"Wedding Peach" (1995) TV series

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Kunihiko Yuyama

Writers:

Sukehiro Tomita (writer)
Nao Yazawa (comic)

Release Date:

5 April 1995 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Fantasy | Romance

Plot:

Young teenager Momoko Hanasaki is given the power to turn into Wedding Peach, a battle angel charged with protecting love...

Plot Keywords:

Magical Girl | Transformation | Anime

Cast

Kyôko Hikami	...	Hanasaki Momoko / Wedding Peach
Yûko Miyamura	...	Tamano Hinagiku / Angel Daisy
Yukana Nogami	...	Tanima Yuri / Angel Lily
Yuka Imai	...	Angel Salvia
Yûji Ueda	...	Fuuma Yousuke
Shinichirô Miki	...	Yanagiba Kazuya
Miwa Matsumoto	...	Jamapi
Kazuki Yao	...	Pluie
Rica Fukami	...	Aquelda
Kotono Mitsuishi	...	Potamos
Kappei Yamaguchi	...	Takurou
Tomokazu Seki	...	Igunis
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yuri Amano	...	Reiko / Mimiko (voice)
Elena Araoz	...	Mimiko (voice: English version)
Meg Bauman	...	Manami (voice: English version)
Catherine Berry	...	Aphrodite (voice: English version)
Ron Berry	...	Susumu Shindou / Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Lukas Best	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Shari Brown	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Harriss Callahan	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Charles Campbell	...	Yukidaruma / Akira Tamano / Shinkichi Nakahata / Principal / Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Michael Carino	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Elena Carrillo	...	Beauty Betty / Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Hank Cathy	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Jeff Catlin	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Jeffrey Catmull	...	Devil Woman (voice: English version)
Alexis Chamow	...	Aquelda (voice: English version)
Samantha Clark	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Scott M. Daigle	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Michael Dalmon	...	Sojiki (voice: English version)
Kimberly Dilts	...	Saori (voice: English version)
Mika Doi	...	Rain Devila
Shaneye Ferrell	...	Omanma (voice: English version)
Lainie Frasier	...	Raindevila (voice: English version)
Laurie Gallardo	...	Blitz (voice: English version)
Benjamin V. Gallegos	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Hanna V. Gallegos	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Victor R. Gallegos	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Paul Garza	...	Mimiko's Dad / Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Katie Gillette	...	Reiko #2 (voice: English version) (as Katie Gillette Thornton)
Chelsea Gilman	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Ashton Gray	...	Oros, Odio (voice: English version)
Josh Grelle	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Greg Grosh	...	Fusuma (voice: English version)
Shannon Grounds	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Gray Haddock	...	Yousuke (voice: English version)
Sammy Harte	...	Fortune Faye (voice: English version) (as Samantha Inoue-Harte)
Kathy Hatch	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Jessica Hedrick	...	Brani (voice: English version)
Ira Henderson	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Matt Hislope	...	Tarashi / Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Lesli Hoey	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Chieko Honda	...	Noise
Kelly Huston	...	Keiko (voice: English version) (as Kelley Huston)
Mako Hyôdô	...	Aphrodite
Haruna Ikezawa	...	(voice)
Nathan James	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
