The Legend Begins: The Anime! Fuuka First Impression

Introverted and plastered to his Twitter, Haruna Yuu crashes into a life changing encounter. With his face buried in his phone, he knocks over a strange blue haired girl. Seeing Yuu holding his phone inadvertently pointed toward her while she’s in a very compromising position, she smashes his phone, slaps him, and runs from the scene. This rather unfortunate event actually began the legend of these two teens.

Author of well known manga such as Kimi no iru Machi, Half & Half, and Suzuka, Seo Kouji does it again. His current masterpiece, Fuuka, is being adapted into an anime this season. This is the story of Fuuka Akitsuki and her quest of discovering her passion of making music while dragging Yuu along for the ride. Episode 2 ends with the declaration of creating a band and begins the path of building up from scratch.

When it comes to the typical 3 episode test for anime, this series actually falls short. Episode 3 adds some character development and drama into the story but the hook that I believe will really grab people is the 4th episode. This show should be given a 4 episode test instead as the arc started in episode 3 comes to a conclusion in episode 4. The entire arc sets the baseline of what can be expected out of the rest of the series.

The colors in this anime are absolutely stunning. The bright pastel colors were a pleasant surprise. At points it feels as though you’re watching panels of the manga, which is a plus for some, a negative for others. Audio on the other hand is outstanding. The OP, Climber’s High, is a song from the fictional band Fuuka and Yuu strive to surpass. The song is a high energy rock song which fairly accurately describes the titular character and her company. Moreover the casting for each character fits near perfectly, especially for Fuuka who also sings an insert song in one of the first few episodes.

Overall, Fuuka is a fun music drama anime that, at this moment, is getting decent praise from those without prior knowledge of the source material. If you’re looking for a music anime with bits of romance and drama, this is your ticket. The plot will definitely be something noteworthy. As for someone who has read the manga, that’s a story for a different time. I will continue to watch it regardless of my opinions as a manga reader.