Random Curiosity

Summary:
We open with a silent conversation between two girls, and one of them kisses the other just as a third girl walks into the room. Backtrack to sometime before that, there is a stealthed spaceship in orbit that’s researching humans. On Earth, Osaragi Hazumu is climbing a mountain and identifying the plants on his way up. He trips and falls through some bushes, landing in the exact same spot where he fell on Kamiizumi Yasuna sometime before. Hazumu had helped her gather some plants and the two had hit it off. Yasuna had let it slip that Hazumu looks like a girl, but Hazumu didn’t mind too much. Back in the present, Hazumu’s friend Asuta is looking for him, but Kurusu Tomari, a childhood friend, doesn’t know. Asuta remembers telling Hazumu that he should confess to Yasuna, and Tomari had agreed. However, as Hazumu remembers, his friend Ayuki warned him if that a confession failed, then they might not be able to return to the original friendship. In the end, Hazumu did confess, but Yasuna rejected him. A still-hurt Hazumu continues to climb up the mountain, but as day becomes night, his friends become worried, especially after Asuta tells Tomari and Ayuki about the rejection.
In orbit, an explosion occurs on the spaceship and it starts a descent course for Earth. At the Osaragi home, Hazumu’s parents are worried for Hazumu, but his teacher Tsuki Namiko (who’s had no boyfriend for her 35 years), vows to find him. Unfortunately, she falls into the hole in front yard before she could get very far. Back on the mountain, Yasuna is replanting some primula flowers that she and Hazumu originally grew at school, but the painful memories are too much for her and she starts to cry. At the base of the mountain, Asuta, Ayuki, and Tomari are still searching for Hazumu. Tomari is particularly concerned because she knows that Hazumu has always been very sensitive, and she also feels responsible for his pain because she encouraged him to confess.
Hazumu steps out onto a cliff overlooking the city and spots a shooting star. He starts to wish to it, but then notices that it’s an actual object - the spaceship that’s coming straight for him. It hits him square in the head and then both he and the ship disappear. A new body is formed and a voice apologizes to Hazumu. At that point, the spaceship starts broadcasting around the world, identifying themselves as aliens. After projecting out a picture of Hazumu, the beings continue by saying that while landing from an accident they injured an earthling (Hazumu). However, in the process of regenerating him, the aliens changed Hazumu from male to female. Yasuna and Tomari arrive in time to catch the new Hazumu as she’s being beamed down, and Tomari is taken aback after finding her hand on Hazumu’s breast. Hazumu wakes up, apparently unaware of what had just happened.

OP Sequence

OP: 「恋するココロ」(Koi Suru Kokoro) by eufonius
Opening song was played in place of the ending song for the first episode. It’s another good one by eufonius (I have yet to not like any of her songs).

I’m very pleased with how the first episode of Kashimashi turned out as it’s pretty much everything I was hoping to see (and I’ve been waiting to see this since last fall). The general concept (boy gets hit on the head with a UFO and gets turned into a girl, shoujo-ai ensues) still gets to me in the I-can’t-believe-that’s-the-storyline sort of way, but I’ve really grown to like it thanks to the manga. The first episode gets a bit more sci-fi: there are a lot more spaceship and “Sora Hitoshi” shots than the manga. Other changes include the addition of the scene where Yasuna replants the primula flowers on the mountain and the addition of Yasuna when Hazumu is beamed down. They’re giving Yasuna a bit more screen time early on, but I don’t really mind because, as that final scene with the three girls shows, the focus of the series is still on the triangle relationship between Hazumu, Yasuna, and Tomari. And considering the future shot that they show in the very beginning, things are going to get interesting.
Animation was pretty top-notch, so no complaints there. The all-star cast for the main three - Ueda Kana, Horie Yui, and Tamura Yukari - did a great job, though Ueda-san’s voice was a bit too feminine for a male high-schooler. I also have to mention that the English (not Engrish) was great, and had me laughing really hard. It equates to something like a poorly acted English dub. I also found it funny that the guy said “six thousand five hundred and sixty feet,” but the subtitles below said 2000 meters.
So I’m looking forward to next week, which should involve Hazumu buying a bra and getting used to being a girl.