THEM Anime Reviews
Home Reviews Extras Forums
[Grrl Power]
AKA: まかせてイルか! (Makasete Iruka!)
Genre: Weird children's comedy
Length: OAV, 25 minutes
Distributor: R1 DVD from ADV Films
Content Rating: 7+ (mature themes)
Related Series: N/A
Also Recommended: Kodocha, Super GALS!
Notes: Based on a manga by Akitarou Daichi, known best as the director of Fruits Basket and Kodocha.

The launch of this anime DVD marked the first thing a simultaneous release of an anime was made in both the U.S. and Japan.

The Japanese title is a pun that is essentially untranslateable.
Rating:

Grrl Power

Synopsis

Three sisters run a shop where they do everything from gardening to doing taxes for adults! A few minutes into the film, there are assigned to talk a boy into going back to school. The boy refuses, and insteads wants to stay with the sisters. Little does he know how much they do each day ...


Review

Akitarou Daichi is a great director, and if I learned anything from watching Animation Runner Kuromi, he's good at directing OAVs, albeit short, 25 minute ones. Much like Grrl Power.

The first thing you'll notice about Grrl Power is its look. The characters are small and squashed (and very cute), and everything is very colorful. It's also surprisingly decent; imagine FLCL as a Saturday morning cartoon show, and you're almost there. The music isn't anything special, but it doesn't detract from the experience, and the dub is decent enough.

The sisters are your common archetypes, with Sora being the tomboy, and Umi being the pretty, feminine one. The sole standout is Ao, the youngest sister, who speaks entirely through sign language. It's very cute, and I almost wish this type of thing was shown more often in children's anime, but most nowadays are too busy stuffing cheesy morals of friendship and merchandising tie-ins to care. Shame, really. The three sisters are likable, hard-working individuals. None of them are clumsy or stupid; another nice change of pace.

If the story just revolved around Sora, Umi, and Ao doing cute things for 25 minutes, this would be a four-star anime off the bat. But no; about seven minutes in, we're introduced to an annoying boy named Riku, who doesn't want to do anything but play on his computer, and wants to live the same "carefree" life Sora and her sisters do. They offer to take him in, and make him learn the hard way that just they're not in school, doesn't mean they live "carefree" lives (they don't go to school because they're always busy; plus, they read college-level books daily. And they're only around eleven years old). Riku's annoying and a pain in the butt the whole time, but he does allow us to see all the positive aspects of the sisters.

Still, though, despite the brat, Grrl Power is a short, cute show. I kind of wish more was made than just this 25 minute OAV, but still, if you like cute anime, you'll probably like Grrl Power.

Could've been four if it wasn't for Riku. Ao herself is worth one of these stars, just for being so darn cute. Tim Jones

Recommended Audience: Nothing really to speak about; even slapstick is low-level here. There's a scene where Umi is a cheerleading costume, wiggling her butt to the crowd (and then Riku, in drag, doing the same. AGH!), but otherwise, nothing much.



Version(s) Viewed: R1 DVD
Review Status: Full (1/1)
Grrl Power © 2004 Daichi Akitarou / GaPro / Comix Wave
 
© 1996-2015 THEM Anime Reviews. All rights reserved.