Utakoi

Videos 15 Reviews Comments More Info

Average Rating

5

(16)
4

(5)
3

(1)
2

(0)
1

(0)

4.7

out of 5

22 votes

Write a Review

User Reviews

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful:

A Very Nice Historical Romance

By Freeden on Jul 9, 2012 - See all reviews by Freeden

Forget for a moment that this show is based on the 100 poems that are the root of certain things like the now very well known Kurita game (thank you Chihayafuru!). Utakoi is simply a very nice, very well told, and artistically animated tale of romances taking place in historical Japan. Now, even with all the anime viewing that I do, I still know very little about the historical figures or facts ...

Forget for a moment that this show is based on the 100 poems that are the root of certain things like the now very well known Kurita game (thank you Chihayafuru!). Utakoi is simply a very nice, very well told, and artistically animated tale of romances taking place in historical Japan. Now, even with all the anime viewing that I do, I still know very little about the historical figures or facts involved in this. And I know next to nothing about these poems. So, I am looking at this from a pure storytelling point of view. As a series of romantic stories, Utakoi is quite interesting and engaging. In this first episode, two tales are told, the first about playboy poet Narihara and his love for the woman who would later become queen to the emperor and then after his brother and sister-in-law.

The first story told is much more interesting, due to the playful nature of the characters. It also has a stronger emotional weight, with the final scene between the two lovers having greater meaning. The second story is a bit less engaging, but a good contrast, as the main character is more of a straight-laced worker having to leave his wife alone for his duties. There's nothing surprising here, but the emotion comes from more of a place that is grounded and natural, something relatable. The animation for the series is also befitting of it's subject matter, as it is quite poetic and artistic, feeling more like an old art piece in motion than just another animation. For sure this series is certainly one of the more unique of the season.

It's hard to say where this anthology series will go. The first episode present a couple of romantic tales that are fairly entertaining and engaging, if they don't really present any surprise. But, in a season full of cliche ridden fan-service fests, Utakoi is something a breath of fresh air.
Read more

Was this review helpful: Yes / No Report as spam
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful:

Beautiful, bold, rich, amazing. An anime to show the expressiveness of Japanese poetry of the Heian period.

By Kamiken_123 on Jul 9, 2012 - See all reviews by Kamiken_123

"Impassionate Gods Willl Never Know the Crimson that lies in the Tetsuta River..."
This anime describes the history of each of the 100 beautiful poems used in Karuta, giving them a background, a face and an explanation. And they do it very well.

What I love of this anime are two thinks: The richness of the animation, which with very simple methods mixes color and patterns and achieves to ...

"Impassionate Gods Willl Never Know the Crimson that lies in the Tetsuta River..."
This anime describes the history of each of the 100 beautiful poems used in Karuta, giving them a background, a face and an explanation. And they do it very well.

What I love of this anime are two thinks: The richness of the animation, which with very simple methods mixes color and patterns and achieves to depict the art of the epoch; where well designed and animated characters move, flirt, cheat, play, laugh, cry and love.

The second thing that has called my attention is the richness of the topics; the way each poem is interpreted and the well written story behind each poem.allows to show a wide range of stories with sense of humor, sexy and bold parts, love and desdain stories; everything well put together
Read more

Was this review helpful: Yes / No Report as spam
"Un poema no puede ser perfecto"

By Kitsune932 on Jul 13, 2012 - See all reviews by Kitsune932

Una serie que promete ilustrar 100 poemas no es para nada de lo más común. Y no puedo ser estricto con ella, es el caso de la serie que no a todos gusta.

En lo personal fui atrapado por la forma en la que se intenta hurgar en el corazón del autor para intentar comprender el significado del poema, eso hace que se aprecie al poema y sea más hermoso de lo que ya es.

Mi sugerencia es, Olvidar, ...

Una serie que promete ilustrar 100 poemas no es para nada de lo más común. Y no puedo ser estricto con ella, es el caso de la serie que no a todos gusta.

En lo personal fui atrapado por la forma en la que se intenta hurgar en el corazón del autor para intentar comprender el significado del poema, eso hace que se aprecie al poema y sea más hermoso de lo que ya es.

Mi sugerencia es, Olvidar, el diseño de personajes, olvidar los tecnicismos, olvidar todo y disfrutar de estos 100 bellos poemas.

4 huellitas de este zorro para estos poemas, porque "…Un poema no puede ser perfecto…"
Read more

Was this review helpful: Yes / No Report as spam
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful:

A Breath of Fresh Air

By cjmasonm on Sep 10, 2012 - See all reviews by cjmasonm

Anime after anime seems to be set in violent situations with a villainous adversary and heroes who oppose them, and that's fine for the market that supports it. Occasionally, one appears that is simply artistry in it's finest and Utakoi is one of these. While the stories are not exactly true to history, they reflect the character of the time, and give Kei Sugita a beautiful foundation for ...

Anime after anime seems to be set in violent situations with a villainous adversary and heroes who oppose them, and that's fine for the market that supports it. Occasionally, one appears that is simply artistry in it's finest and Utakoi is one of these. While the stories are not exactly true to history, they reflect the character of the time, and give Kei Sugita a beautiful foundation for expression. TYO Animations has done a wonderful job of bringing these stories to anime and I'd love to see more. This is the sort of anime that I'd be very sad to see coming to an end. It's just too well presented, and beautiful is a poor word to describe it.

My one objection is the ending theme music. It just doesn't fit.
Read more

Was this review helpful: Yes / No Report as spam
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful:

Unexpectedly moving stories

By Xefale on Oct 26, 2012 - See all reviews by Xefale

The series is a departure from recent anime trends and a wonderful complementary watch to Chihaya Furu.

