Very Private Lesson

Despite the name of this title, Very Private Lesson isn’t a hentai anime. However it is nevertheless still an ecchi anime though the fanservice is quite mild. What do you expect from an anime produced over a decade ago right before the new millennium? Yeah, these double OVA episodes first premiered way back in mid-1998. Seems like a very long time, eh? I was intrigued in watching this short series after reading the amusing synopsis from Animenewsnetwork, which goes something like this:

“Tairaku is a lucky man…He has a comfortable job teaching at a local High School. He has Satsuki, a fellow teacher whom he hopes to marry someday. He has Aya Shirakaba, a beautiful student who has fallen in love with him. He has Aya’s father, a wealthy man who wants so much for his little girl to be happy that he has sent her to live with Tairaku. Tairaku is a very lucky man. Of course Aya loves nothing more than to come on to Tairaku by lounging around his apartment half naked. Unfortunately for Tairaku, Aya’s father happens to be wealthy because he is a major crime boss, and he will have Tairaku slowly murdered if Aya doesn’t remain absolutely pure. Now Tairaku must not only restrain himself, but also protect Aya from the hordes of men and woman at school who’d love to get their hands on her body. And of course, if Satsuki or any of the other teachers find out that Tairaku is living with one of his students, he will be permanently dismissed from the teaching profession. Oh yes Tairaku is lucky…”

Oh yeah. If you don’t mind the seemingly poor diction and the repetitive “Tairaku is a lucky bastard” line, you can look at it in a funny way in the sense that you can expect sh*t for this Tairaku guy. It’s bad enough he has to babysit a yakuza’s daughter but what happens when she makes a move on you? Uh huh. This teacher-student relationship is something similar to Aoki and Rin in Kodomo No Jikan. Will Tairaku get into the pants of Satsuki or will it be Aya’s? Either way, if he isn’t careful, he is going to be absolutely screwed. Oh yes. Tairaku is sure lucky…

Episode 1
Tairaku is one of the teachers of Otome high School, famous for its high delinquent rates. He tries to stop a fight between Okubo, one of his students fighting with another. However he gets hit in the process. At the roadside stall, he and Satsuki have a meal together. He contemplates of quitting but I guess the only reason he kept staying is because of her. After they finish, Tairaku think he has his big chance with Satsuki because she invites him over to her place for shower. Is he going to get lucky for real? Till he spots a young girl (Aya) smoking in the streets, he decides to show off by using an excuse of teacher’s duty to advise this girl to go home before she gets approached by bad company. But little does he know this is the start of his troubles. And you thought one good deed leads to another. Aya tugs Tairaku’s coat as he is about to leave. She wants him to accompany he her home. What about his date with Satsuki? Well, a teacher’s duty comes first. And so, Aya throws Tairaku along with herself into the taxi right back to her place. Too bad, there goes his chance of bedding Satsuki. Tairaku is furious about his lost opportunity so Aya did a bold move by putting his hand on her boobs! Does he prefer the body of a 24 year old (Satsuki who is the same age as Tairaku) or a 16 year old? Tairaku insists that he has only eyes for Satsuki. When Aya reaches her destination, she kisses him! She really freaks him out.

Next day in school, Tairaku is called by the principal to his room. His mind starts to go crazy wondering if Aya reported on him. To his dismay, he sees Aya in the principal’s room along with her dad. Fearing the worst, he starts apologizing. However the principal commended him from preventing her from being going with a strange man (obviously a lie). Because of that, Aya’s dad is grateful to him and wants him to watch over her. He believes a teacher-student relationship should be like those of a parent-child. Say what? Plus, Aya loves him so much that she requested a transfer to this school and will be in his class. Oh boy. Later as Tairaku shows Aya around, they meet up with Satsuki. Aya heads off first so Tairaku asks Satsuki to go on an outing together this Sunday. She agrees. So all hope is not lost yet. Tairaku’s happy is mood is ruined when he goes home. Why the heck is Aya in his room and cooking for him? How did she get in? Apparently the landlord let her in after she lied she is his sister. It dawned to Tairaku that her dad is serious in keeping watch over her 24/7.  Aya refuses to leave and goes to sleep in his bed. She even strips down to her undies so it’s impossible for him to kick her out. He sleeps on the floor and probably dreams about doing something dirty with Satsuki but in reality he is rubbing his face all over Aya’s legs. He’s in for the shock of his life. He can’t take any more of this and decides to send Aya home. Outside her gate, Tairaku will get another shock. He sees group of men lining up and greeting Aya. Yeah, the daughter of the yakuza boss. You’re in real sh*t, buddy. And guess what? Today is Sunday. Uh huh. Satsuki is patiently waiting for Tairaku to show up when it starts raining. Eventually she walks away and you can tell from her face that she is not amused. NOT amused.

