Kodocha (short for the original Japanese name "Kodomo no Omocha" meaning Child's Toy) Reviewer: SoldieroftheKing Email: private ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Anime Episodes: 102 Seasons: 2 Movies: none OVA: 1 Manga 10 books Price: $15.64 DVD starter box set(amazon.com) $17.09 DVD (amazon.com) $14.99 Manga book (amazon.com) N/A OAV Rated: PG13 Catagories: Romance Comedy Drama ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Review Synopsis: Sana Kurata, a 6th grade child star, takes it upon herself to show Akito Hayama, the class bully, the error of his ways. When she discovers the reasons behind his delinqincy, she becomes determined to help him. What follows is a hillarious, serious, and thoroughly entertaining story. Age Rating: Kodocha is definately the mildest anime I have ever seen, but it's not without it's hiccups. The manga targeted a general audience, and is a beautiful and funny story primarily about a young teen's exploration and growth into the adult world, particularly in the area of love, and touches on some fairly serious issues, such as suicide, teenage pregnancy, etc. Although the content is generally mild as Japanese comics go, it really needs an older reader to truly appreciate it. The anime, however, was directed at young Japanese children and made several changes to that effect, particularly in Sana's personality. Much of the drama of the original comic was watered-down and/or changed, and stuffed with far more comedy in order to be more intertaining to their target audience. There is still enough of the original issues retained in the anime that an American parent may feel it is too mature for their 8 year old, however, it is definately a much lighter affair than the manga. Adult Content: In the beginning, Sana calls her manager, Rei, her pimp (gigalo in the English comic). The point of this was to demonstrate that though Sana seemed to act grown up to most people, she was really very niave. She believed a pimp was just a paid boyfriend. He humors her because he doesn't want to hurt her feelings. Akito pats her where her breasts should be (she doesn't have any yet) twice. If the first two didn't bother you then this shouldn't, but Sana's first bra gets a story (I'm still laughing about it as I write this). Everyone gets really gaga over some kissing photos. This was actually made worse in the English than it originally was. In Japan, a peck is big deal. I guess the translator didn't think Americans would buy that. Akito says s--t once. It's for a specfic reason that is in both the anime and manga. I don't think that dub episode has been released yet. In any case, I haven't seen it, so I don't know if it was retained in English or not. In the anime, there are two gay men, one is Sana's hair stylist shown at various places throughout, and one is a crossdresser in the 2nd season. Also in the anime, Sana gets a second "lover" (after her "breakup" with Rei) who is too old for her (that part was actually really sad, maybe sadder than anything in the comics). In the English version of the manga, some of Akito's gang call Sana a b---h. In the last volume, Sana and Akito try to have sex. This attempt was thawarted by Rei. There is no nudity in the manga whatsoever. I don't recall there being any in the anime either. Magic: There is none. This is a story completely grounded in reality, unless you count when Sana whips out her hammer thingy from nowhere. Unusual for an anime. Overall -- What You Really Want to Know: Manga: This is a beautiful, sweet, and often incredibly funny story. A boy whose life has been hell meets up with a girl whose life has seemingly been a breeze. He thinks she can't understand him. To some degree, he's probably right, but in this story, nothing is as simple as it seems. It explores tragedy, pain, abandonment, severe depression, love, restoration, hope, and more. This story doesn't give answers, more just explores learning how to deal with difficult situations. The special relationship that Sana and Akito slowly develop is just beyond words. It's the envy of any girl. On top of that is a writer with incredible potential. Her unorthdox way of telling a story makes for a very interesting and hilarious read. If your're old enough to understand a few things about love (and maybe a little about the birds and the bees) and you enjoy sweet, mostly innocent romance/comedy novels, or novels about people who have had to deal with somewhat tough and hurtful situations, this one's for you. Anime: In the manga, Sana is oblivious to things because she is niave. In the anime, it's because she doesn't slow down long enough to notice whats going on. I swear that girl should have a riddlin IV permanently glued to her arm. She is just hyper, hyper, hyper. The anime tells most of the manga's story and has some very serious parts that will make you cry, but most of the time it doesn't take itself too seriously, and is crammed full of sillyness. Sana's mom is an absolute hoot. If you mostly are just looking for a good laugh and you like crazy, zany, hyper-active girls, this one's for you. There is no edited English version, only unedited, which at this point has not fully been released (my english subs came from China). The dub attempts to gloss over some of the more offensive content, calling Rei her boyfriend instead of pimp, etc. However, they can't have gloss over everything (such as the crossdresser). Other than that, the dub didn't really change much, just minor dialog changes. Akito sounded way, way too old. I wasn't that impressed with Sana's english voice, but I commend anyone who can keep up with the flapping lips of anime Sana. OAV: The OAV isn't liscensed in America and probably never will be. It was released shortly before the anime was made. It followed the original manga closely and managed to cram the first book into a 45 minute story. As a result, it felt hurried, but still came out rather well considering. Personal comments: I tried to keep any of my personal feelings out of my review but I'll state here that I read the manga first and absolutely loved it. I knew it would make a good anime and was excited when I learned there was one. I got ahold of it........., and was sorely dissapointed. My beautiful love story and sweet, naive, beautiful Sana were..., well, not so sweet and beautiful. What does this have to do with anything? Well, If you read the manga first, and like it, you will probably not like the anime. If you watch the anime first and like it, you will probably not like the manga. They're that different. On a more positive note, Sana's blues singing and the burucha, both pure anime inventions that would not have fit in the character of the manga, were very,...very,...very, funny. On the negative side, I despise Babito. OK, so thats really personal. :P <--- http://hugglebunny.com/animereviews/ --->