'so long, my love' is from Sakura Wars. no, it has nothing to do with 'Yumeiro', it just came to my mind. 'so long' refers to the length of the anime - 50 episodes first and then 13 episodes in the season 2, plus OVA. 'my love' refers to me 'searching for some romance'. however, 'Yumeiro' is just full of problems
plot and characters
problem #1
'Yumeiro' is just an typical shoujo. yes, 'tis. we have a typical shoujo main heroine whose sole virtue consists in the ability of 'making other people smile'. she is clumsy
but motivated
and though she changes her mind pretty quickly
she is overcoming everything with her positive attitude. overcoming everything, including all other qualities and features of other people - not only arrogance or wile tricks, but even knowledge, hard work and several years practice. the spectator is only left to wonder how she caught up with the rest of her class, caught with three top students among the class, caught up with strong groups among the middle school division, then caught up with strong groups from the high school, and finally surpassed even the most praised students in the world
in general there is nothing to disagree with in the belief that hard work can work miracles. moreover, this idea is one of my favourite themes in art. however, there is a limit to what a person can do in an amount of time. 'tis ok when a young passionate hero(ine) wins over an older wiser character, but 'tis not ok when the main heroine wins time after time. this is already beyond the level of credibility
this 'not-giving-up-in-any-situation' is also expressed with the example of Mari. her story may be understood as an accomplishment of her dream and finding a new 'raison d'etre', but the inevitable truth is that she was forced to give up her ideals and sacrifice her original dream. however wrong she might have been, if this kind of 'not-giving-up' is considered to be
problem #2
the plot development was so simple and predictable I could not help trolling it all the time while chatting with my friend. of course, new recipes are created when needed, and of course necessary ingredients are always at hand, and of course Ichigo can use Koshiro's helicopter to fly from France to Japan in order to look at her granny's strawberry, and of course the Sweets Spirits can create whatever clothes, furniture or exterior needed with their magic
one must already have understood that I dislike this kind of main heroines and this kind of stories. however, 'Yumeiro' does not consist only of that. and this is what makes me worried. I do not have the basis of this anime - the kindness and ability to understand and appreciate other people's feelings impersonated by the main heroine. I cannot hate her behavour at times when someone needs support and moral relief
another point saving 'Yumeiro' is the unexpected exercise of funny moments. sometimes I chuckled, sometimes I almost laughed out loud - like it was in case of Hanabusa with his roses
and this truly causes a cognitive dissonance in me. the story and main heroine design are in a huge conflict with the other aspects I mentioned
problem #3
the second aspect I was waiting for is a bit disappointing. after a lot of hints and touching moments between the main couple we suddenly see a scene in the last episode - which is, by the way, a scene happening already 2 years after the previous events. in other words, all the important things appear to be skipped. season 2 had bolder hints on the relationships but never really reached the awaited point. well, I do think that such hints only are not enough. 'tis not that I wanted to watch 63 episodes to get just another hint in the last minutes of the last episodes
problem #6
one of the reasons for me to watch 'Yumeiro' is that I thought I might
find an anime suitable for my 12-year old cute little student. and this
is where I got discouraged. 'Yumeiro' is only suitable for very,
very young girls. even though the characters are around 13-14 years old
(and then get older), I find the story too childish for children of the
same age. it might be ok for those less critical and selective
in regard to what they watch. every little thing is so thoroughly
explained that I even got bored. on one hand, I am not claiming to know
everything and the info was new and helpful to me, too. on the other
hand... well this is tiresome
problem #6
in the beginning I said that 'Yumeiro' is a typical shoujo. however, one unusual point can be found. and 'tis the
constant atmosphere of competition which is worrying me. in general the idea
is ok, but repeating it again and again is doubtful. the points about
'rivals', 'leaders' and the stuff really looked strange to me. as if it
were not a Japanese anime, but an American video-tutorial 'how to start
your career as a patissiere'
graphics
problem #4
the outline itself and the colours were ok, but whose idea it was, I wonder, to erase fringes and bangs or spectacles sides where they intersect with eyes???
though, much effort was put into the backgrounds
seiyuus
this is, finally, the aspect I have no reprimands for. all the seiyuus were good and fitting their respective characters. I was especially pleased to hear Okamoto in a role which I find more suitable for him than an 'average Japanese schoolboy', and whom I would especially mark out is Caramel's seiyuu Iino Mayu, who
turned out to be a small girl, which makes her a promising seiyuu for
me, because she certainly created her own style of voicing with her own
intonations and pronunciation. it was pleasant to hear a lot of seiyuus I had already heard before, but...
problem #5
'Yumeiro' presents, of course, nothing really outstanding
music
problem #6
boring, boring and boring. boring 'cute' opening, boring 'cute' ending... backgrounds are OK for a cute shoujo, but of course I am not even going to download them
season 2 was obviously made look 'older'. therefore, OPED themes are more edible, done in a techno-pop manner. not that I like those songs, to be honest, but at least they are more interesting...
only I cannot understand Gojou Mayumi-san. she was really good in 'Justice of Light' but her songs in 'Yumeiro' are so-so...
conclusion
the more I watched, the more I got bored and tired. the more I got bored and tired - the more I skipped. yes, I literally skipped some scenes and even some episodes. some things pissed me off - such as Henri-sensei's treatment of Mari, some things tired me - such as indecisiveness of the main couple. 'tis especially disgusting after I looked through the original manga and found there are only 38 chapters and more than half of the anime is made of thin air. after finishing 'Yumeiro' I have only 1 thing to say - 'few... finally'
p. s.
if someone near me utters 'gambaru ze!' or 'let us do our best!' in the nearest future - I swear I shall kill that person
