First Impressions / Series Introduction / Snapshots

OP Sequence

OP: 「青空loop」 (Aozora loop) by marble
Watch the OP! Mirror 1, Mirror 2

It’s early spring, and with the sakura in full bloom, a mature yet youthful girl walks out of the train station and is met with a nostalgic view: the town in which she grew up in, not having visited in quite some time.

Elsewhere, some douchebag is awakened by the sound of the doorbell. Ding dong. Ding dong. Ding dong. Goddamn, I’M COMING. The obnoxious guest lets herself in – oh, it’s that same girl. The douchebag walks down the stairs and meets the gaze of a striking beauty at his door – “eh, who might you be?”

The girl starts laughing! “You haven’t changed one bit!” she jests. This charade continues on and on, leading to the girl letting herself in the shower, a place where all hot girls inevitably go to take their miniskirts and powder blue underwear off. Naturally, this coincides directly with the guy’s best friend showing up at his door, the girl walking out wearing only a towel, etc.

Except this time, the friend recognizes the girl! “It’s Mao-oneechan!” Kazuki proclaims. The lightbulb finally turns on in Koichi’s head – oh, it’s our childhood friend, who went to study abroad in France… two years ago. Apparently in anime / Japan, two years is long enough to completely forget a face… or in Mao’s case, a rockin body!

At any rate, Koichi’s mom comes home and the four have their reunion cup of tea. Uh, by the way Kazuki, why did you come again? OH SHI-

At the park, a giant teddy bear is having an epic battle with a silent gorilla. It’s the new production of the Cinema Research Society, a promotional video to recruit potential members at the start of the new semester. The director, also the club president, is a rather greasy fellow, and he orders Kazuki and Koichi around like little kids.

Back at home, Kazuki tells his imouto Nana that ol’ Mao is back. Not really paying attention to their conversation as my mind has wandered to places that are best not described here.

Swing back to the other home, where Koichi is sound asleep. Mao walks into him room in her skimpy casual getup, and with her yearning, vulnerable eyes, looks upon Koichi and utters, “Koichi, I can’t sleep…” Pan to a shot of the closed door to Mao’s room, where she is making some rather overtly suspicious…sounds…ah, not there, ah, oh, ahh… grrrr you bastard turn turn TURN! Ah, video game. No biggie, no biggie.

Next day, the first day of the new semester, Koichi and Kazuki find themselves in the same class (yay), along with the creepy film club guy (doh). Mao meets her homeroom teacher (Ayako Kawasumi), who also happens to be the faculty advisor for the film club. It’s like one big happy family. And as we all know, families are all about drama! Maybe next ep…

Along the way we meet this quiet big dude named Eiji – he’s really cold to all the hot girls around him, supposedly putting on that air of mysteriousness that’s supposed to drive girls wild. Well, it seems to work with Mao, as she can’t stop pestering him for a word or two. Does this make him the male version of tsundere?

Koichi bumps into a girl in his class and blushes up immediately – the girl does the same. And yet, they’re not going out, nor seem to really respond to each other too well. The girl runs out the classroom, her face as red as a baboon’s ass – my guess is that he confessed to her, but she turned him down just because she was so caught off-guard. It’s not that she doesn’t like him, but her delicate maiden heart just wasn’t ready!

And finally, Kazuki finds some mysterious girl lobbing paper airplanes out a window. After some smalltalk, she suggests they experiment with something. Eh? Experiment? Yep, she says, as she stands on her tiptoes and touch his lips with hers.

Oooooh

ED Sequence

ED: 「願い星」 (Negai boshi) by Snow*
Watch the ED!: Mirror 1, Mirror 2

Thoughts

You know, after watching it for the 30th time today, this episode isn’t bad at all. We’re obviously set up for some hard-hitting drama down the line, and a ton of questions left unanswered, history left uncovered, and characters that needed explaining. So while this first episode might have seemed a little boring from the outset, it did a good job at laying the foundation from which the rest of the show is likely to build upon,

Technically, this show was what we’ve come to expect from the people that brought us Honey & Clover and Nodame Cantabile. The animation was solid, with that unique watercolor-ish art style, the characters look terrific, the voice acting tremendous with its all-star cast. The OP/ED songs are decent and seem quite appropriate, the BGM well done.

