Kita e.: Diamond Dust Drops

Synopsis:

Episodes:

• Episode 1: Hakodate: Atsuko Akanegi (Part 1) (Aired: 01/20/2004)
• Episode 2: Hakodate: Atsuko Akanegi (Part 2) (Aired: 01/27/2004)
• Episode 3: Kitami: Karin Shiraishi (Part 1) (Aired: 02/03/2004)
• Episode 4: Kitami: Karin Shiraishi (Part 2) (Aired: 02/10/2004)
• Episode 5: Sapporo: Kyouko Asahina (Part 1) (Aired: 02/17/2004)
• ... and 7 more episodes

Characters:

• Akanegi, Atsuko (Main) - Voice Actors: Boone, Jessica, Ishihara, Eriko
• Asahina, Kyoko (Main) - Voice Actors: Noto, Mamiko, Coker, Kaytha
• Harada, Akari (Main) - Voice Actors: Watanabe, Akeno, Cousins, Kelli
• Kitano, Suomi (Main) - Voice Actors: Christian, Luci, Amase, Mayu
• Saibara, Shoko (Main) - Voice Actors: Takano, Urara, Sumrall, Allison
• Shiraishi, Karin (Main) - Voice Actors: Vincent-Davis, Kira, Takahashi, Ao
• Harada, Kiichi (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Ishizuka, Unshou, Swasey, John
• Jinguuji, Minoru (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Kamiya, Hiroshi, Hickman, Jay
• Kurata, Jouji (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Takada, Yuji, Ayres, Christopher

Staff:

• Fujita, Satoshi (Producer)
• Hamada, Keiji (Producer)
• Shimizu, Shun (Producer)
• Urasaki, Nobumitsu (Producer)
• Shirahata, Bob (Director, Episode Director, Storyboard)
• Kobayashi, Katsuyoshi (Sound Director)
• Kosaka, Harume (Episode Director, Storyboard)
• Muroya, Yasushi (Episode Director, Storyboard)
• Nakajima, Hiroaki (Episode Director)
• Okamoto, Hideki (Episode Director)
• Yanase, Yuuji (Episode Director)
• Hanada, Jukki (Script)
• Okada, Mari (Script, Screenplay)
• Satou, Takuya (Script)
• Sawada, Kaoru (Script)
• Yamaguchi, Ryota (Script, Series Composition)
• Nishimura, Junji (Storyboard)
• ALLEY:A (Theme Song Performance)
• Hiroi, Ouji (Theme Song Lyrics, Original Creator)
• Ishihara, Eriko (Theme Song Performance)
• Noto, Mamiko (Theme Song Performance)
• Watanabe, Akeno (Theme Song Performance)
• Gokita, Takehiko (Music)
• Hashimoto, Hideki (Key Animation)
• Jones, Kyle Colby (ADR Director)
• Kado, Tomoaki (Animation Director)
• Kondou, Shinyo (Director of Photography)
• Koyama, Toshihisa (Art Director)
• Matsumoto, Shinji (Color Design)
• Matsumoto, Tomoyuki (Animation Director)
• Matsumura, Masahiro (Editing)
• Matsushita, Kiyoshi (Animation Director)
• Oka, Mariko (Key Animation)
• Sahara, Hiromi (Key Animation)
• Sakurai, Masaaki (Animation Director)
• Sekizaki, Takaaki (Animation Director)
• Shimizu, Hiroaki (Animation Director)
• Watanabe, Shin (Art Director)

Reviews:

