「俺の子ども!?」 (Ore no kodomo! ?)
“My Child!?”

Gentlemen, we’ve done it, we have reached the final stage of isekai. Move over harems, say goodbye fan service, it’s time for indulging in all those choice body shots by engaging in baby making. Literally. But Pancakes, why you ask? Because it’s 2018 of course! The modern age calls for a new kind of alternate world strategy, and Conception is clearly eager to lead the way.

For anyone who’s familiar with either Conception’s game origins or the always trusty (if sometimes late) RC Preview, there will be no surprises here. We start things off with our plain and completely replaceable main protagonist Yuge Itsuki (Ono Yuuki) who’s called out by childhood friend Konatsuki Mahiru (Katou Emiri) because she’s pregnant and Itsuki is the daddy. Except not, which of course must be the reason for the random magic circle and both being transported to another world, because lying is bad and childhood friends never—ever—get that far on the path of love. Then comes the usual isekai shenanigans: we get our magical world, the usual system of government (monarchies always win when it comes to bling), and the ubiquitous means of returning home via some save the world mechanism. Except the mechanism involves impregnating 12 girls while watching a lascivious red panda mascot thing helpfully lead the way. Yeah, this one is going places. Do I even need to mention how Itsuki is down for this mission with hardly a hint a hesitation? Didn’t think so.

Given Conception has largely given the game away in its first episode the interesting question becomes just how the show will make the most of its obvious intentions. Take the girls—err, Star Maidens—for example, given we know all 12 already, will the focus be on encouraging them into the sack, or on simply trying to find them or access them (i.e. by defeating a monster first)? Fighting doesn’t seem to be in the cards too much considering the kids produced from this harem are meant to get their hands dirty in place of daddy-kins (not to mention the show’s wonderful showcase of AAA animation), and drama is seemingly minimized with all the girls apparently eager to take on their tasks of breeding magical terminators. So far we don’t really have a source of conflict (read: drama) to look forward to, and while watching Itsuki practice his pickup artistry on an eclectic array of female specimens might be fun for a while, eventually something more than simple T&A will be required. Guess that’s where all the funky symbolism comes in though, because if there’s one thing spread eagle doctor exams and random pairs of handcuffs tell me it’s that I’m not thinking hard enough. Yeah, definitely not hard enough.

While certainly too soon to say whether Conception will be this season’s most glorious train wreck (Tokyo Ghoul is currently eyeing up first place right now), there’s no denying this one is going to be incredibly fascinating to watch for more than one reason. This is one isekai boys and girls that is definitely going places.

 

ED Sequence

OP: 「Star light, Star bright」 by nano

Preview

39 Comments

  1. I just watched the first episode because the premise sound really bad and I had curiosity. I’ve been watching anime for more than 20 years and boy, I can guarantee you this is the worst anime I ever watched that I can remember.

    Everything is bad, on every level. There is no single redeeming trait about this: the awful animation that can compete with the shittiest hentais, the drawing looks pulled out of devianart, the stupid story, the nonsensical pace, the extremely generic designs, the unnatural flow and stupidity of the conversations, and the best (or worst): IS A FUCKING ISEKAI HAREM, OH GOD WHY DO YOU TORTURE US SO MUCH!

    I’ll be watching some more because I’m fascinated by this absolute and unredeemable piece of shit. I think we might be watching The Room of anime.

    cvb
    1. I think Worlds End Harem takes the spot for that one atm. At LEAST (and im scratching the bottom of the barrel here) both act like normal hormonal teenagers who would be sexually curious/willing and we’re not subjected to “will-they-wont-they” for a while season.

      ace
  2. I’m hoping this wasn’t a Freudian slip, but when I read the blurb for this show in the preview, my brain read his intentions as being, “… Combine his supernatural energies with theirs in a sacred ritual to create ‘Star Chicken'”

    And I thought that might be deep, but then I read it more clearly and the show seemed unlikely to offer up any novelty at all. I’ll add that considering its premise, the character designs seem tepid at best.

    Mockman
      1. I’ll just assume that I’m not the target market but based on your earlier post and the absence of any interesting element, who the hell is? Perhaps this is the reason the initial game is considered unpopular and mediocre. Maybe they should look into that. Things that are interesting and appealing sometimes have more commercial potential than something similar that isn’t either.

        Mockman
      2. Well, it’s definitely a mystery to me. I just watched the first episode. It’s as advertised. It’s like a lame version of Campione (and I kinda feel weird saying that).

        It has a couple of interesting seiyuu in it. Mahiru’s seiyuu voiced the glorious nun Kate in Haganai, while the woman clad in white’s seiyuu voiced the wondrous nun Orsola in Index. ‘Get thee to a nunnery’ would be great advice were those two cloistered therein. Another character’s seiyuu voiced Karen Araragi, who is capable of raising the room temperature while performing the most mundane of tasks.