My issue with it? It didn’t wow me. The first episode of Honey & Clover was amazing with the return of Morita-senpai and his huge bags of croquettes, the first ep of Nodame went from soothingly triumphant to giddily romantic after Nodame proclaimed her love for Chiaki. We did get a big kiss moment at the end of this episode, but it came totally out of the blue, not to mention with the supporting male!

As with its two predecessors, Kimikiss is shaping up to have some well-developed and intriguing characters that have plenty of personality and meaningful history behind them – it will be interesting to see what is to become of them!

34 Comments

  17. OMG !!!
    OMNI there are too many animes and we do have time don´t we!! 😀
    tomorow is Rental Magika, minamike, Prism Ark and Hero Tales!!
    My best anime from the past season is still HEROIC AGE( animation and story )!!Ok it loses for gurren laggan in animation but in story ROCKS everything else!!
    But GUNDAM 00 is awesome!!There are also too many harem series this time …..but hey fan service for free….WHO DOESN´T LIKE IT!!??
    Let´s continue DE GOSAIMASU!!!!

    Tensai Otaku
    Reply

  18. This series are great. Better than i expected. Hopefully it gets better.
    I am still stuck of which girl will end up with which guy. This doesn’t seem to be a harem anime. (little disappointed for that) But let’s see what happens.

    banzemanga
    Reply

  22. Wait…2 male protagonists in a harem? Actually 3 male characters that could be potential love interests for the girls (and thus reducing the number of hearts broken in the end)?
    Awesome, count me in! I actually found this first episode very enjoyable and will keep watching.
    I really hope all the girls will not flock to Kouichi though.

    eurys
    Reply

  25. @Tensau & mutio
    agreed. Heroic Age was perhaps the best anime not picked up by RC. The ending was nice, the story was good, the music was great, had characters you cared about…all marks of a great anime. It had it’s shortcomings, like the whole nodos contracts that never seemed to make sense to me…but overall Heroic Age was satisfying.

    I love the artwork of Kimikiss….the story, as of now, looks completely unoriginal. Here’s to hoping it isn’t.

    off2bali2
    Reply

  26. I like it already. Typical harem anime. six main female characters (first screen cap) and two male protagonists. maybe it’s not as fun as love hina but it has it’s peace.

    The worst here is Fukuyama Jun’s acting. In Inukami he showed up good but here … no further comment on him. Good to hear Koshimizu Ami again, just one sentence though.

    It seems to be very good series. I think I’ll watch it ’till the end.

