Pico to Chico

Pico to Chico is the next installment to the Boku no Pico OVA. For those who are not into shota I don't recommend watching this. The story opens during summer vacation with Pico watching Chico skinny dipping in a creek. Chico then takes Pico-oniichan home and introduces his big sister cheerfully adding that "she does the housework." After having a little snack and talking about how in the middle of nowhere they are, the two youths go out to play. A majority of that time is spent nude. Later that night Chico invites Pico into the attic to spy on his sister masturbating with a banana. Which leads to Pico showing Chico the joys and wonders of boyhood.

My first impression of Pico to Chico is that it tries really hard to cater to the audience and with a smile it delivers. But it's to the point where it's almost overkill and at times comical. The camera is almost always at waist level. Especially this one scene where Pico and Chico are talking to each other and wagging their butts at the camera in sync. Pico to Chico's animation is just as crisp and fluid as its predecessor and it sticks with its endearing moe style. The background designs add to the free and secluded atmosphere of this anime. What dissappointed me was the annoying mosaic over their genitals. You would think after Sensitive Pornograph you would see less of that. (Webmaster's note: Japanese law requires genital censoring. The blurs from the Japanese version were removed for the U.S. release of Sensitive Pornograph.)

The music was pretty good and it matched the scenes well, but the ending and opening theme was way to cheery and it kind of reminded me of the Mickey Mouse theme song. For some reason it just didn't fit despite Pico to Chico trying to keep things cute. It was like having Barney the purple dinosaur pop in on an orgy. As for the story and plot, well there's really not that much to say about it, only that it's just pointless. Nothing epic or life changing and it allows room for the two preteens to get it on, not that it's a bad thing. To be honest the story is so shallow I could sum it up in less then three paragraphs and spoil the whole anime.

I gave Pico to Chico an A because it managed to be dirty, cute and simple at the same time and still be a good anime. That's no simple feat when it comes to the genre of yaoi or shota. I also liked how they tried to cram as much fan service as they could, that's something I'd like to see more in yaoi. Also there no angst, no back story and no attempt at justifying or condeming their actions. Adding any of that to Pico to Chico would have ruined the whole thing.

What I didn't like about Pico to Chico was the addition of a female charater. Despite her small role in the anime. This isn't a simple case of the unwanted female love interest. I think the only reason she was put into the story was to feed those two and to add a bit of diversity to the anime just in case a guy decided to watch it. And the mastubation scenes just were not necessary. This anime would have got an A+ if Mokkun came back.