- Synonyms: Yozakura Shijuusou, Quartet of Cherry Blossoms in the Night- Japanese: 夜桜四重奏 ～ヨザクラカルテット～
- Type: TV
- Episodes: 12
- Aired: Oct 3, 2008 to Dec 19, 2008
- Genres: Action, Magic, Comedy, Super Power, Supernatural, Shoune
- Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
The world of Yozakura Quartet is actually not one, but two worlds: one of humans, and one of youkai. Despite appearing mostly human, youkai may have animal like physical traits, along with a number of special abilities. Normally youkai are confined to their world, but some have found their way into the realm of humanity. As a symbol of peace, and a bridge between the two realms, a city was constructed within the protective barrier of seven magical trees, otherwise known as the Seven Pillars. This city of Sakurashin is home to both humans and youkai, with the peace between them maintained by the Hizumi Life Counseling Office.
The director of this office is Akina Hiizumi, a teenager with the inherited family ability to perform “tuning,” which can send harmful youkai back to their world permanently. He is aided by a group of girls, including the town’s 16 year old youkai mayor, Hime Yarizakura, their town’s announcer and resident telepath, Ao Nanami, and Kotoha Isone, a half-youkai who can summon objects just by stating the object’s name.
As new residents enter and mysterious events begin to take place, this quartet of protectors and their closest friends must continue to guard the city of Sakurashin, and maintain the fragile balance of peace between humans and youkai.
Yozakura Quartet was only a twelve episode series. That's not a lot of episodes to go wrong with. A basic plot and story can easily be done in twelve episodes. Characters can be fleshed out in twelves episodes. Yozakura Quartet did not manage to do any of that.
Story - 3
The first few episodes showed how much potential Yozakura Quartet had. They were interesting and hooked me instantly. The rest of the show continued to mock me as if saying I was a fool for having any hope in the plot. The characters made stupid decisions and many plot points never made sense or were poorly explained. Do not be tricked by the strong beginning.
Animation - 8
The animation was pretty good. The character designs were wonderfully done, and all the fight scenes were fun to watch, if taken out of context. The plot seriously hindered my enjoyment of the fights, unfortunately.
Sound - 7
The OP/ED themes were okay, the actual score was nothing special. I really didn't pay much attention to the score, which means at least it didn't bother me. The seiyū's on the other hand were too good for this show. The seiyū's for Chiaki Shinichi (Nodame Cantabile), Shinku (Rozen Maiden), Suigintou (Rozen Maiden), Sebastian Michaelis (Kuroshitsuji), Nagi (Kannagi), Yin (Darker than BLACK), and many more were wasted voicing dull, irritating characters.
Character - 5
The characters started out okay, but slowly a serious case of bad characterization appeared. By the end of the show, I could only stand to watch around two or three characters. The rest made multiple stupid decisions and contradicted their behaviour from before.
Enjoyment - 3
Pretty animation and nice sound will go nowhere if the story fails and you want to strangle to the main leads. The story was a giant letdown, but every week I hoped it would get better. But it didn't.
Overall - 5
So much potential, so little results. Yozakura Quartet was mediocre to core. I didn't exactly hate it - I was disappointed by it. Please, don't waste your time with this anime when there are plenty of others (Kamisama Kazoku, for example, is by the same author and is so much better) that aren't such a letdown.
