Fuuka

Episodes 1-4

Yuu Haruna is a shy teenage boy. Addicted to Twitter, he spends all day snapping photos and sharing them with his followers. One day, a teenage girl named Fuuka runs into him, falling down with her underwear in plain view while Yuu has his phone out. Taking him for a pervert, Fuuka smashes his phone and runs off, leaving Yuu bewildered. She drops a CD in the confusion, and Yuu takes it with him on the chance that he could return it to her someday. That opportunity comes sooner rather than later - Fuuka turns out to be a student at his school, so they'll actually be spending a lot of time with one another. After a few more awkward incidents, the two come to an understanding, and Fuuka decides that she'd like to befriend this reserved young man. The two start spending time with one another – hinting at the emergence of young love. But will things be that simple? What exactly does fate have in store for these two?

As a straightforward high school romance, Fuuka is the sequel to another anime, Suzuka. This story's love interest – the titular Fuuka – is the daughter of Suzuka's main couple. But while that romance centered around the couple's involvement in track and field, this one channels its young lovers into a different activity: music! You see, rather than following her father's profession (as well as her own considerable talent) as a track-and-field star, Fuuka wants to sing! Eventually, she'll rope the hero into starting a band – once they're done with beach time antics, at least. The whole ‘light music’ angle gives Fuuka a bit of a Jun Maeda vibe, absent the presence of supernatural elements or ludicrous melodrama (yet). For now, the melodrama is only at moderate levels like unbelievable coincidences: Yuu is childhood friends with a famous pop star, their teacher is a member of a well-known indie band, etc. It looks like fate (or is it narrative convenience?) has placed these kids on the fast track to superstardom, where they'll sing their hearts out alongside music video strobe light effects.

So far, Fuuka appears to be a pleasant and low-key teen romance. The show rests entirely on Fuuka's appeal as a fantasy partner, and while her personality isn't up my own personal alley, I get how some people would like her. She's a vivacious force who shows up to brighten this kid's boring life. Sure, it's a bit simple, but there's nothing wrong with that. They also seem to be moving pretty quickly towards dating, so at least they're not eternally fretting about the prospect of holding hands like in Ah! My Goddess or something. Main kid Yuu is a bit plain, but he's serviceable enough as a self-insert protagonist. The most interesting thing about him is his trio of constantly-nude sisters, who show up as a source of bonus fanservice. He's also really horny – his gaze tends to drift over to Fuuka's crotch – and it's also extremely relatable that he's addicted to Twitter.

Their love story faces a complication in the form of Yuu's childhood friend, Koyuki, who is now a famous pop star. While they haven't been in contact for years, it looks like Koyuki harbors feelings for Yuu and has decided to reconnect with him. This is inconvenient timing since Yuu has just started a thing with Fuuka. Fuuka's hurt to see them together at one point, but their relationship is strengthened when Yuu – ignorant of Koyuki's feelings – assures her that there was nothing going on. Meanwhile, Koyuki decides to double up on her efforts by moving into Yuu's home while he's still away on vacation. That'll be the new conflict starting next episode, in which Yuu will probably end up falling on top of an international pop star a few times.

That's about it for Fuuka so far. I hope that they actually get to the band stuff soon – that looks like it'll drive most of the plot, and this early relationship-building has been very slow-paced. Yuu will probably be the bassist.. He got to play some baby chords in the last episode when Fuuka got a chance to sing with their favorite indie band, the Hedgehogs, in order to show off her talent. Other band members seem to include Makoto, the keyboardist, and Kazuya, the drummer. Kazuya is a member of the track team, while Makoto is most notable for being an unusually positive representation of a gay person in anime so far. In terms of the show's production, it looks alright – it's obviously a humble affair, but it manages to evoke a sort of clear, summer-y feeling in its best moments, faintly reminiscent of the style achieved in Angel Beats! or Charlotte.

Overall, Fuuka's first four episodes are a drawn-out start to this simple-seeming story. It's not bad, but it's also not particularly noteworthy so far. I hope that more starts happening soon, as the band starts up and Koyuki starts interfering with Yuu's life. This story isn't entirely without promise, but I'd prefer if it started doing more things sooner.

Grade: B-

Fuuka is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Gabriella Ekens studies film and literature at a US university. Follow her on twitter.