into that.

Since we’re going for the jugular, why not stop too with the Gonzo bashing for a second to realise that, shock and horror: judging an anime based on its predecessors’ performance, and the animation studio responsible for said predecessors, is pretty dumb. No, maybe exceedingly blind is a better way of putting it. If you thought the KyoAni fans were bad enough, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you a victim of shoddy plot, form over function, exceedingly short-sighted expectations, and jaded cynicism — the Gonzo hater.