I had downloaded the first two episodes of Asatte no Houkou a couple months ago and forgot about it until I found out the anime club needed a 12/13-episode series to fill the slot Sukisho will vacate in a couple weeks. So I watched those initial two I had and found it interesting but found it significantly sluggish due to the necessary exposition and the characters not believing what had just happened to them. Fortunately I enjoyed the next couple episodes as the main characters became somewhat acclimated to their situation so I’m currently to get through the remaining episodes as quickly as possible.
The basic premise of Asatte is that Karada, a grade-schooler, and Shouko, a young woman and ex-girlfriend of Hiro (Karada’s guardian), exchange ages when moonlight shines on a wishing stone that Karada had regularly been praying at. But Karada soon realizes she didn’t really mean what she wished for. Meanwhile, Hiro and his friends Tetsu and Touko are looking for the recently missing Karada.
Shouko and Hiro had fallen in love while both were at an American university (in Boston) but she broke up with him after he returned to Japan for a funeral and stayed to take care of Karada. Now given another chance to live as a kid, her demeanor changes from generally sullen to child-like optimistic while still holding a grudge against Hiro.
Karada also undergoes a general emotional shift; she went from being an enthusiastic girl who got along really well with Hiro to being nervous about screwing up publicly and feeling uncomfortable around her semi-former guardian since her shocking transformation. I’m sure that both Shouko and Karada will fully adapt to their predicament by the end of the series and, since the opening refers to “what happened to us that summer”, it could lead to the two female leads returning to their original forms, having learned some life lessons. Or fate could be cruel and force them to deal with their new ages, leaving the possibility of adult Karada x Hiro. Uhh, not that I’m promoting that or anything – in fact, I’d prefer adult Shouko getting back with Hiro at the end and/or Tetsu confessing to grade-school Karada if I were to root for particular relationship developments.
Although this is mainly a drama, there are also comedic moments that spring mostly from Karada’s nervousness and unfamiliarity with elements of adult life (e.g. buying a bed from a department store). The chemistry between Tetsu and Touko, the side characters, also lightens up the mood a little. Go, supporting cast!
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