Shelf Life

A Gluten For Punishment

Place to Place doesn't have much of a plot, but what little story content there is follows Io and Tsumiki, the show's central quasi-couple. Tsumiki has a crush on Io, but is entirely too shy to tell him. Io seems to enjoy being friends with Tsumiki, but is too oblivious to notice her feelings. Their friends have a pretty good idea of what's going on, but the awkward romantic tension is just too entertaining to ruin by pushing the relationship forward. Instead, they all just hang around and have reasonably amusing misadventures.

Between that summary and the blobby, adorable character designs, you should probably have a pretty good idea of what to expect from Place to Place. The cast shuffles amiably through all four seasons, covering most of the slice of life standards. Midterm study sessions, school festivals, and some dangerously creative Valentine's Day chocolate all drive the plot at one point or another. The main characters all settle nicely into their comedic roles, though everyone except Io and Tsumiki tends to be pretty one-dimensional. Most the show is merely adequate, though there are few memorably entertaining episodes.

The romantic half of this romantic comedy doesn't really go anywhere, apart from a few sweet moments sprinkled throughout the series. Instead, Place to Place is content to keep Tsumiki and Io in an awkward but cute middle ground between staying friends and admitting that they like one another. The chemistry between the two of them is pretty low-key, but it works. What it lacks in outright fireworks, it makes up for with large doses of warm fuzziness.

The cute stuff is all right in limited doses, but what kept the show interesting for me was the consistently well-timed slapstick humor. Rather than the tired routine of dorky guys getting punched into orbit for seeing girls' underwear, Place to Place breaks out some refreshingly old-fashioned physical comedy. The show seems to revel in creating opportunities for the characters to knock one another out cold, whether intentionally or by accident. It's comedy at its most basic, but it's executed surprisingly well and manages to avoid falling into a predictable pattern. Sometimes we can see the hit coming from a mile away and the appeal comes from watching a character dig his own grave. In other cases, the show goes for shock value by dropping a joke out of nowhere. Both approaches work, and it helps that the series spreads the injuries around instead of dumping everything on just one character.

While some of the comedy works quite well, there are other routines that simply fall flat. One of the most common gags in Place to Place is Io's tendency to give Tsumiki and the other girls gushing nosebleeds every time he says something charming. I've never really understood why anime directors are so attached to this particular sight gag, but I'll admit that it works once or twice per season. When you break it out four or five times per episode, however, it gets a little tiresome. Where the slapstick routines offer some variety here and there, the nosebleed jokes are more or less the same every time. There's no sense of escalation or unpredictability, just a bunch of anime girls with red stuff gushing out of their noses. It starts out funny, gets a bit gross, and eventually loses its impact altogether.

Place to Place is a fun little series, but it doesn't quite have enough substance to merit a second or third viewing. It's the kind of show that's comfortable doing its own thing instead of trying to outdo the big names in its genre. If you like your comedies cute and silly, it's worth your time. If not, you'd be better off looking elsewhere.
- Paul[TOP]

The old rules of Keima exorcising loose souls by making girls fall in love with him are tossed out the window by a demonic rebellion and the arrival of half a dozen goddesses. The goddesses in question are hiding inside a group of Keima's previous paramours, and their powers are preventing the girls from forgetting about Keima like they're supposed to. A cult of old-school demons are trying to kill them and take over the world, so it's up to Keima to save the day by going back through all of his previous conquests.

Mixing up the old formula is all well and good, but the series runs into a problem right out of the gate. In order to get to this story arc, it has to skip over several “Keima saves girl from loose soul” stories from the original manga. That would be fine if it weren't for the fact that several of this season's key players come from those omitted storylines. If you're coming in straight from season two, you'll find that half of the goddesses are hiding in girls you've never seen before. What's supposed to be a trip down memory lane for Keima leaves the audience asking, “Who are you and why should I care?” on a regular basis. The show tries to fill in the gaps with a truckload of flashbacks, but it still feels like the narrative is struggling to catch up with itself.

The good news is that even with the baffling time skip, most of the story still works. I'm not fully on board with requiring Keima to juggle several girls at once, but there are moments where this season manages to pack a far greater emotional punch than the first two. Chihiro of all people ends up playing a major role in the story, and she absolutely steals the show. I'm loath to spoil too much in this review, but there are a few conversations between her and Keima that will pound a rusty railroad spike into your heart. Forget all that nonsense about demons and goddesses and give me more of those two.

As much as I appreciate the dramatic content, I still can't help thinking that some of the old magic is gone in this season. With most of the characters on apocalypse prevention duty, there's very little time for the show to be funny. Keima's rants about reality and Dating Sim 101 speeches, formerly a comedic staple of the series, are limited to a handful of passing comments. Many of the other characters, especially new girl Yui, manage to play off of Keima reasonably well when they're alone. Unfortunately, the need to have everyone around at once on a regular basis puts a damper on each character's individual charms.

Fans of the first two seasons will probably enjoy this one, but it'll ultimately come down to a matter of personal preference. If you're familiar with the missing story arcs and enjoy the show's more dramatic elements, then it's an easy sell. If the comedy was your favorite part of the first two seasons, then it's more of a mixed bag. In either case, it's worth noting that Sentai Filmworks has an OVA collection coming out in a few months that supposedly covers at least one of the skipped character introductions. If you can stand the wait, it might be best to watch that first instead of trying to step around all of this season's plot holes.
- Paul[TOP]