Hello everyone,
Let's go ahead with another review. This time we'll review a nice, but unfortunately forgotten manga/anime series that aired some years ago (and got well two seasons), but somehow got forgotten or never watched by most of the anime community.
Its name is Himawari and is based over an original work by GoDo.
Let's start with a synopsis :
Himawari Hinata recently transfered to Shinobi Gakuen to train to become the best kunoichi she can be. She wanted to be a ninja ever since she was saved by one when she was little. On her first day, she meets Hayato Madenokoji (a new transfer teacher) who saves her life. Hayato does not possess any ninja skills or traits, he is teaching the ninjas about normal society to pay off his debt. However, Himawari notices that Hayato bears the same mark on his neck as the ninja who saved her when she was young.
This series follow most of the classic clichè to deliver a romantic comedy based on ninja girls and is quite successfull at it.
The story is pretty simple and the plot mostly non-existant with fun, but completely random episodes following our teacher trying to survive in the middle of a crazed ninja town full of weird legends/people.
I loved to watch how the poor Hayato tries to fight to survive in the ninja village while trying at the same time to save money (by not eating sometimes) and I can somehow relate and care for him.
My favourite episode? Well likely the romantic one involving the taboo love between a male and female ninja in the two separate academy in that area with all the twists and "sad" ending that it get.
Also nice are almost all the scenes involving Hinata as with her innocence end up making more problem than anything else.
The characters are few, but well distinct and you'll get to know them after just a couple of episodes. There is no growth in the characters, but that's expected from a comedy focused series.
My favourite character is Hinata Himawari, with both her physical appearance and personality. (that somehow reminds me of Yui Hirasawa from K-On, I don't know why)
There are also some other funny character in the series like the silent kunoichi-in-training Tsukiyohime that appear from nowhere wearing traditional clothes and giving advice to the various characters (while eating her always present Miso Soup) and many others.
The graphical quality of the series is pretty high (I liked the girls design and style) even thought the animation was sometimes lacking resulting in some weird scenes here and there.
The sound quality is top notch with many famous seiyuu like Aya Hirano in Shikimi's role, Ryouko Shiraishi in Azami's role, and many others.
I also loved the ending song which I hear even now named "Guruguru~Himawari ver.~" sung by eufonius (the animation of the ED featuring the four seasons is wonderfully done)
This isn't a masterpiece, that's for sure, but it is anyway a good series and a suggested one for anyone looking for some clichè comedy with sparkle of romance here and there.
That's all for now.
See you soon,
feal87