Tag: female harem

So, I can’t play H! (Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai.)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Magical girlfriend show.

Characters

Ryousuke, our male lead, is a complete pervert with an unfortunate tendency to utter his creepy inner monologue out loud. There’s nothing likeable whatsoever about him.

Mina, his doormat gentle childhood friend. I have no clue why she puts up with him, although it seems clear she’s not too bright or perceptive.

Lisara, a Grim Reaper who suddenly shows up on his doorstep, and nearly immediately stabs him to forge a bond and steal his energy to sustain herself in the mortal world. Not that she considers her as more than below average, but he was the closest dude available. The twist here is that he gains the more energy the more aroused he is, and she gets it too from their link. It helps, because they’re immediately attacked by some sort of tentacled monstrosity.

Production Values

Holy fanservice, Batman ! Never mind the pervert camera (which makes sense considering our protagonist),but Lisara spends most of the episode in some state of undress (including a long gratuitous shower scene), culminating in the reveal that her battle outfit is powered by her own energy, and thus starts to dissolve once the tentacle thing gets the upper hand. Naked boobies ahoy !

Overall Impression

Urgh. I hate every single character in this show, the long running joke about Ryousuke seeing Lisara’s bush gets tired as soon as it starts, and I still have no clue how the title relates to the plot. There’s just nothing entertaining in here.

Avoid.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2012 – Page 11.

My little sister is among them ! (Kono Naka ni Hitori, Imouto ga Iru!)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Generic harem romance with heavy incest overtones. Adapted from a light novel series.

Characters

Shougo, our generic male lead. He’s the heir to a huge conglomerate, and Daddy’s will stipulated that the estate would be his if he found a girl to marry within the last couple of years of high school he has left. He even got a sweet bachelor pad to bypass the dorm regulations.

Konoe, the first girl he meets on his way there. The friendly big-breasted girl who’s fond of sweets. Also the class representative, and coincidentally sitting next to him in class.

Mana, the other girl sitting next to him, obviously the jealous flat-chested tsundere type. Very annoying.

Mei, a witch-Yuki-Nagato cosplayer who keeps stalking Shougo, and point-blank claims she’s his long-lost little sister (he conveniently has memory issues). Which doesn’t prevent her from wanting to bone him too.

Also in this episode : the airhead student council president and the level-headed vice-president, both of whom the OP present as possible marriage prospects.

Production Values

Very average. The fanservice level is a bit lower than you’d expect. (I can’t determine whether the shadows shrouding underskirt areas is censorship or just an artistic choice, but it does look better than the usual censorship tools.)

Overall Impression

Well, this is exactly what it sounded like, with no redeeming feature whatsoever. It’s dull, the characters are walking clichés with no personality, the dialogue is atrocious and the “mystery” of who’s the sister isn’t remotely entertaining. (Even if you give the show a little credit and assume Mei is lying.)

Pass your way without even bothering to check it out.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2012 – Page 11.

Love, Election & Chocolate (Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Bog-standard high-school-set dating sim adaptation.

Characters & plot

This series goes out of its way to hit all of the genre’s clichés : the generic male protagonist, the obnoxious childhood friend who drags him out from bed, her obvious romantic rival, the gay option, the pint-sized genius, the alcoholic teacher…

The plot involves the student council president stepping down and an election being held to replace him ; unfortunately, the leading candidate is a ball-busting penny-pincher who wants to dissolve all the useless clubs, such as a Sweets Club the main characters belong to. And her only credible opponent is a corrupt jerk. So our male lead gets drafted by the club into being an outsider candidate…

There’s also a weird pre-credits subplot about the resident newspaper newshound getting the scoop on shady dealings and become the victim of a hit-and-run for her trouble.

Production Values

Average. The school does have some nifty near-future technology, the most pointless of which must be the awesome self-folding tables in the Sweets Club. No wonder some people would want to cut on the spending a bit…

Overall Impression

You know what ? I kinda enjoyed watching this. Sure, it’s a cliché-storm that brings absolutely nothing new to the table, but there’s some self-aware charm to it. Maybe it’s because Yuuichi Nakamura lends his usual charisma to the male lead ? (God knows he’s the main reason I found Clannad watchable…) Maybe it’s the hints that the corruption subplot is actually going somewhere ? Or the bits of weirdness such as the protagonist’s “truth-vision” ?

