Anime review time, y’all! And a doozy at that: a fanservice-y, action-moe-comedy adventure, that is Yozakura Quartet (the later episodes, not the original series)!

I decided to review these three arcs together, since they are meant to be part of the same continuity (the original series deviates a bit compared to these ones, which is why we’ll be ignoring it for now).

Here is a brief synopsis from MAL (this one’s hard for me to explain for some reason):

The world of Yozakura Quartet is actually not one, but two worlds: one of humans, and one of youkai. Despite appearing mostly human, youkai may have animal like physical traits, along with a number of special abilities. Normally youkai are confined to their world, but some have found their way into the realm of humanity. As a symbol of peace, and a bridge between the two realms, a city was constructed within the protective barrier of seven magical trees, otherwise known as the Seven Pillars. This city of Sakurashin is home to both humans and youkai, with the peace between them maintained by the Hizumi Life Counseling Office.

The director of this office is Akina Hiizumi, a teenager with the inherited family ability to perform “tuning,” which can send harmful youkai back to their world permanently. He is aided by a group of girls, including the town’s 16 year old youkai mayor, Hime Yarizakura, their town’s announcer and resident telepath, Ao Nanami, and Kotoha Isone, a half-youkai who can summon objects just by stating the object’s name.

As new residents enter and mysterious events begin to take place, this quartet of protectors and their closest friends must continue to guard the city of Sakurashin, and maintain the fragile balance of peace between humans and youkai.

This show is one of my favorites, though as I rewatched this particular series, I realized it may be a bit… much for people just getting into anime.  Some of the fanservice and jokes may not have aged well, also.

So take everything I say with a grain of salt, and as always, spoilers ahead!

So, right off the bat, there are a few things to note when watching this series:

There are lots of gratuitous pantyshots, groping, and partial nudity.  I normally wouldn’t warn people about this, but in these three arcs, the panties, nudity, and groping is constant and unforgiving.  Literally, out of the 30-ish episodes, there is probably only one episode without ANY of the three “fanservice” elements, and even I don’t think I’m being honest with that.  The god watching over Sakurashin has little to no morals when groping the cast, and the same goes for the main villain Enjin.

The plotline is slightly deviant from the first anime series.  I mentioned this a little in the pre-post, but these three arcs re-introduce and deviate from the first series, which (as I remember) also deviates from the manga.  The Hana-no-Uta-etc. arcs are more in line with the manga, but the anime does not finish where the manga does – I am still holding out for another sequel.

There is no official English Dub, and no legal streaming for this show (at least in the US).  While I understand not releasing the rights to do dubs of the series (Monogatari Series is the same way), the only streaming options available for this series is the one I’m not reviewing.  Hana no Uta, Hoshi no Umi, and Tsuki ni Naku do not have streaming rights that I could find, besides some sketchier-looking sites I would not recommend.  If you can find DVDs or Blu-Rays available online, you should get them – though, since this series is so old and not-well-known, it may be at scalper prices.

Aight, let’s get into it:   how is Yozakura Quartet (Second Try)?

Plot / Story: 7.5/10

To me, the basic intro is intriguing and cool: a city on the brink of disaster filled with humans and yokai that have to live and work together, and the main cast struggles to find a solution while also fighting a harbinger of the end from the other side… it’s all of the points my edgy teenage self loved, and I still enjoy it greatly at this point in my life.  Some of the plot is kinda “Saturday Morning Villain” style, but it’s played longer and with more depth.  Enjin especially seems to know his role in the story more than anyone else, and acts like an exposition between fight scenes.

While the story generally follows Akina and the Hiizumi Life Counseling Office fending off Enjin, these three arcs also tend to focus on their powerful allies and their backgrounds: Hana no Uta touches on the nurse practitioner Juri and her mage sister Lila; Hoshi no Umi focuses on the history between the Jiangshi Rin and her former friend Zakuro; and Tsuki ni Naku focuses on the heritage of our friendly policeman werewolf Shidou and his contrast Rokkaku.  Each arc clarifies background events, connections with the good guys’ foils, and concludes with a hug or a punch and a new ally.

The biggest problem I have with the story is that it’s unfinished – at least, in English.  The manga is only available up through Volume 27 in the US (out of 30), and the anime only goes through about Volume 11.  The series hasn’t had an update since Tsuki ni Naku finished back in 2014 (as an OVA bundled with manga, no less), and I haven’t seen any further news about it since.

Character Development: 9.5/10

Having watched (part of) the original anime, I sincerely appreciate the amount of character interaction and development through this version of the series.

Akina generally struggles to accept the fact that he has to send (or Tune) beings to a world he knows nothing about, and butts heads with members of the Senate (a group above the Hiizumi Life Counseling Office that is adamant on Tuning all yokai out of “our” world).  He fights hard for the people of Sakurashin so they can live out their lives in peace, and as the story goes on, he begins learning new ways to use his Tuning.

As I stated in the last section, a lot of the character development comes from the side characters – Rin makes the push for Zakuro to open up once she’s back to normal, Juri learns to accept Lila after breaking her heart, and Rokkaku… Well, Rokkaku just gets beaten into submission.

Hana no Uta also has a parallel arc revolving around our town mayor Hime (who is one of the main characters), and her learning to connect with the town’s citizens while being compared to her legendary grandmother, the previous town mayor.  This is probably the most fluctuating arc, for the better – she has obvious struggles with some people, doubt about her own worth, and eventually, clarity and balance.

Art / Acting / Music: 7.5/10

The art style in this show is peak 2013-moe-inspired art, for better or for worse.  The good news is that they hit hard on the animation for almost every scene – there is a clear flow of movement in fights, and it keeps the comedy going in the action scenes (like in Tsuki ni Naku when Rokkaku goes into plank after being shot).  They spared no expense with the animation quality for the time period (which, now that I think of it, may be why the series has been so quiet).

The actor choices and acting styles are nothing to sneeze at either, with Miyuki Sawashiro, Yuuki Kaji, Saki Fujita, and Daisuke Ono rounding out just the main cast, among other big names.  Obviously some of the minor and background characters don’t have as big an impact on this point as the major players do, but I feel like no character was miscast or poorly chosen – and I was especially excited to see my main man Nobuhiko Okamoto join for Tsuki ni Naku (obviously he plays the white-haired villain)!

Musically, I must admit that the opening themes are the only things I really remember for two distinct reasons: 1) All three opening themes are incredibly catchy, and 2) All three opening themes are performed by Unison Square Garden.  I had the album containing all three songs and played them on repeat for like a year.  The insert songs didn’t leave too much of a lasting impression, though I was aware of them during the show; and the ending themes (besides Itoshii Hito by saji) weren’t nearly as catchy as the OPs.

Rewatch Value: 8.0/10

I absolutely love this show for all of it’s faults, and I can’t help but watch it every year or so.  It’s not the most intriguing or the most brilliant, but it’s fun, exciting at times, and overall better for my mood than some of the more depressing shows I’ve been watching (A.I. apocalypse, anyone?)

Overall Rating: 8.0/10

I am proud to be a fan of this series, even if it means never knowing how it ends (I vaguely remember the last few chapters that were available in 2017), and I hope that some small foothold lets this series finish in anime form – because then some mkv-master can subtitle it and get it to English audiences.

Currently, there is no *legal* way to stream either of these three arcs, but the original anime is available on HiDive, so check it out if you’re interested (and then pirate the whole 2013 series).  Support the creator by buying the manga!

Total Score: 40.5/50

Grade: B