R.E. James	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Brian Jepson	...	Limone, Yanagiba (voice: English version)
Heather Kafka	...	Hinagiku (Angel Daisy) (voice: English version)
Marla Kanoff	...	Sakura / Celeste (voice: English version)
Monika Kappe	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Nicholas Keene	...	Igneous (voice: English version)
Jane Kelbell	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Janet Hurley Kimlicko	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Yasmin Kittles	...	Ranbo (voice: English version)
Takehito Koyasu	...	Sandra
Robert Kraft	...	Uragano (voice: English version)
Jenny M. Larson	...	Potamos (voice: English version) (as Jenny Larson)
Aimée Lasseigne	...	Jama-B / Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Chris Loveless	...	Jouji Tajima (voice: English version)
Richard Malley	...	Ryuuzou Tanima / Flower Buyer / Ohima (voice: English version)
Peter Malof	...	Shouichirou (Momoko's Dad) (voice: English version)
Shannon McCormick	...	Masahiro Tamano / Tanma (voice: English version)
Julio Mella	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Josh Meyer	...	Takuro Amano / Ukima (voice: English version)
T. Lynn Mikeska	...	Scarlet / Angel Salvia (voice: English version)
Edward Morgan	...	Shinichi Kaji (voice: English version)
Edwin Neal	...	Jamapon (voice: English version)
Robert Newell	...	Sandro (voice: English version)
Michiko Neya	...	Cloud
Maya Okamoto	...	Natsumi
Ikue Ootani	...	Akira Tamano and Donna
Andrea Osborne	...	Kachusha (voice: English version)
Spencer Parsons	...	Daruma / Donna (voice: English version)
Shobie Partos	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Lyn Pierce	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Angela Rivera	...	Jura (voice: English version)
Rachel Rivera	...	Hatred / Averse (voice: English version)
Wade Rowland	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Tanya Scharmann	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Jessica Schwartz	...	(voice: English version)
Chris Scott	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Pete Sharp	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Heather Shier	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Shawn Sides	...	Reiko / Marilyn / Satoko (voice: English version)
Jeff Sims	...	Bat Monster / Wolfen / Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Julia Smith	...	Noise (voice: English version)
David Stokey	...	Petora (voice: English version)
Don Swaynos	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version) (as Don Swaynas)
Kumiko Takizawa	...	Akemi Tamano
Sarah Thiemann	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Lauren Tietz	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Carlos Trevino	...	Blackie (voice: English version)
Carmen Valera	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Norio Wakamoto	...	Masahiro Tamano
Elana Wakeman	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Chilimbwe Washington	...	Jama-C / Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Sam Webber	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Ken Webster	...	Hamna (voice: English version)
Ryan Wickerham	...	Natsumi (voice: English version)
Cyndi Lou Williams	...	Butterfly / Nocturne / Cloud / Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Bill Wise	...	Jama-P (voice: English version)
Carla Witt	...	Yuri (Angel Lily) (voice: English version)
Larissa Wolcott	...	Momoko Hanasaki (voice: English version)
Ben Wolfe	...	Pluie (voice: English version)
Alysson Wyatt	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Yuriko Yamaguchi	...	Kachuussha
Chisa Yokoyama	...	Blitz

