Timotei reviews: Kodomo no Jikan

Pedobear do want.

Oooh...um....yeah...I....wow. Yeah, let's go with that. Wow!

I knew this was going to be an interesting anime when it was recommended to me by Encyclopedia Dramatica (bonus points for having heard about it from the Pedobear article), however I was in for a shocker to just how "interesting" it was, and I do not mean that in a sarcastic manner. It's interesting in the sense of watching Zippocat. Sure it's a bit disgusting and you kind of want to gag at moments, however you can't help but watch it all the way through.

The most interesting thing is that the anime had been considered to be scrapped due to it's content. This is coming from the same nation that introduced anime to the world, made it a cultural phenomenon, then made it into porn, then turned it into porn involving tentacle monsters, then turned it into porn involving the mutilation of people, and then put it on a format so it was readily available to anyone who was willing to fork out a few to fulfill their fetishes; and they had second thoughts about Kodomo no Jikan? Seriously. The other interesting thing is that neither the manga or the anime will ever see a North American release due to the content (it was going to be published under the name of Nymphet, but was scrapped).

I'm a bit hesitant to say I liked this series as that would make me seem like a lesbian pedophile in a normal conversation, however it did strike me as a nice gem among school dramas (if it was a real gem, it would be Aquamarine as compared to Diamond). It presented itself with a very mature yet childish sense of humor that you kind of feel disgraced for laughing at, followed by an above average storyline which brings up a centuries old philosophical question of what constitutes maturity. I'm not quite sure whether the last part was intentional, or if it was like the Kubelwagen and was discovered to possess the ability to float some time after it was produced (I'll go with the second possibility since it has an analogy). Kodomo no Jikan may not be a very long series (only 12 episodes, a 3 episode OVA, and the Kuro-chan and Shiro-chan special), but it does pack quite a lot of story, background, and all the other things that make a good show into small package, like a jelly-filled doughnut hole (except the jelly is slightly bitter with a nice after taste)

Screens like this take up about 36% of the show

Overview

Kodomo no Jikan, like many other animes "of the now" is based around school life, however this one separates itself into one of the smaller categories of school animes by taking the perspective of the teacher; but not just any teacher, a 3rd grade teacher. The teacher is a recent college graduate named Daisuke Aoki, a 23 year old n00b whose matching coat and tie scream out to you that he has yet to get laid. He's nice, cordial, overly professional, and sports an attitude that will instantly be crushed under the pseudo-anime reality that is elementary school. Our fresh meat has been hired to replace Nakamura, the previous teacher for classroom 3-1. He arrives at his classroom door with a feeling of confidence and opens it without hesitation, only to see a room full of half-naked 3rd graders. Cue intro.

Fortunately for Daisuke the class is somewhat tame in the beginning and shows some enthusiasm towards having a new teacher. However, this all goes to hell when one of his female students, Rin Kokonoe, decides to declare herself his girlfriend since he had seen her naked already. Following this, everything is driven deeper into hell and it takes the interruption of a bespectacled woman named Sae Shirai (let's just call her Glasses Bitch) to restore order. While taking attendance Daisuke comes to notice the consistent absence of a student named Mimi Usa, which is thankfully solved in the same episode instead of dancing around the issue for half the show (That's a 2/10 already). We also meet Kyoko Hoin, who seems to be the only adult in the show with a set of tits, and Kenta Oyajima (but for the sake of his appearance, let's just call him by some random name. Brock sound nice?). Hoin plays Daisuke's potential love interest who has a crush on him that would dwarf the Tokyo Tower, while Kenta...well...never seems to leave his desk and dispenses useful advice like the couch man from Half-Baked.

Drunk teachers? Impossible!
IMPOSSIBLE I SAY!!!

Following this is one of the more despicable scenes in the series that would have Roman Polanski unzipping his trousers. Daisuke gets his finger cut by a cat and Rin tries to make it better by kissing fellating it. When I saw this, I about threw up in my mouth. The first school day ends shortly after this. Hoin comes up to Daisuke and hands him a math book. Inside said book are many writings by Rin and her equally as evil friend Kuro Kagami. Rin, who had been spying on him since Hoin gave him the book, decides to rattle his cage a bit and explains that Mimi decided not to show up due to Nakamura's teasing.

