Sakura Tsuushin

::QUICK REVIEW::
Story: 6 (Lots of taboo but its a good love story)
Art: 5 (90's Cel Art isn't my thing, looks better than DBZ)
Sound: 5 (Old school sound effects, overemphasize things with sound)
Character: 7 (Relate w/ main character very well, minus the sis-con)
Enjoyment: 8 (Lotta fanservice... she's not my cousin ^_^)
Overall: 30/50 = 6.0 (Balancing two girls and a double life can be hard)


::FULL REVIEW::
Sakura diaries is an ecchi drama comedy centered around your typical character failure named Touma Inaba. His problems start right off the bat in episode one when an unknown call girl barges in his hotel room and hinders his test performance. But ... between failing so much and so many chance encounters with a girl of his dreams. A fairly fun drama unfolds. I would like to emphasize the rating of the show since it is R+ there are nudity but no hentai. So if you do/don't mind seeing a nipple or two you might have to think twice. For the most part, the nudity serves purpose other than giving Touma nosebleeds and kind of enhances the story further, since Touma is not just a failure but more like a "average joe" kind of failure that im sure some male viewers can relate to.

Thats another reason why i kept on watching this since i can relate to the main character very well, minus all the taboo parts. Well once you realize the taboo situation, you'll understand why Touma is so torn between these relationships.
...Remember its not taboo unless they're related by blood right? >_<

On a technical stand point, its pretty average in terms of cel animated shows of the late 90's But like animations during that time, the emphasis was more into the sound effects instead of the animation. So you'll get your usual random soundeffects while zooming in at something pretty/sexy/hilarious. For what its worth, it plays out fine, but it still has the 'old school' nostalgic feel to it if you know what i mean.

Overall, for a 12-episode OVA, it wasn't THAT bad. I wouldn't buy it but it was nice to see a fairly decent drama that didn't center the plot and cliffhangers on indecisive love. It centers more on juggling love and how to maintain it no matter how inappropriate it might be. If that sounds good for you then pick it up, you might be surprised.

I'm very Very Very Very Very2x Mad to the creators of this anime. 'cause yesterday while finishing episode 12 and i keep on telling to myself that i can't w8 to watch the next episode and then when i notice that i've only download 12 episode 'cause maybe i just missed the other one and i rush and check it to the list of episode in the net and then when i saw it I started to scream NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO it has only 12 episode what the F*** they just cut to black. If you gonna start something at least try to finish it. ... This anime is totally a cliffhanger.

To be honest i really like the story 'cause it was easy to watch and i really like Urara she reminded of the band ELT(Every Little Thing) to their single Urara and she's the only reason why i'm watching this anime 'cause i really love her personality she's strong,kind and lovely the main guy was very lucky to have her even he keeps on rejecting her,urara still have the smile that can light up the world.

The anime have ended 18 years ago so maybe it's not to late to have a second season or an OVA LOL. We may never know what will happen next to urara will she and touma will end up together? maybe in the manga you can just read it after you watch the anime so that you will know what will happen next 'cause i know they have completed and finish the manga and all the main plot holes will be answered i guess.

Story: 7
Art: 6
Sound: 6
Character: 7
Enjoyment: 7
Overall: 5 (it should be 7 if they have finish it)



PS: too bad 4me 'cause i don't read manga's :-(

Sakura Diaries really pulls at the love strings the entire way through.
It really is an amazing story touching on taboos, reality and the difficulties of life in general.

The art style is your typical 80's and 90's look.
What grabbed my attention was how the artists paid so much attention to detail. The backgrounds were fully drawn, the frequently visited environments did not change at all detail-wise. It's as if they had a fully drawn out environment for every scene.
There is frequent nudity in this show, although you don't ever get to see anything "too" revealing or inappropriate.
This show is a very impressive work of art.

The sounds ... were great. The English dub is surprisingly good for this show. The music was great and sometimes I felt that the voice-actors understood the emotions the characters were feeling. There isn't a lot of extra unnecessary dialogue and there isn't paragraphs and paragraphs of explanations, it makes things feel realistic.

