Anime
Countdown to New Year #12: A Closer Look at the Sentiments of KimiKiss Fans
My health, and my internet wasn’t cooperating with me the past few days, so this post got even more delayed than it already is… x__x’’’
Last November, I published a KimiKiss Deep Frying post, highlighting the lack of EroKawaii-ness as one of the main reasons why many game fans disliked the anime adaptation. A few weeks back, I visited 2ch, to check out the discussions and KimiKiss hate threads that abound, only to realize the falsity of my previous claims, which was simply based on what I’ve seen in the novels and the manga.
Looking at the sentiments made by fans in the discussion threads, I found a number of reasons justifying the fan’s sentiments regarding the anime, excluding the erokawaii factor which only the manga and the novel counterparts had. The game is really pure and innocent, from what I’ve seen in the game videos (from youtube).
To highlight the sentiments of fans regarding the changes made in the anime…
Note: (g) indicates the game counterpart of the character, (a) is for the anime counterpart
On Eriko
To put it bluntly, Eriko isn’t a bitch in the game. She is still the genius Futami, but not the emotionless ice princess of the anime. Based on what I’ve seen in the manga (which recently started her arc), as well as the game, she seems like a free-spirited girl, rebellious, sarcastic, blunt, and mysterious. In the very first chapter of the manga, we already see her smile (sarcastically as it might be), and I think this stays faithful to her character in the game.
A naturally smiling Eriko that the fans <3
Eriko: The population will just decrease by one if I die. No biggie.
Here’s more proof, the game version of the aji-onchi (messed-up taste buds) episode of the anime (episode 8):
I actually don’t have complaints against Eriko(a), because that will supposedly give her character development more depth, from an ice princess to a human. That is, until episode 11 came with the sudden dere-dere development of Eriko. If the animators sticked to Eriko’s original game character, that kissing scene with Kazuki would’ve seemed more natural, not forced and shoved-on-your-face, like how it all turned out in the anime =____=
On Mao
Mao(g) is the fun-loving and naughty oneechan we see in the anime, especially when she’s with Kouichi. Since there’s but a single lead guy in the game, we don’t see her
Her original game self is set on Kouichi, the sole lead guy of the game, so we don’t see her dilly-dallying over her feelings with someone like Kai. I don’t particularly dislike the anime Mao, but the changes made to her personality put her in a worse light in the anime, albeit being realistic, who we see fall head over heels for Kai (somewhat) early on, only to realize her true feelings later…
Mao(g) steals kisses from innocent Kouichi from time to time, but it wasn’t portrayed to be seductive and ecchi like the manga, much to my surprise.
I also looked at this scene in the game where Mao reveals the root of her studying allergy, and for some reason, I was able to empathize with her, unlike in the anime. Perhaps because of the serious mood portrayed in the game, compared to the half-baked comedic portrayal of the anime? I was struck by the “give me back my youth!” line in the game, as I was able to see how she can be mortified with failing the exams that time. She wasted much of the springtime of her youth on studying, only to end up getting sick and failing. Not to mention her mind also went all blank during the interview >__<
This little trick Kouichi (or rather, you, as the player) did in the game to get Mao into studying was nifty, btw 
I would’ve preferred seeing this scene in the anime, but sigh~
On Asuka
My previous claims regarding Asuka’s character in the manga stands true in the game. Manga-wise or game-wise, Asuka is cuter, sweeter, and more girly, so to speak. It’s but natural for fans to be offput by the boyish and macho Asuka(a) who brawls with men (in a non-moe way for that matter). The blushing and cute Asuka we see in episode 12 (and even the episodes after that) would probably best describe the “real Asuka(a)”
In short, Eriko, Mao and Asuka are more moe in the game.
On Hiiragi
dependable Hiiragi~ (they’re talking about a problem with Yuumi, perhaps the moving out issue? ?__?)
Hiiragi(g) isn’t simply a side character, he’s supposed to be Kouichi’s buddy, a trusted adviser, a great “support character” for our main lead, especially in his love life. He’s not the arrogant narcissist Hiiragi we see in the anime, who brags about having a girlfriend and looks down on puny men who don’t have romances in their lives. Because they took away this redeeming quality of Hiiragi, Mao became the love doctor for Yuumi and Kouichi, which messed up the supposedly flow of events in the original story, and tainted the characters if KimiKiss, particularly Hiiragi and Mao.
