Please Twins!

Publisher
Bandai
Director
Yasunori Ide
Production
Bandai, Dome
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
13 episodes
Year
2003

Please Twins V. 4 (R1 review)

By David Rasmussen
25th Jun 05

At last, finally, I wrap up Please Twins, the series that I started reviewing awhile ago!
This week’s review ends the series, after last review’s cliffhanger ending. And it’s good timing too since (once again) we’re hitting the summer and there’s no better time to browse the romantic -- drama? Well, it has it’s moments but I think the drama and romance stands out the best or any comedic elements.
Anyway any series with two female leads who take an excessive amounts of baths together in the nude is something to take note of… yeah, that was a low shot… OK, so let’s get right down to it.

Previously…
Let me get this straight.
We have the story of two girls, both of whom love this one guy, but aren’t exactly jumping at him all-out because one of them might be his long lost twin sister… uh-huh.
Makes me regret not reviewing Please Twins V. 1 because I have no idea how that happened, though I wish I did… really, this is yet another series you’ll need to start at ground level (DVD Vol. 1) or you’ll be a tad lost since it seems that DVD has some of the answers… anyway it’s always best to start at the beginning.

Anyway since neither of them believe in the Super Taboo Extreme style of love they’ve come up with abit of a plan. To ensure the wrong girl doesn’t nab her brother they’ve formed a strange “Love Alliance” to keep a balance between the two while keeping “outsiders“ away from him… good luck!
Yes, as with most alliances in series like this there are sure to be lots of “faux pases” here and there, especially since they have lots of girls (and even teachers, one of who happens to be the same teacher from Please Teacher) lusting for this one guy. And don’t even get me started on the stupid dumb retarded friend who tries to make it look like they guy in question (who every girl is after) is gay… or is it just for the benefit of the two girls who are the point of this series? Does he know something the two girls have yet to figure out, and his stupidity hides a deeper truth? Is he truly that intelligent?
Nah. I wouldn’t attribute that much intelligence to that character. Forget it.

But despite tht it does seem that a deeper truth might yet be hiding beneath the surface, to be revealed at the least opportune moment… like the near end of the series, which we have reached. Anyway it’s the road to finale and the truth about which sister is the true twin… unless they’re BOTH his sister which is going to be such a downer ending.

Though it looks like we may be heading in that way in short order.
First off there’s this new girl who seems to be making a play for Maiku but instead has the hots for someone else entirely. Maybe employing the services of the Dark President of the Sith Student Council was abit too much and all, but still it worked… sorta.
Then the event from last episode (a “fake” festival) is cancled due to rain the the girls have a chance to spend time with Maiku, which leads to a chance to break the Love Alliance.
Then, finally, we have Miina run into an old friend who may have something on her that she doesn’t want anyone to know. It turns out to be innocent but it’s the picture Miina’s been holding for a long time that sparks something in Karen! From that one picture she has come to a grand conclusion and, yes, she may have finally unraveled the twin thing! But only the next few episodes will answer that…

Volume 4 - Twins Forever
Episode 11 - I Want to Tell You, I Love You
Ok. I can’t go into great detail since we’re about at the end here, and this is the payoff for having gone through the series for so long (so you don’t want me to spoil anything do you!)

Somehow whatever it is Karen has learned from that one picture has made the Love Alliance obsolete.
After all, she has seemingly uncovered the “truth” of who is the real sister, and now seems to think that she is NOT that sister which clears the way for her to tell Maiku her true feelings… right.
Not so fast! Looks like there’s one final ace to pull from the bottom of this sorrid deck which may yet reveal something else entirely, and turn whatever Karen has discovered upside down in a hurry!

Episode 12 - We Three Twins
Yeah. Somehow that doesn’t sound so good.
Karen discovered a photo which seemed to point towards one suspect as the twin in question, but what if another piece of info were to fall into place which changed everything?
The truth should be clear now… but will it be to either Karen and/or Miina’s liking?

Episode 13 - The Summer Never Ends
Ah, but that’s a lie! Even a girl like Tomo from Azumanga Daioh knows that the summer ends.
And so does this series, this wraps up everything and brings the series to it’s conclusion.
Now I don’t want to spoil everything but, well, if you put the title of last episode into account? There’s lots of resolutions to be had here as the series finally draws to it’s fateful conclusion.
How it ends, and what happens in these final episodes are for you to discover. I’m just reviewing here.
Speaking of which it’s time for the breakdown.

Please Twins! Breakdown the Finale
What’s Hot?
As we roll into the grand finale of the series I have to say that I found merits in this series that makes it worth checking out. I think I like it, really, and I know I like this way more than Please Teacher which didn’t really take off with me. Like last time I have to say that this series is pretty fair on my list of likes and I think good of it’s romantic tension and it’s plot twists.
In comparison to the original Please Teacher I think this works better than Please Teacher since they’ve managed to (for the most part) mute out the annoying characters that seemed to plague Please Teacher and bring you a stronger cast with a better plot and a more well formed storyline than the previous Please Teacher, and we have twists in this episode which you may or may not have seen coming -- depends.
Now if you liked Please Teacher you’ll enjoy this, if you didn’t however you might find the improvements here will make you forget the dissatisfying aftertaste of Please Teacher.
It’s a better package than Please Teacher anyway and it deserves some merit for consideration.

What’s Not?
You’ll either swing one way or another on this. Love or hate, no in betweens here. But of course before you can be deciding your sides you’ll need to WATCH the show before you judge it DOR (Dead On Rental) since you are no cable news personality who judges on hype more than actual experience.
The best way to see if you’ll like this show or not is to watch it yourself, first hand, and judge it by what you see. Though I think there’s something to this that’ll find an audience with several different types of viewers, maybe even yourself but again you’ll only find that out by sampling it first and trying it out.
Check it out, find out if you’ll like it or not, easy as that.

Moments to Remember?
As we end it has to be Miina & Karen that takes it home for me. Nuff said.

What to Ignore?
It’s over and I can’t think of a thing to ignore… maybe the end, especially if you’ve felt that you saw this ending coming and this series went and proven you right. Ignore that, it’s still good.
Otherwise the series is now over and it did a fairly good job of it if I do say so myself.

Overall?
Well, whether you watch this series or not is up to you… but for me? Hmmm….
As we wrap up and bring this series to a close I’m going to say that I’m on the positive side of things here.
I want you to go rent this out, and see how this goes for you. Really. I think it’s worth a second look.
And really, you could do far worse than Please Twins so why not give it the benefit of the doubt?
There are merits here, yes, and it is fairly well done in writing (animation is solid and music is good) that it warrants a second look overall. I think this should reach out and find some definite appeal to some of you, and that is my promise to you.

If you’ve seen Please Teacher and liked it, you should return for this. However if you haven’t seen Please Teacher once again there is sufficient merit for you to check it out. In my opinion PLEASE does a better job here than in Please Teacher, and I have more love for this series than the first one.
And if you were disappointed by Please Teacher? Well believe it or not Please Twins might very well change your mind, and give you a new outlook on the series. But again that is something only you can answer on your own, so pick up DVD Volume 1 and try it for yourself.

Now (once again) I don’t know the availability of this series in R2 format, but if you think you’d like to find out whether you’ll be a fan of this series or not I suggest starting an e-mail campaign to get this series on R2. It’s worth making a fuss over (one of the series from BANDAI you should make a fuss over if it doesn’t make the transition to R2 format). If you think this is a series to check out then tell someone at BANDAI you want a chance to see this. Demand your twins. Now. Nuff said.

-- David Rasmussen 25th Jun 05

Please Twins! Images