Okay, show, you got my attention. Don’t waste it.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2012 – Page 10.

Campione!

(12ish episodes ?)

What’s it about ?

Magical battles set in Italy, with just a hint of romantic comedy.

Characters

Godou, our generic Japanese male lead. He was sent in Italy to deliver a package by his grandfather (who turns out to be a vey powerful mage who really got around). He randomly crashes into…

Erica, who for some reason walks around in a ludicrous “period” red dress. (Even curiouser : for magical battles she switches into something more comfortable and decent.) She’s a witch (with battle maid in tow) who immediately takes an interest in the package, apparently a super-powerful artefact that can steal gods’ powers. Which is handy, considering how there are more than a few roaming around.

Verethragna, a super-powerful and super-arrogant kid who’s so powerful he’s going around challenging other gods because he’s curious what defeat feels like (so far, no luck).

… And that’s how, by the end of the episode, Godou acquires god-level power. (That’s not a spoiler, his inner monologue states it at the very beginning.)

Production Values

I watched the eyebleed-o-vision streaming pre-air version of the episode, so it’s a bit hard to judge, but the magical battles feel very generic and uninspired.

Overall Impression

The obvious comparison here is with Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou, and that’s not exactly to this show’s advantage ; the characters feel very generic (Erica in particular alternates between stale charmless antics and exposition mouthpiece), the plot hangs on some very big coincidences and doesn’t flow too well (special points to the first magical battle just stopping off-screen for no obvious reason), and the worldbuilding feels quite by-the-numbers.

(Also, I can’t take Fuhimiko Tachiki’s narration seriously when he uses the same boisterous tone as for Katte ni Kaizou, which was a clear parody of this sort of thing.)

You never know, this might develop some charm later on, but it hardly looks promising so far. I’m not even sure I’ll bother with a second episode.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2012 – Page 4.

Shining Hearts – the Bread of Happiness (Shiawase no Pan)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Generic fantasy RPG setting. Starring bakers.

Characters

Rick, a promising young breadmaker, whose shop is starting to get great business. No personality beyond “the reasonable one”.

His three interchangeable “cute” employees, who barely share a personality (and a brain) between the three of them. And let’s not even go into those terrible outfits those girls are wearing.

Alvin, the ruler of the local elf-forest our heroes get lost in halfway through the episode. He’s a dick. He’s got a sister who’s more amiable but no less irritating.

There’s no plot whatsoever in sight. Alvin mumbles a bit about the red moon being a bad omen, but there’s no indication it’s anything other than a sign announcing bad weather the next day.

Production Values

Terrible. The character designs are generic crap, the music is off-the-shelf and just ridiculous whenever it goes for the dramatic, and the whole thing feels like it has no soul whatsoever.

One point that sums the whole show up : there are numerous female characters, played by a variety of more or less popular voice-actresses. There are only two male characters of any note, and both of them are voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya.

Overall Impression

Look ! It’s generic soulless crap ! At least Sengoku Collection had a joke (however stale it was) and sketched out the plot within its first episode ; this is just a big pile of nothing, with no tension, no plot, no characters and no jokes.

I’m sure you can make a decent series about making bread, but this isn’t it. There’s absolutely nothing worth watching here.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2012 – Page 10.

Nyarko-san: Another Crawling Chaos (Haiyore! Nyaruko-san)

(12ish episodes ?)

What’s it about ?

Lovecraft monsters as cute girls ! Except not really.

Characters

Mahiro, our token male protagonist. Mostly there to keep complaining that nothing makes sense. For some reason, he’s targeted by tons of creepy monsters, thus why he’s being protected by…

Nyarlathotep, aka Nyarlko. Except she’s not really a sanity-destroying abomination (unless you want to give this series way too much credit), but an alien agent sent by the Galactic Defense Organization to protect Mahiro. Oh, and the access to Earth entertainment is a nice side-benefit, too. Obviously she’s supposed to be annoying, but they kinda overshoot the mark.

We see a bit of Mahiro’s supporting cast, including a rare non-perverted best friend (who’s just bland), and the inquisitive journalist-type who’s set up to be a regular annoyance. The OP/ED also promises two more of Nyarlko’s kind, but they’ve yet to really show up.

