Peach Girl ("ピーチガール) [Review]

I was shopping in Swindon the other day, when I came across this really big media store. They were selling games, CDs, DVDs, etc. And everything was sooo cheap! Of course, I love bagging a bargain so I paid the store a visit, and noticed that they had an anime section. In said anime section, was the first two volumes of an anime called "Peach Girl". Now, they only had the first two volumes anyway, and since both were incredibly cheap, I was expecting the series to be... Well, not "bad" but, not "good" either. Seriously though, since when did stores sell anime at £1.99 per volume?! Anyway, I didn't really pay the series much attention at first, in fact, the DVDs were sitting in my room for over a day before I actually picked them up and put them in the disk drive on my laptop. The DVDs I had only went up to episode 9, and since I got way more hooked to the series than I originally planned, I ended up watching the other 16 episodes online... Which, I know is really bad of me. And I do apologise, but I am going to buy the last 4 volumes, just as soon as the rest of my money comes through. And since I'll have to order them online, I grew impatient and decided I had to know what happens!

Much like Toradora! "Peach Girl" consists of 25 full-length episodes, and a spin-off series, entitled: "Peach Girl: Sae's Story" Sae, being the main antagonist in this anime. So, I found it interesting that they had produced another series from her perspective. I haven't actually paid much attention to Sae's Story, as it just tells the same original story, except, through her eyes. But, I'm sure that eventually, I will associate myself with it. ^-^ Anyway, the plot behind it is as follows:

Extract from Wikipedia:
{Momo Adachi is a former member of the high school swim team. She tans easily and her hair is bleached out; unfortunately, she is stereotyped by her ignorant classmates, and is forced to endure rumors about being an "easy girl" that has had many sexual relationships. Her only friend is Sae, who is actually responsible for spreading the nasty gossip due to her jealousy of Momo. Momo is in love with Toji, a taciturn baseball player, but the scheming Sae also has her sights set on the boy. Momo's life is further complicated with the introduction of Kairi Okayasu, a wise-cracking playboy who is determined to make her his. He reveals to Momo that she had saved him from drowning the summer before high school started.}

Clockwise: Momo Adachi, Kazuya Toujigamori & Kairi Okayasu.

Characters:

The characters in this particular series really intrigued me. The way they looked was very unique to me, as I usually don't watch anime that has this particular art style. Each character was different to the next, and none of them bored me at all, at any point during the series. There weren't any annoying voices, or over-the-top enthusiasm, etc. That you would usually find in a Shoujo anime series. This was a pleasant surprise. This series' protagonist, Momo Adachi, was really something. She's a very strong-willed girl who only really wants to keep everybody around her satisfied, even if that means giving up on her own happiness. She can't bring herself to hate those who are hurtful towards her, and I think, in a way, I can relate to her. I've grown an attachment to her over the series, and watched as she matured and started to take relationships seriously. Sure, there were times when I wanted to slap some sense into her, but I think every anime has moments like that. The most interesting character, in my opinion, was probably Sae. Because she's very misunderstood. At the start of the series, she's really got it in for Momo, doing everything within her power to cause unhappiness in her 'friend's life. However, from episode 18 onwards, you really see a new side to Sae. She shows almost her "true nature", if that makes sense. And she also reveals why it is that she feels the need to be so terrible to Momo-chan. 

 Now, you'll have to excuse me, because I actually have a lot to write about the characters in this anime. As each character that was introduced, did have a critical part in the story at some point. My utmost favourite character is, without a doubt, the very handsome and caring Kairi Okayasu, who really wants nothing more than to make Momo happy. I can't really explain too much about the complications in Kairi's life, because doing so would give too many important parts of the storyline away. And to people who haven't actually seen this anime yet, I think that would be really unfair. The most unlike-able character, in my opinion, was Kazuya Toujigamori... There was just something about him, the entire way through the series, that made me want to look away whenever he and Momo were together. From the first moment that he caused Momo to cry, and Kairi was there to protect her, I wanted nothing more than for Toujigamori to go and crawl into a hole somewhere and leave the other two to get together. The school nurse, Misao Aki, plays a crucial role in this anime, offering advice to each of the main characters, rather than just sitting back like most other nurses do in anime. Once you reach episode 13, you really don't know how to feel towards Misao, but after a while, you realise that she really isn't a bad guy, and that she's done nothing wrong. 

