In spite of its rather lackluster production values, Suzuka really emerged for me as one of the most enjoyable series of 2005. While it’s not flashy or anything, the simple romantic story is well told and the characters are really wonderful. Unlike in other series, Suzuka doesn’t just fall head over heels for Yamato and instead puts him through torturous mind games; I was continuously baffled over what was going through her mind. Even better, the dopey male protagonist never powers up in the series. He’s a great runner with lots of potential, but it takes Yamato time and effort to improve, and his dedication to becoming number one in Japan actually results in him taking a step back in order to move ahead. That or he’s already washed up and Suzuka will dump him within the year.
I like how everything fits together, from the story to the cast to the music to the occasionally well-drawn animation. Much of the background music is either good or wonderfully cheesy, and I slowly warmed up to the OP. I’m not sure I love it now, but I could totally picture myself in a store leaping to get the last piñata while the music plays. I would get it too, with that inspirational power flowing through my body. Anyway, by far the best part of Suzuka is the cast. Although Yamato is occasionally frustrating, and Megumi and Yuka were annoying, most of the characters were absolutely wonderful and memorable. Whether we were watching frog-beating, ice queen Suzuka rocking her horizontal stripes, fashionable and crafty Honoka battling fate, surprisingly normal Miho wearing a variety of hilarious shirts (and let no one forget the awesome t-shirts and other outfits that appeared in this show), camouflaged ninja Miki scamming free meals, or slightly creepy best friend Yasunobu not ever getting any, we were rooting them on and enjoying their interaction. This made the highs and lows of the Suzuka-romancing rollercoaster so exhilarating, because we really did care about what happened to Suzuka, Yamato, and Honoka.
To be fair, I guess I should add a slight disclaimer: this show was made a great deal more entertaining by everyone else who blogged the series or stopped by to engage in discussion. Good-natured ribbing really bumped this show up another notch for me, much like making fun of Gundam Seed Destiny kept that series from being a complete waste in my mind. I hope someone picks up the manga so that I can continue to follow the characters past the end of the anime series.
Kabitzin’s Rating: 5/5
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Kabitzin, the manga has been licensed by Del Ray so you can see the nudity and more sexual dialogue and items as well. Also, I will be blogging the manga from chapter 73 and on which where the anime stops at.
Rock on, have any translated volumes come out yet? Bah, yet another series to add to my wish list -__-.
Somehow it is hard to imagine Yamato and Suzuka having “sexual dialogue”…
I too have a huge will to read the manga too. Considering the only manga I’ve ever read is Love Hina and Planetes vol 1, this will be a big step
Kabitzin, it definately was fun to be a fellow blogger on this series, and I think you summed it up nicely. I think that was what made GSD palpable for me too (especially the discussions on animesuki forums for that one). Let’s hope we cross paths again :p
A word about the manga: Overall, I think it’s fair to say that it beats the anime in many aspects, even though they are VERY similar story-wise. It went so far that our translator once joked “You know, I could speed up translation even more by simply translating the manga and then making a few adjustments”. However, since he ALWAYS managed to finish the TL a few hours after airing, this was a moot point…
The main advantage of the manga is the artwork, which is very detailed and hi-quality. Unlike the anime, which had a couple of very awkward scenes, the quality of the manga was consistently excellent. But what also counts: The manga is what I call “tastefully ecchi”. The fanservice isn’t overbearing, but the girls are very pretty to begin with, and without drifting over the line into hentai territory, the mangaka managed to capture just enough trace of sexual tension to spice things up a little (where the anime almost went the censorship route). You know, this makes me sound like a perverted old ero-jiji, but just watch it – you’ll see and I think you won’t be disappointed.
What can I say….Suzuka is now one of the best ever anime I’ve ever watched. Ok, admittedly, it had some weak points (animation quality is sometimes unbearable, and there are some VERY slow paced eps, and sometimes not very original), but for characters and story development, this anime wins HANDS DOWN to 90% of the stuff out there, imo. And the overall “fuss” that has raised in blogs, forums etc. was very very funny to follow and comment.This blog in particular.I still don’t know if a second season would do any good to Suzuka, I have to check out the manga, I believe.But since I’ve read that Suzuka was not particularly popular in Japan, I doubt there’ll be any.I would love an OVA or 2…
Suzuka is a pretty awsume anime to begin with. the characters are all pretty good( unlike some other where there are those chix who would piss you off HEAPS). Generally all the girls were very pretty and i liked how it was a simple love story between two cool ppl. I would h8 to see if there wasnt a 2nd series or any OVAs…sigh… watching this anime makes u wana go 2 japan more.
