Making a living in the entertainment industry is brutal. Most of us start out accepting any gig that comes our way, regardless of what it is. As a result, every freelancer has a few weird blips on their resume. This is true for me, and it’s true for anime director Kunihiko Yuyama. Two years before being crowned the King of Pokémon in 1997, he wrote and directed a 2-episode OVA based on Tetsu Adachi’s erotic manga Weather Report Girl.
Keiko Nakadai will do anything to get ahead in her TV career. After triggering a 15% viewer rating increase by flashing her panties on-air, she becomes the new full-time weather reporter at ATV, replacing Michiko Kawai. Naturally, Michiko is displeased with this development. She attempts to get revenge but fails miserably and somehow becomes Keiko’s sex slave.
It’s a pretty funny set up for a slightly above-average fetish-driven smutfest. What’s more interesting, however, is its pedigree. Yuyama isn’t the only Pokémon alum to feature in a prominent creative role. The Director of Photography, Art Director, Sound Director, and Animation Producer all worked on the first season of Pokémon. Even more hilarious is that Keiko’s voice actor, Rica Matsumoto, plays Satoshi (Ash in the English version) to this day. So if you’ve ever wondered what he sounds like at the point of orgasm, look no further than Weather Report Girl.
It’s also notable for being the second title Right Stuf Anime released under their adult content label, Critical Mass.
Part of me is hesitant to categorize this as hentai, despite its numerous graphic sex scenes. I normally associate the genre with low effort scripting and an even lower animation budget. This could not be further from the truth with Weather Report Girl. Not every joke hits — and some scenarios wouldn’t make it beyond the writer’s room today, like when Michiko hires a group of street thugs to rape Keiko — but Yuyama still tells an overall funny and compelling story.
The climax of the first episode is a perfect example of his directing capabilities. Set during a violent thunderstorm, the sequence features Keiko jilling off intercut with Michiko on live television, giving the weather forecast while struggling not to shit herself. What could have been a run-of-the-mill joke scene you’d find in a Harold & Kumar movie, instead plays as a dramatic montage that’s is both chilling and erotic.
Weather Report Girl also brings the pain with its soundtrack. Composer Nobuhiko Kashiwara, who also arranged the theme song to Mobile Fighter G Gundam, doesn’t fuck around. Adult content is usually minimalistic with its soundscape, opting for unobtrusive pieces or no music at all. Kahiwara takes the opposite approach and scores each episode with infectious pop melodies and screaming electric guitar and synthesizer solos.
Yuyama and his team didn’t have to go this hard, but they did. They did it for us.
For a show that features a woman aggressively revenge-masturbating, it made me feel oddly nostalgic. Watching Weather Report Girl reminded me of a simpler time when anime was still a journey of discovery. A time where I could spend a summer afternoon bathing in a sea of unfamiliar titles looking for something new to watch. An experience that echoes how Michiko must feel as she explores the world of eating Keiko’s ass.
The only thing I knew about Weather Report Girl before watching it was the title. This OVA is a relic from the early days of my fandom, where I downloaded everything and watched nothing. The files traveled with me from hard drive to hard drive for so long that I don’t remember when or why I acquired them.
I’ve been meaning to get back to my roots of reviewing obscure OVAs from the 80s and 90s, so I decided that this was a good place to start. So last night, I booted my Plex Media Server, poured a glass of red wine, and crawled into bed to watch what I assumed would be a quiet story about a woman working towards her goal of being the best weather reporter in Japan.
Imagine the joy I felt after the opening sequence when they cut to an extreme closeup of a woman fucking herself in the bathroom with a pocket vibrator. Is that a…? No way! I laughed so loud that I woke up my neighbor.
Weather Report Girl is a shockingly accurate portrayal of what it’s like working in the entertainment industry. Every day is a fight to get ahead and impress people who consider you expendable. If you manage to survive the day, you drag your exhausted body back home to celebrate by binge drinking and having kinky sex.
You could argue that my enjoyment can mostly be attributed to surprise, but that’s what I miss in anime. I’m not surprised anymore. Everyone plays it safe, and most shows feel the same. This is why I fell in love with Pokémon as a kid. I had never seen anything like it before. Even though it was a kid’s show, they weren’t afraid to takes risks. I haven’t kept up with Pokémon since the Orange League, but I hope Yuymama and his team haven’t lost their edge after all these years.