Hi, people. I'm back! Currently, I'm still not as busy as I thought that I would have been and a not exactly satisfying job, I have thoughts of changing to a job that I would enjoy more. Anyway, let's put that aside. After posting a special post for someone that I followed on AniList, it's time for a post that I wanted to post for quite a while.

Remember this picture?

So, what would I be talking about? Well, it's very obvious from the title. The anime that I will be talking about is 12-sai (literally Age 12). Wait, don't call the police, you deviants!!!

WARNING:-

SPOILER ALERT!!! If you haven't watched it and plan to watch it without anyone being the spoiler, please DON'T CONTINUE READING!!!

P.S. If you want to be spoiled, well, go ahead and read it. You HAD been warned. Don't blame me for being spoiled if you INSIST on continuing to read this post.

Introduction

The anime cover?

Ahem! Back to the topic. The anime, 12-sai (in English, Age 12 and in Japanese, 12歳。) is adapted from the manga series of the same name. It was published in Shogakukan's Ciao manga magazine and later was made into special volume books. The manga is written and illustrated by Nao Maita. In April 2014, it was adapted into an original video animation and later, into a video game. The anime is split into two seasons, the first half first aired in April, while the second half aired in October 2016. Why? I also dun know why. Money, I guess. Anyway, let's move on.

The manga cover obviously.

Plot

Hanabi and friends trio...

The story starts off with two 6th graders, Ayase Hanabi and her best friend, Aoi Yui. Oh yeah, Hanabi had also another good friend of hers, Ogura Marin. She is an important character throughout the series. Also, another character who will be seriously a pest and an annoyance in this anime, Hamana Cocoa. I think that everyone who watches it thinks so too. Just saying.

Yuuto with Hanabi and...

...Kazuma with Aoi.

Anyway, the girls in Ayase's class (including Ayase) have a terrible relationship between boys because of their mischievous behaviour and their insensitivity. For the boys, they don't really like them for their sensitivity. Well, boys...Yes, I was young once upon a time and yes, I'm a male, of course. Alright? Anyway, because of that, they mostly hang out separately from each other. BUT, but...one of the few exceptions is Takao Yuuto. Yuuto does hang out with Hanabi though. And LOL, Hanabi does a lot of cute and funny things. And also, another guy, Hiyama Kazuma did have interaction with Ayase's group, especially towards Yui (mostly teasing her and get into argument with her because of his behaviour).

The recorder test saga...

The one key incident that gives the anime a flavour of romance is the recorder test. No, not the video or voice recorder but it is the recorder, a musical instrument. I had exposure to it before but I hardly use it. I blame the Malaysia education system. Anyway, back to the story. The boys and girls are paired together, so Hanabi with Yuuto and Kazuma with Yui. In some unexpected circumstances, Yuuto kissed Hanabi after watching two teachers kissing each other. And then, not long after, they become a couple (and also the first couple in class).

The 2nd couple after the Hanabi-Yuuto coupling.

And then, not long after, the second couple is formed when Kazuma and Yui becoming a couple after an incident involving Kazuma helping Yui to find the necklace from her deceased mother in the bathhouse that is run by Hiyama's family, Kazuma fighting with a boy who confesses his love for Yui and a weird rumour spreading around the school. Yes, weird circumstances. Anyway, with the two couples formation, the love story starts and of course, there is always a resistance team against the love relationship of the two couples. And of course, I'm talking about the love triangle.

The 'resistance' trio: Hamana Cocoa,...

...Tsutsumi Ayumu,...

...and later, Mikami Inaba.

The 'resistance team' (as I would like to call it) have three members. Of course, it includes Cocoa...the worst Cocoa, who has a crush on Yuuto and wants to be Yuuto's girlfriends. She will be quite a nuisance throughout the story. The other two is Tsutsumi Ayumu (who had a crush on Hanabi after an incident) and Mikami Inaba (who had an interest in Yui after hearing that she had a boyfriend). Poor Hanabi...the resistance team hit her the hardest. Anyway, the 'resistance' is mostly from Cocoa as she is very obsessed with getting Yuuto to be his boyfriend and don't exactly have a sincere heart.

Nasty Cocoa...

In the first part, the guy named, Tsutsumi Ayumu, suddenly appears in the story and starts to disrupt the Hanabi-Yuuto couple after an incident involving Hanabi's constant effort to befriend him. For the second part, there is this guy, Mikami Inaba, also suddenly appears in the story and starts to disrupt the Aoi-Kazuma couple after knowing that Aoi has a boyfriend. Both of them halt their 'assault' after the couples reaffirm their relationship and strengthing their bond. Of course, besides the three people disrupting the couple's relationship, there are also internal and other external factors.

The Hanabi-Yuuto couple

The Yui-Kazuma couple

Anyway, in my opinion, the show is quite good. The love story is quite cute and feels like a decent love story. I have no objection against this show but I think that the setting and character might have put people off. Why? The story is set in a primary school (instead of the commonly used high school setting) and the characters are primarily primary school students (and again, normally, the characters are high school students). So yeah, that's my opinion. Let's move on.

Oh...Hanabi is furious...

Anime Rating

Season 1

Story (Rating: 7/10)

Interesting story...it's not the most moe story but the cuteness of Hanabi's action are really cute. Of course, Yui can be cute at times. Since it's a romance between 12-year-olds, I find the anime to be quite embarrassing for me to watch. I don't have a girlfriend EVER before. Huh...anyway, this story has a lot of twists and turns like any romance anime. The at-times light-hearted scene is quite cute to watch. Of course, there are little unpleasant scenes in the story as the couples' rough edges rub against each other and against other people. Some people might not like the fact that the story is set on primary school student so I didn't give full marks. One more thing, I dun like that the fact that the animators break the anime into two parts unnecessarily.

That changes their lives forever...

Art and Animation (Rating: 6/10)

To be honest, the art and animation look a little dated to me despite it being a relatively modern animation. I'm not really a fan of it but the art and animation are still acceptable for me. Well, yes, I'm biased! Deal with it.

Quite a pretty nice view to be honest.

Sound and Music (Rating: 7/10)

The opening theme song is quite good. Nothing wrong with the BGM. The BGM can be quite cute, to be honest. The ending theme song is pretty cute but I dun really like it, to be honest. Overall, the music is decent and fitting to the theme of the anime.

The 1st season OP...

Characters (Rating: 9/10)

The characters can be quite cute at times even for an animation style that I dun really like. As for the character development, the rough edges of the couples are rubbed against each other and the love rivalries in this story really spice up the show. To be honest, Tsuki ga Kirei doesn't have that kind of spice that this story has but it has other merits. Anyway, the characters are not that relatable to most of us as most of us (I think) don't have boyfriends or girlfriend at age 12.

Cute interaction between Hanabi and Yuuto.

Enjoyment (Rating: 6/10)

A relatively fine watch, to be honest. I never watch a love story of primary school students...so it feels pretty weird. I didn't fully enjoy it but I really like the innocence and pure love that the couples have for each other. Unlikely to rewatch it though.

LOL!

Overall Rating: 7 (7.25)/10