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Saikano OVA – Another Love Song Review.
Movie Title: Saikano OVA – Another Love Song Saikano OVA – Another Love Song is available for streaming or downloading. Click Here to Stream or Download Saikano OVA – Another Love Song |
First off, it’s best to mention that this OVA is not a good way to be introduced to Saikano. Viewers will gain a great deal more if they have seen the show first.
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For only two episodes, a lot more happens in this space of time than in the rest of the show. Yet this OVA relies on following events that take place early on in the show. Hence why it’s important to watch the series first.
While the series was mostly told through Shuji’s point of view, the OVA is more 3rd-person, with emphasis on new character Lieutenant Mizuki and Chise. In fact, Shuji has no major involvement at all, apart from constantly being on Chise’s mind.
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This OVA is good in that it explains more. In the series, viewers don’t know really know the “how” or “why” Chise was made into the ultimate weapon. We get those answers, but once again, the “how” or “why” isn’t as important. Themes of war, being human, and love are still going strong. We see more of Chise’s internal struggle between her human self and the weapon inside, and how her feelings for Shuji affect her actions.
New character Mizuki is the perfect foil for Chise. Mizuki is fiercely dedicated to her role as both a soldier and a weapon. She is fearless, determined, stubborn, and intelligent. As the prototype of the weapon that Chise will become, viewers will learn why Mizuki’s ability never equaled or surpassed Chise, and how this makes her feel and dictates her actions. Mizuki also has connections to Tetsu, and interactions between them I felt were important because they shed some light on how Tetsu was with Chise. Oddly though, this seems to contridict how he felt about his wife, Fuyumi, who is just barely mentioned. Mizuki, while in a position to be resentful of Chise, proves to have the potential to be Chise’s friend and confidant, the best hope Chise had of having someone who understood how she was feeling. Even Shuji had a hard time grasping this at first in the series.
Mizuki is also a tragic character, as are many characters in the Saikano canon. And true to Saikano, this short piece is emotionally driven, heart-wrenching; there’s only a glimmer of a happy ending.
Overall, this OVA could easily fit into the anime series. It’s a nice compliment to it, but seeing it isn’t necessary to understand the actual show. But it’s a must for Saikano fans.
First off I will let you all know that I have not yet seen the series which this OVA is based on, but rest assured I will do so as soon as I can.
Japan is at war; with whom and for what reason is left entirely unexplained, but judging from the fact that the “enemy” speaks English, drives Abram tanks, and flies F-4’s, I’d say that it is America and her allies who are fighting Japan (again). The war, however, is not going well for Japan, not well at all. Their cities are being burned, their troops killed by the thousands in the streets, their Air Forces destroyed on the ground. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and so a special branch of the military begins work on what is simply called “the ultimate weapon.”
After all I’ve read on Saikano I very much expected the OVA which is based on it to be somewhat of a quick summery of the show from which to judge if this was something I was willing to pursue. Much to my surprise though the main characters from the show, Chise and her boyfriend either play secondary roles or are nonexistent entirely. Instead the OVA focus on Commander Mizuki, a woman who was transformed into a weapon of war after she was mortally wounded in battle. She is a prototype, not nearly as powerful as Chise, but she has one thing the little high school girl does not; the will to fight. Mizuki is a soldier who puts the well being of her nation and its people above all else. But when she starts hearing Chise’s thoughts she begins to realize what a grave injustice it was to force Chise into the military and to transform her, against her will, into a weapon of war.
The main problem I had with this short series is that at the end it was left incomplete, I guess to get people to watch the series. As a part of the series, this may be a very good companion, but as a stand alone OVA its dull and moves too quickly for the viewer to get a good sense of who these people are and what exactly is happening. Chise is clumsy and shy, and she is in love with someone we never see, but other than that who is she? I realize she’s a secondary character but there really isn’t much information on her. Mizuki, on the other hand, gets a lot more character development and her personality is well fleshed out.
But the main problem I had was the war itself. Would it really be so hard to tell us just what is going on? Why is Japan at war? And who exactly are they fighting? Nothing about the war, which is critical to the series, is explained. It’s simply there. This might have been fine if some clues were given, but the few they had were confusing at best. For instance, one “enemy” soldier, who looks Asian, speaks English yet talks about how Japans secret weapon (Chise) destroyed his home city “in like a minute.” So Japan used Chise to attack America? Or did she attack China, which is much closer. Other “enemy” soldiers look typical American and have US uniforms as well. It would have also been nice for there to have been some sorts of explanation on how hundreds of missiles could majicly come out of Chise’s back.
Also, the battles for the most part all follow the same pattern; enemy troops invade, Japan’s soldiers overwhelmed and retreat, Chise or Mizuki come to the rescue and drive off the attack with their super powers. Any questions? That’s pretty much what all the battles are like.
The music and animation were pretty good for the most part. The battle scenes had some really annoying guitar music, but for the sad moments it was nice classical violin music which really set the scene nicely. The animation on the other hand was exhalant. No complaints in that department. The character designs were well done, while the battle scenes were nothing short of awe inspiring.
Re-play value; Low.
