Any new Kyoto Animation series is noteworthy. They’re expansive in terms of production values, but not quantity of output (and that’s not coincidental). It’s especially so when they make one of their rare forays outside their normal production model of adapting light novels they own. CITY certainly qualifies there, though they do have a long-standing relationship with the man behind it, Arawi Keiichi. KyoAni did a highly popular adaptation of his Nichijou manga almost 15 years ago.

Arawi is institution in Japan, that’s for sure. His art style is a genre of its own – he’s even lent his pens to the latest elementary school music textbook (with some cameos from Arawi characters). An application, I’d say, to which he’s perfectly suited. I love his art and characters myself – his sense of whimsy is profound to say the least. His writing on the other hand is hit and miss. He’s a gag writer basically, sight and otherwise. Some of them work, a couple are truly brilliant, some whiff with me altogether. That’s the way it is with both Nichijou and CITY, though I actually find this series (the less popular of the two) more consistently to my taste.

Nichijou was very popular and visually accomplished, but in truth it reflected the usual KyoAni aesthetic as much as Arawi’s sensibility. They’re making a concerted effort this time around to make something “more Arawi”, and I’d say they’re largely successful. This premiere looks great, and it really does capture the feeling of consuming Arawi’s manga panels except with audio. Arawi’s absurdism is his calling card, a bit children’t picture book and a bit Terry Gilliam. This time around around he applies it to a nameless small city somewhere in Japan, where a bunch of zany characters do zany things, often to each other.

As a subject for coverage, I can see this show being kind of problematical. Gag comedies are always tough that way, and though Arawi occasionally slows down for something conceptual his usual approach is machine-gun fashion. One can only write “that was funny” so many times, even if all the jokes work (which they don’t). All the core players from the manga are introduced here – the zany Makabe family, the young women in the midst of wasting their lives, the middle schooler, the hapless “Mr. Bummer” mangaka, the goofy lady with the camera. The funniest material here involved the Makabes and their restaurant – the miniskirt gag (no one does freakout like Irino Miyu), the crispy noodles.

In sum, I don’t really know if CITY will give me enough to cover it in a busy season – we’ll see – though I’ll certainly be watching it. Maybe I’ll write it up intermittently, as it catches my fancy. But it’s great to see something outside their norm from Kyoto Animation, who are capable of so much better than the material they usually choose to work with. Nothing can ever be the same after the tragedy that befell them, but that they’ve come through it and continued to be a force in the industry is something every anime fan should celebrate.