***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Amanchu Advance. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
Welcome back to the beautiful seaside town of Ito, and the small diving shack Amanchu-ya.
Having only lived here for a few months, Futaba “Teko” Ooki (voiced by Ai Kayano) has grown accustomed to her new life. Unlike before, Teko’s days are full of excitement, wonder, and rewarding challenges. All this is thanks to Teko’s dear friend, Hikari “Pikari” Kohinata (voiced by Eri Suzuki).
Though difficult at first, Teko has slowly become a much more experienced scuba diver. This has allowed her to explore the underwater world she has grown to love. With Pikari to cheer her on, Teko no longer believes anything is impossible.
However, one can’t spend their entire time in the water. As the seasons move forward and the warm summer air turns colder, there are plenty of other wonders to find.
Together, Teko and Pikari are sure to find enjoyment no matter where they are.
Series Positives
Roughly two years before this review, when I sat down to watch the first season of Amanchu, I made a very incorrect assumption. I assumed this series was going to be a wacky, over-the-top, slice-of-life anime comedy.
I was right about the slice-of-life part but completely wrong about everything else. Instead of getting the screwball show I expected, season one of Amanchu turned out to be a much more down-to-earth story.
Also, at the end of the season one review, I mentioned my desire to pick up the Amanchu manga. That was something I actually started doing, and currently, I have the first four volumes in my collection. I should have a lot more, but a few too many distractions came up which caused me to put a pause on my reading. Once that happened, I never found the chance to jump back into this series.
That was why I was thrilled when I heard Amanchu Advance would be airing during the Spring 2018 season. Therefore, this was definitely one of my most anticipated anime of the year.That said, I didn’t want to do what I did last time and assume.
I wanted to go into Advance with an objective mindset that was ready to call out problems when necessary. But, although I was hoping to maintain a critical eye, it didn’t take long for me to fall back in love with this series.
Exactly how long are we talking? If I had to put an approximate value on it, I would say Advance had me within the first five seconds.
The point is, thanks to those initial five seconds, it would have taken something big for this show to lose its grip on me. Good thing too since there were a couple of moments in Advance that would have crippled other stories. But unlike other stories, Amanchu is one of those series I just can’t bring myself to hate, no matter how ridiculous it gets.
To its core, Amanchu has a charm, and that charm was alive and well in both the first season and in Advance. This series has a unique, but no less strong understanding of animation being a visual medium. As such, this show not only created a welcoming atmosphere once, but twice.
Without needing to say much, Amanchu used its animation to tell its story. Rather than using words, this series preferred to rely on actions, colors, and expressions. And this show’s use of expressions is unlike most others.
First done in season one, and then gloriously returning in Advance, Amanchu has proven it has a complete mastery of the derp face. For this show, a character’s derpiness was like a window into their mind.
It was always clear when someone was scheming, embarrassed, having fun, confused, scared, and so on. That’s a little broad to say since a lot of other series do this as well. However, there are no other shows that do it quite like Amanchu.
This is the Amanchu charm I was referring to. This was the kind of charm that could make up for a lot of questionable decisions. For this series, no matter what it did or how off-the-rails- it got, specifically in Advance, everything always remained interesting.
So far, this review has been me commenting on the Amanchu series as a whole. In many ways, though, it is hard to separate these two seasons. They were both fantastic, and they complement each other nicely. In the same vein, Advance was a strong sequel and a welcoming return to this story.
That was my favorite thing about this second installment. As a continuation, Advance was great because it built upon the foundation left by its predecessor. This really did feel like a next chapter.
Nowhere was this more apparent than with the relationship that formed between Pikari and Kokoro Misaki (voiced by Ai Yamamoto).If you only have the season one version of Pikari to go off of, you would know she was a walking ball of energy. She wasn’t much different in Advance, and thus, she definitely wouldn’t seem like the kind of person who would be able to share a bit of wisdom. Nevertheless, that is precisely what she did for Kokoro.
Believe it or not, Pikari became a mentor to Kokoro. The older Pikari, who had the unquenchable energy of a kid, was able to break through the hardening shell of the younger Kokoro, who was trying to let go of all “childish” pursuits. I’ve seen this kind of setup before, and I’m sure you have too. Advance was establishing a connection between Pikari and Kokoro that would question who was actually the more mature of the two.
To my grateful shock, that never happened.
Even with her gung-ho look at the world, Pikari was always the older one in this pairing. Although it was surprising Pikari took up this role as well as she did, it never once came off as strange or out of place. If anything, Pikari was a natural, and this is something I would love to see continued in a hypothetical Amanchu 3.
That, or I can just use this as a perfect excuse to get back into the manga.
