Waiting in the Summer

Written by A. H. on 08 Jan 2013

It's in our nature to get excited about new anime license announcements for the UK - we are anime fans at the end of the day, after all - but it's also only natural that some of those announcements will garner a bigger grin than others.

This brings us to a new and shiny announcement from MVM Entertainment, who have now confirmed that they will be bringing 2012's romantic comedy-drama Waiting in the Summer (aka Ano Natsu de Matteru in its native Japanese) to the UK.  How big is the smile on my face as a result of this news?  If I had a tape measure long enough to measure it, I'd tell you.

Simply relating my level of excitement doesn't really cut it however, so allow me to extrapolate a little on why Waiting in the Summer could just be one of this year's hot UK releases.

The story

In terms of plot, Waiting in the Summer is a simple enough proposition. Kaito Kirishima is a young man with an obsession with cameras and videography; Ichika Takatsuki is an extra-terrestrial (although thankfully not an ugly green one - no offence E.T.) on something of a joyride which sends her to Earth.  You can probably guess what happens next... Takatsuki's craft crashes to the earth and does some significant damage to both spaceship and the hapless Kaito, and although Kirishima is easy enough to repair things don't look so good for her craft.

So it goes that Ichika is stranded on the Earth for a while, leaving her with no option but to blend into her new surroundings - and what better way to blend in than becoming a student at the local high school?!  This decision sees her reunited with Kaito sooner than she might have expected, in turn thrusting her into his circle of friends as they plan to spend their summer shooting a movie.  Filming their magnum opus turns out to be little more than a distraction from the real drama, as the group's tangled relationships become ever-more apparent as newcomer Ichika and her own burgeoning feelings for Kaito come to the fore.

Kaito's friends also prove to be a hugely entertaining if motley crew - you have the loud and tomboyish Kanna, her friend and exact opposite in terms of personality Mio, and Kaito's sole male friend in the group, the seemingly mature and smart Tesurou.  Finally, we have Remon, a senior to the others who is something of a lady of mystery throughout the series, albeit one with an air of mischief who is happy to stir up some drama whenever possible.  Throw in a cute alien mascot character for Ichika and we're all set - the fact that all of these characters are well-utilised and grow to become much-loved and important parts in proceedings speaks volumes as to the quality of the series.

The result of all of this is a pretty standard romantic comedy-cum-drama on paper, with all of the love triangles and complicated teenage emotions rampaging around that you'd expect of a high school love story.  Somehow, Waiting in the Summer manages to be more than just the sum of its parts however - it has an impeccable eye for comedy, all of its characters are fleshed out and well-realised to ensure that nobody is wasted or serves as a "spare wheel", and after a slightly fan service-laden opening instalment the story itself is in turns touching and (despite its alien presence) actually rather believable in terms of its emotional payload.  In other words, this is one of the most satisfying love stories you'll find in anime from recent years - not a surprise when you start to look at some of the staff attached to the show.