Yuri Anime Review: Asagao to Kase-san OVA

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Asagao-to-Kase-san.-Characters-02After an fortunately not so long wait, it’s finally time for the second big yuri highlight of the year. What started out as a mere rumor, soon developed into a confirmed one-episode-long OVA, and as it turns out, it’s not only that, but rather something close to a short movie even!

To say that finding out about the length of this so called OVA was a pleasant surprise, is an understatement, a big one, actually. I was more thrilled than anything to find out about the actual length of this OVA, and all of a sudden, the fact that this was not a full-fledged anime didn’t seem to bother me that much anymore.

So just about a week ago, the OVA finally aired and presented to us roughly an hour of almost solely pure and unfiltered yuri fluff. What a time to be alive!

I was quite a bit surprised to see that the movie would not start out like the manga version did. Instead of getting to know the characters first, and more importantly, seeing how the characters actually get to know each other, we start out after they already got together and only see their story so far in short flashbacks that appear in the starting sequence. An odd choice in my eyes, as what I love most in a romance is seeing how the characters get together. But to be fair, it was refreshing to see a pure yuri title starting out like this. However, as a consequence, I do think that the short movie is rather a treat for longtime fans of the manga, instead of being able to draw in people who are unfamiliar with it. Since we’re more or less thrown into the story without getting to know the character first, I think it was necessary to know them beforehand to really be able to enjoy and indulge in the story.

No problem for me, but I simply fear that this way we might lose some potential viewers who’re unfamiliar with the title or the genre in general, along the way.

Moving on, while we’re following the lives of Kase and Yamada, the movie shows us some specific moments in their blossoming relationship that smoothly fade into each other, only adding some light drama by the very end of it. All scenes are taken from the manga, but are either slightly changed here and there or enriched by adding additional content. Watching this truly gave off a similar feeling as reading along the chapters of the manga, and that’s probably one of the most important things to mention here.

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Their anime versions look stunning~

The manga is already one of my all-time favorites, thanks to the charming characters, their chemistry together, and the light and heartwarming feelings the story gives off. The anime version did the same for me, but added so much more thanks to the superb voice acting, the calming background music, and this oh so lovely art style. The whole atmosphere is so soothing, given the factors I’ve already stated, but also thanks to the fact we’re not rushing through the events but taking the time that is needed. Even if each individual scene doesn’t necessarily take up a lot of time, there is simply no feeling of it being rushed. In addition to that, every scene plays out beautifully. Pictures of stunning scenery are shown every now and then, and the main girls’ cute and (mostly) innocent interactions work magic in delivering exactly what I was hoping this movie would deliver: the cutest, most endearing, and lovely yuri “show” I’ve ever watched.

This truly put a big smile on my face that probably lasted throughout the whole fifty-eight-minute run. I’m usually the type to watch and enjoy something like this in silence, but even I couldn’t help but sometimes just go like “daaawwwww” or drop a random “cuuuuute” every now and then.

kiss

We don’t always need to see “everything” – This looks perfect in my eyes~

Especially the few oh so perfectly paced kissing scenes gave me a hard time not simply melting away and dying from how perfect they felt. Now, adding the few scenes of speechless Kase—who was rendered silent thanks to Yamada’s sheer cuteness or the many scenes in which Yamada breaks out in an adorable fit of panic—having little leaves appear on her head to show her distress… oh man. All of that just makes me think that this was the summit of yuri cuteness, a level that will be truly, truly hard to ever beat.

Now what’s left to say is that I’m just hoping for more. There could be another OVA of this kind, featuring the events after they move to Tokyo. Or how about a series of short episodes that each feature another chapter of the manga? Oooor how about a prequel that actually features how the two of them got together?

There are seriously a lot of possibilities, and despite my fear that this masterpiece might not appeal to a broad audience, I’m eagerly waiting to be proven wrong.

Story: 8/10
Characters: 9/10
Animation: 7/10
Sound: 8/10
Yuri: 10/10
Total Enjoyment: 9.5/10

 

great times ahead

Great yuri times ahead~

 

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35 thoughts on “Yuri Anime Review: Asagao to Kase-san OVA”

    • Wow! That was worth the wait! Thank you to what ever anime gods out there that we prayed to that this wasn’t just a 5 minute promotional video! I’m also not bothered that it was released as an OVA rather than as a regular anime. I feel that this is more deliberate and wouldn’t be as polished if this came as a 13-episode series.