The story is outstanding. Tonma goes to Tokyo trying to get into any college or university that he can. But the night before his important entrance exam, he is interrupted by his cousin Urara. She acts like a call girl (because he didn't remember her), getting Tonma both excited and upset, making him get sick with a cold. He fails his exam and runs into a beautiful woman named Meiko who is also taking the entrance exam. But he doesn't want her to know that he failed, so he lies and tries to go out with her anyway.
Along his journey's he will fail in virtually everything from obvious everyday things to big romance and important events. Disappointment after disappointment, it makes me wonder if he'll ever find love or find what he needs the most.

The main character Urara seemed to get the most character depth in the show. Although she is a high school girl, she is apparently very deep and her love for Tonma is also just as deep. Meiko has a surprising background to her and she turns to not be as bad as I thought she was. The other supporting characters get very little depth. But surprisingly enough, Tonma the main character this show is about, doesn't get as much depth to him as I wanted. Even until the very end, he seemed like a shallow-shell of a person.

I really enjoyed this show. The love strings were constantly being pulled and making me want to watch the entire show in one sitting.
I literally lost sleep over this.

Overall, a great show, something I wish was longer than just 12 episodes. But what I didn't enjoy was the ending. It left me confused and wanting more. The show ended with me having so many questions and so many things unresolved. I want more! More! More! More! More!

Sakura Diaries, created by the prolific adult-manga artist, U-Jin, surpassed every one of my expectations and delivered one of the most heartfelt themes about independence, pride, and responsibility.

Sakura Diaries focuses on our protagonist, Touma Inaba, a slacker whose ambitions are those of a selfish nature and whose desires are those of a lustful encounter. Touma isn't interested in going to one of the top colleges in Japan, Keio University, and merely wants to take the entrance exam as a souvenir token. His intentions is suddenly turned on its head when he bumps into Meiko Yotsuba, a remarkably attractive woman that Touma quickly develops feelings for ... soon after their brief confrontation. Along the way, Touma meets up with his cousin, Urara Kasuga, who is deeply in love with Touma and tries to reconcile with him after years of separation. Touma, however, wants to steal Meiko's heart and enrolls in a cram school, hoping that he will make it to Keio University. This love triangle between Touma, Urara, and Meiko is the main focus that drives the plot throughout the show.

Touma is the worst romantic protagonist, but for all the right reasons. Throughout the show, he is always making mistakes and finds himself constantly lying. Whether it's to get closer to Meiko, or to protect Urara's feelings, it becomes apparent that he is the only character in this show that is emotionally hurting other characters. Touma is, by definition, his own antagonist and it is his selfish endeavors that keep him from making any progress in the relationships between his friends and lovers. Adding in the fact that he wants to lose his virginity and his disinterest in his studies are also vices that plague Touma's life. What makes Touma stand out is his countless efforts of self-reflection. He is aware of the dire consequences of his actions and tries to remedy it, only to find out that he doesn't the skills or courage enough to set everything straight. When Touma learns that he is being deceived, he doesn't curse at the deception but instead promises himself to improve himself by becoming a better person. This level of introspection and self-improvement is what Touma brings to the show, that he's able to grow and mature even if it hurts him the most.

Urara, Touma's cousin, wants nothing more than to be by Touma's side and desperately wants to get his attention, despite how much he dislikes the idea. Urara's character might sound simple, and the fact that she never changes as much as Touma perhaps proves that point. Perhaps it isn't too silly for me to say that she represents the rom-com character as the ditzy but supportive (and sexually promiscuous) female lead. It wouldn't come off as a big surprise when I also think that Urara is a product of society. Her only friend wants to have sex, and her naughty and crude discussion only fuels her loose behavior around Touma. She is also surrounded by popular culture (television, magazines, etc.) that promotes sex positivity and beautification. Urara doesn't change, but she allows others like Touma and Meiko to change themselves for the better.

