Adults enjoy the slice-of-life genre, even though producers tend to aim it at younger audiences. From comedy classics, like Nichijou, to most idol anime, to adaptations of originally adults-only stories, like Nekopara, slice-of-life targets kids and teens, or at least anime fans who love everything cute. There’s a reason we call a whole subgenre “cute-girls-doing-cute-things.” Yet the adult audience persists.
We grown-up types get a bone tossed our way from time to time. ReLIFE stands out as a show about an adult reliving his youth and taking his real age responsibly, for example. Yet no slice-of-life I’ve seen has done as mature a job at exploring adult issues and deep themes as Kowloon Generic Romance does.
Kowloon Science-Fantasy Romance Mystery
The protagonist of Kowloon Generic Romance is Reiko Kujirai, a 32-year-old employee at a real estate company in the second Kowloon Walled City. While a small cast of characters join Reiko’s story, the show focuses on her journey foremost.
Reiko’s world isn’t quite right. She wears glasses, but her vision is fine. She doesn’t remember her life before her job, or anyone who doesn’t live alongside her in Kowloon. One of the only things she knows is that she loves her colleague, Hajime Kudou. He doesn’t show any sign of loving her back.
The slice-of-life begins from the first quiet moments of a summer morning as Reiko enjoys watermelon and a smoke in her sleepwear. And it continues throughout the story. Friends go on trips. People buy gifts for others. Characters are vulnerable to each other. One genre isn’t enough for Kowloon Generic Romance, though. The mystery of Reiko’s lack of memory is only the beginning. This is a science-fantasy story and mystery as much as it’s an adult romance with difficult-but-mature people. And all its other genres play into the slice-of-life aspects.
What effect do its genre elements bring to the story? I’ll explain, based on how they build on each other.
Adults Enjoy Life Too
I first think of kids goofing off after school when someone mentions slice-of-life. Blame Lucky Star. But want to know a secret? Adults enjoy living, too, which is the subject Kowloon Generic Romance delivers. Reiko and Hajime enjoy lunch together. They make and truly appreciate friendships. Even the romance between Reiko and Hajime takes a mature yet joyful approach in which each flirtation and rebuff becomes a keystone in the column of the eventual payoff. These two dance around their emotions, but are also vulnerable with each other, building momentum on and on until I was demanding (and got) satisfaction.
Who Even Are We?
The mystery and science-fantasy elements of the story are thick with spoilers. Suffice it to say, Reiko’s amnesia and odd feelings about her life are only the tip of a hefty iceberg. What I can say is that Kowloon Generic Romance explores the concept of identity in various ways. Are we made up of our past decisions and experiences? Reiko doesn’t have those, but she exists nonetheless, so that isn’t it. Are we who we try to be? I don’t know about any of you, but I have yet to achieve all my dreams. I’d say we can’t be who we’re trying to be, though, once we accomplish our goals, maybe that changes.
Kowloon Generic Romance explores identity through sexuality, love, history, and even through the nature of our existence as physical beings who leave objects and memories behind. The anime doesn’t answer those questions I asked as much as it provokes thoughts about them and interprets the identities of its characters through the ideas it demonstrates. It’s up to us as viewers to decide who these people are and what they mean to each other. The science-fantasy elements exist to broaden our thinking. What does it mean to have never been the person others thought you were? Does that mean you never really existed for those people? Yeah, that’s the type of question Kowloon Generic Romance eventually asks and builds on with strange science that may as well be magic.
Adults Bring Regrets
While younger people may enjoy Kowloon Generic Romance, and its exploration of human life is universal, it’s meant for adults. There are no teen inserts here. Every main character is a complicated mix of their dreams for the future, and the baggage and regrets every adult accumulates. These adults move forward, find ways to enjoy life and each other, and struggle with life-altering situations that defy their understanding of the world.
It’s frustrating to avoid spoiling anything about the story. The slow progress toward revelation might be the best part of Kowloon Generic Romance, and I can’t sell it directly. So, what I’ll leave you with is that if you enjoy adult stories, flawed people connecting, and a story that’s not afraid to ask challenging questions, this is the anime for you. Avoid new regrets; watch Kowloon Generic Romance now!
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