Koharu Biyori

Information of Anime

Takaya Murase has brought a robot doll from a robotic doll distributor called MaidWorks.  The robot picked him actually as he was in the process of selecting a robot.  Although the robot which he names Yui is set to do his housework, he uses her as his life-sized dress up doll for his dress up fantasy fetish.

Storyline (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Below is a summary of the storyline I've seen so far.  If you haven't seen the series yet & don't want to be spoiled, skip this section.  If you want to know the story & want to see how I viewed it, read on.

Basically the OVA focuses on the life of either Takaya or Yui in terms of their daily activities & their relationship. The OVA is broken up into a small number of stores; roughly three per episode. 

Yui thinks bad of Takaya as he treats her as his dress up doll & is somewhat perverted.  However, Takaya is actually a nice person & somewhat gets along well with other girls.  Despite his otaku lifestyle, he helps those in need.

As more stories are shown, Yui grows fond of Takaya & slowly likes him little by little.  However, his otaku behaviour still drives her back a bit.  In the final short story, we see how Yui really feels for Takaya when she learns that he's seeing another woman.  The woman is actually the store manager & Takaya is with her because her company is designing a new maid robot & he wanted in by giving his input  The
OVA ends with the Yui & Takaya being together.

My Personal Review

Koharu Biyori didn't really catch my attention.  I actually picked it up to see some of the new anime shows that appeared during it season.  Saw a CM about it & decided to grab it for the heck of it.

Animation

The character designs are quite nice, but plain.  All the girls look exactly the same with some minor changes in the appearance such as eye colour & hair.  The guys are ok, but you don't really see a lot of them in terms of supporting the OVA.  The clothing designs are a bit plain as well even though some carry a sex appeal to them.  Nothing fancy though.

The backgrounds are okay.  Not a lot of details & are very plain.

The colours are on the dull side, which is pretty much a standard for OVAs.  Also, the lines seem to stand out quite bold on the faces.  The blending between the backgrounds & characters aren't bad as they don't overlap with one another.

In terms of the animation movement, it's a mixture.  Sometimes the movements are realistic & sometimes the movements are not normal.

Sound

The sound effects are on the silly & realistic side.  Some of them are quite cute & funny.

The seiyuus here are pretty good.  However, none of them really gives me a punch & I don't have a favourite character.

The music is mainly the pop side.  They don't stick to your head though.  In fact, I don't remember how they sound like.

Story

Basically Takaya & Yui's relationship.  Over time, Yui accepts Takaya's character as he's a good person; not just some craze otaku.  The show seems more focused on Yui liking Takaya's good side although he bounces back & forward about it due to his changing behaviours from a good person to an otaku.

The ending is okay as it is open.  There isn't any main storyline to begin with.  It's enough to continue with the anime if the producers see it being profitable.

Overall Conclusion

Koharu Biyori is a funny show to watch, but feels like it's lacking something.  I don't know what it is, but chances are it's a storyline.  This OVA isn't a must watch though.

Koharu Biyori receives a 7.5/10.  This score & review may change when I finish this show.  The OVA is funny, but there are some jokes that aren't great.  This OVA is great to pass the time with, but don't expect a good story from this cause there isn't any main plot.

Last updated on August 25, 2008