      I’m a little sad that they didn’t fully animate the Marathon/Nurse’s Office scene, however, after seeing the whole OVA, it’s a trivial detail at best. I’m not ashamed to admit that I was grinning from ear to ear as well while watching, with the occasional girly giggle slipping past. It couldn’t have just been Lena and I, right? ‘fess up, people! 😛

      Thanks for getting the review out so quickly, Lena! I would have probably been too busy to have noticed that this had been released already. Okay, I’m off to watch it again (even though I should get some sleep). 😀

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  2. Absolutely gorgeous looking is probably the first thing that comes to mind. As some others have said, it sort of functions as a sequel to the music video, which is a little odd. Knowing the material coming in, it felt like I didn’t really miss anything but I don’t know how others would feel if they came in completely blind.

    The addition of motion and sound, plus the aforementioned beautiful art, certainly pull me in more than the manga did and the whole thing did feel much more immediate.. but it’s still just not really my personal cup of tea. It still felt too cliche, generic and interest free for me to really get sucked in on more than a surface level. But, that’s just me and, heck, it showed a lot more affection and attraction between the two leads even in it’s short running time than other currently running series that claim to be about established couples so I’ll give it massive credit there.

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  4. All we need to do is hope the OVA becomes available for purchase in a Western store. That or just import it. Whatever it takes to help green light that 22+ minute per episode TV anime we’ve been craving since the Kase-san anime Twitter came to be. One that covers the beginning, expands on the middle covered by the OVA and gives us a snippet of the sequel.The world NEEDS MORE KASE-SAN!

    I don’t think I need to go into detail on how much I loved this OVA. Twas worth the wait. Seeing some of my favorite scenes from the manga, Kase-san visiting Yamada’s house along with Yamada seeing Kase-san magnificent naked body…and let’s not forget ALL THE SQUEES! Oh my goodness this OVA was BEE-UUU-TII-FUUL!

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    • I would buy it right away! No matter the costs, this is worth all my money!
      I always wanted to use this meme and despite the fact that I’m admittedly too lazy to look for the picture, I’ll say it anyway:
      SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!! 😀

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  5. This was absolutely beatiful, the art and voice acting does supreme justice to the source material, the source material is so cute and fluffy that I defy anyone not to feel happy watching this. I’ve said this here there and everywhere but if you like romance anime that is relatively drama free and cute (Only one that springs to mind is Tsuki Ga Kirei) but haven’t watched Yuri, then I think they’d probably like this.

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    • Admittedly, I had a slight problem with Kase’s voice at first, but simply because whenever I closed my eyes I saw either Nagato or Sendai from Kantai Collection. 😀
      But what can I say, I LOVE the voice actress behind these characters, so even more reason to love Kase now 😛

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  6. Ahh, that was really great!
    The visuals were amazing, everything so gorgeous and lush. And the tone throughout was so peaceful and somber. It kind of lulled you through the whole story 😀
    Though on the first viewing I was kind of distracted by the parts that were missing, and the way some scenes left out some elements. But on the second viewing it hit me: the missing parts were about building their relationship, and what was instead focused on was them actually being in a relationship. With that I thoroughly enjoyed it – watching them adore and fret over each other.
    The new additions were really well done too, they fit in just perfectly and felt like a part of the original material.
    Gotta love those adorable dorks! 😛

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  10. So it has finally arrived! I just downloaded it and will watch it as soon as I am able to but what I have been hearing already tells me I will like it! 😀 Only half way through the year and we are still getting more yuri… what a time to be alive! 😀

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  13. the OVA for asagao to kase-san was just so adorable! i love it so much tbh im happy it wasnt a full anime series cause this one ep managed to capture so much from the manga especially the cuteness of the manga. here’s to hoping this year gives us more great yuri like this!

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  15. I had this on my Kissanime bookmark list, I haven’t had a bad start with my first three anime’s in Maria-sama ga Miteru, Strawberry Panic and now Asagao to kase-san. I’m not a manga reader, so I didn’t know about the background to it so I went in cold, and I have to say it had me slightly teary eyed lol. It helped both central characters were so loveable, and their romance was believable. Doesn’t matter if you are a guy or girl or what sexuality you are. We’ve all had awkward moments in our first romances like the characters had. And the ending was fantastic cause you can tell these two really love each other. I liked that they skip the leading up to their romance, it worked for this. And show short flashbacks instead. That was a genius move imo.

    It be a shame if it was a one off, so much potential there for a few of these longer one off episodes. Like them going to University together, maybe coming out to their parents, maybe difficulty of relationships, plenty of avenues they could go down. As long as it doesn’t involve one of them falling for a guy or something then I be happy. I give this a 10/10.

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    • Always check the end ratings. The yuri one tells you how much yuri to expect. This one has a 10/10, so it’s basically all about it.
      Other shows might not feature as much, so the “yuri meter” is lower.

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