Plot:

The plot for this anime really had me in tears at some points, and fits of giggles at other points. I think, the writers really managed to balance out the tear-jerking scenes from the rib-crushingly hilarious ones. Although this anime isn't classed as a 'comedy', they have included certain comedy aspects to it at various stages, which took away some of the sadness caused by the Momo-Touji-Kairi love triangle. I really enjoyed seeing Sae's change of heart, I think it was really moving, and showed that deep down, she really did care about Momo's well being this whole time. The only thing I had a problem with was the last few episodes, I know that the finale wouldn't of been so spectacular without the decisions made in those episodes, but they really portrayed Momo as cold and heartless, and almost made her seem like she really was a "playgirl". I think that was a little bit harsh on Momo, as she points out at various points during the entire anime that she isn't like that, and she doesn't want people to think of her that way. Kairi's complex was a really moving twist in the storyline, proving that love can turn upside-down when you least expect it to. But, watching him slowly accept his feelings for Momo was also entertaining and it made me feel all squishy inside! KairixMomo was definitely the better pairing.

Soundtrack:

The music used in this series was produced by Masanori Takumi, an artist I'd previously never heard of. However, after giving the OST a few listens, I began to appreciate just how beautiful some of the piano pieces actually were. Especially during the more dramatic or heart breaking scenes, they really helped to set the mood and allowed you to really form an emotional bond with the characters and their dilemmas. 

The opening theme, "Baby Low Tension" by Hinata Megumi, was quite a cheerful song, in comparison with some of the topics approached in the anime itself. The tune was very catchy and by the 4th or 5th episode, I found myself happily singing along with it.

  The ending theme, "Asunaro Ginga", by Sonim gave the anime more of a dramatic feel, in comparison to the opening. It seemed to fit the anime a lot better over-all, and didn't feature overly-annoying voices, like the opening song... I really like the music video for Asunaro Ginga, it's pretty :')

Seiyū:
Momo Adachi - voiced by Saeko Chiba
Sae Kashiwagi - voiced by Megumi Nasu
Kairi Okayasu - voiced by Kenichi Suzumura
Kazuya 'Toji' Toujigamori - voiced by Hidenobu Kiuchi

Before this anime, I'd never heard the names of any of these seiyū, I'll admit. But, after watching the entire anime, I have to admit, the voices did match the characters perfectly. And, one thing I liked about this anime was that there wasn't any annoying, high-pitched teenage girl voices, which you'd usually find within this genre. It was a nice surprise not to have my ears torn apart by shrieks and "waaa~"s every two seconds. Kairi's seiyū was probably my favourite... I really couldn't picture Okayasu with any other voice. I tried watching the English dub, but I really cannot tolerate English dubs of good anime's. And I'll admit, Kairi's English voice actor, Orion Pitts, did a really, really bad job. The voice just sounded awkward, too old to be a teenage guy's. Sorry, Orion, but you're just toooooo ooooold!~

Summary:
This anime was really unique, in the sense that, it shouldn't of interested me in the slightest, and yet, it did. The way the characters interacted with one another seemed so natural, as though they were real people, and the seiyū did a fantastic job with the voices, too. The storyline was really tense at times, and made you either want certain characters together, or wish that certain individuals would be hit by a bus. I'm joking... Aha. Anyway, moving swiftly on... There were scenes in this anime that made me laugh, and scenes that made me cry. Though I'll admit, I spent more time crying than laughing. But sometimes it's good to have a good old cry at an anime. And I think this anime was definitely worthy of my precious tears. Momo is a lot like me, in the sense that she was very misunderstood, and I too have been mistaken as a playgirl once or twice! At the same time, I also felt a strong sense of sympathy towards Sae. Although she appears to be absolutely horrible most of the way through the anime, I couldn't ever bring myself to dislike her. Besides, her way of thinking was incredible. She always had a back-up plan, should something not run as smoothly as she'd hoped. I absolutely hated Toji. I couldn't stand him at all, but luckily, he wasn't actually in the anime as much as I'd feared he would be when I first started watching. After all, he was Momo's crush, you'd expect him to play quite a crucial part in the development of the story. But most of the time, he was off on the sidelines, which kept me happy. Of course, it was undoubtably Kairi Okayasu that made this anime so interesting in my eyes. I'm obsessed with that guy. He's so perfect, and cute, and perfect... Wah~

Anyway, on with the over-all rating...
All in all, I would give Peach Girl 5 stars!~

Title: Peach Girl
Story by: Hiroko Tokita
Illustrated by: Studio Comet
Rating: *****/*****

^w^