On Kazuki
As we all know, Kazuki is an anime-original character. The first complaint of fans regarding him is his carrot-top, considering how all the hair colors of the original KimiKiss main characters are all plain and simple, just black or brown. This makes him an oddball of some sort, not to mention that his fiery red hair really stands out, compared to the rest of the characters. I think this, and the lack of redeeming qualities (as far as the first episodes are concerned) made him an even more annoying character to fans, who were rooting for Eriko, ranked #1 in the KimiKiss character polls, to end up with no one else but the lead guy Kouichi.
Why The “KimiKiss pure rouge” title?
Ever since the series first aired, I’ve been wondering what the “pure rouge” in the title signify, if any. There has been speculations that it might have something to do with the cosmetics term Rouge, more commonly known as blush-on, but I don’t think the connection between these two was settled. After seeing all these differences between the original KimiKiss game and its anime adaptation, I have come to the conclusion that this “rouge” must have something to do with all this. They entitled the show KimiKiss, yet it’s nothing but a façade to this anime, whose characters are no longer who they originally were in the game. We have the not-so-Mao-like Mao, the not-so-Eriko-like Eriko, the not-so-Asuka Asuka, etc etc. The names are nothing but pure rouge.
Director Kasai and the rest of the KimiKiss staff most likely changed things in KimiKiss for the better (duh?), and I actually applaud(ed) him for the courage to go these lengths to alter the original material, so it won’t become like other usual harem series. But after looking at the game counterpart, you can just see why most KimiKiss fans can’t accept the anime as an adaptation of the game they loved. The only similarities this anime has with the game are (1) its title, (2) the characters’ names (except the original “Kouichi Aihara” which was split in half), and (3) some aspect of Kouichi’s character, as well as Yuumi’s. Out of all the characters, Yuumi was the one who suffered the least fatality from all the changes. From what I’ve seen in episode 12, I think they even made Yuumi’s character more admirable in the anime. That still won’t suffice for the rest of the changes they made, however, especially the more popular KimiKiss girls.
I can now empathize with DarkNemo2000, unlike before, now that I’ve been enlightened to the plight of the fans.
What Made It Even Worse
These changes made to KimiKiss already pissed off many fans. What’s worse is that there was no mention of these alteration plans, until the show finally aired and the fans were struck with the bomb. I personally noticed this too, as there was no single info given regarding the “plot” of KimiKiss beforehand, hence our vague synopsis for the show. It was not until the show aired that they updated the site with the rest of the info regarding the additional guys in the show.
The staff were also interviewed a week before the show hit the airwaves, but not even a single hint was given regarding the “surprise”. I’m not sure if they were already expecting this overwhelming reaction of the fans (in a negative way), hence they kept silent about this. But given the fact that the staff isn’t making any statements regarding the changes they made, many fans saw this as a sign of cowardice, as though they are running away from the issues. It was speculated that the staff most likely lacked in-depth understanding of the characters; otherwise, they could explain the reason behind the decisions they made in the Kibina High School Weekly Special column of the official site, to appease the fans, at the very least.
Afterword
The main point of this post is not to diss the anime, because it is a wonderful romance anime in itself. Side-by-side the KimiKiss game however, one can see that it’s not really worthy of being considered an adaptation of the game, as it turned out to be its bastardized counterpart. As I’ve also mentioned, it’s like the “KimiKiss” of the title was a pure rouge to this show, which simply borrowed its characters, some aspects of their personalities, and the rest was up to the discretion of Kasai (and the rest of the staff), how they want to make these dolls act according to their fancy, without taking into consideration the plight of the fans.
When they say that the fruit does not fall far from the tree, the KimiKiss anime is an exception.
Not a very good adaptation of the game, but a good romance anime on its own. Let me repeat. On its own.
with this, I am officially done with the 12 Days of “Christmas” ABC. Do check out the posts of other participants in this ABC project:
Owen
Mike
DS
Martin
0rion
Nekonron
Moogy
CalAggie
JRoxas
CCYoshi
Quinn
IKnight
^________^
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15 comments for “Countdown to New Year #12: A Closer Look at the Sentiments of KimiKiss Fans”
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Wow, that’s certainly interesting. I thought that all the Japanese hate was because the anime had more of a shoujo feel than the visual novel, but I’m surprised that they made that many changes.