Tairaku has a private chat with Aya’s dad. He asks if she is going to live with him till her sophomore year. Of course not. It will be till her graduation. OH SH*T!!! Knowing that the school is full of delinquents, that’s why he entrusted Aya in his care. Oh dear. He wants him to protect her till she graduates safely and offers one hundred million Yen as a reward. How many zeroes are there here? Of course Tairaku declines since it’s not about the money (really?). Aya’s dad has no choice as he points his gun at him. Tairaku immediately accepts it. Actually he was given his gun so that he could use it when the time calls for it. Yeah, I’m sure he totally ‘understands’ what he is into. Tairaku and Aya later go to the public bath house together. Aya is pretty noisy like as though it’s her first time. Then it hit Tairaku that he had forgotten about his date and turns into a noisy one himself. Next day in school, he thinks of apologizing to Satsuki face to face. He did call her but it only reached her voice message. Tairaku learns Satsuki is absent due to cold (guess who was responsible for that?). The principal tells Tairaku to quickly see Aya to her classroom since he mentions that they both want to live longer. Looks like there’s another person being threatened. But Tairaku is rather perplexed because for his class of delinquents who never show up for his lessons, everyone is here in full attendance! Yeah, they heard about the new transfer student. I’m sure you know what they’ll be thinking. Aya comes in and introduces herself. Everyone is stunned by her beauty so much so they start having sick fantasies of doing it with her! Even the girls! OMG! They’re so easy to read that it makes Tairaku bloody uncomfortable! He has trouble assigning Aya’s seat because everyone looks like a baddie. He then puts her next to Kusakabe’s desk seeing that this otaku class rep is the harmless among the rest. Then when Kusakabe notes how Aya looks like her Mako-chan doll and will make clothes for her one day, Tairaku starts to fear that he may be the most dangerous one.

After school, Tairaku visits Satsuki at her home. Outside her door, he goes on his knees and explains why he didn’t show up on their date. He thinks Satsuki accepted him when she opens the door. But she’s just inviting them in so that they won’t look weird bothering the whole neighbourhood. Them? Who? Oh, Aya it’s there too. Damn. Aya makes up another story how her daddy forced Tairaku to his place and thus apologizes for ruining their date. Satsuki never minds it all but feels Tairaku brought Aya here to make her responsible. It’s like as though he won’t get shelling if she’s around. Tairaku on the other hand has his hands tied. He can’t tell that Aya is living with him or else… Two things to lose: His job, his life. Satsuki gets a call from her mom who is pestering her to go on a marriage interview with a doctor. Since she is still pissed with everything she accepts the interview, much to Tairaku’s dismay. Later Tairaku is at the ramen shop with Aya. He is disheartened over the whole thing but learns that Aya never had a mother since she died after giving birth to her. Then the funniest scene ever because just before Tairaku could finish saying Aya’s name, he quickly falls asleep due to too much drinking. Aya brings him home and since he is still drunk, she gives him a back massage (I’m not sure if she’ll break any bones of his) but Tairaku starts fantasizing doing ecchi stuff with Satsuki. He gets too noisy that Aya had to knock him out. And with Satsuki back in school, Tairaku could still feel that she’s upset about the whole thing. It’s so cold in here even though it’s hot.

