Photo Kano

[Knorris908]

Genre: Ecchi, Romance, School
Studio: Madhouse Studios
Director: Akitoshi Yokoyama (Marimo no Hana: Saikyou Butouha Shougakusei Densetsu)
Series Composition: Akitoshi Yokoyama
Music: Mina Kubota (Kaleido Star, Kannazuki no Miko)

Original Creator: Enterbrain (Amagami SS, Kimikiss pure rouge)
Number of episodes: 12

Opening Theme:
"Koisuru Lens (恋するレンズ)" by Kaori Hayato

Ending Theme:
"Smile F (スマイルF)" by Uta Kano♪

Synopsis:
Kazuya, a mild-mannered high school sophomore coming to the end of a very average summer break, receives a digital single lens reflex camera as a gift. His nerdy fascination with its design soon turns to wonder when he realizes this little gadget could really give his social life a shot in the arm!
(Source: TBS)

Cast:
Nobunaga Shimazaki as Kazuya Maeda

Kanae Itō as Haruka Niimi
Asuka Ōgame as Rina Yunoki
Chiwa Saito as Nonoka Masaki
Hisako Kanemoto as Mai Sakura
Kaori Mizuhashi as Hikari Sanehara
Mai Nakahara as Aki Muruto
Miyuki Sawashiro as Tomoe Misumi

Akiko Hasegawa as Rū Narita
Aya Endo as Momoko Ōtani
Ayahi Takagaki as Yūko Uchida
Hikaru Midorikawa as Hiromichi Kudō
Kaoru Mizuhara as Katsumi Kurebayashi
Mariya Ise as Kanon Maeda
Minoru Shiraishi as Itta Nakagawa
Nobuhiko Okamoto as Takashi Azuma
Saori Seto as Misa Kitagawa

Edit: Changed the first post again to make it a bit more informative. -julezia
_______________________________________________________________________________

Well, it certainly isn't the worst of the new season... (That honor goes directly to Aku No Hana with no one else even being close!)

Will this be an extensive search for "What is art?", "How can I get ecchi photos?", or "How can I bring happiness to those around me through my photography?" in this series? OR maybe it will simply be yet another in a long stream of harem shows? (I never thought that I would actually get tired of harem shows, but I'm getting there rapidly. Offer us something else of substance too guys!! it's like sugar, it tastes great, but too much of it all at once and you get sick.) I'd really kill for a second season of Tora-Tora at this point. Slice of life with cute girls, but the story was about more than simply setting "dating flags" with various female classmates. And while I love characters with "boing-boing" as much as any other guy, the "double-J" air-headed student/assistant teacher is just out of place here.

I really hope that this becomes more than just another "Infinite Stratos" with photography instead of mechs.

 

[Knorris908]

I am completely feeling the pressure build-up in this series. I'm not sure if it is intentional, or not, but I can't help but wait for the other shoe to drop on Maeda... I mean, sure, he's acting altruistically within his internal dialogues, but no one else in the cast hears those like we the viewers do. To the in-story observer, I'm thinking that he must look like either a willing pawn of a known group of perverts, or just the biggest "ero-klutz", (A term of my own creation) of all time. If there is a situation where an unfortunate happening can result in the embarrasment or physical violation of a girl, he's there to perpetrate it. I'm finding it actually difficult to like him, and I am an AVID photographer! I start to identify with him exploring what it takes to create art: How to change perceptions, addressing actual technique, learning the correlations between f/stop-shutter speed-ISO ("The three kings"), etc... makes me start to like him. Then he does, or otherwise gets involved in some ero-accident, and how he handles it just ruins what little appreciation I've devloped for him. (And no, I'm not just jealous.)

I really feel like he's going to burn for that blackmail deal with the student president. Either directly, or it will figure-in negatively when he's being accused of something that he is actually innocent of.. Just my feeling though. I'm also wondering if the photos that he never intended for anyone else to see are somehow going to get "leaked" and cause some major problems?

I'll continue to watch this, cringing all the way, just waiting for Maeda to get majorly screwed-over. It is almost painful waiting for it to happen though... Like seeing two trains speeding towards each other on the same track, in slooooow motion.

 

[julez]

I'm probably not going to watch this one after seeing Amagami and Kimikiss, it seems like this one is the poorest of the bunch so far (going by initial reviews).
Maybe the problem is that it's being single-handedly done by Akitoshi Yokoyama (as director, series composition, script, storyboard, unit director (OP).......)
Also seeing that it's only 12 eps, I wonder if it's not going to show each girls route? That's a shame because that's what made Amagami so successful.

