Manga Adaptation by Arvo Animation
Streaming on Crunchyroll

Premise

Reiko Kujirai lives within the Kowloon Walled City, working as a real estate agent and nursing her crush on her co-worker, Hajime. Life goes on as usual, until Reiko uncovers a past that she can’t remember.

Jel’s verdict: A Special Debut

The first thing that hits you watching Kowloon Generic Romance is the fact that it looks old. The art style and setting immediately invoke the late 80s and early 90s in the best way possible. It’s like a grittier version of the pastel City Pop aesthetics that are popular these days, filling you with melancholy and nostalgia. Our main characters have lost something important and we don’t what it is. In fact, Reiko herself doesn’t know either. There’s a yearning to find it, like when you wake up from a dream you know was good but you’re struggling to remember the details.

If I’m sounding overly poetic, I think I’m just trying to say Kowloon Generic Romance is a mood. Yes, there’s a potentially interesting plot with some sci-fi shenanigans looming in the background, but I was more impressed with how the episode made me feel. I felt drawn into this world in a way that I haven’t felt with anime in awhile. Maybe it’s the visually striking Kowloon City setting, or (more likely) the fact that Reiko is the rare hot anime protagonist in their 30’s, who knows, you kind of just have to watch and see for yourself.

There were some things I didn’t like though. The main love interest, Hajime, crosses the line from lovable dirt bag into just straight up jerk too many times. I really hate the thing where an anime girl falls in love with some dude just because he occasionally shows basic human kindness and ignores all his other glaring flaws. There are some potential plot reasons why their relationship is the way that it is, but I’m not convinced that will provide me with a satisfying reason to accept it all. There’s also some surprisingly blatant fan service that pops up a few times throughout the episode. I don’t personally mind this with adult characters, but some people might find it off-putting.

It’s quite possible I’m reading too much into Kowloon Generic Romance and there’s plenty of room for it to fall flat moving forward. But as it stands, this is one of the best first episodes I’ve seen in a long time and it has me really invested in watching more. We’ll see where we’re at a few episodes in.