Day of Love

Rating:
Summary: Another great interactive anime DVD.
Review: This is the third DVD released by AnimePlay in the U.S. Of these three, Phantom Of Inferno would be my standing favorite, this one comes second, and Amusement Park would be last.

Anyway, the story: The main character is Haruki Tojo, high school student who lives in a dorm by himself and holds a part-time job at a resteraunt. He has been electected Chairman Of Conduct, and he is a black belt in martial arts. He has been nicknamed "Devil Chairman" because of a rumor that he ruthlessly smashes anyone who gets out of line. (A rumor that is completly false, by the way.) He has an unfortunate tendancy to fall asleep in class, and he is best friends with Seiji Anayama, Student Body President.

One day Haruki meets a girl his age who seems to know him and says she's been waiting a long time for their reunion. However, Haruki has forgotten all about it and says he doesn't know her. This upsets the girl greatly and she smacks him and leaves. A few days later Haruki is still thinking and dreaming about his strange encounter when they get a new transfer student, a boy named Mao Hiragi. Tension builds between Haruki and Mao immeadietly. Haruki was talking to Seiji when Mao was introduced to the class and Mao has to remind Haruki who he is, and when Mao hears about Haruki's encounter with the girl he calls Haruki a wuss and says it's a joke that he should be called the Devil Chairman.

Later when Haruki gives his report on class conduct to the principal he is told that he should try to get along with and watch out for Mao. The principal gives Haruki a cheesecake and tells him to give it to Mao. Haruki returns to his dorm and makes an unpleasent discovery: He and Mao are now roomates! Mao also seems to have a strange thing about not wanting to be seen changing and instists on putting a curtain up between their beds. However, he becomes ecstatic after reciveing the cheese cake and eats it all, raveing about it as he does. Mao, mean while, is hiding a secret: he is really Maho, the girl who smacked Haruki, disguised as a boy! (She's also the character who appears on the DVD cover.) Maho lost a bet to her older sister, Michiru, a professional actress who's come back from an extended trip to America, on whether Haruki would remember her or not, and so now Maho must attend school as a boy. However, Maho plots to get revenge on Haruki for forgetting her. The next day while Haruki is at martial arts gym, Maho shows up, this time dressed as a girl and whearing a long-haired wig. She acts really friendly to Haruki, giving him a towel and iced tea. She tells him she knows he's Haruki, but when he asks her for her name she just tells him,"Try to remeber." Maho's plan is to get Haruki to fall in love with her, then refuse any of his advances, thus leaving him heart-broken.

Then there's another sub-plot going on. Seiji's younger sister Isami is a member of the drama club. She is anxious about the upcoming play, and she takes out her stress by berating the younger members of the club, telling them they aren't doing a good job. This causes friction within the club, and even though Haruki isn't a member, Seiji asks him to try to solve the problems of the drama club. Isami asks Haruki to come and watch their rehearsals.

In a conventional story, Haruki would learn Mao's secret and they both would end up falling in love together, while also fixing the problems of the drama club. However, these are only some of the possible endings you can get. Depending on the choices you make, the whole plot of Maho's revenge can simply be forgotten and Haruki may never learn the truth about his new roomate, he may or may not get involved in the drama club's affairs, and he can end up with any one of a number of girls. (There's also one bad ending where you don't end up with anyone and you're friends are upset with you.) You could end up with Maho as your girlfriend, or Isami, or Maho's older sister Michiru, or Ayano Kazakiri, school nurse and daughter of the principal, or the accident-prone young waitress (whose name you may or may not learn) at the resteraunt that you meet when showing Mao around town. There are lots of different ways the story could turn out depending on the desicions you make.

A nice, fun DVD with cute characters, nice voice preformances, lots of funny moments and interesting plot developments. Recomended for anyone who is open to seeing love stories with a touch of comedy.