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R1 DVD Reviews
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Wednesday, 21 December 2005 00:00 |
 Taking place a few years after Please Teacher!, Please Twins! returns us to the same town (with a few of the same characters still around in bit parts) and presents a whole new awkward relationship. Maiku, Karen and Miina were all abandoned as kids - there's evidence that one of the girls is related to Maiku, but who? And what happens when feelings go beyond "sisterly" love..?
1 - Three Twins?
Back to the town where Please Teacher! took place - Maiku Kamishiro has
moved there after seeing a news article about a UFO being sighted (sound familiar?), but not because of the UFO. Rather, a house he
saw in the background of the report matches one in a photo he's had from
his childhood. Trying to find out more about his past (he has no
memories from before he was left at an orphange), Maiku has hired the
house out and gone to live there. Seems he's not the only person
thinking along the same lines, either - before long two girls, Miina
Miyafuji and Karen Onodera, arrive at his home, each carrying copies of
the same photo that led them there. Long lost family?
Perhaps - although there are now three of them and only two people
shown in the photo, so who's related and who's the stranger..?
2 - We Might be Related
Karen's first sight of her possible brother somehow didn't manage to
live up to her expectations - but now that she's here, she's going to
work with what she's got. The first order of business is to try and
figure out how they all came to have copies of the same photograph, but
that's easier said than done when none of them can remember their real
families. There's more trouble for Maiku when the girls turn up
at school later in the day, meaning Maiku has to quickly spin a tale to
hide the truth from Mizuho-sensei. While she's easily fooled,
Student President Ichigo Morino and her deputy Tsubaki Oribe don't buy
his story. Realising the effect they're having on Maiku's
previously "normal" life, Miina and Karen decide to return to their homes, but
Maiku finds he can't let them go...
3 - We Might be Strangers
Miina's beginning to have the sort of dreams about Maiku that a sister
really shouldn't have - it seems that despite her best attempts to
persuade herself otherwise she's beginning to fall in love with
him. The amount of jealousy in the air when Oribe calls to see
Maiku just proves the point, especially when she refuses to leave,
despite numerous less-than-subtle hints from Miina. Let battle
commence... Later, Maiku receives a 'phonecall from Karen's
foster father, and what he has to tell him isn't good news...
4 - Kind to You
Realising it's not fair on Maiku for them to rely completely on his income,
Miina and Karen have been looking for part-time jobs. When an
office assistant post at Maiku's school is advertised, Miina's
determined to get it - even though she'll have to do more than a little
lying. Good plan, until Mizuho-sensei turns out to be
the one doing the interviews - and she's met them before. Plan B:
become students instead. Meanwhile, Maiku's been doing some
research of his own and has lined up work for the two girls anyway, at
Herikawa's grocery store. All in a "normal" day in the Kamishiro
household...
It takes a while for Miina to persuade Maiku that there's the
possibility of them being family, and longer again to persuade him to
allow her to live there - a teenage boy living with a teenage girl is
just the sort of thing the gossip mill would love. Nice to see at least a little reality in the setting, and this theme of making everything at least seem above-board is returned to several times in these episodes.
Karen at least has a valid reason to be away from home, too - her foster father has gotten into trouble with the business he
owns, and it seems he's had to turn to some less-than-forgiving sources
for money. He's had to default on those loans now, meaning
Maiku's is a much safer place for Karen to be than at home - and her
foster father's about to head for the safety of anywhere-but-home
himself. As for Miina, there's been no real information about her background so far, which I hope is something that's going to be corrected soon.
There's hasn't really been enough going on so far to get a real feel for Please Twins!. I was a big fan of the original Please Teacher!, though, and is this series manages to recapture the feel of its predecessor it should do okay. It's a very visually attractive show, with a reasonable amount of fanservice (going for quality over quantity in that department) and some good comedy moments, usually supplied by Ichigo's spying and scheming. We just need to get into the real meat of the story - finding out which girl is the relative and which is the stranger. Roll on, volume two...
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