ecchi – Page 2 – Anime QandA

Irina and Matt Review ‘To Love-Ru’ Episode 1

Irina and I review ‘To Love-Ru’ Episode 1, because forcing your friends to watch your favourite shows is the best!

Hello everyone and welcome to a collaborative review series I’m imaginatively calling ‘Irina and Matt Review To Love-Ru’! And as the name suggests I’ll be joined throughout these reviews by Irina from I Drink And Watch Anime—say hello, Irina! Hello Irina! …I’m sorry, please don’t lock me in the closet again. I’ll do better…

Before we get into the review proper what were your thoughts when I brought up the idea about collaborating on an older series? (for those of you unaware Irina and I almost exclusively collaborate on currently airing seasonal anime and usually female driven sports anime). We have a very specific niche. I don’t think anyone else shares it… I like older anime but I think what I liked best was that you invited me to share my thoughts on an ecchi harem show. A lot of bloggers like the genres (I’m very surprised you’re not part of that new Ecchi Hunter blog to be honest) but I didn’t think I would ever get in on the action! For some reason I never get asked about my thoughts on naked girls. I need to rebrand. I’ll make sure to keep you ~abreast~ of ecchi in the future! (See what I did there?!)

And what preconceptions or familiarity did you have with the To Love-Ru franchise? (Wow this is beginning to sound like a job interview…) It is… and none. I hadn’t heard of it before you told me about it, Matt. And since you said it was your favourite series I figure it’s lighthearted, funny a bit lewd and there’s no abusing the girls. Do those count as preconceptions?

Sounds about right! So with that out of the way it’s onto the review itself! These reviews won’t be recapping the events of the episode—for that content you can check out my solo reviews—the first of which is here. Were you surprised how “sci-fi” the prologue was? Very much, it snapped me at attention in fact. I was quite happy to see that. Is it just me though or did the opening tag look more “classic” than the rest of the episode? Like as soon as I saw it I thought, oh this is an OLD show but later on I was like nah, it’s just an oldish show… Am I making any sense? I never considered that (as I don’t have much experience with a lot of old anime–especially action sci-fi based ones) but now that you point it out the art style in the opening could very well have been a nod to older shows.

As a fan of OP’s as I am too, what did you think of this one? I’m so sorry Matt, I don’t remember it. No please, the closet is dark and scary… I think I just got swept up by the episode and it got pushed out of my mind. I do remember the ED – it was cute. I pay better attention next time. Personally it’s one of my favourite of all time. Not only the song (“Forever We Can Make It” by Thyme) but the visuals—while simple I find very sexy.

The first half of the episode introduces to our protagonist Rito and the fact that he’s extremely shy around girls—not especially unique for a harem protagonist but it also means he doesn’t spend his time ogling them. What did you think of Rito? This may sound bad but I mean it in a good way. As I was watching the first half I thought well this is an anime. For me, it embodied all the stereotypes I think people associate with generic anime. Like it’s exactly what you think of when you think anime. But I really liked that about it. It was comforting and fun. Rito is that nice but slightly awkward kid, who’s just enough of a loser to be relatable but still cool enough to cheer for. A very good audience surrogate and I’ll be happy to watch him. He was a bit on the pleasantly bland side for the first episode but that can be said about most shows.

You here that Rito? Even Irina thinks you’re bland!

Also established early on is his infatuation with Haruna—an infatuation started after a middle school incident wrongly painted him as destroying a school garden—and Haruna being the only one believing his innocence. What did u think of Haruna as a character and did you buy into this ‘connection’ of theirs? I actually like the connection. I make fun of anime characters for falling in love over the silliest things but honestly, that happens all the time. Heck, sometimes we fall in love over nothing at all. It’s believable to me. As for Haruna herself, I kept trying to figure out why she was giving me major deja vu all episode. I thought maybe I had seen her on promotional material but she looked so much more familiar than anyone else. It was only towards the end of the episode that I realized that she reminds me of Yukino from Kare Kano. Long story short, I got distracted. I like her, but I need to see where the character goes!

