Ajimu: Beach Story

[DB]

Seen all four episodes of this OVA series.

This is an entry into the romance genre. The fact of the matter is, OVAs seem a lot rarer than they used to be. While I tend to prefer longer 13-26 episode tales, there is something to be said for the old 4-6 episode format. For one thing, it's nice to be able to watch all of something in one sitting. This was one of the few I decided to give a try.

First, it's romance, pure and simple. If that's not your thing, skip it. That's all there is to it. The basics is our male lead (high school age, of course)Izumiya, has become facinated with a girl he sees on the train every day when he goes to school. Ajimu is her name, and she's attractive in a fairly standard way, though she has a talent in music, which plays a large role in this brief tale.

Eventually our hero works up the courage to talk to her, only to accidentily grope her, oh yeah, and kisses her. And someone's tennis racket pokes her in a fairly intimate area, which she assumes is Izumiya's 'talent' due to his positioning. As one might guess, she does not react well to this intrusion in her life. However, after a rocky start, the two begin to actually talk, and learn what one another's like, and each finds it appealing.

However, it can't be that easy, and it isn't. Ajimu has a past that she can't let go, and on Izumiya's end, there's another girl he's met who has more than a passing interest in him. Thus sets up our romantic quadrangle, which is a little more complex since Izumiya's friend has an interest in one of the girls as well.

There's several strengths to this series. One is the characters. They are fairly believable in how they act and react. Who hasn't been in high school and found themselves attracted to someone they've seen from afar, and try to figure out how to approach them? Likewise first love's are hard to let go, especially when they end so abruptly. The series is short, so the characters don't have a lot of depth, but they don't really need them, since the series is so short. The character interactions work well, and there's really only one character in the series you'll be rooting against. Although there is this terribly annoying troll like girl that keeps popping up. I suppose it's supposed to be for comic relief, but ends up annoying, even if she does serve a purpose at the end.

The plot moves well, not surprisingly given we only have 4 eps to do everything in. There was one big surprise that I didn't seem coming in the last episode that threw me. It actually had me wondering a bit at the outcome, which was a good thing.

The third notable factor in this: the music. It's got a heavy south seas beat to it, and there are a lot of songs played throughout the show (Ajimu performs regularly both at the beachside and at a nearby bar.) It was a refreshing change of pace from a lot of the anime soundtracks nowadays, very few of which catch my ear.

Final summation: A neat, tidy genre story. I thought it was worth watching once, if romance is your thing. 5 out of 10, which is raised to 6 if you're really into the island flavor to music.