NoaIzumiAnime Review: World of Narue
June 15th 2009 20:52
It’s a story of boy meets girl. Well, boy meets alien girl. When Kazuto starts dating Narue, he knew she was from outer space, but he never expected to deal with alien terrorists, bureaucrats who want to take Narue away from Earth, and sentient robots. Can love truly conquer all? It’s a direct hit to your heart!
WoN is sweet almost to the point of sappiness. It features alien girls, spaceships, and interplanetary politics, but that stuff is just icing. The core, which the anime never strays very far from, is the relationship between these two young people. Kazu is a fairly typical high school boy. He’s not very sure of himself, especially around girls, and is an otaku for anime. Narue is a fairly typical high school girl, if a bit of a loner, except that she’s an alien (half-alien actually; her mother was human). To an extent, this is a very familiar set-up, but one key difference is that Narue is very upfront about being an alien. She lists her address as the Earth branch of the Galaxy Federation, and her nickname is “Alien Girl”. Kazu doesn’t really believe it, until he sees a dog that turns into a monster and is saved by Narue’s bat-swinging skills. Later on, Narue shows him the fleet of ships in orbit above Earth (and somehow avoiding detection by the thousands of Earth-based telescopes, but never mind), convincing Kazu. But, due to either his gentle nature or his feelings for Narue, that doesn’t make any difference.
Kazuto and Narue
As is often the case, the supporting characters are as interesting, if not more so. Maruo is Kazu’s best friend and confidante (and the self-described “Dr. Hunkenstein”), and his friend and neighbor Yagi is initially the exact opposite for Narue, a UFO-enthusiast who does not believe that Narue is an alien and is constantly trying to prove it. This being WofN, they eventually become friends, thanks in part to Kanaka, Narue’s full alien sister who’s a bit of a brat, especially at first, but has a good heart.
Storywise, there’s not much of an over-riding plot aside from the relationship. The dog-monster belongs to a group violently opposed to the Galaxy Federation’s presence on Earth, for reasons that remain pretty much unexplained, and the officials of the Galaxy Federation make several attempts to convince Narue and her father to leave, but always without success. These threats are never very threatening, and every episode ends on a fell-good moment.
Kanaka, Unplugged.
And even though it’s a short series (12 episodes), it hits all the anime must-sees. There’s the beach episode, the hot spring episode, the cosplay episode, and the traditional festival finale.
World of Narue is the cotton candy of anime, but that’s sometimes just what the doctor ordered. If you’ve just watched Black Lagoon or Perfect Blue, and you feel like something that is the exact opposite, this is it.
Great moments: When Narue is in Kazu’s room and discovers his porn collection (“Naked identical triplets?”), Kanaka’s face when she first meets Narue, and Narue and Kazuto’s first kiss.
Geeking out: The movie that the couple see on their first date is a sci-fi blockbuster, and has a character referred to as the Governor, who sounds suspiciously like Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Extras: Director and actor commentary, interviews with the voice actors, storyboards, promos, gallery, manga-to-anime comparison, and clean opening and closing.
Summary: Sweet anime about a sweet couple, light and fluffy. Grade: A minus
Age Rating: 13 and up. Some fan service; the creators like their panty shots, and there a couple of locker room scenes, in addition to the swimsuit and hot springs episodes.
Blogger's Note: I'm going to be away (in Europe!) for two weeks, but I will be back with reviews of Patlabor, Perfect Blue, and Absolute Boyfriend. Until then, happy viewing!
Kazuto and Maruo
Yagi
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