Reviews for Today We Start Our Love

I see a lot of people raging about this series on the forums and the review section, so I'm here to give you my two cents. Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu is a difficult OVA to recommend. For newcomers who have never read the manga will find the first episode (and probably the rest of the OVA) to be confusing. Why, you ask? Because the first episode starts at the first major climax of the manga. Which I believe in the manga starts at chapter 15, so all anime viewers would be missing 14 chapters of background content of the first episode. If you do want towatch the OVA be prepared to be completely mind blanked at some scenes.

But this is the true nature of the OVA of Kyou, Koi. The OVA is suppose to cater to the manga readers and draw the anime watchers to read the manga. Which effectively worked for me again. (Since I dropped the manga and plan on reading it again for the second episode of the OVA.) How do I know this? Because the OVA was bundled with the ninth volume of the manga in Japan. So it was not set to sell to the mainstream audience, but only to the manga followers who continue to read and support the manga.

J.C. Staff is at the helm of animating Kyou, Koi. (J.C. Staff is also animating another shoujo alongside Kyou, Koi called Kaichou wa Maid-sama. But Kaichou wa Maid-sama gets a whole TV series to go through the manga.) The art is decent and stays true to the manga, which was a good thing. Obviously, J.C. Staff did not plan on having a big budget to animate this OVA, because it was just going to be an extra bundle to a manga volume. But I was surprised at the background art, which were drawn very well considering the small budget they had to use.

Soundtrack and voice acting wise, I thought were pretty good. Lots of piano/orchestra music fitting the shoujo setting of the anime. And Itou Kanae voices the main female lead in the OVA. Who is also know for doing Himamori Amu in Shugo Chara. Coming right from another shoujo is Namikawa Daisuke, who is fresh off the shoujo scene from voicing Kazehaya from Kimi ni Todoke. He voices the main male lead, but instead of playing a cheerful character like in Kimi ni Todoke, voices a rough serious character instead in Kyou, Koi.

Overall, I did enjoy this OVA, since it was literally a copy and paste of the manga. Except with added color, voice acting, animations, and background music. But again what makes this OVA so hard to recommend is because it was specifically made for the manga readers and will be a total loss for the anime only watchers. So here's to me hoping that J.C. Staff will do a full adaptation of the manga if they find out the OVA did well. But I'm not keeping my fingers crossed, since it seems to be such a small chance.

*Second episode of the OVA comes out bundled with the tenth volume of the manga, so expect that to not follow the time line of the first episode of the OVA.

Well, I just watched the first OVA and I gotta say I was never so disappointed in an animation before ! Seriously what was that O___o ? The OVA started and the first 2 minutes they skip like 10 chapters with important plot and then put the scene with the star projector ... urgh Very disappointing to me =3= The VA weren't that great to me either ... Hibino has the same as Amu from SC so I couldn't take her serious because she reminded me of a 12 year old girl, sorry The only thing I liked about it was the chara design. It was very similiarto the manga and the animation quality was also enjoyable.

Though I can't really speak of animation here ... half of the OVA were just pretty pics, some eye blinks etc. ... it lacked the thing that keeps the viewers on the screen.

So to sum this up, for me the OVA was a total fail. The manga is really enjoyable so I had maybe too high hopes in this but still, it put me in a bad mood after watching it, which shouldn't be the result of watching anime ... at least for me *sigh*

Watch for yourself and see what I meant

Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu is a very short romantic story about two young high school students sharing the same name. After a terrible first meeting, the girl fell in love with the guy sometime later but was rejected by him. What follows is a story on how the two eventually becomes closer to each other. The story is quite simple and cliche, but being a short 2 episode long, the OVA manage to flesh out enough story details to make the story convincing and watchable at least. The main highlights of these OVA are the still animation scenes which are rather breathtaking, artistic andbeautifully rendered but this are quite few. The same thing cannot be said on the animation with movements though as it lacks fluidity, the environment is somewhat bland and poor in details. The character designs are passable and likeable as it features narrow faces, pointy chins and hair lines that are too many which clearly indicates that this is a shoujo anime. In general, the production values are quite low.

The OVA is kind enough to provide an Ending theme song which is quite good to listen and a couple of well orchestrated soundtracks which fits fairly well for overall mood of the story.

In the character side of things, nothing much is revealed other than the fact that main characters are of good standing being honor students. Voice acting is fairly well done as it features well known voice actors such as Itou Kanae as the female lead Hibino Tsubaki, and Namikawa Daisuke as the male lead Tsubaki Kyouta.

Overall, my impression of this short OVA is quite positive since I have a natural inclination on romance stories that are fun to watch and not overly dramatic. "Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu" is quite difficult to recommend to other viewers because after a quick look around the origin of this OVA, I found out that this is actually just a bonus item for a shoujo manga bearing the same title so its target audience are the manga readers who have a good understanding of the overall story. So if the viewer is a manga reader then this is a highly recommended OVA, but for other viewers like me who haven't read the manga or have no intention of reading the manga, it is still watchable, just don't expect great things.

