“Haruchika: Haruta to Chika” is a 12 episode anime series following childhood friends Haruta Kamijo (voiced by Saito Samo) and Chika Homura (Sarah Emi Bridcutt) during their high school years. Both decide to join their school’s dying Woodwind Band. Making it their mission to recruit new members and hone their skills so the band can compete in a national competition. But strange things are happening in town and Kamijo is determined to solve the mysteries.

“Haruchika” is episodic rather than connected in terms of storytelling. Every episode introduces a new characters and an accompanying mystery. While some may find the episodic nature of the show enjoyable, it could potentially throw viewers off.

Characters introduced in an episode would be given heartfelt backstories and vibrant personalities, only to be forgotten in the subsequent episodes. The few characters that were able to remain in the spotlight for longer than an episode were Kamijo, Homura, and Naoko Serizawa (Asami Seto). Miyoko Narushima (Haruka Chisuga) managed to hang on until the halfway mark before the writers discarded her.
The voice actors all did a tremendous job, infusing their respective characters’ voices with as much emotion and life as they could, no matter how much or how little screen time they received.

Despite the mysteries being the selling point of the anime and interwoven with each characters, they somehow managed to fall flat and wound up playing second fiddle to the emotional aspects. Additionally, many of the mysteries came off as childish and reminiscent of the “Cam Jansen” series for young readers.

While disappointing to many, a story is nothing without its characters.