Rating: 
Summary: ''Urusei Yatsura'' for ''mature audiences''
Review: *
If you could take the love-chasing antics of 'Lum & Ataru,' plant them solidly in the earthly realm, and smack an ''NC-17'' MPAA rating onto it, what you would end up with is ''Sakura Diaries'' (Japanese title: ''Sakura Tsuushin''). First published as a 'manga' ('comic book') series, ''Sakura Tsuushin'' (''The Cherry Blossom Reports'') follows a bizarre ''love triangle'' somewhat reminiscent of Takahashi Rumiko's ''Urusei Yatsura'' (''[Those Annoying] Planet Uru Aliens''). ''Inaba Touma'' is the ''Diaries'' version of the ''Moroboshi Ataru'' character. Less the self-proclaimed idiot and imbecile he berates himself for being, and more of a confused & misguided underachiever, Touma is obsessed with trying to pass college entrance exams in order to break away from his ''country hick'' image and to avoid returning home to operate his family's hot springs inn. Add to the mix Touma's sexual insecurities over still being a virgin, along with the constant tension and frustration he experiences in his attempt to ''preserve himself'' for the ''right girl'' (very unlike Takahashi's Ataru), and one can easily begin to empathize with Touma and his personal struggles. Touma's already complicated world becomes even further faceted with the introduction of the ''Lum'' character, ''Kasuga Urara,'' who ''first'' appears to him in his Tokyo hotel room (uninvited) as a ''schoolgirl call girl'' who apparently has some inside information on her hesitant and reluctant new ''client.'' We later learn that Urara is, in reality, Touma's ''itoko'' (''cousin'') who has had a long-standing ''lover's crush'' on him since meeting him for the first-- and only --time some six years prior, and she is devastated that he no longer recognizes her, despite the ''pact'' they made with each other way back then. The ''lover's triangle'' element is added rather unexpectedly when Touma becomes obsessed with the ''Shinobu'' character-- a tall shapely redhead named ''Yotsuba Mieko'' (some promotional materials incorrectly identify her as ''Meiko'') --whom he meets on the campus of the prestigious Keio University, where they are both taking entrance exams (even though Touma fully realizes that he is terribly under-qualified for acceptance into such a fine institution). Mieko is similar to Shinobu only in the sense that Touma frantically tries to win her approval and focuses his attentions mainly on her (as Ataru does with Shinobu, despite his lecherousness) while trying to avoid Urara and resist her affectionate advances (as Ataru does with Lum). But Mieko is really more of an ''Anti-Shinobu'' in the fact that, unlike Shinobu's long-suffering devotion to her lout of a ''boyfriend,'' Mieko's feelings toward Touma are cautious and conflicting -- sometimes bordering on ''romantic,'' but somewhat distant and devoid of any genuine emotional investment. Yet, there's always that small glimmer of hope in Touma that he may still have a shot at being the recipient of Mieko's affections. There's just ONE major drawback: Mieko has made it patently clear that as a newly accepted student at Keio University she would only consider dating boys who were also fellow Keio students -- which Touma (having miserably failed ALL tests on his entrance exam) is NOT! And so begins the deception: In between taking courses at ''cram school'' with ''career underachievers'' for classmates and trying to make sense of his cousin's sexually charged advances towards him (apparently considered somewhat less taboo in Japan than in Western cultures), Touma keeps up the pretense that he is actually a ''keizai'' (''economics'') major at Keio. And caught in the middle of this muddle is poor Urara, who is awkwardly-- and painfully --exposing herself to the sometimes harsh truths of male sexuality, of which she obviously understands so little (sometimes with unfortunate and frightening consequences), while persistently trying to win Touma's heart as her own conflict rages within over whether she should let her jealousies put a wedge between her ''Tonma-chan'' and ''that Keio girl,'' or if she should guard his precious secret and not interfere, even if it should mean ''losing'' the man she loves so dearly to another. It just so happens, however, that Touma is not the only one in this trio of young romantics who is carrying on a deception: Each of his two love interests also have something to hide -- the revelation of which having a major impact on Touma's outlook, causing him to do some serious re-evaluating of his priorities. Sexual references and images are far from being just ''hinted at'': they are expressed openly and directly, though not explicitly or graphically (which could be described as ''hentai-light''). Although there is a very disturbing [quote] attempted rape scene [unquote] at the end of Chapter 5, Touma's confrontation with Urara's best friend, ''Kohmi,'' near the end of Chapter 6 gives us a clearer picture and deeper understanding of what transpired and what contributing factors were involved -- a remarkable revelation which does much to