The Two Lottes

Finally finished Futari no Lotte, something that has been burdening me ever since Ziu's cue to it misled me to thinking he refers to Lucy-May, but I decided to check out this thing as well just in case. While the premises are there, this series is not officially recognized as a part of WMT. But it deserves the title by merit. This and one other thing renders it akin to Versailles no Bara: Futari no Lotte only gets fantastic from the second half, where it receives its first multi-episode arc. Yeah, the show's pacing is limited, yet it may become lovely if you don't rushit. The place and setting are rather unusual, but methinks the show only owns it to the original book. The underlying idea tho — twins getting separated after birth — even though I can't recall any other anime with a similar story, the very concept feels rather shallow, you need some heavy Dezaki duty to attach any significance to such a trifling premise. As the series progresses, the twins do exactly what you would expect them to do, seldom catching you by surprise. Although eventually, the show acquires a certain own comedic/dramatic charm and inspiring value, it sometimes wanders dangerously close to drooping into a lackluster, like some other shows do, content with occupying their specific niche without ever aspiring for unwarranted risks. I wish I could say it had a potential for being more imaginative and original, but I myself can't see a way how it could have been improved. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ No, actually, the ED song can be considered a fly in the ointment. At best, it's just tone-inappropriate and corny. At worst, it disrupts completely the mood of an episode that had just ended. Or, again, the pacing could be much better. Had the full series been packed into something like the usual 13 ep format, it'd probably have been a solid 10/10. In the first half, there are a handful of episodes, which are basically "my twin sis was good at doing this particular thing that I can't do for toffee" and vice versa. Albeit further down the series, particularly in a Munich piano concert arc, it gets actually gorgeous, I had to wait a hefty half of the series to finally find myself at the edge of the seat. Ep17 in particular had me. It was some fine quality comedy, the one that'd make Leslie Nielsen quit snuffing glue in heavens. The actual story ends in ep. 28, so 29 is like one big after-the-credits-scene, and it's a really confusing one at that. This episode serves no purpose whatsoever, feels like a wagon's fifth wheel, and only exist for the sake of one scene and one generic moral. I really don't see the point of making it. This episode alone was almost enough to knock my score down to 8/10. This show has Kodama Kenji's usual hand and vibe to it — while his shows staged in Japan are majorly a lowkey disappointment, his shows staged in Europe blow me away. This series had made me a better person on so many levels. Although for me, it originated from a mistake of misunderstanding, that's the kind of mistake I would gladly make again. I can't believe how intimate and kindred I grew with characters in those 30 episodes.