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Winter 2018 First Impressions #25 - Hakumei to Mikochi


Mars Terra

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Hakumei to Mikochi, or Hakumei and Mikochi, is a seinen anime based on the manga of the same name, though to be honest, it could of easily have been aimed at a much younger audience. The premise revolves around the titular characters, who are tiny girls that live in a tiny house in the woods. Hakumei is reminiscence of Nagisa Misumi from Pretty Cure, with her having a more masculine appearance with orange hair and her being a bit brash, while Mikochi is like Honoka Yukishiro, also from Pretty Cure, with black hair and a more gentle, kind personality.

The first half of the episode has Mikochi carrying a drawer through the woods back to their house while Hakumei states she is too hungry to help. After getting back to their house, they find that they can't get the drawer through the door but it looks as if they didn't even try to carry it up the stairway leading to the door, but whatever. While Hakumei is reading the newspaper, she discovers that a Evening Kite has been spotted, which, according to legend, is a red bird that will grant a wish to anyone who sees it during dawn. With that, they decide to set off to the summit of the mountain in order to find it. Despite not eating, Hakumei seems perfectly energetic while cutting down grass and of course Mikochi is exhausted, but it is revealed that while she was carrying the drawer, her friend was cutting her a path. I guess she's not one to explain what's she doing, but even with that her friend still recognizes what she does do.

They encounter spiders that Hakumei insists they ride to their destination, due to a comment she makes, her friend is reminded of a white bird that used to feed every morning before it suddenly stop coming, to which Hakumei makes a bit of a rude reply which I guess turns out to be right. Still...
After climbing a bit, they arrive at the top just before dawn and surely the bird arrives, eating what reminds of Mikochi's cooking and then knocks them onto it's back. With the light now shining she is able to see that it is in fact the bird she thought abandoned her, they use their wish to make it home and she decides to cook a ton of food for it like Hakumei said. So I guess they understand each other's needs.

The next part has the two traveling into the city. But there is a serious problem with this, it looks like a normal city that normal people would live in, which diminishes the idea that these two are small. The fish they sell there are as big as it should be, but there's also a tree that looks about as big as one would expect it to look IF they were normal human size.
While showing Hakumei a pub which she visits often, Mikochi realizes that she lost her wallet somewhere. Since she's friends with the owner, she is told to go show her friend around town and is even given some lunch for them to eat later. Then the rest of the episode depicts just how popular she is amongst everyone, with everyone giving her presents and asking her to try out recipes they're developing. We also learn that Mikochi studied how to design clothes for a bit, but she wasn't very good at it. Then they make it to the harbor, which is where Hakumei decided she wanted to see, there, they hear the shanties sung by sailors to which Mikochi sings along. She has a very nice voice. If they haven't already cast her seiyuu in a idol anime, then they totally should!
After spending the whole day and not finding their wallet, it turns out one of the shopkeepers picked it up for safekeeping, giving it to her as they return into town. So Mikochi is able to buy that replacement cup for Hakumei, since it broke in the first half of the episode.

The characters in this show have great chemistry and make for a pretty good duo, but hopefully we see more of Hakumei's backstory at some point. The episode had a adventure segment, then a more slice of life segment later on, hopefully it gears towards the former. But going by some of the other shows this season, the show might use the same formula for every episode, which I wouldn't mind either. This show should also give a consistent impression that the characters are as small as it says they are. Overall, I think this title will be a great selection for someone with a more light-hearted taste.That's it for now, please be sure to check out my look at Hakyuu Houshin Engi. Thank you for reading, and have yourself a wonderful day.

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