Naisho no Tsubomi

I've known about this thing's existence for a while, but I didn't think it'd interest me. Years later, after being bored to death and losing a lot of the anime I want to watch thanks to the closure of MegaUpload (like Digimon Adventure, Emily of New Moon, and live-action With The Light), I decided to seek out more titles and broaden my anime horizons. In doing so, I ran back into this and, seeing how it's only three episodes long, decided to take the plunge...and I came out alive, but with a weird taste in my mouth. Apparently, this is based on a very popular shoujomanga, and it's about a sweet girl named Tsubomi who's learning about adult things like pregnancy (in the form of her mother getting pregnant), the male and female body (Yes, sex, in the form of a sex ed video being shown to a classroom full of fifth graders), her period, and falling in love. You'd think this would be an almost fan-service free anime, right? Uhh...no. Well, there's definitely no boob-grabbing, undie flashing, or straight out nudity in this show. It's DEFINITELY not a Kodomo Jikan, Mitsudomoe, or Ro-Kyu-Bu (ugh), which I laud them for not becoming, but...it's still very flawed. The show's biggest flaw: the subject matter. Okay, a sex education anime featuring fifth graders? An episode with kids watching a video about sex? What? I wasn't taught this stuff when I was in fifth grade! I mean, I could see this working with teenagers, but...with little fifth grade kids? Seriously? Aren't they a little young to have to learn stuff like that? What the heck were these producers, and the mangaka, thinking?! What the freak?! I honestly don't approve of kids learning about sex at that age. No I do not, though to its credit, it is rather realistic in its portrayal of boys, showing them (or most of them) getting all excited about the video, talking about sex, and shouting the P word (had to deal with this in high school). People, if you're gonna do an anime about sex education, can you at least pick the right AGE in which to show them?! Showing fifth graders this kind of thing is just downright lewd! In fact, I think it should be against the law! I mean, sure if they do experience these things then they have to be told them some time soon, but not like this! Another flaw lies in half of the cast. Now don't get me wrong, I liked most of the cast, like Tsubomi, Saya, Daiki, Yae, and Yoh. In fact, my favorite character out of this entire series is Yoh, and not just because he's voiced by Mitsuki Saiga either (though I do kinda wish he had more lines. He only got ONE LINE in the first episode alone!). The other half...well, I do think Futoshi is a very realistically portrayed boy...though as a fifth grader in general, I can't picture it. I mean, I can understand his behavior if he were a high schooler since, y'know, high school boys nowadays do nothing but shout inappropriate things regarding sex, but has ANYONE ever seen a fifth grade boy act like he does? I know I haven't! I kinda found Rea to be annoying. Seriously, WHO is interested in that sort of thing?! Why is she interested in knowing what a boner is?! She shouldn't be taught that kind of stuff until she's of age! I really didn't like her. But the rest of the cast: approved! *thumbs up* Okay, now that's all the bad stuff (and part of the good stuff). Let's get to the rest of the good stuff, the first being the animation. Sure some shoujo-haters might think it's a bit too sparkly and extravagant and too shoujo, and sure movement is minimal and there are a few still frames, but I never found this to be a problem. It did what it did and nothing more. It's not trying to be anything it's not, and being an OVA, I think it did okay. The music isn't particularly memorable, but it was nice and it fit the show, though I do wish there was an opening and ending theme. I just can't picture anime episodes without proper intro and outro songs and videos. It just seems weird to me. My favorite episode out of all of this has to be episode 3. It did just about everything right, even if some parts of it were a tad cliche. I especially liked the twist at the end. More anime should do stuff like that, though I wouldn't recommend it for all anime. While it isn't great or mind-breaking, Naisho no Tsubomi is a nice little time killer...though stay away from it if you don't want to see fifth graders learning about sex. I don't want to see any more like it anytime soon.

OH BOY, I WISH I HAD THIS WHEN I WAS A YOUNGER! This was a lot more useful than the book my mom read to me when I was a young teenager. The Story: The story was very good and relatable for me. As, a lot of what happened in there, I can still remember going through pretty well. So it was also pretty nostalgic! The story though isn't anything special compared to other animes. To be honest, it really lacks luster. That being said though, I won't take back saying the story was very good, because of the type of story it is. Most things likethis are very gross and boring, and I just wanted to get away from all this type of stuff when I was small. Now, I'm an adult so I might be wrong, but I think this would've held my interest as for every "gross thing related to growing up happened" it was paired with cuteness! And extra points for there being a baby and romance! Yes, I was even a hopeless romantic as a child and I always loved babies. But that's just me :p I'll give the story an 8. The Art: The art was very cute! That's the whole reason I watched it! I didn't think it would be about puberty, lol. That's all I really have to say on it, just understand I liked the cute characters. I'll give this a 6 The Sound: The sound was okay, just that, I don't remember any of the soundtracks though... So I guess another 6 The Characters: I felt the characters were really well done, of course, I'm older now, but I related to the main character a lot concerning somethings, of course, though that's all I'll say on that :p Now back to the review. The characters all felt like children to me, not like loli's and whenever something a bit perverted happened it felt natural as it was. They're just human beings going through puberty which anyone can say is rough. Considering this is anime, I was pretty surprised by it. Now, of course, there are some really perverted things concerning two characters. But really, what do you expect from someone that age, it's also part of growing up and puberty to think of things like porn. So I wasn't to bothered by it. I would've been though if they really lewd the characters. I'll give this one a... 7 Now, before I get to enjoyment lets talk about the elephant in the room, I left out someone really big, and that is Saya. All I will say is that she is very mysterious and to watch for yourself if you want to know, cause talking about it will just cause spoilers. The Enjoyment: I'm an adult, so I didn't enjoy this as much as I make it out to be. Just I feel this was really well done for what it is, and actually thinking about buying a copy now and saving it for if I become a mother one day. Although I think girls would like this more than most boys, after all, it's really cute and mainly deals with what girls have to go through. But there are still things about boys too though. I say I enjoyed this about... hm... I'll say a 5 Overall: Overall I feel like this short series is amazing for the type of anime it is. For my list, I rated it either a 9 or an 8 due to how impressed I was at it. So I will say a nine here as well. Just understand this isn't for everyone and I wouldn't really tell someone to go watch it. Thank you for reading my review and have a nice day! Hope this helps!