Kekkon~Marriage~
 Arai Tougo |
 Nakamoto Shou |
 Takagi Shimon |
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 Shimura Mikimaro |
 結婚~Marriage~ The OVA |
 Katou Yuusuke |
I only came across this recently and completely by accident when doing searches on the internet for something else. I found it listed on a website as the sequel to the Oretachi no Carnival OVA, which sort of makes sense if you're looking at the titles and settings on a superficial level, but in actuality it's nothing to do with it whatsoever *lol*
However, it does have connections with Sotsugyou M and the boys, and so I'm adding a section on it here.
As I've mentioned before, Sotsugyou M has original ties with PS games, and, most significantly, is the 'male' version of the first concept. There are also two or three generations of female characters with the same surnames and vague characteristics as our boys who are the "Sotsugyou" characters (hence where Sotsugyou M's "M" probably came from).
The Kekkon OVA (or more like, OVAs) belong to the girls, though there is an element of cross over involved. Some very important points to clear up are:
#1: This was produced in 1995, four years before Oretachi no Carnival was released on VHS. That makes it impossible for this to be a sequel, though anyone who's familiar with any of the characters would probably realise that from the opening titles.
#2: This came about very early in the M development sphere, so the boys on the whole don't bear a large physical resemblance to the boys better identifiable. Takagi still has long hair, but it's brown, not blond. Arai has no dye and Nakamoto has lost his ponytail and gained brown hair too (his hairstyle is somewhat like Ishida Uryuu's from Bleach). They also don't have the exact relationships/characteristics you'd expect. As far as I can see, these incarnations of the boys were not created by Arisugawa Kei.
#3: In fact, Kekkon is two separate stories with two seperate characterisations. The first part follows one storyline and the second part a completely different story.
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THE RED STRING OF FATE (Episode One) |
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 Katou x Katou :) |
 Takagi's irresistable to men as ever... |
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Katou Mika has decided that it's time her shy friend Nakamoto Shizuka found a boyfriend. Trouble is, Shizuka really doesn'tknow how to go about it, and Mika's far too interested in helping her out. After an awkward meeting with a guy wearing a fish-patterned tie, Shizuka eventually finds the end of her 'red string of fate' when she encounters Nakamoto Shou by accident in front of the coffee machine.
Many cliche'd encounters involved, as I'm sure you can guess. (And apparently the fact they have the same last names doesn't bother these people at all). Takagi is funny - he and his girlfriend (Arai Kiyomi) are on a break, and he's being chatted up by drunk women and at least one transvestite (so some things don't change). Shimura Mami is high pitched and squeaky. Shimura Mikimaro is dating Takagi Reiko (fairly unsuccessfully, it must be added) and Katou Mika is dating Katou Yuusuke (who is a teacher at a local school.) He doesn't seem to be as much of a dolt as usual, but occasionally puts his foot in his mouth when talking to her ;)
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TWO FIFTHS OF WOMEN'S SORROW (Episode 2) |
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 Nakamoto-sensei! |
 Arai + date meet ex-girlfriend |
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This time the five girls are sisters. Shizuka and Mika are already married and settled, and so, it seems, is Reiko although it's a little bit less clear with her. Mami has just got engaged to Takagi, and they're celebrating her happy event. The only one who's still unmarried is Kiyomi. Then one of her colleagues turns up with movie tickets (the hapless Mikimaro) and the other girls make it their project to get the two of them together. It takes a while, some shouting, a cinema visit and a thrown present, but eventually Kiyomi hugs Mikimaro and it's all on for the wedding (wow, things are simple in this world!) Of course, then Mikimaro has to find the courage to speak to the girls' father, so they use Takagi (wearing a false moustache) to play the role while they practice...
By the way, in this one, Nakamoto is a movie star playing the part of a doctor whose lover dies tragically. :P The medical connection irony is not lost on this M geek ;)
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Conclusion:
Although it's really about the girls, and the boys aren't really our boys, I still think it's cute. There are little hints which amuse me (Mikimaro marrying the female Arai, for example, Takagi being chatted up by a guy, and of course, Nakamoto playing a doctor in a film). The one thing about this OVA, though, is that it also feels like watching some kind of Japanese infomercial on marriage. I have no idea whether all the survey data and figures are from real surveys about marriage and relationships or made up for the OVA, or even a connection to something in the PS games. But either way, I think the stories could've done without it.
Honestly, I'd have liked to have seen more of Takagi's adventures after he and Kiyomi broke up in the first episode. First the drunk woman, then the transvestite...I want to know where he ended up ;)