Review of Peach Girl: Volume 2

Introduction

Peach Girl is a popular teenage soap manga series by Miwa Ueda. It was published in Japan from 1998 to 2003 in 18 volumes, and quickly became a huge publishing hit. In 1999, it won the Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo.

To add to its international success, irrepressible manga publisher Tokyopop took up an option on the series and published the series in the US, dividing it into two parts, the first eight books with the title Peach Girl and the last ten with the title Peach Girl: Change of Heart.

Inevitably, the series which worked so well on paper was destined for an anime rendition, and Volume 2 of the DVD release picks up from where Volume 1 left off with four episodes, 6 to 9 inclusive.

If you followed the action on Disc 1, then you`ll recall that one of Momo`s swim-class finally acknowledges her, after she is ostracised as a result of her so-called friend Sae`s rumour mongering. Add to this the immense satisfaction of having Kairi getting Sae to confess all her evil tactics within ear-shot of Toji, resulting in the whole class seeing the truth about her evil plans. And that`s the way episode 6 ends - like the perfect end to a satisfying drama arc.


Which just leaves the other three episodes! Sae, full of remorse, becomes a sad version of her former self, ostracised and picked on by all, getting a real taste of her own medicine. But then Momo shows tremendous kindness by forgiving her and Sae becomes her devoted and true friend as a result, having learned her lesson the hard way. Or so it seems.

Momo and Sae get asked to do some modelling work which goes awry when one of the other models patronises and pities Sae,sending her into a jealous rage. Sae also has a new model boyfriend (Jigaro) too who she turns against Momo with her historic bitchiness, proving that a leopard never really changes their spots.


Then she confesses her love for Toji, putting him into an emotional spin too. In the meantime, Toji has thrown a private party for Momo and ...they kiss!

So not all terrible, though to see Sae plot with Jigaro against Momo is enough to not only get my teenage daughters in a spin, but to get a middle-aged reviewer shouting aloud at the TV.

Video

This is delivered in original Standard 1.33:1 Colour. It`s a damn nice looking transfer too, with a softer pallette than some recent anime, but none the worse for that.

Audio

English and Japanese Dolby Digital Stereo options. This has a very good US dub that really means that viewing in original Japanese with subs can be left for the purists (or native Japanese of course). It`s a nicely recorded and mixed piece with great casting, nice score and a generally high quality feel to proceedings.

Features

Interview with Sae`s Japanese Voice Artiste - Megumi Nasu, the voice actress for
Sae explains how tough it was getting into the mindset of such a truly horrible and false individual!

Clean opening - what for?

Clean closing - again...what for?

Revelation trailers

Conclusion

It`s easy to see why `Peach Girl` has been such a big hit with Japanese teenagers. It`s relentlessly melodramatic, full of apparent injustice which eventually gets resolved just long enough for some new injustice to evolve. Teenage girls will have no trouble relating to the bitchy double-dealing that is everyday life in Momo`s world and they`ll enjoy the occasional romantic interlude too.

As fantasy fodder, it`s really quite superb, and whilst it`s little more than OC / One Tree Hill like fluff, it`s hugely entertaining and more than a little addictive. Stylistically, it has a very contemporary pop-art feel, with atmos and music to match.

I would highly recommend `Peach Girl` on the strength of Volume 2 which proves that it can sustain the narrative tension well beyond the initial story arc, ranking it amongst the very best teenage soaps in this respect.

It`s firmly targeted at girls between the ages of 9 and 16, though there`s no real reason why others wouldn`t enjoy it too.