And then of course there’s the elephant in the room—or rather the pink haired alien in the bath tub. Lala; who is the embodiment of pure joy and life, makes her introduction. What are your first impressions of her? She’s the one that really made the show feel like Tenchi Muyo for me. That’s a good thing! I like her transformation but it seems painful for her.

I think my opinions of Lala are pretty clear given I just referred to her as “the embodiment of pure joy and life” and not to spoil too much but she only gets better from episode 3 onwards. And then we get a surprisingly good-looking action scene as Lala summons one of her “inventions” to combat her pursuers (who are actually just employees of the royal palace wanting her to go home—as she’s just a teenage runaway). Sometimes 3D can look jarring against 2D, especially with a series of this age but I thought her octopus vacuum looked perfect. What did you think of this whole segment of the episode? Agreed, it was integrated well and fun to watch. It is impressively fluid for an older show. Mind you this thing may have had a BUDGET. Seems the manga did really well so the studio may have secured decent funding. If so they made good use of it, if not, then those are truly impressive visuals.

Who doesn’t have access to a giant robotic vacuum cleaner octopus?

And then finally the end of the episode which has Haruna confronting Rito only for him to decide this is the moment to confess his “true feelings” for her. Which—of course—backfired horribly as Lala appears and assumes he’s talking to her! Oh no a love triangle through misunderstanding! How bizarre! Joking aside, the first episode was fun. Taken separately a lot of the elements and characters are pretty stereotypical but they are put together well and somehow it’s just a bit left of expectations. You know, just unusual enough to keep you interested while being comfortably familiar. The only thing I would have liked is for Lala to be just a little less helpless. But you really can’t tell much from just the first episode. It’s a strong start. I would have watched more if I didn’t want to avoid confusing the episodes before we review them.

My thoughts on the episode as a whole can be found in the link previously mentioned, but what about you Irina, what were your thoughts on this as a first episode? Anything else you wanted to add? I should really read ahead when we do these things… I already put down my thoughts. As for “add”, how about you share with us a piece of your To Love-Ru merch?

Sure, that oughta spice up these reviews! Probably one of my favourite things I picked up on my most recent trip to Japan was this Lala ⅙ scale bishoujo figure made by Alter. Obviously her “normal” outfit, as seen after her transformation scene is more striking but I just found this figure so sexy that I had to have it. The detail on it is so good, even something as inconsequential as the tread on her sneakers has such fine details, I love it!

The lighting isn’t the best in my office, sadly.

Also – I disagree with your review about the breast physics. Some scenes are great but others really could use some more jiggle. Just saying. Just wait ‘til we get to ‘To Love-Ru Darkness’ the amount of jiggles will give you whiplash!

Irina’s face if she ever gets to watching ‘To Love Ru-Darkness’.

And that’s the first episode done! From here on out we’ll be releasing these collaborative reviews covering 3 episodes at a time every month. However, you’ll still be getting my single episode QandA reviews every week! Thanks for reading!

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Making A Splash – ‘To Love-Ru’ Episode 1 Review

An Introduction and Review Schedule for the ‘To Love-Ru’ Anime QandA Special Series of Reviews

The Episode Review

What’s the show? To Love-Ru Episode 1.

Episode 1 Title Card. Perhaps a Nicolas Roeg reference?

So tell me about this show you’ve decided to commit 2 years of your life reviewing every single episode (because that’s how long its going to take)? Wow, straight in their with the big questions, huh?

I mean nows a good a time as any, is it not? Sure. I mean, I love everything about this show and if you care to follow me over the next two years you’ll find out exactly why. What follows is an absolutely biased look at a series I’ve deified in my mind for about a year now so don’t go expecting nuanced critique–but likewise expect a lot of references to things that have yet to happen in the series. In other words, this is pretty much for fans of the series only. Or those who don’t mind spoilers for future episodes.

But it’s an ecchi series, how many spoilers can it contain anyway?! I thought this too, until I sat down to watch Episode 1 again for the first time in… maybe like 9 months? Either way, To Love-Ru’s first episode is an impressive piece of art that’s almost hard to quantify and even harder to compare against the rest of the series that is to come.

And why’s that? Because Episode 1 is emblematic of everything that made this series inherently bingeable in the first place, it’s fast paced and frenetic and fun and… not really anything like the other subsequent 3 seasons of To Love-Ru that come after.

