Nothing says fun like being into a woman and seeing her dead husband appear to help you out with her.
What They Say:
Hazuki is secretly in love with his florist boss, but his chances of a successful romance seem slim when he not only has to overcome shyness, but also the possessive ghost of her dead husband.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Based on the josei manga series by Haruka Kawach which ran for three years in Feel Young magazine, Natsuyuki is a new eleven episode series from studio Dogakobo that already has home video rights sewn up by Sentai Filmworks. Josei series are few and far between overall but they tend to have strong, cult followings that can sometimes break out into something a bit more mainstream as well, such as Princess Jellyfish. Natsuyuki Rendezvous caught my eye early on for its character designs but also the fact that it takes place around a flower shop, leading to some very appealing promotional artwork that sold itself well enough for me to want to see what it’s all going to be about.
The series revolves around a primary pair of characters along with an intriguing third. The show starts off well enough, introducing us to Rokka, a young woman who owns a flower shop that does good business and certainly is an attractive but not overdone place. She doesn’t have a lot of help there, but she’s ably assisted by Ryusuke, a young man who is definitely good at his job but has a slightly dour look to him at times that feels a little off. He comes across as a decent guy, but there’s something really intriguing about him. While his eyesight is not what it should be, he also has an extra special perception. When Rokka invites him over to her place to get together for some shopping, he’s surprised and hurt that she has a half dressed man there with her. While he’s interested in her, he’s not about to really compete for her if she’s playing like this.
The trick here is that the other man, Atsushi, is actually Rokka’s dead husband that only Ryusuke can see. While Ryusuke has an interest in her, she’s still focused just on her feelings for her husband. Ryusuke doesn’t have a clue about this for awhile though and it just regretting taking the part time job here based solely on his attraction to Rokka. When he does learn of the truth about Atsushi, there’s a disbelief about it he has deal with before finally accepting it. It could be done for laughs or great humor, but there’s a laid back kind of approach to it, especially since Ryusuke is the first person that has ever seen Atsushi. So Atsushi takes to hanging out with him since he sees the potential that’s going on as well. This leads to some amusing visuals, especially when Atsushi’s feet are the only thing visible, just hanging in the air above Ryusuke, but it also has a sad feeling to it as Ryusuke learns more about the Shimao family past, which in turn draws him more towards Rokka.
In Summary:
The series is one that is really interesting, provided you’re open to this kind of show where it’s about a limited number of characters and doesn’t play things for laughs. There are things that will make you smile, but more so that you’re just drawn into the potential romance that could blossom here if Rokka comes to terms with her loss and Ryusuke doesn’t screw things up. With a wonderful setting, some very appealing visuals that don’t go over the top with pop or color but still stands out and some very interesting characters with a lot of room to grow and express themselves, Natsuyuki Rendezvous has a chance at being the real dark horse winner for me this season. Shows like this are pretty appealing to me but they’re few and far between and often have to play up other things in order to gain an audience. This one looks like it will go for being an utterly charming show with human characters and real emotion, making for something that will leave an impact week after week if done right. I think this is a series that has the most room to really grow and become something special, if I can keep my expectations from getting too high.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
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