Rate: 9/10
Anyway, three words to describe my opinion: I love anime Suzuka!
Well, not too much a surprise, as I've translated about 80 chapters of the manga version of Suzuka (currently being hosted by Anime-Source), and the reason I did so is simply because I love it, and as to the anime of it, the same, I love it!
Based on the manga of the same name (although they changed a bit), the story starts with Akitsuki Yamato, an average boy who comes to Tokyo to start his high school year, and to start a new life. While on his way, he saw a beautiful girl who is doing high jumping, and instantly falls in love. Little does he know, that the girl he saw is living in the same apartment that Yamato himself is going to be living, and what's more, they are neighbours with a hole on the wall connecting each other... Yamato believes that coming to Tokyo, to start a new life, and something good will definitely happen, but could this be it?
Well, main reason I like Suzuka is because of the storyline. Well, I'm a big shojo fan, and this one is definitely one of the best series ever. Maybe a bit common, that is, story about a guy being surrounded by many girls, but this one is certainly a bit uncommon, for Yamato started with being hated by the girl he likes. This certainly interested me a lot, and as I first read through the manga version of it, I grew to hooked to it, and it's the same for the anime parts of it. One good thing about the storyline of the anime version is that, it ends nicely.
As to the character designs, well, they are pretty much the same as in the manga, and most of the main characters are pretty well desgined, suit my taste a lot. Most notably, Suzuka, Hattori, Hashiba... Probably not Yamato, but what can you say, he's supposed to be the average guy! Just kidding...
As to the songs, sound-tracks, and themes, they are about all right, average, not too good or exciting (well, can't help it, this is a shojo series after all), but enjoyable. The ending is quite good, in my opinion.
Of course, I do find one particular part about the anime version of Suzuka in which I don't like about it very much. They changed the story a bit. If you read through all the manga of it, you'll notice that certain parts of them, like when the events took place at what location. They changed a bit of that, but not that much. Maybe not a great deal, but for me, I prefer them to be 100% like the original.
People often compare Suzuka with Love Hina, or Ichigo 100%. Yes, they might be similar as to the "one guy many girls" type of anime, but mind this, Suzuka is Suzuka, and the rest are the rest. Comparing different anime with each other will only make most of the anime series less enjoyable!
Well, in conclusion, watch Suzuka, and see whether you would love it or not, but I dare say, you'll fall for it!