Okay, I think you’re getting ahead of yourself. Let’s just focus on this episode and this season, yeah? Fair point. So the series starts with Lala, in space, in her spaceship being pursued by a convoy of “attackers” insistent on reclaiming her. And already a more action heavy tone is being set to a series which will ostensibly become an Earth bound, slice of life centric ecchi.

We get jiggle physics 30 seconds into the show. Good stuff!

What did I say about reviewing this episode, not what’s to come?! Sorry. I’ll try and restrain myself on that part.

Sure sure, so what happens next? Well to cut a long story short, Lala’s spaceship crashes into the school of our male protagonist Rito Yuuki–who himself is already preoccupied with courting the girl of his dream, classmate Haruna Sairenji. A wholesome, very good-girl who you should probably not get too attached to if you intend to follow this series unto its fruition…

Please. Please stop with the not so subtle future spoilers, it’s doing me a harm. Okay, I promise that’s the last time! (Spoilers; it’s not the last time).

Okay so what happens next then. So after another failed attempt for Rito confessing his feelings for Haruna he returns home to lick his wounds when his peaceful bathtime is interrupted by Lala’s sudden (naked) appearance in front of him. From here things quickly progress as Lala introduces herself, her robotic costume maker ‘Peke’ and her general situation which basically amounts to the fact that she’s a teenage runaway who’s sick of being told who she should marry by her father. In short; Lala is an alien princess and genius inventor who is somewhat indifferent to the human race but she’s put her trust in a “bland” human because he was too much of a ‘good guy’ to let her get captured by the royal guards of her home planet–shenanigans ensue.

Lala changing into her trademark costume. Love it!

“Shenanigans” Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like where this is going? I don’t know what you’re inferring, sir…

Don’t play dumb with me, I can literally scroll down the page and see you have a segment of this review called “The Fanservice Review”… While I’ll go to my grave defending how good the characterisation is in this series, I fully admit that the majority of people who clicked this review are just here for ~dem anime tiddies~ and yeah, that’s where this review will soon pivot. But I’m not quite done yet.

Okay what happens next? Well Rito is walking to school the next morning, lamenting having intervened with Lala when Haruna approaches him, she wants to talk about what he was doing running across the roof with a strange girl last night (she caught a glimpse of him while walking her dog) but he interrupts taking this as the opportunity to confess his feelings for her. He pours out his feelings, all the while bowing his head only for Lala to have appeared between the two of them. Lala misunderstands and thinks he’s talking to her and reciprocates his feelings, further upping the ante by suggesting they get married!

Oh boy, you weren’t wrong about shenanigans. Anything else you wanted to add before we get to the other kind of “shenanigans”? Well if you’ll allow me to get meta for just a moment I’d like to speak about how different my first viewing vs this viewing was.

So Japanese of Rito to be worrying about people wearing shoes in his room.

Go on then. The first time I watched ‘To Love-Ru’ I was intrigued but not blown away, a part of that may have been how much the first episode was trying to impart while simultaneously give gratuitous air-time to its ecchi moments. Likewise I was enamoured with Haruna (Rito’s “since middle school” crush) but kind of annoyed by Lala–despite her good points. Now, with hindsight clouding my objectivity I can say Lala steals the show, even though this Lala isn’t really indicative of the Lala who will come to consume the screen time of the coming 25 episodes. Episode 1 Lala is far more measured and calculated than true Lala which will rear her awesome insanity in its full come Episode 3. But I suppose it’s something of a blessing we weren’t inundated with Lala’s full ‘Lala’ right off the bat. Which leads us too…

The Fanservice Review

Is there any particular reason I have to be here? I have no interest in discussing fan service? Because I like to see you suffer.

Wow, not even pretending now? Okay fine, let’s get this over with… how is the fan service in the first episode? It’s kind of remarkable in how right they get it and how quickly too. I’ve mentioned in various places before that I think Kentaro Yabuki (the original mangaka) is probably my favourite artist in terms of how he draws the female body and while the animation and art style of the everyday scenes is ~good~ but nothing mind-blowing the same can not be said for the fan service. It’s clear that the show knew it needed to execute that particular part of the series flawlessly if it was to be well-received and while I can’t speak for its reception in Japan at the time I can say at least for me I was impressed.

