Ikoku Meiro no Croisée | The Anime Review
This Anime Ikoku Meiro no Croisée, is probably the one Anime I’ve reviewed that has the longest title I’ve ever seen. Its full name is Ikoku Meiro no Croisée The Animation. You might be asking yourself “Well, what is this Anime?” well, thank you for asking such a question! Let me send you a little synopsis!
The story takes place in the second half of the 19th century, as Japanese culture gains popularity in the West. A young Japanese girl, Yune, accompanies a French traveler, Oscar, on his journey back to France, and offers to help at the family’s ironwork shop in Paris. Oscar’s nephew and shop-owner Claude reluctantly accepts to take care of Yune, and we learn how those two, who have so little in common, get to understand each other and live together in the Paris of the 1800s. – MyAnimeList
Yes, I know the synopsis is rather vague. But that pretty much is the premise of the show. To me personally, whenever I see a short synopsis on MAL, I always think that the Anime will be “average” which often is the case. Today, we explore whether or not it is TRULY the case – so come fly with me *insert song here*.
Art
This category is generally the hardest one for me to score the animation is on par with today’s standards which, in my opinion, is enough to satisfy the mass majority of the audience. I also appreciated the fact that foreigners (i.e. the Parisians) were not shown to be “different” in terms of physical appearance. Since I haven’t been to Paris, I can’t really say anything about the accuracy, but I must say that the buildings and surroundings are quite detailed.
Characters
Right from the start, it was obvious that character development would largely focus on Yune, the Japanese girl adjusting to life in Paris. Although she was not used to living the life of a Parisian at first, as time went on, it was evident that she learned to accept and adapt to her new surroundings. In turn, the other Parisians also got to know her better and worked on accepting this unique girl into their family. The difference between Yune’s interactions with the people in the first and last episode is truly astounding. But aside from Yune, the other characters were more or less poorly developed (e.g. Even after the whole series, Oscar didn’t really change that much).
Sound
A slightly upbeat, country-style OP to ready you for an episode and a calm, soothing ED to end it – a great combination for a show of this genre. BGM was average and fit in well, though none of the soundtracks were particularly memorable. And even though there weren’t any big-name seiyūs involved, the voice acting was done quite well. Don’t expect anything grand and you’ll be satisfied.
Story
The story is honestly quite interesting. Although it seemed a bit slow (and slightly confusing) for the first two-thirds of the series, the last third picked up the pace and tied up all the loose ends, making the series as a whole enjoyable to say the least. The idea of a young girl travelling to and living in a foreign country by herself is intriguing, and is what caught my attention when looking through the plethora of anime series for Summer 2011.
Although, at first, she faced many difficulties, most obvious of which was the transition from Japanese to French culture, Yune was soon able to enjoy her new life with the help of the other residents. Looking back, it is truly heartwarming to see how she came lonely and empty-handed but ended being so deeply cared for by others.
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