Sentimental Journey 5/10

Not that girly is a bad thing but WHOA! By the second disc I had to watch some lesbian porn to re-affirm my manhood. I just watched all 12 episodes over the last couple of days and was surprised at how entertaining the show actually was. For some odd reason this show has HUGE production values. The backgrounds are insanely detailed for a TV series. The character designs are good and the Japanese VAs (they change each episode) are good throughout. This show is a hand-drawn/coloured one so as it looks as good as it does I give major props. Note: This title is Japanese with English subs only. I suppose this is because only fan-boys such as myself are the target market and we NEVER watch the dubs. This show aired in 1998.

This show's setup is a little strange. Each episode focuses on a different female main character and her dealing with a guy she liked in the past who moved away. The girls don't appear in more than one episode and the guys are never shown. I thought it might be cool if it was all the SAME guy, going around breaking these girls hearts but I'm pretty sure that's not the case. The majority of the girls are in high school but there are a couple of exceptions.

As I mentioned above, I found this show pretty entertaining considering. I've seen Seraphim Call which is almost exactly the same show, but this one is a little different. The stories in the episodes are each located in a different part of Japan apparently, though I'm not as familiar with the various locales so only different accents really stood out for me. It seems like the time of year moves around but I don't believe that has any real significance. The stories are pretty basic, the problems the girls must face usually are about them moving on in life, after carrying torches for the guys for varying amounts of time. I liked how the show seemed based in the modern day, and the characters seemed pretty believable overall. I figure this show is really aimed at girls younger than the characters as no sex, drugs, smoking or bad behaviour in general is depicted or part of the plots. This makes the stories a little on the sugary sweet side but that's OK as far as I'm concerned.

As I watched this show I got to thinking about how we really have nothing like this in North America. I'm not sure if early teen girls (as I am not one) would take to a show like this but it tells stories that usually centre on overcoming a problem with hope for the future and no action or over-the-top comedy to detract from the realness of the situations.

I liked this show and I'd say is very recommended for just about any age girls. Fan-boys might like it but manly-men might want to steer clear. (In case you're wondering, my favourite story was episode 4 about the girl in the hospital.)