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Another PS2 game conversion - or at least, that's the impression I get
from the credits - that takes a slightly different spin on the 'summer
romance'. Is Natsuiro no Sunadokei different enough to stand out from a fairly bland crowd?
1 - The Truth Buried in Sand
Koutarou should really pay attention when he's in the middle of a
boxing match - in his most recent bout, he was too busy dreaming of a
girl & ended up getting flattened. After the fight, though, he has
a renewed ambition to confess to the girl of his dreams - Kaho. A bad
move on his part is persuading childhood friend Ai (who wouldn't mind
having Kautarou for herself) to deliver his love letter. Not that he
gets to find out what happened - a run-in with a strange girl leaves
him feeling unwell, and when he wakes up 'next day', his summer break
is already over - and Kaho is dead. From there, things just keep
getting stranger - and it's all the fault of Ligene, a 'time patroller'
from the future. It's her job to correct irregularities in time, and
she's here to prevent Kaho's death...
2 - For That Eternal One Second
Koutarou's still working to save Kaho - no matter what Ligene tells him
to do, though, Kaho's future remains bleak. He's still jumping about
through time, too. This time, it's the summer festival at the nearby
temple, giving him an opportunity for some quality time with Kaho (much
to Ai's disgust). A run-in with Kaho's father threatens to bring their
relationship to an end, though, so in a last attempt to change the
future, Koutarou writes all that has happened in a letter to Kaho, and
entrusts Ai to deliver it - which turns out to be a possibly fatal
mistake...
High-school romance anime is one of the most common genres there is,
and a lot of them are so bland that they put you to sleep when you
watch them. The time-travel aspect of Natsuiro no Sunadokei
provides enough of a twist that you do manage to stay awake - keeping
the story to only two episodes doesn't do any harm there, either.
Surprisingly given all the girls on offer here, it also manages to
steer well clear of turning into a harem show, too - Kaho is very much
Koutarou's one-and-only. It's refreshing to not have to deal with 101
mis-understood situations and all the other 'seen it all before' scenes
that usually go with this sort of show.
Having steered well clear of most of the possible pitfalls, the show
then goes on to provide an enjoyable, if not outstanding, story. With
any show involving time-travel, there's always going to be
opportunities to nitpick at plotholes (and there are any number of
'easier' ways to save Kaho than what are used here, for anyone who
wants to spend the time thinking of them), but that's kinda ignoring
what the show is - a sweet little love story that's not really intended
to be deep or meaningful.
Overall, then, this is a good way of wasting an hour if you've got
nothing better to do - nothing earth-shattering, but does what it sets
out to do. |
