***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Photo Kano. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
A camera can immortalize a moment. And if everything lines up just right, a photo can show the very heart of a person.
Kazuya Maeda (voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki) has given up on a lot of things. Photography, though, has sparked a passion within him. Through a lens, he hopes to bring out the beauty in everything. Yet by doing so, he may find something even more important. To be more precise, he may find someone more important.
Haruka Niimi (voiced by Kanae Ito) has known Kazuya since they were kids. In recent years, they have grown apart. Except Haruka has never forgotten the fun times she spent with her dear friend.
Hikari Sanehara (voiced by Kaori Mizuhashi) loves photography. She will go to great lengths for the perfect shot. Unless her subject is a person. Experience has caused her to distrust someone’s smile.
Aki Muroto (voiced by Mai Nakahara) is an academic prodigy. Her role as student council president has also made her quite strict. When something needs to get done she will see it done. Even if it means giving up something she cherishes.
Nonoka Masaki (voiced by Chiwa Saito) is hyper and energetic. An outstanding athlete, there's no challenge too big for her. Having known Kazuya since middle school, Nonoka values his friendship. |
| Kazuya |
Rina Yunoki (voiced by Asuyka Ogame) is gentle and easygoing. She loves to cook and is always trying to find her next great recipe. Too bad there are few people who she can give them to.
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| Haruka |
There’s a lot of skill that goes into photography. But often it comes down to one thing. Being in the right place at the right time.
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| Hikari |
Series Positives
I was actually looking forward to this one. The format of Photo Kano is something I’m shocked isn't more common. Instead of following a single romantic route, why not follow several?
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| Aki |
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| Nonoka |
And that wasn’t even the most exciting part. One of Photo Kano’s developers, Enterbrain, were responsible for another dating sim. A dating sim which became a fantastic anime. Maybe you’ve heard of it. It’s called Amagami.
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| Mai |
Perhaps this would be another great love series. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if this show stood with its predecessor? At the very least, it would give me my romance fix. This premise alone should be more than enough to make it fun. Was there anything that could derail that?
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| Rina |
To tell the truth, when Photo Kano got something right, it got it right.
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| Tomoe |
Here’s a quick rundown of each arc. In overall execution, Haruka’s story was the weakest. Rina and Tomoe’s were bland. Hikari and Aki’s were alright. And hands down, the two bests were Nonoka and Mai’s.
With Nonoka, I loved how she handled the situation. With everyone else, you were waiting for a confirmation. Nonoka was up front. Her arc started with her confessing her long standing love. Yet she realized her feelings had yet to be reciprocated. Before giving someone the chance to take Kazuya away, she made a move.
What followed were a series of events that brought the two together. What ended up winning Kazuya over was Nonoka being herself. Loud, energetic, confident, these were the things Kazuya fell for.
Mai’s route was great because she was a fun character. She was cute and soft-spoken. Except she wasn’t naïve. She had no problem holding dirt over Kazuya to get him to do something. That sounds more extreme than what ended up happening. It was more playful teasing than blackmail. Remember that I said this.
Mai’s route was great because she was a fun character. She was cute and soft-spoken. Except she wasn’t naïve. She had no problem holding dirt over Kazuya to get him to do something. That sounds more extreme than what ended up happening. It was more playful teasing than blackmail. Remember that I said this.
Unlike the other stories, Kazuya was active in lending his support. When Mai was down or thinking of giving up, he kept her going. He gave her motivation. What formed was a strong foundation of respect and admiration in Mai’s heart.
Yet what’s interesting, none of what I’ve said so far was my favorite thing about this show. That distinction goes to Yuko Uchida (voiced by Ayahi Takagaki).
As the only female member of the series' Photography Club, Yuko was a fascinating character. It was hard to nail down what was going on in her head. Sometimes she would help support Kazuya. Other times she'd be a hindrance for her own amusement. Plus, her specialty was stealth. There was a funny running gag where she would disappear into thin air. The possibility of her being around was never zero.
Not only that, the show spent a lot of time getting to know Yuko. Way more than any secondary character should get. She seemed to care about other people's happiness. She appeared to be a romantic at heart. And she led a secret life as a popular cosplayer.
It was almost as if Photo Kano was setting her up to be a route. This series did this with other characters too. Except not to this extent. This would've been fine since I would’ve loved to see a Yuko story. The possibility was there.
The first four episodes were neutral. They didn’t have a single focus. Starting from episode five, the show had each girl as the main. Only one of them got two parts. With thirteen episodes and seven routes, doing the math shows one missing.
Except, since I’m bringing it up, you can guess it didn’t happen. Okay, whatever, I can accept that. Or I would say that, most of the time. Not with Photo Kano. This series could not help itself.
Series Negatives
Photo Kano put a lot of emphasis on sexual attraction. There were a ton of unneeded camera angles and way too many tight shirts. This wouldn’t be a problem if it wasn’t so blatant. Story and characters should always take priority. Fan service is secondary. This series wanted to make them equals. Except, the story and characters were way too lackluster to act as a counterbalance.
This was on the low end of things that annoyed, by the way. Had this been the only thing, I wouldn’t have mentioned it. The service wasn’t distracting and it wasn’t at all extreme. Yet this was the thing Photo Kano had the most to offer. And wasn’t much.
The First Four Episodes
It’s not good if you want to stop watching a show before you get to the point of it. Like I said, the first four episodes of Photo Kano served as an introduction. Not a bad idea, except it wasn’t done well here.
Saying these episodes were an introduction is misleading. Yes, we saw all the girls. Yet so what? That’s meaningless when using the bare minimum amount of effort.
