It may be premature but after four episodes I’m ready to call Suzuka the sleeper hit of the anime season.
It’s hard to categorize Suzuka. A track and field love triangle? At first glance one may be tempted to pass it off as a generic harem series – the plot setup screams it (the male protagonist lives in a bathhouse) and the show has some (well, more than some) ecchi moments. There are some six female characters to two male characters so far, however only two are presented as serious love interests – much less than Da Capo S1/S2, KGNE, Ichigo 100% etc. Of course its still pretty early in the series.
Its obvious from the title and the OP which girl is going to ‘win’ (much like Da Capo S1), so there’s none of KGNE’s who-does-he-choose tension. So why is this show worth watching? I think its the characterization. Unlike Hina/Ichigo there’s no absurdity about the characters and their relationships, it’s all mostly normal. Unlike Peach Girl, the show isn’t propelled by fate and chance but by human action. There’s a kind of honesty about it. With 26 episodes and the current pace, it should be on par with KGNE/Karekano. That’s if they do the ending right – with the manga still being serialized the anime might not have an actual conclusion.
Methinks I’ll be following this series closely. Mentar at Memento has great scene-by-scene reviews of the episodes as they air, should you need further convincing.
