For those who are unaware, I originally gained an interest in anime, manga, and fanfiction because Ranma ½ was a gender-bending story. At the time, I was obsessed with the inherent possibilities for character interaction, character development, and humor. (I still am to some extent)
However, shortly after discovering Ranma ½, I discovered another anime that had just began to be fansubbed. (You may be wondering why it took me so long to write about it. The answer is that I only just found time to watch the last four episodes today) Since then, the manga has been licensed for North American distribution under the name “Cheeky Angel” (in fact, I own the first 6 volumes), but the anime remains unlicensed, which is a real shame since some of the jokes in the anime cannot translate to a non-animated medium. (As a side-note, the manga is apparently longer, but I have yet to buy the whole thing, so I wouldn’t know)
For those who have never read the manga, it’s about a boy named Amatsuka Megumi (Yes, I know it’s a girl’s name) who got turned into a girl 6 years before the story starts when a little demon offered a wish and then purposefully misheard the “man” in “manliest man in the world”, resulting in a change so vast that only Megumi’s best friend Miki remembers what used to be. Naturally, Megumi isn’t too pleased.
Throughout this comedy, Megumi builds a collection of allies comprising of:
- Genzo, The stupid but immensely strong ex-bully
- Fujiki, The notably normal and mundane guy
- Yasuda, The proud pervert
- Kobayashi, the samurai figure
In general, the story revolves around their interactions with Megumi, Miki, and various other characters. (Some of whom go to the same high school)
I won’t say more, because I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but I will say that the anime makes excellent use of the anime medium, it’s a good comedy, and the ending is excellent, matching all of the points in my checklist:
- The final episode’s credits should use a different piece of music than normal ending theme in order to avoid feeling anti-climactic.
- If possible, ending themes should be different for each episode (eg. Fushigi Yuugi), but failing that, the final episode’s credits should at least be overlaid on the epilogue.
- The story ending shouldn’t completely tie everything up. That’s not to say that things should be left unfinished, but rather, the story should end on a note where you feel that there’s more. For example, Fushigi Yuugi’s ending leaves the promise of a new untold romance despite closing all of the story threads that I can remember existing. What really surprises me is that any stories exist which break this particular rule.
…as well as satisfying my personal preferences as to how characters should act.
Anyway, since it’s still unlicensed, you can’t buy translated DVDs, so grab a torrent from the Anime-Empire section of the ScaryWater tracker. (As of this writing, it’s the second item from the bottom)
