Tonari no Kyuuketsuki-san

Rumors tell about an ageless girl who only comes out at night, living in a mansion in the middle of the forest. Some say that she is a living doll with a soul. Upon hearing these rumors, Akari Amano seeks out this girl, only to find herself lost as she treks through the woods amidst the darkness.

A vampire named Sophie Twilight saves her, turning out to be the rumored girl. However, unlike the vampires told in myths, Sophie does not attack humans and instead orders her blood online. Akari instantly becomes charmed with her doll-like appearance and proceeds to abruptly move in with her, thus starting their life together.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Twilight, Sophie Main

Tomita, Miyu Japanese

Elly Main

Waki, Azumi Japanese

Amano, Akari Main

Sasahara, Yuu Japanese

Natsuki, Hinata Main

Lynn Japanese

Aoki, Yuu Supporting

Uchida, Aya Japanese

Kurai, Sakuya Supporting

Hidaka, Rina Japanese

Yamada-san, Younger Sister Supporting

Asahina, Madoka Japanese

Aoki, Asahi Supporting

Tono, Hikaru Japanese

Vampire Hunter Supporting

Han, Megumi Japanese

Great-Great-Great-Grandfather Supporting

Sasa, Kenta Japanese

Kawamoto, Sachi Producer

Isogai, Noritomo Producer

Kashiwaya, Tomohiro Producer

Yamazaki, Fumiki Producer

Reviews

May 15, 2022

ssnoad

Recommended

I really enjoyed this anime. I found it when looking for similar anime to YuruYuri. After having completed Tonari no Kyuuketsuki-san I would say that I actually like this more. It is not as funny by a long way but the relationship between Sophie and Akari really resonated with me and seemed somewhat more realistic. It feels more like a romance.

As the shoujo-ai genre goes, I think of this as one of the best I have seen. Not too serious, not sad or full of drama. It is light hearted, funny but has some real warmth.

This a slice-of-life comedy with little plot other than the ... development of a relationship between Akari, a school-girl with a love of dolls and Sophie, a vampire who despite being several hundred years old still retains the appearance a girl of Akari's age.

The music in this anime is very good with some very catchy OP and ED songs.

Artwork is effective. There is Interesting use of color with lots of reds in Sofie's house. Character designs are memorable.

Considering that there was at least one volume of the manga released after this anime aired, I am hopeful that their might be another season or perhaps an OVA for this anime.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jan 27, 2022

ktulu007

Recommended

Tonari no Kyuuketsuki-san is a 2018 anime from Gokumi and Axsiz based off of a manga by Amatou. I have seen some Gokumi anime before. The dreadful Crime Edge was one of theirs. So were the enjoyable A-Channel & Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru. So, hopefully this will be more like those two and less like Crime Edge.

Story:

Our narrative opens simply enough. Some girls are discussing some rumours of a "Doll Mansion" where a living doll rises and wanders around at night. Amano Akari decides to investigate since she loves dolls so dearly only to discover the truth. The doll is actually ... Sophie Twilight, an immortal vampire. Akari becomes friends with Sophie and decides to move into her house, with her parents' permission, of course.

The whole series is based off of taking these ageless, blood drinking creatures of the night and putting a softer, comedic spin on them. There are elements of vampirism, like only being able to enter somewhere they're invited, that get explained in comedic ways. It actually works really well since a lot of the explanations for "traditional vampire behaviour" make a lot of sense but they're also abnormal enough for a vampire story that they're unexpected. The jokes have very strong build ups with punchlines that just flow very nicely.

The series also features a lot of jokes based around the ages of the vampire girls and the ways they're kind of out of place. It's a series that knows how to put a spin on the slice of life genre and takes full advantage of its concept. It also avoids a lot of the potentially creepy aspects of having a shoujo ai involving vampires and high school girls by focusing on the human girls having crushes and the vampire girls finding them endearing rather than going into a more straightforward romance. The worst it gets is the secondary vampire girl, Elly, being a bit flirtatious.

Characters:

The cast in this has a lot of strong comedic quirks, they're endearing and they have strong dynamics. Not super complex but they don't really need to be. It's a slice of life comedy. They need to be funny and enjoyable, not necessarily deep.
The only issue I have with the characters is that there are a lot of side characters, like the parents or Hinata's brother, who don't really contribute much. They're pretty much used in one scene and that's it.