    fake
    Reply

  32. this series could be better, heres my idea or version, the triangle thing with mao, hoshino and koichic is pretty interesting. the way things are going this could at end at episode 24. this anime has the potential of going to 50 episodes. how bout episode , say 12 that one day kouichi and hoshino are alone in libary finishing up that script, then by accendient kouichi drops phone , tries to get it and so does the girl but grab each otheres hands instead. they look into eachotheres eyes . hoishino closes her eyes, she waiting for a kiss, then just before he kisses her , he sees remebers something about mao in the past, then his head begin to hurt and tells hoshino that hes not feeling well and heads home. as the he walks home , the pain gets worse and worse until he reaches a park, the pain goes down and desides to take a break. he falls asleep and starts dreaming about his past with mao. memories or his feelings toward mao that were sealed in his mind suddenly came back. kouchic is floating and watching his past self and begins to remeber not only his feelings toward mao but one of main reasons why he wanted to become a novelist. though he was kid, he always thought about writing about a love story about how in the future mao would become his girlfriend. something along those lines. then he begins to ask himself why know , how can these parts of my memories and why know? the says to himself ” ahh i see” after he says an image of mao leaving for france. “i couldnt take that pain so i somehow sealed those memories and feelings somewhere in my heart”. lets see he’s like ” time went on and relived middle school days and the first time he met hoshino in his first year. i think he feel for her mainly because she minded him somewhat of how mao used to be in here childhood years. “so thats why i had been to have feelings for her” he didnt know why he felt that how her. she was just a substitute for mao though not really. he just made reasons why he liked her. then he wakes up, now its night and says to himself” it really late, better head home. but then stops, and starts talking to himself , saying stuff like ” what should i do know” im already with hoshino but mao is” “I..”, then goes on the ground and screams “what should i do” he one the ground for a few minutes and then finally gets up. though its going to hard, he decisides to break up with hoshino and confess to mao. he cant lie to himself any longer and it wouldnt be fair to hoshino like that. thats where that episode ends. yes people may ready this and think ya this anime is going to end at episode 13 or 15 but no thats not what i have in mind. in my opinion, this anime should be different from all other romance animes. anyway episode 13: during lunch hes with hoshino on the roof saying we have to talk. of course she would say is something wrong or did something happen? he no not really. then starts ” hoshino, i think we should break up” and ya you know the expression any anime girl gets when she hears those words” . i wont go too much into that, if anyone thinks what their reading is a good idea so far, i dont want to spoil what may happen on 13. im looking to get support to change the storyline of this anime from episode 12 onward to 40. if can get enough tsupport this anime can turn out to be one of the best. well anyway its after school and kouchi asks mao if they hang out today, he has something important to talk about. she agrees and takes her to the park. mao says: what did you want to talk about”? kouchi: well the thing is…” ” me and hoshino broke up. mao is says “what” , can you pretty much imagine how she say that. well anyway is like, “why” things were going so well bewteen you two, did you guys have a fight or something” kouichi: “no nothing like that” “i ended the relationship”. mao asks why he would do that and kouchi tells her and confesses. you’d think they get together in this episode and in the next one his other friend ends up with the soccer chick. last episode mao breaks it off with kai. but know instead, mao turns kouichi down and tells him “im with kai” , ” i dont have those kind of feelings for you, were just childhood friends”. off course she lying, if youve seen episode 8, its clear that mao has some feelings for kouichi. Mao leaves kouichi in park , kouichi has look that makes it seem like its the end of the world. Know, either my version or this version , mao is the bad guy,. well kouichi is an iditot in kimkiss series were watching now. he and mao still cant get their feelings straight. anyway my version, kouchi is actualy realizes how feels and goes for it, unlike mao who is stubborn turns him down goes with kai. its not over yet, the next day mao gets up early for once and avoids kouichi, during lunch he looks for mao with a gift he bought for mao. maybe episode 10 or 11 , they were hangin out and saw this bracelt that she really wanted but couldnt afford. well anyway as kouichi keeps searching , he finally finds her but is with kai, he hides and waits until mao is alone, but kai sees kouichi and just before mao leaves in kouichi direction, kai grabs mao hand, turn her around and kiss her, whill kissing her kai looks at kouichi, kouchi is heartbroken and finally notices kai has spotted him so he runs. he leaves the school in tears , he passes by kazuiki and his other friend, they try to say hi but kouichis quickly passes them by not noticing. and again heads to the park , theres no one around , he keeps running and trips, still crying he yells damn!!!!!. then his eyes go clear, and keeps walking around, having no idea where to go or what to do he ends up in the kanto region somehow. he calls home telling his mom he spending the night with his friend. he hangs up looks for a place to sleep.
