Synopsis
A tale from the day of Valentine…
Every day in the life of Mizuhara Ryo and his younger sister Akane ended normally. They would wake up, go to school together, work tables at the Plavi resturant, come home and eat dinner. That was until one day a complete stranger in a pink jump suit literally crash lands through their glass screen door. Beneath the attire is the dazzling super flower of Japanese womanhood, the warrior of love, Masuda Shizuka! To their surprise, Shizuka announces that she is Ryo’s fianc?Še. Let the days of love and trials begin!
Review
Final Approach is the anime adaptation to the Playstation 2 dating simulation game of the same name released recently in Japan on October 7, 2004. This is Princess Soft’s third game turned anime, the first being Natsuiro no Sunadokei. Final Approach was aired concurrently with Princess Soft’s second game anime title W-Wish. The anime spans 13 episodes, and each episode is roughly 12 minutes long.
The official japanese anime website can be found on the left side of http://www.trinet-ent.com/princess_hour/index.html. There you will find character sketches, episode summaries accompanied by screenshots, a staff list, and DVD release dates. The game site is located at http://www.oaks-soft.co.jp/princess-soft/final/index.html. At the bottom of the index page is a mpg file of the opening trailer. The left bar navigates you through story information, individual character profiles, and back to the main Princess Soft website.
The Breakdown
Welcome to Pia Carrot…I mean Plavi!
» The Pros
Final Approach is the anti-Ah! My Goddess and Ai Yori Aoshi beautiful girl appearing out of nowhere motif that is so common in animes. It is refreshing to see that Ryo does not quietly accept his circumstances and is stubborn until the end. His immediate reaction is to give Shizuka the boot. Get out! Shizuka is not the blazing beauty she claims to be either, but a devil behind a smiling mask. It takes Ryo some time to stop calling Shizuka idiot and refer to her by name. Ryo even goes as far as to date Emiho.
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» The Cons
I wish the Final Approach anime dedicated an extra episode to Miki. No, the snow-hot springs episode does not count. All we see of Miki is her tough tomboyish side. Miki and Ryo have been childhood friends since elementary school. In the PS2 game, Ryo supposedly made a promise of engagement with her while in preschool. From the trailer movie you see a nighttime scene with her on a bench blushing in front of a dark blue haired gentleman. No way could she be dating Haru.
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» Animation
8.5 |
Final Approach is not trying to be a serious romantic anime title. The chibi animation scenes supplement the jokes. The character designs look similar just with different colored hair to differentiate them. Thick black linework is present in the character art, around the top portion of the eyes and other parts of the flesh for highlights. Girls just happen to have the best school uniforms. Guys' outfits are too boring. The cloned black suit men all have the same faces like the Nurse Joys and Officer Jennys in Pokemon. Mukasa Haruki is hot ^_^ |
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» Sound
8.0 |
The opening song Kimiiro Palette is the typical light, cute romantic anime song. At least it's not like Yumeria's Jikan Aishiteru. The ending theme Love, Fate, Love is upbeat and smooth. It seems as if the voice actors for Da Capo and Kanon returned to do Final Approach. Shizuka is played by Sakura Nogawa (Nemu in Da Capo and Tsubasa, the bird, in Angel Tales). Akane is voiced by Miyu Matsuki (Yoriko with cat ears in Da Capo, Yagami in Love Love/ Hoshino in Cosmopolitan Prayers). Miki is performed by Yukai Tamura (Da Capo's Sakura, Onegai Sensei's Ichigo, and Kanon's Mai). You might recognize Yurika as Yuko Minaguchi or Videl/Pan from Dragonball Z/GT series, Akiko from Kanon, and Farah from Tales of Eternia. |
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» Story
9.0 |
The series could have ended at episode 12. Episode 13 is strictly fanservice like the Onegai Sensei/Twin's final OVA episodes. There is a contest where the girls wear bikinis. They also try on some wedding gowns. The premise that Japan is headed for imminent doom due to the lack of births is partly true at least in other countries. Some governments enforce negative population growth, meaning one child per household. In those countries there is a preference for a male heir to carry on the family name. This means that when those males mature there would be fewer women in the pool to marry resorting to arranged marriages. A national plan legislated by Congress of arranged marriages would be scary. |
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» Recommend
8.0 |
Volume 1 of Final Approach will be released January 28, 2005. It contains episodes 1-4. Limited edition is priced at 7980 yen ($61.45), and regular edition is 3990 yen ($30.72). Once again, you can pre-order them slightly cheaper at http://www.cdjapan.co.jp Volume 2 comes out two months later on March 25. Four volumes total to be collected. |
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» Other Information
Language: Japanese
Extras: The Volume 1 limited edition box comes with a music CD, an exclusive Shizuka character brochure packet (black & white and color artwork, clothing designs, and snapshots from the anime), and a cutout paper figurine of Shizuka. I would imagine that following limited editions would be dedicated to the other girls - Akane, Emiho, and Miki or Yurika.
Package: The five heroines: Shizuka, Akane, Emiho, Miki, and Yurika |
Wednesday, August 12, 2026
