When I first saw the summary of this anime, my thoughts were quite cruel. It was summarized about a little girl who was growing up and going through that phase of puberty where everything was completely foreign to her. Not only does she have to deal with her period coming soon, but she also had to deal with certain growing feelings of attraction towards a boy in her class. This is unfamiliar territory for Tsubomi.
Frankly, I wasn't really interested in it. A bunch of kids growing up. So what?
But then when I accidentally clicked to the title again not knowing what it was, for some wierd reason I decided that I might give it a try. After all, it's only 3 OVAs long and while the other two aren't available with subtitles yet, this first one might serve some minor entertainment. They're a bunch of kids, right? What harm could there be? Because in essence, I've learned that anything based off of shoujo manga has good endings, cute storylines, and nothing too heavily dramatized. Even angsty themes aren't too heavily traumatic.
I like good happy themes. And slice of life comedies with a twist of "girl growing up and learning to become a woman" kind of piqued my curiosity.
The advertisement of this short OVA series was no lie. Everything mentioned in the summary took place with Tsubomi meeting another girl in her class, Saya, who was much more mature and level-headed than she was. You wouldn't have guessed that Saya was just some snot nosed elementary school kid-- of course, upon further viewing, you learn that there is so much more to Saya and that there's something about her own life she may be hiding from Tsubomi. Otherwise, she's a very good source of mature information whenever Tsubomi seemed lost concerning her mother's pregnancy.
Of course, there was that friend who just had to point out that "Tsubomi's mommy and daddy did naughty things" and that's how babies are made. How cruel to make a little girl realize such a thing... Honestly, NO ONE likes to even think that their parents are doing it like a happy couple because it's just gross to think that way. Even if it is the truth.
In Tsubomi's case, "doing naughty things" such as having sex is definitely a no-no and her young and innocent little mind doesn't comprehend the whole situation. She only knows that it's bad. And so thanks to Saya's mature look on things, she is told to understand that, "it's okay since they're happily married and they love each other."
Is that really right? LOL Who knows nowadays.
The premise of Naisho no Tsubomi is interesting and cute. I wouldn't say it's original since a lot of movies and series have done these issues to death. After all, a girl advancing into the adolescent puberty stage is a natural element of life. The American movie, My Girl was all about a girl growing up and becoming a woman and falling in love... and things like that -- it was also quite popular back when I was growing up.
I'll have to admit, it was quite adorable to watch the girls discussing things such as sex and how babies are made like they were professionals in this matter. Amusing actually.
I'm not too stuck on this series, but I would like to see how things progress between Tsubomi and her friends as well as with the boy she's suddenly attracted to, Daichi. He's a nice kid who tries to help her and be there for her, so you may wonder whether or not he's already discovered his own mature-ness... if boys even really get to that point. Also the next episode preview makes mention that Daichi gets help from Saya as well after he and Tsubomi witness their friends kissing and start to see each other in a different light.
Geez... so young and innocent.
Honestly, in America, kids these days aren't as innocent as portrayed in this anime. They know a lot more things than you would expect them to know, and even more so than you would know yourself at the age of twenty-four and going. Sometimes, you don't even want to know what they know, because it could become a bit awkward. Maybe in Japan, despite their openness in the media about sex and whatnot, the kids are actually very innocent. Or maybe shoujo manga is just simply aimed at being completely innocent and fairy tale like.
Good ethics, maybe. I know we in America kind of lack that sense in a lot of places. Sadly.
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