Summary: >

Kei Kasanagi has a problem. It's a rare disease which causes him to go into a hibernating state, which he calls "stopping". The only people who know his secret are his aunt and uncle who he lives with. In fact he is not the 15 year old he appears to be, but is in fact 18 but was "stopped" for 3 years. But keeping that secret was going to be easy compared to the complications that were about to intrude upon Kei's life.

One night he spots a UFO and ends up being chased by some mysterious being. He awakes next morning not sure what exactly happened or how he got home. That same day he finds that he has a new teacher named Mizuho Kanzaki. While helping her move in, he sort of happens upon the fact that SHE is in fact the alien that was chasing him the night before. With a little convincing, Kei decides that he will keep her secret. That proves a bit more difficult than anticipated when they keep getting caught in circumstances that make it appear they're lovers. Once the principal catches them together, Kei ends up taking the only avenue left open - he marries his teacher! But then they have to keep that a secret as well. Now things like "I married my teacher", or "I'm actually 18 because I was in a coma" or "My wife is an alien" aren't the sorts of things that pop out in casual conversation. But then again things always end up being harder than it looks.

Kei is however determined to move forward and keep moving. He needs to accelerate; to make up for lost time. Together with his teacher, he plans on doing just that.

Thoughts: >

Seeing how popular this anime got so fast, it doesn't take a genius to know that this anime is going to be at least fairly good. That's a good thing because it has some quirks to overcome. I mean when you get down to it there's still the fact that you have a kid marrying his teacher - and that's a bit over the top - (some would say marrying an alien is over the top, but that's a bit more normal for anime). There is also the notion of how much fan service this series will immerse itself in. It's a formula for disaster that so many anime do the wrong way that it looks really perilous for this title. And yet, it manages to pull it off without a hitch - but it's all in the approach. Kei is 15, but really 18 and acts a bit more mature than his years (usually). Mizuho (and her entire family for that matter) tends to end up acting a bit more immature which makes her pairing with Kei much more plausible. The all around direction of the anime is more adult oriented - ie mature, as opposed to the anime fan service carnival you would expect. It manages for a nice mix of perverseness in a fun way, but not a cheap gimmick which the plot revolves around.

And in fact it's the added bit of depth in the relationships that helps keep things more focused. Characters are all dealing with the happiness, anger, sadness and confusion of relationships in a very realistic way. Aside from that, the over all plots with Kei overcoming his illness, and general 'alien issues' works pretty well. Each episode works well to advance it's own story. Episodes 11 and 12 weren't your typical "big problem" scenarios you have in 12 part series, but instead took a really interesting storyline.

Onegai Sensei is a title that I can say is a pretty safe bet. Fun and fan service, with a good story, and likable characters. If only we could all marry our uber-babe alien teachers!