Directed by
Kunihiko Yuyama

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Sukehiro Tomita		writer
Nao Yazawa		comic

Animation Department
Kazuko Tadano	....	animation director

Distributors

• ADV Films (2003) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Ai tenshi densetsu Wedding Peach (Japan) (complete title)
Legend of the Angel of Love, Wedding Peach (International: English title)

Runtime:

24 min (51 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Trivia:

The Love Angels are each named after a different flower (Peach, Daisy, Lily, Salvia), while many of the prominent devils are named after weather or other natural phenomena from various western languages, including Rain Devila (Rain), Uragano (Hurricane), Thundora (Thunder) and so on.

A big banquet of fluffy kitsch, with pretty animation and cute idealism.

Momoko, Yuri and Hinagiku are three young girls slightly obsessed with the idea of a happy marriage. One day, they are given magical powers to transform into the fabled Love Angels Peach, Lily and Daisy (a fourth angel named Salvia later joins them) in order to fight against demons plotting to overrun the world and stamp out love and gentleness altogether. That, in a nutshell is the plot set-up for what seems like a very typical magical girls anime series.

One major criticism Wedding Peach often receives is that it very blatantly borrows plot elements from Sailor Moon. This is actually quite true. Of course, since both series fall into the same magical girls genre, there are bound to be similiarities, (in the same way that every SF movie has spaceships and lasers) but a trained eye can tell when Wedding Peach is deliberately copying it's main rival. The way Momoko and Yousuke constantly argue is very similiar to how Usagi and Mamoru didn't get along at all in the early days of Sailor Moon. The angel Limone's penchant for arriving at the very last minute to help our heroines out is an obvious nod to Tuxedo Kamen, and the at first difficult co-operation with the more mature Salvia reminds one of Sailors Neptune and Uranus quite distinctly. But if they're able to forgive this lack of plot originality, fans of magical girl series and cute, fluffy anime in general might very well enjoy this series a lot.

For Wedding Peach doesn't really need an innovative plot. The series works to a formula, and the viewer knows it. A standard episode has the girls fussing a bit over some event of everyday life (usually involving the favors of their love interests) while the villains plot a nasty and often slightly daft scheme. They eventually attack with a monster-of-the-week henchman, the girls transform and go into battle, win in the end, and all is well with the world. Bar a few episodes that actually further the story and bring the girls closer to their final goal, the standard formula is maintained. And it's actually handled very well. Wedding Peach uses all the typical, tried-and-tested elements of the genre and adds a large extra helping of colourful kitsch.

The animation quality is admirable for a standard TV series budget, with rich colors and great attention to detail on the glossy character designs. The music is pleasingly cute and boppy, with addictive songs thrown in. And everything else you'd want from a magical girls series is delivered by the bucketload; there are lots of elaborate and flashy transformation scenes, chucklesome comical moments (complete with some SD scenes sprinkled about), dewy-eyed teenage romance scenarios, absolutely silly monsters and über-villains who really steal the show with their downright funky hairdos and costumes (I'm particularly fond of Igunis). As an added bonus, the two sexy male leads spend most of their time in skimpy running shorts. Hurrah for some blatant exploitation of male skin-showing.

So yes, it's all standard magical girls fare, and yes, it -is- fluffy, commercial and very daft. Note, for instance, that the girls first wear elaborate wedding dresses when they transform (and actually attempt to fight in them), which later "power up" to more Sailor Moon-style battle costumes. But for fans of the genre, who know what they‘re in for, it's a real delight. As such, the only real complaint I have about the series is that the battle scenes sometimes become nothing but successions of the girl's transform and attack sequences, with very little else in between. But even then, a good magical girl transform scene never gets -really- boring.

Wedding Peach's attitude towards love and romance will perhaps strike a casual viewer as very cheesy. No shojo anime series is complete without big dashes of romance, usually of the dreamy and idealist variety. And indeed, in the Wedding Peach world, your crush on the boy next door materialises in lifelong bliss after you've married him and married people are still hopelessly in love with each other after several decades (and they never age beyond 30, by the looks of it). It may be very naive, but it's also sweet and inoffensive, and certainly wins my sympathy more easily than the typically Hollywoodian concept of "romance" where Macho Man and Plastic Girl indulge in gratuitous porn scenes for no reason at all (which, in it's own way is also naive and entirely unconnected with real life, unless Americans -really- are like that). At least Wedding Peach's concept of love stories offers a pleasant escape from the rough real world and allows for one's hopeless romantic side to find some peace of mind. Sugary and naive as some of the emotional scenes may be, they do manage to be genuinely touching in places, such as the second episode, where a bride gradually remembers the first meetings with her husband and thus shakes off the demon that possessed her, or the hesitant first date of a shy couple in episode 27. It's simple, idealistic and usually very cute.

Like everything else, the emotional scenes work best with an audience that's used to shojo and magical girl series and knows what to expect. Those who turn up their noses at the merest hint of a pink heart should obviously stay away. But if one is prepared to let their sense of reality go a little and believe in Wedding Peach's optimist message that love triumphs over everything (almost literally, as an energy called "love waves" is the main form of attack for the angels), the suspension of disbelief works and the series offers a nice and beautifully animated bit of dreamy entertainment. Basically, if you liked Sailor Moon and Pretty Sammy, you should also have a very good time watching Wedding Peach.