Although the new relationship between Pikari and Kokoro was excellent, Advance really left its mark with Teko. Remembering who she was at the start of season one, it was wonderful to see how far she had come since then.
Plus, there were points in Advance that showed a fully confident Teko. These moments were outstanding. It was positively surreal to see Teko abandon her timidness and take charge of what was going on around her.
Granted, this graceful version of Teko usually came out in dream sequences, but why split hairs? Besides, there was an instance in this series where this older-sister-like Teko was not part of a dream.
Granted, this graceful version of Teko usually came out in dream sequences, but why split hairs? Besides, there was an instance in this series where this older-sister-like Teko was not part of a dream.
Like Pikari, Teko also got a mentee in the form of Kotori Misaki (voiced by Ai Kauma).
Advance didn’t spend nearly as much time with Teko and Kotori as it did with Pikari and Kokoro, but the time this show did spend on the duo was fantastic.
Boy, I do hope we get an Amanchu 3. However, me saying that stems directly from one of the biggest question marks hanging over Advance.
Series Negatives
Although I said the first five seconds of Advance managed to hook me back into this series, it was also during these early moments of this season when I realized Amanchu committed one of my most despised practices.
I’m of the belief that OVAs should never be necessary when watching a series.
To start this off, I love OVAs. These extra bits of content are something I enjoy, especially if I am a fan of a series’ main story. However, OVAs should only ever be just that: extra bits. An OVA shouldn’t have critical plot details that affect the actual shows themselves.
Luckily, this is not something that happens often. Too bad Amanchu is now one of the few shows to pull this BS move.
If you go into Advance having only seen the first season, you will know something is off real quick, once everyone begins referencing events and characters that were not in the original show. But they were in the single OVA episode that released sometime after the first season.
Is it really that big of a deal to add one more episode to your viewing of Advance? No, it isn’t, and to be honest, I’m glad I watched the OVA before continuing because it helped remind me of some smaller season one details.
However, it’s the principle of the matter. I can’t hold this against shows I don’t like and then turn a blind eye when a show I do like does the same thing.
Moving onto the Advance story itself, this season carried over a quirk from the original.
The dialogue in the two seasons of Amanchu had a habit of being overly whimsical. Whenever a person spoke in this show, they often tried to motivate or instill wonder. This would have been fine had this series attempted to have its characters talk like actual people every now and then. Many of the conversations in this story, though good, didn’t feel natural.
Did this ever become annoying? Not in the slightest, but I would also be lying if I said I didn’t roll my eyes a few times.
And I wish that was all I had to say regarding the negatives of Advance. Unfortunately, there was a span of about three episodes that utterly baffled me.
Earlier I mentioned how a more confident version of Teko came out during dream sequences. Dreams, and more specifically, dream sharing, was something this series played around with. The first few times Advance did this, these moments definitely felt out of place. However, they also introduced some important elements to this show.
For instance, Teko “met” Kotori in a dream they shared. Once they woke up, like most people do with their dreams, both Teko and Kotori pretty much forgot about their experience instantly. That was usually how this show handled these type of sequences.
Then Advance came to a crossroads. Down one path, this series could have developed some of its veteran characters. Down the other, this show could have explored its new additions. Both options were fine.
Then out of nowhere, Advance decided, “LOL, third door.”
Although this series did focus on one of its staple characters, it also took this dream concept and cranked it up to eleven. For some reason, Advance gave us its take on Neverland.
To be fair, there were things about this part of the show I liked. This was a fun enough side story that employed a lot of fascinating ideas. This would have totally worked as an OVA.
BUT SINCE THIS WAS NOT AN OVA, this segment had zero business being in this series. This was so far removed from anything that had ever happened in Amanchu.
The reason I am hoping for a season three is because this series needs the chance to fully explore the routes Advance opened up.
Final Thoughts
With this being one of my most anticipated shows of 2018, was it worth it?
Yeah, it was.
This series, both seasons one and two, were an absolute treat to sit through. When watching, you don’t mistake this show for being something else. It is far too unique for that to happen.
This season opened up a ton of possibilities. Granted, some of those possibilities were unwarranted, but they were still fun nonetheless. However, when this series was being a proper sequel to the original, that was when things got really good.
Amanchu Advance was a wonderful continuation, and I highly suggest you check it out.
But these are just my thoughts. What are yours? Have you seen this show? What would be your advice concerning Amanchu Advance? Leave a comment down below because I would love to hear what you have to say.
And if you liked what you read, be sure to follow me on my social media sites so that you never miss a post or update. Also, please share this review across the internet to help add to the discussion.
I’m LofZOdyssey, and I’ll see you next time.
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Others in the Amanchu Series
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