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[Pia Carrot Sayaka
AKA: Pia Carrot e Youkoso! Sayaka no Koi Monogatari, Welcome to Pia Carrot! Sayaka's Love Story
Genre: Drama with smidgens of romance and comedy
Length: Movie, 45 minutes
Distributor: Currently unlicensed in North America
Content Rating: 6+ (fan service)
Related Series: Pia Carrot, Pia Carrot DX, Pia Carrot: Sayaka's Summer Story
Also Recommended: Hand Maid May, Oh My Goddess, Please Teacher!
Notes: Based on the dating sim "Pia Carrot e Youkoso!".

From what I understand, this is a sequel, or rather, another movie (more like an OAV) in the Pia Carrot universe. This one, however, is NOT a hentai. It's not even ecchi.
Rating:

Pia Carrot: Sayaka's Love Story

Synopsis

Welcome to Pia Carrot, a diner/restaurant chain, where the food is good, the view is great and the girls are so gosh darn cute.

In this movie (more like an OAV) feature, we are introduced to Sayaka, who is on her way to the fourth restaurant in the chain. She remembers when she once said goodbye to the man she loved and decides to try gather up her courage to call him during her stay there.


Review

And if there ever was an anime title I went diving into with no expectations or knowledge about what would be awaiting me in it, this one would be it. I was curious about the odd name, though the full title made me wary.

And you know what? It ended up being quite an okay title in the end.

It's not a very deep movie (or rather, an OAV), but it's most certainly a beautiful one (or cute, depending on your point of view.) The art and character design, mostly based on a rather large cast of girls and the beachside location they're stationed on, is a treat to behold. The animation too, is quite on the upper side of greatness.

The VA's on this one is good, though awfully cutesy in regard to one of the main characters. I can live with that, though. The music.... well, I can't say I liked it much.... neither the opening theme, the ending theme OR the song the waitress team sang at the beach contest they entered.

And the story? It is, as I mentioned, rather lighthearted stuff, really. It doesn't aspire or try to appear as more than that, and that's fine with me. True, our main characters are the ones who receive most of what little character development there are. The rest are mainly fillers or just there to give the viewer something nice to look at as the show trundles along.

It has to be said, though, that this movie (or rather, yes, an OAV) earned itself some brownie points by having every single male character acting normally. In other words, when they were entering Pia Carrot -- whether they had girlfriends or not -- none of them went completely off their rocker by the sight of cute girls in uniforms, drooling or acting generally unpleasant. It might not be a big thing, but it's a tiny detail that I appreciated.

Also, the girls themselves, while not having their personality developed much in this movie, were all generally pleasant. No doormats, no crybabies, no uber-violent man haters and no manipulative wenches. Another mark for the plus side.

So, what DO we have? A short piece of drama with rather light character development, but with rather likable characters all over. Very light fanservice. (Mainly hotspring scenes with the girls well submerged under the water or the beach scene with the swimsuits.) No hentai, so it should appeal to most people just looking for a light snack for their eyes. I'm not sure I'd recommend buying this, but it's a very nice rental for the evening.

Yeah, I approve.

Oh, and I found the ending scene very amusing too. ^_^

Had it featured just a bit more character development or a little more story to it, I would have given it four stars.Stig Høgset

Recommended Audience: Best for teens and up. However, with the rather large number of cute girls taken into account, it's a fairly innocent movie (or rather... *gets a mallet to the head to the shouts of "shut up about that"*) which is suitable to most people. Feathery light fan service. No nudity, no hentai, no violence (except a scene with some punks, but they were quickly and cleanly taken care of) and nothing else objectionable.

While I would have no qualms giving this one an all-ages rating, I'm sure there are concerned parents who find the idea of watching girls in hot springs, no matter how innocent the scene, questionable. Oh well.



Version(s) Viewed: digital source
Review Status: Full (1/1)
Pia Carrot: Sayaka's Love Story © 2002 F&C
 
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