Natsuyuki Rendezvous: First Impressions

I've already mentioned my family's situation a few times in my blog but I've never directly talked about it.  Unfortunately it's given me a few severe triggers when it comes to violence and death scenes in movies, especially suicides or anything that's close to it.  One thing that I was not expecting though, was how impossible it would be fore me to watch movies about young widows.  Just mentioning Wolf Children to me ruins my whole day.  Sure it was a cute movie but it just makes me sick to my stomach thinking about it.  I wish I could watch shows like this and not have any kind of reaction to them.  To just shrug them off as fantasy or just a story but I cant.
Natsuyuki Rendezvous is starting to become one of those shows for me.  I've only made it through 3 episodes but I know that it's going to make me cry a lot in upcoming episodes.
The story is about a quiet and dull college student named Ryousuke (same voice actor as Nozaki-kun... I'll review that later) who falls in love with a young widow who owns a flower shop.  After getting a job there to get closer to her, he finds that he can see the spirit of her deceased husband.
Despite the subject matter, the show is actually really sweet and funny at times.  The drama comes from Rokka's husband trying to keep Ryousuke away from his wife and I can relate.  Ryousuke is kind of a  horny loser.  While at first it just seems like her husband is just stuck in the past and doesn't want to let go of his wife, I can see that he's just trying to protect her from this guy.  I'm sure that the two get to know each other better and that Rokka and Ryousuke will end up together with her husband's best wishes.  That's just my guess though.  If I know my anime, they like quickly thrown together and disappointing endings.
What I love most about this show is just how real Rokka is.  At first I was a little put off by how fast their relationship was moving but then I realized that my mother had told me many times how much she missed intimacy.  How she'd ended up in these kinds of situations with her new boyfriends (despite being mormon)  Rokka, unlike most female protagonists in anime, wants intimacy.  It's interesting whenever a show brings this up because many shows and culture treat women as a force to be acted upon with no real will or feeling.  We're taught that the only kind of women that want it are sluts.  We forget that women are human with flaws and wants.
On another note, Rokka is still in mourning even after 3 years.  While most people would be upset that she's still sensitive about the subject, it's very real.  You never do get over a death of a loved one and I hope they bring this up.  I still think Ryousuke had no right to say anything bad about her husband even though he's been a road block the whole show.  He deserved worse than a slap.
To be honest, I'm starting not to like Ryousuke.  At first he was cute and shy but now he's just... Desperate?  Selfish? I'm not sure what it is but the more I think about it, I'd try and scare him off too if he doesn't change.
The music reminds me of Mr. Rodger's Naughborhood for some reason.  It's got that same feeling to it.  It's a nice change but I won't be looking for the OST.  What I will be looking for is the end song.  It's absolutely gorgeous!
As for the animation and style, I'm liking it because I like more Josei styled anime now that I've gotten older.  It's simple but nice.  It's also fun seeing Rokka's husband floating through things and what they got to do with that.
I'm excited to see more episodes but I'm afraid of where it's heading if Ryousuke doesn't change and be a little more sensitive towards her predicament.
I'll try my best to get through this show.  It will either become a favorite or one I'll never want to touch again, it's walking a very fine line.