If you had asked me three months ago if I’d enjoy a series about a group of kids in kindergarten and a desperate-for-love teacher, well…I’d probably have said yes. Many people were suspicious about this series though, especially due to the fact it comes from Gainax (of Evangelion, Gurren Lagann, and FLCL fame) and is nothing like any of their past works. At least that’s what we thought.

Hanamaru Kindergarten (shortened as simply Hanamaru from here on) follows the story of young Anzu, the main heroine who is smitten with her new male teacher and her mother’s high school love, Tsuchida. Of course no story would do well without friends, Anzu quickly makes friends with the shy Koume and the eccentric, yet slightly emotionless Hiiragi (more on her later). The story continues as Tsuchida falls for his coworker, the beautiful Yamamoto, a fact that Anzu simply will not accept. This all seems very foreign from the company that created Evangelion and Gurren Lagann, but there’s a reason it works so well. Deep down, Hanamaru is analyzing many of us.

How common does this scene seem?

The latest episode (Episode 5) has made many fans notice how similar Tsuchida is to ourselves. As I myself have recently started working, days off are an amazing thing. After this episode however, I had to stop and think. My ‘days off’ are days where I simply sit around and do nothing special. When I was younger and would think about adults having days off, I always imagined fun parties, or adventures. It’s shocking how much a single episode can make you realize this.

This leads to the point of the anime. What in concept is a story of a group of young kids having fun has become a series about the innocence of youth, and showing just how much many viewers could miss their childhood, and at least personally lets me relive that childhood through jokes at culture. Tsuchida talking with a group of young boys about the latest Dragon Quest game is a good example of this, as I’ve found myself having discussions on various classic series (Pokémon to name one). It’s always important to keep your childhood present in your every day life, no matter how old you are. I’m curious though, is the series having the same effect on others as it is me? What’s the general opinion? Feel free to leave a comment below!

Also, without Gainax, this crossover would never be possible!

No related posts.