The less you know - the sounder you sleep, they say in my country. If I knew nothing or almost nothing about Japan, I would probably see 'Hakumei to Mikochi' as one more slowly narrated slice-of-life anime, but I can't help it, since aspects supporting my theory jump at me every several minutes in each episode, so I have to blurt it - as many other slice-of-life 'iyashi', soothing stories, 'Hakumei to Mikochi' is an expression of the collective subconscious of the Japanese, the model of an ideal society.
So, what does this world of tiny humanoid creatures living in a forest together with animals and insects look like?
First, judging by Hakumei's story, it's a world where someone may barge into the house of another person and start living with them, contributing to mutual comfort by bringing some money from a newly found job, not a prosperous business necessarily, but stable and honourable, and making whatever improvements possible with their own hands.
Moreover, as the contract of the 'Anything goes' quarter states, the owner and the tenants will endeavor to make the area easier to live in and even more comfortable and stylish, with no ranks or hierarchy among the parties involved.
It's a world where trade and commerce prospers, where sellers accept bargaining, but can present their best goods to people they like, where craftsmen charge reasonable amounts, but can offer their services for free to people they deem to be in need.
It also means living close to nature, growing healthy produce, making as much as possible in one's own kitchen, and adhering to the principle of sustainability in everything.
Serious matters are also present, such as the technology of reviving skeletons, or intelligence teams, but possible applications are never explored, because there's no need. Seems like nobody wants to revive anything beyond a dead turtle or fish, and nobody expect a war beyond a quarrel between old and new tenants of the art district.
Most importantly, it's a world where menaces turn out to be misunderstandings, and all conflicts are solved with a hearty meal and a bottle of alcohol, which is actually the biggest treasure and reward in life, rivaled only by hot bath, especially after hard work of... making that bath.
The fact that such worlds are based on a very much contrived setting is not a flaw itself, but there is one condition that makes it watchable - it should be magical. It should be magical enough to make me forget all this analysis I've just made.
There is one easy way for me to determine whether a slice-of-life anime is good - it's whether it makes me want to live in the world pictured in the anime. Now, it doesn't have to be absolutely ideal, for all that. There are two categories, both of which can be successful in luring me from the screen - one is like 'Aria', a utopia with beautiful design and stable structure, supported by fictional technologies of the future; the other is like 'Mushishi' - it's a harsh world with many struggles peculiar to the lifestyles of the past, nevertheless beautiful and rewarding to those who can embrace its beauty.
To say that the world of Hakumei and Mikochi is not beautiful would be a lie, but somehow, in every aspect there is something lacking. And since I had already started comparing these two, 'Hakumei' and 'Aria', I couldn't get it out of my mind. There are the same cute and positive girls, Mikochi with Hakumei like Akari and Aika, timid beetle neighbour like Alice, wise elders, Kobone bar owner and wolf caravan leader like undines, including Akira, as well as Alicia and Athena, skilled comrades, Iwashi the carpenter just like Woody, the air delivery postman, I swear even their voice actors are similar, Sen the scientist like Al the scientist... Unfortunately, while the sub-characters were extremely likeable due to their strong personalities, not in the least thanks to the wonderful voice acting, the more the story concentrated on the girls, the less interesting it felt. Countless recipes of meals and soap and listing of products available and thinking what can be made out of them almost made me cringe. Ultimately, the series turned into a roller-coaster, with thrilling from the more interesting stories (like that of a dawn bird granting wishes, or the tough chairman of the construction association sentimentally remembering his past, or the very best one - taking Iwashi the carpenter downtown) giving way to boredom from the nothing-out-of-ordinary chapters. Again, not in the least because of the mediocre voice acting. Here it is, the young generation, seiyuus who are younger than me and sound so generic I can't distinguish them at all.
'Hakumei' just fails to sweep me off my feet. I cannot say it didn't try, oh no it did. Just look at this.
If anything is left there to create the magical atmosphere, it's music. 'Been there, seen that', I thought, listening to Chima - a girl with a soft voice and lazy singing, remembering Yui Makino, who's far from being my favourite singer, but left an extremely strong impression on me - something I can't say about Chima. Since I know nothing about Evan Call, I'm not in any position to say he's a bad composer or anything, but when I learned he's from Elements Garden, somehow it made everything clear to me. At least it's clear he's not Gontiti or Toshio Masuda.
Pity the beautiful backgrounds are not enough to create the necessary magic.
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