Hawkeye
Momo is your average high school girl: she has a crush on a cute boy named Toji, likes to shop, and has a best friend named Sae. However, Momo soon discovers that Sae is not a very good best friend. She copies everything that Momo does. If Momo likes something then obviously Sae has to like it, too. But Sae is more then a copycat, she’s a competitive copycat. She can’t just have the same things as Momo, she has to make sure that Momo can’t have them either. Momo realizes this, and decides to keep her crush on Toji a secret by claiming that she likes the class playboy Kairi. To Momo’s relief, the predictable Sae sets her sights on Kairi. This leaves Momo free and clear to try to pursue a relationship with Toji, and when Toji confesses his feelings to her things couldn’t be going better. What Momo didn’t count on was Kairi falling in love with her, or just how devious and underhanded Sae could be. Can Momo and Toji’s relationship withstand the web of lies and deceit?
When I first came across the series Peach Girl, it was in manga format. What really drew me to the series, besides the story of course, was the artwork. It was original and stylized, with unique and distinctive character designs. It wasn’t the same generic thing I’d seen a thousand times before. The characters had different hair styles, and different outfits on a daily basis. It didn’t look the same page after page. I was very surprised and pleased to see that this style transferred into an animated format really well. The manga also had a fun comical streak in it, where the characters would take on chibi form and strike poses. The anime didn’t leave this out at all, and it was a great tension breaker after the dramatic parts.
The story also exactly parallels the manga, which made me really happy since it was very well-written. The characters all had the same personalities and the story arcs were the same. This might be a disappointment for fans hoping for a continuation of their favorite story but that’s what OAV’s are for.
The voices were well done and not over acted however when compared to the original Japanese voices Kairi’s voice is a little too different for my tastes. Also the translation was not the best I’ve seen, as they added in English slang such as “babe” and “honey”. I can assure you these words were not in the original dialog, and were used too repetitively.
Peach Girl satisfied my inner shoujo sweet spot. The story is compelling and has plenty of twists in the plot. The characters are believable and relatable, save for the villain who is a bit over the top. Fans of the Manga, as well as new fans who just love a good drama-filled romantic story will enjoy this anime.
