Anime: Suzuka

If you're tired of the recent attempts at school romance (Maken Ki, Majikoi, Inu x Boku, C3, etc.) but are looking for some real relationship-based development, you might want to consider giving this a try. Suzuka is a show about a country boy from Hiroshima trying out an alternate lifestyle in Tokyo. He happens to see a high jumper practicing and suddenly falls in love with her coolness. While the show looks like it's going to be a lot about sports, it actually focuses a lot more on relationships between characters (3 primarily). Expect a light dosage of comedy and ecchi but a lot more tense and gloomy moments as relationships are tested and frayed.

I'll agree with many of the prior reviewers- the show is immensely polarizing. You're going to either like what happens or really really hate it. There is a lot of character-focused development and a lot of cliffhangers; I ended up watching the entire series in just over 3 days. However, be warned that the characters will test your patience and nerves, and that the director spends a lot more time showing sad faces and rainy days than happy moments- it really reminded me of the style used in much of Da Capo 2 SS. However, if you're into high school based dramas with a bit of character romance, this is well above many of the more recent attempts.

Animation:
The animation does look dated. Lines are not very crisp, backgrounds are painted to a somewhat-tolerable level of detail, and the action sequences aren't terribly convincing. The overall color palette is also surprisingly more saturated than I had expected. However not all is lost as the characters are well drawn and emotions very convincing (extremely important here).

As mentioned above, there are some action scenes in the form of track and field competitions, but not really anything exciting compared to real sports-based series such as Slam Dunk. In particular, I found the use of panning and zooming to simulate motion quite annoying. There is also some ecchi moments but they're quite minor compared to the manga (and more modern ecchi-based harems).

Sound:
I really didn't like any of the OPs/EDs. The OP reminds me of Sailor Moon-era songs (not to say that's bad, it just sounds way too dated), and the ED is a bit livelier but still easily skipped. The BGM is piano based with occasional orchestral support. There are some melodies that grow on you a bit but it's more a factor of the series length than any masterful melodies.

VAs are an interesting matter here. You look at the entire cast and most of them haven't been terribly successful... While Suzuka does a fine job at sounding tsun and Yamato successfully annoys me almost as much as Shin Asuka, the other VAs just didn't quite click. Even Honoka's voice didn't feel like a very good match to me. My friend points out that this is one of the few series in which he prefers the dubbed version (though I refused to do so).

Story:
Suzuka doesn't really try anything really new, what it does do is spend a lot of time on character interactions. To be honest, I'm happy that they decided not to follow the well-overused pattern of onsen, beach episode, school festival, etc. Instead, the story actually feels organic, especially towards the beginning. Be prepared to chain this as many episodes end on cliff hangers. As an additional warning, try to avoid reading the episode titles as these are cheap and horrible spoilers.

There are a few plot episodes such as the track meets but really all the action is character based, whether it be reacting to Suzuka's endless tirade of criticism or having to endure Yamato constantly making a fool of himself. I'd divide this up into three arcs, which you'll find out when watching, that are all tied together through Yamato- think of it as an up and down roller-coaster rather than a single hill. The story builds to a very predictable climax and conclusion that will leave you either exhilarated or antagonistic towards the director/certain characters.

There are some minor plot hole/detail issues scattered throughout the story (noticeably at times when they try to diverge- and fail miserably- from the manga) but nothing terribly disturbing. One should also note that the manga goes a lot further than the end of the anime so the story doesn't "really" end there. I think it's only fair to divulge that I was part of the not-so-happy camp in terms of how things panned out- I was totally going to give this a 9 prior to the final arc (which at least makes stanbob's 10-spam somewhat understandable).

Character:
There is no doubting that the main characters (Suzuka, Yamato, and Honoka) have strong, defined characteristics. You may hate those characteristics, but they are definitely there. I was a bit underwhelmed by the lack of background with Honoka and some of the other supporting characters but I think the overall focus on relationships and interactions worked out fine in the end.

Suzuka is a tsundere, but at least one with some (partly believable) rationale for being so- unlike so many other series that just do so to get viewers. And Yamato is a clueless dude with a mouth that doesn't know when to quit and a brain with level 0 girl/feeling awareness (oh the pain...).

I guess in many ways the series is about the fact that no one is perfect. It's hard to know when to show and not show one's true feelings, and it's all too easy to make a mistake and hurt others. While I will take away realism points for Yamato being an incomprehensible girl magnet, I do respect the series for spending so much time highlighting small mistakes that have tangible consequences- Unlike B Gata H Kei where Yoshida's mistakes are comically dispelled.

