A slice of life that truly strikes my heart....
As a male anime viewer, I had originally thought I might give this a miss as it seems like a typical shoujo series with Bishounen guys, and cute, naive, pure hearted female protagonists.
After a few episodes in I found myself hooked and waiting for their release eagerly every week. What surprised me was the world and the characters that the show immerses the viewer in. As the title obviously shows, its story revolves around the fashion industry. It has a unique concept of 2 main protagonists, the physically short, but strong willed teen model Chiyuki. And the humble, but always kind, aspiring teen fashion designer Ikuto.
The dynamic interactions between these 2 main leads always leads the viewer to expect a romantic relationship to develop between the 2 of them. But to my surprise that is not the main driver of the story.
Story:
Instead the viewer is immersed into a complex, cut throat fashion world with lots of subtle tips and education on high fashion. The characters who live in this world are all so alive with deep backstories, all with very personal, yet very real world motivations.
Sound ( mainly voice acting )
As of watching episode 8, I think back and have to credit a lot of the show's impact to the expert acting of Ikuto's voice actor Natsuki Hanae. A veteran voice actor with lots of lead roles, most notably the voice of main lead Kanjiro Kamado in the hit series Kimetsu no Yaiba. Natusuki's performance, along with other famous actors like Ai Kayano (as Kokoro Hasegawa), Kimura Ryohei (as Ayano Too) really bring a lot of emotion into the characters.
Character background development and impact:
*spoiler:::::::
Episode 8 was a highlight of the series for me. It shows Ikuto's struggles with his Mother's chronic illness. His mother's acceptance of possible death during her surgery. His desperate struggle with trying to pay his mother's incredibility high bills, along with his desire to live his dream of becoming a fashion designer. And finally the end of the episode where the people around him helped him and showed him there is kindness in the world.
All that broke me down into tears as it hit too close to my heart, remembering the period where my family had to deal with my father's terminal cancer condition. It was amazing how relatable the characters and their lives are to real people with real everyday struggles and drama.
Art:
Art wise it was good, it stays true to the shoujo roots with beautiful character art. But other than the character art it otherwise does not really exceed the viewer's expectations
Enjoyment and Overall:
Even though the series has not ended, I always enjoy watching each week of "Runway". Seeing the characters strive and battle hard, all just to find their place in a cut throat industry that is not kind to underdogs like Ikuto and Chiyuki. This series gives the viewer hope, such as if Ikuto and Chiyuki can make their dreams come true in their animated world, I'm sure I could do the same in my own real world as well.....
