Introduction
With the completion of the fall semester, I decided to continue to watch some anime again since I now have the time. I was currently watching Cowboy Bebop but for some reason I can never seem to finish watching it. So I went on to watch the next anime on my watchlist: Suzuka. To be honest, I did not expect much from it since I have read other reviews and it range from poor to really good.
With that in mind, I began watching the anime. Before I knew it, I finished watching the entire anime in just two days. The anime had a total of twenty-six episodes. That is very fast, especially for me. An average of thirteen episodes a day ranks as one of my highest.
Review
Story
The story is very simple and it is something that has been done time after time. In terms of uniqueness, it is not unique at all since I have seen this type of story before. So how did it captivates my attention as it did? Even if the story has been told before, it can always be interesting if it is told effectively. That was what Suzuka was able to do.
It told the story effectively and it kept it interesting. Each episode follows one another near perfection because they end with cliff hangers and the rest of the story is continue in the next episode. That explains one of the reason why I finished watching this anime so quickly. I just couldn't stop when the episode ends because I want to know what happens next.
The story itself is about Yamato Akitsuki and his love for Suzuka Asahina. However, Suzuka doesn't love Yamato because she still had feelings for someone else who died after confessing his love to Suzuka. However, as time passes and Suzuka spent more time with Yamato, she began to have feelings for him. Despite all of this, when Yamato confesses his love to Suzuka, she still rejected him. Yamato though does not gives up and decided to join the track team so he can be closer to Suzuka.
At the same time, Honoka Sakurai has a crush on Yamato since they were kids. Although she knows Yamato have feelings for Suzuka, she did not give up. She also joins the track team so she can be with Yamato. One night when the track team was having a party to celebrate their success at a track meet, Honoka kissed Yamato. Soon after, they went out with each other. However, Suzuka was still hold a large part of Yamato's heart and for that, Honoka can't handle it. Eventually, they did break up.
Yamato soon realize that he still loved Suzuka but unless she can forget about her former love, it doesn't seem like they would be able to get anywhere. In order to get her to forget about him, he thought that maybe if he can become better at what her former love was good at, maybe she would start to look at him instead. The focus of the show then shifts towards him trying to achieve that goal.
As Yamato continues to love Suzuka, so does Honoka continues to love Yamato. Will Suzuka ever accepts her true feelings and accept Yamato? Will Yamato gives up and returns to Honoka? I am not ging to give everything anway so watch if you want to know the ending.
Characters
The three main characters of this anime are Yamato, Suzuka, and Honoka. Each of these characters were very well developed. You get to know their personalities and in essence, almost predict what they would do in certain situations.
Some of the other charactes though such as Miki Fujikawa and Yasunobu Hattori weren't as fully developed as I would have liked. Miki and Yasunobu were to be very important in the development of the plot so for them to be not fully developed was a dissappointment.
Animation
This anime was released in 2005 so I expected the animation to be very good. The characters themselves were well drawn and animated but other animations weren't. Backgrounds weren't drawn so well and in many parts are a little blurry. In the end, the animation might just well be the worst part of this anime. If that is the case, it isn't all that bad because as long as it is not the story, then it should be fine.
Sound
I really liked the opening theme. As for the two ending themes, I am lukewarm towards them. Background music was for the most part good. The music are played at the right moment and their tone is also correct for the mood.
Conclusion
All in all, I really enjoyed watching this anime. It was a big suprise that I would finish it so quickly so right at that, I really can't say it was bad. It captures my attention and made me want to know more as the stroy progresses. I know the manga continues with the story and it also has come to an ending. I wouldn't mind watching a sequel if they ever made one but since it is now two years after it has been released and there is not even an OVA, it doesn't seem likely. Nevertheless, I would highly recommend this for anyone looking for a good anime to watch. It is a love-romance-comedy anime so if you don't like those type of storyline, then don't watch it. Otherwise, watch as I am sure you'll enjoy it.
Download
Below are some songs from the anime that I liked. All are instrumental.