Happy Lesson Volume 1: Mom-Ageddon - Otaku Anime Network
- Otaku Anime Network
- Guardian Inferno
- 01/30/04
- click here
Feature Presentation:
Special thanks to ADV Films for sending me a copy for a review for this site. This series is really hilarious! Full of fun loving crazinest! I can agreed that living with a group of beautiful babes isn't a bad thing, but I can understand why Chitose feels unlucky to be in that situation! Not only he is living with five beautiful woman, but they are all his teachers of his high school & to make matters worst, they all adopted him as his son! All five of them have different personality & very weird hobbies I might add. Not to mention, they are mysterios, too, for example, how on Earth they got on the bus before Chitose does, when he leaves after them. The fun starts off right from the begining! All her moms are doing a little contest to be the number one mom, but instead, everyone is bring hell to Chitose! Well, it all ends well. Later on, Mutsuki, which is one of her mom, his homeroom teacher in class, noticed that his grades are bad, so she decided to tutor him in a sexy tutor outfit! Then, Yayoi, the school's sexy nurse, sense that Chitose got a spirit of misforture & pretty much do anything, up to removing it by force! The next thing, his sisters came for a visit & start off another contest! Oh my, look what they got him to wear! Just wait & see! Finally, I think this episode is the sweetest, when Satsuki & Chitose got lost in a snow blizzard during a ski trip. How does he survive it all?
Video: ADV Films did a very great job. I found no problem, the image are clear & the color looks perfect. The episodes are on a different track, so there will be a small loading time when you move on to the next episode. Each episodes are separeted into 6 parts: the prologue, the introduction, part A, part B, ending & the preview for the next episode! I do note that you can skip all those warnings & logos when you first load the DVD by just pressing the 'Menu' button on your remote control.
Dubbing: English: The dubbing is really great. The voices might not be familiar to you, so you might not noticed them from other titles, but they really did a great job & capture the funny parts. However, there is little changes in the dialogue from the original Japanese dialogue. For example, in the original Japanese dialogue, when Mutsuki teach Chitose english, but in the dubbed version, she is teaching him french. Well, it makes sense & I think it's better off that way! It's about 80% of the original Japanese.
Audio 01: English 5.1: Unable to test it, since I don't have a 5.1 surround system, I can't really say much.
Audio XX: English 2.0: Just letting you know, there isn't an English 2.0 audio track on this DVD. This is artificially made from the 5.1 audio track, that's why I noted it as 'XX'. I found no problem with the audio, but I bet it would be alot more interesting with the 5.1. It sound clear, got no problem.
Audio 02: Japanese 2.0: No problem found.
Subtitle: ADV Films have selected a great font, very easy to read. They use yellow for the introduction, ending themes & the Japanese dialogue & white for Japanese signs & text. There are two tracks of subtitling. One track is for the sign subtitling & the other one is for the Japanese dialogue. I might note that every odd numbered episodes, the intro & ending subtitles are in English, while the even numbered episodes are in Japanese on this volume.
Menu Option: The menu is really simple. ALl you see is three little chicks dancing in a blue background. There isn't a 'Play All', nor a 'Screen Access' feature, just a selection of one of the 5 episodes, 'Set Up' & 'Extras'. There is any special effects if you select any options. The background music of the menu is actually the begining of the ending theme.
DVD Extras: There isn't much extras on it, just a non-credit opening & ending, as well a character sketches. That's about it.
Packaging: The design is pretty cute. On the cover, you see Kisaragi with her chemistry tools, along with the others girls, the other Chitose's mothers, along with his sisters. In the back, you get some screenshots, both from the series & there is even two screenshots of the actual menu. There is even a little advertiment of the series manga version. The insert is really cool! It's a folded up mini-poster! Inside, you get the bio cast for both the voice actress & the characters they play (Mutsuki, Kisaragi & Yayoi). On the DVD disc itself, you get to see the chibi version of Mutsuki, Kisaragi & Yayoi. with the blue background that is all over the design. Since the DVD case is a clear one, you actually get to see the reversible cover, which is another version of the default cover, except with Mutsuki as the main character & with different screenshots.
PC Viewing: Watching it on the PC is the same as watching it on the TV. Very clean, no problem at all, very little pixel (little squares popping in & out), both normal mode & full screen mode. The sound is just great. Since the episodes are on different tracks, it will take time to load when you move on to the next episode. Like on your regular DVD player, you can skip the warnings & logos when you load the disc, just use the 'menu' option to go to the menu screen.
Overall DVD Rating: Again, this series is hilarious! My favorite mother is Kisaragi, the chemistry teacher. Her inventions are the best! Just sit back, I know you will enjoy it & laugh out loud! You won't get enough of it!
Posted on Friday, January 30, 2004 (Archive on Sunday, February 29, 2004)