Review of Peach Girl: Volume 4

Introduction

So finally Peach Girl Volume 4 has arrived! (Well, a couple of weeks ago…). That`s a full three months between discs which in my view is crazy. Is this to allow teens the time necessary to save up for the next volume?! At this rate, my teenage daughters will have grown out of the series before all six discs are available. No wonder most anime fans resort either to fan-subs or wait it out till reasonably priced series box-sets are available.

That gripe aside, it`s pretty much business as usual here in the teen-soap world of Peach Girl with a further four episodes contained here:

14 - The Man Who Creates a Storm
15 - Who Will It Be?
16 - When Love Hits Rock Bottom
17 - Direct Line to Pure Love

I`ll make the gross presumption that anyone reading this review will already have seen volumes one to three. If not, I`d refer you back to those reviews, also to be found on this site.

The great thing about Volume 4 is that Sae (go on - start to hiss and boo) really gets her well deserved come-uppance. My daughters have remained outraged and incensed about Sae`s endless game-playing and duplicity, and it makes for satisfying viewing to see her finally get her just desserts, and to see Momo get hers too, in a nice way of course!

Misunderstanding and bad communication seem to be the by-words again in Volume 4 which kicks off with a fall-out between Momo and Kairi whom she suspects of arranging a clandestine meeting with an ex at a local hotel. Despite his protestations Momo decides to check things out for herself and discovers that the ex (Morika) is actually in love with Kairi`s older brother. Oops! Kairi warns Momo that the older brother has a way of stealing his girlfriends and that Momo could be next.

Sae then gets into a whole heap of trouble when she appears in a magazine dressed only in a swimsuit (she may be evil but she`s a looker too) though she manages to get out of any punishment by doing her usual routine with the waterworks. It seems that Ryo is the culprit this time, trying to persuade the gullible Sae into even worse things than just photo-shoots. As usual - it`s Momo to the rescue, despite all the heartache that Sae has caused her.

And if this all sounds familiar, it probably is. Sae also got involved in some dubious movie-making a few episodes back and Momo saved her then too. So Sae becomes remorseful AGAIN and seems to have learned the error or her ways AGAIN, and wants to make friends with Momo AGAIN. All sounding familiar?!

It`s all just business as usual!

Video

Standard 4:3 with a very nice transfer where the simplistic animation looks crisp and bright. Good pixilation-free compression too.

Audio

The usual choice of American English and Japanese 2.0 stereo, As usual, and in a way calculated to upset the anime purists, I listened to the US dub where the nasally Californian accents seem perfect for the job (this is just like a cartoon version of `The OC` after all). Dialogue is clear, though as with previous volumes, there is little else to distinguish it.

Features

There`s another Voice Artiste interview, this time with Kairi`s Japanese voice which is interesting enough but not the sort of feature that my teenage girls could be bothered with. After all - it breaks the magic to dissect an animated series like this into its constituent parts. Then there`s the standard (read: pointless) creditless opening and closing songs though I can`t for the life of me figure out why these are included on anime discs!

Conclusion

With three month gaps between releases, surely it can only be the really dedicated fans that could be bothered sticking this out? Even if you started out watching this as a teenager, by the time the whole series has been released you could well be in your mid-thirties and looking for entertainment elsewhere. Personally I`d advise waiting a little longer to acquire the inevitable full series box-set, probably at a far more reasonable price.

`Peach Girl` is an anime strictly for female teens. It`s like a cartoon version of `One Tree Hill` and uses all the same soap devices to keep its momentum - principally teen angst and romance, bad communication and misunderstanding, occasionally gross injustice and then (of course) sweet revenge and reward.

Volume 4 plays out like a re-run of previous episodes and themes, leaving me with the queasy feeling that `Peach Girl` is going in no particular direction at all, as unsatisfying as the endless curse of `Eastenders` and yet just as entertaining too.

In truth, as much as I enjoy a lot of the anime I`ve seen over the last couple of years, `Peach Girl` is not for me. But then it was never intended to be either. But if you were to ask my teenage daughters what they thought, you`d get a very different answer. With the arrival of each successive disc, they insist on viewing the series from the top in order to remind themselves of where it left off (3 months is a long time to a thirteen year old).

So to conclude, here is a comment from my youngest daughter (12) - infinitely more relevant than my own.

"Peach Girl is great because it`s really addictive. Sae makes me feel really angry and there`s no way I`d believe that she`s learned her lesson. She`s done that too often before. Momo`s really cool too. I love it. It`s way better than most the so-called Children`s television here. Ten out of ten."

So there you go. Straight from the target group`s mouth. However, it`s the same mouth that declared the recent St.Trinians film to be a work of genius, so be warned!