In this new episode of Anime Breakfast the time has come to enter the world of Kiss me Licia, who brought music into the world of anime and as far as it may seem out of time today, he is still the only one who has been able to do it so effectively
Anime Breakfast returns with a new episode also in the month of August, to keep you company in your breakfast in front of the sea or in the mountains for those who are already on vacation! In the previous appointment we had breakfast with One Piece, to which a whole more than deserved episode was dedicated for an anime that will soon become a live-action series on Netflix that will cause a lot of discussion and not exactly positive, from the premises of the trailer. In this new episode let’s take a time jump to the 80s in the world of Kiss me Licia, a very successful anime, which is still talked about today and still is broadcast on television channels and on demand.
An anime that with its success also brings with it a lot of irony, because to be honest, today it seems a bit dated, for some characters, their behavior and even the graphics. And even at the time it was broadcast, Kiss me Licia made a bit of those cartoons that everyone saw but it was better not to declare ita bit like in music who listened to Abba. But let’s go step by step and start exploring this anime!
Rock music meets Licia by chance | Anime breakfast: Kiss me Licia
We all remember the acronym in Italian sung by Cristina D’Avena and it still helps us to remember the basic plot of this anime: the protagonist Licia is a teenage girl with a mild character, with her head on her shoulders and with a life made between school and the Japanese restaurant run by his father. One rainy day, as the acronym states, Licia meets little Andrea and his cat Giuliano by chance, following this meeting Licia will collide by chance with Mirko who is Andrea’s older brother. At the beginning the two don’t get along very well, but then, as the rules of the narration teach, the frictions decrease until their friendship is transformed into strong feelings that are unable to express themselves. But where is rock music?
Mirko is the singer and leader of the Bee Hive, a “rock” band made up of four elements, including Satomi the keyboardist and author of many of their songs, in love with Licia who will make a long court to her in parallel with Mirko. The two musicians are rather folkloric, especially for Licia’s conservative father: Mirko is a “long hair” as his father Marrabbio always says with red highlights and a leather jacket and Satomi has long curly lilac hair. And therein lies the contrast with Licia’s world, which is a routine disrupted by a rock band. Because as strange as it may seem to us to call Bee Hive and their melodic songs “rock” what they represent in this anime is just that: something revolutionary that upsets ordinary plans, someone dressed in an unconventional way, who lives on music , who plays at concerts full of delirious audiences, in short, someone of “rock”.
Between rock and drama | Anime breakfast: Kiss me Licia
Throughout this sort of rock, however, an important sentimental drama is perpetuated, namely the one that grips Licia who is inside a good classic love triangle, done by Mirko and Satomi. On which two other girls also bounce, Manuela, a friend of Licia, in love with Mirko and Marika, in love with Satomi. Added to this is Marrabbio, Licia’s father, absolutely against her friendship with Mirko, but very close to Andrea and Giuliano, who in fact spend their free time at the counter of his small restaurant. All ingredients to make this anime compelling, because in fact its great success is due to a reason that is precisely this. The association of music, sentimental dramas, and contrast between different worlds has made Kiss me Licia a success that has been able to cross the years.
A protagonist sometimes difficult to digest | Anime breakfast: Kiss me Licia
What makes this success difficult to digest is precisely its protagonist Licia: a character who falls into the plaintive, immobility to make decisions and in contrast to many other protagonists of anime of those years. Also in this Anime breakfast, we met very strong and enthralling female protagonists, Rossana, Miki from Little heart problems, Oscar, not to mention the “women of the sea”, or Nadia from the Mystery of the blue stone and the other female protagonists of One piece. And here instead we propose Licia, who she certainly contrasts with a type of teenager nowadays.
But continuing in the anime series and thinking as a whole, Licia represents one of the traits that typically concern asolescence; that of rebellion. And although it is very disguised, the rebellion is there, because in fact Licia falls in love with a totally unconventional rock musician and decides to be part of his world. The adolescent rebellion in this anime is very present, above all if one thinks of the attitude of father Marrabbio and of Licia who in any case does not give up her relationship with the Bee Hive. This obviously makes this anime more interesting, alongside its undeniable entertainment aspect.
Freeway
And part of the entertainment of this series also lies in its soundtrack, which in the Italian translation entered our heads with all the Bee Hive pieces that probably if they really played live we would all go to hear them secretly, a bit like it happened with the Abba we mentioned at the beginning. And it is precisely on the notes of the most famous piece by Bee Hive, Freeway that we conclude this episode of Anime Breakfast with the desire to go and see each other again Kiss me Licia and sing along with Mirko.
Are you looking for new movies and new TV series to watch? Discover the new Disney+ subscription, the streaming home of Disney, Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, National Geographic and now Star too. Subscribe now to only 8.99 euros per month on this page.