Kotoura-san

[Kraco]

http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/7555/kotourasanss01.jpg

"A school love comedy following Kotoura Haruka, a girl who possesses an ability to read minds. The ability has caused her lots of troubles and suffering in the past, making her transfer to a new school for a fresh start. She avoids interacting with people due to her past painful experiences. However, Manabe Yoshihisa, a boy sitting next to her, seems only encouraged by her anti-social behavior."


Genres: School, comedy, fantasy, romance

Links:
Episode 1 480p (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=391593) | 720p (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=391595) | 1080p (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=391596) - HorribleSubs
AniDB (http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=9394) | ANN (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=14722) | Official (http://www.kotourasan.com/)






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I wasn't expecting overly much from this and only decided to have a look to pass some time, and after dropping Sasami-san@Ganbaranai 60 seconds in. However, I was very positively surprised. The descriptions didn't tell overly much about this show (which is why the description up there is by yours truly), so in fact I had no idea what to expect. The somewhat tragic beginning is a bit of a cliche, but on the other hand it was executed rather well and suited the show, creating an appropriately broken background for the main character girl. Without it, I doubt I would have enjoyed nearly as much the dude's attempts to get closer to the girl. Naturally Kotoura being able to read the obvious thoughts of a high school aged dude next to a cute girl is a source of some nice comedy by itself.

Production values seemed very standard, nothing bad, nothing exceptional. Kotoura is voiced by Kanemoto Hisako (http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=creator&creatorid=12266) (Ika-Musume, Grunhilde Serenity), the dude, Manabe Yoshihisa, by Fukushima Jun (http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=creator&creatorid=4821) (not to be confused with Fukuyama Jun) of only a limited amount of characters under his belt, but he seemed to do well enough.

I'm sure to keep watching this for the time being. None of the other main characters shown in various pictures were even introduced yet.

[David75]

Same here, wasn't expecting much, did have good laughs.
I just hope it can keep-up and not just be a one shot first ep like kaibutsu something...

[shinta|hikari]

@Kraco - Sasami@Gambaranai is actually interesting. You should give it another try, assuming you really did drop it at 60 seconds.

I really liked the tragic intro, especially the voiceless shout. The Higurashi face made it for me.

[vejita613]

I thought the screaming bit seemed a tad unnecessary. I get it, she's had a hard life. No need to compound it even further by taking her cat away. Why didn't she take it home anyways?

I wasn't planning on watching this, but it seems to be all the talk at the moment. I think I'll stick with it, though, as I find myself wondering what I would do if I knew someone Kotoura. I don't think I could be like Manabe. I would like to believe I could be friendly with her, but the mind of a person is their one true private sanctuary. For someone to be able to enter into that realm is rather disturbing. I look forward to see how this series answers that question.

[Kraco]

I think I'll stick with it, though, as I find myself wondering what I would do if I knew someone Kotoura. I don't think I could be like Manabe. I would like to believe I could be friendly with her, but the mind of a person is their one true private sanctuary. For someone to be able to enter into that realm is rather disturbing. I look forward to see how this series answers that question.

At least he will never need to worry about gathering courage to confess to her. Because she will know and he knows she will know, so there's no need to build stress.

[vejita613]

Perhaps, but isn't there something to be said about gathering up ones courage and confessing? Still, I'm sure her reactions will be cute to watch as the story unfolds.

[Kraco]

Episode 2 720p (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=394002) | 1080p (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=394010) - HS






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I'm still liking this a lot. I was expecting them to drop the serious stuff already, but instead they introduced two new aspects of seriousness. The club presidents problem is naturally quite a deep one, but Kotoura getting bullied was far more acute, especially since that's exactly why she changed schools and suffered so much in the past. No doubt one reason why I'm liking this is how Kotoura still remains so cute and nice despite her heavy history and this incident. That's quite a delicate matter for my tastes, though, since I instinctively want a protagonist to fight back. So, when they don't, it's a hair’s breadth away from a failure. Somehow, perhaps because it only lasted for less than an episode, because Kotoura's voice actor was so successful, and because it gave Manabe such a chance to confess indirectly, this episode worked for me very nicely, making me not mind her passive attitude.

I also keep enjoying Manabe's erotic thoughts surprising and embarrassing Kotoura.

[Kraco]

Episode 3 720p (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=396712) | 1080p (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=396719) - HS





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Quite a good episode once again, with comedic scenes as well as not so comedic scenes. I actually prefer this sort of combination generally speaking as it allows a bigger story, not just episodic slice of life. Although it can't be denied that the serious elements have been very cliched and predictable. It's largely due to Kotoura's sweet but straight character and the comedy provided by the weirdness of the others that keeps this show from becoming dull with the kind of plot it has had so far.

[shinta|hikari]

I really did not understand the logic behind karate girl's desire to hurt Manabe.

I know there are people like that, but I just never understood how they think what they did was correct, and how they can even dare to excuse themselves afterwards.

Another hopeless dream of mine would be for that karate girl to be raped by all her fans, then exposed as a victim to the entire school, eventually having to commit suicide in a really pathetic manner, like overeating leftover rice.

[David75]

I really did not understand the logic behind karate girl's desire to hurt Manabe.

I know there are people like that, but I just never understood how they think what they did was correct, and how they can even dare to excuse themselves afterwards.

Another hopeless dream of mine would be for that karate girl to be raped by all her fans, then exposed as a victim to the entire school, eventually having to commit suicide in a really pathetic manner, like overeating leftover rice.

Won't happen since we're spoiled by the show itself...

[Kraco]

I really did not understand the logic behind karate girl's desire to hurt Manabe.

I know there are people like that, but I just never understood how they think what they did was correct, and how they can even dare to excuse themselves afterwards.

If they weren't able to excuse themselves afterwards, they wouldn't have done anything in the first place. Those two things are one and the same. I guess the karate girl is of a delusional obsessive type, thinking that Manabe belongs to her, and by being with Kotoura he's a cheater.