Hello everyone,
Today we'll talk about a series based on an original romance/historical work by the same artist/writer of Gosick set in a 19th century Paris named Ikoku Meiro no Croiseè that is currently airing in Japan. (Just finished to watch the first episode)
Before proceeding let's go with a warning...This series contains enough sugary cuteness to make you fall in love with the protagonist girl straight from the first couple of minutes of the series, so be aware before watching it!
Let's start with a synopsis :
During the second half of the 19th century, Europe became intrigued by the Japanese culture. A Japanese girl named Yune travels to France, where she started working in the lower parts of a town in Paris at a craft store called Enseignes du Roy. She and the store owner named Claude communicate with each other in order to get over their cultural differences. This is the story of Yune's stay in Paris.
Ok, from synopsis, first episode and information around the web, the story looks like it will be very slice-of-life for most of the run except for maybe a story burst right at the end to reach the happy end conclusion that this kind of series always have.
The first episode was downright excellent, it has been quite some times from the last time I've saw such a well produced story in a slice of life format. The premise is simple, but the execution of it is simply wonderful.
The whole concept of "not understanding each other while talking in French" (even if proven wrong in the end of the episode) was well played even if a little hard to understand (as they were actually talking Japanese and not really French)
The two main characters, Yune and Claude, are both charming enough to get your attention and it looks like their relationship will grow slowly over the episodes while Yune adapt herself to the new city. No mention is done of the other two girls in the series, but it looks like at least one of them will likely assume the role of love rival with Yune over Claude attentions.
The Yune character is well defined into this first episode as an hard working and humble girl with a terribly cute voice/body style, not much is shown of her past that will likely become object of talk in a future backstory episode.
One thing is for sure, at the moment the atmosphere around this series remind me a lot of the Tamayura OVA, with a fuwa fuwa world, all to be explored by our Yune. (But knowing the author will likely darken itself toward the end to create a drama climax before the happy end)
I'll be following closely this series as I see a great potential so we may return to talk over it in the future again.
See you soon,
feal87