Genre: Romance / Comedy
Parental Guidance Recommended
Credits: 1994. Masakazu Katsura (creator). Junichi Sakata (director). Powhouse.
SHOPPING: |
| DNA² DVDs Manga and Illustration Books Original Soundtrack |
Junta has a not-so-small problem: He can't get a date because he is allergic to girls. He has gotten this "disease" so bad that any sign of sensuality and eroticism makes him retch uncontrollably. When a mysterious girl named Karin arrives, she claims that he is the Mega Playboy who will cause overpopulation in the future and proceeds to shoot him with a DNA manipulation capsule that changes the course of history. Junta finds himself switching personalities at the most inopportune time. Sometimes he still hurls at the sight of women's underwear. At other times, he is completely in control of himself and manages to act like the coolest Don Juan that ever lived. Junta doesn't understand what is happening to him, but he sure can't complain about the sudden influx of girls falling at his feet.
(12 episodes)
Why I’d rather gush about the opening song >>> by skysenshiAs soon as the intro for the opening song chimed in, my heart skipped a beat and proceeded to scream, "L'arc~En~Ciel! Laruku! Laruku!" I immediately realized that it was Blurry Eyes that was playing, a song that effectively illustrated how old an anime DNA2 actually is. Why, Blurry Eyes was popularized in those days when Hyde still looked like the epitome of ultimate femininity and Laruku's drummer was still the drool-worthy Sakura. Think: 10 years ago, when Laruku gave the impression that they dove into a tank full of estrogen.
DNA2's age makes the art and animation forgivable. Digital animation wasn't the coolest thing then so the rough lines and less than perfect form isn't supposed to be so much of an issue.
As for the story, well, it actually has a lot of potential. In fact, after watching the first 8 episodes, I found myself getting restless in the office out of sheer desire to go home and plop the next tape into the player. Junta, the main character, has a dilemma that makes one want to sit down and find out how he deals with it. He suffers from multiple personality syndrome brought about by an agent from the future who messes with his DNA make-up. So the loser, who is actually allergic to girls, suddenly finds himself in a bind when girls who never would've noticed him suddenly vie for his attention. Unfortunately, lack of continuity shot the potential down and threw every bit of this anime's fighting chance into the garbage bin. The series was short but nobody seemed to take the time to draft a passable ending or at least a proper build up for a satisfying climax. Far be it for me to supply spoilers, let's just say that after a much-hyped entrance, the exit was…bleh! They just crammed in a 2-episode conflict, solved it, and then bye bye, sayonara, paalam! One wonders if the short-lived "serious problem" was just a ploy to put a semblance of action into a feature that would have been totally plotless and repetitive.
Well, at least there's the excellent music that made DNA2 one of the few anime that had me watching the opening sequences for every episode.
Individual Rating: Art/Animation 7; Story 6; Characters 6; Sounds 9
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