P.A. Works is letting me down again
I keep repeating myself when it comes down to P.A. Works. It has become a studio that is developing shows that are either outstanding or terrible. I wonder how this happens? The ratings fluctuate heavily for shows coming from this studio. Are there too many switches made between production staff or is there an elite group that make the magic happen?
HaruChika revolves around Haruta(more about him later) and Chika who join the big band club, both with different motives, which I’ve already forgotten, which pretty much sums up how good the show was able to transfer its story onto the viewer.
The club is under supervision and guidance of an ex musical talent, which also is the implicit shota plot for Haruta, which keeps me disgusted from the first till the last episode. The whole crew is practicing to become winners of the regional competition.
Right off the bat it becomes clear that HaruChika wants to be more than just an anime centered around music, it wants to go big, it wants to re-imagine how a music anime should be. Which results in just about nothing.
The episodes are filled with mystery plots or something that’s supposed to resemble the mystery genre with Chika mostly being the clumsy unaware girl and Haruta being the stuck-up piece of garbage that tries to outwit everybody he comes across. Rarely have I encountered such an agonizing character in anime. He sort of reminds me of Minko from Hanasaku Iroha, which also ruined the overall positive progression of the show.
For a music anime, HaruChika also doesn’t really stand out with its soundtrack. The performance scenes aren’t spectacularly animated. They aren’t bad of course, but miss that lively atmosphere like Angel Beats had. On top of that, the music isn’t that wonderful either. Perhaps it’s more of personal taste issue as I’ve enjoyed the music in Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso quite a bit.
While the story part was agonizing, I have to admit that P.A. Works never disappoints on the graphics department and shows it still belongs to the top along with studios such as KyoAni and A-1 Pictures.
The colors may be saturated quite a bit, the character designs are appealing. Especially Chika’s hair and eye color which have a mesmerizing aura and give her a feminine tone. Lighting gives a good atmosphere to the show as well, especially in the end credits.
HaruChika is in conflict with itself. It threads the line across multiple genres and tries to find its fit, but fails at it. There is no real plot or hard to find. The mystery arcs are weird and don’t seem to have a real connection to the music element embedded within the story. I rate HaruChika a 6 out of 10 for its poor performance.
Ninety's Blog 
Curiously enough, I found the graphics to be on the list of things that made Haruchika weaker in light of it being a P.A. Works anime. I’m used to seeing incredibly detailed landscapes, volumetric lighting and the like from them, so the flatter art here comes across as being a touch disappointing. With that being said, one wonders if they’re deliberately saving their budget for their 15th anniversary production, Black Corpse.
The graphics certainly weren’t the best that P.A. Works has produced with HaruChika indeed. Yet, I liked the visual design of the characters and the color scheme overall.