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 REC
Anime Series Review
REC is the touching and amusing story of a cute girl who is an aspiring anime voice-actress, and her dull, unappealing, pathetic, loser, salaryman "boyfriend". Based on the five-volume manga series of the same name, REC is a slice-of-life romantic comedy that ran for nine twelve-minute episodes in February and March of 2006.
26-year old "salaryman" Fumihiko Matsumaru is looking for a little romance in his life (and bombing out at it) just as he meets Aka, an adorable up-and-coming voice actress (seiyuu) whose apartment complex has burnt to the ground while the two were out at a show. The sympathetic Matsumaru invites her to stay with him for as long as she needs, but he hasn't bargained on the personality conflicts, sexual tension and cramped living Aka's intrusion brings into his life.
 Things are further complicated by the fact that Aka then gets a job voicing a character for the company Matsumaru works for. Thus, they now need to keep their relationship (which is not exactly defined) a secret from their employers. As Aka's career begins to progress (Aka's goal is to be Audrey Hepburn), both need to decide where they want to take their relationship.
 This is a relatively unknown series and quite short, but it's a real gem, directed by Nakamura Ryutaro of Serial Experiments Lain, Sakura Wars and Kino no Tabi. Each episode is named after an Audrey Hepburn film and also features the catchiest opening theme song I've heard in a long while ("Cheer!~Makka na kimochi~" ).
No official English adaptation is planned at the moment (fansubs are around, however), but I wouldn't be surprised if someone decided to pick it up for a DVD release.
Below: Scenes from the REC series.
Reviewed by Brian Cirulnick, January 2008
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