Amazingly, Eriko is even more awesome in the game, somehow.
Personally I like the addition of Kazuki, because, even if he is somewhat of an idiot, it allows for the multiple plotlines that I enjoy in this show. Even Hiiragi might be getting a piece of the pie with, uh…Mamiko-Noto-voiced-high-class-girl-of-the-season #3.
I guess all this does boil down to what you said though, in that KimiKiss is a good anime, just not a good adaptation, from what it sounds. I wonder why it was so…
(Oh, and congrats on finishing the 12 days. :D)
Wow it really is a bummer for some fans out there…..but the show must go on!^^ THNX!
@CCY: With the changes they did to the original KimiKiss, the end result was its pseudo-shoujo adaptation, but the root of the fans’ hate is something deeper than that.
I also like the addition of the guys, and their respective pairings, but I also understand the side where the fans are coming from
@ClariCANDYXD: some fans are actually pleading to stop the KimiKiss anime and the butchering, so that another studio will take over and restart the adaptation lol. The show must go on indeed, though I also think it deserves to be remade by another company
The original characters weren’t particularly deep to begin with, so I doubt lack of understanding was the main issue.
Lack of interest seems more likely, with the staff tailoring the concept into material they’re more comfortable with. Creators are only motivated to produce good work if their tastes align with the project, and a top-notch director like Kasai (who is most successful with soap opera style dramas – watering down characters seems like an attempt to simplify things so they can emphasize a broader “school life” plot) probably knows it better than anyone else. Many adaptations have been bad because lead staff disliked the source material and put no effort into the show.
IMO, “butchering” only becomes a problem in mania-oriented hobbies. Tons of classic/critically acclaimed movies are highly modified from the original sources, so why should ~pure rouge~ be condemned for bastardization? In most fields, a creator isn’t obliged to cater his “adaptation” to original fans, although anime is obviously an exception.
@Skua: It’s either a lack of understanding of what made the KimiKiss girls endearing to fans, or a lack of interest, which made them set aside the fans’ sentiments. The original characters do have depth, in my opinion, just not as deep as what you find in other series. The fact that Kasai added even more dimensions and depth to the characters of the KimiKiss anime became detrimental, in a way, as the changes added negative aspects in their character, realistic as that might be (especially with Mao).
The director is free to mold the original work as he wishes, but of course not everyone will welcome the change in the characters, especially a new and out of character persona. Some people are now regarding Eriko and Mao as bitches, when their original character is far from that.
The anime is “bastardized” in the eyes of fans, who no longer see the KimiKiss characters they supposedly love. Adaptation decay is inevitable in most, if not all, adaptations. And there will always be varying views regarding how a certain adaptation is to be considered butchered or not.
The complaints and cries of KimiKiss fans are not without a reason, similar to how Kasai thought of the changes to make the show better, which is what I really want to point out in this post. I’ve already stated my sentiments regarding the decisions of Kasai for this anime, particularly in my first KimiKiss post, where I simply overlooked these complaints.
That was epic, and despite announcing to everyone in the channel earlier about how awesome it was, I just have to say it here again. Great post! How long did it take you to do the whole thing, research and all?
From what I can make of the YouTube videos, I have to agree that Kasai made the alterations for the better. As much as I’d like to have deredere Eriko and moe Asuka, the impression I got from watching them talk was “generic” — as far as this genre goes, see one you’ve seen them all. The anime presents a more realistic side not present in the source, and I’m glad that happened. God knows I’d have not lasted that long if it were that faithful to the game.
I’m also guessing that the staff’s silence would be something that comes with looking at a long history of eroge/v.novel/dating sim adaptations and fan reactions — no matter who you try to please, ultimately there’s going to be someone left unsatisfied. Better please a few than try to pander to everyone, I presume? So they thought they’d save themselves the bother by not talking to the understandably livid fanbase.
