Introduction
Mikako Kouda is a 16-year-old girl whose sole ambition is to establish her own clothing brand. To this end, she attends the renowned Yazawa Art School alongside her childhood friend Tsutomu Yamaguchi. Although the people around them interpret their closeness and constant bickering as signs of budding love, both Mikako and Tsutomu deny it, as they cannot see each other as anything but friends.
However, everything changes when Tsutomu starts to resemble Ken Nakagawa—the vocalist of the popular group Manbou—and gains popularity among girls. Suddenly, the childhood friends find themselves wondering about the meaning of love, friendship, and the true nature of their relationship.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
Audience reviews
7 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
LuxuriousHeart
My Neighborhood Story has a very whimsical art style, and I like it. It feels like the sketchbook of a fashion designer, which might have been the point of this art style. Ai Yazawa has always been a great artist. Unfortunately, the soundtrack was bad. Some of the music, particularly the opening and ending songs, were ear grating.
Then you had the annoying characters. The main character, Mikako, was just plain ole mean at times. She could be unpleasant and lash out at others. She can't just say what she truly means. A tsundere. Several other characters were unlikable at points of the story, with a few exceptions. And even then, you feel bad for those few exceptions because they have to go out of their way to work, in order to fix the problems of those around them. Some of them are spinel…
Read at the sourceAutomemory_Doll
This anime does everything right, it can be translated as "How difficult are interpersonal relationships", "Why can't I be able to correctly show the way I feel to my family and friends?" "Why do I have to be the way I am?" "What I choose in life now will haunt me all my life?", "The things I do, is it for me or for others to see me?" and many other questions.
I understand that many who are used to the modern style of anime art may not find the artistic approach offered by Gokinjo Monogatari appealing, however, if you give it a chance I am sure, you will not only get used to it, but embrace the artistic style. And this story has to be told through the catalog of expressions that this style of drawing achieves for its characters. It is wonderful how slight movements in the faces of the cha…
Read at the sourcegirltokyo
i first off want to say that i really enjoy Ai Yazawa's work so thats the main reason i started to pick this show up and the fact that I've seen NANA and Paradise Kiss already. The story i enjoyed because it's pretty realistic which makes what happens in the show relatable, and with that it makes it even more moving and emotional to watch and experience. It was fun and interesting to see the story progress and see Mikako going through her struggles whether that was with her designs, her relationships, or family problems it was nice to see her progress as the show went on.
I also enjoyed the other story with Yuusuke, Mariko, and Ayumi (who is introduced later in the show) and seeing how they all progress and what each of them are going through.
The only character i would say i had a prob…
Read at the sourcehaydenluvsanime
Ai Yazawa, known mostly for Paradise Kiss and Nana, has been a prolific figure in the world of shoujo manga for decades with her mature themes and more realistic approach to character development. Gokinjo Monogatari was my introduction to her.
What initially drew me to watch this show was the very unique art style. Everything is done completely with flat colors which made me think of '70s cartoons. It's definitely a peculiar look, but fits the show to a tea. There's a perfect balance between being tastefully retro and progressively modern. Thankfully nothing is really lost with having such beautiful artwork either. It's similar to Sailor Moon in the sense that the art style at its core is so strong and appealing that the limited animation isn't as much noticeable, though, that's not to sa…
Read at the sourceCataOrShane
I've watched Paradise Kiss back in 2010 and I enjoyed it a lot.
Ten years later I decided to watch the prequel (back in 2010, it was considered a parent story so I was in no rush to watch it).
The story presents itself as a couple of teenagers in love with each other but they don't know how to deal with it, on top of discovering their dreams and chasing them. I was into it and the characters are lovable, for the most part.
The name of this anime is Gokinjo Monogatari but "Flashback Monogatari" would be much more fitting. There are so many flashbacks throughout every single episode that it's insane. I kept skipping them because they're so common and repetitive that their job to create drama and emotion isn't possible to be fulfilled.
I also disliked the overall pacing of the story. A…
Read at the sourceMiki-Samusu
I started watching this because I am a fan of Yazawa Ai. I was so happy to know that she has done a number of manga's and anime's other than NANA or Paradise Kiss. I loved Paradise Kiss so much but did not know that it is a sequel of Neighborhood Story or Gokinjo Monogatari. I had to rewatch it because Mikako, Tsutomu, Rika and Norijii were all in Paradise Kiss. I love how the character's Yazawa creates are all in the same dimension because you really feel like your favorite characters are getting older but still living their lives as if they are real people. Such uniqueness from Yazawa.
Now I wasn't too thrilled with seeing the opening of this anime because it looks so old, the characters are drawn in a funny way, none of the female characters have boobs and the music was kind of blah.…
Read at the sourceKokujin-kun
I might as well write a review of this anime since I was the one who provided (most of) the raws, translated it and reviewed each episode at least three times before it was released, which in my opinion counts for at least something.
Well, as much as I am loathed to put labels on what are clearly three-dimensional characters, here we have a show where Ai Yazawa pretty much presented us with what could be a psychological profile of a tsundere before such a term even came to existence. She's brassy, full of herself and can sometimes be unfairly cruel, but that is just a front she she feels she has to put up in order to shield her vulnerable side.
Yes, it would be convenient to say Mikako is the way she is because of the childhood trauma of a divorce (and what her Mom did afterwards). But…
Read at the source