Anime ReWind ReView: Mahou no Chocolate OVA

Young middle school girl, Mami Itou, has a crush on her senpai, Ishida. Mami is nervous about confessing her feelings to him so she has her friend Koko-chan help her practice. She wants to give her senpai her hand made chocolate on Valentine’s Day but can’t seem to build the courage to do so even though she can easily do it in her practice scenario with Koko-chan. Luckily for her, there might be something that can help! 

 

Mami asks her friend Koko-chan how she confessed to her lover on Valentine’s Day. She said she got some Valentine chocolate from a strange girl in black clothing near her house. The strange girl said it was magical chocolate that would get to a boy’s heart! She thought it was a trick but it was big success when she gave her crush that chocolate! Mami-chan wondered if that strange girl was actually witch. 

Later, the girls see Ishida-Senpai playing soccer. He’s very popular with the girls. They fawn over him as he plays the game. He looks so cool! Koko-chan says he’s going to be at an out of district high school next year. Then suddenly, Mami-chan gets hit with the soccer ball right into her face. She gets sent to the clinic immediately. Ishida-senpai went running over to Mami-chan asking if she’s alright which she clearly wasn’t. He decides to go see her in the clinic. Koko-chan is there to support her. She sees Ishida-senpai there and she leaves the two of them alone. However, when Mami-chan mentions the name Kazuki (the name of her brother), Ishida-senpai has a strange feeling and leaves. 

Feeling sad, Koko-chan tells her friend, that if she just tells Ishida-senpai that Kazuki is her brother, everything will be fine! Mami still isn’t feeling confident and is about ready to give up. Before they part ways, Koko-chan tells her...

えがお、えがお！

Which means smile smile! Mami-chan smiles and heads over to the park and stays there awhile. She decides to go home since it was getting cold. As she gets up, she hears a voice from out of nowhere! She sees a strange girl in black clothes who throws her a box. She explains it's a box of magical chocolate. Mami-chan catches it and before she could ask any questions, the mysterious girl disappears.

The next day, it’s finally Valentine’s Day! Her brother, Kazuki, pokes fun at her before she leaves cuz he knows about her crush on Ishida. Her dad says he won’t accept that boy but her mom thinks it’s so romantic! Unfortunately, Mami-chan has caught a bit of a cold from staying out in the cold weather too long but she’s determined to confess her feelings for Ishida-senpai. She’s worried he’s going to be leaving soon. She finds him at school and the other girls push her away before she got a chance to say anything. Ishida-senpai refused to talk to the other girls and ran off with Mami-chan together alone. The other girls were left in disappointment. 

There’s an awkward silence. Mami-chan contemplates giving him the magical chocolate. Then Ishida-senpai confessed his feelings for Mami-chan! She’s shocked! She puts down the magical chocolate and gives him the chocolate she made. She nearly passed out due to the fever and her boyfriend carried her home. Her poor dad was shocked to see them like that but she still felt like the luckiest girl ever! Turns out the chocolate was actually made by her friend Koko-chan so it’s a good thing she didn’t give it to him!

My Thoughts: This OVA came out on August 30^th 2001 by Ishikawa Pro. I first watched this a few years later, back in April 2005. This was the first anime I ever downloaded and the first torrent I downloaded from an anime torrent site called animesuki! I normally don’t do fully on reviews like this but I decided to do so anyway since this was only around 8 minutes long. The drawings/animation are horrible but I don’t care. Watching this OVA felt like watching someone’s first ever homemade anime for like an animation school project or something. Though, I suppose that’s what gives this a bit of charm and what makes me still remember it 20 years later. I honestly wish there was more to this story than just 8 minutes.  

As far as I’m aware, this is the only dedicated Valentine’s Day anime out there. Though I could be wrong!  Will it still hold up to newer viewers? Probably not. Many probably won’t like the art or animation but if you can get past it, it’s worth watching at least once. Especially if you like shojo anime. Personally, I loved this little OVA and I still do! It’s a tradition for me to watch it on every Valentine’s Day now. :3

My Ratings:
Art: C
Animation: D
Story: C+
Fansub: A
Music/OST: B
Overall Rating: 7/10

I'm giving this a bit of a higher overall rating due to the nostalgia goggles and because I thought the story was actually cute. It may be predictable but the nostalgia still holds up well for me and that’s all that matters imo. Anyway, thanks for reading up til this point and Happy Valentine's Day to you all! Hope you got to eat tons of chocolate from the people you love. ^_^