Reviewed by: James Zhang
Ratings:
Genre(s): Comedy, Romance, Schoolkids
Year: 2002

An superb effort has gone into creating Rizelmine, and the result is an anime with explosive energy that is directed to release one's laughter.

Iwaki Tomonori is a frustrated high school boy – likes women with height, sex appeal, and big breasts, and has a crush on his teacher, who doubtless fits into all three categories.

Having the limited mentality of such high school boys, his world collapses when the wedding engagement of his beloved teacher is revealed.

Imagine his surprise when he gets an engagement of his own – to a subservient 12 year-old named Rizel! For some reason, the government had 'volunteered' him to be this mysterious girl's husband and sent a group of 'papas' to make sure the marriage runs smoothly.

A boy who prides his manhood on the pursuit of women with strict anatomical proportions necessarily finds Rizel incompatible with this outlook and rejects her – only to discover that Rizel's tears are nitro-glyceric. So he can't make her cry! This might make for a peaceful marriage, but Tomonori hasn't given up on his teacher yet, and there are laughs aplenty as we follow Tomonori's stubborn lifestyle – and Rizel's attempts to win his love.

Rizelmine comes in two seasons of 12 episodes each, with each episode containing about 12 minutes of actual content. Despite being half the length of standard anime-fare, and having so much material crammed together, I never felt rushed nor did I lose comprehensibility. Credit goes to its creators for a quick-paced series that progresses smoothly throughout its entire run.

Rizelmine, though sporting its occasional bouts of perversion, is much cuter and entertaining than Chobits. This is the type of show that appeals to the creative, funny, and sentimental aspects of a person and leaves one feel immensely satisfied after viewing it.

With superb voice-acting, sparkling characters, cute theme songs, and an imaginative storyline that flows effortlessly and produces laughs all the way, Rizelmine is the paragon of anime comedy.

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