Suika: Not Your Typical "Watered" Down Hentai Am I reviewing a hentai? Well, yes...yes I am...and I'm not sure why I feel a little embarrassed about that. Since I am a pretty big fan of Key's animations and KyoAni projects, I decided to try something a little more hardcore. You know, something like Clannad except with a little more sex. Well, I can honestly say in all my years of watching anime and yes, even hentai, Suika is probably one of the closest I've found in the hentai genre that's been able to follow the same mold as a Clannad, Kanon, or ef-a tale of memories/melodies. Whileyes, this is technically a hentai, I will warn you right now that this isn't a "typical" hentai. What I mean by that is its not porn for at least 12-15 minutes an episode with a million different relationships going on at once. For only being a three episode OVA, it does a nice job of capturing three compelling stories in a short period of time, and the sex scenes are fairly short and to the point. This OVA series, with the limited time it has, does a nice job of developing its characters and relationships.

If I had to use a statement as to what Suika is about, I'd say imagine ef-a tale of memories, except its relationships are episodic and has Kanon-esque supernatural elements. It's much like ef-memories with how all of the relationships tie into the same universe (Tokiwa Village), even though they aren't directly connected. It's supernatural elements, especially in the second and third episodes are quite similar to Kanon and a little bit like Clannad: After Story.

The first episode revolves around Souji Kamishiro, a young aspiring painter that is under the tutelage of Ritsu Shirakawa and is good friends with his daughter, Sayaka. Souji and Sakaya's relationship becomes stronger as the episode progresses and especially after Sakaya reveals the tragic past revolving around her mother's death. The second episode revolves around a young man named Akira Kazama, who returns to Tokiwa Village to visit his grandmother after leaving the village six years prior. Upon returning, he runs into an old friend at the shrine named Itsuki Minase, who is working at the shrine as a shrine maiden. The two meet several times in the episode and discover they have feelings for each other, but a tragic past rears its head when the memories of Isuki's twin sister Sayo come into the picture. The third episode revolves around Hiroshi Inaba, a young man who returns to Tokiwa Village to attend his father's funeral and to visit his sisters, Chitose and Kako. Chitose is his younger sister and is suffering from an illness and Kako is his older sister and is rarely seen due to handling the family matters after the father's passing. While visiting the shrine to pray, Hiroshi meets a young girl that goes by Ojo hiding underneath the shrine and runs away when Hiroshi addresses her. By coincidence, the two meet up again later on and Hiroshi and Ojo start to develop a relationship with each other. However, Hiroshi starts to become suspicious of Ojo when he realizes only certain people can see her and he gets the suspicion he has met her in the past.

Each episode is fairly unique in their own right and each character seems to face their share of tragic moments. I found the first episode to be the strongest of the three since it seemed the most clear cut and the most realistic (and I use that term loosely) of the three episodes. I also thought it had the most fundamentally sound relationship of the three couples introduced in this series.

As far as the positives, I can say that each story was fairly unique and the writing did a nice job of capturing each character's motivations. It was also interesting seeing the little nuances of how the stories tied into one another through random cameos. The animation was pretty good if we're going by "hentai" standards...in fact, it reminds me a lot of the ef series with its character designs, but also seems to have that "KyoAni" feel with its animation.

When it comes to the negatives of this series, I found some of the episodes had some loose ends that the writers didn't do a very good job of explaining. While episode 1 seemed pretty decent with its writing, episodes 2 and 3 were somewhat confusing. Episode 2 was confusing in regards to Sayo and her "status" in the episode...as well as Itsuki's wish which seemed just as confusing and the payoff was somewhat nonsensical. Episode 3 in particular didn't make a whole lot of sense, especially in the explanation as to who or what Ojo and Chinatsu were. I'd say these two episodes and their vague explanations are a big reason why I didn't love this series as much as a Clannad or Kanon. I just had a hard time buying into Itsuki and Ojo's characters as well as their motivations. There is a "bonus" episode, but unless you're looking for more gratuitous fanservice, I'd say avoid it. It's a prequel to the series and essentially adds nothing to any of the plots. To be honest, I don't even know why Kitty Media poured their budget into this 15 minute short when they could've added 5 minutes to each episode to make them a little bit better.

Overall, I really can't complain much about Suika because if we're going by typical hentai or OVA standards, it's pretty damn good. I'd even go so far as to say it's the best hentai I've ever seen or at least one of the best. This series could fair a little better if it had a few more episodes to work with. I'd say if they spent two episodes revolving around each story, they would have a very solid OVA series. However, it's fairly rare for a hentai series to have more than three episodes. The only ones that do seem to be the higher budget series like Bible Black. It's a shame Kitty Media didn't put a little more effort toward this series because it did have some potential. Although, I will say it's a shame more hentai aren't done like Suika, because I think there would be a little more respect for the industry if there were more OVAs like this. It's one of the few hentais I'd say captures more of a "romance" than "gratuitous sex." I know I've made several references, but I think if you enjoyed a series like Clannad, Kanon, or ef, I do think you'll at least get a little bit of enjoyment out of this OVA series. I honestly can't put Suika on the same page as something like those, but if you're looking for something in the hentai genre that at least comes close, than Suika is the closest you'll find. Even if you're not a fan of hentai but still like the aforementioned series, I don't think you'll be too bothered by it. In my experience, it never hurts to try something new. The sex scenes aren't too gratuitous and don't interfere a whole lot with the series as a whole. Sure, they could've spent that time developing a little more character and clearing up a few of the holes, but I still feel it would've taken at least another whole episode each to completely explore each story. If you're like me and like some of the Key anime adaptations and are looking for something a little more hardcore with its romance, I'd say give this a shot.