Fuuka

Summary: >

Atsuki spends most of his time looking at his phone and avoiding real life interactions, but his a collision with a brazen girl pulls him from his comfort zone. Fuuka is energetic, but feels a sprk is missing in her life. Atsuki suggests trying out music after hearing her sing. She's been a big fan of pop singer Koyuki Hinashi, who sings songs inspired by a love she never realized - later turning out to be a unrequited love for Atsuki! It's bad timing considering Fuuka just started a band with Atsuki and fallen for him as well.

Thoughts: >

Fuuka didn't draw me in, it was more like I decided to go along with it. I found much of this anime to be very contrived, but I think that was a fair trade off for better entertainment (ignoring that it should have been better constructed in general).

What do I mean by contrived? So Astuki happens to be childhood friends with an idol. He meets Fuuka who happens to be an amazing singer (even if she doesn't know it yet), her friend was a piano prodigy in childhood, Fuuka's track team colleague plays drums, and Atsuki's online friend is great at guitar. This is how the band forms. Also within like two months of practice, they perform on stage and everyone is blown away. There's more, but you get the idea. Fuuka is an anime slapped together with a concept in mind, but it doesn't develop naturally.

I was hoping for a big upset within the story but it's pretty clear how it will play out early on and there no surprises. This anime could have been better if it hadn't played it so safe.

My biggest hangup was that I didn't like Fuuka. I have a predisposition to feel sorry for cute anime girls (that don't annoy me), and although Hinashi's story is yet another childhood friend trope, I think it's done well enough. In this situation, I like anime titles where I love both girls in a love triangle, but for me it was all slanted in one direction. Band members have token back stories, seemingly only so they have them. Also there is a fair amount of of fan service, but so weirdly placed it's like there was a quota to meet.

I liked Fuuka well enough, even if I wished there was more to it. By it's lack of surprises, it becomes just another anime romance. It's well produced and complemented by an impressive catalog of music considering there are only 12 episodes. It's not a deep drama, more like a waterd down anime-ish drama. If you're okay with that, it's worth checking out.

Screen Caps: >