Age Appropriate: All ages
Emotional Response: Heehee
Notable Features: high schoolers, dorky guy, favors
Language: English
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Pretty Good
"Stop Using Words!" - Ryoko
Ryoshi Mornio is an awkward high school male who has fallen in love with Ryoko, the "wolf" of the story. Ryoko is a tough girl paired with her scheming bff, Ringo - or as the narrator likes to call her "Little Red Riding Twerp," or some such name. Ryoshi's love for Ryoko lands him in the Otogi High School Bank, a place where anyone can ask a favor in return for another favor for the bank at another time. Each episode has someone asking for some favor as the vehicle for the shenanigans that occur.
There are seven members of the Otogi High School Bank, each with a different crazy personality. The President has an affinity for disguises, and seems to have a feel for cross dressing. Taro is a handsome ladies man who also has a psycho girlfriend who often drags him away for "unknown" reasons, particularly when she feels jealous. There is also a wierdo science girl, a maid uniform girl, and a straight-laced, serious girl who all perform their bank duties to the best of their abilities.
As the series progresses, Ryoko finds herself more wrapped up in learning about Ryoshi's commitment to being there for her, and her own confused feelings. When she was younger she had someone betray her, and has serious trust issues. She seems to only have the ability to trust Ringo in any significant manner, although she seems to be okay with being friends with the rest of their club. The series itself is focused on Ryoshi's love for Ryoko, and her beat-'em-up attitude regarding the situation.
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I've been looking for a series that I was willing to sit through. I've got a couple running now, but some of them aren't finished in Japan. As it is, I didn't know that I was going to like this. I did. For once, I watched a high school romance drama that doesn't have any magic, robots and fan service. It was great. I'm actually glad that it ended the way it did, too. Anything more would've just been too much for "reality" or something. I mean, it's anime, so there's no "reality," I guess, but it felt less contrived I suppose. It wasn't a sad ending or anything, just normal-like.
My favorite parts were Taro's interesting moments, the narrator's commentary on everything (which is frequent in each episode and provides great amusement at the expense of the characters), and Ryoshi's puppies. I totally want puppies just like them. They were so cute. If you're looking for something stress-free and adorable I totally recommend this. No swearing, no lewdness, no creepiness - just good wholesome fun. I mean, there's a little wink-wink nudge-nudge, but it's subtle enough. It got a couple of out loud "Ha!" noises out of me.
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Ha!: Koihime Musou
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