Art:

The artwork looks pretty good. It's a very cutesy aesthetic which meshes strongly with the writing. It's also one of those anime where the comedic moments are frequently punctuated with a change in art style which works pretty well but you might find a little over-used. It also has some strong visual gags and it manages to avoid getting super fan-servicey.

Sound:

The performances in this are solid. Tomita Miyu, Sasahara Yuu, Lynn, Waki Azumi and the rest of the cast all do well. They have strong comedic delivery and they express the dynamics very well. Fujisawa Yoshiaki's soundtrack is perfect for the series.

Ho-yay:

This is one of those series where all the main girls seem to have some form of romantic tension with each other. Akari flirts with both Sophie and Elly. Elly flirts with basically every single woman she encounters but seems to harbour special feelings for Sophie. Hinata has a crush on Akari but also seems susceptible to Elly's advances. Sophie doesn't seem super interested in pursuing any romance but she also comes across as someone who could easily be romanced by one of the other girls if they demonstrate enough patience and don't try to force it. The side characters, Yuu and Sakuya, seem to be girlfriends or one careless hand brush away from becoming girlfriends.

Areas of Improvement:

1. This is another series where I feel it would be improved by the girls not being in High school. If they were in University, the vampires being so much older wouldn't be an issue and there could be more heavily romantic elements. It would also make more sense with writing points like Akari moving in with Sophie.

2. We could use more scenes with the families. There's plenty of comedic potential there that's just not taken advantage of.

3. The art style could be more consistent with the visual shifts being used more sparingly. That would give them a greater impact.

Final Thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed this series. The comedy is excellent. The characters are a lot of fun. The cutesy artwork and writing work well. While I did have some relatively minor complaints, I still pretty much loved Tonari no Kyuuketsuki-san from the first episode until the last. If you're a fan of slice of life comedies and you'd be interested in seeing one with supernatural elements, I would highly recommend it. For myself, I'm giving it a 9/10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Apr 9, 2022

DraconicDetectiv

Mixed Feelings

Overall: 6/10 - I thought it was super cute. It’s definitely not something I’m raving about that everyone has to watch, but I wouldn’t steer anyone against it.

Art: 6/10 - I like the design and art, but it’s not really anything special. I think the art is fine, it’s cute, but it’s really just that.

Characters: 7/10 - I do adore these characters, I thought they were super appealing when I first started the show, and I don’t think they’re bad at all. The excitement didn’t stay strong the entire time, but I never dreaded seeing anyone at all.

Storytelling: 6/10 - It’s slice of life and ... CGDCT, there’s not really a story to tell. It’s mostly funny situations these girls get into, and I like how they interact and how these problems are displayed and occur. It doesn’t feel ham-fisted, but I think sometimes it was a little repetitive.

The Art:
I genuinely didn’t know they were high school aged until they really started pushing the emphasis on that fact (stating it outright a few times) the last few episodes. I definitely prefer that to the alternative that I thought there was (middle school), but it was a super surprise. They... Do not look like high schoolers to me! I had no idea, genuinely.

Otherwise, I really like the background and set design. The colors are nice and I enjoy the outfits and clothes of the girls. I really think the style is fine, it just doesn’t stand out to me. It’s cute! But that’s about it.

The Characters:
I find Akari, our main character, a little boring honestly. She’s fine, but she’s not my favorite. The show begins with her, and she is absolutely obsessed with dolls. She hears a rumor that there’s a living doll in the neighborhood, she goes to find it. This “doll” is in fact Sophie Twilight; a vampire! Akari is obsessed and forces herself upon her and into her life to be her friend and live with her. There’s really no addressing how this is handled with her family and so forth, it’s just a set up for the rest of the show. I don’t think this is a bad thing. Definitely I like the role swap, where Akari freaks the vampires out with how enthused she is with her ‘creepy’ dolls and her begging for them to suck her blood. She always wants to play dress up and play with Sophie’s hair and be as close as she can be.

