O

Plot:

A three episode, 30 minutes an episode OVA, Otona Joshi no Anime Time tells three complete stories in each episode.  Unrelated to each other save for the fact that they all revolve around mature Japanese women at varying points in their lives.

Episode 1 – 

Mimi is an approximately 30-year old woman who is married.  However, one day she meets a handsome trash collector by chance whom she moves in with.  The story’s themes revolve around feeling wanted and following one’s desires even though the consequences may imply that you aren’t the best person in the process.

Episode 2 – 

Hatoko is about the turn 40 and has a successful job but little else in her opinion.  Unmarried, with no kids, and no prospects she’s rejuvenated when a high school reunion will potentially reunite her with her middle-school “love.”  The story’s themes revolve around the sources of satisfaction in one’s life.

Episode 3 – 

Maho is a wife and mother of two children who she seems to be losing touch with.  Her daughter is spending days at a time elsewhere and her son is on the verge of doing the same.  Her husband recently got fired and found a new job but it alone isn’t enough to make ends meet so she got a part time job at a local market.  The story’s themes revolve around being a mother, depression, and taking control in one’s life.

Staff:

Each episode was directed and written by different people with an original story from three different people.  In fact the entire staff down to animation and character design was different for each episode.  In a way as a result each episode is almost like a separate mini-OVA and only has the title and overarching theme of women in life to tie them together.

Review:

One thing this anime makes clear right from the start is that it is these stories are by Japanese women, and for Japanese women.  The women in the show each have their own problems that are intrinsically Japanese culturally in nature and their approach as well as solutions are also Japanese.  Through my cultural lens I saw each as:

Episode 1 Problem – Feeling valued as a woman.

Episode 1 Solution – Finding a man who loves your cooking and living a carefree life.

Episode 2 Problem – Living past the age 30 “expiration date” for being unwed and not progressing toward a family.

Episode 2 Solution – Casual sex, oh, and it’s cool to be that way sometimes.

Episode 3 Problem – Being taken for granted as a wife and mother.

Episode 3 Solution – Become more assertive, but don’t actually change much in your life.

As a Westerner watching these at times I felt slightly offended by how things were portrayed but the cultural truths surrounding them ring true.  The other thing I admit as a reviewer is that, well, these problems/solutions aren’t as clear cut as I just made them seem.  Which of course is true to life.  Nothing is ever completely beautiful, rosy and perfect.  But, nothing is ever completely awful and broken either.  In every good or bad there is a touch of the opposite.

The stories are all very mature in nature, which as someone who considers themselves out of “girlhood” it’s almost a little refreshing to see an anime focusing on real (Japanese) women and real (Japanese) woman’s issues.  Even if their portrayal or message I don’t completely agree with at times.  The anime tackles things like sex, marriage, delinquency, infidelity and so on  with a tasteful hand.  Those things are part of these women’s lives, as they are a part of many grown women’s lives, and to have excluded them would’ve been insincere to what the anime was trying to do.

In all I think my favorite episode was the first one, though I’ll run through a quick pros and cons for each:

Episode 1 Pros –

It made you feel on the side of a person who was being unfaithful.  Which to play that side is difficult and worth praise.  (Not praise for infidelity but handling that topic well)

It showed how simple it is to make someone feel valued but how big of a problem it is if you don’t.

It made you feel unashamed of happiness.

Episode 1 Cons – 

It showed the woman placing her entire value over her cooking for her husband/significant other. (My personal opinion there on that con)

The use of random live-action cooking sequences was odd.

Episode 2 Pros – 

It had a lightness to it that made it almost comical despite it’s subject matter.

It illuminated societal pressures surrounding Japanese women.

It showed that even if you aren’t falling into the norm you can still be happy.

It had a great little twist.

Episode 2 Cons – 

The story felt somewhat unresolved as the women ended in much the same place as she was before.  Perhaps somewhat more secure in herself but still feeling like she “had nothing” at the end because she had no husband, no prospects, and no children.

Episode 3 Pros – 

It showed the struggle of depression in a very handed way.

The character relationships between the mother and the family members were very well illustrated.

They did a cool thing with the animation on the mother’s skin throughout the anime.

Episode 3 Cons – 

The mother becomes more assertive at the end, but in the process little in her life actually changes from what was depressing her before.

Overall, I feel like this anime is something that could be shown in an upper high-school or college level course to look at women in Japan and cultural pressures and issues surrounding them.  As someone who is a Westerner I cannot relate in many ways.  But as someone who has lived in Japan and sees the pressures and expectations women over here have this anime does a very good job at illuminating and discussing them.

Since I have broken everything else down by episode I will do the same for the score and take an average overall, as I think they end up being fairly equal in their pros and cons.

Episode 1 – 3.5

Episode 2 – 4

Episode 3 – 3

Therefore I’m going to give this anime 4 out of 5 because it possesses originality in it’s subject matter and does what it sets out to do fairly well.  It definitely falls above average but I’m not sure if it is a masterpiece.

[starrater]