Sono Hanabira ni Kuchizuke wo: Anata to Koibito OVA 01 review
Since I’m a reader of Listless Ink, I snapped at the chance to watch this OVA the moment subs came out,despite having no prior knowledge of the plot or game whatsoever. And I’m happy to say that I’m enthralled.
( Warning : Horribly censored images ahead, probably not for the young?)
As you know, I’m a plot-orientated person. I love plot. I really love plot. So you’d probably guess that for a sh0w like Sono Hanabira ni Kuchizuke wo : Anata to Koibito, I’d dislike that. The show was about two lovers, Mai and Reo. One day, Reo falls sick so Mai goes over to her house to take care of her. Of course, we’re rewarded with flashbacks but we still don’t get any part of the world they live in. So do I dislike the show?
Wrong – I loved it.
There’s a certain beauty in yuri that can’t really be described in words. Especially in this OVA, when they describe Mai and Reo’s relationship, I was enthralled and in a trance. I didn’t mind its lack of plot- who’s looking for ‘plot’ anymore? I felt like a nosebleed was coming on the entire episode. Through 20 minutes, their love for each other was sufficiently portrayed. Other than the sex scenes, their interactions displayed this as well.
Mai offering to bathe Reo , leaving school just to take care of her and falling sick as a result, with Reo coming to take care of her instead and especially the confession scene. To quote Yi:
“The flashback confession is also such a kyaa~ moment!”
Literally. I felt like making some cutesy, awkward noise because it was all so beautiful – and I’m a guy!
because I'm from Singapore, I have a compulsion to obsessively censor everything.
The animation was fluid and the scenes well planned out. Unlike your usual H-series, where everything is brutally sexualized and every female’s a slut or every male’s some kind of rapist or some other sexual perversion like that, this OVA doesn’t do that kind of thing. It’s all very gentle and sensual, with the two lovers constantly complimenting each other and both in their own lover’s paradise. Complementing this is the spectacular animation, if I do say so myself. The body physics were all correct, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make.
Their expressions were dynamic, their bodies well, perfect and the art is all pretty well done, perhaps save that birdseye view of Reo’s room. Nevertheless, this complemented their scenes, which made me very, very happy indeed.
Not to mention that their relationship isn’t that of some poorly thought up show, where Person A just has sex with Person B and that equates to love. The two characters have dynamic personalities of their own.
Within 20 minutes, they have their own distinct personality, something which should be commended. Rei is played out to love Mai’s presence, just as how she seems to dislike being alone, seen by how she holds Mai back when she tries to leave. She’s wonderfully insecure, tsundere if you will, but she wants Mai’s love. Mai , of course, willingly obliges. Mai could be said to be the Butch-like girl in their relationship, oozing with what could be said to pushy confidence, teasing Reo like a little child. She cares about her a lot, often taking the initiative to help her, as well as often getting Reo into the mood for sex- and of course, her leading it. She gives Reo confidence, she gives Reo meaning, and she’s great as a character.
The entire show had an air of refined elegance about it.
Everything felt so pristine; so pure and wonderful.
When they get intimate, it’s not just about pleasure, it’s about sentiment. About their love for each other, and not lust.
Fingers crossed for another episode.
have been seeing pictures from the games forever… gonna snap this up real quick
Same here, probably one of the reasons why I watched this show to begin with.
YES a yuri Convert
Don’t make it sound like I was interested in something else before yuri when you type the word, ‘convert’. D:
Anyway, yuri ftw.
Agreed completely! I didn’t really care about the plot about a few minutes into this. It doesn’t need it. The romance and the sensual yuri alone is enough to carry it through.
And this anime is such a nice breath of fresh air amidst the usual heavy H-anime.
P.s. Loved the censors. ^ ^
Ya! I really do love plot, I swear, so when something like this catches my eye I knew it’d be good. It’s great romance,and it’s not skewed like in other H-anime where love= violent sex. No, it’s not like that, which makes this OVA all the better to watch.
I sincerely hope there’s another episode of this.
P.S. Thanks
MSPaint censors for the win =D
I have all the games
Do you want them
Holy crap, lol.
Of course I probably want them , but I thought your drive crashed or sth?
Oh Joy, Yuri~
I’m still waiting for a safe opportunity to watch this (hoping my siblings won’t notice)
The game does already give of these elements compared to other ero games and the storylines really focus a lot on the relationships and still managing to incorporate in the H scenes, very impressive.
I watched it while ‘studying’, heh.
The storyline does focus heavily on their relationships so I guess it’s great. For me, I felt thoroughly entertained. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen good relationships in Anime, other than those which are highly fake or those which are over sexualized.
hur~ my computer is in the living room and i have a pure and innocent younger brother, nuff said~
we have way too much overly servicy and H stuff now a days. Hanabira OVA is a jewel~
It’s a jewel, meant to be watched at 2am with headphones, if you catch my drift ;D
Yep, too much servicy and H stuff flooding the world, making everyone think Anime’s some sexual perversion. That’s what my dad thinks D: He tells me it’s a disease and I’ll live through it, or something like that…
Definitely~
Its hard to even find a decent anime that doesn’t have all those flashy stuff…
You go live through it, I’ll stay focused on trying to stay straight… lol
Lol, good luck with trying to stay straight ;D
I’m suddenly addicted to yuri, so tell me if you fail XD
Nah, just joking lol, no offence. But really, this wasn’t too flashy, and it was nice to watch too
lol non taken~
I’m really watching Kuroshitsuji II to see if yaoi can cure me. Not really helping though~
Good luck with that
I’m off to more yuri, if I can find any >=D
I MUST WATCH IT NOW!!
*goes download it* :3
thanks for the reminder about this.
im quite amazed at how the quality of the anime is..
Fingers crossed for Episode 2 ?
I didn’t know there were subs for this. I watched the raw when it came out, but it wasn’t too hard to understand. I also liked the way they portrayed Mai and Reo’s love for each other.
Can’t watch raws, don’t know any Japanese.
Yep, same here. It’s the whole selling point of the show.
The question isn’t if we’ll get another episode, it’s when and which couple. The preorder sales alone should have signaled them to continue.
I guess you’re right there. I have absolutely no idea of the Sono Hanabira universe, to be frank, thus I’m just looking forward to more OVAs. I should try the games out soon, when I get the chance.
Yep, preorders. Honestly, I still worry there won’t be a sequel though, despite it seeming like a given.
I’ve totally forgotten about this. Thanks to you I remembered.I must watch it now. XD
Thank Yi for introducing me to this , lol. I’m sorta interested in playing their games as well
Go ahead, you won’t be disappointed.
You have an exellent review….and since I have been waiting for the second episode (hopefully they make it) I had been able to guide our organization me and the creater Bryan and administrator Alisha…church of yuri on facebook…to be able to share as much yuri as we can to support homosexuality…I really apreciate the work you have done here, to be able to write a review…and help support yuri..
This is possibly the most important article I’ve ever written for my blog.
Thanks for remembering my review.
And by god, I think you’re right.
You really should play the games. They can be finished in less than three hours per game. Really, there is more romance and character development in the games than the OVAs will ever have.
Oooh, and this sure is some late reply!
It’s so late, I didn’t even notice!
I really enjoyed your review!! It helped me relive the ultimate cute-ness that is the OVA. The only thing that bothered me was the comment on how Mai is the butch in the relationship. I thought that was poking at Reo’s feelings so that she’d be a little more honest with her.
I don’t know, didn’t she seem kind of like the butch? She’s more persuasive while Reo is more submissive. Or maybe I don’t understand the terminology used.. .. . .