    New version: okay people what do you think so far, ya most of you may think ya this story can up to 26 episodes but 50 not really right ? well like i said , theres more to my version. im thinking of kouichi should move out and transfer to another school in the kanto region without telling his friends, he asks mom of course to not tell neither mao or kazuiki where hes living let alone his school. lets say one day mao hears this news, she runs out thinking its her fault that kouichi left which is true and only one of the reason. before i go any further , ill continue where i left off, okay its episode 14, he wakes in some alley, then walks around the kanto region again until he stops at the tennis courts. he continues walking until he sees somone playing, its a beautiful playing tennis with her friend, keeps watching. hes impressed of how a girls can play tennis this well. he feels his beating and his eyes start returing to their original state, Now hes nor will ever fall for this girl, the game itself is whats making kouichi heart beat, he thinks to himself ” ive never felt like this before” i want to play” tennis has always just been a sport ive heard of and never watched anyone play it before” , ” so this is tennis” he says with a smile” . then the girl hes watching spots and yells out ” what do you think your looking at ” you can imagine kouichis expression, with notiching her friend returns the ball and hits her in the face. kouichi runs up and sees if she okay. shes says “ya ya im fine” nevermind that what were you doing staring at me like that , are you perv or somethin, of course kouichi and denies and simply says he was impressed on how she played and to keep watching , shes says ” ya right” , kouichi: no its true, with a happy face also says ive never known tennis can be so cool” he tells her how he doesnt know much about it but seeing her play really opened up his eyes the tennis world, she says” hmmmm” so what did you feel when you me playing”? kouichi: i cant explain the feeling but seeing you play made want to out there and play, maybe its excitment or well i really want to play now” “ive never felt this way before” impressed by his words, the girls takes his hand, drags to the other side of courts and asks her friend to give him a raquet, shes says, “okay ill teach some stuff about tennis”, kouichi: what, really?” she then says , dont you want to play, kouichi : ya but i didnt think you teach me” she says well ” im interetsed into seeing what you can do on your first try” then they start play, an hours passes by , and so far kouichi seems to be enjoying himself. they stop and says not bad” you learn pretty fast” he blushes off course and off course says really ya, she then says dont let that get into your head theres still more to this sport” he stays quiet and somewhat understands her words, anyway ” shes watch this, she picks the ball and serves the ball. now you try she says, kouichi: i havent learned or even tried to serve, she says dont argue with me and serve. she nows that he wont be able to do it, shes just doing it for fun. anyway kouichi gets ready to serve, he throws the ball up and he himself jump, now the girl didnt jump when served but in his thinking, he can get the ball faster, now the is girls whats he doing, he cant that off, but she speechless when during watching his serving form, an image of Echizen Ryoma from prince of tennis doing his twist serve and she thinks impossible, after thinking that kouichi hits the ball, reaches the court spins on the court like the twist serve. hes like “wow, that was cool, different from your serve but that was cool, but did i do that wrong miss, shes hasnt give her name yet, she stands there stunned. after a minute she says, have really never played tennis before? he answers no i havent , she thinks this is amazing, if his skills and knowledge in tennis was poilished he can become great player, even better than Enchizen Ryoma. she says ive descided, “i want you on team” hes says “huh are you series” shes like what with that look of course, you have great talent and the potenial to be the best, there arent to many people with inborn talent like your” kouichi: inborn talent, she says “ya” , contiues im a coach for a highschool tennis team, ill personaly train you too, he stays silent and after a min, he says he cant, she replies why dont you want to play” kouichi: ya but the thing is i dont live in this region, i come from where kouichi was living. shes like ohhh what a pity” kouichi: well to be honest, i want to join your team and live here but i dont have a place to stay, shes like : you would be willing to come live all the way out here and play for my team, ? wont your friends and family miss you? well if i found a place or someone i can stay with find a school, she would be okay with, as for my friends….. i dont really have anywhere to go back” she stays quiet and doesnt bother to ask why he said that” kouichi: if i can find a place, then im in but i dont know this area well and other than you i dont know anyone else. she takes a few minutes think things through and comes up with a solution: you can live with me, kouichi makes a weird face and says “what?!” she says why not it solves all your problems. kouichi: well ya but i just met you, i couldnt ask you to do that” she: its no big deal, know come on, call your mom and tell her, ill even go back to your home with you and talk with her, now come on” they walk to the train station, before they get on kouichi asks why, you just met me and know your offering me a place to stay, why are you doing so much for me? she makes a smile and says ” believe in you, i see great potenial in you and i can tell you have the determination for it and well i think you do it” they miss the first train because, kouichi touched by her words hugs and shes like ” what are you doi… before she smacks him silly, she sees him crying and pats him on the head and to kouichi ” what wrong with you” he replies: thank you, ill do my best and wont let you down, also says no one has ever had so faith in me. the episode ends. if you people support my version and to hear more about my ideas for kouichi and some other ideas for futima-san , the soccer girl and kazuki, then let me know,also if anyone knows how to contact to producer or director of this series let me know

    scott
    Reply

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