Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi: Kuroko Strikes Back

Now that the summer anime season has begun I decided to watch Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi first since it is one of the first shows to start airing. From the get go with it’s take on Cinderella it’s easy to tell that the show will be unique in it’s interpretations of classic fairy tails. However I’m not here to talk about that. What most excited me about the show was the narrator. Yes the narrator. Why? Because it’s Arai Satomi, the voice of Shirai Kuroko.

I don’t make it a secret that I love Shirai Kuroko of To Aru Kagaku no Railgun. Part of it is due to her yuri perversions but the other factor that puts her above many of my other yuri crushes is her voice. Seiyuu Arai Satomi has voice that’s easily discernible from other voice actresses. That very distinct way speaking and how she stresses her syllables imparts a certain uniqueness to the character. There’s a reason a simple and mundane-sounding phrase such as “Judgment desu no” has become her iconic quote and an internet meme. In fact other seiyuu have acknowledged this and tried to imitate it for fun. You can see an example here of Toyosaki Aki, the voice of Uiharu Kazari, doing her own rendition at the 5 minute mark.

Anyway back to Ookami-san. Arai’s voice does a great job of accentuating as well as providing it’s own flavor of comedy to the show. From the very onset she starts off with “Long, Long ago–well, actually not too long ago.” This line was made for Arai. She injects that sense of sarcasm that only she can do while reading it. Right away you can tell that she’ll be a major part of the show.

A lot of the time she narrates as one would normally expect but she also inserts her own offhand hilarious commentary when she gets a chance. When she introduces the titular character Ookami and her friend Ringo, one of the first things she does is point out how pitifully flat they are. They take exception to this which leads to a little breaking of the fourth wall. It sort of reminds me of what Hayate no Gotoku’s narrator would do. The episode is full of fanservice shots as well and the narrator carries overs the gag always “apologizing” to the audience for the less-than-well-endowed heroines.

Narrator is Disappoint

This style of narration is present throughout the first episode for various situations and it’s always a blast to hear Arai make fun of something. This proactive style of narration is quite engaging and really has me more tuned into the show than normal. In a sense it’s like watching a play with actors involving the audience which is quite fitting given the source material. It’s also sort of like having your sarcastic yuri friend (not me!) making comments while watching. Because of this I’m really looking forward to the next episode. The show has a lot going for it and it will be nice to see how it capitalizes on the story and narration to create something novel.