Ikoku Meiro No Croisee Episode 1: At First Glance

I LOVE her design.

This series is set in Paris starring an adorable little Japanese girl named Yune. An old man named Oscar has brought her to work in his grandson, Claude's shop. A bunch of hilarious cultural misunderstandings ensue starting with Yune's way of greeting (bowing down), which causes Claude to believe that something is wrong with her back. Here, Oscar reveals that Yune used to be a poster girl (what that is, I'm not quite sure). After settling in, Yune starts working earnestly throughout the shop. Meanwhile, Claude is still uneasy about having Yune work in his shop and acts slightly cold towards her at first. One of the issues I had for this scene was that Oscar claims that Yune can only understand French greetings. And since all the dialogues are in Japanese, it's pretty hard to tell when Yune is directly communicating with Oscar and Claude.

I like Claude's design and all, but the way he tucks in his shirt kind of bothers me. And Oscar kind of looks like Santa Clause (not that there's anything wrong with that).

So much emotions in one image!

So much details!

Claude was a pretty cute kid.

After a cute little montage of Yune cleaning the place up, we get to see some nice little details here and there throughout the shop. Oscar then suggests that Yune should stay out at the front due to her previous status as a poster girl, and lo and behold, a curious customer enters. He doesn't stay long though, since Claude scares him away. As this transpires, a little boy looking intently through the store's window catches Yune's attention, which causes her kimono to accidentally get caught on Claude's current project, which then falls and breaks on the table. The sign post happened to be the last project Claude's deceased father was working on, so predictably, DRAMA happens. Yune apolgises for the umpteenth time that day, but Claude coldly suggests that she's better off returning to her homeland.

It's so pretty~

This scene reminded me of the time a relative of mine mistook my clothes for a doll's back in 6th grade.

Random shota alert!

Claude eventually ends up finishing the sign post again, Yune apologizes to him again, and everyone's HAPPY! Claude even decides to buy an ABC book so that Yune can start learning their language, and in return, she decides to give Claude her most treasured (and expensive) kimono to sell as a sign of apology. After Claude sells the kimono, Oscar tells him that the kimono was a momento of Yune's mother. When Claude comes up to confront Yune, she apologizes profusely (shocker), but Claude insists that he should be the one apologizing. Then, we find out that apparently, Yune could fully understand their language all along. Happy end!

I like the lighting here.

HNNNNNNGGGGGGGGHHHHH

The animation for this episode was lovely. There were several details seen here and there on the streets of Paris and within Claude's shop. As far as the story goes, I felt that the main conflict was tied up a little too quickly, but Claude's sudden change of treatment towards Yune was pretty sweet. The final scene where Claude bows to Yune in apology also shows that the two are actually directly communicating with each other. Oh, and Yune is fudging adorable. The soundtrack is befitting of the setting, and the op and ed give of a nice, relaxing feel. Chances are high that I will be be blogging this.
This episode gets:

1/2

Yune~