Release Date: July 11, 2013
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Genre: School Life, Slice of Life, Comedy
Premise: When Yugo Hachiken fails to get into his intended high school, he enrolls at Oezo Agricultural High School instead, thinking that the easy classes will leave plenty of time to study for college entrance exams. What he doesn't know is that Oezo's curriculum also requires back-breaking amounts of hard labor. Shenanigans ensue.
Verdict: Conventional wisdom would tell you to leave this anime alone. The subject matter, farm life, is quite a departure anime's usual fare. The first episode, although energetically animated, is pretty forgettable. And finally, I can't see any otaku's Top Ten List including an anime about farming. Case closed, right?
Not quite. This particular anime about farm life happens to be based on a manga by Hiromu Arakawa.
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| Self portrait. JK, she really looks like this |
In case that name doesn't ring a bell, she's the brilliant creative mind behind everyone's favorite anime about alchemy: Fullmetal Alchemist. As it turns out, after wrapping up production on one of the greatest anime/manga series of all time (let's just say it's on a lot of people's Top Ten Lists) in 2010, Arakawa-sensei began work on this puppy in 2011. The story hits a bit closer to home than her previous efforts, as it is inspired by her childhood growing up on a Hokkaido dairy farm.
'Nuff said, you had me at "Hiromu Arakawa." If anyone could pull off an anime about farming, it's her. Production studio A-1 Pictures seems to agree, as they've already greenlit and scheduled a second season which will premier next year. If it takes a few episodes for this one to get going, I completely understand. Based on the author's track record, your patience is sure to be rewarded.
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