Production Values

Not very good. And no, re-using the same stock monster three times does not become more tolerable if it’s pointed out.

Overall Impression

You know what ? I actually enjoyed somewhat the Flash-made shorts from a little while ago. Sure, they were crudely drawn and some of them were boring, but they did have a good final punchline, and clearly suggested that those were eldritch abominations mindfucking Mahiro (and the audience) in a very convoluted way for the lulz. That was a decent way to make the premise work.

Unfortunately, this new series pretty much throws all of that away. I mean, you can still interpret it that way if you’re so inclined, but that’s probably wishful thinking. Instead, Nyarlko is transformed into a generic superhero who’s bloody annoying in the downtime scenes (I can only stand Kana Asumi in small doses), which is just a waste.

So we’re left with a generic superhero show with an insufferable heroine and tons of 4th-wall-breaking jokes that aren’t funny. I’ll pass.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2012 – Page 8.

Dusk Maiden of Amnesia (Tasogare Otome x Amnesia)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

A high school detective club who investigate ghost stories. And the club’s president is a ghost.

Characters

Okonogi, our point of view character for the first half of this episode. She seems to be the secretary of the club. She’s really, really stupid, and completely fails to pick up the numerous clues that there’s a ghost just next to her. Half of her interior monologue is devoted to how much she likes…

Teiichi, the vice-president of the club. He’s apparently got a sixth sense for paranormal events (although reading Okonogi’s thoughts is just a string of coincidences and misunderstandings). At the very least, he’s the only person who can see AND touch…

Yuuko, the club president, and a famous ghost haunting the school. It’s just that Okonogi is too dumb to make the connection. Since she’s invisible to most, she spends a lot of her time trolling people and flirting with Teiichi. She’s got some memory problems, hence the series’ title.

Kirie, the fourth member of the club. Somehow she can see Yuuko (the reason why isn’t explained in this episode, but becomes obvious once I did three seconds of research), and thus she spends most of her screentime being annoyed by her antics.

The gimmick in this episode is that you see the exact same sequence of events twice (down to the specific camera angles), first without and then with Yuuko and her dialogue. It’s not as successful as it could be, as most of it was perfectly obvious the first time around ; but there’s enough new material (especially Yuuko’s body language) for it not to feel like a waste of time.

Production Values

Impressive. The animation team goes out of its way to make even a simple corridor look cool, and the episode’s gimmick wouldn’t work without a great attention to detail and body language. There’s also some good use of colour for atmospheric effect. That said, there are some points later on where Okonogi’s hysterics devolve into SD shorthand.

Overall Impression

Hum. This is a decent setup episode ; the joke isn’t subtle, but it works. And of course, it looks great.

The problem is that, while we’ve now got a good handle on the characters, there’s no indication about where the show itself is going. Is the gang going to have random slice-of-life adventures ? Or is there a wider plot coming ? This episode doesn’t tell us, and so it’s hard to say yet whether the series can sustain 11 more episodes. (I really hope the gimmick was a one-shot, because otherwise it’s going to be bloody annoying.)

Well, at least I’m intrigued enough to check a couple more episodes out.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2012 – Page 7.

Sengoku Collection

What’s it about ?

Gender-swapped Sengoku warlords thrown into the modern world.

Adapted from a cardgame app, because that’s a thing now.

Characters

Nobunaga Oda, the only girl who really shows up this episode. She’s shangaied away from her parallel world because… er, it’s not quite clear… and drops from the sky into current Tokyo. She eventually learns she’s not the only one and she’s gonna have to battle others like her to get back to her world, but most of the episode is spent on the culture shock.

She quickly shacks up with a poor random wage-slave dude, who’s somewhat bemused by this weird girl who won’t take no for an answer.

And that’s basically it for the cast this episode.

Production Values

Surprisingly good for this sort of thing. There’s a care to the animation that’s entirely wasted on such a project. (I guess Brains Base had to pay the bills and couldn’t find anything better to do…)

Overall Impression

Gender-swapped Sengoku warlords ? It’s been done already. Girl from a magical world who falls on some guy’s lap and experiences some “hilarious” culture shock ? Done to death too. This series is proof that bringing the two concepts together creates absolutely nothing of worth.

Of course, this show could have been saved through superior execution. But we don’t get that here : the characters are the same boring archetypes as usual, and there’s no spark whatsoever to this. The animation’s good, but that’s not enough to overcome the tediousness of the whole affair.