        I like how they first tied him down with rope, but then had him manacled. It just seems randomly random. At least they didn’t put him in the stocks.

        This may be the most artless first episode I have seen. Tension? Drama? Conflict? What are those? Supine characters? Unconstrained irritants? Those we got.

        Mockman
      3. To be fair most adaptations are meant purely for advertisement, it’s only when the franchise is popular enough does the adaptation sort of take on a life of its own.

        @Mockman
        Simple: sex. It’s always popular, it always sells, and it’s never hard coming up with something fairly different from the crowd.

  3. Conception’s anime is made to promote an upcoming remake of the source game, Conception Plus, due Winter 2019.
    https://www.dualshockers.com/jrpg-conception-plus-announced-exclusively-ps4-first-trailer-revealed/

    Some commenters were initially surprised the anime was being made, given the parent game was released long ago in 2012 and reportedly never got popular with Japanese gamers. News of the remake cleared up this confusion, since the anime is effectively an advertisement here.

    The 1st game, which the anime is adapting, was never released overseas.
    The sequel, Conception 2, went to the West, but it was considered mediocre by Western gamers.
    https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/conception-ii-review/1900-6415727/

    zztop
    1. Then someone should have told the producers of this anime the objective was encourage game sells no deter them. At least Luck and Logic was nice in the animation and the sequel had its good moments.

      cvb
  4. That OP was the stuff of nightmares, it looked like Gunther von Hagens had directed it. The rest of the show wasn’t all that better either. So basically this guy’s been magically kidnapped and has to impregnate 12 girls before he can go back. And all with a TV-14 rating. Presumably the game is pretty non-explicit too if it’s for the PS4 – why even bother making a non-ero eroge?

    Angelus
  5. I am guessing this is based of the first game instead of conception 2 then? Most of those girls don’t seem familiar with what i remembered from the game. Also, don’t play it, that damned tune will stay in your head for a long while after you stopped playing it.

    Damrod
    1. remember the thing Madoka Magica and Magical Girls Raising Project taught us?
      NEVER trust talking animals/mascots…
      they are always evil with hidden agenda
      I am all for the MGRP-ending-level treatment of that Panda…

      ewok40k
  6. I am not ashamed to admit that I was actually looking forward to this (along with Index III and Fairy Tail Final). Despite the mediocre production values, I still enjoyed the first episode for what it was. I will definitely watch to the end, while keeping my fingers crossed that the remake of the game will eventually get ported to Steam so I can finally play it. (There were rumors back when the second game was being localized that the first would be brought over as well, but nothing ever came of them unfortunately.)

    Lastly, with Nano doing the anime opening, that is more than enough reason for me to watch. (For those who are not aware, she also did the opening for the game as well, which is what got me interested in both her music and the Conception series.)

    vanfokerdumplestein
  7. People constantly say some anime is a “bad adaptation” when I actually like it. This is a rare case where even I think it’s probably a bad adaptation. Because… the pacing was quite awkward. “Look at the website”, the way they flashed through the girls’ profiles without any voice over for 10 seconds, the annoying mascot character taking up too much time, and so on. I’m not blaming it for being unserious, I expected an unserious show, but the presentation is lacking. I’m still up for another episode though.

    Player
  8. Umm..that’s NOT what a positive pregnancy test looks like, not even in Japan. Or was that some subtle sign before hand that she wasn’t pregnant, just too dumb to read the instructions?

    yakusoku
    1. Yes it is. The most common type shows one line for not pregnant and two lines for pregnant. Clearblue is the odd one out, and that shows two lines for not pregnant and line plus a cross for pregnant.

      Angelus
  9. I am dubious on how you reviewers ‘Pancakes’ and commentators will cretique a show this risqué without your opinions being colored.

    I don’t really know what to make of this animation, I guess my first thought was Anime is pushing the limits of adult themes while not crossing into Hentai. (like always) But a bold scene like this one isn’t even fan service or eye candy anymore it’s strait up pornography with censorship. (BD sales will be through the roof) If this is what’s to be expected in the up coming episodes then I really don’t have much to comment on. Mainly because the sex card is the elephant in the room.

    https://randomc.net/image/Conception/Conception%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2044.jpg

    RenaSayers
    1. Considering the entire premise is built on getting girls pregnant I think we can likely expect the same in upcoming episodes, but honestly it’s anyone’s guess how much it goes that route right now. This is why my post here wasn’t really serious (and likely why I may not continue blogging it), it would be too easy tearing into this and picking it apart, and few people ever like such reading nonstop criticism.

      Without a doubt though this show which will not broach fence sitting. You’re either going to love it for what it is, or hate it with a passion.

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