Polish that rice!
What They Say:
Five new rice students have enrolled at Kokuritsu Inaho Academy, a school on the verge of shutting down, and they form a new group called “Love Rice” that’s practicing to beat Yeast King at the Harvest Show and win back the popularity rice once had… This heartfelt “kome”-dy featuring anthropomorphized grains is full of laughter and passion! Two grains aren’t needed at the dinner table… so which will become the true HarveStar?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As we get closer to the end of the series I find myself wishing more and more that this connected for me since I like the concept with its absurdity. With the group doing their best to practice ahead of the festival and now facing some serious competition, they’re struggling with the reality of it all and getting close to more infighting, which is easy considering how awkwardly they came together. What turns the tide is when they get a famous visitor that shows up from out of the shadows to inspire and help them while extolling his own love of rice as well – something that’s just weirdly creepy. What they get is a path to follow that will set them apart when it comes to rice polishing and I just can’t get past the comedy of what an euphemism it could be.
In Summary:
The rice related comedy is strong here and the arrival of a “famous” guest star just adds to it since they bring wisdom and experience – and warnings – about rice polishing. This is a show that just really needed more absurdity in design and execution to work, and some better pacing in the earlier episodes, for it to really click and work. It’s a strange piece to be sure that doesn’t work more than it works but I can’t not watch.
Grade: D+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
