There aren’t many shounen romantic comedies that I’ve actually liked. Most of them end up dull, stereotypical, clichéd, uninspired, too much focused on moe, et cetera, et cetera. Though once in a while, one comes along that’s actually worth it. Examples of this are Magikano, Umisho and of course Mahou Tsukai Tai. Thankfully, DNA² managed to join this list.
Really, how often do you run into a harem where it’s at least made plausible that every single female falls in love with the loser male lead. Him being shot by a bullet that turns him into a mega-playboy may sound a bit far-fetched, but it works surprisingly well in this series. It makes sure for a couple of hilarious situations, and the love-triangles that emerge from it are actually worth it. There are no fillers, and the creators know exactly how to use their time and keep things interesting, with a plot that continues to get pushed forward.
Unfortunately, there’s a rather large downside to DNA²… The comedy is hilarious, the romance is rock-solid, but the action downright sucks. These action-scenes have a nasty tendency of getting in the way of what’s really important in this series, and the characters turn into super-saiyan wannabes with way too exaggerated power-ups. This anime especially falls flat on its face during the OVA that concludes this series. The comedy is entirely taken out, in favour of a more epic plot, but at the same time it also degrades into a boring cheese-fest, and the actual climax is downright disastrous. I could have tried to sugar-coat this, but you know when the creators are having a bad day when they’re reaching out to use the power of love as a plot device.
Nevertheless, DNA² is among the better shounen romantic comedies. Especially the first half is really worth watching, and many of its current counterparts can learn a lot from this series, for example comedic timing, proper build-up, the avoidance of stereotypes and a bit of wit.
Someone…convince this person to watch Honey and Clover…
You took the words straight out of my mouth, L.A.
Damn it, every time I see you review an older anime, psgels, I want to kill myself. ):
Where’s my Honey and Clover review ?
Hehe, I’ve been keen to watch DNA2 for a while.
There’s a very good flash dating sim based on the anime at http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/50364 which is a legend, with over 42 million hits – way more than the audience for the original anime I presume 😉
Honey and Clover is good, but it’s not exactly a shounen romance… 😉 Anyway, while I usually don’t like shounen love comedies, I really liked DNA² (the first half, anyway). It was just cute, and the opening song gave me the last push to sell my soul to L’Arc-en-Ciel… I mean, to become their fan.
Actually, some 153 readers of this site have suggested Honey and Clover to psgels for, like, ten months, and he still watches and reviews crap shows such as this one.
No parallel was meant to be done between this… thing and Honey and Clover. 😀
Yay DNA2! I missed out watching this anime for a long time, then I found out it was based on a Masakazu Katsura manga – the same guy who wrote Video Girl Ai and I”s, two of my favorite anime romance stories. So I picked it up… and while the romance is pretty farfetched, the comedy is just absolutely wonderful!
If you have a chance, I’d actually recommend watching both Video Girl Ai and I”s Pure. They’re much less comedic (I”s especially, which doesn’t even remotely qualify as a comedy), but they’re both… I dunno… very engaging, and very sweet. As a single male, both of those shows made me very sad and lonely, but in a good way. (:
At any rate, I’m a big fan of Katsura’s work, and will watch pretty much any anime based on one of his manga (and I even read his manga from time to time, which is saying a lot considering that I rarely ever read ANY manga!). So I’m pleased to hear that you enjoyed DNA2. (:
-Tom
Dear Sarah,
My name is Sam and I run a film review site called FIRONLINE, I have done so for a couple years now and I keep up a steady output (releasing new reviews every Tuesday). My site is growing, with a couple more writers and several smaller sites as part of a new project I’m about to launch: In Review Online. This network includes a Music Review site and an Anime Review site. i myself am not an avid anime fan (though I once was) and so I need writers for that site. My colleague Ivan is in charge and there are about 3 or 4 other writers who have agreed to contribute. I would like to know if you, who seems like a competent, passionate writer, would like to join the team. You can email me for more details if you’re interested. If not, thanks for your time.
– Sam C. Mac
Chief Critic
FIRONLINE
http://www.fironline.net
filminreview@gmail.com
Fironline: I’m not sure what makes you think that my name is Sarah. Heck, I’m not even a girl.
Still, I’m going to have to decline your offer. I’ve got enough to do for my own blog, and through experience I know that I don’t work well in a team. Sorry about that.