 

[xcn07]

i don't know about this show i read the manga and it was great there was character development and there was a reason for the camera not just to take perverted shots.... in the manga he joined the other club leading to his photography career by using the camera also got him self closer to his childhood friend. I don't know who is directing this show but so far it is crap!

 

[JCDRANZER]

How censored or uncensored is this show? I heard it has an awful lot of ecchi....is there much of a proper story in it?

 

[Enjeh]

Lol. Seems like they have decided to make a separate ending for each of the 7 girls, in a 12 episode run. >_>
Not that I'm complaining, looking forward to Tomoe's episode. :3

 

[Klyern]

Im really disapointed that photo kano is an anime but Kimiiro Focus isnt.
Its like when Ai Kora ended without getting an anime all over again, the ecchi gag mangas dont really stand a chance against love comedies do they? >_>

Im sure we wont be seeing Onidere etc turning into an anime either anytime soon (well thats kinda like a 4 koma so meh)

 

[JCDRANZER]

QUOTE (Klyern @ May 19 2013, 07:13 PM) Im really disapointed that photo kano is an anime but Kimiiro Focus isnt.
Its like when Ai Kora ended without getting an anime all over again, the ecchi gag mangas dont really stand a chance against love comedies do they? >_>

Im sure we wont be seeing Onidere etc turning into an anime either anytime soon (well thats kinda like a 4 koma so meh)
I haven't watched this series but I've read Kimiiro Focus and it was a decent series but I didn't like the ending very much imo.

Ai Kora was a brilliant manga and I wanted an anime for it but it was too ero particularly with it's fetishes to be an anime but then again I have seen anime that are way more ecchi than Ai Kora was like Kanokon. However, Ai Kora's ending wasn't stellar and I wish it was.

Onidere was an okay read, it could have been made into an anime.

Out of the 3 you pointed out, I would have loved Ai Kora to get an anime but it's passed it's time and I doubt it will ever happen.

 

[Kit-Tsukasa]

Photokano is based off a PSP visual novel of the same name. It is considered the spiritual successor of KimiKiss and Amagami SS. Like its predecessors. The story follows Kazuya Maeda who began having an interest in photography after receiving a camera from his dad. However, he seems to have taken a particular interest in photographing girls at his school. Photokano premiered during the Spring 2013 anime season and was licensed by Sentai Filmworks.

Photokano continues the recent uptrend of omnibus anime presentation. For those who don't know, it involves splitting a series into multiple arcs that could be considered "parallel universes." This has only been done (or at least to my knowledge) on harem/romantic comedy series to date given its convenience and ease. The aforementioned KimiKiss and Amagami SS have both done this form of presentation as well as Yosuga no Sora. Photokano does the same (and more similar to Yosuga no Sora) where the first 4 episodes serve as setups for each of the 8 arcs in the series. Unlike the predecessors, however, Photokano is cut short as a 13 episode series with effectively only one episode per character aside from Haruka's arc. This hinders the potential character development that could have happened compared to the 4 episodes per arc Amagami SS received. In contrast, however, it keeps the more boring heroines to minimal screentime. The other problem with Photokano is its initial hook. It gives off the impression of a heavy ecchi series when in reality it's actually not all that significant in the overall series. The ecchi is generally pretty tame. Lastly, our hero, Kazuya doesn't really grow as a character in the overall series. Only in Haruka's arc does he really shine but in other arcs, he's basically a player if anything else. The incest ending is a bit daring though.

Art is solid though character designs could be better. They're overly generic to the point I get mixed up with some of the heroines. Animation is solid by Madhouse though there is some heavy recycling between the different arcs. In terms of animation quality though, Chihayafuru is even better despite Photokano already not skimping on the budget.

OP is pretty much forgettable despite sounding like Persona 4 music. ED is decent but given the number of good themes this season, it's somewhat average in the overall grand scheme of things. Background music and sound effects are average overall. Seiyuu is a mixed bag. Itou Kanae is great and really kept my motivation in this series until episode 6.

Enjoyment? The first 4 episodes, despite being setup, are actually somewhat boring. There isn't really a hook or motivation to continue watching almost to the point that you could watch the remaining character episodes as standalone. The series held my interest during Haruka's arc and quickly fell apart thereafter given the lack of depth. Amagami SS is generally a better watch and KimiKiss is equally good. Yosuga no Sora is more of a fetish choice and to some extent a different animal.

Overall, Photokano is not quite what it seems or sound like. It's a relatively tamed series but at the same time, it's by no means special. Amagami SS is different due to its greater and more meaningful character interactions and arguably the best of the three. Photokano, on the other hand, is arguably the worst in the line of successors.

Preliminary Score: 3/10
Final Score: 4/10