Apparently, this is based on a very popular shoujo manga, and it's about a sweet girl named Tsubomi who's learning about adult things like pregnancy (in the form of her mother getting pregnant), the male and female body (Yes, sex, in the form of a sex ed video being shown to a classroom full of fifth graders), her period, and falling in love. You'd think this would be an almost fan-service free anime, right? Uhh...no.
Well, there's definitely no boob-grabbing, undie flashing, or straight out nudity in this show. It's DEFINITELY not a Kodomo Jikan, Mitsudomoe, or Ro-Kyu-Bu (ugh), which I laud them for not becoming, but...it's still very flawed. The show's biggest flaw: the subject matter. Okay, a sex education anime featuring fifth graders? An episode with kids watching a video about sex? What? I wasn't taught this stuff when I was in fifth grade! I mean, I could see this working with teenagers, but...with little fifth grade kids? Seriously? Aren't they a little young to have to learn stuff like that? What the heck were these producers, and the mangaka, thinking?! What the freak?! I honestly don't approve of kids learning about sex at that age. No I do not, though to its credit, it is rather realistic in its portrayal of boys, showing them (or most of them) getting all excited about the video, talking about sex, and shouting the P word (had to deal with this in high school). People, if you're gonna do an anime about sex education, can you at least pick the right AGE in which to show them?! Showing fifth graders this kind of thing is just downright lewd! In fact, I think it should be against the law! I mean, sure if they do experience these things then they have to be told them some time soon, but not like this!
Another flaw lies in half of the cast. Now don't get me wrong, I liked most of the cast, like Tsubomi, Saya, Daiki, Yae, and Yoh. In fact, my favorite character out of this entire series is Yoh, and not just because he's voiced by Mitsuki Saiga either (though I do kinda wish he had more lines. He only got ONE LINE in the first episode alone!). The other half...well, I do think Futoshi is a very realistically portrayed boy...though as a fifth grader in general, I can't picture it. I mean, I can understand his behavior if he were a high schooler since, y'know, high school boys nowadays do nothing but shout inappropriate things regarding sex, but has ANYONE ever seen a fifth grade boy act like he does? I know I haven't! I kinda found Rea to be annoying. Seriously, WHO is interested in that sort of thing?! Why is she interested in knowing what a boner is?! She shouldn't be taught that kind of stuff until she's of age! I really didn't like her. But the rest of the cast: approved! *thumbs up*
Okay, now that's all the bad stuff (and part of the good stuff). Let's get to the rest of the good stuff, the first being the animation. Sure some shoujo-haters might think it's a bit too sparkly and extravagant and too shoujo, and sure movement is minimal and there are a few still frames, but I never found this to be a problem. It did what it did and nothing more. It's not trying to be anything it's not, and being an OVA, I think it did okay. The music isn't particularly memorable, but it was nice and it fit the show, though I do wish there was an opening and ending theme. I just can't picture anime episodes without proper intro and outro songs and videos. It just seems weird to me. My favorite episode out of all of this has to be episode 3. It did just about everything right, even if some parts of it were a tad cliche. I especially liked the twist at the end. More anime should do stuff like that, though I wouldn't recommend it for all anime.
While it isn't great or mind-breaking, Naisho no Tsubomi is a nice little time killer...though stay away from it if you don't want to see fifth graders learning about sex. I don't want to see any more like it anytime soon.