There are definitely flaws here (I really hate certain characters' guts, there are too many barely-used supporting characters and events, etc.) but I think the overall presentation of the main characters was very strong and engaging, enough so for me to rant emphatically about how useless and unfit Yamato is for any other human being.

Value:
While Suzuka doesn't try many new things, it presents its core characters very strongly- and you will walk away with strong opinions on what happened in the past 12 or so hours. That in itself is significant value. In addition, the series has really strong romantic elements, which I might be overrating a bit due to the recent dearth of such material. Despite the ending not going how one might want (I'll continue with the manga eventually...), the early arcs of the story were highly enjoyable and emotionally engaging. Thus overall, Suzuka comes across as a happy relief from the dearth of any tangible romantic engagements in recent series. It may be a bit long, and a bit short on plot events, but there are plenty of emotional moments that make it worth the ride.

Just rewatched Suzuka cause I felt a bit down and it helped a lot. For some reason this anime is a bit underrated. Someone complained that he wasted 13 hours but honto ni... I am not sure what you was hoping for.

This romance has a good potential, and I enjoyed it very very much. And to be honest, I think this one is equally Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, perhaps little better depending on what you look for.

The Animation isn't fancy or so, but still enough to describe the characters feelings. For me Animation isn't an important aspect for an anime. I rather want the story & sound which usually get my attentions.

Look at Hunter X hunter. The animation is average but the story and sound is really great which catch you.

The Voice actors is doing a good job especially for Suzuka and Yamato. But for Suzuka I can't even imagine another voice.
Also the other characters is doing great.
They are clean and easy to listen to.

When it comes Characters they are really good evolved.
But it is focused on the Suzuka, Yamato & Honoka. And there is no need to Advance the others further. The side characters is average.

The story is simple and easy to read ahead, but that is not the main impact of this anime. What makes it good is that you have a 26 episode of drama/romance and a small twist ahead. Perhaps it could been squeezed into an 13 episode serie. But again that would probably ruin it since there is no really lack of ongoing story. When I first started to watch this when it was airing I just couldn't wait for the next episode to come.

So Enjoyment is what it is. If you like a great portion of romance.. that is slowly progressing.. go for it.
If you are for ecchi, and want that little extra perhaps this will bore you to death. This one might attract an more mature audiences.

So... what I can recall this and KGNE is the only two up date which I have seen that is really good.

This show is tricky. Basically, it's a good show wrapped in a mediocre one. I'll get into this towards the end, for fear of spoilage.

So far as the technical merits: very average.

Animation: Nothing to write home about, but not a distraction.

Sound: I'm a sucker for the drama piano hook, but in any case it's stronger than the animation.

Story: So far as the ostensible high school, sports-oriented love triangle, it's nothing new, though competently delivered. Factoring in more subtle character development, it's bringing something worthwhile. Overall, for better or worse, it's quite realistic.

Characters: Taken at face value, the lead and title characters can grate on the nerves, but this indicates that the real point of the show, the interesting character development is happening somewhere beneath the surface. Also, there's a happy assortment of side characters to soften the painful and awkward principal interaction going on.

Value: Tough to judge on a show like this, with its grinding style of drama that doesn't lend itself to re-watching; plus the production isn't anything special. But, for the discerning (yet not dismissive) viewer, it does a nice job of fleshing out dramatic conflict of a depth not common to this genre. And if one wants realism in their dramas, this delivers plenty.

Enjoyment: Now, to explain the thing I've been implying (spoilers a'comin--though if you ask me, they don't rate as spoilers, since there isn't much in this anime that's spoil-able: the whole thing is in the watching it, yelling at the main chars for being idiots, getting up to grab something from the fridge during yet another awkward silence, etc):

The first thing that might strike you as odd, is that the lead character isn't the same as the title character. Now, while you might instantly assess this anime as another harem-esque high school romance, with the title thus being a giveaway that any romantic arcs between the lead and non-title chars are just killing time until the big finale, you'd end up watching a rather boring, unremarkable anime if you did (which seems pretty common amongst the reviews here). But I took this hint a different way: though we're seeing this story through the naive eyes of a Hiroshima country bumpkin who's come to the big city, the character to watch is the talented, high acheiving and upsettingly bitchy Suzuka.