Uh-huh and what about it makes it so impressive? It’s kind of hard to put into words, you kind of need to see it in motion–thankfully that’s what gifs are for!

Oh boy… There’s a weight to the animation of the breast physics, when Rito’s hands cup Lala’s breasts in the bath its like you could almost touch them yourself they seem so real. And this isn’t even the best the show gets in terms of animation quality and attention to detail.

And what about Lala herself? She’s beautiful, she’s cute, she’s sexy–she’s basically the perfect (anime) woman–well except for a certain black haired goddess but we’ll talk more about her when she appears later in the series. Plus her openness and liberated attitude about her body is very refreshing, it’s something that makes Lala so endearing as a character.

Lala’s appears in the bath before Rito. Good technology!

And the other girls? Well the only fan service we get from Haruna is a fantasy sequence in which Rito’s best friend Saruyama goads him into fantasising about her in a bikini–it’s a brief pan over a still image but it’s still well drawn. Haruna’s a very sweet girl who I have some minor issues with but I won’t bring them up until they are more relevant to the episode in discussion. And then of course there’s the girl that is the Internet perverts favourite for lewding (at least if the sheer number of fan-art and doujin’s are anything to go by)–Rito’s little sister Mikan.

“Little sister” should I have the FBI on speed dial? Jokes aside Mikan is something of a grounding force for the series, especially as it progresses into seasons 3 and 4 (getting ahead of myself again, I know) but even in her two brief scenes her character is already solidified–in her wry sense of humour and almost parental authority over Rito. In any other series a character as “normal” as Mikan could be a detriment but here she’s a delightful antidote to the craziness. But the show doesn’t feel the need to lewd her (yet lol)

The Conclusion

So final thoughts and score for Episode 1 of ‘To Love-Ru’? Unable as I am to really give a first impression of the series as this is the second time watching it all I can say is that this first episode was even better than I remembered. Obviously a lot of that will be because of the fondness I’ve acquired for these characters over the 80 subsequent episodes I watched after but it’s also an expertly crafted 24 minutes of comedy, romance, sci-fi action, ecchi and even a bit of intrigue. It’s already done a great job at establishing Rito’s personality (his almost comical embarrassment in the face of any kind of nudity) as well as the connection between him and Haruna. If I were to complain about anything it was the aforementioned characterisation of Lala which feels out of step with the rest of the series but I think it can be excused given the tone it was trying to strike with the whole seriousness of “being pursued by bad-guys” shtick. My score for the episode is 93 out of 100, while my score for the fan service is 80 out of 100.

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Getting Some Strange – ‘Interspecies Reviewers’ Volume 1 Manga Review

A QandA Manga Review for ‘Interspecies Reviewers’ Volume 1

What’s the manga? Interspecies Reviewers, Volume 1.

Hmm, okay, and what’s it about? Guess.

Sorry, what? You want me to “guess” what this manga is about? I mean, this is you we’re talking about so something perverted no doubt… is it about reviewing the attractiveness of monster girls? Good guess, and pretty close to the correct answer. Specifically its a fantasy series about a group of guys who go around to the various red-light districts in this fantasy world and partake in the pleasures of the flesh and then post their ‘reviews’ of the unique girls they sleep with on a bulletin board. Basically, its trip advisor for a fantasy brothels with an emphasis on the particulars of the girls employed in said brothels.

That’s somehow more perverted than I could have imagined. You musn’t have much of an imagination then…

Wait, isn’t “reviewing” women kinda, pretty sexist? I mean that’s a surface level interpretation. All the women who get “reviewed” are prostitutes who are providing a service, are being paid for it and benefit from being “reviewed” not only by exposure but by getting a more tailored clientele as the result of said reviews. It’s not like this is scummy classroom ranking list of the ‘hottest girls in class’, our reviewers take their job seriously!

