Today in Class 5-2

Kyo no Go no Ni is a comedic/ecchi slice of life OAV series based on the manga of the same name by Koharu Sakuraba, who also created Minami-ke.  The OAV's came out between 2006 and 2007 in Japan.

    5th grader Ryota Sato and his friends are starting to look at their female co-ed's in less than pure ways as they enter puberty.  The series followed Ryota and a good portion of his classmates as they find themselves in bizarre and sometimes adult situations while living their lives as elementary school children, about to become adolescents.  From being turned on by exposed collarbones, fearing the power of the schools water faucets to super ball bouncing competitions.  The characters are innocent and easy going, struggling with how to express their building inner dialogue and their shifting perceptions and relationships with each other.

   This was a fun, if perverted, series that had me laughing quite a bit.  The animation was pretty slick, given its OAV status and was generally well done.  Each episode is a series of vignettes are not related aside from the characters who participate in them.  Ryota is arguably the protagonist and focus of the series but some of the stories take the point of view of other characters.  If you enjoyed Minami-ke you will like this one too, even though its of higher ecchi content.  Considering the age of the characters some of the situations can be a bit uncomfortable, but nothing is overtly erotic or explicit.  Much is implied and suggested, but its still pretty perverted non-the-less.

    No surprise, this series has not been licensed in North America...governing officials do tend to have issues with sexualization of minors...even if done in a tasteful manner.  There was a follow up TV series that aired in Japan in 2008 but I never did get around to watching that one and figured it wasn't going to be as entertaining.