Hence, the principal conflict isn't the Yamato-Suzuka-Honoka love triangle/bumbling "young love" high school romance, despite it occupying most of the screen time, but rather Suzuka's own struggle to come to terms with death and loss. The dramatic arc builds as we try to figure out why Suzuka is so stone cold to the thick-skulled though good-hearted Yamato and the clues we get have to do with a death in Suzuka's past.

The drama, we learn [spoiler!?], is that Yamato is the spitting image of said dead fellow, down to his track 'n field style. This denies Suzuka the sanctuary she'd found in escaping her pain through focusing on sports, since this fool keeps popping up to remind her of the looming spectre of death, and won't stay away no matter how inexplicably bitchily she overreacts to his attentions. Ultimately, however, it is Yamato's donkey-style, unsophisticated and relentless attachment to her that forces her to finally turn and face the hole in her heart, find some peace and move beyond her greiving.

I found this anime to be remarkably true to handling this drama, which is often brought up (makes me wonder what % of Japanese families are single-parent) but rarely taken beyond a superficial level. Here, by showing rather than telling, we get an interesting picture of how people's actions and emotions can manifest in odd ways, as well as the degree to which a person's perspective colors their interpretation thereof (i.e., as Yamato gets a glint of insight into Suzuka's past, he reacts by feeling a rivalry with the dead guy for Suzuka's affections, as opposed to understanding that her TSUNdere actions towards him stem from her unresolved pain over loss, which has nothing to do with affection).

In the end, I enjoyed the anime for this arc (along with the sidekicks). Yamato is tough to watch, but it takes his slow wit and good heart to draw the real story out of Suzuka and bring about her development. Hopefully, some of those who watched the series and feel angry that they wasted their time might find some solace in reconsidering the events from the "dealing with loss" instead of "clumsy young love" perspective.

I highly recommend it to people who enjoy realistic drama.

Suzuka is yet another anime that makes me question my unyielding faith in the school romance genre (note that this is actually different from the harem genre). It starts off being pretty much absolutely mediocre, but I was able to keep watching because the characters had some flashes of genuine humanity and emotion in them. There was certainly potential. The scene where our romantic leads meet was quite good in fact. But it never gets any better in any definable way, and definitely gets a lot worse in a variety of ways.

I'm going to assume you know the general tripe seen in similar school romance animes and skip the generalities. The male lead Akitsuki is admittedly somewhat different than the average dishrag male lead, but he's still pretty awful. He's got no real ambitions, no real convictions, and just plain isn't very likable. Suzuka, the apparent love interest, is one of those mixed signal types. While initially she was somewhat likable, eventually she descends into stupidity. "I can't admit I like the guy because I know I don't like him, but will occasionally realize I do," and so on and so forth. There's hot and cold, and then there's just plain bitchy.

Realizing, of course, that the anime is named after her, we can't help but know that they are somehow destined to be with each other regardless. There's another girl Honoka who the male lead actually dates for awhile, but she's too hopelessly nice and one-dimensional to ever have a chance. There's the casual friend of both who is perhaps the only voice of reason for both and then there's the perverted friend who sadly has more insight into human nature than both the lead characters combined.

I have a great deal of tolerance for adolescent emotional bumbling in my animes. But I can't conjure any reason for why the two romantic leads in here should be together. There's just no goddamn spark at all, and they certainly don't interact well together. Sure, he likes her, and she, however grudgingly, likes him, and I certainly wouldn't begrudge them some quality time together. But their romance simply isn't romantic. Add that to piss-poor comedy, no real conflict, and no drama worth speaking of, and I simply can't see a story worth telling. That, and the main character is portrayed as profoundly stupid, and I hate that.

In short, we're supposed to enjoy the romantic fumblings of a moron and a bitch, brought together by the fact that they're good athletes. You know, I didn't like this scenario any better when I was in high school, why should I like it now?

Now then, it's perhaps not as horribly bad as I make it sound. As things go, it's a passable entry in the genre, so you may derive some mild enjoyment from it if you're a fan, especially in the early episodes. I did. Of course that only makes it worse in the long run. It's certainly no Kare Kano, or even a Midori no Hibi or Narue no Sekai. Honestly, if you're so hard up for a school romance, it's time to start looking in the shoujo section, of which there are zillions of school romances comparable or better. You just have to get used to beautiful guys fluttering around an ugly girl. That, and you have to give up any pretensions of manhood.

Animation

The animation is pretty shoddy in general, it just brings home how much not even the creators really cared about this. I suppose it's not supposed to really matter for a school romance anime, but at least good animation would have covered some of it's faults.

