People are probably pretty annoyed by my anime reviews. I know why too… I don’t research them. That’s fine, you can be annoyed, but I review it as I’ve come to watch it. Since I didn’t know anything about it prior to watching the episode, I write the review that way. That’s going to be the case here with The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan. I might say something or guess at something that others already know because they’ve researched it or have a past experience with it in another art form. And that’s fine. That’s great, but instead of being annoyed that I didn’t spoil the show for myself, let’s pretend for a moment that we’re friends. I’d like to think we are anyway since we have no reason not to be. But let’s say we’re really good friends and you want me to watch the show.
If you can do that, then this review will work in two different ways depending on your exposure to The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan. In one way you’re a friend seeing my reaction to something you’ve already enjoyed and you’re watching my ups and downs with it. You’re reading my thoughts on something that you’ve had thoughts on as well. We’re sharing an experience and that’s one of the few great things about the internet. On the other hand if you haven’t watched the show and have no exposure to it much in the way I didn’t before watching the episode, then I’m the friend telling you about it. You should be able to gleam from that if you’d like to watch it and hey, that’s how friendships go. Sometimes you like the same things, other times you wonder why someone dislikes the very things that made you like it.
This is still a review though; I’m going to talk about what’s in the episode, what worked, what didn’t and everything else that comes with it. But now you have context and maybe then you won’t hate the fact that I didn’t research this property before writing this review. Instead I talked about it the way I experienced and hopefully that’s a bit more pure than ruining it for myself just to get some facts tacked on and checked.
Now as for the episode, it’s interesting. The thing that stood out to me the most about The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan, was the tone. While it comes across as a cute high school drama/comedy, there’s this sense that it could become serious and almost dark at any given moment. Maybe that vibe just comes from the artwork or the title which doesn’t make any sense based on what I witnessed in this episode. But I liked that. I liked not knowing if it was going to turn on me. I think it will because with just one episode they managed to make me care about and like every character introduced. I already feel like I know them even if I know little about them.
The story follows Haruhi Suzumiya (just looking up the name spoiled something for me so I’m disappointed in myself by the way). She’s a purple haired girl and the leader of the literature club. A club that basically reads books. She’s in the club with her friend and her love interest. The episode is basically spent with her appreciating the club and showing some interest in the boy and her friend encouraging the both of them to get together.
There’s comedy. There’s angsty teen moments and there’s this overwhelming sense of heart throughout out it all. Haruhi is kind of clumsy and hard on herself, but she’s wonderful at the same time. She’s a very interesting character and really if this was any other anime, she wouldn’t be the lead. Perhaps that’s why I found her interesting.
The art work is amazing. At times I really thought I was watching an OVA or even a theatrical movie. The line work, the way the animation flowed was all top-notch. I was very impressed. The coloring though, that’s what takes the cake. I don’t know if there’s another anime released this week that can compare to the coloring here, but I can think of a few close contenders. The coloring makes everything look very realistic, even Haruhi’s light purple hair.
I’m honestly pretty sad that I spoiled some of this for myself just by looking up a name. I was already looking forward to more, but I’ll definitely be sticking around if only to find out what exactly the title is referring to. Because it kind of defies genres it’s difficult to recommend it based on something else, that is to say, “if you like blank, you’ll like this.” I would say that if you like great stories, detailed and relatable characters with fantastic artwork… then you should absolutely check out The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan.
Score: 5/5
The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan 1.1 Official Website