Episodes: 11
How: Netflix {Stream}
Grade: B+
Summary: {From MAL}Amamizukan is an apartment complex where no boys are allowed. Kurashita Tsukimi, a girl who adores jellyfish, lives there happily with her friends who all have nerdy obsessions of their own. Their peaceful lives gradually start to change when a beautiful woman helps Tsukimi out of a pinch.
Thoughts: This was another one of those shows that Netflix has just been randomly adding lately, it was sort of a bust with Mermaid and Okami so I really wasn't expecting much from this show. Surprisingly enough, I was hooked from the get go...
In a way I guess it's pretty cliched, a bunch of unusual women living in an apartment complex together where no men are allowed. Something happens and they are in danger of loosing their building/home so they band together with an outsider to save their building.
This outside just happens to be a "stylish", a beautiful person that makes the women turn to stone where they stand under normal circumstances. What's worse, it's a male.... they don't know this of course they believe him to be a woman since he's always dressed in drag around them.
Other then the other main character, Tsukimi; they are oblivious to the fact that he's a guy.. Even after his fake boobs fall off they just believe him to be a flat chested girl. Heh.
Who we have.....
Main Characters.
Kuranosuke Koibuchi- The beautiful woman {man in drag} that comes to Tsukimi's rescue or should I say Clara the Jellyfish's rescue one night. He comes a long just at the right time to buy the Spotted Jellyfish that's on deaths door due to an uneducated pet shop worker, curious about Tsukimi he/she follows her home and even stays the night.
It's the next morning that it's revealed that she is actually a male, dressed in drag and this causes quite a stir in the apartment complex where Tsukimi lives. Barely getting him out of there without the other women realizing there's a man in the building.
Finding Tsukimi different then what he's use to in a female he comes back to befriend the bunch, at first even in his stylish drag the women are quite shocked by him and even turn to stone. Little by little he grows on them under the guise of Kurako and soon even Tsukimi is comfortable around him, while in drag.
Eventually he even gets her to allow him to give her a make over, which she cleans up rather well.. so well that his older brother sees and basically falls in love with the made over Tsukimi.
Kuranosuke is actually the youngest son of a rich, politically powered family. His father had an affair with Kuranosuke's mother and she ended up dropping him off at his place and never returning for one reason or another. Kuranosuke is always looking for a phone number or address to where he can find/see his mother and her dresses... all her dresses.
This never happens in the series, but he does nudge all the women of Amar out of their comfort zone in giving them make overs to help people take them more seriously while fighting for their building. Which is being eyed for demolition to be turned into a ritzy hotel.
Tsukimi Kurachita- An 18 year old Otaku who moved to Tokyo to chase her dream to be an illustrator, seems people had told her that Tokyo would eat her up since the people there are so unlike those from her hometown. Not to mention her fear of stylish people that has her frozen whenever they are around...
Due to her late mother, she has quite the infatuation with Jellyfish. The two of them would go to see Jellyfish Exhibits when she was just a child and that has stayed with her into adulthood. To an Extreme.
Jellyfish, that is how she meet Kuranosuke.. attempting to save a Spotted Jelly that's in a pet store tank with a hazardous Jelly. While trying to tell the pet store worker of the problem with the two Jellys she can't quite convey her message. Kuranosuke shows up and buys the Jelly for her and there we go...
She and Kuranosuke have an odd relationship, she's okay with him while he's in drag but... as soon as he's even partially out of it she freezes up and freaks out. It's only until after he gives her a stylish make over that she's comfortable around people. {Partially due to her glasses being off so she can't really see.}
By chance Kuranosuke's older brother Shu see's Tsukimi at their home while in the "stylish" sense and falls in love with the girl. For some reason he can't recognize her at all when she's in her normal outfit, not believing it's the same girl at all.. She eventually falls for Shuu as well and due to some black mailing bitch woman Tsukimi's feelings get hurt and confused and all those strange emotions.
While attempting to save the apartment complex from being sold, Tsukimi first makes hand made Jellyfish and sells them at some Peddlers type market and then soon after. Remembering what her mother said about a wedding dress that looked like a Jellyfish she starts to make dresses out of Kuranosuke's mothers clothes.
In the end, with a push from Kuranosuke the two of them and the others from Amar start a clothing line with dresses based on Jellyfish.
The Sides...
Shuu Koibuchi- He's a clueless fellow really, Kuranosuke's older half brother who when much younger walked in on his father and Kura's mother doing things. This scarred him for life, at his age he's still a virgin and sort of scared of girls in general.
He starts to have feelings for the stylish Tsukimi, but before their relationship can take off a woman working with the land developer that's trying to tear down the apartments blackmails him into believing they had sex. If he doesn't talk his politically charged father into backing the development she'd release pictures of the two of them. Even though they never did anything at all.
In the end it almost looks like he starts to have feelings for the woman instead of Tsukimi, it's very confusing or maybe just opened up Kuranosuke/Tsukimi.
The Women of Amamizukan Apartments...
Chieko- The daughter of the owner of the apartment building, she manages the building while her mother is away. She's always dressed in traditional Japanese clothing and makes tons of creepy dolls which she completely freaked out about when Kurako suggested they sell some of them.
Jiji- A strange woman, she's obsessed with mature men. Mature as in father complex type..
Mayaya- Awkwardly tall woman that's obsessed with some Record of the Three Kingdoms Anime... Manga.. Something.... She's quite the loud one unless there's a stylish around.
Banba- She has an Afro! She's also quite obsessed with trains and can judge the quality of meat just by looking at it. Something the house calls Banba Scope!
Juon Mejiro- She's a popular yaoi manga writer that lives in the apartments, never or rarely leaving her room. The other women of the building communicate with her by slipping notes under the door. Oddly enough, she hates men to an extreme....
The End- Chieko's mother decides not to sell the apartments, Tsukimi has her own line of clothing called "Jellyfish" and Kurako is her model. Shuu still has his hands full with his no longer black mailing bitch which I forgot her name, but yea... Happy Ending?
Kind of a sucky ending, you don't really get to see if Kuranosuke ever sees his mother again or if he ever realizes that he's falling in love with Tsukimi. You really don't know what happens with Shuu and the other woman... The only thing you know is the Amamizukan Apartments are safe for now.
It was fun while it lasted though. Needs More Episodes!
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| Kura & His Uncle |
