Akitsuki Yamato is 15 year-old teenager from rural Hiroshima who decides to enter a high school in Tokyo in hopes of encountering a life-changing experience. On the day of his arrival, he caught a glimpse of a girl practising in the high jump event. Mesmerised by her ability (or maybe her beauty), he hopes to bump into her someday, especially at the place he lives; his aunt’s women-only apartment and bath house. Now before your mind goes astray, let me get this straight; the whole situation is not as perverted as it sounds for Yamato has no intentions of that sort. All he wants is to have an opportunity to meet her face to face and the possibility of that happening at the bath house is very high. So now that we’re all clear that Suzuka is NOT a hentai or even an ecchi anime, let’s move on.

       As many would have guessed by now, Yamato’s wish is fulfilled when he discovers that Suzuka happens to live in the room next to his…but not in the best of circumstances. A couple of misunderstandings during their first few encounters have led to a strained relationship between Yamato and Suzuka. Thankfully, the producers did not stretch this ‘strained’ period for too long and they soon become friends. However, things get more complicated when Yamato realises that he has a crush on Suzuka. He soon finds himself facing a tough decision – whether to confess his feelings or to keep it to himself and not risk a friendship with the person he’ll encounter every single day (being classmates and housemates). I’m not going to let the cat out of the bag by revealing what Yamato did at that point…to tell you the truth, the decision he made was certainly not to my liking. But without bad decisions, there will be no story left to tell, will there?

       The anime also has a sports theme where the high school the characters attend is well-known for its prestigious sports activities. Some students, like Yamato, made it into that school based on their entry examinations results, but there are also students, like Suzuka, who earned their places based on their talent in sports. Eventually, Yamato realises his talent as a sprinter and later joins the track team in hopes of winning a place in Suzuka’s heart as a fellow sportsman. However, a tragic incident in Suzuka’s past has affected her view of life greatly. Instead of impressing Suzuka, Yamato’s involvement in the track team makes her dislike Yamato even more. This is also partially because she thinks Yamato is not taking the sport seriously. With that, Yamato feels at lost for he seems to be losing Suzuka with every step he takes towards her.

       At first glance, the anime might seem to be your average high-school romance themed title but Suzuka is definitely much more than that. There are some cliché characters such as the shy girl who admires the male lead from afar (Honoka) and the hero’s perverted best friend who often gets the hero into unfavourable situations (Hattori). However, unlike most romance titles, Suzuka does not have the harem essence in it (harem – where all the girls in the anime seems to be chasing after the male lead). Besides that, the story and characters constantly develops with each episode and for that to happen throughout all 26-episodes is a great achievement indeed. It was definitely interesting to watch how Honoka overcomes her shyness and later took on a major role in the story. Hattori’s character is also refreshing and surprisingly likeable as he sincerely wishes for the best for Yamato and often gives valuable girl-related advice to him.

       Overall, the storyline is somewhat ordinary but entertaining. Character development deserves credit as well as the animation (although the quality varies in some episodes). The soundtrack is not noteworthy though but despite that, Suzuka definitely earned a place in my all-time-favourites list – a huge feat indeed considering that it is currently the only one that belongs to the romance genre!

Characters

        Akitsuki Yamato – Although the anime is titled ‘Suzuka’, most of the proceedings are seen from Yamato’s point of view, making him the lead character. He is often dubbed to be a ‘late-bloomer’ by his childhood friend, Hattori, for he is often clueless when it comes to girls. When he was young, Yamato joined a track event that dented his confidence when his team ended up last in a competition. Since then, he has avoided track events citing his incapability as the reason. However, a routine physical test during school one day proved that the lost was certainly not caused by Yamato as he managed to outrun a student who got a place into the school based on his quick times as a sprinter! With his newfound talent, Yamato decides to join the school track team in hopes of creating himself a favourable impression on Suzuka whose life is dedicated solely at her high-jump sport.

