Tea Shop BeLoved

What was broken with Kimikiss? Kouichi’s entire storyline.

Going into Kimikiss I had no expectations. Even while it was airing I avoided pretty much any mubling about it because I knew that I was going to plow through it once it was completed. In a sense I was watching it for the first time like I was watching it weekly. Really the only thing I knew about it was that it sported an all-star seiyuu cast and the director of both Honey & Clover and Nodame Cantabile (Kasai Kenichi). But most importantly, Kimikiss boasted a group of truly delicious bishoujos. My only actual exposure to Kimikiss before I watched it was a handful of doujin of the H variety. I knew the girls inside and out… and I’m not talking about personality or character traits.

From those who I have I talked to about Kimikiss recently, it seemed like most had primarily negative views of it. To be honest, through about 15 or 16 episodes I was enjoying the series like a high schooler enjoys Myspace (or Facebook if that suits your palette). For the most part, almost all the characters were interesting, the plot was moving along, albeit slowly, and both Asuka and Eriko were getting more and more awesome with each passing minute. Through 15 or 16 episodes I left Kimikiss craving a bowl of udon and a desire to know what would happen next. I was engaged. I was curious. I liked Kimikiss…

The one knock that I heard about constantly was how slow the show was. Considering that I am drawn to series like To Heart, Sketchbook, and Hidamari Sketch, I don’t always view “slowness” as a deterant. More times that not (and depending) on the series, keeping things focused and slowed can be beneficial (See: Aria). In the case of Kimikiss, it kept things grounded in reality. Considering the state of romance dramas and romantic comedies these days, any show that doesn’t rely on plot gimmicks and overly typecasted characters is a plus in my eyes. Whether you liked Kimikiss or considered it a flaming pile of crap, it really did do a good job of remaining realistic. And for me, any glimpse at realism keeps me a lot more interested. Pair that up with the relaxed (save for M*o’s closet emo nature) feel and I’ve got a winner going on.

Then, enter the last 6 or so episodes.

Regardless if you liked Yuumi or M*o or Asuka or Eriko, or even Nana or Naru, the way the pacing shifted was nothing short of a faceplant on hot asphalt. I’ll admit that I bare a Yuumi flag, but my gripe with the way Kimikiss’ final stretch went had nothing to do with the ending. I could care less who ends up with who in certain series. What has always been important to me is HOW that ending occurs and the events that lead to it. I’ll gladly flash my Kitto Kitto Kaede member card in the face of an Asa fan any day of the week, yet I posess no qualms about Shuffle’s ending. Was I unhappy? Sure. But not in the same way as Kimikiss. In Shuffle, the ending lead up to Asa. Not so in Kimikiss. Through well over three-quarters of the series, the plot was setting up for a Yuumi ending, but then someone over at J.C. Staff decided to spice things up… I’m all for drama, twists, and alternate endings, but NOTHING lead you to believe Kouichi had anything but an onee-san affection for M*o. Even the the kiss on the forehead reeked of onee-san power.

Kouichi’s character development was what was broken with Kimikiss. They spent so much time showing his almost retarded puppy love for Yuumi, and also showed Yuumi’s reciprocal affection. One would expect obstacles in their relationship, but not a complete change. And even if a change occurred, we would have seen things slowly reveal themselves. But no… it was like Kouichi’s Yuumi-love shut off and the M*o infatuation started. Nothing really lead to that and there wasn’t really any indication that he had anything but platonic feelings for her. Sure, he was always wondering where she was, but there was no blushing and no nervousness. Yet, somehow he suddenly was in love with her despite being in love with Yuumi for at least couple years. That just makes Kouichi’s love for M*o so-o much more believable [/sarcasm]

The Kazuki side of things was thankfully a lot better, and it was the only reason I had any interest in finishing Kimikiss (other than finishing for completion sake). Kazuki’s story was fairly open, despite his feelings for Eriko. Because it was not until the last few episodes did he really solidify his feelings, there was always an outside chance for Asuka. All 3 of them were fairly fleshed out and their relationships were looked at. If J.C. Staff had decided to take Asuka’s route, it would have made as much sense as Eriko’s route (assuming they wrote it well). Asuka and Eriko were both great characters with a lot of depth behind them. Unlike the Kouichi-Yuumi-M*o triangle, Kazuki-Asuka-Eriko made sense. There was never a WTF? moment on that end. If that part of the series were not included, I would probably have very little positive to say about Kimikiss.

More than anything, Kimikiss was a let down. It wasn’t a let down in the sense that it didn’t live up to expectations or in the sense that it was an overall lacking series. It was a let down because it was actually VERY enjoyable through the first 16-17 episodes, but then fell on its face hard. Kouichi’s ending was so poorly executed that it pretty much killed off most of enthusiasm I had for the series as a whole. As much as I enjoyed Kazuki’s side of the story, and as awesome Asuka and Eriko were, they can’t take away the sourness that Kimikiss leaves behind. I rolled my eyes at every scene that involved Kouichi getting dramatic and/or emo, and at every scene with M*o crying over him. In the end, the only thing awesome about Kimikiss was Asuka and Eriko (and Megumi). I’ll gladly forget about the rest of it.