The fuss that the fans have kicked up isn’t surprising, though, I mean, it’s the adaptation v.s. source argument all over again, and it’s the same no matter where you go or what series it is. I’ve been victim to this myself with the Claymore adaptation last Spring, and it’s really annoying to say the least to see a work of such magnitude be reduced so pathetically towards the end. kimikiss had more fundamental changes than that, in any case, and I’m doubtful that I’d be as level-headed as I was now had I played the game beforehand, but you get the idea.
Hope to see more posts like this in the future from you, since it would be great to be updated on the fans’ reaction in Japan whenever possible. (: Keep up the good work!
@Owen: hehe, thanks ^__^ *oh no my head is swelling~! LOL xD*
From what I can remember, I planned this follow-up post when I saw the points made by some 2ch people way back early December. Though it wasn’t until last week that I finally decided to give this post a “go!”, after seeing the game videos in youtube. I had to rack my brain to recall the previous discussions in the 2ch threads because they’re no longer available @__@ I guess it took me weeks? Though it’s pretty much incremental, as more ideas kicked in, with the anime episodes going on, hand-in-hand with the slow-paced manga.
I wanted to play the game myself, when the anime started, but it’s not until recently that I managed to get my hands on that PS2 game. If I played it and loved the characters for what they were in the game, perhaps I’d be complaining like the rest of the [close-minded] fans too lol.
It’s great that the changes made by Kasai to the characters are reasonable, and all for the sake of having a solidly woven romance story, which is why I don’t have much qualms regarding his decision, despite the little glitches and “plotholes” it caused
I guess the lesson producers should learn from this is to not keep such big secrets from fans.
Others examples of such major changes where fans were uninformed and thus unaccepted were Raiden in Metal Gear Solid 2 and recently Da Capo II where they chose to focus on boring and/or annoying characters… It’s good that producers are trying to go for some originality but it will carry risks that they should discuss with their fanbase.
Having said that I do think they did the right thing with KimiKiss, if all the girls were moe and sweet (read: one dimensional) the show would have been boring. Ditto if there was only one main guy all the girls were falling for. It’s just that the changes they made to the girls border on character assasination (which, according to game players is the case). If the producers had announced these changes before the show started airing fans could have prepared themselves. Would some have outright turned away? perhaps but I think majority would still have tried it; with amore open mind I might add.
Sorry for the long post
Despite the bold changes to the anime that the producers made, I would say that they have done well, even without following the game. The story has much more tension, heavier than the common fluff that we see, and basically just great.
@CooKie: true, despite how producers don’t agree with the sentiments of fans, I think they should still be informed, to minimize the shock and flames.
but in any case, I really like the dimension they’ve added to KimiKiss, as it’s not just some crappy game adaptation like other ones out there, albeit being shoujo-ey
@Mike: agreed ^^ (I think the fact that I am able to post long commentaries and babbles on the episode is one evidence of that xD)
I think that another factor in fans’ surprise is that in Kasai’s former works, notably Honey & Clover and Nodame Cantabile, the animes follow the original sources (mangas) quite strictly. Then again, for visual novel, you will at least need to combine all the paths into one storyline, or pull a Higurashi (which might not work as well here ^^; )
That being said, I think the changes are for the better as well. If all the ladies are too similar, it would be a boring watch for me.
@FortMan: game adaptation is a totally different beast indeed. The decisions made by Kasai for this anime is bold, yet ingenious, imo
Honey & Clover and Nodame Cantabile never appealed to the intended audience of Kimikiss. On places like 2ch (where shoujo and josei shows are often unpopular because of genre and not quality), they’ve actually attacked Kasai for his work history, so he isn’t a popular guy among them.
Anyway, J.C. Staff appears to have paid the price in terms of DVD sales (apparently, vol. 1 didn’t even place in the top 100 for anime discs. Since ~pure rouge~ is 25 episodes long, they’ll bleed money), so it’s a situation gone very wrong.
As an anime fan, it’s frustrating to see bold, quality work go to waste. This type of failure only reinforces a producer’s inclination to stick with normal, highly marketable stuff. That even Yoake Mae Yori Ruriiro na -Crescent Love- can sell better is messed up.
@Skua: I actually wonder if the outcome would’ve been the same if the staff decided to either (1) inform the fans beforehand, bridge the “gap” between these two entities, or (2) drop the “KimiKiss” label and thrive on its own original story and characters.