Konbini Kareshi: First Impressions

It’s been a small while since my last post, but that isn’t to say that I haven’t forgotten about posting my first impressions of this season’s anime. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. I’ve actually been a little too complexed on how to write some of them – this one in particular. 

First year high school students Haruki Mishima and Tōre Honda are looking forward to their new school life. Meanwhile Nasa Sanagi, sole member of the cooking research club, continues with his club activities from middle school, striving to work on the theme that his adviser laid out for him. Second year student Natsu Asumi, although he matured a little since the height of his impudence during his first year, has nevertheless chosen to remain alone this year. Third year students Mikado Nakajima and Masamuna Sakurakoji watch over him with a smile. All of them will pay the nearby convenience store a visit after school.

(Synopsis from Anime News Network)

The animation style in this show isn’t particularly impressive. Sure, the settings are nicely drawn and the colours used are pretty, but the people themselves aren’t too visually-pleasing, in my opinion. There’s nothing, really, to compare the visuals to as it’s an original piece of work, but it’s safe to say that the studio should know what they’re doing. It may be an original, but made by Studio Pierrot (Naruto, Tokyo Ghoul, Bleach), I would argue it’s in safe hands, even if the studio are more known for their shounen than their romance anime.

Musically, Konbini Kareshi somewhat surprised me. The OP, for one, is so good. It has a feel-good vibe to it and it’s quite the jam. Called Stand Up Now, it’s the debut single from CellChrome, a rock band that formed in 2015. Now, if this OP is anything to go by, I’ll be more than happy to follow CellChrome themselves somewhat and I can’t wait for this single to come out in August. Meanwhile, the ED is called “Milestone” and is by ORANGE POST REASON, another rock band that formed in 2013. Now, looking at their previous works, ORANGE POST REASON are a little heavier band than CellChrome, but I will say I’m a little disappointed by this ED. Sure, it fits the tone of Konbini Kareshi some what, but the vocals often seem a little ‘off’ to me and it’s just boring in comparison to the OP, which is a shame, really.

Now, don’t get me wrong – Konbini Kareshi is a cute anime. However, with this and Tsurezure Children being aired at the same time, it’s hard not to compare the two as many have been doing. It’s easy to do just that. Both series show depictions of young love with different scenarios and different personalities present. However, Konbini Kareshi is not as episodic as Tsurezure Children. In fact, it’s not episodic at all thus far, but I think this is where the show loses points slightly. Because of Tsurezure Children‘s episodic and short nature, you won’t really have the tendency to become bored, yet with Konbini Kareshi‘s standard length of 24 minutes, things can begin to drag a little bit (mostly talking about the third episode here!).

I suppose, sticking with the comparison above, my recommendation is that if you like Tsurezure Children, you’ll probably like Konbini Kareshi. It has the same qualities of cuteness and comedy, but it’s all stretched out in longer episodes. Personally, I’m not too impressed with this series (despite loving Tsurezure Children) but it definitely holds potential so far. If anything, it probably has the OP of the season. Regardless, I will continue watching this just to see if it improves and to see where the story is going.