Double Vision
Please Twins introduces twice the Please and twice the pleasure while giving a whole new meaning to the term 'dysfunctional family.'
Over a year ago, American anime audiences were introduced to Please Teacher, and now a sequel has finally come over, but don’t think that it’s a continuation of Please Teacher; oh no, this has a flavor all of its own. Bandai is trying their luck again at another Please series, hoping that it can have the success of the first.
Please Twins is a story about Maiku Kamishiro, who is an orphan living on his own. The only thing that he has of his past is a picture of him and a girl in a little pool, standing in front of a house. He believes that the girl in the picture to be his sister, and the house in the background as his old home, but that’s about all that he knows about his past. Maiku has been trying to live his life as best he can. He has a job of being a computer programmer to make some money. With the money that he’s earned, he has been able to buy the house in the picture that he believes that he grew up in.
Between work and school, Maiku doesn’t have too much free time, but he does have a group of friends, who in the classic anime mold, aren’t your typical people. Up to this point, his life has been relatively normal and not very exciting, but things are about to change when he has two girls show up to his house, each with the same picture as him, claiming to be the little girl in the pool with him, his sister. Don’t you just love how so many animes seem to start with the boy who’s lived a relatively normal and dull life, but then is in for a change?
From this point on, things start to change as he takes the both of the girls in and lives with him. Now he has to deal with their advances, as both start to take a liking to Maiku, but the main point of Please Twins (you could say that it’s its main selling point) is that one of the girls is most likely his sister. So Maiku is dealing with advances from two very attractive girls, but the downside is that the odds are that one of them is his twin sister. Now if that isn’t a cause for future therapy sessions, then I don’t know what is. Also, we must not forget everything that’s going on in school, since his friends aren’t the most normal bunch. He has his odd, way too friendly (if you catch my drift) "best friend" who tends to make things interesting for him, the vice president of the class who also adds a twist in the love affair, and the school’s president, who we might remember from the original Please Teacher, that for some reason always has to get herself involved in other people’s affairs.
Please Twins has a certain charm to it that anyone who liked Please Teacher will enjoy and that charm is one of the things that stands out, though in a very basic sense, it’s a "daily life" kind of show. Please Twins has that charm that livens it up and adds to the enjoyment. It is a shorter show, being only twelve episodes and an OVA, which is probably a good thing, since twenty-six episodes of incest humor would start to wear thin. The show's jokes can get to be a bit repetitive even with just the short viewing, but there really is something amusing about having a girl with her face in a guy’s lap who might be her brother, then having someone walk in on them and misunderstanding the whole situation. Priceless!
You get a lively bunch of characters that can get on your nerves at times, but they add a certain touch to this series. Since the cast isn’t the largest, it seems that they pack enough personality into the couple of people that you do have. Everyone’s favorite teacher Mizuho Kazami is back again in this series, although with a lesser role, but I’m sure fans of the original are glad to see her again.
The big question here though is whether or not Please Twins is a sequel to Please Teacher, and if it even should have the title of "Please." The answer is... sort of. Think more of a spin-off series, such as Joanie Loves Chachi to Happy Days, Frasier to Cheers, or even Joey to Friends, if Joey was likable. Although it’s not a spin-off in the true sense, you do have some of the same characters coming back from the original, just in reduced roles. This show deals with a completely new story, unrelated to the Please Teacher and has new lead characters to drive it; however, the main characters in Please Twins are now in Mizuho’s class. Kusanagi Kei pops up every now and again, and Ichigo has a pretty good sized role as the school president who loves getting herself involved in the affairs of Maiku, Karen and Miina.
Perhaps the biggest reason that Please Twins deserves and should get the "Please" title is that the crew working on it is almost the exactly same as on Please Teacher. You have the same director, character designer, scenario, mechanical design, character conceptual design, animation production, production (one new face in Please Twins), music production, planning, theme song production, sound director, and even the same singer for the ending and opening song as Please Teacher. This is all quite obvious as you watch the show. It’s has the same bright colors that really stand out, the "forbidden" romance element that is the main thrust of the show, and some light hearted (mostly sexual) humor that is pretty amusing. Considering all of this, Please Twins rightfully should have the Please label, and people going into should expect something similar to Please Teacher, but keep in mind, the story is not a continuation.
Please Twins has some amusing characters, a very interesting story and a nice charm that is reminiscent of Please Teacher. Considering that it’s only twelve episodes and an OVA, and being released on only four DVD’s, it’s a title that certainly might be worth picking up if you’re a fan of Please Teacher or of romantic comedies. With the second volume only recently released, and the third scheduled for March, I’m sure that fans are eagerly waiting to see what will become of Maiku, Karen and Miina.