Sophie is fun, she’s somewhat aware of the modern world and is kind of a weeb, she really likes anime and manga. That’s most of what she spends her time on too. She learns to care for Akari and is actually very concerned with her health and wellness. She doesn’t fully understand human things but tries her best. I enjoy her, but she’s not much without the rest of the cast. That’s not a horrible thing, they’re meant to work together after all.

Hinata is Akari’s friend from school. I forgot how she comes into play, but Akari is always inviting her over to hang out and do things with her. Hinata is “boy-ish”, tall, and is more developed than the rest of the cast. She can be childish and likes to dress simply. She gets into a conflict with my favorite character, Ellie, because she’s able to be seen as more adult but doesn’t really want to be. Hinata has a crush on Akari and fantasizes about her in a similar fashion to the way Akari fantasizes about (and acts with) Sophie. She’s sometimes jealous of Sophie but this never becomes a point of tension, it’s only joked upon.

Ellie is another vampire, and is an old friend of Sophie’s. She’s my favorite of the whole cast. She’s upset that she was turned into a vampire so young instead of when she was older, but still perceives herself as an adult. She flirts with the other girls and buys a sexy Halloween costume, she’s pretty into herself. She also very much prioritizes her beauty and fashion, using blood on her skin for it’s benefits and it’s known that she uses the blood she purchases for bathing. When the group goes out, Ellie often says that the girls look yummy and tasty, and she wants to bite and hunt them. She was also asleep for 100 years and was living in America, so now that she’s in Japan, she’s pretty unfamiliar with tech and the culture. It’s fun to watch her learn things, I really love this character, even if she’s kind of a lot at times.

There are two other characters that come up a few times, but I don’t remember their names. I just know one is in an occult club and has a crush on the other one. They.. I think are dating? I don’t really know; they are at least perceived as dating, but I could say that about pretty much everyone here.

The Storytelling:
Like I said, it’s a slice of life. There’s not really a ‘story’ here, but I do like the way the show plays out. You get a good sense of the vampire’s weakness in the sun, to the point it kind of gets repetitive? There’s a lot of struggle that focuses on wanting to do XYZ, but Sophie and Ellie can’t be out in the day for too long! They try anyway, and the sun really takes it out of them. The scenes aren’t agonizing though, and it’s sweet to see the girls take care of each other.

Otherwise, it’s mostly about the girls getting used to each other, Akari learning to live with Sophie and vice versa. The vampires learn about humans, the humans learn about vampires. They all get kind of silly and tease each other here and there, it is definitely girls love, they flirt with each other and play and fawn. It isn’t a will they won’t they, which I really enjoy. It is just ... They’re all hanging out and act like this and maybe not outright love each other, I would not call it a romance show, but they do definitely get pretty close.

I think the pacing is good, it never feels out of place, and the jokes usually land well. There’s a scene here or there that surprised me or threw me off, one happening between Hinata and Ellie, and the other with Akari and Ellie, Ellie being the instigator of both.

The last episode is... I do not like it. You just go and see and meet all the characters again, but it's so boring and feels so slow... but I do think the last scene is pretty cute, I won’t say much else, but it sort of redeems the episode I guess.

I did like the show, it wasn’t bad. I probably won’t come back to it in the future, but I don’t regret watching it. I wouldn’t put it high on any list, but I definitely wouldn’t tell anyone to strike it from the record. It’s a fun, lighthearted watch. I would refer to it on maybe a rainy or a sick day, where maybe it’s a little hard to pay attention or you’re sleepy, but you still want something to pass the time.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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	Poll: Tonari no Kyuuketsuki-san Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Dec 21, 2018	53 replies	by wildhood »» Jul 30, 10:40 AM
	Poll: Tonari no Kyuuketsuki-san Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Oct 5, 2018	100 replies	by _Cherrymoon_ »» Jun 18, 10:18 PM
	Poll: Tonari no Kyuuketsuki-san Episode 2 Discussion Stark700 - Oct 12, 2018	47 replies	by Alkimia »» Mar 15, 10:22 PM
	Poll: Tonari no Kyuuketsuki-san Episode 3 Discussion Stark700 - Oct 19, 2018	34 replies	by RGreatDanton »» Feb 13, 1:03 PM
	Poll: Tonari no Kyuuketsuki-san Episode 7 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Nov 16, 2018	60 replies	by Aletheia_xxx »» Jan 27, 3:35 AM