Anime: Haru o Daite Ita

Most viewers who will be watching these OVAs as fansubs are likely to be fans of - or at least familiar with - the source manga, Nitta Youka's long-running yaoi melodrama of the same name. Haru is unrealistic (well, we are talking about yaoi), cliche-ridden (ditto), and notably smutty (yes, even for yaoi!), and it's this combination of preposterous glamor, predictability, and dirty sex, along with the distinctive and attractive art, that have made the title a favorite among BL readers.

Nitta Youka's drawing style is perfectly recreated, as are the host-club casuals and bland, hotel-like interiors that resemble those in the manga. As in the manga, these relatively uninteresting animated surroundings keep the focus on Kato and Iwaki and their romantic turmoil. Iwaki (dark-haired and, for a color-coding change of pace, the uke) and Kato (blond, younger, and definitely the aggressor) look exactly as they do on paper, right down to the way they place their feet and Kato's Farrah Fawcett hairdo. While I didn't expect Iwaki to be such a big, well, girl, I did very much enjoy his tantrums. Just the addition of sound and motion to these stories goes a long way toward deepening and developing these rather shallow characters. The seiyuu for both Iwaki (Toshiyuki Morikawa) and Kato (Shinichiro Miki) have wonderful, sexy voices that work well together. My favorite, however, was the slightly gritty, deep voice of Kazuhiko Inoue as Sawa, which keeps this improbable figure from seeming too silly.

The first OVA provides a recap of Kato and Iwaki's first meeting, wherein they "audition" for Sawa-san, a quasi-transexual writer whose homoerotic novel is being made into a movie. Naturally (*ahem*), this audition requires that they have sex. This situation is more difficulty for Iwaki than Kato, and Iwaki has the first of several hissyfits as a result. Throughout the OVA, the Haru formula of situation-->fight-->reconciliation-->sex! provides ample opportunity for Iwaki to lose his temper since, luckily, Kato is right there to...make everything all better.

Although I was not expecting anything more explicit, the sex scenes are extremely tame, especially when compared to the strenuous contortions and manhandling evident in the manga versions of these plotlines. Perhaps to compensate for the relatively vanilla nature of these scenes, there are quite a few of them.

The second OVA, which takes place at a point when their relationship is somewhat established, puts Kato at the center of a scandal. Iwaki is full of doubt, Kato is devastated, and then a third party attempts to increase the angst factor for his own semi-tragic reasons. To anyone familiar with Haru storylines (see formula above), the ending should not be in doubt, but it's still appreciated that things are resolved with logic and not mere lovey-dovey platitudes.

I can easily imagine rewatching this in the future, much in the way I will occasionally re-read the manga, i.e., self-indulgently and quite happily. It's yaoi comfort food. While there are far more complex and emotional yaoi manga than Haru, and much better anime, this is certainly one of the best yaoi anime that I've seen. I doubt there would be much enjoyment to be found here for those who don't like yaoi, or those who aren't fans of Nitta Youka's art, but for viewers who like watching handsome cartoon men kiss, these two OVAs represent a rare, if unchallenging, treat.

The latest yaoi OVA to sweep Japan, after the long absence of yaoi anime since Level C back in 1997.

This review is based on the first OVA, and a raw DVD.

Animation: Pretty clean and crisp, the animators aren't lazy, although bigger budget will boost the quality significantly. Character design is pretty good and consistent, with a lot of costumes for the two main leads.

Sound: The OP (Private Truth) and ED (One Night Cruising) are just ok (or borderline cheesy), the background music are classy (gotta love the piano scores and other instrumentals). The veteran seiyuus are giving their best. Miki Shinichirou and Toshiyuki Morikawa are superb (yes, they are also the voice of Cloud and Sephiroth of FF: Advent Children).

Character: The main characters are 2 guys, Katou and Iwaki, both of them are pornstars...

Story: This is just my guess, may not be accurate. (MAY CONTAIN SPOILER!!)

In the foursome scene, where Iwaki (the dude with the black hair) wanted to give some "experience" to Yukihito (the young boy), and said "Don't worry, it's just sex" to Katou (the long blonde haired dude). But later during the filming, they got serious on the set (they're supposed to be acting), but at the end of the take, Katou left the set immediately. Iwaki then realized that he doesn't like to be treated as a sex object. And he confronted Katou about it. (where he pushed Katou to the wall) and at the end of the first OVA, the paparazzi caught them together, even though Iwaki was known to the world as a ST8 guy.

That's the gist of it, I can't wait for the second OVA.


I will update this as soon as I watch the second OVA.

Value: Fans of this genre should not miss this. I own the DVD, it came with a mini poster, 3 postcards, and a booklet.

Enjoyment: Fans of yaoi would definitely enjoy this. It's been a long wait.