Asatte no Hōkō

[jonadrian619]

Asatte no Hōkō

(A Direction of the Day After Tomorrow)​

​

Some things can't be reached, no matter how you stretch.
Some things will fade away, if you let them go.
This is what happened to us
This is a story of that summer...
​

Asatte no Hōkō (あさっての方向 /A Direction of the Day After Tomorrow) or Living for the Day After Tomorrow (Animax) is a manga series written and illustrated by J-ta Yamada. It was serialized in the Comic Blade Masamune, a magazine of Mag Garden, between March 3, 2005 and June 15, 2007, that spanned five volumes. The anime adaptation was produced by J.C. Staff and aired from October to December 2006.

Synopsis:
Junior high school is around the corner for Karada Iokawa, and Shoko Nogami, a young woman who just returned from abroad, who happens to be the former girlfriend of Karada's older brother. Upon her return, Karada dragged Shoko to come to the beach with her brother and friends since she used to know Karada's older brother, Hiro, years ago whent they were still in the United States.

After getting irritated by Hiro for leaving her alone when she was still abroad, she tells Karada on purpose that her ribbons are childish. Later that day, Shoko finds Karada praying at a shrine, wishing to become an adult. Amazingly, Karada abruptly transforms into a young woman. Incidentally, Shoko has her adulthood taken away and reverts back to eleven years old. Will they eventually face their friends and overcome the difficulties with who they are now?

Main Characters:

Karada Iokawa (五百川 からだ)

Seiyuu/V.A: Ayumi Fujiwara
Karada is a young and cheerful girl who is about to enter her first year in junior high school. Despite her small stature, Karada is a great cook as well as a responsible person who does most of the house chores. She knows that she is a burden to Hiro, her older brother, and that she is merely an adoptive sibling. This led her to wish to become an adult, but her new self seems to be more of a burden to everyone than before. Tetsumasa, one of her classmates, shows romantic feelings for her throughout the series.

Shōko Nogami (野上 椒子)

Seiyuu/V.A: Shizuka Itō
Shouko is a young woman who recently returned from overseas in the United States. She first met Karada wishing at a shrine. She used to be the girlfriend of Hiro whom she met while she was still in America and as a couple, they were very close to each other. Hiro told her that he would return after the funeral of Karada's parents. She laid back and waited, until she recieved a letter saying that he wouldn't come back. Also, she didn't know that Hiro had a younger sibling, and through Karada, Shoko and Hiro met each other again.


Hiro Iokawa (五百川 尋)

Seiyuu/V.A: Satoshi Hino
Hiro is a young man who studied abroad. He was the boyfriend of Shouko, as both of them went to the same university in Boston. One day, he had to go back to Japan to attend his parents' funeral. Several months later, it appaeared that Hiro would not return to the United States, because he could not leave Karada alone. It was revealed that Karada met Hiro for the first time after her parents' funeral. He leaves home in work days to work at a pharmacy.


Tetsumasa Amino (網野 徹允)

Seiyuu/V.A: Katsuhiro Nomura
Often called "Tetsu", he is Karada's classmate and one of her closest friends. Tetsu is tall for his age, often mistaken for a college student. It was shown that Tetsu likes Karada, and developed romantic feelings for her after she went 'missing' after she became older. He was determined to go around tound and search for her.

Tōko Amino (網野 透子)

Seiyuu/V.A: Akeno Watanabe
Touko is Tetsu's older sister. She often calls her younger brother an idiot for his actions. She is also a friend to Karada and Hiro. She works in a coffee shop which Hiro often visits.

Kotomi Shionzaki (汐崎 琴美)

Seiyuu/V.A: Ami Koshimizu
Later introduced as Tetu and Touko's relative in the series, she is a happy-go-lucky young girl. She is a gentle near Tetsu's mother, but she becomes another person outside Tetsu's mother's influence. She is an original character in the anime series and never appeared in the manga.

Episodes List:

1. Wishing Stone
2. Chance Encounter
3. A New Lifestyle
4. I Want You to Believe
5. A Place To Return To
6. Summer's Eternity
7. The Moment Between Them
8. A Direction Of The Day After Tomorrow
9. Signpost
10. Real Name
11. The 'Now' That Is There
12. Being Here

Opening and Ending Themes:

Hikari no Kisetsu by Suara (Opening)

Spoiler

[YOUTUBE]EH4zFojT6js[/YOUTUBE]

Sweet Home Song by Yūmao (Ending, and I like the song too)

Spoiler

[YOUTUBE]C5T7bR7R-8s[/YOUTUBE]

My Comments:
This is a slice-of-life anime series, a genre which tends to be boring most of the time. I'm not bored with slice-of-life; it's my cup of tea and a great way to soothe me from a long and hard day. Asatte no Houkou is a great series to watch, seeing that it was animated by J.C. Staff (I like their works the most) GJ!. The story emphasizes itself strongly with the characters and that's what makes Asatte no Houkou worth watching. An anime fan should at least give this a shot, especially in a hot, lazy summer (the setting and everything else accentuates that summer feeling)!

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

 

[Larcenist]

I found this one rather boring when I watched it, and I usually enjoy animes of this genre. The only real reason I watched it to begin with is because my favorite seiyū, Shizuka Itō, voiced one of the main characters. I guess these crybaby-characters kind of bores me after some time (referring to Karada).

My overall rating was 6/10 iirc.