Okubo questions why Aya always go home with Tairaku but she cheekily says it’s a secret. Then their classmate Saki calls him a slimeball and thinks that a girl to girl relationship is much better (note: Saki is a lesbian). Yeah, she kicks Okubo in the crotch and proceeds to molest Aya’s boobs. Later Okubo and his underlings discuss the b*tch Saki is. Okubo relates how Saki ‘stole’ his girlfriend away. You got to believe this. Okubo finished having sex with his girlfriend but she told him how much he sucked and that Saki was so much better than him in bed! Woah! Total insult! That led to their break up. Then they see a popular senpai trying to ask Aya out but she coolly rejects him. Because the senpai gets cocky, Okubo smashes his head on the wall! OMG! Bloodied wall! Okubo decides to throw Aya a welcome party and be the first one who will do her in. Meanwhile Satsuki feels guilty that she’s blaming Tairaku for everything that has happened and taking it out on him. All she wants is just a chance to be honest. Tairaku sees the principal. But the latter makes it clear that Tairaku must do his job to protect Aya. He is so desperate that he even compares wild animals having more moral values to their students! This means he gets no rest, no lunch breaks! It’s a hell 24/7 watch over Aya! It’s his duty as a teacher! There goes his life.

Aya is invited by Okubo and his pals for a welcoming party at the broadcasting room since they can be noisy as much as they want without bothering others. Uh oh. This smells trouble. Carefree Aya accepts and on their way, they bump into Saki. She plans to join them too. However Okubo and co aren’t going to let her spoil their plans and have come up with something. Meanwhile Tairaku waits for Aya outside as Satsuki comes by. She gets upset when he asks about Aya. Then Satsuki spots Aya walking with Okubo through a corridor. Tairaku panics and immediately rushes to Aya. Satsuki wonders why he is so worried about her so he replies that he is her teacher and that there are some things he has to take care of that is not written in the text book. Wow. What a mature answer. Tairaku searches the entire school and deduces that they can only be in the broadcasting room. He arrives too late when he hears the girls screaming. Okubo and gang have seized Saki as they’re going to show her a good time. Tairaku gets desperate as he goes drink the janitor’s sake because he’s going to need it for the unbelievable stunt that he’s going to pull off. Yeah, he ties a rope to himself on the rooftop and swings in like Tarzan, crashing through the windows into the broadcasting room. I don’t know, everything was so precisely calculated that it looked unreal. To his surprise, Okubo and his buddy (half naked) are doing some ritual dance with each other. Something about this forbidden dance tradition that has been passed down through the classes and only few know about it. Why does it look so S&M and gay? So this is the welcoming party? Just weird. Tairaku collapses in his relief. He wakes up in the infirmary and sees Satsuki by his side. She commends his bravery and said that she turned down the marriage interview. Good news, eh? They were about to kiss but was ruined when Aya comes in. She reminds him about the taking her first kiss. Hey, hey, hey! As Aya and Tairaku walk home, she thanks him for coming to her rescue even if it’s a misunderstanding on his part. She wants to continue learning from him all the lessons that are not written in the text book. Now where have heard that before? I guess he has to continue ‘teaching’ her or else she’ll tell her daddy… Hope it won’t be any hentai lessons.

