We have seen many anime in which the characters experienced some kind of life-changing events, whether if it’s through discovery of a hobby or coincidental encounter with a person among other things. I’d like to believe that when these characters grow old (if they ever do), they will look back to their childhood or high school days and recall fondly the happy or bitter-sweet memories.
So far, I’ve yet to encounter an anime that focus on actively making memories. Memories to be shared and remembered by best friends. That is until Natsuiro Kiseki made its debut early this spring.
On front end, Natsuiro Kiseki might just be another anime about four high school girls hanging out together, doing mindless things. But no. These girls aren’t just doing mindless things together because they have nothing else better to do. Saki, Natsumi, Yuka and Rinko are making memories.
Time is ticking as Saki is moving away to Tokyo after the summer. Her best friends since childhood decided that they should make their summer together a summer to be remembered. They did whatever they could to cherish the limited time they have together. Of course, the anime title wouldn’t be named as such if there isn’t a little magic involved…
As I mentioned earlier, the girls wanted to make their summer memorable and all four of them really went for it. Yuka might be one the laziest person I know, but she’s the glue that binds her friends together, actively seeking to make beautiful and lasting memories while they can. She often makes mindless but honest wishes upon the wish-granting rock. Thanks to her though, she and her friends will always have a special secret only they know.
Natsumi also worked really hard to make sure when Saki’s gone, there is still something that can bring back fond memories of their times spent together. For example, she trained diligently to win a practice match in which she was partnered with Saki. It’s her last competitive match with her best friend and I can understand why she wanted to win. Wouldn’t it be easier reminiscing a winning event than a painful lose?
Both Rinko and Saki had their shares of effort as well. And after watching the last episode, I feel that these girls truly own the memories they made even if some of the adventures are not exactly normal. But then again, I’d do anything to be able to fly with friends and swap bodies with them…okay, maybe not the whole body swap thing.
I wasn’t sure what sort of direction will Natsuiro Kiseki take when the series started. Is it going to be about the wish-granting rock? Is it going to be about friendship? Is it going to be about defending their secret? In the end, it took more emphasis on friendship. In fact, what I like best about this series is how four different individuals have got that extra special something that help in making their friendship stronger. It could be personality, ambition, etc.
While Saki, Natsumi, Yuka and Rinko make memories for themselves, I think they also help in making this show a tad more memorable for me =).
World of Yamaguchi Hoshiko 
I liked what they did with this show, at first I thought “wow that’s pretty girly” with the four young friends playing idol and stuff, but soon I noticed that there is more behind it. The slice of life element was spiced up very well with the magical stuff, also the balance between these things was very well directed. The cast was a good mix of very different personalities, it was nice to follow this group during their summer adventures.
Comedy was also a great part for me with all this crazy wishes and how they’ve turned out, the sticking together and Yuka/Saki bodyswap were quite hilarious.
Even though the outcome will be sad for the friend, this anime left the audience with a good feeling, I expected myself to break out in tears(haha Im moved easily), but there was no need to cry 🙂
haha Yuka was such a sunshine ♡
Ah yes, Yuka is such a darling in the series. I like her very much. I like that every time she’s around, there’s some crazy stuff happening. Thanks to her, the series made me laughed far too many times. =)
Like yourself, I’m satisfied with how things turned out in Natsuiro Kiseki. Usually slice-of-life anime is easy to forget, but this series is special in its own way and I’d like to think it has left pretty good impression on its viewers.
Not the greatest SoL I’ve seen but certainly enjoyable. Hey, I got NatsumixSaki and RinxYuka out of it, plus a naked invisible blonde, so it’s all good.
I’m definitely getting the yuri vibe form RinXYuka, lol. And yeah, Natsuiro Kiseki isn’t the greatest of the genre but it’s certainly memorable for me.
Time for to read them yuri fanfictions.. 😀
A pretty enjoyable series. I also find their display of friendships admirable, and almost beautiful. I guess “magic” does help a bit, if not slightly, but in the end, it’s the efforts of the girls which makes them where they are now 😀
Definitely, I couldn’t agree more. The reason the girls have a wonderful summer to look back to is because they put a lot of effort into it.
Natsuiro Kiseki was an extremely enjoyable series that I would like to re-watch as soon as the Blu-ray are released.
At the beginning I thought it was all about the IDOL project, but in the end turned out to be focused on their lovely friendship…:)
I’m actually glad that the focus isn’t entirely on the idol thing. Sure, it’s fun watching the girls singing and dancing but I think seeing how they treasure the moment with their friends is better >.<