Right. So what’s the appeal of this manga then? Is it just a smorgasbord of fan-service related to non-human looking women? You’d think so but visually this series is pretty tame, all things considered. I mean sure it’s got a smattering of nudity (mostly towards the end of the volume) but the majority of the ‘erotic’ content comes in the form of the dialogue and situations. Our protagonists aren’t afraid to talk about sex and the various physical differences between humanoids and the various fantasy inspired women (and sometimes men) they sleep with. Truth be told this series is a lot denser than I expected both in the sheer volume of content per manga volume and the elaborate detail and world-building it employs. I’ve read full-blown Isekai that don’t commit this much time to character building and that in-of-itself is impressive.

One eyed people do it differently, apparently.

I… I’ve got so many questions, I don’t know where to begin… Well try because I’m willing to answer any and all.

Okay. So what about the protagonists then? We have a sort of rotating roster of male protagonists who journey together to one particular establishment per chapter usually four at a time. Though the three prominent figures in the series are the human Stunk, the elf, Zel and the angel Crimvael. Stunk being the human acts as the audience analogue to terrific comedic effect, especially early on as we see him exit an elf brothel having slept with a cute and spritely elf girl, only for his friend Zel to admonish him for sleeping with “an old hag”. It’s at this point we learn the differences between priorities when it comes to desirability in a sexual partner. Stunk (and the audience) sees a cute elf girl as a cute girl and therefore desirable but Zel, a fellow elf sees that she’s actually 500 years old and therefore stinks of “rotten mana” and instead preferences a 50 year old human woman, remarking how “humans are the best because you’re never going to find one over a hundred [years old]”.

An example of the review format. Lots of these in the first volume, lots of reading.

So it’s a comedy then? Didn’t I make that clear? It’s absolutely a comedy first and an ecchi (or whatever) second. I’m not the first to make this comparison but it’s got more than a little bit in common with the anime ‘Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt’ in that its main characters are perverted and crude and obsessed with sex. The only difference is that ‘Interspecies Reviewers’ 100% commits to format and contains pages and pages of detailed descriptions that almost makes it feel like overkill.

Do I sense a negative incoming? Not a “negative” but rather an ‘unexpected’–in that I didn’t expect to be reading so much in a sex-comedy series. It’s all good stuff, it’s all interesting and entertaining but there’s a lot of it so just prepare yourself for it. That’s all i’m saying…

Anything else you wanted to add? For me the most interesting character is Crimvael the angel–not just because of the idea of a fallen angel frequenting fantasy brothels is inherently funny to me–but because this character actually possess both genders (something the other two protagonists don’t know about) and so his experience with sex is very different to the almost painfully heterosexual Stunk and Zel. There’s a great scene where the three of them go to a brothel that has a spell that turns its customers into the opposite gender and while Stunk and Zel decide to go for purey lesbian experiences, Crimvael picks a hyena woman who we later learn are a species who have penises (and ones larger than hyena men for that matter!)

Who knew “chub” could be a sound effect!

Right, so a bisexual trap character? I mean, sure, if you want to put it that way.

What? What’s wrong with that I said? Probably a lot, but what I mean is that this series highlights just how ridiculous the fact that gender and sexuality is something some people consider to be absolutely binary. It’s not, and the sooner people realise that gender and sexuality is fluid the sooner we can get rid of pointless labels that are used to persecute and minimise those who are perceived as “different”.

Well this review took a turn… Yeah, they tend to when I’m involved…

Anyway, final review and recommendation for ‘Interspecies Reviewers’ Volume 1? While almost entirely focused on sex, its presented in such a cartoon-y and “rounded” visual style that I think even people who aren’t traditionally “into” ecchi manga could enjoy this. Yes it’s still sexy but it’s also silly and funny but with an exhaustive attention to detail that draws the reader into the world. Certainly not for prudes, as there’s discussions of genitals and orgasms and sexual fluids aplenty but likewise it’s never truly gross–it’s just honest. But then maybe I’ve spent a bit too much time reading actual hentai doujins so this just seems quaint by comparison…

I want to learn more about this ragtag trio of snake person, fairy and sentient lobster who all enjoy orgies.

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Getting Wet – ‘Why the Hell are You Here, Teacher!?’ Episode 2 Review

Getting Wet – An Anime QandA Review for ‘Why the Hell are You Here, Teacher!?’ Episode 2

What’s the show? Why the Hell are You Here, Teacher!? Episode 2.

