Saishū Shiken Kujira OVA

Information of Anime

Mutsumi Kuonji is about to move to new city.  Before he moves, he meets a girl on a hill who calls him Mucchan.  He recognizes her as Sacchan who is currently under care by the hospital.

Storyline (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Below is a summary of the storyline I've seen.  If you haven't seen the series yet & don't want to be spoiled, skip this section.  If you want to know the story & want to see how I viewed it, read on.

The OVA takes place during the time when Mutsumi & Sacchan were children.  Sacchan would have Mustumi come visit her or take her to places.  However, she doesn't seem to remember Mutsumi each time he visits her.  She would ask him if he's Mucchan.  Mutsumi would later learn that Sacchan's illness is that she can't remember what she did from the day before.  When she goes to sleep & wakes up the next day, she has no memories of it.

The story goes deeper when the two children would call each other liars.  Mutsumi would ask Sacchan why she did tell him about her illness & she would counter about how she knew that he's moving soon & not telling her about it when he tells her that he'll visit her everyday.  Soon, Mutsumi would learn that Sacchan is being transferred to another hospital.  However, she escaped the transfer. 

The OVA ends with Mutsumi would try to find Sacchan on the hill, only to find the big whale strap he brought her in an aquarium visit on the floor.

My Personal Review

This Saishū Shiken Kujira OVA is different from the ONAs that were shown before but it's still based on the ero-game of the same name by CIRCUS.  I thought it was the same as the ONA but expanded or something.  But I was wrong.

Animation

The character designs are quite nice & plain.  The girls don't look similar to one another which is good.  But, they aren't too appealling.  The characters do go to silly drawing modes at times during the comedic parts.

The backgrounds are okay.  Not a lot of details & are some of plain.

The colours are on the dull side.  Also, the lines don't seem solid.  You can see some breaks when the characters are up close.  The blending between the backgrounds & characters aren't bad as they don't overlap with one another.

In terms of the animation movement, it's a mixture.  Sometimes the movements are realistic & sometimes the movements are not normal.  But they aren't too smooth as some choppy frames can be found time to time.

Sound

The sound effects are on the silly & realistic side.  Some of them are quite cute & funny.  They fit the OVA well & give it some life.

The seiyuus here are average.  I'm not sure if they are the same ones from the game.  They are ok as you could feel some of the emotion from the two children.

The music is mainly the ballad side which fits the ONA quite well.

Story

Basically Mutsumi & Sacchan's childhood years.  In other words, how the story came to be.  I don't remember if this storyline was actually in the game.  I did recall something about the childhood part, but not that long.  Anyways, the story is actually good as it does buildup nicely for the older Mutsumi later on in the storyline.  Overall, this is basically a prequel in a nutshell.  It seems a bit cramped for the story, but still nicely done up to the ending.

Overall Conclusion

Saishū Shiken Kujira OVA is a nice OVA as it gives a descent background of the series.  Even if you don't have any background about it, you won't be lost as the OVA starts right at the beginning.

Saishū Shiken Kujira OVA rates a seven out of ten.  The OVA is a great watch for people that are fans of the series or new to it.  Although it's an one episode 30 minute OVA, it does squeeze a bit of information.  But the OVA does a good job in getting the proper facts in.

Last updated on September 8, 2008