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[Happy World R2 DVD box art]
AKA: N/A
Genre: Light drama / comedy
Length: OAV series, 3 episodes, 25 minutes each
Distributor: Currently unlicensed in North America
Content Rating: 13+ (nudity, mild violence, sexual innuendo)
Related Series: N/A
Also Recommended: Fruits Basket, Happy Lesson TV, Oh My Goddess, Pita Ten
Notes: Based on the manga by Takeshita Kenjirou.
Rating:

Happy World!

Synopsis

Takeshi is the one person in the world fated with nothing but bad luck. So Elle, an angel, comes to Earth to bring his fortunes into balance again. To do this, she enters the role of a human being and takes on the identity of Takeshi's stepsister.


Review

And that is the story of the anime that ended almost as quickly as it started. With only three episodes, we're not presented with much material. One episode explaining how Elle came to earth, one episode explaining how she came into sharing his life and one where the series looked like it was gonna start up properly. And then....

...well, who knows. There aren't any more than the three episodes available, so I guess we'll never know.

And it's a shame too, because this show looked like it could evolve into something worthwhile. Granted, it had its flaws, even the sparse number of episodes aside, but all in all it could have been a rather nice series that despite the initial premise, isn't as much of a Oh My Goddess rip-off as it sounds like.

The art and animation is overall very nice. Elle herself looks definitely 80s-ish, what with all the golden hoops on her angel-garb. The animation itself holds a pretty good standard, so I have really no complaints about it.

The intro song is a rather odd one, mainly because of its almost-continuous "shoobi doobi dooba" chorus happening in the background. I'm almost tempted to believe the anime itself IS from the 80s. The VAs are also very good.

The characters are a mixed bag of weird personalities. Takeshi, having been left by his father, his parting gift being the "nothing but misfortune" curse that had been carried by his father up to that point, is a typical teenager, his situation taken into account. He's generally brash, rude and directly blunt when speaking. Elle, on the other hand, is generally sweet, kind and selfless to a fault. As you'd expect from an angel, I guess. Takeshi's stepsister Motoko, however, is another story. She's perverted to a fault, and never fails to point out the absurdly perverted alternatives to just about anything, including accusing Takeshi of making her pregnant just because she comes home a little later than usual.

I should probably mention that this series does contain a lot of nudity, mainly on Elle's part. Although since Elle has inherited Lady Godiva's hair, said nudity is oddly innocent mostly. As a sharp contrast, Takeshi's sister Motoko merely needs to change her facial expression to practically radiate the perversion she does so well. Those two are an interesting study in contrast, and we should probably consider ourselves lucky that Motoko doesn't show up as often, lest things get out of hand and ratings get upped to unnecessary levels.

One thing I'll never understand, though, is the way the character have the habit of punching each other all the time. It doesn't LOOK very slapstick-ish. In fact, some of the punches are "to the throat" ones, meant to just stop/freeze/paralyze characters, but seeing Takeshi punch Elle like that repeadetly makes me wince each and every time. It's oddly violent for a show like this.

That aside, what we have is a great opening episode, a weird and rather freaky second episode (with one of Takeshi's classmates wildly chasing Elle so he can see her naked. Don't ask! >_<) and a great third episode. And it's not like it ends there either. In fact, this series gives the impression that it should have lasted a lot longer, but was given up on for some unknown reason. It's a shame, really, because strange violence and inconsequential nudity aside, this had the potential to be something. Something more than just a mediocre Oh My Goddess copy.

Oh well.

Three stars ... for being awfully short.Stig Høgset

Recommended Audience: Teens, I suppose. Nudity and half-slapstick violence. Also some sexual innuendo. Nothing too outrageous.



Version(s) Viewed: digital source
Review Status: Full (3/3)
Happy World! © 2002 KSS
 
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