Kodomo no Omocha

Grace's Review

Also known as "Marmalade Boy on Crack," this spastic comedy is great for those of you who don�t mind the constant motion and rapid fire dialogue of the ritalin deficient heroine, Sana-chan. Unlike the serious and often pain inducing love dementagon riddled plot of Marmalade Boy, Kodomo no Omocha concentrates mainly on the comedy aspect of the show, centering mostly around the bizarre relationship between the hyper-active child-star Sana-chan and her cool yet seriously twisted classmate, Hayama. Is their rivalry truly based on their utter contempt for each other, or is it something more? Throw in Sana-chan�s mind bogglingly eccentric family and a few other over the top characters and you have the off the wall, non-stop action [literally] comedy that is Kodomo no Omocha. Warning: this show will either leave you�re sides aching with laughter or your head through a wall, but other than that this is a great find for those of you who enjoy a fast paced show and don�t mind it making little or absolutely no sense at all. I personally thought it was helluva lot better than Marmalade boy...

Julie's Review

Kodomo no Omocha, or Child�s Toy, is most compared to Marmalade Boy. More specifically, �Marmalade on crack�. Known as Kodocha, this anime series revolves chiefly around the relationship between the two main characters, Kurata Sana *and Hayama Akito. Sana is the outgoing, loud, and popular child while Hayama is the �boss monkey�, or head troublemaker of the 6th grade. The direct character foiling adds a special appeal to this wacky, romantic, and comic series.

Eleven-year-old Kurata Sana is a child actress that can become super hyper. She quickly rose from being the star of her show �Kodomo no Omocha� to being a supporting actress in a movie made for television. She�s an active sixth grader with a really big heart that is eager to even help out Hayama. Her biggest weapon is a large toy hammer that can be used against anyone or anything that aggravates her. Generally, it is Hayama who knows how to rub her the wrong way or make her feel helpless in understanding why he would do such things or think in such a way. It�s not that she�s dense, but na�ve from lifestyles that aren�t like hers. She often has trouble remaining serious for too long, but when she�s depressed, her countenance really expresses the sadness. According to Sana, she and Hayama are both �half-children� that had to grow up with only one adult and become a little more adult than child due to their environment.

In the beginning of the series, Hayama is a troublemaker who uses blackmail against two teachers to control them. After several attempts to beat him, losing about half of them, she finally succeeds in getting him to stop being such a troublemaker, only to make him a �lone wolf� that becomes distant and extremely anti-social. Hayama is good at hiding his emotions and at times he can be really blunt, cold and insulting. Only when Sana-chan finds out what life at home is like for Hayama, does she begin to understand his character and his actions.

Tsuyoski-kun is a classmate of both Sana and Hayama. He is often the confidante of Hayama and depends on Hayama the few occasions that he is overcome with anger and destroys anything in his path. Hayama, though he has never taken martial arts lessons, is able to take out Tsuyoski-kun�s anger with a swift chop on the head. He is a good person in the series, who aided Sana when he felt that Hayama had gone too far with his pranks, but occasionally he can be a bit dense.

Sagami Rei is first introduced as Sana�s driver, manager, boyfriend, and pimp. The last two titles are dropped as the series progresses. A young Sana who wanted to help Rei-kun, brought him home to feed and be loved and become her manager. He is always seen with his shades, because Sana doesn�t want him to take them off. As the series progresses, Rei-kun becomes less a figurine that manages Sana�s work and more into a character developed with a past and soon a future. Unlike Sana, Rei-kun fears Hayama and worries about her well being. Kurata �Mama� Mariko is the Aoki award-winning writer that thrives on weird hairstyles and hats. She allows Maro-chan, a squirrel, to live in and on her strange hats. Like Sana, she likes to pull out a toy hammer to stop a person from talking or to get their attentions. Generally if she doesn�t want to be involved in a discussion, she walks away in the middle of that person�s conversation when they are not looking. Due to past experiences, she has learned that a 5% chance is still a chance that should be aimed for. She is despite the hair and strange habits, a sensible woman who wants the best for Sana, always.

A few items of interest that come up in the series are the toy hammer, Burracha, cameras and picture taking, Kodomo no Omocha (the series Sana stars in), Komawari, the Nori Nori machine, and the personality calculator. The toy hammer is used by both Sana and Kurata-sensei; it is a symbol a logo for the series. Burracha is a vibrating pager given to Sana by Rei-kun if she ever needed him. Later, when Hayama and Sana become more intimate, Sana gives one to Hayama. Picture taking becomes significant in this series by first introducing the characters in the beginning of the episode, second by describing Sana�s week in one photo, and lastly by proving as means of power. Both Hayama and Sana always seem to have a camera ready to take a picture of an unexpected moment. Komawari is the place where Sana learns all her acting skills and other strange knowledge. The Nori Nori machine is a small recorder that Sana carries around, often to express emotions in some way. She uses the Nori Nori machine to rap to it to virtually every episode. The personality calculator takes random information and derives a personality that is usually correct.