Sunday 15 February 2004

Pic of the day: Sakura has no shame, even when it comes to not getting into her old trousers. Instead she is angry at her sister for fitting them. Hey, it could happen.

Momoiro sisters

This anime series has been pretty far down on my viewing list, since its main claim to fame is that it's ecchi. Or at least that is the impression I got from AnimeSuki.com. Eventually I got around to take a look at it, and was pleasantly surprised.

No, it is not worksafe. Yes, it is indecent. But that's not really the point. The point is shame. Momoiro Sisters is a series about the things we cannot talk about even though it would have made life so much easier if we could.

Yes, a lot of it is about sex, at least in some way. But that's not really a requirement. There is this girl who suffers terribly from hemorrhoids, for instance, which normally has nothing to do with sex but a lot with shame. And there's the fangirl who comes to school in cosplay uniform (cosplay = dressing up as a character from a manga, anime or video game) and just doesn't get why people are looking at her strangely. Then there are the other shames, particularly of women: Gaining weight, breast size, the period, shaving body hair... Boys get theirs too: Failing the first time (or the first twenty times), forgetting Valentine and other days, school uniform fetishes ...

The older sister (Sakura) has no shame: She will do anything and say anything without a second thought. Sometimes even without a first. But she pays a price in lost innocence. When her younger sister is exhilarated by her first kiss, the older is unable to remember her own. Nor can she understand the protracted courtship between two shy coworkers. And then there's the scare every time her period is late.

Despite its cartoony art and almost slapstick humor, the series manages to seem realistic, with situations and people that remind us of someone we have known, sometimes perhaps something we have experienced ourselves.

***

Sadly the series runs dry about halfway through the 24 (really short) episodes. The castaway story arch in particular was really bad. Gone was the realism, and from here on out everything is just repeating the "make fun of these stereotypes" which was already done more subtly in the first half.

In conclusion, the first 12-14 episodes are pretty good if you don't get easily embarrassed. It sometimes brings up decidedly adult topics, but not really in a titillating way. This series plays with some taboos, but it does so in a funny and sometimes heartwarming way.