We got to know Haruka and Aki. Mai wasn't insignificant during these episodes. There was more than enough time spent on them. You could see how these three would develop feelings for Kazuya.Tomoe was odd since there were hints of intrigue surrounding her. It had nothing to do with Kazuya, but it did make her stand out. Too bad she was no more prominent then the characters that never became routes.
Nonoka was around. At least she had the advantage of being friends with Kazuya. That and she had an out of nowhere intimate moment with him. No one else got that. I’m not sure why it was here either. It happened in Nonoka’s arc again and it fit a lot better there.
Hikari existed. That’s about it. There was no way to gauge who she was during these episodes. We learned she liked photography. But we never saw her personality. Or why she would even be a route. When her arc came, it sort of started. No rhyme or reason. It just was.
Rina being in these episodes was a joke. Me mentioning her is more than she got in the series. One of the main plots and I forgot she was part of the show. Yet there was one thing Photo Kano made sure we knew. She had big boobs.
The worst offense was how inconsistent these four episodes were. They didn’t end on a branching path. They ended and that was it. Sometimes they played a role in future arcs. Sometimes they didn’t. Sometimes events in the arcs changed the events in the opening episodes. It was a mess.
What was wrong with not doing this? Why not give some of the arcs more time to develop? Everyone could’ve still played a role. Then, through proxy, we could get to know everyone. Instead, these first four episodes felt like a waste of time.
Kazuya
We had several main protagonists. They just so happen to be the same person. At the start of each arc, you never knew which Kazuya you were going to get.
This would’ve been a good thing had he not been a walking contradiction. Sometimes he was spineless. Sometimes he would stand his ground. He was out going when the story called for it. He stayed in the background when the story called for it. He became a different person with each girl.
Again, not a bad thing. Except the opening episodes ruined this. Through their existence, they established who Kazuya should be. When the arcs went against this, it made the opening even less necessary.
Well, there’s all that as well as him not being a good character.
When Kazuya joined the Photography Club, he said he was strong-armed into it. That’s not untrue, except the Photo Club, not the same thing, was as aggressive at the same time. Why he didn’t just join the Photo Club is beyond me. Kazuya wasn't keen on the Photography Club taking lewd pictures. The Photo Club instead had a love for photography. There was his out.
Instead, he went with the Photography Club. Then he was surprised when they wanted to do sleazy things. They never hid their intentions. This shouldn’t have been a shock.Joining the Photo Club would’ve changed nothing. No route required the Photography Club being a thing. In fact, a few routes would’ve made more sense with Kazuya being in the Photo Club.
Then there was the fact Kazuya was a jerk. To give this series a possible pass, the differing actions of Kazuya have an explanation. Given the circumstances, what a person does is connected to who they are at their core. Going off that, Kazuya's a bit of a lowlife.
Remember how I said Mai was comfortable blackmailing Kazuya to do things. The extent of her actions involved Kazuya being silly. Mai used this as an excuse to spend time with him. She was never intrusive. These request never made Kazuya uncomfortable.
The same was not true when the situation reversed. Kazuya had dirt on Aki. At first, Aki was strict and this was Kazuya’s way of getting back at her. That would’ve been fine had it stayed as such. No, instead, Kazuya used what he had to get Aki to pose for his pictures. Never nudes, but still suggestive.
The same was not true when the situation reversed. Kazuya had dirt on Aki. At first, Aki was strict and this was Kazuya’s way of getting back at her. That would’ve been fine had it stayed as such. No, instead, Kazuya used what he had to get Aki to pose for his pictures. Never nudes, but still suggestive.
You can debate whether Aki enjoyed this or not. The point is, Kazuya didn’t know that. This series can try to spin this however it wants. It doesn’t change Kazuya forced Aki to do something she otherwise wouldn’t have done.
This goes back to what I said about a person’s actions being connected to their core. Given the circumstances, Kazuya can be despicable.
Episode 13
The moment I saw this character, I became annoyed. There was no way she was not going to be a route. It was hinted at throughout the series.
If you don’t want spoilers, jump down to my final thoughts. But I need to talk about this.
The final route involved Kanon (voiced by Mariya Ise).
In terms of execution, this wasn’t the show’s best. Yet it wasn’t its worst either. It was passable. Too bad I wasn’t paying that much attention to it. I had checked out.
Let me tell you who Kanon was. She was an energetic girl who loved to sing and dance. She was an average student, but athletic. She was always smiling. There wasn’t much that could get her down.
Kanon was also Kazuya’s little sister. I’ll let that sink in for a moment. Disgusted enough? Good, let me explain a little.
Kanon was Kazuya’s stepsister. They weren’t blood-related. Why didn’t I say that right way? That’s because the show didn’t say that right away. We learned about this crucial detail in episode thirteen. The series let us think otherwise up to that point. Did no one think this was a problem?
This twist came off as an excuse to have a Kanon arc. It played no role in the whole of Photo Kano. Had the show revealed this earlier, it would’ve made it a lot easier to stomach. I say that because this isn’t the thing that bugs me the most about episode thirteen.
I can respect an adaptation for trying to be faithful to its source material. From my understanding, finishing Photo Kano’s main stories opens Kanon’s route. The series had that feel. Except, this is still an adaptation.
This show had no business providing details about routes that weren’t going to happen. Why make a character as interesting as Yuko if you’re not going to use her? I would’ve rather her not be here. Again, Kanon’s actual story was fine. Except not for a second do I believe a Yuko route would’ve been worse.
Was Photo Kano hoping for a second season? I doubt it’s going to happen.
Final Thoughts
I could say you can pick and choose through this one. There were good arcs. Like I said, Nonoka and Mai’s are well worth a look.
But when the majority of a series is lacking, that only leaves it in one spot.
There were too many things that bogged this show down. The opening episodes were all over the place. The main protagonist wasn’t strong enough to hold it all together. And the number of what-if scenarios makes the whole thing frustrating.
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