Kita ze Inbou! - キタぜ陰謀!

[ Episode 6: The Yume Makeover Project ]

More like the The Yume Parody Project.

When I first saw KimiAru, I knew I should expect a very colorful cast of characters, especially the female ones, to entertain me. So far it’s been a fun show that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but at least make sense for the most part. It’s funny how one of the most undeveloped characters, Yume, gets her own episode, and compared to the Benisu one, this one is downright zany.

While Yume is asleep after a long day of school, Ren decides to clean her room when all of a sudden he spots a pink notebook with the words “Yume Note” on it. When he opens it, he gets sucked into a weird dream world in which a city is attacked by a ferocious sunglasses-wearing bear. When the dream-world Benisu is attacked by him, she is saved by the three Kuonji sisters, led by the surprisingly more radiant Yume. After losing horribly to the bear, the two sisters tell Yume only she can defeat him, and with her power and belief, she manages to do so. Ren “wakes” up from the dream world realizing how Yume always strived for people to acknowledge her, so the moment she wakes up, he tells her he is going to help her find her own personality with the hep of the other house members. It doesn’t take for Yume and Ren to realize that the only way Yume can have charisma and appreciation if she just acts herself, a clichéd lesson, but it works in this aspect.

I have to say, that this is the funniest episode of KimiAru yet. There are so many Easter eggs for those who have been watching anime (or reading any manga) in the past 5 years or so. I think this episode had even more parodies than a single episode of Yakitate Japan!!, one of my all-time favorites. I especially loved how Shinra’s boot attack was akin to D.Gray-Man’s Lenalee, which is funny because both characters are voiced by Shizuka Itou. Yuko Gotou, the seiyuu of Miyu, also received an inside joke when the bear attacks her character with a Mikuru Beam, Mikuru’s attack from Haruhi Suzumiya. Nothing is worse for a seiyuu to be defeated by an attack on a character he\she voiced before I assume.

The second half of the episode doesn’t fare as good as the first, mainly because the other characters force their personalities on Yume. It starts funny, but in the end it seemed like a forced scene altogether, although there is one particular scene, which I’m not going to spoil, in which one of the characters breaks the fourth wall. Of course it wouldn’t be a Yume episode without the obligatory Yuri relationship between her and Natose.

It was one of the show’s best, but I fear that some people will not enjoy it if you are new to anime. However, even those who won’t understand the references will find something to like.

8.5/10