Oh man, what a riot. This OVA is perfect down to every little detail. Rated 17+ though, in my opinion, but you’d know that already if you had watched any of the regular School Days episodes. Where there was lots of drama and a very surprising conclusion in the original series, this OVA totally puts a sentai spin on it and gives you an awesome ending that parodizes what would have been shocking.
Synopsis
A mysterious heroine named Magical Heart protects the city from danger. But she’s not the only hero. Radish, the restaurant where Sekai and her friends work, is also the secret headquarters of an all-girl superhero squad. Kokoro is part of this squad, even if the uniforms don’t exactly fit her.
When the evil Doctor S (Setsuna) terrorizes the city with zombie gas, it’s up to the Radish girls to save the day. The gas turns everyone into zombies who act upon their carnal desires. Unfortunately the girls get overwhelmed. And just as they are cornered, Sekai realizes that Kokoro has gotten away somehow. Suddenly Magical Heart shows up to battle Doctor S.
But even her efforts aren’t enough; another mysterious heroine Magical Word (Kotonoha) appears to assist Magical Heart. They summon Magical Maya-chan, their giant mech, to do battle with Dr. S’s overgrown Tanaka sentient. With a magic chainsaw final attack, Tanaka is vanquished, and the Radish girls celebrate their victory on a nice boat in a sea of blood.
End.
Impressions
XD There’s not much I can say about this. But a whole lot to laugh about. Zyl says, “Simply quite amazing that an OVA can be so funny and enjoyable but feel like faithful to the original series.” Despite the whole off-the-wall sentai genre, the episode really does keep to the canon with Sekai’s jealousy of Kotonoha, Makoto’s “flashbacks” of bad choices in life, and then the whole ending sequence’s homage to the blood in episode 12. Best of all is the inclusion of Nice Boat, likely thanks to 2ch.
Setsuna remains my favorite, just because she’s the silent-type moe and still one of the most level-headed characters. Add in her petite-ness and green hair, and you have a winner of a character. And she disguises her secret identity well while living as Setsuna.
If you’ve never seen School Days, this episode might just appear as one crazy event after another. It might be funny because of the sheer randomness of everything (or if you like loads of fanservice humor), but you won’t have the same enjoyment by missing all the references to the series canon.
Being an OVA, the fanservice does get to kick up a notch, which personally isn’t to my tastes, but whatever. ^^; It’s sure fun to watch with a group of people.
Some shout for a second episode, but I think one is quite enough. :P You can only make so many jokes, and this really is just plotless entertainment. We have enough of those series already. –Or rather, we can continue spamming the School Days universe but just in one-episode projects. Much like the Valentine Days episode; that was great, too. Especially Setsuna. :3
~Crisu
It’s just red water, honest.
For extra screencaps (some risky ones that I wouldn’t put here on CJ’s blog), see 53RG10’s post. Kurogane also focuses in on the finer points of this self-parody. And Hinano also felt the great effects of the nice boat.
It’s R21, for NAKED BOOBS LOL
For anyone who don’t read my LJ on a regular basis; here’s my take on “School Days” and the fandom around it:
Those who think death is such a great idea should try it once in a while.
No. Really. I read the blogs over at Bandai Visual USA. Only 2% of the viewing audience over there actually watches this crap. (Anime is not tha big in Japan; it’s even smaller here in the US.)
The animu industry (and the fans surrounding it) can turn a guy into a jerk, kill him, cut his head off, and then make fun of it on #chan. They’re getting away with pedophilia, murder, loser-ism, retardedness; they consider themselves as being proud outcasts of society.
And yet when REAL murder or rape cancels a showing on cable/satellite, they whine, bark, and moan until the DVDs are released.
Here in the West; we respect life (to a fault). Geneon had to stop sending their animu to us because THEY ARE CRAP. The company Seven Seas had been axed after they tried to give us “Kodomo no Jikan” (which was done by a woman, btw. And it was also made of FAIL). And no serious anime hobbyist would even shed a tear if Bandai Visual USA (or ADV for that matter) makes a wise decision to do a tactical advance in reverse… (i.e. Make a run for it.)
I don’t quite follow what you’re saying… In short, are you just upset at the recent selection of anime series these past few seasons? (Because the industry seems to focus more heavily on moe and fanservice than before?)
Moe and fanservice aren’t really a big problem. It’s the type of stories they tell and what they do to the other characters (mainly the guys) I have a problem with. I’ll go into detail:
Makoto Itou (School Days) being killed and such? There’s a movie made here that I don’t know the name of; the guy was punished and humiliated for sleeping around, not necessarilly killed.
Saji Crossroad (Gundam 00) had been told by his GF Louisse to complete his education and move on without her. A real man would stay by her side instead of acting like a dooey-eyed dog and going “o~kay~.”
I carry a picture around of Kyon punching Haruhi in the face because that’s what he should’ve done when she slammed the back of his head on her desk.
Clannad’s Youhei Sunohara getting his butt handed to him by Tomoyo whenever he deserved it or not. I’ve BEEN hating KyotoAnimu ever since Haruhi’s Melancholy.
And please don’t get me started on shows like Combat Butler Hayate, Maburaho, Mahoraba, Rosalia + Vampire, et al ad naseum.
A lot of the anime created by Japan consist of “superior females and inferior males.” However; they’re highly popular and the mainly male audience over there will eat it up. THEN, the people behind these shows get confused as to why the same level of popularity can’t be reached in the West. Even though I’ve been TELLING them why it’s not happening.
Hmmm… Tyrenol, are you a man of Alabama. Goes drinking and beat his wife? :D