The crimson cat Kure-nai

I know, I’m way behind the loop on this one, but, for all my lag, I just wanted to say that the first two episodes of Kure-nai were outstanding. Having read wave after wave of praise for this series since its April debut, I was anxious to get it out of the way, but, for only the second time this season (after Kaiba, naturally), I absolutely wanted to devour its second episode right after the first.

It’s appeal is, quite vitally, character-driven. Inside five or six minutes of that first episode, I’d already latched onto (in an emotional sense) the likable protagonists. It’s not just that the voice acting is uniformly raw and natural, or that intricate body language (and the mise en scène itself) portrays an intimate sense of insecurity and loneliness, it’s the sharp dialogue, the humor; it’s as dynamic and as tender as live action drama.

All that, and I haven’t even mentioned that Kure-nai, for all its slice of life, occasionally ripples with an action-packed, supernatural undercurrent. In many ways, you can recognise it’s crafted by the same creative team that worked on Red Garden, but their evolution here, if just that ability to portray the underrated, easy-going whimsy of every-day suburbia, is profoundly improved. Provided that warm spark of personality doesn’t fade into the shadow of a ridiculous conspiracy (as was the case with Red Garden), it may well become a masterpiece. The spring season starts now.