Here Rin and Kuro seem to display a very high level of intelligence and resemble vengeful adults more than 8 year olds. After this incident Daisuke decides to visit Mimi's home and have a one-on-one chat with her. He is able to convince her to come back to school and befriends her. Like I mentioned earlier, this problem never rears it's ugly head again, as the first episode makes damn sure that this Amuro-flavored faggotry bullshit is taken out behind the shed to have two large caliber rounds put through it's whiny skull. The problem still shows some signs of life some time later, to which the show responds by indiscriminately ________________________________________________________________killing it with fire.

Rin's newly found hatred of Daiskue is also dragged behind the shed and killed in the same way. Rin tries to save a cat which has perched itself on a rather high up branch. Kuro runs to tell Daisuke that Rin is in trouble and him and Hoin come to the rescue. The branch that Rin is on breaks and she plummets back towards the ground, to which Daisuke makes a quick dive to save her, only to be knocked out in the process. This is when one of the more important parts of the story comes to light. After looking at an unconscious Daisuke, images of a woman who from the resemblance we can guess is her mother, Rin has a freak out and begins shouting at him not to die that is cut off by the typical audio fade out. There is a rather soft violin score that accompanies this which perfectly sets the tone for the scene. The episode ends on a happy note and all is well. It was about this time I was ready to close the window to watch another episode, though I was a little slow and ended up hearing the ending theme, which is about the best I have ever heard and kicks some serious fucking ass. If it was a physical being, it would have put my head through a fucking wall and laughed at my disorientation at its sheer awesomeness. I strongly believe this should have been the OP instead of the other one.

THE GAME. They lost it.

The following episodes advance the plot very slowly with a few brief moments where it cranks the accelerator back. We learn very early on in episode 2 that Kuro has a thing for Rin, but Rin doesn't consider Kuro more than a good friend, which crushes her like an empty beer can. This little lesbian loli crush does show itself at several moments throughout the series and it's quite humorous to see a demon child get what she has coming. Mimi is also presented with a problem that comes in the form of her rather large bust size for an 8-9 year old. The series takes a rather serious turn with Episode 6, which takes a rather quick 24 minutes to give us a little back story on Reiji, Rin's cousin and guardian. Reiji had apparently endured a childhood of abuse at the hand of his father and the despicable lack of action from his mother. They both end up dying in a car crash and Reiji moves in with his cousin Aki and a very young Rin. The two look shockingly similar, the only difference being that Rin's hair is a hell of a lot longer. Reiji goes from being a cooped up room dweller to a productive member of society. Things get a bit creepy here when both Reiji and Aki end up falling for each other (I guess every nation has rednecks). This is a rather heart warming episode until about halfway through when we learn that Aki has stage two lung cancer. Things start to slide downhill from there and the slope only gets steeper. Aki decides to spend the last few days at home so she can be with Rin. Reiji one day returns home only to find a room full of cranes which Rin has folded and placed all around Aki, who has passed away and left a note saying "I'm sorry". There have only been a few animes that have made me cry, and this is one of them. This rather solemn episode does end on a happy note however.

Your expression while watching this show.

From here the show takes another anticlimactic dive back into the normal routine of sex jokes, Daisuke being tormented at the hands of three girls, and Hoin's hilariously failed attempts at getting onto Daisuke's c**k. The next few episodes after that exist only to give you a few lulz and AWWW moments. Nothing real shocking happens until about episode 10 when Rin's playful misdemeanor turns into blackmailing and a violent desire to be Daisuke's lover. This moment really shined through for me as Rin suddenly adopts a very adult and mature attitude (more so than before). Daisuke at first thinks it's her just being a delinquent until he sees how Reiji treats her, which like a woman, not a girl, causing her to rapidly mature and make her believe she is 10-20 years older than she really is. This is when the classic question of age:maturity is posed. We also learn that Daisuke has also lived a very normal and bland life, which explains his inability to deal with the class throughout the series. The climax of the series happens after this, as a situation occurs which puts Reiji in a slasher villain craze to keep Rin out of contact with her friends and Daisuke. Things work out alright in the end and Reiji sort of matures.

