Handsome na Kanojo

Title:Handsome na Kanojo
Handsome Girl
Overall:Watch
Keywords: , , ,
Notables: Original Concept - YOSHIZUMI Wataru
15 year old Mio Nagiwara has been an actress since she was a child, enjoys it, and considers it just "a matter of routine". Then one day she meets a strange boy who gives her a frank, knowledgeable and not particularly flattering assessment of her skills. It turns out that her critic, Kumagai Ichiya, is an old acquaintance of Mio's best friend, and an aspiring film director. He introduces her to the concept of "Handsome Women"--those who are "cool, sophisticated and imposing". Ichiya has been looking for just such a girl, and despite his earlier comments, thinks Mio might be just the one. As they work together, with Ichiya seemingly interested only in her potential as an actress, Mio can't help thinking "I wish he'd notice me"...


37 minute OVA episode.
Animation by JC Staff.
Available only as a fansub.
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Watch 7 6 7 6 5 Ggultra2764 [series:1151#1552]
Like many OVAs of its era, the whole point of this one-shot was to promote its manga source material by providing a sampling of what the general premise of Handsome Girl is all about, mainly a teen actress starting to fall for a prodigy young director in their latest film production working together. Like titles of its ilk, the story brisks by rather quickly, providing little breathing room to take in events and flesh things out thus leaving you with the basic story framework without all the bits of fleshing out and development in between. In short, you'd be much better off just trying to track down the manga source material for this.

Last updated Sunday, November 05 2023. Created Sunday, November 05 2023.
Watch Stretch [series:1151#628]
Sometimes I want to watch something new without committing myself to a lengthy TV or OVA series, and it's fansubs like Handsome Girl that serve this purpose. Taking up only half an hour of my time, I have little to lose, and it would be hard to disappoint me (indeed, assuming the show isn't complete garbage, the worst thing that could happen would be if it turned out to be surprisingly good, and I'm left wondering why more episodes weren't made). Anyway, the animation of Handsome Girl is... adequate. It is a 1991 release, after all. As for the comedy, it's the sort of show that makes you smile rather than laugh outright. The plot had few, if any, unexpected twists--it's not hard to figure out in advance how things are going to go. The romance between Mio and Ichiya leapfrogs forward (one scene she hates him, another she's neutral, the next she's falling in love), which isn't surprising given the 30-odd minutes timeframe available to work with. Still, despite the predictable conclusion, I detected a certain sweet, heartwarming quality to this show. Perhaps my favorite part of this show was the OP song, "I Won't Let You Be a Lost Child" (it doubles as the ED song, too), which I have taken a distinct liking to, and have included in a homemade CD I burned recently. Since in theory you cannot either Buy or Rent fansubs, I've rated it a "Watch"--but I hope I'm not selling it short. I'm satisfied!

My favorite line: "I didn't mean to be rude when I said you suck" --Ichiya

#200!

Last updated Sunday, February 17 2008. Created Thursday, August 11 2005.

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