Interested in checking out a cute, funny, and good romance anime? Look no further than Kase-san!
Anime NYC had a few premiere screenings over the weekend, from Mob Psycho 100 Season 2, High Score Girl and Sirius the Jaeger, to that cursed Hayao Miyazaki documentary (cursed I say!). But I found time to see Kase-san and Morning Glories Saturday night, because I definitely had to. I’ve been reading the manga, so when I saw the schedule and that this was on it, I knew I had to make time for it.
The screening began with introductions from Pony Canyon of the staff, Shinichi Nakamura and Yusuke Terada, then after the host explained a few things about the series (which included showing the Seven Seas manga editions), the anime began.
It’s a fairly simple, short yuri film that gets right into it: Yamada and Kase are already together, and the anime showcases their love for each other in very different ways. Whether it’s Yamada squeeing in her bed that she’s Kase’s girlfriend, whether it’s Kase being embarrassed at almost every (fun) misunderstanding in their relationship, or whether it’s Yamada slinking to the floor dejected in front of her friend Mikawa as she discovers Kase is with the track team eating lunch (but she specifically wanted to eat lunch with Kase), some could accuse it as being sickeningly sweet. But thanks to the animation and the characters, it’s hard not to smile at how these two act around each other.
The crowd was very much into that, as most of the faces Yamada and Kase made got everyone laughing. The crowd was also into any affection they each showed (a decent amount of howls occurred), which takes us to the pivotal highlight: Yamada inviting Kase to her house. Many events occurred, which ranged from hot, to hilarious, to “Yamada, do you understand what you’ve just done?!?”
That is the hook for this series: seeing how these two interact with each other. But how these two girls continue to love each other as they’re in a world that doesn’t quite accept it is also something that’s generally on my mind.
That said, any negativity regarding their relationship isn’t really emphasized much in the film. It’s all about their relationship and rather normal worries (a.k.a, being unable to spend time together). That doesn’t mean there aren’t any bumps in it, which happens as the film winds down.
I actually wonder if that last part, which I won’t say because of spoilers, happens in the manga, as I’m assuming it does. The anime shows snippets from Book 1 of Kase-san, but adapts Kase-san and Shortcake for sure. I don’t have volume 4 yet, so someone will have to let me know on that. But overall the film was fine, though I was near someone who wondered how the ending was (dunno if it was more criticism of the translation subtitles or what the VAs said).
After the panel ended, questions with the staff occurred, although it was more directed to Nakamura! My only criticism is it didn’t feel like the translator was translating this well (says the dude who has zero translation experience. Also live translation experience). I guess the job was done well, but something just felt off. Will add the questions were pretty lengthy (from getting into how this film can represent the LGBTQ+ community to even specific background choices for scenes), so I’m probably being too harsh.
In any case, the questions were answered simply and well by Nakamura. And after those questions were answered, everyone had to play Jan-Ken-Pon. For me, I had to do it again…I bowed out early this time (mainly because it had to be exact. So if it was rock, had to be paper. I’m still hurt).
I do wish we could know when Kase-san and Morning Glories will be screened elsewhere in North America, but they didn’t say. I also wish we knew who’s gonna distribute it, but that also wasn’t said. For now, all I can say is if it does happen to screen in your area, this is a love story that’s very much worth watching. And if you’re a yuri fan, you’re gonna want to see this one.