(26 episodes)
What’s it about ?
A very bizarre harem (?) series where the protagonist is sent to a high school on a remote island… and meets a series of girls who all claim to be his long-lost little sisters.
Characters
Wataru, our hapless main character. The poor boy seems to be the universe’s chew toy – despite being a top student, he fails to enter his dream high school because of a computer error. Tons of other humiliating stuff happens to him in this first episode alone. His background is somewhat intriguing : there are no parents in sight, he seems to be living alone with an elderly butler (who quits five minutes in)… and there’s immediately a backup plan from nowhere for him to get enrolled into another high school after his initial failure (this involves him getting manhandled by two Men In Black).
So far we only see four of the “sisters” (although the OP promises more). They all adhere to the usual harem clichés : there’s the mistress of the mixed message, the trendy one, the shy one and the kid one.
Taro is your usual annoying “perverted sidekick”, whose main purpose seems to be eating up precious screentime with his antics.
Mami is a bizarre girl who comes to the island at the same time as Wataru and Taro. She monologues that she’s there to observe Wataru… and indeed, she can often be seen in the background stalking him.
There’s a running joke that all the island’s adult staff (so far, the boat driver and the realtor) look like Jeeves, Wataru’s old butler. Whether it’s always the same guy in disguise, a group of relatives, or just a coincidence is up in the air at this stage.
Production Values
Quite low, to be honest. On the other hand, there are lots of little directing tricks and sight gags to keep the whole thing visually interesting and very surreal ; not quite SHAFT-ish, but more in the vein of Utena. Me likey.
Overall Impression
What the… ?
This is a very surreal series indeed. At first glance, it’s your typical collection of harem clichés (see above). But there’s a very nasty undercurrent that the whole thing may well be a joke at the protagonist’s expense, as absolutely nothing here makes any kind of sense. The plot is full of holes, which is fully acknowledged by the series (and the protagonist is appropriately bemused by it all).
But I’m really not sure I want to commit to 26 episodes of it ; there’s a very distinct risk of it turning into a just quirky cliché harem series, something I have no interest in. Maybe it’s better if I stick with the memory of this intriguing first episode ? I doubt the actual series can match my expectations…
