F3 (manga)

F³: Frantic, Frustrated & Female (嘆きの健康優良児) is an hentai anime series that centers on a 17 year old girl named Hiroe Ogawa who has difficulty achieving orgasm. It has been described as "a spoof on horror hentai."

The three F's of the title stand for "Frantic, Frustrated and Female." The Japanese title is 嘆きの健康優良児, "Nageki no Kenkô Yûryôji", which has been translated as "Grieving Physically-Perfect Girl" or "The Lament of an Otherwise Healthy Girl" and was created by Wanyan Aguda. The three OVAs were originally released by SoftCel Pictures, a division of ADV Films, and later re-released as F3: Ménage À Trois, an obvious group sex reference. Recently, F³ had been re-licenced by Critical Mass under its original title when ADV Films closed their hentai line.

F³ was followed by two sequels, and their translations into English highlight some of the difficulties faced in translating adult entertainment materials between two countries with very different laws and mores on the subject: in the first 25-minute episode, Hiroe's attempts to achieve orgasm are assisted by her older sister Mayaka, and include an encounter with her mother, Yayoi. In the two sequels, translator's notes insist that Mayaka and Yayoi are actually Hiroe's neighbor and landlady, respectively, whom she just happens to have nicknamed "Sis" and "Mom."

There is also a manga adaptation spanning 5 volumes. F³ was Wanyan Aguda's debut manga in 1988.

Main characters

 * Hiroe Ogawa 小川広恵 - The titular girl of the film. She tries hard to achieve orgasm with her boyfriend, but always fails. She usually resorts to hypnosis, masturbation, lesbian sex, and was possessed by a horny incubus. Her blue hair often gets her mistaken for Ami Mizuno of Sailor Moon fame. Voice Actress: (JP) Yumi Takada/(EN) Amanda Winn Lee, credited as Helen Bed in the original SoftCel dub/Whitney Thompson in the new Critical Mass DVD.


 * Mayaka 真弥華 - Hiroe's "older sister" (younger of the neighbors). Mayaka always tries to help Hiroe with her "problem" pulling out all the stops. During the first episode, she used hypnosis to help Hiroe achieve orgasm by simply touching her. That plan was later scrubbed for Episode 2. Voice Actress: (JP) Arisa Andou/(EN) Tiffany Grant, credited as Lucy Moralez in the original SoftCel dub/Kelly Benz in the new Critical Mass DVD.


 * Yayoi 弥生 - Hiroe and Mayaka's landlord whom they refer to as "mother". She has a closet full of S & M gear, whips and sexual toys. The kanji in Yayoi's name is the same for the old archaic name of March on the Japanese calendar. Voice Actress: (EN) Marcy Rae, credited as Verlinda Petme in the original SoftCel dub/Hentai Mona in the new Critical Mass DVD.


 * Takami Oide 大出貴美 - Hiroe's misandronistic classmate from high school and an open lesbian. Takami appeared in episode 2 putting the moves on Hiroe underwater at the pool, then appeared at her house with two other lesbians. Takami also had a crush on Mayaka in episode 2 and was the first victim of rape in episode 3 from an incubus possessing Hiroe's body. Voice Actress: Bella Pussi in the Critical Mass DVD.


 * Sumio 純雄 - Hiroe's boyfriend from high school. Hiroe and Sumio have been going out for a long time and are sexually active when alone. Sumio's not into sports as much as Hiroe is, but he loves to have a good time. Hiroe felt a little pain when had sexual intercourse with Sumio six months ago, and vowed to finally achieve orgasm with him. Voice Actor: Christopher Bowen in the Critical Mass DVD.

Minor characters

 * The Fortune-teller - Appeared in Episode 1. She was referred by Mayaka to help out Hiroe, but upon her reading, she felt spirits possessing her driving her insane with fear and lust. Voice Actress: (EN) Marcy Rae, credited as Verlinda Petme in the original SoftCel dub.


 * The Professor - Appeared in Episode 1. He was a researcher at a top Japanese laboratory who was recently working on "The Ultimate Sex Machine" and used Hiroe as a test subject. To his dismay, Hiroe didn't climax and the laboratory was in shambles leaving the professor severely injured in the blast.


 * Takami's Friends - Appeared in Episode 2. One was named Suzuki, the other one had no name at this point. They ganged up on Hiroe on Takami's command, but were quickly disposed of by Yayoi using rapid-fire anal sex with a leather suit.


 * Mia Chigusa 千草魅亜 - Appeared in Episode 3. The 24-hour exorcist who is a futanari. He/She dealt with the incubus trapped in Hiroe's body while Yayoi electrocuted Hiroe with a super-charged vibrator in order to exorcise the demon. The incubus left Hiroe's body and was sealed in a giant rubber blow-up doll.

Episodes

 * Episode 1
 * Hiroe becomes depressed that she cannot reach orgasm, so Mayaka tries to help her out, but to no avail. Mayake then resorts to hypnotism, which turns out to be a bit too successful as Hiroe climaxes instantly whenever Mayaka touches her. However, she is still unable to climax otherwise, so Mayaka tries some other methods, one of then turning out to be a crazy scientist. In the end though, only Mayaka's touch is able to make Hiroe climax.


 * Episode 2
 * Hiroe is seduced by Takami into helping her get together with Mayaka, who she has a crush on. When Mayaka learns of her trick, she challenges Takami to a sex match, the winner being whoever can make Hiroe climax. They are stopped, however, by the landlady, Yayoi, before she joins in on the fun.


 * Episode 3
 * Hiroe is possessed by an incubus who uses her body to rape the other residents. A futanari exorcist named Mia Chigusa is called to exorcise the incubus from Hiroe and trap it in a blow up doll.

Trivia

 * Episode 1 was done with English dialogue. The remaining two were left in subtitled format.
 * The new DVD version from Critical Mass has a new cover, a new voice cast, a cel gallery, outtakes and English translation for all three episodes, including the Alternate English version ADV recorded.