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.