show both parties as victims of their own misunderstanding and ignorance, while stirring up in our minds such colorful images as ''clueless airhead'' (before the fact) and ''insensitive jerk'' (after the fact) to describe each party involved. Some very lighthearted and comedic touches are riddled throughout. Much of the humor is sexual in nature: Among such memorable scene are when Touma finds Urara's panty in the laundry hamper while she's in the shower and he wonders to himself if the dainty undergarment is ''still warm'' ...or Touma's ''back scrubbing'' fantasy, which had me laughing hysterically. (Touma's fantasies often pop up unexpectedly and can be a bit confusing at times.) The conclusion to this 12-episode series (complete on two disks in this ''Collector's Edition'' set) could not have been more perfect -- signing off with just enough ambiguity that it leaves us, the viewer, either wondering how it's ''supposed'' to end or, if we dare, imagining our own ''ending'' ...or ''continuation,'' as the case may be. (In English subtitle format, the episodes alternate between English translations of the opening and closing themes and ''Roumaji'' transliterations.) If you decide to sit down with ''Sakura Diaries,'' be prepared for something very DIFFERENT ... and very ADDICTING! *
Rating:
Summary: A Tokyo love story...
Review: Anyone aquatinted with Tetsuya Egawa's "Tokyo University Story", will find a familiar story in Sakura Diaries. Ujin's innocent, playfully erotic characters are just as captivating when animated as they are in his illustrations. The story involves Youma Inabe's first time living in the big city as he tries to get into college. Two fateful meetings; one with his cute cousin who has carried an unknown crush on him since childhood, and one with the girl he meets at his college entrance exam that he can't stop thinking about, color his fortunes as he makes a series of bad and amusing decisions. Anyone who enjoys romantic comedies such as, Video Girl Ai, Ranma 1/2, or Maison Ikkoku will find this to be an entertaining show, aimed at a slightly older audience. The DVD is fairly no frills, but it's a great value. My only complaint was that it seemed to default to "Japanese with no Subtitles". 4 solid stars.
Rating: 
Summary: interesting
Review: at first i figured this would be your typical anime with your usual nudity and not a whole lot of a story to go with it. on the contrary, this anime has a very compelling story, i think, that gets a little better as you watch. sure its not as great as they come but its still interesting. though the ending leaves you feeling that there should be more to come its still enough to keep you thinking of what happens next. its not your usual happyly ever after sort of thing, it just ends and youre like, "man i wish there was more." over all i liked this anime and anyone who likes anime would enjoy adding this one to their collection.
Rating:
Summary: It Can't Believe It's NOT Pervertic
Review: At first, after reading all those reviews of "Sakura Diaries", I had a pretty good impression of it.I thought it would be some kind of Underground DVD you would find in the Hentai section. But, actually, it's a complicated love triangle. I won't write ANOTHER synopsis because the OTHER people already did. But if you like a romantic comedy once in a while, buy it. Just not for the kiddies.
Rating:
Summary: Sakura Diaries Uncut!
Review: At last the original version is out! The previous 4 part tape and DVD editions were taken from a hacked TV version of these OVAs. The hacked versions also had dubious dialogue for the subtitles that made the characters seem different than what they were. The dubbed dialogue was even worse on those as it rarely even came close to the sub dialogue. Happily those defects have now been fixed in the collector's edition: There is no dubbed dialogue and the sub is now accurate to the Japanese dialogue. Cut nudity has been rstored. There are even liner notes, which is unusual for ADV. The one feature not mentioned is that it also has the original next volume previews--the OAVs were originally released on VHS in Japan at 2 episodes per volume. The story ends at a natural point, but the ending tells us that there are more stories to be told. ADV is co-producing shows in Japan that will then become part of their future releases(The new Rurouni Kenshin OVA series)and this series would seem like another good series to continue. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Great Anime by Ujin
Review: First let me start off by saying I bought this in hopes of getting a better view of the whole story line. It delivered but, I only recommend buying this if you don't already have the original, it will save you some cash. I will say this however I got a much clearer understanding of the story and there is more fan service in this version than in the original version. The text was re-translated and makes a lot more sense. The end still leaves you wanting more, bummer. One downside though, there is no dub version available, this is subtitled only (not like I would watch the dub anyway).
