Ranked #137

Seto no Hanayome OVA

"A splendid addition to an already successful series."

Seto no Hanayome fans should be pleased with the recent OVA. From the familiar comedy/parody that it is well praised for, to the unexpected heart-stopping horror, AIC and GONZO deliver one of the best OVA of the season. For new Seto no Hanayome fans, feel free to check out my review on the TV series if you are unsure about whether you should watch it or not.

The OVA consists of 4 mini-stories about 15 minutes each. Most of these stories are very humourous and entertaining (albeit a bit all-over-the-place at times), but what is rather lacking is the characters development. In fact, you will be disappointed if you are looking for some romance between Nagasumi and San. In short, most of the relationships between all characters stayed roughly the same since the end of the TV series. This means Luna Papa-san is still trying to bring happiness to his daughter through some ridiculous methods, Gouzaburou is still beating the sh!t out of Nagasumi whenever possible, Nagasumi is still a slave to Luna, and you get the point.

The introduction of the new character Satori (monkey Hideyoshi's younger sister), was not really well done. While no one expected her to be main star for the show, many of us actually expected something more from her (and perhaps give her more screen time and elaborate on her relation with her brother).

As for sound and animation, both are very well executed especially the OP for both episodes. In particular, I personally find the 2nd OP "Tenshi Ranman Love Power" really addictive. To suit the whacky nature of this show, the animation technique used throughout each mini-story differs slightly from time to time and it is always done in such a way as to maximize the atmosphere to get the viewers to the right "mood". This is extremely true when one compare the previous mini-stories with the last story in the OVA.

Overall, Seto no Hanayome OVA (Jin + Gi) met the level of expectation from fans and it is without a doubt that it'll worth your one hour of time watching it. read more

Many times have I seen an OVA to a popular series being used to cram in pointless fanservice, beach or onsen scenes that didn’t make it into the series. However Seto no Hanayome is no such thing, as it does its best to cram in all the stuff we enjoyed from the series into this 2 episode OVA.

There isn’t much of a story but this was originally an outrageous Parody, Romantic, Comedy so it doesn’t matter as the main plot remains the same. Each episode is basically split up into two scenarios; where it starts off by quickly setting the scene and all you have to do is sit back relax and see how it all plays out. The first scenario is as follows: it’s the beginning of a new school semester and Nagasumi is forced to move to a class of delinquent students, then we have a date to the movies scenario, followed by a maid café one and to close matters with a horror story. These scenarios may seem pretty ordinary for your average anime but this is Seto no Hanayome, so you can expect an outrageous, original, experience from this short OVA.

The outrageous part stems from the characters and surprisingly all the characters make an appearance at some point, never forgetting to show their usual quirks. There are also two new characters that make an appearance in this OVA but don’t expect any character development, since that was never this series’ strong point.

Although just as you’d expect from an OVA, the production values are quite high. It has the same colourful, comical, designs that made this series so funny but anyone can tell that a lot of effort has been pumped into the outrageous moments and various parodies. The music is also nicely done; with a catchy OP and ED theme for each episode on the other hand the soundtrack is pretty much the same deal.

Overall Seto no Hanayome is one of the few awesome TV series that managed to spawn an OVA that just as awesome. Even though it lacks any form of development and common sense, the fast-paced comedy is what makes up for it and also makes this the most enjoyable OVA I’ve seen in a long time. read more