Speaking of Meiko, Meiko is a unique character that will only describe her as the most mature individual in the show. When we are first introduced to Meiko, she is remarkably beautiful and her friendly nature compels Touma to follow her in hopes of making her his wife. Her true intentions are never clear until she herself breaks the news to Touma. I can't give out much away about her character, but her revelations and her overall character arc does keep me interested without making me feel disgust or enraged.

So with all of that said, Sakura Diaries is a character-driven show, and with such realistic characters on its roster helps it to stand out from its predecessors of the genre and show that it can move on from its tropes and cliches without feeling compelled to satisfy those traditions of the past. Sakura Dairies, on the surface, seems to be just your average rom-com where everything done and said is insignificant, but within it lies the heart and spirit of what makes characters fill with passion and vigor.

First things first. My "reviews" system is explained on a blog entry. Which can be found through my profile.
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✦Story
Story had actually got quite fairly enjoyable development. I did hate the story/thematic itself though. Which I ought to mention more under "characters" section. To be honest, I cannot remember much of this Anime as some time has passed since I watched this a.k.a didn't review with fresh memories. But I do know I started skipping at some point, I was intrigued with the development but really hated characters there for various reasons. The way it was wrapped up was also quite unsatisfying.

✦Art & Sound
For it's time ... I think it had good enough style to it. Fanservice was as well good enough looking.

Music & OST I think had some good tracks, but mostly I didn't notice them or was not impressed.

✦Character
Main guy - fell in love with a chick who was quite a loose c**t and player. Probably even a gold digger.
That same chick also pissed me quite off. Playing with feelings and then playing the "I'm hurt card" then wants to change stuff thus does various bollocks and things get wrapped up in a moronic way.
Now another girl, the "main girl" who fell in love with main guy, even though after meeting each other again, main guy doesn't even remember her. Anyhow.. girl attempts to console or in generally make the guy look at him with innocence card whilst being lewd. Meaning that the was she reveals herself and teases the guy constantly in the most annoying possible ways. Like the first re-encounter was basically her being a call-girl. Then it just goes on, main guy looks at another woman, main girl still tries to get attention or is hurt when guy is even more into another woman.

I could rant even further, but I can't as some things would be spoilers. So my point is, I found characters absolutely horrific annoyance. Pissed me off in various aspect and even the main girl who really bad and was actually quite innocent. The way she attempted was just infuriating. Point here, characters had some development, which was good party. But characters as characters themselves, were just absolutely something I could not enjoy.

✦Enjoyment & Overall
Only reason I actually finished this Anime (even though I did fast forwards at some point) is because It had intriguing development. Everything else I did not enjoy.

So yeah, overall, fair enough Anime. Probably if you like such characters or not get annoyed to an extent I did, they you will quite likely enjoy this Anime more than me.

So, Sakura Diaries. It's about a guy, who likes this girl. And another girl, who likes the guy who likes the other girl who is also his cousin. Typical Rom-Com stuff, right? WROOOOONG.

This is one those series where everything shouldn't work, but does. The main character, Tounma is stupid and often comes off as a jerk. His cousin, Urarara, is ditsy and doesn't make very good decisions. His love interest, Mieko, is self-involved and distant. And in the end, no body gets what they wanted. But even though the characters make bad life decisions, they are still endearing in their own way.

Actually, in a ... way, they remind me a little bit of Flannery O'Connor's protagonists; flawed human beings but very *human* ones. In many series, protagonists come off as either perfect or complete losers. While Tounma is a complete loser at essentially the center of a harem, he's different. Why? Because unlike so many other harem protagonists, he has brought the situation upon himself and has to deal with the consequences. And that's what this anime is about : responsibility

The story is character driven. So in the end, these realistic characters come to a bittersweet but realistic conclusion.

Be forewarned, this has a lot of fanservice. It comes off a lot more sensual than most of it's ilk too, since the nudity isn't shoved in your face but comes in when not expected.

