by Sasori, Okazu Staff Writer
There is definitely no shortage of fantasy anime this season, and I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day /Kimi ga Shinu made Koi wo Shitai, is another one to add to your summer list.
This is an anime adaptation of Aono Nachi’s yuri manga, animated by Roll2, streaming on Crunchyroll.
Kimishinu is very stylish. From it’s early PV trailer, to its catchy OP『Amore』by ReoNa, on paper it has a lot going for it. It’s directed by Yasushi Tomodo, who also worked on Girls Band Cry. There are also some heavy hitter VA’s, Takahashi, Rie voicing MC Totsuki, Sheena and Hidaka, Rina voicing our smaller MC, Kagari, Mimi.
Episode 1, Kimishinu starts with a grim battle between two magic users, ending with the death of one (or both) and then panning out showing us the dire world they are fighting in. We are then introduced to our main character, Sheena Totsuki, who is a child soldier in a magical user based war orphanage, and learn that the girl who died in the opening duel was her roommate.
Sheena doesn’t want to be at this war school, she seems weaker than the rest of her classmates, unable to conjure her wand and clearly bothered by any form of fighting. We are also introduced to her supporting couple friends who defend her from bullying, Lizzy Seiran and Ari Maud.
Sheena flashes back to her now deceased roommate, lamenting on how lucky Sheena was being weak and thus exempt from the magical duels that the children frequently fought. Later in the night, Sheena is restless and makes some onigiri, going outside to eat, she’s greeted by a bloody little girl, who is very interested in Sheena and her rice balls, much to Sheena’s horror.
And surprise, the little girl turns out to be a new classmate of Sheena’s, going by the name of Mimi Kagari, also the same name of a legendary soldier weapon of their school. Mimi definitely looks 10, which is pointed out by some classmates, but you know the power of magical school will I guess let that one slide. Mimi’s care taker/parental figure is resident medical nurse Fran, who seems to deal with Mimi like a feral creature, promising Sheena that her roommate will wash up and not look like a bloody tomato on the regular.
When going down the hall, Mimi and Sheena spy some ladies doing magical yuri kissing, to help top up that mana flow. The episode ends with Mimi wanting to cure Sheena’s ailing stomach, by also giving her a mana kiss.
Episode 2 returns us to the kiss scene, Mimi proudly stating how she fed Sheena a ton of mana which I assume will come in handy later on. Sheena panics, not knowing how to deal with this new information, hiding in bed lamenting about her now first kiss.
This episode was pretty exciting because the class was participating in a mock duel. Sheena paired with Mimi, who was of course destroying the competition. The fight scenes are a cut above most fantasy budgets, and gave all the cast some pretty neat fight sequences. Sheena eventually gets separated from Mimi, who is in berserker mode. Sheena ends up getting attack by a trespassing magic user and loses an arm in the fight, Mimi destroys him coldly after.
Nurse Fran brings Sheena back to the schools medical ward after the battle, Sheena looking like she’s on deaths door with only one arm. Fran talks with Seiran and Ari, stating how losing body parts is pretty common, and that she’d heal Sheena herself. Mimi steps in and insists on healing Sheena with her own magic and proceeds to mana kiss her so hard that her arm grows back.
As Sheena recovers, she learns that Mimi also hates pain, forming more of a bond with her, and is also impressed by her seemingly unlimited magic abilities. Mimi of course takes this sign of friendliness as another reason to lean in for another kiss.
Episode 3 starts with a cute morning routine scene between Mimi and Sheena, who is clearly getting use to Mimi’s critter antics. Mimi’s kind of a failure at being a lady though, so Sheena teaches her how to tidy up on their day off. The peace doesn’t last long because Mimi is the only person called out for another battle. Alone, Sheena confides with Seiran and Ari about how she feels about Mimi and the new bound of trust she has with her, but also how she fears for Mimi’s safety. The girls tell Sheena about how Mimi was the one that restored her and she might be similar to an immortal weapon.
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Early evening, Mimi is returned to Fran in some back door of the school in a disembodied bag, and then told to heal herself as she starts to reanimate with her own magic. Fran scolds her for rushing into to battle, but then realizes it was because Mimi wanted to hurry back to probably see Sheena.
Sheena, unable to sleep, makes Mimi onigiri and returns to the place where she first met. She’s relieved to see Mimi has returned in one piece and asks if they’d like to be friends. Mimi hugs her excitedly at the prospect and they share a very cute moment together. They eventually go back to their daily routine, Mimi learning that best friends share secrets through Sheena, saying she had a really important one to tell her.
The secret ends up being that Mimi couldn’t die, because she was already dead, thus ending the episode.
I ended up liking Kimishinu more than I should have, not because the premise was groundbreaking or original, but because it was really well executed. The music and backgrounds were dramatic when they needed to be and light and whimsical when necessary.
In terms of yuri, I like Seiran/Ari quite a bit, because I’m a sucker for justice/bad girl dynamics. Mimi and Sheena’s growing friendship made me smile, Mimi’s loud feral personality is a good foil to Sheena’s meek/quiet nature, which keeps the shows dynamic lively.
The three episodes had some great pacing, and I’m looking forward to continuing the series with that in mind.
Ratings:
Art – 8
Story- 6.5
Characters- 7
Service- 2 (For the random magical kisses)
Yuri- 5 (Some interlocking hand-holding and the kisses are becoming less about the mana)
Overall- 7
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No pictures were allowed in the exhibit, but I was enchanted by all the preserved books and novels from the 1920’s and 30’s. There were also newspaper and activism articles, my favorites being about female political movements. I tried to scribble out a few memorable ones in my notebook!
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