Suzuka: Volume 3 (UK) (DVD)

Introduction

Suzuka has been something of a surprise, a romantic comedy that actually develops the romance, instead of just offering the promise of a relationship, then filling the runtime with filler and comic antics. The first two volumes walked the fine line between farce and angst, and managed to deliver a charming story that entertained, with well-written characters that had more meat to their bones than the usual harem anime stereotypes. It's a show that stays on the lighter side of romance. It's a good thing, as sometimes you just want to be entertained without the threat of vicarious heartache. With the first two volumes having done the job of introducing the characters and setting the scene, we can get straight down to the important will they, won't they antics, as Suzuka and Yamato keep bumping into each other while heading in completely opposite directions.

Yamato Akitsuki is in the first year of High School, and to highlight the significant change in his life, he's decided to leave Hiroshima and head for the big city, Tokyo. The only way he can get away with this is if he lives with his aunt at her apartment complex. Aunt Ayano runs a girls' dormitory for high school and college students, renowned for its complex of baths, and Yamato will have to earn his room and board by acting as cleaner cum handyman. So far so Love Hina, but it's when he encounters athlete Suzuka Asahina that his life changes. He's entranced by the graceful high jumper; she thinks he's a dork. It's a match made in bedlam.

The next four episodes of Suzuka are presented on this disc from Revelation.



11. Showdown
Yamato was all set to ditch athletics following what he had learned about Suzuka's past. Only his friend Yasanobu decided to drag him to the athletics meet to check out the good-looking girls. While there, he sees the opposing team's top sprinter giving Suzuka a hard time. Unexpectedly his chivalrous side awakens, and he winds up challenging him to uphold Suzuka's honour. He doesn't know that he's just challenged the number one high school sprinter in the country. What's worse is that Yamato has missed a week of training.

12. Misunderstandings
It's a hot day, and summer is in full swing. It's just the perfect day to go swimming, and Yamato has scored some free tickets to the new swim-park. Now it's a matter of asking Suzuka out, only she's being standoffish again. Before he has a chance, Honoka asks him out. She's been burning a torch for him for years, and seeing his relationship with Suzuka constantly misfiring, she decides to act. Only everyone else decides to go swimming as well.

13. Lips
The inter-school athletics meet is in Hiroshima, and even though Yamato failed to qualify, he's going along for the experience and the practice. It's a lot like going home for him in some respects, although the experience isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Suzuka is still giving him the cold shoulder, and he gets a non-response when he runs into the sprinter he challenged in the preliminaries. When his practice times fail to improve, he's quickly spiralling into depression. Miki tries to convince Suzuka to cheer him up, but she's too late, as team manager Honoka, who is still nursing that crush on Yamato, gets to him first. Hit by a healthy dose of realism, and seeing Suzuka spiralling rapidly out of his league, Yamato makes a decision.

14. Blessing
It's the morning after, the meet is over, and everyone is enjoying one last day in Hiroshima before heading back home. Suddenly Suzuka is acting sprightly towards Yamato, even asking him out on a shopping trip. She doesn't understand when he declines. It takes Miki to set her straight about what happened the night before. Could Suzuka have missed her chance? Destiny would have it otherwise when a certain two people miss the last train back to Tokyo.

Picture

Suzuka gets an unproblematic 4:3 transfer. That's with the exception as usual of the credit sequences. The credit sequences are usually re-edited with English text, and that process degrades the image somewhat, resulting in significant aliasing. The clean credit sequences of course have none of that, but it does contrast against the main animation quite obviously.

The animation itself is dynamic but fair, the character designs are very pleasant, and the backgrounds are simple but effective. This is a show that really doesn't need the bells and whistles, and does perfectly well without them. The pastel palette, and the lighter feel, all contribute to a generally pleasant atmosphere and the show does very well in that respect.

Sound

You get a choice of DD 2.0 English and Japanese, accompanied with translated English subtitles and a signs track. This isn't an action led show, and the dialogue is clear throughout, so the stereo track is called on to do little more than establish some atmosphere and music. I tried a little English and the dub is up to Funimation's usual high standard, but my perennial bugbear of teenaged girls apparently voiced by mature women is apparent here with the English voice actress of Suzuka. Your mileage will differ depending on how you like your dubs. Incidentally, this is one of those dubs where the theme tunes are re-recorded with English lyrics. I haven't seen that in a while, but it's a pleasant addition.

A couple of oddities on this disc, the layer change is placed awkwardly in the middle of a music cue, while a few minutes after at 52:54, there is another brief pause that behaves just like a layer change, without actually changing layer.

Extras

The usual anime extra features show up here. You get the typical jacket picture, textless songs and trailers (in this case for Hell Girl and School Rumble). The Aoba High School Yearbook is a 1-minute slideshow of stills from the show.

Conclusion

It's so rewarding with a decent anime when I get to type 'more of the same', but it doesn't exactly make for varied reviews. Yet that is the problem for me as a reviewer with Suzuka. If you've seen the first two volumes then you won't be surprised by the light relationship mayhem that continues in the third. Suzuka has found a neat little niche that it is content to stay in. It's a romantic comedy in the truest sense of the word. It never delves into the prurient, madcap, or harem antics of the usual examples of the genre, which in the traditional anime world would make it more of a romantic drama, but it never lets angst or melodrama get in the way of entertainment.



This volume is a prime example of that, as the main focus is on Yamato and Suzuka's misfiring friendship. At the end of the last volume, Yamato had tailed Suzuka back home to see if she was with a rival for his affections. She was, only he was a memory, and it's hard for Yamato to compete with a memory. He told her so quite frankly, setting off a whole heap of trust and betrayal issues, and it led to the start of this volume, where communication was at a new low point for the two. That lack of communication continues in this volume, as it is plain for the audience to see that the two are destined to be together, but of course they have no intention to make it easy for those watching the show.

Yamato redeems himself early on when he comes to the rescue of Suzuka, but the mixed messages and crossed wires manage to keep them from connecting. Suzuka is obviously unsure about how she feels about Yamato, and she has certain priorities when it comes to her athletics career that gives Yamato the impression that she runs hot and cold towards him. No romantic comedy would be complete without the prospect of a triangle, and that's where Honoka comes in. She's been Yamato's friend since childhood, and she's been nursing a crush on him for just as long. She knows that he likes Suzuka, but she doesn't know how Suzuka feels. While she can wait for Suzuka to make up her mind, eventually, she isn't above moving things along. And it's easy for Yamato to agree. Suzuka is hard work, he's put in the effort but he's getting no returns, and with Honoka actually showing an interest in him, who can blame him for doing the practical thing?

It's at this point in the story that our heroine usually notices that she is losing a good thing, and Suzuka is no exception, taking a moment to be stunned when she learns of Yamato and Honoka. To her credit she is a realist, and accepts the situation with good grace. Which is all well and good for them, but the viewer needs to see more of the Yamato Suzuka fireworks, which is why the story contrives to leave them alone together in Hiroshima after missing the train. Which is a convenient (read infuriating) point to leave the volume at.



The thing is that all of the relationship ups and downs I mentioned above could have been accomplished with a heavy air, a hefty dose of melodrama and much wailing and gnashing of teeth, so written that the heartache for the viewer would be as much as that for the protagonists. Suzuka keeps it light, it's very much a feel-good show, and the characters keep a healthy outlook on things, not letting their feelings become obsessions, no matter how many times Yasanobu accuses his friend Yamato of becoming a stalker.

Funny and fulfilling is a curious combination, but Suzuka manages it well. This third volume maintains the impetus and quality of the first two, so it should be an easy purchase for fans of the series.