And how’s this episode? There’s a certain fear that comes from a comedy having a predictable gimmick, I mentioned it briefly in my review for the second episode of ‘Ao-chan Can’t Study!’ as well–but comedy often works most effectively when it’s unexpected. Sure some classic comedy can be funny no matter how many times you watch it but some comedy relies on ‘shock factor’ to garner laughs and ‘Why the Hell are You Here, Teacher!?’ walks an uneasy line between being clever enough to warrant multiple views (or just multiple turns at a joke) and being a one-trick pony banking on the lowest common denominator.

That sounds like a criticism… It might be, but I’m just being honest. I think this show is genuinely clever with its turn-of-phrase and comedic timing and VA performances and it also happens to trade in the kind of silly/sexy shenanigans that people write off as juvenile. A “thing” can be multiple things, a “thing” can be smart ~and~ dumb.

Kinda sounds like you’re just making excuses to defend some horny show you like. And is that so wrong? It does what it does extremely well… it also has some surprisingly romantic moments which makes all the shenanigans almost serve a purpose beyond the facile. I mean, we go from boner jokes to having Kana-sensei meeting Kana’s kid sister and mother in the space of a few minutes! (Yes, I know there’s more to it than that but I’m trying to make a point here!)

So this episode is still focused on Sato and Kana–didn’t you say last week that there were four teachers and four students? Yes, and that’s still true, I just think the show is going to more or less wrap up the story for each of the characters in 3 consecutive episodes before moving onto the next pairing. In a series that obviously wants to forge a connection between the couple in question and the audience this is the smartest narrative strategy–even if it makes for a slightly more repetitive experience overall. Personally I’m just excited to meet the tanned teacher in the swimsuit, I already know she’s best girl based on looks alone!

I uh, I um… I’ve got nothing witty to say here…

Previous ‘Why the Hell are You Here, Teacher!?’ Reviews:

Learning Love The Hard Way – Episode 1 Review

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Sizing Things Up – ‘Ao-chan Can’t Study!’ Episode 2 Review

Sizing Things Up – An Anime QandA Review for ‘Ao-chan Can’t Study!’ Episode 2

What’s the show? Ao-chan Can’t Study! Episode 2.

And how’s this episode? They might as well have titled this episode ‘Comedic Misunderstandings’ because it’s a gradual compounding of more and more misunderstandings both on the part of Ao and Takumi to the point I’m surprised they fit so much in in such a short running time!

And are they funny? Yes and no. It’s a sort of inundation of the same type of joke (albeit with different outcomes) and while they are separately funny just the sheer number of them concurrently makes the experience feel a bit samesy. Which is a shame, because there’s good comedic writing here and with voice performances to back it up–plus the fact that the start of the episode revolves around a legitimately interesting concept as ‘Ao being afraid Takumi’s penis will be too big for her’ only for it to seemingly forgotten by the end of it.

Excuse me?! Oh, she overhears some classmates talking about how big Takumi’s penis is and so begins to worry, first confirming with her father that a big penis can be painful for the woman then trying to determine how big he is by sneaking a peek. She doesn’t get that far mind you, only getting as far as his hands which are also big, much to her concern. And I like that this is being discussed in an anime (even if it is mostly for laughs) I think in general these types of things should be talked about when it comes to relationships–it’s only natural after all.

10 minutes into “anime and chill” and she gives you this look.

Uh-huh, anything else you want to add? Ao’s father comes off as less belligerent and juvenile in this episode–which was good to see a different side of his character–makes him less 1 dimensional like he kind of came off as last week.

So overall? Bit of a mixed bag, the comedy wasn’t as diverse as last week, but there was still an effort to grow both Ao’s character and the budding relationship between her and Takumi–which was nice. The shorter format almost seems more conducive to comedy so I appreciate when time is spent on character development, hoping for more in future episodes!

I’m not sure I get the reference but I still laughed.

Previous ‘Ao-chan Can’t Study!’ Reviews:

Study Buddies – Episode 1 Review

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Learning Love The Hard Way – ‘Why the Hell are You Here, Teacher?!’ Episode 1 Review

Learning Love The Hard Way – An Anime QandA Review for ‘Why the Hell are You Here, Teacher?!’ Episode 1

What’s the show? Why the Hell are You Here, Teacher?! Episode 1.

