REC is 9 episode (10 with the extra episode in the Japanese DVD), 11 minute per episode, slice of life romance based on the somewhat hentai manga of the same title. The anime is touching and sweet, the manga is a bit raunchy and definitely skewed towards a male audience.
(Review originally published in 2006)
Our story starts with main character, Fumihiko Matsumara, who is a failing advertising executive at an ad agency. He has set up a movie and dinner date with a coworker he has the hots for. When she stands him up at the theater he begins to despair about his life. Just as he is about to throw away his tickets a voice, pretending to be the tickets them selves, begs him to spare their lives. When he looks to the source of the voice he sees a young, bright eyed girl smiling at him. The girl, Aka Onda, wants to see the movie so she convinces him to take her instead of wasting them.
The movie is an Audrey Hepburn flick and during it Aka is continuously vocalizing the dialogue. She tells Matsumara that she is an aspiring voice actress and her dream is to dub Hepburn movies in Japanese. After the movie they run into the woman who stood up Matsumara, also leaving the movie on another mans arm. Aka suggests they go out for yakitori and drinks to cheer up. They drink, talk and consume random chicken bits until it is time to go home. They end up walking back together and realize they live in the same neighborhood. They bid each other good night and head there separate ways in the end.
That night Matsumara is woken up by the sound of fire engines. A building is burning in the neighborhood. Like everyone else, he gathers outside to spectate. He finds a sobbing Aka nearby; the apartment building that is on fire is where she lived. He offers her a place to stay for the night. One thing leads to another and in a moment of emotional vulnerability they end up sleeping tobgether. In the morning Aka is gone, and Matsumara finds a 'Dear John' letter.
The movie is an Audrey Hepburn flick and during it Aka is continuously vocalizing the dialogue. She tells Matsumara that she is an aspiring voice actress and her dream is to dub Hepburn movies in Japanese. After the movie they run into the woman who stood up Matsumara, also leaving the movie on another mans arm. Aka suggests they go out for yakitori and drinks to cheer up. They drink, talk and consume random chicken bits until it is time to go home. They end up walking back together and realize they live in the same neighborhood. They bid each other good night and head there separate ways in the end.
That night Matsumara is woken up by the sound of fire engines. A building is burning in the neighborhood. Like everyone else, he gathers outside to spectate. He finds a sobbing Aka nearby; the apartment building that is on fire is where she lived. He offers her a place to stay for the night. One thing leads to another and in a moment of emotional vulnerability they end up sleeping tobgether. In the morning Aka is gone, and Matsumara finds a 'Dear John' letter.
Matsumara goes to work at the ad agency to learn an idea he pitched for an ad campaign was approved. He will be working with a talent agency to begin a massive ad campaign for a new snack product. The talent, who will be doing the voice over’s for the products new mascot, is none other than Aka. In what Aka thought was going to be a hassle free one night stand turns into an uncomfortable work relationship for both parties, Matsumara mostly. Now, they have to figure out how to work together, not jeopardize the campaign, keep their past a secret and, for Matsumara, figure out how to build a more permanent relationship with Aka.
The two main points that strain the latter part are; a personal relationship and a work relationship are not allowed between the agencies but Aka ends up moving in with Matsumara after he finds out she is sleeping in her office. So, they have to keep the fact that she is living with him, not even in a relationship, a secret from both bosses. On top of all of this Matsumara also decides to help Aka continue pursuing her dream, even when she feels that she will never make it. In one episode he has to help her prepare for an ero-game role she gets…uncomfortable situation comedy abound.
The two main points that strain the latter part are; a personal relationship and a work relationship are not allowed between the agencies but Aka ends up moving in with Matsumara after he finds out she is sleeping in her office. So, they have to keep the fact that she is living with him, not even in a relationship, a secret from both bosses. On top of all of this Matsumara also decides to help Aka continue pursuing her dream, even when she feels that she will never make it. In one episode he has to help her prepare for an ero-game role she gets…uncomfortable situation comedy abound.
Ok, this series is incredibly short…I think total running time is just over 2 hours. The story flows quite nicely though and you do not feel that there is anything missing. One thing that can be said for this is the quality of the animation. It was done with a higher quality than the average TV show, more like what you would find in an OAV…which makes sense due to the shortness of this series. I wonder why it wasn’t actually released as an OAV. Maybe they wanted to hit a wider audience.
The story is good, nothing wholly original, aside from the beginning of their relationship. I did find myself getting heavily attached to the main characters in just the short amount of time and am still holding out any hope for more to be animated…even now 3 years later. The manga, which I have read a little of, is much more expansive and quite a bit raunchy. This took me by surprise. The anime is soft and sweet and innocent, the manga…well it’s quite a bit less innocent, it’s kind of a light hentai.
UPDATE: The anime was never released in North America, but was dubbed and released to English speaking audiences in Asia through Animax Asia. The manga concluded its 11 year run in March of 2013 but also is unavailable in North America and doubtfully will ever be.
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