I kept on being reminded of Bokura Ga Ita as I watched this. They're similar type stories in a way; especially in the main conflict of the heroine and the two men in her life (and also some plot points, frankly). I think the overall quality of Bokura Ga Ita was better than Peach Girl, but I thought that the heroine in Peach Girl, Momo-chan, was a lot more likeable than Nana (she *reallly* annoyed me in the second half of BGI).
Story:
The first thing that comes to mind is that the pacing of the story is a little odd in my opinion. Sometimes it feels like all this time passes by in a blink of an eye and sometimes it's just plain slow. Aside from that, you've got a pretty sweet -- if convoluted -- story about love, indecision, strength and trust. And what it means to be in a relationship with someone else and how and why we choose the people we do. Sometimes things get over the top, but that's more of a character issue (see below).
Art:
The art is generally nice. The two men in Momo's life, Touji and Kairi, made me think of Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge -- I think because of the heavily-lashed eyes. It's also slightly reminiscent of YNSH in the frequent use of SD versions of the characters.
Sound:
Kairi's voiced by Kenichi Suzumura. I LOVE him. All the actors of the main four characters do a good job, but... Suzumura is tops. =) Saeko Chiba also deserves props for doing a good job of making a character who could have been overly mewling and annoying into a likeable person, despite all the tears.
Characters:
I thought they did a nice job of making the conflict here. You can see where Momo comes from and you can see why Touji and Kairi are both so compelling and appealling to her. I was definitely rooting for one over the other, but that's probably more about my own taste. ;) The character I probably had the most problem with was Sae -- I mean, we're not supposed to like her anyway, but it might have been nice to have a better idea why she was the way she was... especially since she was SO over the top and extreme as a character. I didn't like her AT ALL, which made her hard to watch -- if there was something -- anything -- that made me at least sympathize with her, it would have been more interesting, I think. At the same time, a critical viewer could say that all of the characters are somewhat... shallow and under-developed compared to the very best of the romance/slice-of-life type dramas like Honey & Clover. They just are... and there's not much explanation why outside of Momo.
Overall:
I liked it, it was okay. I think the parts I liked made up for the parts that I thought were a little lacking overall. I liked Kairi's character and it kept me interested for the most part. If you're looking for a sweet romance and you've worked your way through the great ones already, this is nice. If you're looking for something really fantastic and haven't seen much, I'd go through Honey & Clover, Nodame Cantabile, Nana, Ouran High School Host Club, and Lovely Complex first, at the very least.
