▪	RELEASED BY:		FUNIMATION ENTERTAINMENT
		▪	ASPECT RATIO:		4:3 FULL SCREEN
		▪	AUDIO:		ENGLISH AND JAPANESE DD 2.0
		▪	RUNNING TIME:		600 MIN
		▪	RATING:		TV PG
		▪	RELEASE DATE:		03/11/2008
		▪	REVIEW DATE:		03/12/2008
		▪	REVIEWED BY:		RACHEL BENTHAM

SYNOPSIS:
Being the new girl at school is never easy, just ask Momo Adachi. With her golden hair and tan, toned body, you would think she’d have a pretty easy time of it. But, when your “best friend” spends most of her day trying to show you up, going after anything you wan, you can’t be too careful…What will happen if Sae finds out about Momo’s long-time crush on a boy named Toji? Will she have to have him as well? And when a playboy from Momo’s past shows a new found interest in her, things get even more confusing.
 
Field trips and flings from the past will keep them scrambling as this story unfolds. Follow along as they fight their way through high school and heartache. Will Momo ever find the true love she seeks? Will either boy win her heart?

Romance is never easy…

The whole 25 episodes of angsty goodness on 6 DVDS in one box set.

REVIEW:
Romance may not be easy, but no one makes it harder than this small group of dreamers, backstabbers, and playboys!

You’ll never need to date again because Peach Girl has all the romantic crazy drama that anyone could take! Momo is the nice, sweet girl who is torn between stand-up guy Toji and bad boy Kairi. She gets mistaken for a hussy and a ditz due to her long blond hair and tanned complexion. She looks more like a California babe than a goody-two-shoes high school girl living the quiet life in Japan. But that quiet life gets a big explosion when her best friend (read: worst enemy ever!) Sae. This evil piece of work is up to no good and like any predictable soap opera, the people around Sae fall for her tricks every time! Every soap opera needs a scheming villain and Sae is it. Before you know it, extortion, lies, nasty rumors and more are making Momo’s life hell. And she has Sae and her own gullibility to thank for it all.

The Sae machinations are totally necessary because that’s what gives the push and pull to Momo’s love triangle. Just when she falls into one guy’s arms, Sae’s lies and tricks push her into the other’s. Just who will she end up with? That’s what the anime is all about. Called the “Hurricane Love Pop” this show is more like a “Love Rumble”! You get the nitty gritty dirt on each of the characters and some pretty close romantic calls with Momo and who she might end up with in a very intimate sense…They tease but it won’t be until the very end that they let you know who Momo chooses. Meanwhile they give a huge dose of soap opera drama-rama with all the antics and underhanded Sae tactics, some other rivals that make Sae look like an angel in comparison, and some past lost loves that reappear to make the romance all that much more of a zany rollercoaster ride!

The anime will strike you as different right out of the gate. It stays completely true to the character designs and overall look of Miwa Ueda’s original manga. That surprised me. I couldn’t picture the anime transition because of the very different look to the manga and hence the anime. But they do it and do it super well. It’s a soap opera so expect the dramatic rain scenes, the long meaningful stares, and those soft colors denoting the shojo that it is based on.  

EXTRAS:
The box set has all sorts of extras: FUNimation trailers, textless opening and ending songs, video interviews with Japanese voice cast Chiba Saeko (Momo), Megumi Nasu (Sae), Kiuchi Hidenobu (Toji), Suzumura Kenichi (Kairi), Peach girl manga ads, and Japanese promo video. There are also a couple of episode commentaries, first by English ADR Director Zach Bolton and English voice actress Kate Oxley (Momo). and English cast commentary on the final episode by Kate Oxley (Momo), Cherami Leigh (Sae), Rob McCollum (Toji), and Orion Pitts (Kairi). 

IN SUMMARY:
Peach Girl is the ultimate soap opera anime! Whether you’re a fan of Degrassi, The OC, One Tree Hill, or 90210, Peach Girl is the anime for you!