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Now in Japan
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Saturday, 27 January 2007 00:00 |
 When a show's opening sequence begins with a flash of lovingly-detailed pantsu, there's really no mistaking what sort of show you're letting yourself in for, and yes, Tona-gura! is a fanservice spectacular. Add in large doses of slapstick, violence, and possibly romance, and you get something that's not remotely original. Do we care? Nah...
1 - 30 Centimeters of Unrequited Love
Kazuki Arisaka has been waiting 10 years for the day when her neighbours moved back to their old house. She had a crush on their son Yuuji, who she still thinks of as her first love - even though she never managed to express her feelings for him before they moved out. Now they're back and she has the chance to finally make an impression on him - except that rather than being the knight in shining armour that Kazuki's imagined him to be, Yuuji's turned into quite the little pervert...
2 - Tsuntsun Kazuki And The Apron Of Temptation
Kazuki wakes up to a wonderful sunny morning - and Yuuji sleeping peacefully in the bed next to her. And Marie hiding in the cupboard, waiting for her opportunity to open fire. Somehow it seems as though her normal life is over. Unfortunately, their parents have just buggered off to South America on short notice, meaning Yuuji and Marie are going to be around for a while. Later, Yuuji manages to make himself look even more of a pervert when Hazuki accidentally uncovers his porn collection. Kazuki's fed up with dealing with his ecchi nature, wants to just throw him out - but Hatsune has an idea for a little contest...
The first comparison that comes to mind is He is My Master - Yuuji's ecchi sensibilities are up there with Yoshitaka's, Kazuki definitely seems to be chanelling Izumi, and Hatsune's attitude to pushing the two potential lovebirds together & setting up little contests has more than a shade of Mitsuki about it. All that's missing are the maid uniforms - although episode two does its best to cover that particular fetish as well. Normally I'd start grumbling now about lack of originality - but I enjoyed HiMM, thank you very much, and Tona-gura! fills the same guilty-pleasure role now.
Going by the opening credits, there's a large and varied cast that has yet to be introduced, but these first two episodes focus on the core cast: Kazuki, who is almost the definition of the tsundere female; her older sister Hatsune, the big-breasted troublemaker who seems to like nothing better than seeing her little sister in compromising positions; Yuuji, pervert of note; and his little sister Marie, who's continually frustrated by her onii-chan's ecchi tendencies and carries a machinegun to keep him in check. She's not afraid to use it, either. With the exception of Kazuki, they're more caricatures than characters, if you know what I mean, but their antics are definitely fun to watch.
The next episode moves the gang into their school setting and begins introducing the rest of the cast - I'm curious to see if that changes the tone of the show any. I'm happy enough with it the way that it is - it fills the "mindless entertainment" category really well, which is sometimes all you're looking for. It's not something you'll remember watching for the rest of your life - quite the opposite - but it fills a need, and does what it sets out to do. If you're a fanservice junky, give it a go. |
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