The last episode of the season for Minami-ke Okaeri was an alternatively amusing and heartwarming affair. If it felt like one long, drawn-out goodbye, it’s probably because it was – in a good way though – because OVAs notwithstanding, I’d be very surprised if we saw another season of MK in the future.
Others have already written much on the drastic difference in animation quality from the first half of the episode, compared to the second half. But I had to see it for myself to believe it. And yeah, it’s quite stunning actually. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like the animation in the first half is great – I think everyone looks a little too shiny and there were a handful of scenes where lines didn’t look like they were drawn quite right – but it’s so nice to see some attention paid to shading and highlights, to characters looking like well-proportioned humans, and some experimentation with non-standard camera angles, that it just feels like a huge improvement from what we’ve seen so far (and what we see in the second half). It was like going from watching old Hanna Barbera clips to the latest Pixar jawn. Definitely good enough for a slice of life.
Minami-ke Okaeri – Final Impressions
After the unfunny disaster that Okawari was (no thanks to that useless shota Fuyuki), I wasn't sure what to expect from Okaeri. But after seeing the OP (freaking YouTube, always deleting videos and rendering old video links useless. Damn you! *ahem*), my high hopes were rekindled. And for the most part, I give Asread credit for going back to the drawing board and putting in the work to try to reclaim Minami-ke’s golden first season glory. It wasn’t perfect, but I thought it was definitely a success, as Okaeri was exponentially funnier and more enjoyable than Okawari.