Anime Review: Kuttsukiboshi OVA 1

Kuttsukiboshi ("Stars sticking together") delivers on what it promises- "two girls' 'risky' summer vacation together." Code for: "They're gonna make out, HERN-HERN." It also delivers plenty more.

Kiko and Aya have summer vacation coming up. Kiko has had telekinesis since she was in an accident...I forget when. Aya knows about Kiko's power and they test it every day at school. Kiko loves Aya and Aya reciprocates and their relationship progresses pretty rapidly. One day Kiko enters Aya's apartment to retrieve the cell phone she left there (conveniently unlocking the front door with her telekinesis) and finds Aya sleeping with her older brother. Horrified, she runs out into the rain. I'm really glad that I read the spoilers for this OVA after people started complaining about it online, before watching it.

From a technical standpoint, it's impressive. Seriously, one guy directed, wrote, and animated this entire thing. The animation is surprisingly good (up to the norm for a television series) and the art would be considered rough if a full-fledged animation crew had worked on it- but one guy. ONE GUY did this twenty one minute animated piece.

I admire how Ishikawa Naoya had the gumption to go ahead and do a solo project of this length. With as much passion and commitment as this must have taken to make, I wanted to like Kuttsukiboshi even though I knew the story wouldn't be Voices of a Distant Star-level ambitious. (And yes, I know I'm being unfair in comparing the two just because they're both solo projects.) But I thought that it might be a cute summer love story. Unfortunately, it felt like a bad ero-game adaptation. (Thanks to Kuttsukiboshi, I learned about netorare.) The main story is as dull and fan-pandering as its ending is disturbing and the characters don't feel well-established at all. What do Kiko and Aya like to do independent of each other's company? Fumi likes literature, Ah-chan likes drama; Sumi does karate, Ushio fawns over general cute and girly things and helps her mangaka brother run the household; Mari likes reading and studying, Akko likes fashion and make-up; etc, etc. The telekinesis element feels like an afterthought.

But hey, Ishikawa succeeded in getting attention.

Story: D
Art: One guy... C+
Overall: ...who should let someone else write his next OVA. D