New week new episode of Anime Breakfast and let’s stay on the teen genre, always from the 90s: Kodomo no Omocha or, Rossana
We have reached the fourth appointment of Anime Breakfast, the column that keeps you company in front of the Sunday morning breakfast, the relaxed one, as happened in front of our favorite cartoons. After the debut in style with Neon Genesis Evangelion and the second appointment with Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, we have arrived at the romantic teen genre with Marmelade boy. In this new appointment we remain on the teen genre, with an anime also broadcast in the 90s in Japan which was enormously successful: Kodomo No Omocha, better known here in Italy as Rossana.
Hurricane Rossana arrives in Italy in November 2000, with graphics and a choice of characters that from the first impression reminds us a lot of Marmelade Boyindeed it almost seems like a draft, with much more caricatural passages and protagonists closer to their age, therefore pre-adolescence. Then, as soon as the first episode runs, we realize that Rossana and Heric, the two protagonists, remind us of Yuri and Miki from Marmelade Boy only in how they were illustrated.
Hurricane Rossana
The protagonist, Rossana is a pure hurricane: a child prodigy, she attends elementary school, but at the same time she is a famous actress in a television series. She lives with her mother Cathrine, a famous writer and another very important figure in her life is her agent Robby, almost like an older brother. Her life comes into contact at school with that of Heric, blond, introverted and bully at school, an aspect that Rossana can’t stand and therefore returning to classes more frequently for the end of filming, she begins to challenge him with extravagance . Just the presence of Rossana in the life of Heric and the new perspectives that she offers him, begin to change the boy and consequently her relationship with her.
But the Rossana anime does not stop only at the relationship between the two young protagonists, because very interesting characters revolve around them, who often take the stage with autonomous horizontal plots. And together with the characters very important and delicate themes are treated, through the narrative style of each episode that mixes hilarious and almost ridiculous moments with very exciting moments. And to narrate these moments and these characters, Rossana passes like a hurricane, always at the peak of energy, always in a good mood, always carefree, if not for some moments of the series in which she lets herself go to being a little girl, with her fragility and its moments of discouragement. And it is precisely these moments that make Rossana’s character more human and closer to everyone’s lives.
The strength of the topics covered | Anime Breakfast | Rossana: a hurricane of laughter and emotions
Inside all this good mood brought by the protagonist, the topics covered weigh like boulders and here lies the effectiveness of this anime series. First of all the first plot that brings together Rossana and Heric is precisely that of bullying. The protagonist Heric is the typical charming and unattainable boy, with the addition that he behaves very badly, that is, he is the bully of the class. And we begin to empathize with him when his attitude begins to change and Rossana’s challenges to his wickedness become such that he really sees the reality of things.
Alongside bullying there are also episodes dedicated to a suicide attempt by one of their classmates and last but not least the theme of adoption. In fact, Catherine is Rossana’s adoptive mother and their relationship is deepened by the public when the protagonist meets her biological mother. Catherine’s mask of good humor and emotional detachment peels off for fear of losing her daughter, still feeling like her mother despite the absence of blood ties. Strong themes for an anime of the afternoon, which in fact could not escape the Italian vice of censorship of some pieces of episodes, with some whole episodes that have never been aired. However, the formula with which these themes were treated alongside Rossana’s positivity has always been successful. And even now it makes this anime perfect for the younger ones, who can get to know delicate topics through their own language, as did the TV series Glee many years later.
A training anime | Anime Breakfast | Rossana: a hurricane of laughter and emotions
Although the protagonist is only eleven years old, we can still define Rossana as a training anime, which can accompany towards self-awareness, one’s limits, one’s energies and how to relate to the adult world. Some episodes have remained in the memory, both for the laughs and for the growth breakthrough that the main characters have made and they make us forgive the protagonist’s enormous enthusiasm which is often excessive. The ending of the cartoon remains open, but if instead we want another ending, more complete and dramatic, typical of Japanese narration, we can read the original manga which gets to the heart of the themes treated without too many delicacies, one of all the theme of suicide. Overall, although the young age of the protagonists Rossana is still a current anime, which the younger ones can well appreciate and enjoy also for the fluid narration which lightly addresses themes that are unfortunately still very current.
And have you ever seen Rossana? Let us know what you think of this anime and keep following us for a new episode of Anime Breakfast!
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