Video Backlog: "Suzuka"

Publisher: Funimation (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English Subtitles
Length: 26 Episodes x 24 mins
Production Date: 2005
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

Story Outline: Yamato Akitsuki moves to Tokyo from Hiroshima to attend high school. He is living in an all-female dormitory with an attached bath house owned by his aunt. He stays there under the condition that he helps out cleaning the bath house. Yamato checks out the surrounding area the day before starting school. Wandering past the high school, he sees a young woman high jumping and is immediately taken by her beauty. Much to his shock he discovers the girl, Suzuka Asahina, is living in the room next to her. He attempts to woo her, but she rejects him. He begins a relationship with another girl, Honoka Sakurai, but due to Yamato’s blundering and his unresolved feelings for Suzuka the relationship ends on a sour note. A PE class revels that Yamato is a talented sprinter, and he courted by the track and field team. Though reluctant at first, he soon decides to join to make an impression on Suzuka.

Mini Review: This is a kind of paint by numbers shonen romance. The initial episodes were quite frustrating. Yamato is portrayed as some sort of loser, yet he’s good looking, is quite athletic, is dependable and understanding and a really nice guy and he has girls fighting over him the entire series. We also have the perverted friend, some over sexed collage girls who harass Yamato. Add in some typical shonen misunderstandings such as walking in on naked girls in the bath house and falling on top of girls etc. It’s all a bit tiring and dull really. What really gets me though is the expectation of the other characters that Yamato should know exactly what to do in a relationship when he clearly has never been in one. It’s like asking someone who’s never driven before to compete in a formula one race. Also irritating me greatly was Yamato’s sleaze of a friend, Yashunobu, was giving him the cheesiest advice. Why would any girl be interested in such a sleazy kid? One episode which really annoyed me was the one where pop idol Shirakawa Nana (a friend of Honoka) tells off Yamato for not being a good enough boyfriend to Honoka, even though he’s been pretty exceptional to her. That really, really pissed me off. Suzuka herself is pretty unlikable character. She’s constantly criticising Yamato or is angry with him. Sure she occasionally shows her sweet side, but I found nothing really desirable or sympathetic about her. Then again it was really had to feel any sympathy for Yamato, as he’s such a clueless idiot at times. In fact either the sweet and quite Honoka or the tall, shapely, leggy, curvy, athletic, positive and fun Miki Hashiba (whom Yamato has absolutely no feelings for, yet is probably the most desirable girl in the series) are way better girlfriend material than Suzuka. So much better. The series did improve a bit when you got past those initial episodes, but it was pretty bland overall and frustrating. I can only give it 5 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 18 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).