Aggressive title. So what’s it about? As far as I can tell its an ‘erotic love comedy’ about a guy by the name of Ichirou Satou who keeps getting into compromising and increasingly perverted ~situations~ with his teacher Kana Kojima. Also judging by the (amazing) opening credits there’s 3 other teachers/faculty members on the cast but this is not a harem as each of these teachers is paired up with 3 other male students. So rather than a 1 v 4 harem situation we have a 4 v 4 quadruple romantic comedy situation–which is kinda unique in itself!

This is the opening seconds of the episode. We’re off to a good start!

I can’t help but notice you glossed right over the whole “teacher x student” erotic romance aspect of this show. Yep, because it’s a comedy an exceedingly silly and gross-out one at that. Think ‘Prison School’ just without the prison.

A gross-out comedy, huh? Setting the bar low, are we? Don’t be mean, scatological humour can be funny if done right and with restraint, which this show does (if the first episode is anything to go off) we have both a bathroom pissing scene in which both teacher and student wet themselves in each others presence and a reciprocal suppository scene all within the space of 12 minutes. And not once did it get gross… well I say that but different people have different ‘lines’ when it comes to this kind of stuff and not once did it step over the proverbial line for me.

She’s talking about her pee, no need to think it’s something lewd! Geez!

I think you’re a “special” case, though… I choose to take that as a compliment!

It really wasn’t… Anyway what else did you want to talk about regarding this show? It’s an exceptional looking show–at least for one of this genre, the lines a sharp and detailed and the animation is fluid (no pun intended). It makes a drastic step-up in quality from another short teacher ecchi this season that I ~was~ going to review but that ended up so underwhelmingly mediocre looking I didn’t bother (the anime in question was ‘Nobunaga teacher’s young bride’, FYI).

Right. And the characters? All good–Ichirou has a fantastic line delivery and his reactions are pitch perfect and as for our titular teacher Kana Kojima, her range from strict disciplinarian to blushing maiden is sublime. I could listen to her all day…

So final thoughts and recommendation then? Aside from the fact that the version of the episode I watched was censored, this was a pretty fantastic experience. It manages to be both sexy and funny and inappropriate and kinda sweet all in such a short span of time added to the fact that it’s not a typical harem and has four male characters and four female love interests makes it all the more interesting. It’s a polished looking production with a flawless OP and crisp artwork, if you like your comedy bawdy and bold then this absolutely comes recommended–I eagerly await the rest of the episodes (and uncensored next time, please!)

When your teacher has a fever and there’s only suppositories in the medicine cabinet. Desperate times call for desperate measures!

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Study Buddies – ‘Ao-chan Can’t Study!’ Episode 1 Review

Study Buddies – An Anime QandA Review for ‘Ao-chan Can’t Study!’ Episode 1

What’s the show?Ao-chan Can’t Study! Episode 1.

And what’s it about? Ao is a… complicated girl. Her father is an erotic novelist who told her her name came from an orgasm face–a fact she relayed to her elementary school class and ever since she’s had a general disdain for youth, sexuality and men in particular. She knows men are only after one thing and she hates them all for it, so why does her heart go “doki-doki” whenever Kijima (a.k.a. “King of the Normies”) is near to her? Turns out her father’s had more of an impact on her life than she cares to admit.

You know what they say, opposites attract!

Oh boy… What?

This sound, uh… well let’s just say “right up your alley” and I’ll refrain from adding any extra insults. This is a comedic, romance slice of life with hints of ecchi throughout and yeah, it’s kind of wonderful for a bunch of reasons you may not expect…

Oh, and they are? Not to generalise, but I’ve noticed a trend when it comes to romance-centric anime–specifically with regard to whatever the gender intended audience they fall on. If it’s a romance targeted at female audiences the female protagonist is plain looking and kinda generic in personality while the men are all immaculate chiselled specimens. Whereas if the the target audience is men then the male protagonist is generic and bland while the women are the sexiest things to ever grace the earth.