• User MapleRose (Score: 7/10):
  STORY Diamond Dust, when the moisture in the air freezes in the cold mornings, it sparkles like diamonds. The legend of Diamond Dust says that if you're lucky enough to see it with the one you love, you'll be happy together, or you can wish upon it and find happiness. This is the central theme to the stories of love, friendship, and self-discovery about six girls in Hokkaido of northern Japan. Each has two episodes dedicated to them (except for Suomi). Episode 1 & 2 focus on Atsuko Akanegi, a 20-year-old girl who runs a fish-market with her mother that her late father left. They don't have alot of money, and Atsuko has to work while her friends go out to have fun. There is a guy who wants to marry her, and he would help with her finances, but Atsuko has a crush on a jazz musician, who tells her the story of Diamond Dust. She doesn't want to marry for money, and wishes her mother would see that. But she doesn't realise that her mother understands her feelings more than she knows. Her story is about mother-daughter relationships, as well as searching for your happiness: what makes us happy? Money? Love?nnEpisode 3 & 4 are about Karin Shiraishi, a 15-year-old girl who is hospitalized with a serious illness, but refuses to go through with surgery because she is scared. This story is about self-discovery, and being able to find the courage within you to go forward. I like this story the most, because I'm able to connect with it and relate to it the most, because sometimes I think I really am spoiled, and I don't even realise it. And we all have moments when we're scared and find it hard to discover the couragous side of ourselves. Karin is a pretty human character, because she is selfish and spoiled, but also kind and wants to get better even though she's scared.nnEpisode 5 & 6 are about Kyouko Asahina, who is rather uptight and bossy. She's just too driven on her own goals to see what everyone else must be feeling. A talented film-maker, she wants to create the perfect film to win the festival, but is frustrated that nobody can understand the pressure she's going through, not even her boyfriend. In the process, she forgot why she started filming in the first place, and how fun filming was. It takes some trials for her to finally realise what it is that she wants to create. Her story is about learning to appreciate something while you have it, because sometimes, you don't realise how much it means to you until it's gone. I didn't like Kyouko's character too much at first, because a lot of times she really is unreasonable and selfish. But she's also very passionate about what she loves to do, and that passion blinds her judgement sometimes. Really, Kyouko is a very human character, representing the selfishness and passion in all of us.nnEpisode 7 is…
• User NotARandomName (Score: 9/10):
  I have been eyeing this series for a while but always put it towards the bottom of my to-watch list due to its obscurity. Now that I finally managed to watch it, I have to say I'm very surprised this series hasn't had more recognition. The series is a collection of several virtually unrelated short stories each spanning 1-2 episodes and a final episode tying them all together (sort of). It may seem a bit off-putting to some, but I found that this partitioning was a great decision on the part of the team and managed to keep the whole series lively. I can confidently saythat there isn't even one scene that feels dragged on, which is a fact that many longer series could learn a lot from.nnStorynnIf you're looking for original plot, prepare to be disappointed. All of the stories in this series follow classic romance/drama plots - there's a young girl fleeing from arranged marriage, a hard-working girl taking care of her drunkard father, a stalker story - in short, it's the same plots used in tens if not hundreds of romance stories for centuries. However, you shouldn't judge the book by its cover, as each of these stories is not only very well polished, but also has a little unique twist somewhere that sets it apart from the sea of mediocre romantic fiction. Of particular interest are the endings; I'm yet to see a series with ending as well-fitting as Kita e's. They're neither universally sad nor universally happy, but every one of them felt just right - as if it was meant to be and the story couldn't have possibly ended any other way. The only reason this is not a 10 is that some of the stories have a little bit more drama than romance, which is not necessarily bad, but not what I personally prefer.nnArtnnThe animation is certainly good, and the colours in particular strongly enhance the serene atmosphere. However, there're two problems: first is the character proportions being a bit unnatural for adults which the characters are supposed to be. The second is that the details quality seems to jump wildly every once in a while. Some scenes feel very awkward - as if the artist had a great vision and selected the best colours for the job but ended up not being able to put them into shape so the whole scene is flooded with distorted lines, strange camera angles, blurry borders and clashing surfaces that no longer feel three-dimensional. Thankfully, that happens only a few times and the rest of the show is drawn very beautifully.nnSoundnnThe voices are cute and background audio is good on the whole, but there're a few points where the silence lasts longer than it probably should, and in the last episode the tinkling of diamond dust that's supposed to be so very special didn't sound much better than nails on a chalkboard to me, but it's probably just my own prejudices. The opening song is simple…
• User Shidira (Score: 9/10):
  Story: This story is done in a non-typical fashion. This is a story about six different women who are dealing with situations that are not outside the realm of occurrences that could happen to anyone. This anime takes each woman, except one, and dedicates two episodes to their brief daily story. Each story starts by showing that woman within her everyday life, and by the end of the first episode, shows one major conflict in their life. The second episode picks up where the previous left off and continues to show what each woman finds as a solution to their conflict, tying up each storynicely. The only exception is the woman in episode seven, which is done all in just that single episode.nnWhile each of these stories seems to have nothing in common, the final episode actually ties them together really well. It takes these individual characters who have never met, all from different parts of Japan, and brings them together with one thing in common, diamond dust, which is said to bring couples eternal happiness if seen together.nnI gave the story a nine due in large part to episode seven. While the rest of the women were dedicated two episodes, this woman only got one. Her story was done decently, but it either could have been removed or expanded to one more episode. It felt a little like laziness at that point. Besides that, the rest of the story was done well, for what was trying to be accomplished at the end.nnAnimation: The animation used was well done. Bright colors were used as much as the more neutral colors and were placed in good spots. The usage of colors throughout these episodes really helped evoke the appropriate emotions during specific times. The night view of the city in episode one, the sunset used in episode five, and the diamond dust shown in episode eleven are just a few examples of the beautiful animations used. The characters were drawn decent, though a touch bland, but not enough to detract from the enjoyment of the animation this series brings.nnSound: The sounds used were excellent! The opening and ending songs were brilliant and fit the series well. The music was an incredible source for bringing out each emotion as it fit each situation. Each song was well placed and fit the mood perfectly. The sounds used for the everyday events were done just as well as the rest.nnCharacters: Though the worst rated section of this review, the characters were actually really well done. The characters had interesting stories, but were not done unrealistically. Each woman's story was something that has most likely happened in one form or another to someone in real life. There is not much known about each character outside the events within the episodes, but for this type of anime, it is not needed. The stories each character goes through is just enough to see what a part of their life is like, which is exactly how the viewer…
• ... and 5 more reviews

Forum Topics:

• Kita e.: Diamond Dust Drops Episode 6 Discussion
• Kita e.: Diamond Dust Drops Episode 2 Discussion
• Kita e.: Diamond Dust Drops Episode 1 Discussion
• Kita e.: Diamond Dust Drops Episode 12 Discussion
• Kita e.: Diamond Dust Drops Episode 11 Discussion
• Kita e.: Diamond Dust Drops Episode 10 Discussion
• Kita e.: Diamond Dust Drops Episode 9 Discussion
• Kita e ~Diamond Dust Drops~ Episode 8 Discussion
• Kita e.: Diamond Dust Drops Episode 7 Discussion
• Kita e.: Diamond Dust Drops Episode 5 Discussion
• Kita e.: Diamond Dust Drops Episode 4 Discussion
• Kita e.: Diamond Dust Drops Episode 3 Discussion

External Links:

• Official Site
• AniDB
• ANN
• Wikipedia

Related Anime/Manga:

• Kita e.: Diamond Dust Drops Special (anime - Side Story)
• Kita e: Pure Session (anime - Other)