Episode 2
Aya wakes up from a nightmare that she’s being violated badly and Tairaku didn’t come to her aid. In school, a pair of Ganguro sisters are trying to ask a popular handsome guy out. However that guy rejects them straight in the face. But they’re too stupid to realize anything so much so they go on saying how they were scouted by a modelling agency though it’s an obvious fact that they got cheated because they had to pay sixty thousand Yen for registration and pictures. The guy gets fed up with them and tells them that girls like Aya are his type. The sisters get annoyed and go spy on Aya at her class. Seems she is getting along well with Okubo and Saki. The sisters think that Aya is just a brainless whore with big boobs but they overheard the teachers talking that she scored the highest. Their homeroom teacher tells them off for not doing well in the exams. The sisters decide to get their revenge on Aya by making her slip on a gel on the stairs. Oddly, the pair was standing right at the stairs so anybody could’ve been suspicious. However, Aya is the carefree kind. Before she takes a step, Tairaku calls her. Plan foiled. Not only that, it backfires on them when they accidentally stepped on it themselves. See how they tumble down… But stupid people like them don’t give up so the next plan is to splash acid! As they’re running in the corridor, they bump into Kusakabe and the concoction splashed and destroyed his precious Mako-chan doll. Hey, doesn’t the doll strikingly resemble Aya? However the sisters think it’s his fault and makes him their accomplice. Aya goes to call Kusakabe for the next class. Anybody can tell he is acting strange. It’s part of the sisters plan to use him and invite Aya over to his house since Kusakabe has finished making clothes for her (he really did, huh?) so that the sisters can torment her there. Aya manages to get permission to visit Kusakabe after school though he wants her back by 8pm. A girl like Aya couldn’t just leave an outcast like Kusakabe alone, right?

Aya arrives at Kusakabe’s house and sees the sisters (in S&M leather outfits?). They go up to his attic whereby Aya gets dressed in Kusakabe’s Mako-chan dress (it’s a life size doll!) and is given a spiked drink. She falls asleep as the sisters jump in joy. However their drinks are spiked too so they too collapses. After taking care of the sisters, Kusakabe is going to molest Aya. Is she going to get violated by this guy? However Heaven must be on Aya’s side because Kusakabe felt hot and drank the spiked drink too. Tairaku is worried Aya hasn’t return home and goes to Kusakabe’s house. He is surprised to see the front door unlock and goes in. Then up in the attic he sees Kusakabe’s head sleeping on Aya’s lap. So if you’re wondering where the sisters are, Kusakabe put them in large garbage bags and they are taken to the dump the next morning. Yeah, from now on they stink. Much worse as their stinking revenge plan.

While the sisters are spying Aya waiting for Tairaku, Aya turns down Okubo’s request to hang out. He’s okay with it. Then he sees his senpai, Ken in a sports car. He is interested in that Aya babe but Okubo pretends he doesn’t know her. However Ken threatens him by wedging his head between the car window and lights his lighter close to his cheek to remind him how he is indebted to him. Poor Okubo has no choice but to spill the beans. As Tairaku and Aya walk off together, the twins get into Ken’s car and tell them to go after the duo. Okubo tells his underlings about Ken who was known as The Devil. He was a normal person till he stabbed somebody from a rival school. His personality then changed and he laughs while beating people and rapes girls without hesitation. Fearing that Aya will get raped, Okubo says that this is up to Tairaku. Back home, Aya nearly falls off the balcony but Tairaku grabs her and ends up in a compromising position. Below, Ken and the sisters see everything. The sisters plan to reveal this at school to humiliate Aya and get her expelled but Ken tells them that they had seen nothing. Then he punches both of them in the gut and walks away. Ouch. Okubo sees Tairaku and warns him that Aya is being targeted by Ken. He leaves it up to him. Great. More sh*t. Tairaku is on the lookout for just about everything when they chance upon Satsuki. Aya is not happy that Tairaku is more interested in the other woman so she goes off herself to leave them together and go home alone. Aya is soon picked up by Ken and his underling posing as tourists asking for directions and wants her to show the way. I think Aya would’ve turned them down if she didn’t get so worked up after hearing Tairaku calling for her. She gets in but gets the shock of her life when Ken reverses and slams the car into Tairaku! OMG! He didn’t die after that impact?! He can still stand up?! Ken speeds away while the annoying sisters follow closely in their scooter as they have this great idea of filming Aya’s humiliation.

