Sentimental Journey

Summary: >

A first love can leave a mark on a heart for many years to come. These are the stories of twelve different girls in twelve different cities.

Thoughts: >

Sentimental Journey is based off the popular date sim game Sentimental Graffiti. Instead of having using the entire cast at once, this anime gives each each girl her own story - 12 total. While I'd like to tell you that it was sweet and cute, I couldn't describe it as anything but long and plodding. I might be a bit gracious even rating this as weak, but it doesn't have anything deliberately distasteful.

Sentimental Journey plays it so safe that it lacks vitality. Each episode features a girl who doesn't seem to have much of a personality, nor is she particularly likable. The lack of engaging stories only makes it worse. One episode features a girl who believes a terminal illness will soon kill her, so she's driven to complete book of poetry she's writing before her death. Even under circumstances like this, the story isn't gripping. How that can not be dramatic is almost an accomplishment.

Are there any good episodes? If you can stay awake through the first 5 episodes (which will take determination, trust me), episode 6 has some charm to it. A girl turns to a Buddhist monk for insight into her troubled heart, and he becomes her friend and mentor. The kinship they develop creates a great chemistry between the two. It's not what I would call exciting, but it is highly philosophical from a Zen perspective. The philosophy aspect also may make your head explode if you're not interested in thinking that much while watching anime.

I wish I had better things to say about Sentimental Journey, but it drags too much. The unremarkable soundtrack doesn't help either. My advice is to avoid it all together, but the aforementioned episode may be of interest to some.

Screen Caps: >