Plot
Notice! Since this anime was reviewed there have been some eroge (adults only) OVA’s. The ‘adult’ OVA’s will not be reviewed and are not part of this review.

A third grader, Rin Kokone falls in love with her 23-year-old teacher named Daisuke Aoki. This is Daisuke’s first time teaching and is strongly involved with his student’s academics, and is sometimes seen as a molester even though his acts were innocent. This is my review about the love story of a student and a teacher.

Expect this to be Lolicon Themed

Initially I was reluctant to watch this Anime because I had heard it was very graphical but after sitting through the entire series, I can confirm that at least to me, it wasn't very graphical at all, at least the TV Broadcast version. However, the Manga of Kodomo no Jikan is much more graphical where not only are the suggestive themes a lot more prominent, but there is absolutely no censoring. On the broadcast edition, perverted parts where you'd expect a panty-shot, or perhaps something even more becomes censored with a rotating circle with the Japanese 'no' kana (の).

The uncensored DVD edition removes these censors and if you are into lolicon perhaps you may wish to consider getting the uncensored DVDs instead of the episodes you would see on TV.

With the censoring in place one would imagine that this story is entirely still very perverse and have sexual themes between the student (Rin), and the teacher (Daisuke), but even that is limited. While it is true that there are a lot of sexual references and Rin tries to seduce Daisuke throughout the episodes, there is no student-teacher relationship which may be upsetting for many who were expecting as much. After the second episode, it seemed as if the lolicon themes were dropping. At first I thought it was just me, but then I looked back at it and it was probably a marketing gimmick to get the lolicons to stay tuned like a teaser of the series.

The Characters
Each characters of the show are unique and have their own background story which gives a decent level of depth. The progression of each character advances at a respectable pace without having to be either bored or left confused with the exception of the ending which then requires the viewer to continue by reading the manga.

Unlike the Manga, there aren’t scenes that would make the non-lolicon cower in fear, rather I dislike lolicon but was okay with the development of the characters and story. The interactions have plenty of sexual innuendo where it can often have the viewer forget that Rin Kokonoe is just a child. Really, a 3rd grader is just as perverted as Quagmire from Family Guy.

Don’t think that the characters in this show is looking for sex even though there are a lot of insinuation, it is rather about a psychological connection and a bond that grows over time. While Rin may be just a little girl, she does act as if she’s an adult at times, or at least tries to, and often times fails miserably.

I really would like to go on a jolly-ride and explain in detail what good and bad there are between each character in the story, however this would result in some pretty serious spoilers considering there’s little that happens with the story during the series.

For more information about each individual character [click here] to access the Kodomo no Jikan information page.

The Music
The music in this anime is well done and compliments the anime from beginning to end. The first opening soundtrack is casted while the second is Guilty Future by Eri Kitamaura, a jPOP artist. The intro theme for Term 1 was fun and creative but Term 2 didn't feel like it fit at all. It was almost like a song from Dance Dance Revolution (and it probably is).

The ending themes are casted; this said, I had found their ending tracks to be addicting in an anime sense, and if you are a beginner learning Japanese you may wish to get a copy of 1-2-3 Day and learn the lyrics word for word. It uses basic words and can be learned relatively quickly. Additionally 1-2-3 day has a fun credit sequence that makes you go "ba bam ba, bam ba-ba-ba" over and over in your head.

Conclusion
I personally enjoyed the fun and humor in Kodomo no Jikan and think that it's worth to watch if you don't mind the over-the-top lolicon-esq humor. I was uncomfortable for the first two episodes and I didn't even want to watch more than the first one but it got better and from the Anime, it didn't have too many revealing parts, and the most was underwear. As previously mentioned even the underwear is mostly censored with the TV version so it is a safe to watch Anime if you're not into loli in my opinion. In terms of how everything fits in together, the author does manage to keep a good balance between the loli, comedy, and plot.

The art was really well done, the intro and endings were also very impressive, and the music was very entertaining to say the least. If you like basic storylines and you just want a good anime to kill time with, I'd recommend this anime. The manga certainly deserves respect in the artwork and creativity of some of the story, however if you're not into lolicon you best stay away from it. I have read on different websites on how this anime is sick and twisted and only satan spawns should watch it or something similar because you do see underage naked bodies. It's not THAT bad because I don't see a similarity between real life and anime/hentai, but that is of course that is my opinion.

If you just want a good laugh, maybe even enjoy high-resolution eye-candy (in a non-sexual way), then Kodomo no Jikan, the Anime series would be right for you. However if you would prefer reading about suggestive themes and do enjoy looking at lolicon images then by all means pick up the manga, it is certainly worth getting into. There is one problem if you do decide to get the manga, and that is the translation. You will not be able to find an English translation because of the suggestive lolicon themes and in the west-coast these themes are entirely bad for a publishing company's image. It was going to be translated however the Los Angeles based company, Seven Seas Entertainment, said that they didn't want to get involved with publishing a story risky as this. This is why picking up an online scanlation (scan of the manga series and translated by fans) if they are still legal by the time you read this. Otherwise, you may wish to learn Japanese and I'm sure by now we both know where you can learn Japanese online for free correct? That's right, so head over to the education section of this website to begin learning Japanese for free!