The Essentials
Name: The World of Narue, Narue no Sekai
Genre:: Romance, Comedy, Sci-fi
Episodes: 12
Released: April 5, 2003 - June 28, 2003
Based On: Manga The World of Narue by Tomohiro Marukawa
Director: Nobuaki Nakanishi
Produced By: BeSTACK, Imagica, Media Factory
US Distribution By: U.S. Manga Corp
Major Japanese Cast
Narue Nanase: Mamiko Noto
Kazuto Izuka: Daisuke Sakaguchi
Kanaka Nanase: Junko Minagawa
Bathyscaphe: Mami Kosuge
Masaki Maruo: Jun Fukuyama
Hajime Yagi: Saeko Chiba
Tadashi Nanase: Junichi Sugawara
Tail Messa: Tomomichi Nishimura
Rin Asakura: Oma Ichimura
Major English Cast
Narue Nanase: Veronica Taylor
Kazuto Izuka: Jamie McGonnigal
Kanaka Nanase: Rachael Lillis
Bathyscaphe: Carol Jacobanis
Masaki Maruo: Jimmy Zoppi
Hajime Yagi: Michele Knotz
Tadashi Nanase: Dan Green
Tail Messa: Tristan Goddard
Rin Asakura: Jessica Calvello
Scores
Animation: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Story: 8/10 (x 4 = 32 pts)
Music: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: 8/10 (x 2 = 16 pts)
English Dubs: 9/10 (x 1 = 9 pts)
Gut Score: 8/10 (x 5 = 40 pts)
Total: 169/200 (84.5%)
Review
The World of Narue is a Slice-of-Life Romance Comedy where Kazuto falls for a girl, Narue after she saves him from a weird creature with her bat. Kazuto asks Narue out on a date and she asks him if he’s ok with her being an alien. He says yeah, though he is, obviously, rather surprised about the news. Narue is thrilled, however, that someone appeared to accept her alien heritage so easily.
Narue’s life on Earth isn’t totally peaceful, however. Her father was observing Earth for the Galaxy Federation when he fell in love with a human woman. When the Galaxy Federation asked Narue’s father to leave Earth due to a resolution passed by the Galaxy Federation demanding non-interference of Earth’s civilization, he refused, choosing to stay. This in turn prompted alien terrorists who oppose any Galaxy Federation presence on Earth of any kind to try to attack Narue and her father.
The terrorism plotline only really shows up in a couple episodes, and there are also attempts by the Galaxy Federation to coax Narue and her father to leave the planet, especially since Narue’s mother has since died, though the Galaxy Federation is prohibited from forcibly removing them.
All of this activity constantly reminds Narue of her alien heritage, even though she longs to be accepted by everyone as also being half-human and living her life peacefully on Earth.
Of course, drama and action isn’t the only thing in this anime. In fact, they’re really not the primary genre, though they do provide the backstory. There is also quite a bit of humor, from Kazuto’s obsession with anime to Yagi’s obsession with space aliens and her determination to prove that Narue isn’t really an alien, because she doesn’t fit into Yagi’s preconceived notion of what an alien should be.
The only really minus I have to say about this series is that it does contain some needless fan service. It’s not gratuitous - mainly things like panty or bra shots, but it’s still a little bit annoying.
Overall, this series is just a lot of fun and enjoyable to watch, with several memorable characters. Some people may find the lack of any heavy plot boring, but I think others will find it entertaining.
I thought the animation was pretty good along with the music. The dubs seem to actually mix with the animation, and don’t sound or feel like a vocal track that’s just plopped on top of the show.
First Watched: February - March 2006
Do I Own: Yes
Do I Recommend: Yes
