Rizelmine

Rizelmine (りぜるまいん) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yukiru Sugisaki. The manga was originally serialized for six chapters in the Kadokawa Shoten magazine Ace Next from November 2001 to April 2002 with a single tankōbon collection released on March 22, 2002. The manga was translated into English and published in the North America by Tokyopop on August 9, 2005. An anime television series adaptation animated by Imagin and Madhouse aired on Japan's Kids Station in 2002, but has not been licensed in English. Rizelmine was split into two seasons, both containing 12 episodes each. The first season aired April 2, 2002 through June 18, 2002. The second season, titled Rizelmine II, aired October 5, 2002 through December 21, 2002.

Plot

The storyline of Rizelmine centers on Tomonori Iwaki, a 15-year-old student who likes older women, including high school girls, college girls, and even female instructors.[1][2] Having just discovered that his teacher (upon whom he has nursed a massive crush) is engaged to be married, he comes home to find, much to his dismay, that he has been forced by "Power Of The State" to marry a 12-year-old girl named Rizel, who is the government's first creation in its experiments to genetically engineer a human.

Characters

Rizel Iwaki (岩城りぜる)

Rizel was developed as a secret government project. She has stopped growing so she has the body of a 12 year old and has a happy-go-lucky personality. She started living with Tomonori but is subject to his constant abuse, always resulting in her nitroglycerin tears blowing up yet another part of his house. She is considered cute and friendly by many of her classmates. She chose Iwaki as her husband and needs his love to be able to continue her growth. She is often chased by Hououin Ryunosuke, for her innocence and her cute bear panties.

Tomonori Iwaki (岩城友紀)

Tomonori is a normal 15 year old boy in his third year of junior high-school with a thing for older women. The reason is when he is a child, he tried to save Rizel when she was about to be hit by a truck and when he wakes up Rizel is hugging him. He has a long standing crush on his homeroom teacher, Natsumi Ibata. He was forcibly married to Rizel by the government. When Rizel starts appearing at school and claiming to be his wife, his friends are jealous of such a girl being ensnared by Iwaki already and start calling him a pervert.[4] Despite his rather brash nature, he has a tendency towards chivalrous acts. This is shown when he saved Rizel from a car and Kyouko from her out of control bike.

Kyouko Yachigusa (八千草響子)

Kyouko is two years older than Iwaki and has a crush on him. She is the daughter of Papa C. Iwaki saved her when her bicycle brakes stopped working two years ago and she has liked him ever since. She is seemingly very shy and so has taken her two years to confess her love to Iwaki. In fact, she has a highly volatile, dominative personality, so much that she has to oppress it by wearing special glasses. When she finally gives up on Iwaki, she and Ryuunosuke become a couple in the end of the anime.

Ryuunosuke Hououin (鳳凰院龍之介)

Hououin is in the same year as Iwaki and fell in love with Rizel at first sight.[4] He used her as a model to update his figure which he calls "the twelve year old". He is very wealthy and has a personal ninja who acts as his assistant whenever he executes his plans to win Rizel's heart. His other hobbies include collecting bear panties, which he calls a symbol of the purity and innocence of a twelve-year-old girl. Towards the end of the second season he and Kyouko become a couple.

The Papas

The Papas are a group of three old men who are the guardians of Rizel.[4] Their names are never revealed, but they are called Papa A, Papa B and Papa C. Papa C has a tendency to cross-dress.

The Mamas

Three women whose real names, like the Papas, are never revealed. They are called Mama A, Mama B, and Mama C. While the Papas are taking care of Rizel, the Mamas are in the lab monitoring her emotions. It is revealed in the end that mama A is the daughter of papa A.

Aoi Seimoto (聖本あおい)

Aoi is Tomonori's childhood friend and Rizel's best friend.[4] She is the president of the class and has a crush on Ryunosuke. She is generally mature for her age, though she often teases Tomonori about his crush on the teacher and often helps Rizel win his heart. Towards the end of the anime, Aoi gives up on liking Ryunosuke and instead develops feelings for a stray dog.

Natsumi Ibata (井端菜摘)

The teacher of the class 3-B and the object of Tomonori's affections. Unfortunately for him, she became engaged. Eventually, she has some sort of fight with her fiancé, so she doesn't come to school. Tomonori goes to her house, at one point leaving her flowers. He takes her to his special spot beside the sea where he goes to think about things and he ends up comforting her and convincing her to go through with the marriage, contrary to his plans. Rizel catches the bouquet at Natsumi-sensei's wedding.

Reception

Rizelmine was ranked number 87 on a list of comic sales estimates by Diamond Comic Distributors, selling around 1,165 copies in the United States in July 2005.[20] The manga was nominated for "Best One-Shot" of 2005 by the readers of AnimeOnDVD.com.[21] Critical reviews for Rizelmine have been very mixed. Eduardo M. Chavez of Mania.com gave a somewhat positive review of the manga. He opined that Sugisaki's art style and character designs in Rizelmine have evolved since her earliest work, such as The Candidate for Goddess. However, he felt she still has difficulty setting up action scenes, with panels that are "far too active" with "characters and SFX jumping in and out" despite the story already being so highly paced.[1] The reviewer compared the relationship of the two protagonists to that of Urusei Yatsura, an older motif that he felt Sugisaki made very derivative. Chavez concluded that Rizelmine "does have enough of its own style for it to stand on its own", with half of the chapters consisting of filler, bookended by the opening with character introductions and the ending with some background information.[1] Craig Johnson of Manga Life highly recommended Rizelmine, finding it to be largely entertaining and funny, and desiring more than just one volume.[22]

According to Japanese television ratings information, Rizelmine was the eighth most viewed show for the month of May 2002.[23] Like the manga version, the anime adaptation has received mixed reviews. ANN's Allen Divers appreciated Rizelmine for its animation quality and humor, confessing it to be "an easygoing fun little romp" despite its lack of advancing narrative and its similarity to Urusei Yatsura.[24][25] Carlos Ross of T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews lambastes nearly every aspect of the television series aside from its animation. Ross was disturbed by the fanservice and even took offense to its slapstick approach to domestic abuse.[26] John Oppliger, a writer for AnimeNation, found Rizelmine to be "too cute to appeal to mainstream consumers, and too cliché and sappy to attract a significant audience of hardcore American anime fans".[27]

type	tv series
director	Yasuhiro Matsumura
writer	Naruhisa Arakawa Kazuyuki Fudeyasu Yuki Enatsu
music	Toshihiko Sahashi
studio	Imagin Madhouse
network	Kids Station
first	April 2, 2002
last	December 21, 2002
episodes	24
episode list	#Episodes

Plot

Characters

Media

Manga

Anime

Episodes

CD

Reception

External links

References

Episodes