Usually I don't write reviews after the first episode, but this is an OVA, and its review was needed. I began reading the manga awhile ago. A friend had recommended it, so I was trying to push my way through it, even though I thought it was cliche' and boring. When I heard the manga was being adapted, I put aside the manga and said I'd watch the anime. I'm really sorry that I bothered. Story- 6. I couldn't even tell what the story was at first. It started with a boy on stage, skipped to the main girl cutting his hair, then skipped to herbeing madly in love with him and trying to make him smile. I guess in general, I got the drift of what was happening, but it wasn't anything special.

Art-6. It was decent, but at a really special moment, they stop the frame like a picture, making it seem like they just took the manga pages and threw them on to a television screen. This sometimes happens in other animes, but in this one it happened more than once, so it got annoying.

Sound-5. At first, everything sounded okay. The main girl leads voice sounded fine when she was talking and her face wasn't on the screen. Then, her face appeared while she was talking and I thought, "That voice belongs to that face?" It just didn't match. Music was simple, and ending theme was a dumb song thrown in with a bunch of manga pictures.

Character-4. Girls who are in love with the guy first get on my nerves. I don't know what it is about them, but it annoys me. Main guy was on his period? He had such a change of personality every other minute. He went from "I'm gonna take all your first times!" to "Leave me alone. You don't get me." to "You get me so well. This is my confession." to "You're my girlfriend! I'm allowed to rape you!" There was also another girl character, but it didn't even say who she was and what role she played! Was she the main girls bestfriend? Friend? Sister? I don't know..

Enjoyment-4. As I've been saying this whole time, nothing special happened. I was bored, and I kept flinching from the amount of cliche crying.

Overall, a 5. It was okay. It had to have some good qualitys if I stuck through the whole thing.

(Please comment my profile if you have a reply to my review.)

This is my first review, so, I apologize. This is the first time I've really felt so disappointed in an anime I've had no background in. I usually give *everything* a chance but this.. It's just.. I'll let my review explain to you all my feelings towards this OVA. Art: I found the art lovely. The usual Shoujo, but I loved it non-the less. The animation as well was nice. I love that kind of animation style instead of the newer style they have been releasing with the newer animes. But, this was probably the high-point of the anime. 8/10 Sound: The Actor's that were choose for this animewas picked well. I was content with emotions put in, the OST, and the SFX's. It fit quite well. 6/10

Story:

I was lost. Honestly, I believe this is suppose to be a love story, right? A story that takes a while for the main people to develop, right? Seriously. If it was, I am disappointed. The story was too fast paced and skipped way too much for my enjoyment. It had it's cute moments on it's short scenes. But, my main issue is that I could *not* follow what was going on at all. Which, I did not enjoy at all. So, this story was not enjoyable to me at all. 2/10

Characters:

Character's were cute. I'll admit it. But, because they shoved a season's worth of development into one OVA, it was too fast and skipped too much development as the story then. People like myself who never read the manga got lost to what was happening with the characters. I did not enjoy seeing them one minute hateful and the other loving just because they skipped important events threw the manga. I didn't like. 3/10

Over All:

Honestly, I don't believe it should of been an OVA either. My reasonings behind this is because that this was way too fast paced to fist into one single episode. I really didn't enjoy this because how much it skipped over too as I stated before. So, if you've read the manga and willing to watch this and piece things together, go right ahead. But, I would *not* suggest this to anyone who hasn't read the manga like I did. Overall: 4/10.

Thank you for reading.

I agree also to what ppl been saying i believe that the anime really pushed too much ahead n put fragmentation scenes together to create the first ova. I loved the manga it was very interesting n enjoyable; however, the anime to was not as gud...but i did like seeing the characters in action....so overall it was very good but they should hav added more detail within it to make it more like the manga is.

This OVA is definitely not for anyone who hasn't read the manga. It was very confusing for me (who has read the manga) in the beginning, trying to recollect everything that had prefaced the starting point of the OVA. Story (4/10): This OVA bounced around a bit, skipping over so much of the essence of the manga. Even stand-alone, the viewer would be confused and left and 20 questions of who, what, when, where and why. It was very focused on the dramatic element and that alone. They did try to have some flash backs so you got the idea of what lead up tothe scene, but it was still lacking.

Art (8/10): Clean, clear and enjoyable. Really kept to the original artwork which was nice. Expressions and movements could have been better but overall it was acceptable.

Sound (8/10): Seiyuus fit the characters really well. Really no complaints.

Characters (7/10): If you've read the manga then the characters were pretty right on and you could understand why they would do what they were doing. For someone who hasn't, the OVA provides no sort of character build up so you just have to take them at face value. A couple of comments in the movie makes no sense if you have no idea who/what the characters have been through or done.