Dialogue

The voice acting is actually very good. Junji Majima (known forever to me as Ryuuji Takasu from Toradora) was an excellent choice to play a distressed teacher and you can really sense his feelings of dismay or annoyance. There are several very skilled actors in fact. We have Eri Kitamura [Ami Kawashima (Toradora), Saya Otonashi (Blood+)], Tomokazu Sugita [Mother...fucking...Kyon (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya), Hideki Motosuwa (Chobits)], Yoko Somi [Dominique the Cyclops (Trigun), Tommy (Astro Boy)], and Yuri Amano [Rain Mikamura (Mobile Fighter G Gundam), Kiyone Makibi (Tenchi Muyo!)], all of whom put on a stellar performance.

As for the writing, there isn't much to say about it. The dialogue between the characters is actually quite funny but tends to milk the sex jokes a little too much. The writers also had the brilliant idea of covering up certain words with sound effects. Sometimes it will be a barking dog or the chirp of a bird, but whatever it is it has you wondering exactly what was said and leaves you to fill the blanks.

Is dat sum CP?

Sound

Since this isn't a fighting or mecha series, effects don't really seem to have the importance that they would in a series such as Mobile Suit Gundam 00 or Neon Genesis Evangelion. Most of the sounds are ones you'd hear in a usual day at school, however they are quite clear.

The music on the other hand takes the stage here. The selection of songs is actually quite varied and each is used to perfectly convey the emotion of the situation.

Art

The art is quite good. Attention has been payed to everything. I've felt like a fucking parrot for the last few reviews just endlessly spouting off praise for the art, sound, and other shit, but I cannot find many things wrong with any of them. I guess I'm going to have to find another shitty series to follow this one up and break this accursed combo of praise.

Final Comments

Like I said before, I'm a bit hesitant to openly say I loved this series, but I do like it very much. To me it is one to the more perfect examples of quality over quantity. Yes, I'm referring to you Naruto, Bleach, and Gundam SEED.

I find it sad that such a great series will never see a North American release simply because the FCC finds it inappropriate for American audiences (yet they allow Viagra commercials to play during the Super Bowl). I guess it goes to show that when it comes being mods, not too many Americans know how to properly use the Banhammer.

I really don't have a wrap-up comment. Seriously. For as long as it's taken to write this review I have nothing to say about it. So I'll just go ahead and give it my Bronze Seal of Approval The Pedobear Seal of Approval.

AkJay:
Whats with the Pedobear? (I didn't read the whole thing)
Also, I have to say that of all the anime's you've reviewed, I haven't heard of a single one of them. Can you review something more known? like Cowboy Bebop or Fooly Cooly?.. please?

I'm thinking of taking on big ones every so often, though I have to spread the famous ones out among the lesser known ones.

Souplex:
If you want to review something bad, review Arcade Gamer Fubuki. You know you want to.

I'll put it on the "to watch" list.

Just give up?...

That must be some serious goddamn pedobear...

I'm scared.

Oh, oh! Review Mobile Suit Gundam! The original. And try to tell me that scene where Bright Noa SLAPS Amuro is not EPIC.

Or the Char Headshot. oh god the Epic Char Headshot.

NeutralDrow:

lordlee:

NeutralDrow:
Really, as long as you can ignore (or laugh at..._{or enjoy}) loli fanservice, I agree with Suiseiseki. It's excellent.

How far have you gotten incidentally? I'm pretty sure you'll just give up when you see some of the latest chapters.

Well, granted, I am only up to volume six, so far (chapter 36)...

Yeah, the fanservice was still vaguely reasonable back then. Not to say that the story itself has gotten worse - the characters and plot have, if anything, gotten significantly better in recent chapters, when it was pretty good in the first place. The loli fanservice has exploded, tho'. Seriously. I'm pretty sure owning a copy of volume eight would count as possession of child pornography, under certain jurisdictions.

And chapter 55 makes it absolutely clear that the author is a woman. Beyond any shadow of a doubt.

GloatingSwine:

TsunamiWombat:

Oh, oh! Review Mobile Suit Gundam! The original. And try to tell me that scene where Bright Noa SLAPS Amuro is not EPIC.

Bright Noa actually slaps the fail out of people.

1 Slap makes you a man. 2 slaps awakens newtype abilities.