Wednesday, November 7, 2018

30-sai no Hoken Taiiku (2011)


30-sai no Hoken Taiiku, approximately translated as Health and Physical Education for 30-Year-Olds, is a 12 episode anime series based upon the Japanese guidebook series.  Each shorter is shorter than normal at around 12 minutes long.  Imagawa Hayao has just turned 30 and he remains a virgin.  On the stroke of midnight on his birthday, the God of Sex, Daigoro, arrives to help Hayao lose his virginity.  Daigoro helps Hayao meet women and gives him tips on scoring.


Daigoro's brother, Macaron, is quickly introduced to help out.  The series is a humorous take and there are heaps of gags.  Each episode is structured through a variety of "lessons", ranging from the ridiculous to somewhat plausible.  There are actually some sensible tips such as thinking before you act, or don't judge on outside appearances.  Daigoro's methods are generally unorthodox and very random at times and it gets more ridiculous as the series progresses, with some truly outrageous ones in the last few episodes.


Despite feeling like a series of unrelated shorts strung together, there is an underlying plot that ties it up.  Hayao meets a girl, Ando, during work and it was basically love at first sight.  The rest of the series follows Hayao trying to go out with Ando and eventually get her to be his girlfriend.


Ando is similar to Hayao, being very shy and is also at 30 years old.  Soon enough, you come to realize that she is the female counterpart to Hayao, equally inexperienced and their interactions are hilarious.  She has an "A.K. Field", which repels others and basically, the series has plenty of shout outs and references to other anime works.


Despite the comedic nature of the series, the simple story of the two of them meeting each other, falling in love, awkwardly professing their feelings and just progressing through the stages is quite sweet.  It leads up to a heartwarming finale.  The animation is simple and clean but cute.  There are frequent art shifts to depict different reactions and this works well.  Unfortunately, censorship is rampant from certain objects in scenes edited out to specific words being distorted.


The censorship is to the point where even episode titles are censored.  There is an uncensored version for those inclined though.  Overall, 30-sai no Hoken Taiiku is not only funny from its numerous references but also tells a simple yet charming story of two inexperienced, and yet in a way, innocent, characters falling in love.

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