Koe Koi

The Japanese seem to have cornered the market in odd stories for TV/Film; I'm thinking of "You're My Pet" and "My Girlfriend Is A Serial Killer" amongst others.

Me, I like the unusual. This entry fits the category & in my opinion is more watchable than the rest. Central to the script is a new female student at high school ( Mei Nagano ) whose first interaction is with a senior boy who goes around with a paper bag on his head. Which features a smiley face.

Adapted from a manga, the story inhabits that slightly alien environment where normal logic doesn't always apply, & a high school is bereft of bullying or too many obvious questions. There's just enough going on to hold my interest, & I felt that another draft or two would've offered a huge improvement all round in terms of fleshing things out. Many characters/situations might thus have become even more entertaining & interesting, with scope for it certainly being present ( the officious President of the School Council & his minions are an example ). The direction is also very slow, though the diffuse lighting is both pretty and enhances the aura of a parallel world.

Then again there's the charismatic Ms Nagano, who is a sweet and positive presence throughout. The other factor which kept me invested is curiosity about how this strange story was going to end, plus the conclusion works nicely.