Faking It – An Anime QandA Review of ‘Conception’ Episode 3
What’s the show? Conception, Episode 3.
So how’s the episode? I don’t know—did Conception just become an anime about sex again when it literally spent (nearly) an entire episode last week trying to convince me it ~wasn’t~ about sex? I’m so confused…
Oh dear, what’s happened now? Well Itsuki is told that in order to create more powerful ‘star children’ he needs to perform the ‘ritual’ with two star maidens at the same time. And I swear half of this episode was the pervert Tanuki mugging and making inappropriate jokes which you know—it is what it is. So Reone (the doctor one) elects herself to be one of the ~ménage a trois~ while Itsuki picks Falun a flighty dancer. Within ~minutes~ of their meeting she’s down for the threesome and then it happens and um…
She’s a spunky cutie!
What? Well all goes well, two ‘star children’ are born and Reone and Falun look mighty satisfied with what’s happened to them—like Reone comments that her legs are too weak to stand while Falun just straight up says “I came to the ends of the universe”. There’s no ambiguity there, something sexual happened for sure, unless of course the show bait and switches us again next week and we learn that the love ritual can cause orgasms just by holding hands. Which if that’s the case my quit anime forever.
You don’t make that kind of face and pose after a frantic game of chess is all I’m saying!
Whoa! That’s a bit drastic isn’t it? I just hate ambiguity in my fan service—I mean it shouldn’t be this difficult to set a baseline for what the heck is going on especially in a show that seemed so un-ambiguous in its first episode only to completely back-flip on everything it supposedly stood for!
Dear lord, can we have this uncensored please? PLEASE!
Sounds like all you do is complain about this show recently… Only because I’m frustrated at how unfulfilled its obvious potential is! This show could be truly something memorable (and for the right reasons) but instead its kind of treading water in both and neither simultaneously. But all that said and done, I do genuinely enjoy this show—if only a surface level.
Which means? These girls are good-looking, this setting is weird and interesting, I enjoy the more personal scenes between Itsuki and his childhood friend Mahiru and I do want to see how this series climaxes for the lack of a better word. I just wish it was more consistent in what kind of show it wanted to be, because I don’t know if these girls are getting the whole hog or just the tip and it’s giving me blue balls!
Holding Hands Counts As Making Babies – An Anime QandA Review of ‘Conception’ Episode 2
What’s the show? Conception, Episode 2.
So how’s this episode? Boo.
Huh? Are you trying to “boobs” and made a typo? Why do you always assume that’s all that’s on my mind. Geez! No, I’m booing this anime, it betrayed me and lied to me—this is why I have trust issues!
Uh-huh… so how exactly did this dumb anime about a guy having to have sex with 12 girls betray you? It’s not about sex at all! The one thing unique and interesting about this show was all a lie! The episode resumes just as Itsuki and Mahiru are about to have sex when Reone interrupts them to tell them a ‘star child’ has been born. Turns out all you have to do to have a ‘star child’ in this universe is “absolute trust and some physical closeness” and *yawn*
In the bin!
Wow, you’re certainly being harsh on the show! Harsh yes, because it’s not like there was any benefit to the lie or any motive, it’s just the hook to get people to watch the show. And now I feel silly titling the first episode what I did, because now, I’m lying to my readers (or people who glance at review titles in Google searches) because I bought into this shows deception. Heh, ‘Conception more like Deception’ is what I should have titled this review…
So what does this mean? Are you dropping the show or something? God no. It’s still a harem anime with 12 “love” interests, that in of itself is enough for me to keep watching for a full season. And I still laughed at and enjoyed this episode a decent amount—and seemingly the production values have improved a little? Or maybe I’m just used to it already, either way, even with the central draw of the show being false, this episode was arguably better than the first. Though I was absolutely right about the ‘format’ this series is going to take going forward.
For as much shit I gave this show last episode for being “ugly” this scene was gorgeous.
And what was that again? That each episode will be about a different ‘star maiden’ and Itsuki having to learn about the girl and get emotionally close and earn their trust before getting ‘physically’ close to them. It’s certainly showing its video-game roots, even moreso than the Persona series does and while that’s somewhat unappealing for an adaptation I kind of don’t mind here because the show is almost self-aware of this face. Almost.
She’s even reading the script!
So you’re still happy with this show? My feelings were complicated in the last episode, ranging between thinking it was ‘trash’ to ‘kinda okay’ to ‘loving it’. I think we can add ‘betrayed but buoyant’ to that too. But at the same time the dirty jokes are amped up here so it kind of makes up for the fact that there’s no ~actual~ sex… even if the dirty jokes primarily come from Mana the Tanuki who’s still annoying but far less ‘all up in the camera’ like he was last episode. So yeah… relationship status with this show is definitely “it’s complicated”.
Now this is a Brady Bunch reboot I could get into!
