Fúka

Fuuka is another romantic affair, and once again, it is all about a love triangle. The first episode is full of the usual tropes (the couple has some embarrassing encounters before they get together. Once again, the main protagonist's parents are abroad on a business trip, so the children are home alone). There are also the usual ecchi moments; however (unlike the familiar tropes), they fade into the background quite quickly as the episodes go by until they almost disappear. Then there are the characters. Fuuka is an energetic, very foolish, and likable character (well, I thought so anyway, and I know there are plenty of people who will dismiss her immediately). In my opinion, Yuu is a boring, uninspiring, screwed-up, and in some ways tragic character; I think she perfectly falls into the category of "ordinary student." In addition, I found the character Koyuki to be the typically nice, sweet girl who does nothing surprising, and unfortunately, is not that awe-inspiring. Next, there is the sensitive gay friend who occasionally counsels others on how to cope with their pain because that is what sensitive gay men usually do in anime series. Then there is an interesting girl who keeps herself to herself, although in the end, she turns out to not be as interesting as you first thought. Finally, there is a character who was a former track and field athlete, and I still have no idea what their name is or what their contribution to this show is even after watching it. If I had to decide based on my first impressions of the narrative and the characters, it is a drop, and the fact that I like the main female protagonist cannot redeem it. However, luckily, I managed to find something engaging, and that was the excellent soundtrack. This show is about a girl obsessed with listening to music and she decides to start singing. Then there is another girl who has been singing for a long time and gets other characters to join her as they play instruments because "one day great idea just come out - we should start a band!". I rarely enjoy musical anime series, but I thought this show ended up being quite good as a sort of look behind the scenes of an up-and-coming band just starting out. That said, my impression was borderline average and did not change even though the main female protagonist had a much happier ending than in the printed manga version (which I consider a positive). Also, the ending was full of massive romantic tropes featuring situations and outcomes that were hardly surprising, so it has not shifted my opinion much. 4.7/10. (06/01/2017)