Quote:
Originally Posted by Aquifina
Much thanks, of course, to Ultimatemegax for the translation.
I'm sorry to say that at this point, I think it'd be pretty hard to get Shichimiya back into the anime, especially the kidnapping incident, in a way that would be compatible with the spirit of the original novels.
After reading the second novel, I for one was disappointed the anime writers didn't stick closer to the original novels. While some of the anime original characters had their moments, I personally don't feel they added enough to justify Shichimiya's absence. As has been discussed here, she's a great character, and she gives a romantic depth to the novels that's absent from the anime. Indeed, as a whole, while the first volume dragged at times, the novels have a *much* better treatment of Rikka and Yuuta's relationship. Yuuta from the beginning finds Rikka attractive, so his falling for her is a much smoother and more natural process in the novels, and we see them date properly. Shichimiya then adds obstacles the two have to overcome, but in a manner that feels much more natural than the amped up drama the novels resorted to. Without the plot causing such serious whiplash, the novel Yuuta struck me as more likable and consistent (although I thought the anime version was clearly well meaning). However, anime Rikka had the huge advantage of KyoAni's mastery of anime's visual medium, but that just makes me more disappointed they couldn't have stuck the original story more closely. Is there anyone who doesn't think KyoAni could have made Shichimiya as moe-laden a character as Rikka in the anime? This would have made more commercial sense too! I know there are only 12 episodes, but if the anime only material was cut, I think they could have squeezed everything in.
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I remembers either Ultimatemegax or someone else theorized that they couldn't add her because at the time of anime planning, the second novel wasn't written yet. Adding my own guess, I think KyoAni has no plan for a second season in a foreseeable future, so they decided to take out all reference to Shichimiya to make the anime self-contained.
I also prefers the novel Yuuta. I'm not sure about being more likeable, but I feels he is more well-defined in the novel, especially in the second one. At times he's so beta that I have to like the guy. As I mentioned earlier, another thing I kinda prefer the novel version is Nibutani. The "Class King" part of her character is missing almost entirely from the anime. Instead, she took over the "onee-san" role in the later part of the anime. While this made her more involved in Yuuta-Rikka relationship thus also the story as a whole, I think her character is less unique that way.
The strength of the novel is that it has a really tight focus on the Yuuta-Rikka relationship, in my opinion. I think the anime's biggest shortcoming was how the romance part and the family-drama part came together. That should be in the overall impression thread though. I need to get around typing that out.
