Review of Haruchika: Haruta & Chika
Looking for a show about putting together a band? You're in the wrong place. Haruchika is a show about a pair of childhood friends who don't have feelings for each other; instead, they both have a crush on their band's advisor. In order to grow the band and earn a worthy trophy for their advisor, they solve mysteries to recruit additional band members. I'm not going to sugar coat this one; this show is a complete disaster. If you're looking for Shigatsu level music don't bother because very few sound bites are used on the actual band. If you're looking for a mystery that you canactually think over and solve don't bother because you have to wait for Haruta to divulge everything before things make sense. If you're looking for P.A. Works' typical character depth, strong facial expressions, and meaningful relationships don't bother because it's virtually non-existent. If you're completely out of things to watch and desperately need something, go take a hike or something as it will do you more good than this show.
Animation:
I can't help but feel like P.A. Works didn't put their full effort into this work. Though the animation is decently nice, don't expect the depth of color or backgrounds found in prior shows such as Nagi no Asukara or Glasslip. Expect a fairly bright palette with a matching saturated appearance.
There are a ton of characters that are relatively important in the show. Though the primary characters are distinct (minus the twins), the sheer volume of supporting characters is overwhelming. There's a section in the last episode where many characters have brief cameos and I was literally struggling to remember some of them. In terms of character styling, the eyes of the characters are particularly unique; every time I see Chika I think she's an Innovator from 00 Gundam. Expressions aren't nearly at what we've seen in prior P.A. Works productions, granted perhaps they weren't warranted considering the shallowness of the character relationships. This show is neither an action show nor an ecchi show.
Sound:
Haruchika opens with an enthusiastic, bright OP. The melody is nice in some places but goes in wild tangents along the way. The ED is a fair piece by Chou Chou, though not nearly as good as her work on Glasslip. The BGM is average overall with no outstanding melodies. You don't actually get to hear the band really play anything until the credits in the last episode.
While I give Sarah Emi Bridcutt credit for giving Chika a very energetic feel, the cast overall felt a tad lethargic. Granted, it may be that the point is that her character helps pull the band together; but still, this means that it is all up to her single character to keep the viewers awake too, and that's a tall order.
Story:
Chika is a star sports girl who, tired of all the endless practices, decides to revamp herself as a cute, band member ... while still enduring endless practices. Illogical premise aside, Chika works with Haru (thus the title) to grow the band, successively scouting star band members from the student population. I find it rather hard to classify this show. Though there is the general school band theme going on, they often skip through practices and basically sideline the entire band. There is a mystery aspect but they are virtually unsolvable by the viewers; you only know something is going to finally make sense when Haru starts thinking and previous screens pop up. I'd have to say that in the end it is just a school-based slice of life.
The show eventually builds a tiny bump of a rising action and climax that culminates with their performance that takes place while the end credits roll. The conclusion is fairly brief, but given the lack of any real tension there's not much to resolve.
Though certain episodes take an interesting approach to solving mysteries, at the end of the day I sit on my chair and just ponder on how I've wasted yet another half hour of my life and why I must continue to torment myself by enduring the rest of the show.
Character:
I can sort of see what they were trying to get at with this one. There is a rough skeleton of a band with very weak glue and no energy. Chika serves as an energetic, gooey substance that brings life and growth to the group. Except that she doesn't, for the most part she is just a tangential and slightly mischievous sidekick to Haru, who solves everyone's problem and does the actual heavy lifting.
The issue lies in how everything comes across. Yes, Chika has energy, but her exposition is weak and she ends up being barely relatable. Haru isn't much better as, given that he's the detective, we aren't able to glean what he's thinking most of the time. Some of the supporting characters also feel surprisingly artificial, especially for P.A. Works. For instance, Narushima goes from an aloof, off-putting prick to a friendly, hugging best buddy in the span of a single episode.
I'm not one for huge casts, and this show is a case study in what can go wrong when the cast grows too heavy. Including the band members, there are over 40 supporting characters. Even if some of them only appear for the span of an episode, that's like over three new characters to develop in each episode. In any case, no one ends up being relatable and many aren't even memorable.
Value:
As a big fan of P.A. Works, I am nothing less than dumbfounded by what has transpired here. Haruchika is a barely-watchable show with few merits and only a weak shadow of any purpose. The decent production values are wasted on a boring plot with a ridiculous splattering of uninspiring characters. Let's just hope that this isn't a sign of things to come for P.A. Works.