One thing that I admire about Japan is that
it’s filled with such a vivid and intriguing history that began
thousands of years ago. Tales of adventure, love, and mystery have
created such a beautiful background for a country so rich in culture.
During this time, poetry was extremely popular to the point where some
individuals wanted walls in their homes completely covered in written
poetry. That’s where the infamous Hyakunin Isshu comes in. Though its
been years since this anthology has been created, its poems and the
individuals who wrote them continue to “live on”. Uta Koi is a perfect example of this concept.
Watched on - Crunchyroll
Original Release Date - July 3, 2012
Director - Kenichi Kasai
Production Studio - TYO Animations
Original Release Date - July 3, 2012
Director - Kenichi Kasai
Production Studio - TYO Animations
Story - Long
ago, a man named Fujiwara no Teika was hired to create an anthology of
100 poems by 100 different poets. He titled this group of poems the
“Hyakunin Isshu.” 43% of these poems happened to be about love and came
from nobles as well as lower classmen. Uta Koi focuses around
the stories behind 12 of these romantic poems. Therefore, each episode
is its own individual story that centers around the love between two
characters.
Characters – It
feels strange to call the cast of this anime “characters” because they
are all based on real people. There are so many different people you are
exposed to and it’s a pretty cool thing to see. You’re bound to find a
character that you like and each person comes from different
backgrounds. From Empresses to economical officials, there are tons of
different people depicted in this anime.
Art/Animation – Traditional
Japanese garments are so intricate and that is what the majority of the
characters in this anime wear. Most of the women look mature and
beautiful, but many look too similar. This created confusion and led to
some mix-ups. The men were a bit more distinguished and had more
noticeable characteristics. However, sometimes I felt that the artwork
was a bit like drawings from a coloring book. There were not too many
details in some scenes and there was a strong black line outlining each
of the characters as well. It was slightly unappealing and felt a little
“cheap.” A low-budget was clearly evident for this series.
The animation was very stiff and looked
unnatural at times. What bugged me the most was that the designs on the
characters outfits stayed in place and did not move along with their
movements. Kind of hard to explain in text, but it is very noticeable
once you watch the series. Also, the rain didn’t look like rain falling.
Instead, the “raindrops” were just circles expanding and shrinking on
the screen.
Sound – There
was barely any musical tracks played in this anime, which was very
disappointing. For an anime that was lacking in its art and animation,
it would have been nice to have some nice songs played on traditional
Japanese instruments playing in the background instead of bland, quiet
scenes. The ending song was also very unfitting for this anime and stuck
out like a sore thumb. A hip-hop song as an outro to a historical
anime? I don’t think so. Was not an appropriate fit at all.
—————————————————————————————————————————————
Pros – Its
definitely cool to see how even thousands of years later, legacies still
live on. Before we die, we always wonder if anyone will remember us and
if our names would ever be mentioned after death. This anime shows that
indeed they do. I also enjoyed the focus on the poems written by these
individuals. It was also enjoyable to see each poem have
such emphasis. They were also analyzed or put into “simple” terms,
reminding me of the No Fear Shakespeare books that basically translated
all of Shakespeare’s works. Definitely helped out in the understanding
of these poems because some can be difficult at times. The symbolism
used combined with my lack of poetry skills would have left me confused
in this anime without those translations.
Also, knowing the stories behind these
written poems was possibly the greatest thing about this anime. Poetry
is always fun when the audience knows the story behind it. Each story
was romantic and depicted their era very well. Problems such as nobility
and honor were real problems back then. They could forbid the
relationships between two people and this anime shows that. It’s very
realistic for the majority of the anime and made the characters feel
more “human”.
Cons – The
humor in this anime was not funny, interesting, or relevant. Our
narrator, Fujiwara no Teika was often floating in space, playing on the
beach, cosplaying the Tokyo Tower, playing Yu-Gi-Oh!, or being a
ballerina. It took the seriousness out of the show and was peculiar at
times. Episode 6 was so awful, I don’t know where to begin. It wasn’t
about a love story, instead it was about a race between all the
characters we already have met. It was extremely random, made no sense,
and was quite dull.
Also,
- Animation could have been stronger.
- Not very memorable.
Overall - Uta
Koi was a sweet revival of such timeless poetic pieces. The stories of
romance were all heart-warming and lovely. The major downfall was that
they were not memorable. Even now I am having trouble remembering all of
the stories. I definitely recommend marathon-ing the show because
taking breaks between this anime will lead to you forgetting the stories
of certain characters for sure. Many of the stories dealt with
forbidden love just with different people. While they were still nice to
watch, it was a bit repetitive. Also, if you aren’t into Japanese
history, some viewers may feel a bit lost or bored watching this show.
The stories are nice, but I just don’t think that they will appeal to
everyone who happens to watch.
Rating - 7/10 (for those who are interested in Japanese history, poetry, and romance)
OR
6/10 (for those who aren’t really intohistorical anime or poetry)
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