Product Details

• Directors: Tsuneo Kobayashi
• Format: Animated, Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Nozomi Entertainment
• Run Time: 500 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0012K53K4
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #161,355 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

EMMA:VICTORIAN ROMANCE - SEASON 1 - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The chicken soup of anime., August 2, 2008

By 

Kellyannl (Bronx, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Emma - A Victorian Romance Season 1 (DVD)

If the typical shounen series is the equivalent of a summer blockbuster, Emma is the equivalent of a good Masterpiece Theatre entry, perfect for disabusing people with the impression that anime consists only of mecha and fanservice and warming the soul on a cold winter's day.

The basic formula is nothing special. William Jones, a member of a relatively newly rich family, pays a visit to his aging former governess Kelly Stowner, now a retired member of the middle class. In the process he promptly falls for her personal maid Emma, hired as she's getting on in years and needs help with the usual household chores, in spite of his father increasingly pressing him to pay suit to Eleanor Campbell, the daughter of a family he would like to combine with. The fun really starts when William's outrageous, self-assured, hookah addicted friend Prince Hakim Atawari arrives from India for a visit. When Hakim starts crushing on Emma and makes a move, William finally starts to realize that he can't be happy without Emma. But with their class differences, the road to true love won't be an easy one. They do have two things going for them, however - Mrs. Stowner, who wants to secure the happiness of the two young people she loves as her health declines, and Hakim, who quickly recovers from being shot down by Emma once he becomes aware of his buddy's interest and sets himself to ensuring that they wind up together...

The two major strengths of the series are it's amazing detail (Victorian London is a character in itself) and the avoidance of having the characters become cardboard cutouts. Although basically a good guy, William isn't a saint, and his refusal to cut things off with Eleanor in his attempts to appease his father is borderline cruel. Hakim could have been a first-class jerk but becomes much more as the series progresses, giving William verbal smackdowns as the audience's surrogate, and repeating as necessary. Things always liven up when he's around. Eleanor, who could have been written as a money-grubbing she-devil, is extremely sympathetic and has genuinely fallen in love with William, trying desperately to figure out what she's doing wrong when she's not at fault and William won't be honest with her. It's even possible to be slightly sympathetic towards William's father, who knows that a relationship between William and Emma would likely completely undo all his hard work to get the family where it is.

For romance fans in general and fans of Victorian England and Jane Austinish novels in particular. Just note that there are only subtitles and no English dub (we're lucky a chance was taken on distributing it at all), you'll want to avoid the spoilish Gazette booklet until after watching it through, and this is only Season 1 of 2 - which means, of course, that it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommend highly!, August 5, 2008

By 

JonathanDP81 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Emma - A Victorian Romance Season 1 (DVD)

A lovely little series that really grows on you. The story of William and Emma is not fast-paced, but it's probably one of the more true-to-life deceptions of romance you'll ever see. The setting of Victorian London is almost the third main character, it's realism giving you an educational view of another world.

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful...., February 23, 2011

By 

Loretta M. Evans - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Emma - A Victorian Romance Season 1 (DVD)

This was such a wonderful series! It is strictly romance. The characters are lovable even the blond girl that was in love with our main man. It is a very deep and interesting storyline that you will want to watch from beginning to end because of the ending in this box set you will be looking for the other wondering and hoping that thing will turn out for our fair maiden Emma and the man who loves her. Truly a wonderful,beautiful anime with some good old fashion romance that's sure to captivate everyone. It is pretty safe for teens and pre-teens to watch although there is a nude scene in the second box set which isn't supposed to be taken sexually well pretty much all you see is her butt and everyone has seen a butt in their lives I'm very sure of that.