The manga going with this anime has had over 400,000 copies sold according to Wiki; and if I could get my hands on it anywhere, I’d be reading a manga right now, not writing a review. That alone should be saying something.
Now granted: I’m a sucker for classical literature. I love both the imagery and feeling that comes with poetry. I love Utakoi’s simple way of presenting them. Though I’m not always totally comfortable with this -really- liberal interpretation, this show has plenty to offer, and not only for literature geeks.
Each episode is based on a number of poems (usually two); but for those who now think this’ll be like the literature classes you took in high school and wish you’d never taken, think again. “Chouyaku Hyakunin Isshu: Uta Koi”, or in short “Utakoi”, doesn’t just slap poems in your face -- it interprets and presents them, and it presents them beautifully.
Granted: There is no particular storyline. As each episode is based on different poems, each episode also provides a different and quite short story. These stories in themselves, however, are little treats. Full of romance, humour, tragedy, conflicts, melancholy, and enough weirdness to hold the attention of practically everyone even half-interested in romantic stories. Also, its historical feel proved to be quite interesting to me; and it’s easily understandable -- even if you slept through all your history classes, you’d be able to follow easily, though a few things might be alienating to modern viewers. How the anime manages to keep up its historical feel is a mystery to me, seeing as it doesn’t even stick to chronology in particular. ^^" Each episode could stand alone, though they do tie into each other neatly if you care to watch them in order… well, at least during the anime’s two self-contained halves. The “halves” are basically eps 1 through 5 and 7 through 13; these parts deal with different time periods and obviously very different poets. Episode 6… is supposed to be a transition, but is pretty much weirdness and goofball behaviour only. Unless you really need to brighten your day with some stupidity, I’d say it can be forgotten. ^^"
With poetry as its background theme and base, the story becomes interesting and rich, breathing life into ancient poems that, if read alone, can become profoundly confusing; it shows just how human the composers of this poetry were, and how the poems could have come to life. As such, it does a great job examining not only the characters’ individual, though most likely fictional, traits, but also displaying the historical frame quite well. The small stories might be a little liberal in their interpretation, or might move a little fast at points, but they’ve also got their definite charm, emotion, drama, humour, and here or there even philosophical touches.
There’s little time to actually allow empathising with the characters, but emotions get across easily, and some situations stay relatable throughout the times; doubting one’s own choice when feeling one has been forced to make that choice is only human, after all. At the same time, however, the whole thing does stay very true to history in some things, and some women’s passivity and/or attitude may send not only today’s feminists squirming. (*stops herself from ranting*)
That aside, the characters themselves are individuals, easily distinguishable, and most of them are quite lovable. Relationships may move a little fast at points (an episode’s time IS limited after all…), but they’re interesting enough, and the characters act naturally. Their interaction isn’t special if you consider the time setting and genre of this anime, but there’s emotional moments just as well as funny ones. Dialogue in general is easy to follow with its poetic moments and quite good flow overall. The poetry included adds depth and context to just about any scene, and the voice acting is well-done. The only thing that may feel out of place is that at some moments, characters may use contemporary slang. I counted barely a handful of those moments, and for me, they didn’t take away from the overall entertainment at all, but it has to be said my Japanese is far from being good.
As for the technical aspects, first to note would be that the music is everything but Heian (time period this anime’s set in). Considering that, the opener and most of the background music fit oddly well, but the ending theme’s the odd one out -- saying, it can feel very out of place in follow-up to the anime’s short stories.
The artwork, in contrast, is gorgeous, reminiscent of old Japanese woodblock prints, and more than fitting. Patterns can be very stylised (clouds, rain, snowflakes, …), and outlining is far thicker than is usual, but the effect is stunning nonetheless, especially hand in hand with the rich and detailed colouring. Character design in general is distinguishing; a few characters can only be told apart by hair style/colour and/or eye colour, but I’ve seen worse in that regard. Costumes are comparably true to history and a feast for the eye in both pattern and colour.
The animation, however, has its hiccups. It is far above average, and it can be quite detailed when it tries; but the most obvious (and quite annoying) fault is how costumes don’t seem to shift with the characters. Traditional clothing may not allow for much free movement, but if there is movement and the clothing pattern doesn’t go with it, it does look odd after all.
As for the entertainment -- if you’re in for something a little different, as long as you aren’t looking for action or the most suspenseful mystery, “Utakoi” certainly isn’t a waste of time. It’s interesting, and not only for poetry geeks; it’s easy both on the eyes and the mind; the characters are lovable with some depth to them; there’s emotion, drama, tragedy, conflicts, some light humour, and of course the inevitable romance. And that there’s poetry involved doesn’t take away from that at all. In fact, some of the more heavy-hitting moments stem exactly from how and when the poems come into the picture.
There are some anachronisms; and there certainly is no intriguing, overarching plot. I could also do without Fujiwara no Teika’s being-a-goofball at the beginning of each episode. But nonetheless, this anime to me has its charm. I love history, and I love poetry. That’s the one thing. The other is the sheer presentation of these poems, most of which will probably be unknown to most Westerners, and how this anime breathes life into literature from centuries ago. If you’re looking for something soft that leaves the beaten path, or if you like me are a literature geek, I can only assure you this is a treat.
Cheers. ^_^ (
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