One of my favourite genres in the anime world are romantic comedies. They’re great stuff. Tenchi Muyo, Ranma 1/2, Mamotte Shugegotten, the more the merrier I say! So it really isn’t without much hesitation that I’m about to dive into a positive response to D.N.A^2, another romantic comedy with plenty of fan-service.

The underlying plot reflects the nature of the series; wacky. 100 years from now, the major problem in the world is overpopulation. This has all been traced back to a certain individual in the 20th Century whose DNA was as such that any woman who saw him fell madly in love with him, 100 of which he had children with. Then those children, who had inherited this particular aspect of his DNA, each had 100 more children, and hence massive population. Enter Karin Aoi, a DNA protector from the future sent back in time in order to stop this horrid menace by shooting him with a bullet that will eliminate ‘that’ strand from his DNA, removing the threat of over-population. However, the problem is when she arrives in the 20th century and shoots the hapless victim. Instead of nullifying the "Mega-Playboy" strand, she in fact awakens it, leaving Junta (said hapless victim) in a confused state where he’ll transform from normal boy to mega-playboy without warning, most of the time in the most inappropriate (or inadvisable) circumstances!

This of course lends itself to some very amusing situations. You see, Junta Momonari has an ‘allergy’ to any situation of sexual tension – he gets really nauseous and vomits! Well, I shouldn’t make it sound so jolly, but it does happen in some pretty amusing circumstances. He’s a junior high boy and hasn’t really had much luck with girls. However, when he meets Karin, he’s infatuated with her… hence love situation number one. Next is Ami Kurimoto, childhood friend of Junta who also has strong feelings for him and is the only girl who ensures Junta doesn’t transform into the Mega-Playboy because… well, it just doesn’t work on her. It’s also important to note that Junta, being male, has no idea about Ami’s feelings for him. Add to the tease that Karin wants to get Junta and Ami together because it’ll mean the end of the mega-playboy, and you have love situation number 2. Following the trend of this genre come Tomoko and Kotomi; Tomoko is the popular girl in school and Kotomo is Ami’s shy friend, both of whom have fallen in love with the mega-playboy. There you have it – one guy, plenty of girls, lots of love being thrown around and a bounty of rivalry, all around Junta who really has no idea what to make of the situation.

Aesthetically, DNA^2 is showing its age, just as it should be – this is an old series! Character designs, however, are still great; Junta reminds me of Chrono from Chrono Trigger with that hair of his! The animation is average for a TV series. Fan service is given the attention it generally gets, but it never gets gratuitous or anything more than light ecchi material. Music is catchy, but nothing amazing… I like theng theme, though.