Pass along, nothing to see here.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2012 – Page 6.

High School DxD

What’s it about ?

Harem show featuring succubi in yet another of those high schools that recently went co-ed and have far more girls than boys.

Characters

Issei, our protagonist. He’s part of a clique of three perverted guys who joined the school to get some. His catchphrase ? “I want to touch boobs !” Obviously most of the girls view them with disgust and stay well away. Just to make him even more repellent, he’s voiced by Yuki Kaji, whose voice I’ve grown to hate over the last few seasons.

Yuuma, a girl who asks him out and proceeds to have the most cliché date possible with him. Everyone (including himself) wonders what she sees in that bozo. It turns out that she’s actually a succubus, and she stabs him halfway through the episode because of some nonsense about how he’s supposed to be important in some war between devil clans or something (she doesn’t seem quite clear herself on why he would be important, but better safe than sorry). Unfortunately, he’s then resurrected by…

Rias Gremory (sic), leader of another succubi clan dwelling at the school. Actually, she can only make Issei into a half-demon creature, with enhanced strength and senses at night… which really doesn’t sound too bad for him, especially as he gets to hang with a bunch of hot girls.

Production Values

Fanservice out the wazoo : gratuitous panty shots, naked breasts in abundance, lucious transformation sequences that make the protagonist admire them instead of running away…

There seems to be quite a bit of budget behind this : the animation is quite good (although it mostly focuses on body parts).

Overall Impression

This is slightly better than I expected. It’s got a good grasp of atmosphere, it’s well-paced, and some of the jokes are actually funny. On the other hand, there’s absolutely no way to save the plot, and I loathe the protagonist. I have no qualms with skipping this one.

But hey, points for trying a bit harder than most fanservice-y harem shows.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2012 – Page 3.

Ben-To

(12ish episodes)

What’s it about ?

In this high school, the dorm only provides breakfast ; students have to fend for themselves for their two other meals. There’s apparently only the one supermarket around. As a result, the sales for bento are SERIOUS BUSINESS there.

Characters

You Sato, our loser male protagonist (of course voiced by Hiro Shimono). He gets beaten to a pulp before the OP, and several other times before the end of the episode. Fortunately, his parents believed in tough love, so he’s quite resilient. Anyway, he’s quite baffled by the whole thing (especially as lying in a pool of his blood isn’t good for his memory).

Hana Oshiroi, a weird girl who befriends Sato because… well, she’s about as terrible as him as far as managing to grab the cheap bento goes, and she’s a bizarre fetishist who’s disturbingly impressed by his ability to recover from injuries (the more critical his state, the more ecstatic she goes). I have some trouble reading her (is her attraction to him genuinely innocent or is she deceptively manipulative), which ain’t helped by her relationship with…

Ume Shiraume, the class rep. She’s very aggressive against Sato. Okay, he’s more than a bit rude to her, but the main point is that she doesn’t want him anywhere Oshiroi (to the point of kidnapping her when he isn’t looking) because… well, she doesn’t really explain herself.

Sen Yarizui, aka “the Ice Queen”, the Rei-clone. Completely unbeatable on the bento battlefield (her wire-fu acrobatics are quite impressive indeed). A second-year, she’s the head of the “loves of half-price bento” club, although so far she’s the only member (given the amount of garbage leftover from the previous year she carries around, presumably all the others graduated). She invites Sato to the club, maybe out of pity.

Production Values

Let’s not kid ourselves, the fanservice level is rather high… but refreshingly, there’s nary a panty shot in sight, the camera preferring to focus on the girls’ legs. Which is slightly different from the usual routine, I’ll admit.

The soundtrack comes courtesy of Taku Iwasaki, who indulges in his wilder tendencies (I’m reminded of some of his Soul Eater score). That’s always a plus for me, obviously.

What did I think of it ?

Hum. There’s definitely the risk of this degenerating into a generic harem comedy, but I quite liked how this first episode went. There’s some deliberately obtuse storytelling at work here, which could have been annoying but managed to give some depth and mystery to the characters. Granted, this could be because they’re random collections of diverging traits, but maybe they’ll actually emerge as complex personalities.

I’m trying not to keep my hopes up too much, but there’s some definite potential here.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2011 – Page 6.