Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora
[Score: 85%]
- Drama: High (increasing towards the end of the series)
- Comedy: Low/Med (mostly from Akiko who's not quite your standard nurse, and from "Spider Mask")
- Action: Low/Med (with occasional violence coming out of nowhere)
- SciFi: None (plain old earth, normal people)
- Ecchi: Low (actually some ecchiness used as story element instead of teasing the audience)
Just one year after Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu there's another 6 episodes series with striking parallels and almost the same power. The same four lead character roles, the same four side characters, just a pure medical drama this time and no Science Fiction elements. (Just to name a few parallels: The doctor's surprising outburst, the girl's condition, the boy's growing awareness and his dedication towards the end, the novel being read during the narration...)
- AKIBA Rika has been in hospital all her life, and hardly ever found the will to live on. This will change during the series, but at the same time make it even more difficult for the girl to handle the pressure of her surgery.
- EZAKI Yuichi isn't the typical male without a brain, hes learned some lessons already. So with some flaws typical for his age he handles the difficult situation quite well, but falling in love with such a beautiful, fragile girl can be quite painful in a situation like this.
- TANIZAKI Akiko, hospital nurse as well as biker gang member, serves as the comical relief now and then, but she can also be quite understanding at times and really wants to help her patients.
- NATSUME Goro, the surgeon of this hospital, turned out to be the most interesting of these four characters by far (another parallel to Iriya no Sora). Frustrated by a crucial defeat during his career he has become cynical and almost desperate, hardly able to fulfill his job any longer - but Rika's fate will ultimately lie in his hands... or maybe not?
So what do I consider not top class about this anime?
- The Music is hardly noticeable, except for the soft, melancholic ED song.
- Beautiful Art but not much movement to be shown, so no outstanding rating for Animation.
- The same cliffhanger having been used twice and some of the fan-service elements of the first episodes weren't my cup of tea which cost this series the "10" for Series Story. The silly "Spider Mask" appearing in situations where I didn't want comedy elements resulted in a 1 point downgrade for the otherwise perfect Characters.
But look, that's about all I have to subtract from a perfect 100% score! Characters and Series Story are the best aspects of this OVA, even more so as they don't need anything supernatural as story device - reality can be impressive enough.
Last updated Saturday, March 22 2008.
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