BACK STORY:
'Animation Runner Kuromi' is a small two episode OVA for which the episodes one and two were created in 2001 and 2004 respectively. It was directed by Akitaro Daichi, who most people would only recognize through some of his other works such as 'Kodomo no Omocha' (known as Kodocha in the US), where he was one of three directors, 'Sexy Commando', as well as 'Jubei-chan' and its sequel, 'Now and Then, Here and There', and 'Fruits Basket', amongst a few other very good shows. Most recently he worked on 'Bokura ga Ita', but today we're not talking about his other works, though I may be inclined to take a look at some of them at a later point. Today we are looking at the aforementioned two part OVA, Animation Runner Kuromi, which, while being very low key and not particularly popular, was actually an interesting work to look at. So let's get to it without further delay.
SUMMARY:
As I've stated before, the OVA is two standalone episodes, which you could watch by themselves without ever knowing anything about the show previously. In episode one, we are introduced to highly energetic animation school graduate, Mikiko Oguro, who quickly becomes nicknamed Kuromi by the cast. Her interest in animation stems from her childhood days of watching a show named Luis Monde III. So, she joins a small animation studio called Studio Petit and on her first day there gets thrown into the job without much knowledge of what she has to do. I won't describe the details to you, as you can iron them out for yourselves by watching. She becomes an 'Animation Runner' so to say, and throughout the first episode you get a very good idea of why her position is known as that. The first episode's main plot is the work on a fictional anime that Studio Petit is producing, called 'Time Journeys', however it's not going to be so easy because Kuromi's job becomes that of a motivational speaker, as she is forced to try to pull together all of the staff to get the job done right and on time. Here is where I insert the cliche line: "And hilarious hi-jinks ensue".
Moving on to episode two we are faced with a weathered Kuromi, who has been "around the block" so to say. If you never caught episode one of the OVA series, there's a quick recap in the beginning of this episode to get you up to speed. In this part of the OVA the president of the studio delegates an assignment of three anime for the production team to work on, without hiring any extra help. Kuromi had enough troubles with her one series, 'Time Journeys', this new assignment would be a test of their mettle. However, to make matters worse, an "experienced" producer is brought on to their team and his name is Takashimadaira. The problem with Takashimadaira is that he views Kuromi is an amateur and as such, unable to "motivate" the crew to complete the shows by their deadlines. To Takashimadaira the deadline is much more important than anything like quality, so according to his plan, their quality goes by the wayside. You'll have to watch the rest to find out how the gang gets through the new ordeal and whether or not their deadlines are met.
CRITIQUE:
I'll be honest, when I first walked into this, I was a bit hesitant to watch because it just didn't look too appealing, of which I'll speak of a bit in the next section. I had rented the DVDs through NetFlix and they sat on my table for a very long time before I finally got around to watching them on two separate, lazy Sunday afternoons.
It's not an anime that will blow you away with its action or drama, but it had a good amount of humor and was quite informative. It's hard to say whether or not it was a true representation of the animation production industry, but I have a feeling that it was a close portrayal. It was interesting and fun watching the mannerisms of the different personalities on the team and gave me a little bit of a perspective on how tough and hectic the job can get.
One of the very nice features on these DVDs were the interviews with the director of the show and on the second DVD there was an extra called, 'A Day in the Life of Kuromi', which followed the seiyuu for Kuromi for one day as she tried to do the same job that Kuromi does in the anime. It was actually very interesting to watch that aspect of it, as you got to see how much of the real life paralleled the show.
AESTHETICS:
This won't be a long section this time around because honestly there's very little to be said about the video or audio within this piece. The animation is definitely very CG drawn and the models are very simple. The backgrounds are pretty nice, but there's nothing that makes this show's animation awe inspiring.
The music is a bit repetitive at points, but it doesn't detract from the story or the characters and the show keeps going without any issues.
So as I promised, short and sweet.
CONCLUSION:
Honestly, all I have to say about the show is that, while it doesn't impress on the visual front, its story and characters make up for the lack of other parts and I found it very entertaining. I would recommend it for any anime fan to at least rent this from NetFlix, if not buy it from a retailer. The DVDs are very likely quite cheap these days anyway, though a lot of sites list them as discontinued. I will post links for where you can find these, below.
And that does it for this review. As I've said before, I don't really like putting grades on these things, but from the general tone of my review, you can understand what my feelings are on the show. So until another time, ja ne.
WHERE TO PURCHASE:
Animation Runner Kuromi OVA 1
Animation Runner Kuromi OVA 2
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