Hiiro no Kakera--Is It Over Yet?

The main cast looking somewhat happy for once...believe me, that's a rarity in this show.
(And this is just a picture from the credits...)

Want to hear an interesting story? Well, I had been taking a bit of a break and fell behind all the shows I was watching by about 4(ish) episodes. And so, starting back up again, I had to watch the older stuff and get caught up. It was fine; I didn't really mind it. And then Hiiro no Kakera came along. I had been three episodes in prior to my hiatus and now, of course, there are eight episodes out. So what do I do? I watch episode 8 thinking it's episode 4. And now I kind of want to bang my head on a wall for being so stupid. I mean, really, can't I read?


The worst part of it was I couldn't tell I had skipped four episodes.

If anything, that should tell you what Hiiro no Kakera is like.

I skipped four episodes and could still understand nearly everything that was going on.

And catching back up with the in-between episodes was painful.

Hiiro no Kakera is one of those shows that could be good...in theory. I've enjoyed multiple anime series based off otome games. But this one feels like you're watching a game. A really slow game. And you're sharing it with someone who reads a lot slower than you do.

Put simply, it drags.

I couldn't marathon this series. I had to take breaks and convince myself to start the next episode, because I knew I'd never finish otherwise.

Why am I still watching it, you ask?

Well, I made it this far.

And I'm clinging to the hope that it might get better at the end...

I shouldn't have to do that. It should be good enough right now, but it isn't. It's not all that hard to explain why it's no good too. It really just comes down to the feeling of slowness and shallowness.

First, you have your five main love interests. Okay, we're good, none of them are ugly, let's move on. Oh, wait, they should each have some sort of identifying personality trait...hm...let's pull some out of a hat or something... And so these five were born. (I know there's six people in the picture, I promise. The guy on the far right doesn't come in until a bit later though.)

Got it? Now choose your love interest and let's move on.

I think that's where they stopped caring about personality and just went straight to plot.

Okay, guys. Let's make it magic. Magic is good. Legends are good. Villians with German numbers for names are good.

...Wait, what?

Yep. Numbers.

Doesn't he look like a teacher giving a lesson or something?

And then we add a lot of ANGST.

This guy is my favorite of the five, by the way. I think it's 'cause he looks kinda like Gokudera would if he dyed his hair purple. And he's got a vaguely similar personality (I use the word "personality" lightly because it's hard to find anyone with it in Hiiro no Kakera). Except he's a lot less awesome than Gokkun.

Anyway, he angsts a lot. Everyone does.

When they decide not to angst, they generally hang out and eat. Well, sometimes they do fight the bad guys, but seriously, they eat A LOT in this show. Occasionally the table conversations lead to more angst. But, here, have an eating picture.

When they're not eating, they hold serious meetings to discuss the cause of their angst. Look at how intense this is, guys. This is some serious stuff going on.

Hiiro no Kakera excels at angst. It does not, however, excel at being a good show that's interesting (or entertaining) to watch.

If you haven't tried it yet, I recommend you spend your time on one of its happier, less-angsty, faster-paced cousins. You won't be missing anything here.

That said, this is a review of the anime, not the game. The game, for all I know, could be fantastic. But coming into this with no prior knowledge of the series, it disappointed me with how flat the characters are and how long it takes to do...well, everything. All in all, not a series I will be revisiting.

I'll leave you with a screencap from one of the end bits (mostly because I feel bad for neglecting him in the screencaps).

This guy continues to remind me of some other character, but I can't put my finger on it...

~Hana


P.S. Reviews will be on an episode-to-episode basis from now on, beginning with episode 9.

Hiiro no Kakera does not belong to me, nor do the images used above.