I’ve been reading mostly manga lately but somehow it led to watching this one. I’ve read a few chapters of probably 30+ manga but only managed to keep up with a handful. Tona-Gura was one of the mangas I was thinkin’ about.

I read a couple chapters a while back but never kept up. Since then, the anime was made and well, figured I’d give it a whirl first since the manga is still going.

Suffice to say, this was… a mixed bag.

It’s been a while since I’ve watched anything with loads of fan-service. Honestly, that part was quite refreshing. For the rest, Tona-Gura definitely had some potential, mainly in it’s characters, but sadly fell short.

The male MC, Yuuji, was not your typical guy in a romantic comedy. He was openly perverted w/o even remotely trying to hide it (though it could be argued he was oblivious to his actions). He didn’t try to “fit in” or impress anyone. He was his dirty self, honestly and completely, all the time. That’s not something you’ll find in many guys. Sadly, by the end, that personality slid towards the typical stubborn, stuttering, and stupid type that plagues so many romantic comedies.

The female MC, Kazuki, was nothing out of the ordinary but she didn’t try to exhibit anything original nor exaggerate her limited personality. In that way, she was easy to accept and even cute and enjoyable to an extent.

These two weren’t that great and aren’t the reason why I felt this anime had potential but I figured they had to be mentioned. It was the other characters that could have been a lot of fun to watch.

Chihaya was awesome. Yes, I have a weak spot for the Osaka accent. Not only that, her character was always a riot when on screen and her chemistry with Yuuji was great. Unfortunately, that time on screen was limited and thus a waste.

Miu could have been awesome. She had the easily flattered and dreamy personality with sexy and almost mature features. I always get a kick out of that personality trait (Chopper does it best in One Piece) and could have had a blast watching her in this one… except her measly 4 or 5 appearances prevented that.

Lastly was the Marie and Niina combo. Both were ok individually but their combo was hilarious. Their complete opposite personalities clashed nicely. But alas, just as the previous two, their screentime was quite limited.

See a pattern? If more of the focus was shifted to the supporting characters, the comedy contained within these almost unique and definitely fun characters could have warranted this as something I’d recommend. I mean, I can’t recommend the story…

I suppose I should touch up on the story a lil bit, eh? It was flawed and cliche and if it just stuck with the comedy, it would’ve been alright. The dramatic scenes were superficial and built up on the ever-so-popular lack of communication. It did have one redeeming quality. The structure of the story was different. Instead of a series of one-shot comical episodes then the grand dramatic finale, it spaced things out. There was a short serious story halfway through then another towards the end.

I didn’t expect the one halfway through so it actually hooked me in at that time. That’s what I get for having too many assumptions, I suppose… heh.

In the end, this may have had potential. I use “may” since even with everything I noted above, it still would have had problems elsewhere… I won’t even go into the rapidly degrading animation quality. Damn lazy animators…

*Ahem* Anyway, I had some good laughs while watching this. The last few episodes significantly lowered my enjoyment of the series but as a whole, it was moderately entertaining. I did want something light and easy to watch amidst all the manga I was reading so in that aspect, this served its purpose.

I still plan on reading the manga so I hope the weakness that was the latter episodes was an anime only thing. Prior to those, I admit I was having fun watching.

Overall series score: 6.8 out of 10

Hmm… this mini-review turned out rather long, didn’t it? I guess I wanted to like this anime since most of the characters were fun… hence I ended up writing an essay on something I rated so low. Ah well…