Aya is tied up at an abandoned building. The sisters come in and reveal their plans. Ken thinks it’s a good idea and just like history repeating itself, the sisters got their guts punched again. This is bad for the womb. But then again, who wants a pair of ugly sisters? Yeah, those eyesores… Tairaku is in a panic himself. So much so he thinks of running away but thoughts of Aya’s words that she trusts him ring in his head. Then he gets a ransom call from Ken. He wants 3 million Yen in 2 hours or else. Tairaku agrees in exchange he doesn’t harm her. But Tairaku is naive. Ken isn’t going to let 2 hours go by without doing anything to Aya. Of course that’s what he thinks. Tairaku also knows that he’s lying. I guess it’s better than nothing as he calls Okubo (in the middle of making out with his new girlfriend) about Ken’s whereabouts. Aya tricks Ken’s underling into having sex with her so that guy obviously has brains between his balls as he unties her. Then she knocks him out when he is off-guard. Ken commends her tactic because he used to do that too. Then he punches her in the gut. That’s his favourite punching spot, eh? Aya remains strong and holds back her tears. He gets rough with her when Okubo appears. Under the pretence that he wants to also ‘share’ her, Okubo hides a metal pipe behind his back. However the stupid sisters gave him away so Okubo gets a real beating. Ken is going to teach him a real lesson for his betrayal. Okubo says that Aya is his friend and won’t ignore her when she’s in danger. But Ken tells him about his version of friend and the nickname he was given. If somebody has supported and stayed by him, he would’ve turned out differently. He repetitively hits Okubo till he passes out. Then he proceeds to whack the sisters (who are trying to get away. Too late now) till they are unconscious. They are sure a good punching bag. When Ken’s underling awakens, Ken calls him an embarrassment for being knocked out by a woman so in his rage, he pins Aya down. Aya still believes Tairaku will come.

Speaking of which, the teacher arrives but with a gun in hand. However he is drunk. Ken is unfazed and beats him up. He thinks he used the money to get the gun but the underling starts to panic when he recognizes the gun from the boss of the Shirakaba yakuza family. This gun is only given to those he closely trusts. Tairaku gets confident and tells them he will forget all this ever happened if they leave town. Ken isn’t going to run so he tells his cowardly underling if he wants to, then go ahead. I guess the underling knows his place well so he flees. Aya calls Ken a coward as he is not strong enough to go back to the right path. She continues to taunt him so he fires a warning shot. Tairaku is scared so the first thing he did was get down on his knees to plead for their safety and promise to get the money first thing tomorrow. Aya is disheartened but she has no choice but to follow Ken’s orders of tying him up and putting her panties on his head. Ken fires another warning shot to show he is serious. Then he grabs Aya and mocks the coward Tairaku is. A person with no balls who can’t possibly do anything even if a girl gets raped in front of his eyes. Tairaku continues apologizing like a dog but it’s just a ploy to get up close to Ken so that he could head-butt his face. He tells Aya to run away but Ken recovers and points the gun. Tairaku grabs it with his teeth! OMG! He wants Ken to promise never to attack his students again but he says he doesn’t need to worry about that once he’s dead. In that case, he’ll curse him forever and haunt him as a ghost. You think the supernatural can scare this badass gangster? Finally Tairaku says that he has got bigger balls than him. Ken replies his balls got no sperm. Huh? What? Tairaku dares him to pull the trigger but Ken says if he wants to die so much, he can shoot himself. He doesn’t want to kill an idiot like him. As Aya unties Tairaku, Ken says he will send Okubo and the sisters to hospital himself. He has something he wants to talk to Okubo before he leaves town. See, he’s not such a rotten apple after all. Outside, Tairaku says Aya was brave, composed and more mature unlike him who was terrified all the time. However she starts crying and says that she too was scared. She breaks down and hugs him. Tairaku carries her back home. Lastly, the Ganguro sisters wake up in hospital bandaged from head to toe. They have no recollection who Aya is. Thank God.

Lesson over?
It didn’t feel right the way the OVAs just ended like that. It felt so abrupt. Tairaku brings Aya back after the kidnapping. Period. That’s it. I thought there would be a little more just to tie things up if it was going to end after a couple of episodes. It would have been better if this series spans a few more episodes because it would be hilarious to see how everybody just wants to do Aya in while her poor teacher will be so worried and frantic that he’ll have grey hair before he reach the age of 30. Worse, no hair at all! But then again, it would be more or less overusing the same formula which will eventually get stale and boring. I mean, the fun part of this series is to see how Aya gets into trouble, then see Tairaku gets into trouble, see how they get out of trouble. In the end, it only serves to deepen the relationship between Tairaku and Aya as a teacher and student relationship and possibly more subsequently.

