Good Morning Call

Good Morning Call is a 20 minute OVA based on the manga of the same name, and may be a bit confusing for people who have never read the manga.

Story: 6/10
The OVA begins with a small interlude as to how the couple got together. They both happened to rent the same apartment by mistake (oddly enough they were only 15) and decided to share it to help out with rent. That’s all the info you get to start through it, though the manga is much more detailed. It all revolves around her trying to find him a birthday present, but mistakenly remembers the wrong day. ... That’s pretty much the story here, it works okay for this show’s anime adaption, oddly enough however; it comes off as much more of an actual comedy than a romance. All characters seem to get this somewhat big headed chibi expression everytime they are flustered, kind of amusing I thought. Even though the comedy itself isn’t really all that funny and can sometimes come off as a cliche in the anime world. Also, while I couldn’t necessarily put my finger on it, there was just something undeveloped about this couple’s chemistry. Watching them get into misunderstands and quarrels, never actually gave me the vibe that they were an actual item, they seemed to come off more as a brother and sister act. Still, the story is pretty cute and entertaining despite its undeveloped storyline, and you’ll most likely be entertained simply by their antic. The ending is pretty good too, as this title does what many romance titles out there forget to do...have the characters kiss! Which was pretty sweet and brought the OVA to a nice close.

There isn't anything at all that viewers would find offensive, since the two lovers keep everything very innocent.

Artwork: 7/10
Even for a 2001 OVA, there are many titles out there that have better screen quality than this. But the characters are detailed fairly well, their clothing really stuck out for me in the art. Its nothing fabulous, but does come off as decently stylish and does fit this sort of soft love/comedy story. The backgrounds were kind of tame, but not really all that bad. The overall art style seem to give me the impression-al feel of the "Fruits Basket" manga in a way. I don’t know, maybe its just me.

Soundtrack: 5/10
Sadly you don’t get an opening or closing theme, which I felt was a bit of a bummer. The background tracks can range from real lite hearted romance beats, to soft violin and piano beats. I must say that it did fit well with the theme of the anime, and you get a pretty good variety considering its only around 20 minutes long. The character voices were good as well, while some of the supporting cast seemed to come off as standard voice over fare, the two main did have them match their ways pretty good!

Characters: 6/10
Well as I stated earlier, the characters don’t really feel that developed and the couple came off more as siblings to me. People who have read the manga will be much more familiar with this, and can appreciate them. If your like me though and have never read it, you may feel a bit disoriented going in. The characters can range from pretty silly, to very calm and discrete. So you do get a decent selection for it.

Bottom Line: 6/10
All in all "Good Morning Call" is a decent title to invest your time in. If your a fan of the manga then you will love the fact that this got an anime adaption. If your not, you can still find some descent enjoyment from this, it just won’t mean as much to you as the latter.

Thank you for reading my review! :)

There is no way this 20 minuite ova stands up on it's own. The story is jumbled with most of the interesting parts seeminglly taking place before the anime actually occurs and what you're left with is nothing but a small side story from a manga that if you didn't read, you couldn't care less about. This seemed to me as if they were thinking of making an anime rendition of this manga and wanted to test the waters a bit, but they picked the wrong angle completelly. What would have been interesting to see would have been the beginning of this story, not some ... random middle subplot. I could see a fan of the manga being interested in this but aside from that theres just nothing here. Even if they did make a full length anime of this it seems like the all too boring typical high school romance with nothing of interest to keep you entertained.

Story-2 theres nothing here other than some randomness about a girl forgetting a guys birthday. Theres no begining middle or end, it's like picking up a book opening to the middle and picking a random chapter to read.

Art-3 I couldnt believe when I saw this was made in 01 it looks like it came from the 80's, back when anime artists where still trying to copy disney style. Horribly drawn. The characters are so typical you probably couldnt pick them out of a line up.

Sound 3 cheepy done, little to no backround music

Characters 2 they were there... apparentlly but you don't care either way, this story is so boring and though you learn a bit about their past it rushes by so quick to get to more of this borring subplot you couldn't care less about them

Enjoyment 1 it's only 20 minuites but I was terriblly bored through all of it. If it had been any longer I wouldn't have even be able to get through it. Pointless to even try.

Overall 2. As an anime (or possibly movie) it has potential, at least it they starter the story off at the beginning instead of randomlly in the middle, as this is now, its nothing better than dreadful.

Short/Mini Review

*Note: I have not read the manga.

Story [7]:
There were some holes in the plot here and there, but I thought the story was a little above fair at most. It was a cute plot, definitely meant to just make us smile.


Art [7]:
The art quality was good, nothing disturbing to see. I especially loved the appearance of the two main characters -- so kawaii!
...
Sound [5]:
There was hardly any background music, but it's a hardly noticeable flaw.

Characters [7]:
Since it's just a one-episode OVA, we can't really expect any character development. Both characters had cute personalities, but Uehara (the main guy)'s attitude kind of seemed inconsistent.

Enjoyment [7]:
I loved the cute-sy feeling of the overall episode. I smiled a lot throughout watching it.

Overall [7]:
If you're just looking for a short anime that will lift up your spirits, then you should give Good Morning Call a try.