Merging an unusual art style with beautiful poetry and modern quirk, the series guides the audience through many of the stories behind several famous Japanese poems, giving insight into culture and society and how emotions were poured into paper within those norms.

Very unique music adds ...

The series is a departure from recent anime trends and a wonderful complementary watch to Chihaya Furu.

Merging an unusual art style with beautiful poetry and modern quirk, the series guides the audience through many of the stories behind several famous Japanese poems, giving insight into culture and society and how emotions were poured into paper within those norms.

Very unique music adds extra spice to this wonderful series.
Read more

Was this review helpful: Yes / No Report as spam
Bem a minha cara *u*

By Yagami-chin on Dec 11, 2012 - See all reviews by Yagami-chin

Teh pq amo poemas,poesias e semelhantes,ñ li o mangá ainda mas o anime me agradou mt e me fez lembrar de mt coisa do passado em relação a amor(coisa da ql teh hj tenho um azar estupendo e me abala totalmente),quero rever de nv assim que eu encontrar alguém(coisa que acho impossível falando de mim) e.e

Was this review helpful: Yes / No Report as spam
Historical Romance done right!

By aquacinnamon on Jan 21, 2013 - See all reviews by aquacinnamon

Other romance and shoujo titles have romance, drama, and art, but what they lack is one facet that other anime series are able to do very well. Make you give a crap about watching the next episode. Most shoujo anime series, both historical and modern, are full of the same type of drama you could watch on TV or read about.

Utakoi provides historical tales based on historical figures that or ...

Other romance and shoujo titles have romance, drama, and art, but what they lack is one facet that other anime series are able to do very well. Make you give a crap about watching the next episode. Most shoujo anime series, both historical and modern, are full of the same type of drama you could watch on TV or read about.

Utakoi provides historical tales based on historical figures that or told in a more beautiful and matter of fact way. The harsh reality of some of tale in this series is the time period it's in which prevents lover who by all other accounts should be together, cannot due to the social restraints place on them, especially on the women of the series.

The tales are told in chronological order and you feel the emotions of the characters, sure there's humor and several sensual moments, but it makes you want t watch the next episode to see what characters they'll introduce next and what type of story will unfold. The art is unusual, but that's what makes it beautiful along with the poems that are written and told throughout the series add an certain level of magic to the series overall.

I usually don't watch shoujo series because they all seem the same, but I decided to try this one since I did want to be prejudice against the entire genre. I'm happy I did. The only issue I have with the series is that it is only 13 episodes. I would have loved to see it be longer.

I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to watch an excellent historical romance anime that will make you laugh, tear up a bit and sigh when two characters are finally able to make it work or at the overwhelming odds that prevented them from being together.
Read more

Was this review helpful: Yes / No Report as spam
An unconventional take on historical romance

By koolbr33z3 on Feb 6, 2013 - See all reviews by koolbr33z3

This is how you bring poetry, culture, and romance into an anime. It was so beautifully moving and the poetry from the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu felt so fresh yet timeless in this interpretation. I loved the intentional artwork and stylistic design of the series. The characters were all great although I have to admit that I did have a hard time keeping up with some of them because they had multiple ...

This is how you bring poetry, culture, and romance into an anime. It was so beautifully moving and the poetry from the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu felt so fresh yet timeless in this interpretation. I loved the intentional artwork and stylistic design of the series. The characters were all great although I have to admit that I did have a hard time keeping up with some of them because they had multiple names and some even looked similar in their character design and many of the characters wove in an out of each episode like a beautiful tapestry. Nonetheless, this did not detract from my enjoyment of the series. The show really hit me in the heart like no other anime and am sad that it was such a short series.
Read more

Was this review helpful: Yes / No Report as spam
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful:

poetry lives in the anime and love makes the world go around

By foxybrownjr on Feb 14, 2013 - See all reviews by foxybrownjr

i am not a romantic person. i truly hate harem anime and stupid girl anime that insults girls but this made me want to read poetry and hear it from a man. based on real books from the era. this anime is a true classic that should be used to teach kids that poetry is something that can the world if you let it. if you get the chance get the books they are free on Amason so please go out and watch ...

i am not a romantic person. i truly hate harem anime and stupid girl anime that insults girls but this made me want to read poetry and hear it from a man. based on real books from the era. this anime is a true classic that should be used to teach kids that poetry is something that can the world if you let it. if you get the chance get the books they are free on Amason so please go out and watch the anime and read the books. each episode shows you how the poetry was made and people it inspired. this truly was a time when the pen was mightyer then the sword
Read more

Was this review helpful: Yes / No Report as spam
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful:

百人一首とその想い

By akina42000 on Apr 29, 2013 - See all reviews by akina42000

詩をわかりやすく説明、その上真の意味を明かしてくれる。
彼ら彼女達の秘め事、思いをわかりやすく説明してくれます。
見ていてせつなくなりますけど物凄くいい物語です。

Was this review helpful: Yes / No Report as spam

Prev 1 2 Next

About the Show

“Utakoi is a historical romance story based on Ogura Hyakunin Isshu's interpretation of a collection of 100 romance poems that are used in ... more
User Ratings

Average Rating:
- 5
  
  (16)
- 4
  
  (5)
- 3
  
  (1)
- 2
  
  (0)
- 1
  
  (0)
Read Reviews
Details
- Publisher: ADK
- Year: 2012
- Tags: romance, shoujo, utakoi, historical, chōyaku hyakunin isshu uta koi, anime, comedy, poetry, crunchyroll utakoi
Forum

Utakoi

Average Rating

User Reviews

About the Show

User Ratings

Details

Popular Shows

Platforms and Devices

Premium Memberships

Language

Support

Crunchyroll Store

Crunchyroll