English Dub Review: Konohana Kitan “Sakuya Konohana”

Welcome to the Konohanatei hotel. Enjoy all our cute fox girl maids.

Didn’t really know what to expect from this anime from the name. I’m not really one to go out and see a lot of these cute kawaii shows that have an adorable little girl character doing cute little girl character things but I am a sucker for optimistic and adorable situations. Maybe with Konohana Kitan I’ll start expanding my repertoire of cute shows I watch. If they are all as solid as this show then I think I’ll enjoy myself a lot.

OVERVIEW (Spoilers Below)

We open with our main little foxgirl Yuzu played by Lindsay Seidel as she is dropped off by her guardian at the Konohanatei hotel where she hopes to become an employee there. From there the episode is split into two slice of life stories with Yuzu getting to know the other employees in the hotel, specifically Satsuki and Sakura, by doing her duties besides them. What follows are a bunch of cute antics as Yuzu does her very best in this brand-new setting to be a helpful staff member and send each visitor to the hotel off on their next adventure.

Now for simplicity sake, this is what I consider to be a well-written slice of life story. The situations are small but the characters; reactions make it large for their world. This allows the audience to become easily invested in our main little foxgirl’s struggles as with the small-scale issue the show has time to let her dopey actions speak for themselves. To show the emotion of action how she feels and her dedication to being the best she can be even though she is a bit of a ditz.

This show isn’t doing anything groundbreaking by any stretch of the term. All the characters so far fall into very stock archetypal roles for this sort of narrative. However, what saves the show from feeling tired and overdone is its simple use of interaction and atmosphere. The studio behind this adaptation, Lerche, who is best known for their work on Persona 4 The Animation and Assassination Classroom, masterfully give the characters and setting a lightness to their color palette and texture. This gives both a calming atmosphere that makes it simpler to become enveloped in the peaceful and silly antics of Yuzu.

OUR TAKE

In the end, this is exactly what I wanted from this show. A nice, simple and relaxing anime that tugs at my cute heartstrings with a delightfully sweet protagonist. If there is any fault with the show is that this sort of anime isn’t really something that sticks in your mind for too long. Watching Konohana Kitan is like eating some fresh grapes, during the moment each bit gives you a splash of sweet delight but in no time, it fades. For me, though I am satisfied with that. It’s not meant to linger in your memory but almost like a good hotel visit, it is there to relax and then send you on your way with a happy smile on your face.