I haven’t seen the anime, but I’ve read the manga version upto volume 14. In the first few volumes, I really hated the manga, the protagonist seems like some wishy washy shojo manga stereotypical type drawn up by some middle aged female otaku (not the art but the character of the protagonist).
However, since I’ve accidentally downloaded all 14 volumes, and I was really bored at that time so I pushed myself for a few more volumes. It turned out the next few volumes were alright – although it was still wishy washy soap opera with stereotypical character development.
The next few volumes deal with Suzuka and Akitsuki breakup and I thought the mangaka matured a bit story telling wise when it deals with people being incompatible personality wise. But in the end that guy is still so wishy washy.
I mean, the whole idea of having some undying “love” with someone just because you were impressed seeing a chick doing high jump at a particular moment is not just unbelievable but also stereotypical of shojo manga for audience who never really involved in romance. A crush, sure. But unable to get over a breakup because both parties lose interest for over a year not to mention having feeing for someone else during that time is just simply poor taste on character development.
It looks like some never ending soap drama like “The bold and the beautiful” which I never watch but I guess it has similar quality – or at least I think soapy drama has better character development.
I’m someone who really like romance manga but not something as low quality as this – examples of good romance manga I’ve read are: “Dance till tomorrow”, “H2″, “Kare first love”, “Miyuki”, “touch”, “living game”, “salad days” etc…
“The bold and the beautiful”
Suddenly I realize why some people want certain memories to be erased forever.
to caraoke: if you don’t know what character developments are, then shut the hell up. the second arc (chapter 72~136) is way superior than the first “oh and they lived happily ever after” anime arc.
Everything about Suzuka was perfect. To start off, the music in the anime (I’ve seen the anime and read the manga) is wonderful, I’ve downloaded a torrent with the entire soundtrack, and looked it up on youtube. Although the drawings suffer sometimes, they are detailed when it counts, and Seo did a very nice job with specifics like different clothing/outfits, and kept the plot very consistent, with the realistic and romantic ups and downs. I honestly can’t believe that I got so addicted to Suzuka. X)
Sometimes during class, I’ll find myself daydreaming about the manga, and what it’d be like to be a part of it. Odd? Yes, but oh well, a great, great manga/anime. I’m so glad I stumbled upon it. If only there was some sort of sequel or additions, but sadly it’s over. I also love how this manga doesn’t support stereotypical muscle-head men (besides the captain), or totally easy, beautiful girls (except that one roommate…but that’s a personality). Suzuka captures the aspect of romance and realism and formed into a wonderful manga which has captured my heart and interest. Not only was obvious time put into forming and understanding the main characters as the plot developed, but the great deal of powerful supporting characters also helped this manga.
While reading the manga, I felt like I was part of the entire plot, feeling the highs and lows, the ups and down. All I can say is, it’s a shame to see this manga end.
Recently i have been rewatching shows i really liked/and reading the manga. Now im a big sports anime fan (whistle, prince of tennis etc) and Suzuka was one of my favorites so i figured what the hell. I never finished the manga for whatever reason, so i finished it a few days ago and it was GREAT! I figured since its over with there should be a second season of the anime. (Studio comets mistake was making the anime shortly after the manga, hence why theres no more episodes) But i emailed them about it and they said they would look into it! So there might actually be one now. I also started a petition if anyone is interested.
http://www.gopetition.com/online/22309.html
SPREAD THE WORD TO EVERY SUZUKA FAN! WE NEED THIS ANIME TO FINISH THE
Suzuka was one of the best and most inspirationalish animes ive ever watched it was diffrent thatn others like Mushi-shi it wasnt just there it came slowly im kinda sad about no 2nd season well il have to find a diffrnet show sighhhh!=[