What is it?
What is it?
Don’t Leave Me Alone Daisy is a romantic comedy from Noriko Nagano. Well… sort of. The real gist of the series is that Techno, a super-genius teen that’s lived his entire life in a bomb shelter fearing nuclear armageddon, sees a girl that trespasses on his property. He immediately becomes smitten with the girl, which he attributes to some nefarious alien mind-control power. He starts referring to her as Daisy as he begins to obsess and scheme about how to possess the girl for himself, for testing purposes. Before long, he joins the girl’s school, and stalks her as he enacts one crazy scheme after another, as hilarity ensues and his fellow classmates join the ranks of collateral damage.
Why Was It Passed Up?
If the previous segment didn’t make this adamantly clear, the show’s entire premise is creepy.I mean, it’s about a guy stalking a woman, for crying out loud! He outright claimed the poor girl by writing his name on her chest! He repeatedly ignores Daisy’s “no means NO” cries, and unleashes more and more extreme ways to keep other people from touching her. In one episode, he literally has the girl on a leash! That fact alone earned the show a ton of ire from a large number of male and female fans, and the sheer offensive bent garnered the show a ton of negative reviews.
At the same time, this was always pushed as a lower-priority release from Bandai, and thus never received a dub. At a time when everything, from Slayers to Burn-Up got dubbed, this was pretty much a kiss of death from the larger audience.
Why This Show?
For all of the bellyaching and bitching, it’s a fun show. The plot, while a bit transparent, works well, and the mayhem that Techno gleefully unleashes in the pursuit of his victim is always over-the-top. Be it a school trip where the teacher is replaced by a laser-blasting cyborg, or a science lab where a giant slug wreaks mayhem, the plots tend to veer into the realm of more typical light-hearted romantic comedies, while maintaining a unique sci-fi bent.
Techno aside, the show features a strong cast that most people will find endearing in some way or another. The buxom, yet incompetent teacher who fancies cosplay always provides a cheap laugh, as do Daisy’s classmates. And then, there’s Yamakawa X. Yamakawa X is a badass – a punk that gained a reputation as a rule-breaker and a badass. But what he desires most of all is a group of true friends. Unfortunately, Yamakawa’s also cursed with an unlucky streak, as he finds himself the butt of Techno’s schemes, mostly out of his own desire to find a companion.
Yamakawa is a fun character in his own right. From his extended monologues, to over-dramatic walking scenes, there’s little about him that doesn’t scream “pathetic.” Still, one can’t help but want to root for the guy in some form or another.
Closing Thoughts
Like a dirty joke, Don’t Leave Me Alone Daisy is the kind of show that most people can’t help laughing at, even though they’ll hate themselves for it later. The creepy stalker aspects of the show are a definite turn-off for many, but those who can look past, or even laugh at them will find a truly endearing comedy with a truly endearing cast.
The show is currently out of print, like most of Bandai’s older bundle packs, but can be had at a fairly reasonable price, for those who do a bit of digging.
Opening
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U08ECbh2qZo’]
Ending
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQer3UCj_eg’]
