When I first heard they finally put Peach Girl into anime form, I was delighted, and even more so to get a chance to review it. Volume six begins with episode 22, and Momo and Toji have finally been reunited. Kairi has let his relationship with Momo slip through his fingers and tries to pretend all is fine. But by episode 24 that changes once Kairi realizes he just can’t live without her and tries to make her see that he really does love her, even going so far as to beg Toji to let him have her back. Finally, Toji asks Momo to choose between him and Kairi. She makes a choice based on logic, but is logic good enough? Not only is there drama with Momo and her boys, but the semi-reformed Sae has her own drama with Kairi’s brother Ryu, loving him so much that she imagines a false pregnancy to the point that she was even showing physical symptoms! Now do you see what I mean by repetitive stress?

Presentation

The overall presentation of the DVD is very colorful, using a lot of pinks and pastel colors in the color scheme of both packaging and the DVD menu. But I’m fond of the fact they used Miwa Ueda’s, the original manga creator, artwork for the cover art because it’s the best representation of the Momo I adore. The menu itself is very straightforward and leaves no room for sightseeing to find what you’re looking for. I think, though, that the mostly pink and white color scheme of it makes viewing the menu a bit obnoxious on the eyes after awhile. All in all, it’s pretty much your standard DVD packaging with no frills.

Extras

Because it’s a single DVD with little else to offer, Peach Girl 6 has a slew of trailers. Before the menu even opens you’re presented with a trailer to My Santa. Then, from the menu, you can access the other trailers on the DVD. Most new Funimation DVDs almost always include a trailor for Tsubasa and Z-store, but you also get to see the trailers for Instant Star, Dragonball Z, Suzuka, School Rumble, Negima, and (my personal favorite) Kodocha. Another standard of Funimation’s DVDs, it seems, is the inclusion of textless opening and ending songs. I think the gem that shines the most of the DVD extras is the Actor Commentary. I always enjoy listening to how the voice actors felt when working on a series, or how they learned to become their character. It’s disappointing that more anime producers don’t include this sort of thing in their DVDs, because it really can be both amusing and insightful to the stars that give our favorite characters life.

Overall

Overall, I can say that Peach Girl is at the top of the heap in shoujo story telling. It’s got drama, it’s got romance, and it’s got humor all rolled into a neat package. It was a wonderful manga, and so it makes for an enjoyable anime. The DVD presentation can be a little annoying, but it’s a small price to pay. The DVD extras, however, I feel could do with some bulking up. Perhaps they could’ve included character designs or Miwa Ueda’s illustrations—just something to make them seem a little less common to end the series with. But still, not a bad DVD to add to your shoujo collection.

Overall: 8.5