So wish fulfillment fantasy for whoever is the target audience? Basically. But where this series pivots unexpectedly is that it’s ostensibly a series for men (what with the general focus on erotica) but not only is the male “love interest” attractive and sensitive and nuanced but the female “protagonist” is also attractive but flawed and complicated.

Wait. But if the protagonist is a female doesn’t that usually mean it’s for a female audience. Again another key difference—a lot of Ao’s internal monologue could be argued to be pointedly “masculine” (if we’re gendering dialogue—which we shouldn’t but that’s a topic for another day) she has strong, hardline opinions which she’s not willing to back down on and she has a generally disdainful attitude towards the things she doesn’t like and isn’t afraid to show it.

Well that’s all well and good but what about the show itself? It’s a lot of fun! And it even manages a heartfelt moment too, it’s pretty well written and it’s an interesting concept. If you like your romantic comedies with an emphasis on the comedy and lewd jokes then this I’d recommend giving it a go!

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Clash Of The Tit-ans – ‘Senran Kagura: Shinovi Master’ Episode 12 (Finale) Review

Clash Of The Tit-ans – An Anime QandA Review of Senran Kagura: Shinovi Master, Episode 12

What’s the show? Senran Kagura: Shinovi Master, Episode 12 (Finale).

So how’s this episode? I’ll cut to the chase, it’s kind of disappointing.

No nipples, huh? No nipples…

Wh- I was joking! That’s not seriously the reason why you’re disappointed by the finale is it? Put simply I watch this show for 3 reasons, the fan service, the characters and the concept. If it’s ever lacking in any of those departments in any given episode, naturally I’m going to be disappointed. Certainly this episode delivered in the character department, and even the action–which isn’t even something I watch this show for–was probably at it’s best here. But without adequate fan service, is it really Senran Kagura?

That seems dramatic. Okay, fair call. That was overly dramatic of me, this isn’t like a betrayal, the core episode was great, there were emotional moments and funny moments and their was a satisfying conclusion to Fubuki’s story–though it still leaves room for more stories (hopefully!) But I feel like for a season finale of a show that was so riotously celebratory with its nudity early on that not having any nudity (except for the end-credits, which doesn’t count) just seems like a wasted opportunity!

I may not understand you but I at least see your point. So you say there’s a satisfying conclusion to Fubuki’s story? Wasn’t she hell bent on destroying all the shinovi? Yes but the rage that fuelled her journey of revenge has been tempered by many things since the start of her journey, by the warmth of friendship, by the memories of her childhood with Yumi, by the promise of a new life not ruled by rage. Arguably its an easy won ending, not physically though, Yumi almost dies for her trouble but Fubuki recognised she was on the losing side, especially after Rasetsu–her Youma buddy got sealed away. Fubuki knew that she couldn’t win any more so she admitted defeat, she probably would have been happy to have died but neither Yumi or the others would have taken things that far. This was about saving Fubuki from her revenge not defeating her.

Fair enough. Anything else you wanted to add? The episode ends on Christmas Day, the series began on the weeks leading up to Christmas, meaning this is officially a Christmas anime! What does this mean? Well you can add this to ‘We Without Wings’ as shows to binge watch over the Christmas season that are completely un-family friendly and inappropriate!

This is about as much fan service as the episode provides. Thank you Ryona for your continued support to the ecchi cause!

You’re weird. Overall thoughts on the final episode? With regard to story and character I’m happy with what we got, fan service on the other hand not so much, but in the grand scheme of things and with regard to binge-watching that will matter a lot less. As it stands this was a satisfying conclusion to a great show that I enjoyed a great deal. Here’s hoping we get another season sooner than later!

Previous Senran Kagura: Shinovi Master Reviews:

Naughty or Nice? – Episode 1 Review
Naked When Wet – Episode 2 Review
The Hottest Hot Springs – Episode 3 Review
Fan Disservice – Episode 4 Review
Battle Of The Boobs – Episode 5 Review
Putting The Flash In Flashback – Episode 6 Review
Mistakes Of The Past – Episode 7 Review
Grope Expectations – Episode 8 Review
The Naked Truth – Episode 9 Review
Soaking In The Secrets – Episode 10 Review
Stark Vengeance – Episode 11 Review