Rating:
Summary: Better than Love Hina, thats for sure...
Review: First off, Urara had long hair in her youth, should have kept it long... somewhere along the path of life she lost her way, for shame Urara -_-; Secondly, I wish I had a back scrub like that! *_* (watch the show & you'll know what I mean) ..OK, with that said.. I'd have to agree with the other reviews. At first I was under the impression that this anime would have typical "Love Hina" or "Chobits" style storyline to it. It does in some ways, but the overall story follows a different path. A path that slowly but surely grabs your attention & keeps you locked in. What I mean is, the first 2 or so episodes feel like any other anime out there, but as the story progresses there are a surprising/interesting plot twists & very good character developement. The humour, as with most Japanese anime, is always a bonus side-dish ^_^ The ending once again, is some-what abrupt, but by the time I saw episode 11, I knew they'd pull off an abrupt ending. We're left to answer most of the questions for ourselves... so keep in mind that this anime focuses on the theme of "love/relationships" & "journey to self-discovery". Rather than asking what happens, think about what the characters did to overcome their problems & as a result the direction the story was going close to the ending. Once you do that the answers should come naturally. If you keep that in mind, the ending will feel a lot better. You'd say to yourself, "Ah! So thats what they were going for/getting at! ^_^"... that or I could be crazy, watch it & you be the judge! Anyway, (final notes...) I think the network that was airing the show might have put then on the cutting block or they might have had too small a budget to pull of anymore than half a season's worth of episodes. In any case, if you like romance with a side of naughty humour, you must see this show. And yes, at first, I too said "WTF?^^ MATE" cause the ending was all like "THEE EEND!!" Done reading my essay? Good. Now hit the "BUY" button. Hehee.. hope this review helped.
Rating:
Summary: Better than Love Hina, thats for sure...
Review: First off, Urara had long hair in her youth, should have kept it long... somewhere along the path of life she lost her way, for shame Urara -_-; Secondly, I wish I had a back scrub like that! *_* (watch the show & you'll know what I mean) ..OK, with that said.. I'd have to agree with the other reviews. At first I was under the impression that this anime would have typical "Love Hina" or "Chobits" style storyline to it. It does in some ways, but the overall story follows a different path. A path that slowly but surely grabs your attention & keeps you locked in. What I mean is, the first 2 or so episodes feel like any other anime out there, but as the story progresses there are a surprising/interesting plot twists & very good character developement. The humour, as with most Japanese anime, is always a bonus side-dish ^_^ The ending once again, is some-what abrupt, but by the time I saw episode 11, I knew they'd pull off an abrupt ending. We're left to answer most of the questions for ourselves... so keep in mind that this anime focuses on the theme of "love/relationships" & "journey to self-discovery". Rather than asking what happens, think about what the characters did to overcome their problems & as a result the direction the story was going close to the ending. Once you do that the answers should come naturally. If you keep that in mind, the ending will feel a lot better. You'd say to yourself, "Ah! So thats what they were going for/getting at! ^_^"... that or I could be crazy, watch it & you be the judge! Anyway, (final notes...) I think the network that was airing the show might have put then on the cutting block or they might have had too small a budget to pull of anymore than half a season's worth of episodes. In any case, if you like romance with a side of naughty humour, you must see this show. And yes, at first, I too said "WTF?^^ MATE" cause the ending was all like "THEE EEND!!" Done reading my essay? Good. Now hit the "BUY" button. Hehee.. hope this review helped.
Rating:
Summary: You won't see this on TOONAMI...at any hour
Review: I already owned "Sakura Diaries 1" when this collector set became available, so the story was familiar to me. What I wasn't ready for was the emotional ride the remainder of the series put me through. The characters present infatuation, love, and lust in the extreme. I found myself asking, "What ... is wrong with the lead male in this story?" After viewing the final disk, I was upset, not because I was disappointed. The story has actually made me think. If you want a DVD that's fun, I recommend you look at another series. This is a serious story.
Rating:
Summary: You won't see this on TOONAMI...at any hour
Review: I already owned "Sakura Diaries 1" when this collector set became available, so the story was familiar to me. What I wasn't ready for was the emotional ride the remainder of the series put me through. The characters present infatuation, love, and lust in the extreme. I found myself asking, "What ... is wrong with the lead male in this story?" After viewing the final disk, I was upset, not because I was disappointed. The story has actually made me think. If you want a DVD that's fun, I recommend you look at another series. This is a serious story.
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