Please Teacher!: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Please Teacher!: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

It's an alien from outer space romance, dudes!

Kei Kusanagi appears to be an ordinary high-school student... but he's actually more unique than meets the eye. Kusanagi has a rare growth condition which makes him look no older than a 15 year old even though he is actually 18 years of age! Please Teacher! Complete Collection compiles the complete anime series which became a runaway hit. The anime is produced by animation studio Daume (Strawberry Marshmallow).

Kei is a young adult in the body of an ordinary teenage boy. He goes to school and hangs out with classmates while day-dreaming about his super-hot teacher Mizuho Kazami, who is actually a space-alien in human-form. Over the course of the school semester, Kei will become much closer to his older, intergalactic teacher than expected. Is there a marriage in the making for Kei and Mizuho?! Things heat up between the pair as the teacher-student duo become romantically intertwined.

Please Teacher! is a silly comedic romantic-drama which seems as though it was designed primarily as a form of wish-fulfillment for teenage boys who have ever “had the hots” for a teacher. It's a quirky anime which has a lot of fun with its concept. The animation style is quite strong with excellent art direction by Sotaro Hori (Rizelmine). Character designs are distinctive and feel both original and creative.

Hello Ms. Outer Space

The series music is composed by Kazuya Takase, Shinji Orito, and Tomoyuki Nakazawa. The opening and ending themes are quite fun. The music style is up-tempo and energetic. One can't help becoming engaged with the fun-tastic music.

The storytelling is far more engaging than one might expect given the admittedly goofy concept. The series has fully formed characters which are easy to become invested in. There is a real sense of the screenwriting by Yosuke Kuroda (Trigun, Tenchi Muyo) focusing on the characters first. This helps make the series more engaging and compelling. From the lead characters to the supporting roles, the episodes are compelling primarily because of their strong character-focus.

Directed by Yasunori Ide (Hanaukyo Maid Team), Please Teacher! excels primarily as a comedy. The series has creative comedic-timing. The back-and-forth routine between Kei and Mizuho leads to a number of humorous moments. Ide has a firm grasp on creating great imagery as well. The series constantly finds compelling ways to frame the story from a visual standpoint that works.

Please Teacher!: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The series is presented on Blu-ray with a 1080i high definition image in the original 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio. This is an upscaled production effort. As many anime fans might be accustomed to by now, that means the release is not a native HD presentation. The release lacks the fine resolution inherent in native high-definition sources. However, the quality of the upscaling effort is strong. Though some anime releases have had horrendous upscales in the past (with smeary animation), Please Teacher! received an excellent upscale effort which helps the series to look almost like it is actually a native high-definition source. The series also has a high 33.84 Mbps bit-rate.

The detail is surprisingly strong and the colors are enhanced on the Blu-ray release. The image is crisp and clean for the most part. The only drawback is the interlacing. It's occasionally noticeable and does give a minor distraction to an otherwise excellent picture but viewers shouldn't let it deter them from enjoying this altogether impressive presentation.

Please Teacher!: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The audio is presented in both Japanese Uncompressed PCM 2.0 stereo 48 khz/16 bit and English Uncompressed PCM 2.0 stereo 48 khz/16 bit lossless high resolution. Either lossless audio track presents the series with excellent sound quality. The music score sounds terrific on the release. Dialogue is clear and easy to understand. The clarity and depth are impressive.

The Japanese language version has a more impressive dub than the English language version. However, it's nice that dub fans still have the option of viewing Please Teacher! in an English dubbed format.

The English subtitles provided with the Japanese language version are well done and are free from grammatical errors.

Please Teacher!: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One Extras:

Japanese Trailer (HD, 8 min. 15 sec.)

Commercials (HD, 31 sec.)

Clean Opening (HD, 1 min. 42 sec.)

Clean Opening (No Effects) (HD, 1 min. 42 sec.)

Disc Two Extras:

Series Promo (SD, 5 min. 22 sec.)

Music Clips (SD, 18 min.)

Clean Closings (HD, 5 min. 43 sec.)

Episode 13 Promo (SD, 1 min. 58 sec.)

Marie Love Theater (HD, 2 min. 27 sec.)

Trailers are also provided for Galaxy Angel (SD, 1 min. 28 sec.) and Revolutionary Girl Utena (HD, 18 sec.)

Please Teacher!: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Please Teacher! is an entertaining anime series which succeeds with its fun cast of characters and zany scenarios. The series is much more entertaining than expected and it is thoroughly engaging from beginning to end. The animation quality is top-notch. The Blu-ray release features an impressive upscaled-to-HD presentation and a strong lossless soundtrack. Fans of the series should definitely consider this a worthwhile purchase.