Tuesday 24 October 2006

Pic of the day: This is not a good way to start a lifelong relationship. Especially if you're 15 and don't look it.

Sumomo mo Momo mo

This is a review of one of the new anime of this season. Categories: Romance – humor – ecchi – high school – martial arts – possibly harem. The first three episodes however are a lot more decent than they would seem from a simple plot summary. Unfortunately things turn a bit too fanservicey in episode 4, and I can't really recommend it to the young readers anymore.

The main character is (as usual) a high school boy, Inuzuka Koshi. (Or Koushi, but the name is pronounced with a long o, not a diphtong.) He is the sole heir to a line of martial artists with vaguely defined supernatural powers, such as you find in over the top martial arts anime (think Dragonball Z). However, he is weak and a coward (after he was beaten up as a little boy) and has turned his back on the family trade. Instead he is studying law to become a prosecutor. He is extremely intelligent and handsome; the girls adore him, but except for being friendly to the class rep, he largely ignores them all and focuses on his studies.

One day a girl shows up and tells him: "Let's engage in child production". She is supposedly near his age, but she looks and acts much younger. In fact, she could been mistaken for a child if she didn't have breasts. (She has – we get to see them occasionally. I didn't notice any nipples though.) The girl is the sole heir to another martial arts clan, and unlike Koshi she has trained herself to excellence. Unfortunately she has neglected pretty much all other aspects of human behavior. Except one more thing: She has been raised to marry Koshi and unite the two clans, have his babies and raise the world's strongest martial artist.

Momoko is the name of the girl. (One meaning of this would be "Peach girl", but it is an existing Japanese name, just not too common.) Momoko is a fascinating character, because she is at the same time very innocent and utterly dedicated to having sex with Koshi, the sooner the better. She already thinks of herself as his wife (their parents arranged their marriage when they were babies, but somehow Koshi has not been informed or possibly chosen to forget). She spends her days studying various aspects of human reproduction, from genetics to erotic meals. (Yes, the Japanese believe in that.) Also, she genuinely admires Koshi, happily misunderstanding his weaknesses as strengths, and is very happy to be his wife. He, on the other hand, is creeped out. He does not want a barely legal* girl making less than subtle propositions, especially not one that could easily flatten the whole house, or one who tries to turn him back to a part of his life he has closed the door on.

*)In Japan, the national age of consent is 13. However, local government can set theirs higher, which I hear they all have done. It may be that the function of the lower national age of consent is to avoid pointless lawsuits over works of fiction.

In America and parts of Europe, it is not imaginable that a person can be innocent and sexually assertive at the same time. For Japanese this is perfectly reasonable, as it is for most Scandinavians and Dutch, and probably some other nations that don't see sex as the original sin. Momoko is a girl who is pure of heart. Seeking to fulfill her wifely duties is one of her virtues. The comedy is not so much the sex- obsessed girl as the avoidant boy.

While their relationship is the central plot element, certainly during the first episodes (I have seen 4), it is not the only one. The superpowered martial arts sequences are done with a richness of special effects that you would expect from that genre, and there are plenty of them. Starting with episode 3, there is a plot by rival clans to kill Koshi and thus eliminate the clan while it is still weak. Momoko protects him, a reversal of gender roles that is actually quite common in Japanese fiction. Not only in anime, but also in ordinary love songs will you hear women express their desire to protect the one they love. Although it is probably not meant acting as a bodyguard, in those songs. ^_^

Unfortunately the series takes a hard turn toward ecchi (sexual themes) in episode 4, where one of the opponents, a 15 year old sword-wielding girl, is placed in various humiliating and erotic situations. Because it lacks the voluntary dedication of Momoko, it becomes what we otaku call "fanservice" ("servisu" in Japanese), sexual display that is not part of the story but only to attract male viewers. This anime does not need that and does not benefit from it. I was disappointed and embarrassed. Because of this I really can't recommend the anime for Christian viewers, which I otherwise would cautiously do. I think sexual eagerness is a good thing and not sinful at all, when it is in a context of dedicated love. Of course, others may have an inferior view on this and must act accordingly.

I may watch more episodes of this, but if it keeps deteriorating I may not complete watching it, much less pay for it, despite its promising start. If it redeems itself, I may mention it again. In any case, it is a treasure trove of amusing screenshots, much like Rizelmine (which had a similar plot only without the martial arts).

The English title is The world's strongest bride, but the Japanese title actually means roughly "Plums and peaches too" (or "plums are peaches too") and is a tongue twister; the only obvious connection to the anime is that Momo is capitalized in the title, indicating that it refers to Momoko. There may be a subtle sexual hint in it, depending on how sexy you think peaches are. Japanese sometimes use illustrations of peaches to indicate an erotic mood.