The production values are okay. Nineties aesthetics, think GTO. The OP is nice, but the rest of the music comes off as bland.


Try it out. It's a lot better than you think it is.

No complex thing you can find in Sakura Diaries. Story is well developed, you want to watch the next episode quickly. Soundtrack is great, also ending and opening themes are so nostalgic and makes your feelings top while watching. I could not believe it ended when i watched 12. episode and said 'What kind of great people are creating those animes!' It is a perfect love - slice of life story including some hot scenes, please dont think about those scenes too much (people generally vote low when it is hentai-like anime) and dont think it is a kind of hentai, no, it is the ... beautiful and funny side of the author's emotions. Just like, im the main boy, i cant help myself to dream of sleeping with the hot main character it is so challenging but also she has emotions which i cannot see while im trying only randy. But when i notice her emotions this makes the point which im not looking for but which I find as a precious treasure. Could i tell? I hope i could tell. Not the best English is talking here :D

Usually when I watch an anime that has a large following I can understand why people might like it even if I dislike it. This on the other hand is one of the few times that I don't understand what the appeal might be at all.
The art and animation is decent, it's not outstanding by any means, but it does the job, isn't stilted, and doesn't have a ton of animation errors.
The sound work is ok, the ending and opening music was really my cup of tea and there were spots here and there where the music didn't really match the scene but I ... didn't find myself getting angry over any of the sound choices.
What I did find myself getting angry over was everything else about the anime. The story it's self was a frustrating jumbled mess. It almost felt stubborn in a why, like it was refusing to budge, refusing to go anywhere. It felt almost like the first few seasons of Natsume's Book of Friends, where there would be deep character progression and then it would all be forgotten next season. Though in this case after every episode, that love confession last episode? yeah, nope, doesn't matter, it's some how shocking again next episode. Character figures out that uncle isn't living in the apartment anymore episodes ago? OMG, better move out because the uncle isn't actually living there anymore. Not only that, the story it's self is very poorly written, people will reference major plot points that won't even be explained until an episode later. Not really in any way that's supposed to be mysterious, but in a way that's pretty much "oh, yeah, we better explain that". Where in the mean time you are confused as to why the female lead is just casually talking about something that the show hasn't even referenced yet.
Well, you might be thinking, if the writing is so bad, then the characters must be likable, relatable, or charming. Nope, not at all, we have a main character that I'm pretty sure was supposed to be your standard naive country bumpkin but instead just comes of as a just plain idiot. Then we have the female lead, who is probably supposed to come off as a teenager in puppy love, but instead comes off as a near psychotic stalker. Finally our secondary female lead is a stuck up bitch that uses people. The only character in this anime that I found ever remotely likable was the "more wise than you would assume" character who has been in cram school for numerous years.
So all in all I would not recommend this anime, it was a painful experience and not in the least bit a rewarding watch and I don't understand how so many people can like it.

This anime/manga is not a romance anime, it is a hentai
The protagonist is poop, he is a bad person. The topic discussed is pedophilia, the insect, abuse, attempted rape and infidelity.


The male lead is one of the worst I've ever seen.
The animation is good for the time it came out, but the story becomes murkier in the manga and the male protagonist is the bad guy of the story, he is an unscrupulous pervert.

MANGA SPOILER ALERT

The girl is in love with her cousin whom she has only seen once in her entire life. And she becomes submissive and forgives him for all the horrible ... things that the male protagonist has done to her like when he tried to rape her. Later they become a couple and have sex all the time which causes her to get pregnant and lose her baby. She recovers from a tumor and the protagonist gets run over. The protagonist is unfaithful to his cousin/girlfriend with any girl he meets. Each new chapter of the manga is of the male protagonist having sex with a girl he just met. His cousin/girlfriend finds out about this. and they break up and don't see each other for 4 years. After that time they meet again and in the place where they drew the rabbit and the raccoon when they were children it now says written that they are going to get married. end.