Presentation

Simple is often the best route to go, but it almost seems like the very simplistic box art of this set really understates the drama going on in each DVD. Each side and fold of the packaging is largely white with cell-style character illustrations of Toji, Kairi, Sae, and (mostly) Momo. It’s a cardboard fold DVD package, and I feel I have to warn people to be careful not to break the disc supports. Once you break them, the discs tend to fall out every time you take the fold out of its slipcover. Something that made me smile about the outer presentation was that Miwa Ueda’s manga illustrations of Momo grace each disc. The DVD menus tend to be fairly straightforward, but the cheery pinks and bright pastel color schemes do get obnoxious after awhile.

Aside from the packaging, you’re gifted with both English and Japanese audio tracks. The Japanese voice cast comes off as feeling very natural to the overall look and feel of the story. On the other hand, the English voice dubbing is sub par with poor acting and only Momo’s voice actress seems to show any realistic emotion. It does improve slightly as the series goes on and actors become comfortable with their roles, but by and large it’s disappointing.

Extras

The complete set of Peach Girl is a wealth of extras. The first and last discs boast commentary from the English director and voice actors. The first four discs each have one interview from the Japanese voice actors for Momo, Sae, Kairi, and Toji. Disc five has special Japanese promo commercials for Peach Girl as well as Japanese advertisements for the manga books. All of the discs have textless opening and ending songs for the series, but unfortunately they are the grating English dub of the songs. Lastly, starting from disc two and on, you’re treated to a healthy dose of Funimation trailers. These trailers include: Peach Girl, Z-Store, AnimeOnline, Suzuka, Tsubasa, Case Closed, Kodocha, Rumbling Hearts, School Rumble, Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki, Degrassi, Moon Phase, Negima, and Instant Star. I have to give Funimation props for mixing up the extras and keeping you guessing at what each disc is going to offer.

Overall

There are three words that best describe Peach Girl—drama, drama, drama. I have had a love-hate relationship with this series since collecting all of the manga nigh religiously, and it really does elicit repetitive stress disorders after just reading/watching one volume of this series. The best part about it is that it never seems redundant. You always know Sae’s going to do something terrible, but you never really expect the things she does. So, it’s easy to say that Peach Girl is a maze of plot twists and romance, but fortunately there are breaks of comedy relief thanks to Momo’s friendship with Kairi. In terms of everything else, I wasn’t overly impressed by the packaging, but the amount of unique extras was great. So, if you like to bang your head against the wall and girl it out for a weekend, Peach Girl is the perfect series for you.

Overall—8.5—It’s a great story with a payload of extras, but that doesn’t necessarily make it the best package.