Natsuyuki Rendezvous is the story of a love triangle, only one of the people involved is a ghost.
Natsuyuki Rendezvous starts with Ryusuke visiting Rokka to buy a plant. We soon find out that he does this all the time because he likes her. Luckily he manages to get a part time job at her shop so he can spend more time with her. Ryusuke and Rokka are soon planning a going away party for their co worker and Rokka invites Ryusuke into her home to discuss it. Ryusuke is surprised and offended to find a (mostly naked) man already there. He storms off and considers leaving his job. Later at the party Ryusuke finds out that man is actually a ghost of Rokka’s husband. Ryusuke confesses his love to Rokka the day before her birthday and then tells her ghost husband that he is going to steal her away.
I already read some of Natsuyuki Rendezvous and they are staying pretty faithful expect for one thing. They started the show from when Ryusuke was pining for Rokka and buying plants every day trying to get closer to her. The manga starts with him already in the store and how he ended up there comes up later. I think it was a good choice to change it for the show though. Start from the beginning instead of doing a flashback.
The scene where Ryusuke finds the mostly naked man in the house would have had more impact if I had not already seen it.
The characterization for this show is strange for a romance show. We know about Ryusuke, his motivations, his emotions, and his plans for the future. There is also quite a bit known about the ghost husband. We know that he was very sick, that he pretended that he wanted Rokka to move on, and that he was trying to block her from actually moving on. Rokka is still pretty much a closed book though. Most of the dialogue is about her husband and very little is revealed about her. Which if Ryusuke was trying to get close to her, I would think that he would want to know more about her and not just her husband.
Overall this show is very nicely animated, has interesting characters, a not-totally-conventional romance, and the opening is very nice.
Status: Still Watching
