Nostalgia sells. Kowloon Generic Romance might be the sleeper hit of the season, and it’s winning fans with pure nostalgia. Who wouldn’t have pangs of wistful longing for a busty, ’90s-style heroine, mysterious sci-fi themes, and a sweaty, slow-burning romance loaded with relatable memories? Even if they’re not your own. In the case of Kowloon Generic Romance, those feelings for a half-remembered past are horrifyingly appropriate.
Amnesia is the Woman Who Shares a Face with the Lady in the Mirror
Reiko Kujirai (voiced by Haruka Shiraishi) is having a weird day. Apart from persistent amnesia and seeing better without her glasses, she has a pesky feeling that something’s not quite right whenever her coworker Hajime Kudou (Tomokazu Sugita) is around. And did I mention the amnesia? The mystery intensifies when Reiko finds a photo of Kudou with a woman who looks just like her. Except she’s sure it isn’t her. Yeah, it’s more complicated than the amnesia. Don’t ask me to explain it because we’re not insured for spoiler-induced heart attacks.
Fear the Effortless Nostalgia of Kowloon Generic Romance
Nostalgia has a shelf life. Right? Each generation fondly remembers iconic toys, comics, shows, and other ephemera from their time, but only for as long as that generation lasts. That makes sense. ‘80s babies like me expect love for ThunderCats to die out with our generation. All our thunders will be “ho’ed” when we’re eight feet from our young’uns’ feet.
Kowloon Generic Romance works because it taps into the everyday and poignant nostalgia we all experience, no matter which generation we grew up in. Not the temporary memories associated with stuff. The aroma of forgotten home cooking. The hypnotic waft of a curtain. Lazy dust motes on a warm morning. The touch of a warm hand. Kowloon Generic Romance jogs our memories with its strange alchemy of normal to create timeless anime.
Kowloon Generic Romance is a Silver Fox Rom-Com
“Nostalgia” has shades of meaning.
It took me a moment to notice that Kujirai B — the Kujirai in the photo — has a different voice actress. Yuriko Yamaguchi is 59! We hear her dusky voice in Hajime’s flashbacks later in the series. 30-year-old Haruka Shiraishi voices the Kujirai we’re following on screen.
An age gap and an amnesia puzzle. That spin will keep me watching!
Kowloon Generic Romance Is Not So Generic
Kowloon Generic Romance is tickling my brain lobes with its puzzling story, and I’m interested to see if it’ll keep the mystery alive till the end of the season. I suspect the mystery will decrease as the romance increases, but it’s hard to call it either way. If nothing else, I’ll enjoy the familiar longing for times gone by, which the show so effortlessly invokes.
Arvo Animation produced Kowloon Generic Romance, and Yoshiaki Iwasaki directed the series. Jin Tanaka wrote the screenplay based on the Shueisha-published manga originally written by Jun Mayuzuki (After the Rain).
I’m watching Kowloon Generic Romance on Crunchyroll. Watch it in English or the original Japanese audio, with or without subtitles. Kowloon Generic Romance grabs a Chibi Megumi rating of 5. And I haven’t even mentioned the detestable villain, the evocative setting, or the disproportionate attention to proportions (in other words, booba).
Kowloon Generic Romance is the most mature anime I recall seeing. Does “grownup” anime turn you off, or is it your anime happy place? Tell us in the comments. We love hearing from you.
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