Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~

Synopsis:

Hazumu Osaragi is having a really bad day. He finally gets up the courage to confess his love to Yasuna Kamiizumi, a girl that he's admired for some time now, thanks to his friend Asuta Soro. However, she is quick to reject him. Heartbroken and depressed, Hazumu decides to take a hike on the mountain that he likes to go searching for rare flowers on but as he reaches the top of the mountain his day suddenly goes from bad to worse as an out of control spaceship crashlands... on top of him, killing him instantly. The extraterrestrial visitors are not heartless though as they immediately resurrect Hazumu but with one exception... he is now a she right down to the DNA structure. Hazumu is about to start life anew with a whole different perspective.


Reviewer: Endosanity
Number of episodes watched: 13


Review:

As you can probably tell from the title, Kashimashi is a yuri (lesbian) type anime and I figured it might be a nice series to pass the time with. What didn't expect is that it's perhaps one of the most compelling romance anime titles I've seen to date. The setup for the series is done quite nicely all within the first episode to set the stage for the entire series as the few friends that Hazumu has help him make the transition to living life as the opposite sex. What I also liked is that the characters are down to earth and everything is presented with just the right comedic element to make it humorous without using tasteless sexual references. Except in the case of Hazumu's dad whose always trying to get a peek in on him, uh, her taking a bath or getting her to wear scantily clad outfits and this comes across as just plain funny. The characterization is truly amazing and it's easy connect with everyone in this show as their feelings are portrayed to the viewer in a manner that's very is to understand on a mentality level. The characterization is done so well in the fact that Tomari, one of the three main girls and also the tsundere (Read the damn "What the hell does all that mean?" thread people!) of the bunch, as she's going through the breakdown process you practically feel what she's feeling at that point in time making for a much more emotional experience than what you'd normally expect.

The animation is of the typical fair but the strong romantic comedy presented here has enough drama to stir up inner feelings and also gives you the right amount of humor to make you laugh when you're probably not in the mood to and it's all put with a soundtrack that's reminisce of something from the 70's. From Hazumu dealing with his new gender and watching Tomari cope with unchanged feelings even though her best friend is now a girl, to Asuto conflicting with himself that he might just be attracted to his friend now... is all presented in one tasteful 13 episode package that should not be passed up even if yuri anime isn't your thing, even the crazy sci-fi element worked to the shows advantage. And all of this finishes up with one hell of a great ending that made me want to go back to episode one and start it up all over again.

Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~ (opening)

Recommendation: |Very High|