Sexy/Trash/Anime – An Anime QandA Review of ‘Conception’ Episode 1
What’s the show? Conception, Episode 1.
Uh-huh and how is it? This is a momentous day for harem anime fans the world over—today we bare witness to something that’s been a long time coming, ever since the first harem anime aired a thousand years ago (or 1992, same difference) audiences the world over have been shouting at their screen for the protagonist to just have sex with all the sexy anime girls who are obviously so DTF! Finally a harem anime where the protagonist actually has sex with all the girls in said harem. Finally a protagonist with the balls (and penis too but this isn’t an anatomy lesson) to take charge and thrust forward into a brave new world!
I mean they captured the ’embarrassment’ of a first time pretty well!
…What on earth are you on about? I’m talking about Conception of course; an isekai harem anime in which two high-schoolers Itsuki Yuge and his childhood friend Mahiru Konatsuki are transported to the futuristic fantasy world of Granvania. It’s a world that’s been plunged into chaos by “impurities” and the only way to save the world is for Isuki to have sex with the 12 ‘Star Maidens’ in order to produce ‘Star Children’ to combat the “impurities” and until he’s completed this task he and Mahiru cannot return home!
That’s a pick up line if ever I’ve heard one…
Well… that’s certainly high concept… I think? Think what you will, peasant! But you are beholden to the next generation of harem anime, the series destined to change the very world of harems forever!
So I take it you like this show huh? Eh, it’s okay.
Wait, what?! Then what was with all that grand standing before?It sounded like you were really into the idea? You’re correct, I’m into the idea of it, I’m just not sold on the execution here. First of all this show looks really cheap looking, like a bargain bin anime—if such a thing even exists—it’s lazily animated and very ugly at times. Secondly—and I’ll probably get some flack for this but it feels too much like a game—the same way the Danganronpa anime did. I can already tell each episode is going to follow the same format, we meet a new ‘Star Maiden’ he gets to know them some, there will probably be some lame action scene, and then he goes to pound town. Rinse and repeat for 12 episodes.
Well when you put it like that…
Oh. So you didn’t like it at all? No actually I loved it.
But, wait… huh?! It’s refreshing to see something so subversive—also sex is so rare in anime that it feels different because of that sole fact—something which may be lost on the casual viewer.
Sex is rare in anime? Yes. While sexuality definitely isn’t—in fact there’s probably no form of media (other than porn) that’s more sexualised than anime but despite all the fan-service and boobs and upskirts and skimpy outfits and what not, you seldom see kissing, let alone sex—even in romance anime! So for this show to have both right off the bat in the first episode, and the promise of more in every single episode is kind of a remarkable gimmick.
*blush*
Okay. So the opinion is somewhere between “okay” and “loved it” then? Nah it was trash.
…I… uh, what…? The show had the audacity to skip over ~semi-important~ lore (presumably) and literally have a character hold up a sign saying “visit the website for more information”, like if you can’t even be bothered to try then why bother! Also said character, who serves as a sort of ‘guide’ to this new world for our protagonists is an annoying flaying Tanuki named Mana who speaks with a shrill voice and makes crude jokes—you know kinda like that another annoying wise-cracking animal mascot from that game-based anime I mentioned earlier… Also this show has a bit of a “forced intercourse” vibe—which is just a polite way of saying it’s rape-y. We’ve got our two high-school aged protagonists who have to have intercourse with each other otherwise they’ll never be able to leave this world!
You lazy bastard!
Wait, so the girl the male protagonist came with into this new world is…? Yes she’s one of the 12 star maidens too.
So you “love this okay trash” is that the final opinion? It’s kinda clever and kinda romantic too—I mean if you’re forcing me to put some adjectives into that sentence.
Explain. So removing all external influences and the fact that these two are forced to have sex with each other, there’s actually a really sweet scene where Mahiru confides to Itsuki that she has thought about the idea of them ‘being together’—after all they’ve been friends for ~ages~ and they share a familiarity and intimacy. And so they look into each others eyes, he fumbles a bit but she helps him and then they kiss and then they… well *insert a bunch of sexually suggestive close-ups of skin rubbing against each other* and then end credits!
*intimate touching intensifies* then they fuck.
Right. So the final sentence comes out to something like: “I love this kinda clever, but really just okay, kinda romantic trash.” Does that sum it up? Just wait til I tell you about the other ‘Star Maidens’ who are about to be involved in this sexed up harem… I’m sure you’ll find some fun new adjectives to want to add to that sentence. But you know what, this review has gone on long enough, let’s leave that ‘til we meet them properly, shall we?
Okay, but one last question as this is the first episode, who do you recommend this to? Strictly for people who actually like harem anime’s—there’s no point otherwise—also for those who are willing to overlook some serious production issues and subversive content.
Send this image to a random person who’s not that familiar with anime.
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