Tairaku isn’t a perfect guy. He may not totally like his teaching job but when he puts his mind to it, he does it nobly. I noticed in the earlier parts when Aya came crashing into his life, if he is not talking, he will be screaming his head off! In a way, it shows he cares for her, right? Otherwise rest assured he’s not going to fall madly in love with Aya any time soon. I’m not sure about his love interest Satsuki. In the second OVA, she has been seemingly tossed aside and therefore any possibility of some love chemistry between them is next to zero. Clearly Satsuki also likes Tairaku but her pride just gets in the way. I wonder if I can call her a tsundere? With his hands full with Aya, I think his love life can take a back seat temporarily. Aya as the daughter of a yakuza boss, you’d expect her to be a tough nut and crude gal. Instead, she turns out to be someone surprisingly polite, friendly, cheeky and nice. Heck, the way she acts as though she’s a naive and carefree person. She has no qualms of mixing around and befriends anybody who approaches her. I thought she was just putting up an act but I realize this is how she behaves naturally. Maybe it’s the overprotective environment that her dad raised her. Notice how it’s her first time doing many things? She may look carefree but she is not dumb. Certainly of course you can tell that deep down in her heart, she loves Tairaku. Too bad I was hoping there may be some sort of a love triangle but with only 2 episodes, how far can you get even with each episode lasting close to 40 minutes? There are some scenes coming close to intimacy but it doesn’t amount to anything much. The delinquents at Otome aren’t as bad as they seem. They may like to pick fights but perhaps this is their way of communicating. See how Okubo and Saki suddenly became good friends with Aya? I don’t think everyone knows that she is the daughter of a yakuza boss. Even rotten people like Ken can change in the end. But it’s unbelievable that a teacher’s words could change a hard-bitten gangster. But heck, he’s better than the stupid Ganguro sisters who never seem to learn anything. They’re the most annoying characters ever.

The main antics are seeing Tairaku freaking out at Aya and the Ganguro sisters’ big time flop otherwise it is much your standard generic type. The funniest one has to be Okubo getting dumped by his ex because of sex. That one is sure mind blowing. The top list of things to say if you want to hurt a guy’s pride. As mentioned the fanservice are very mild. So mild that you should not get your hopes high up to see naked tops of the ladies and even school kids won’t even bother looking at. Oh, what am I saying? Hey, this is an old show, remember? Some of the action are unfeasible, hard-to-believe like Tairaku’s Tarzan attempt and getting hit by a reversing car and still be able to walk. Some are just gruesome like the bloodied smashed head on the wall (okay, this one is possible if you really, really, really hit that hard) and the beating up of girls (especially right in their tummy). Though Tairaku’s days are numbered, if he wants to live longer, he will have to tread carefully. It will be hard seeing that over a couple of episodes, Aya nearly got gang-raped (or so we were believed to be thought), a bully victim, molested by an otaku and abducted. It’s odd that if Aya’s dad is so worried about her daughter’s safety and virginity, he could have just ordered his yakuza underlings to keep a stealthy surveillance. That would be so unreal, right? So what better way than to have a teacher in guiding and protecting his daughter? I hope if Tairaku is doing his job so well, Aya’s dad may want to extend her protection till she finishes university! Or even get them hitched! Yeah, reminiscence of My Wife Is A Gangster, eh? It’s going to be hard to keep Aya’s virginity intact unless Tairaku becomes to first one… Nah! It is true that some of Tairaku’s words do ring true like some lessons are not taught in textbooks. Only in real life. These are called experience. Whether wrong or right, knowledge is power. If only I had such a sexy busty teacher to learn about life… Never mind. I’m not that lucky of a guy.