Enjoyment (7/10): I gave it a 7 because I knew what was going on and what happened before the OVA, so it was just like watching a few scenes animated. I enjoyed that.

Overall: This OVA could have been so much better if it was a TV series. The manga has deeper elements to it, and the interactions between the two main characters are lovely. I really wish the animated version could have reached it's full potential. I am interested to see how all the episodes in the OVA pan out.

First of all I'd like to mention that I've read the manga. Second the manga is ongoing and also 65 chapters long (so far) so how in the WORLD can it be a 2 episode (each an hour long) anime. It didn't let the characters build up. If I hadn't read the manga first then I would have had no idea what was going on. It missed loads of key parts and didn't do the manga justice. Second of all the voices were all wrong for me.... :L Also (I'm only on episode 1) they completely lost the idea of her fixing hair and Sakura, hersister!

So therefore I thoroughly feel the anime is a waste if they only did 2 episodes! And also didn't the characters or story justice. So as a consequence I am not going to watch the rest.

I would not recommend anyone who has not read the manga to watch the anime. It skipped a lot from the manga and as a reason, it was all over the place. I felt like the anime was moving at a pace I could not follow even though I have read the manga. They tried to give it a Kimi ni Todoke type of feeling where for example, if Kyouta and Tsubaki were smiling, it'd be just paper art rather movement. This I liked. Overall, it was sweet to watch but it could have been much better if they moved at a slower pace.

OK, I have been a fan of this manga for a long time, even so much so that I had help in the translation of the manga when it first came out, so I was excited to see the OVA. I remember when I first watched Honey x Honey Drops as an OVA (before reading the manga) and it was just smut, but after reading the manga I realized that's how it played out at first lol. Anyway, when I watched the first episode I was not happy that the first couple of minutes kind of just badly summarizes the first part of the manga. Itdoesn't even explain Tsubaki's talents as a hair stylist, old fashioned feelings, or the challenge going on between her and Kyouta, but it skips right to the first real climax of the series. Alright...I want to complain, but the anime at least held true to the actual manga regardless of what is skipped. Even the second episode is fairly consistent with the manga and done fairly well.

I loved the manga. This OVA is OK in my book compared to the other one I just watched. I don't love it, but if you've read the manga, it may be worth looking at, but overall, it's not a must see. It's a shame they don't do a proper anime for this manga. It would be a very sweet shoujo series, especially since this manga by Minami Kanan is strangely the least smutty LOL

ano ne.. i like the manga of kyou, koi wo hajimemasu.. because of curiosity, i watched its ova.. it's like the continuation of the manga chapters.. then still the characters are adoring.. (specially kyouta-kun^^) and im happy when he confess to tsubaki.. tsubaki is sure lucky .. though we have the same characteristics.. she get a cool, hardworking boyfriend.. and i dont have one.. since birth... xD sore dake.. if i say more.. this review will be a spoiler.. xD hope you watch it^^

I felt to write a review due to the low rating reviews Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu has. Yes i would have loved to see more moving art work but atleast time was taken into consideration with each frame. Whereas the storyline was done so well in just two episodes. Actually engaging the viewer every developing step of their 'mutual relationship'. Very sweetly done :) - BEAUTIFUL

This is my first review. Please note, i have not read the manga, so i shall be writing my review based on the anime i have seen. I have never been more frustrated at an anime in such a away- this had so much potential to become something more, yet it lacked that extra bit more. One of its major flaws was rushing into the 'major climax' of the story between the 2 main characters, Tsubaki & Kyouta. With no explanation or plot development, BANG, it's almost like the ending started before the beginning. To be fair there was a short narrative beginning, but it would have beengreat to watch it develop, to see how it got to this point.

There is little if at all any character development, so there's nothing to help explain the character's actions and what led them in doing so, which i think is a shame because it just turns into a typical romance cutesy anime, especially in the seconds OVA

The sound i thought fitted in very well with the anime & i thought the seiyuu performances were very good.The anime wasn't bad but it was really those still-shots that really stood out- beautifully made.

The second OVA doesn't follow the OVA, and so they are best treated as 2 separate OVAs, so it lacks some continuity and flow. I feel like they could have done a whole season's worth instead of trying to cram so much, yet deliver so little into 2 20 minute OVAs.

Ultimately i did like this anime, there was something charming about it that sucked me in. If only there was more substance and development to make more than just some romance.

This was.. hilariously ridiculous! One of my favorite manga(s) was so purely made into an anime that I couldn't stop laughing. Honestly what the heck was that? It had just some cut scenes. someone who hadn't read the manga wouldn't understand a thing. The animation was poor as well. Honestly even the voices of the characters annoyed me. I don't know, maybe I had it animated in my head in another way?

A hardcore fan of the manga will probably be disappointed. It's has the “overflowing cattle with boiling water” effect that Hollywood so called blockbusters have, when the director tries to squish a 700 page literary bestseller into an average movie format. So, If you haven't read at least some chapters of the manga, than these => ????