Sound

You know, I like the music well enough, but it's well, how do I put this? It's just not any good. The singers really don't deserve to be performing professionally and the lyrics are as uninspired as it gets. I looked the group up and they're all like thirteen with no vocal chops to speak of. A failed idol group in the making.

The voice acting is awful. They sound like stock characters from some low budget Japanese dating sim. Which of course is the hideous spawning pool of the entire genre, which is really the root problem of the genre as a whole. None of them are any good and certainly aren't A-list. For about half of them, I'd say this is their first and last performance in the voice acting field.

After reading the other reviews on this series, my gut instinct has been proved correct - namely that this series would polarize those who watched it. As a result you also can see the preferences of those who have already watched it and reviewed it.

I tend to be one who likes a good high school/college romance type (To Heart, Love Hina et al), as long as I break it up with something a little less Shoujou (mecha, political, historical). I look at Rose of Versailles and, granted, it has more episodes, but the character development was brilliant. This lent to a better developed historical and political story line.


The animation was at best average. In stills, it was clear but in motion the quality deteriorated significantly. Also, the ability to relate to the characters was inhibited by the very average way in which their facial expressions and body language were interpreted. This in turn gives you only a basic understanding of what they feel, but certainly doesn't make you 'feel' it with them.


The story was not very good at all. The problem is that it drifts through the program without really taking it to a new level.

Realistically a 26 episode series needs a lot more depth and I have seen a few 13 episode animes with better developed storylines than this (such as To Heart - Remember my Memories and Crest of the Stars . I'm not saying To Heart is perfect, but does a similar thing with storylines in only half the episodes, so it makes you feel refreshed, rather than bored or drawn out.

Love Hina does it differently in that there are subplots and tangents, but this series has nothing.

With Suzuka, you want to watch it to see if the story develops further but it never does and this leaves the viewer disappointed at the end of it. You have an end, but little satsifaction from having given up 13 or so hours to watch it, when it could have been done in 6 hours.


The characters are another issue in this series that really detract from the enjoyment of the series. Yamato and Suzuka are characters you really cannot sympathise with and feel quite irritated by at times. They are poorly developed and show no real signs of being people you even care about or alternatively can sympathise with their faults and relate to.

Flat, underdeveloped characters seem to permeate throughout this series, with Yasunobu and Honoka being nice enough characters (I actually like Honoka) but really underdeveloped. The "drunken duo" of Saotome and Matsumoto are poor imitations of Kitsune from Love Hina (even taking into account the awful southern accent given to Kitsune in the English dub) and serve no purpose, when they could be so much more. They are made to move the storyline on in parts, but fail miserably as meaningful people. In fact even the direction and method that the storyline moves after their involvement is plain awful.

Miki and Nana are the two characters that add more to this series, but this seems to be symptomatic of the underdeveloped characters in that those who make a brief appearance are better than the main characters.


Value - I wouldn't rate highly. Like I've said above, underdeveloped storylines and underdeveloped and unsympathetically rendered characters really take a great deal of value away from it. It is like watching a fight in Dragonball Z (not a show I particularly like at all) that goes on for 15 episodes. You are left saying "Get on with it" a-la Monty Python style.


Enjoyment - this is really just a summation of the points above. The only debate is whether the people you wanted to get together actually got together, but even if they do, by the end you are just saying "who cares".

All in all, there are many High School Romance type series out there who do a far better job. To Heart and To Heart-Remember my memories but a drop in the bucket of better developed, meaningful series that are a far superior alternative to Suzuka. Even Ichigo 100%, which isn't always the best, does a better job than this. I'm not saying don't watch it, it is okay to watch, but don't get through the first few episodes and think "great" and then get disappointed at the end.

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Thank you to those who rated the original review, a little hard, but much appreciated. Hope this is a little better. And let me know how to put white line breaks in. ^_^

Animation: Nothing fancy, nothing bad.

Sound: OP/ED prob worst i have ever heard and the char voices are nearly ok.

Story: Its about yamato who comes to his cousins all girl dorm or something like that to go to school. Where he meets asahina and falls in love with her, a nd starts to chase her around. Thats whats its all about.

Character: Yamato goes on and on about suzuka yet she declines him and mocks/hate him. Just pure idiotic characters.

Enjoyment: The characters are so stupid there is simply no enjoyment in watching one idiot trying to get love by a girl that hates him/treats him for shit.
Some ppl seem to like this anime but i dont.