        Suzuka Asahina – She has been a high-jumper since junior-high days and her talent got her scouted by many prestigious high-schools. She didn’t want to leave her friends and family at first but eventually decided on a high-school in Tokyo upon much persuasion. Still feeling attached to her hometown, Suzuka often declares her dissatisfaction for Tokyo, often comparing the metropolis with her much preferred hometown. It was Yamato who managed to tone her down in that aspect by introducing her to the parts of Tokyo that he came to love. She might seem to be arrogant at first and is often cold towards Yamato. This attribute of hers is probably caused by an incident in her past which she reveals to no one. In short, Yamato reminds her of a person she knew, Kazuki Tsuda, who also happened to be a very talented sprinter. It was obvious that she had feelings for Tsuda which is possibly why she’s in denial of her feelings towards Yamato, dismissing him as a replacement for Tsuda.

        Honoka Sakurai – She has a crush on Yamato ever since he got her out of trouble during their first meeting on one of Yamato’s yearly visits to Tokyo many years ago. Too shy to confront Yamato, she kept her feelings to herself and resulted to observing Yamato from afar. To her delight, Yamato ended up attending the same high-school as she and they even got placed into the same class. Taking this as a good sign, she plucks up her courage and introduces herself to Yamato (as he had already forgotten that they have met before). They eventually became good friends but Honoka did not pursue a deeper relationship as she realises that Yamato has feelings for Suzuka. Not giving up, she follows Yamato’s decision to join the track team as a manager, putting up with the hard work that comes with that position just to be close with him and to keep the Yamato-Suzuka relationship in check.

        Hattori Yasunobu – “Women are more important to him than eating three meals a day” is how Yamato describes this childhood friend of his. Hattori is a mini-pervert since he was young and his desire to get closer to women often involves sacrifices on Yamato’s part. He grew up to be a ladies’ man and even has his own fan-club at school. His knowledge with women proves to be useful to Yamato but not all advice turned out to be good ones. Over the course of the series, Hattori’s role seems to diminish but his few appearance still proves to be worthy for a relief from tensed situations.

        Miki Hashiba – Although in different classes, she turned out to be Suzuka’s best friend. Miki is also part of the track and field team as a sprinter. She knew Suzuka even before they were in the same high-school as both of them have taken part in various track meets. Back then, she has an impression that Suzuka is a snobbish person because she never smiles even when she produces good jumps. After training together in high-school, Miki realises that Suzuka's lack of emotions are due to her dedication to high-jumping and she respects that attribute of hers. There are hints early in the show that she has feelings for Yamato but that turned out to be a dead end : ( . My impression of her role in the series is to bring Suzuka to face reality that Yamato has done nothing wrong to her and she should give him a chance at proving himself – exactly what Suzuka needs other than a slap to the face for her everlasting denial of her feelings.

        Ayano and Miho Fujikawa – Ayano is Yamato’s aunt, which makes Miho his cousin. The apartment and bath house where Yamato currently boards belongs to Ayano. She lets him stay for free and even pays him for the chores he performs around the place. The Fujikawas also prepare meals for Yamato as well as Suzuka, for Ayano once said that she will be able to claim a successful high-jumper was once a tenant at her place. Miho often acts older than others of her age. She really cares for Yamato and states her concern for him is similar to a mother’s love for her child!

        Yuka Saotome and Megumi Matsumoto – They are both college students and tenants at Ayano’s place. Yuka is the wilder of the two. She loves to party, to drink and most annoying of all, to disturb Yamato, often venturing into Yamato’s room uninvited and causing a ruckus while she’s there (not to forget that Suzuka happens to live just next door to Yamato). At times, she does provide useful relationship advice to Yamato and Honoka as well. Megumi on the other hand is a complete opposite of Yuka that it is a wonder the both of them are such good friends. She can be described as your typical bookworm being a medic student and all. Her experiences in relationships are not good ones as she confesses that all the men she dates are only interested in her boobs. Megumi also has a low alcohol resistance level as a meagre sip of alcohol beverages can knock her out or make her blab her deepest and darkest secrets.

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