[In 500 Words] Yamada-kun and the 7 Witches

Time for something new. I tend to drag on in my reviews, and that's because I have a lot to say and have no concept of summarizing, but this means that whatever review I do pick up takes a lot of time to write, so I obviously don't have time to review absolutely everything I want to talk about. In 500 Words is a new series I've devised so I can get my thoughts out about a certain anime without needing to elaborate on absolutely everything; basically a run-down of my thoughts of an anime without needing to talk about the plot synopsis, the people involved, animation, sound or whatever. Of course, I'll limit this series to anime that either, while I have things to say the content wouldn't last an entire in depth review, or else something I just know in my heart I'll never get around to reviewing.
Now, yes, this is sort of a test-run, honestly just to see if I can do this, but I'm going to try, because if I can pull of describing Yamada-kun and the 7 Witches in 500 words well, I'm relatively sure I can do anything, including flying to the moon or reviewing three anime in one month. But enough chit-chat. I'm going to try this now. But before that...
     Hello people of "The Wired", my name is Quan, I hope you've had a lovely day, and welcome to this new experiment I'm trying on my blog. Today, Yamada-kun and the 7 Witches... in 500 words. Let's get started then.

In 500 Words

Yamada is yet another school life comedy that tries to differentiate itself through a certain gimmick, in this case one of the supernatural kind that seeks to initiate amusing character interactions and forward the story, the plot only moving forward as more ideas keep churning in and shaking up the formula. Readers of the manga will tell you the narrative is extremely rushed, and I agree, characters often drop in and out of importance unritualistically, and there's not enough time to possibly develop them all as the show makes a point of introducing new characters and supernatural every episode to keep the fun moving. But that's the nice thing about Yamada, it's 12 episodes of charming and entertaining randomness spliced with romance and hints of ecchi that is easy to digest and is gone before you know it, and that's all it needs to do, as you never need to think about it again.

Some characters to expect throughout the anime.

It knows how to do its job and well, and though the job of a slice-of-life supernatural harem isn't one with many rewards in terms of deep characters or a plot that doesn't nearly completely rely on coincidences and contrivances, it still executes with contagious energy and a sense of self awareness. If you go into Yamada with the right expectations, you'll get exactly what you came for, and that's great; the show serving well as a breather in between more heavy and complex anime. It's not likely you won't find something to like: the characters have great chemistry even with the ever-growing roster, the animation is pretty and cute, and the opening song is actually quite amazing all things considered, at the very least, it's not something you'll want to skip often, even serving as a tool for emotional attachment in some cases.

The OP

What's surprising is that the show actually finds its strength in the more dramatic moments as opposed to the zaniness of the everyday-life comedy. Character backstories are thought-out and effective, even if said characters usually drop out of the narrative picture once their one episode of focus is over, which nearly counter-balances what the show does well with the cast. Our two leads however: Yamada and Shiraishi, are surprisingly well developed and enduring, and if you're willing to give just a little emotional investment towards these two and the rest of the cast, the anime will pay you back in an emotionally charged finale that still remembers elation and hijinks are the real cores of this show, and never tries to stray too far from those roots and asks for the viewer to give unrealistic amounts of craps about what is happening. And don't too many craps either, because even if you're invested, don't ever forget what this show really is, because if you lose sight of that amidst the occasional drama, you're going to end up expecting what the anime can't give you: true depth and truly good writing. But despite that, Yamada is still one hell of a good time. 

Final Verdict: 5/10

P.S: Yeah, she just wanted to kiss. 

Click here for an anime review of Plastic Memories. 

Or here for an anime review of Sword Art Online. 

Or even here for an anime review of Toradora. 

Find Me At:

https://hummingbird.me/users/Quan  

    https://twitter.com/QuanReviews     

         Email Me At: quanqreviews@gmail.com