- Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (1998: Ajia-Do) 2/2 eps. and Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou: Quiet Country Cafe (2002-2003: Ajia-Do) 2/2 eps.
These two series are so similar and kind of function as one longer series so I’ll be talking about them together, though I will point out some differences. YKK is based on a manga of the same name by Hitoshi Ashinano. Ashinano hasn’t done that many other things outside of YKK, which remains by far and away his most popular work. The first YKK series was directed by Takashi_Annou who has worked on quite a number of things, with his directorial role in Maison Ikkokou probably being his most famous. The director of the second series was Tomomi Mochizuki who has also worked on a ton of stuff, though his output is a mixed bag. He has directed some good stuff such as the Maison Ikkokou movie, Ocean Waves, and House of Five Leaves. But he also directed crap like Pupa, Battery, and Dirty Pair Flash. So maybe not the most solid of foundations for this one either. However, unlike Angel Cop, YKK is pretty great.
So YKK is a relaxing slice of life set in a super interesting world. The setting of YKK is a gentle apocalypse. The world is gently falling apart as it grows old and nobody really seems to mind. It is like a person who is nearing death but has accepted it and is simply enjoying the time they have left. I find this kind of setting just fascinating as we so rarely see it and it is just a fun new way of looking at the end times. Anyway, the show follows a 
robot called Alpha as she patiently runs a quiet little coffee shop awaiting the return of the shop’s owner. Alpha is a really fun character in my opinion, she is hard worker and is remarkably human for a robot. The second most important character is Ojisan, yeah he doesn’t actually get a name. He runs the petrol station down the road and generally acts as a grand dad type for Alpha, I really like their relationship. There isn’t really a story, though it isn’t trying to have one this is a slice of life type show after all. Each episode presents us with circumstances that are generally dealt with and explored within that episode, there is one event in the second series that affects later stuff though. But generally it is quite pleasant just watching Alpha do her thing without any huge stakes or anything. I will point out that this show is slow, especially the first series. I think it potentially have done with maybe taking off 2-3 minutes off of each episode just to tighten things up a little. But then again this isn’t really my kind of show so that could be just me.
The visuals on this show are just fantastic. I can’t say enough how much I love Alpha’s character design, there is something about how simple it is that really makes it work. I’m 
not so fond of Ojisan’s character design but that is a personal dislike I have for that wide grin sort of design. The backgrounds are also really good in this show. The first series are done in a similar style to the foreground stuff and it is really nice and detailed. The second series uses a different style that is closer to the picture books I used to read as a child and I fucking love it, please make more backgrounds like this Japan! The animation of the show is fantastic in both series, they probably didn’t need to make it as good as it was really. Overall the visuals are something I can’t really fault at all, it just looks gorgeous in my opinion. The soundtrack for the show was pretty nice and relaxing, which fits perfectly with the show. Given the nature of the show there are no real standout dominating anthems. Instead we just get a nice pleasant soundtrack that I’d happily stick on down the beach. There isn’t a huge amount of dialogue in the show but all the VAs do a bang up job there so I have no complaints.
Overall, I think this show is excellent. It isn’t my kind of thing but I can appreciate that it is very well made in pretty much every way. The only real downsides for me were that maybe the first series could have been tightened up a little pacing wise and the ending of the second series isn’t my favourite thing in the world. But those aren’t the biggest faults really and I do think this show deserves to be better known.
7/10 (for both)
The Great OAV Watch! 