First Impressions / Series Introduction / Snapshots

OP Sequence

OP: 「純粋なフジュンブツ」 (Junsuina Fujunbutsu) by StylipS

「おっぱいを究めろ／夢見るお仕事／パンツウォーズ／音砂みはりの休日」 (Oppai wo Kiwamero/Yumemiru Oshigoto/Pantsuu Oozu/Otosuna Mihari no Kyuujitsu)
“Perfecting Breasts/Dream Job/Panty Wars/Otsuna Mihari’s Day Off”

Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to is made for one audience, and one audience only: those who love their ecchi comedy and all the meta-musings one can have about the subject. Just as Nourin last semester reflected on the appeal of hidden panties (or rather, the possibility of none), Mangaka-san focuses in on the thought processes that go into drawing ecchi scenes and their plotlines, all while having its own comedic storyline to accompany it. Those who love the blending of laughter with breasts will find a happy paradise within this show, but as for everyone else…

To be clear out of the gate: this isn’t a badly made show. Not in the slightest. For the audience it wishes to capture, it does its job well. The animation and facial proportions are cleanly drawn, save for the occasional slip-up. The comedic timing and the flow of the skits give the show energy and never a time to rest. Production wise, the show is excellent, but the enjoyability factor relies completely on whether the viewer will find the characters and their dynamics enjoyable to watch.

The first step in making a conclusion towards that end is to evaluate the male protagonist, an ecchi mangaka, Aito Yuuki (Matsuoka Yoshitsugu). His social ineptness and disregard for tact are ridiculously thick, even compared to the standard scale of clueless protagonists. Whether that’s an enjoyable thing to watch is entirely based on the viewer. Take for example the instance when Yuuki is examining bras for the sake of research, going as far to purchase 100k yen worth of them (after groping the ones on the mannequins). In fact, his attention to detail allows him to point out that his editor–Otosuna Mihari (Noto Arisa)–has a breast size of AA, which shocks the surrounding female presence in the store. If you find this kind of social faux pas something hilarious and laugh out loud, then you’re set.

The next step would be then to see how the female characters are character-wise, and see what kind of character interactions they create within the show. Take for example the same scene mentioned above. Mihari, being the ‘angry loli’ arch-type she is, guts Yuuki in broad daylight, hoping to wipe any memories he has of her chest size. It’s all fun to see idiots get beat up, but whether that’s your style of continual comedy is another thing entirely. Another character, Ashisu Sahoto (Hayami Saori) plays as a better straight to Yuuki as her assistant. She’s cool, collected, but still calls out Yuuki on his wild shenanigans, though she’s shown to have some compromise with Yuuki in order to get a better product published.

However, what largely defines how these characters interact is fairly straightforward. Yuuki does something stupid, and the female characters reprimand him for his actions, often in a violent or harsh way, though sometimes such violence temporarily gives way to moments of kindness before returning back to more violence. It’s a formula that’s pretty standard of gag comedies of this type, set in a mangaka setting that’s been explored before in shows like Mangirl!.

If you enjoy this kind of straight-group slapstick towards the comedy-individual, packaged in a meta-ecchi setting, then you’re set to explore this show this season. Otherwise, if anything I’ve mentioned above turns you off, then this may be the show to pass on this season. While the three episode rule largely applies to judging many shows, this one I feel can be easily judged right here and now. That’s not a bad thing–the show is very direct about its intentions from the start, and what it sets out to do it does with productive quality–but honestly the interactions between the characters is a make-or-break decision right out of the gate.

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「Spica.」 by StylipS

Preview

End Card

58 Comments

  3. I cracked up when I read the first chapter before. Aito-sensei is really too honest in admitting a little ulterior motive in wanting to touch Ashisu-san. It’s good that they’re making it half an episode long. A full episode length might make it drag out. Ashisu Sahoto is one of my main reason for following the manga.Show Spoiler ▼

    Zhinvu
    Reply

      1. Show Spoiler ▼

        Zhinvu
        Reply

  4. Dream job indeed. Coercing your female assistant, who is hot as sin (dat Zettai Ryouki) and the has the voice of a goddess, into groping her own breasts and sexually harassing her while she’s pre-occupied, and then getting away with only a slap? Hahaha, I wish. T_T

    This guy should seriously take tips from Yabuki Kentarou. Panty shots be damned, you can still take it even farther to provoke the readers imagination. (Those who follow To Love Ru Darkness probably fully understand.)

    That was pretty darn enjoyable if I do say so myself. It’s good for a quick relaxing watch so I’ll be watching for sure.

    Kuntzy
    Reply

    2. Nyahaha, it was me! We like to switch things up sometimes, and since Zani expressed interest and I’ve read the manga, we thought we’d give you an unspoiled opinion. And he was pretty spot on, save for one part:

      Mihari isn’t the angry loli. She’s the angry pettanko. The angry loli is yet to come, muahaha!!

      Stilts
      Reply

    1. Generally I’m not a fan of all the girls beating up on the guy, but yeah, in this case he generally has it coming. He generally has far worse than he gets coming, at that! And it’s funny XD

      Stilts
      Reply

      1. I’ve actually begun reading the manga now. I’d say not only do they need to hit him more, they need to hit him harder. With blunt instruments. Seriously, he’s a real creep. If some of their jobs didn’t depend on him, I’d say let the police haul him away and have done with him.

        And yes, it is funny, because he does deserve the abuse he gets. I just wish he didn’t sometimes weasel his way into getting the girls to do things he wants too…

        Wanderer
        Reply

  16. Having read the manga, I agree with Zanibas’ take on this with one small caveat. If you liked the first episode, you’ll probably like the show througout the season. If not, then better to move on. WYS is WTG here. The caveat is that I thought the manga improved somewhat as more characters showed up (including a certain blonde tsundere). If you’re on the fence about this show, you might want to give it another couple or more episodes before dropping.

    Two things did surprise me. First was the 1/2 length time slot. IMO that worked for Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-san due to it’s frenetic style. Here, I’m not sure if that works to the show’s benefit. Of course the producers might not have had a choice in the matter.

    Second, I was surprised by the staccato, almost 4-koma like presentation. FYI – while the manga does have some 4-koma extras, it’s not a 4-koma. Instead, it’s presented in very short (8-9 page) chapters. Yet IMO, this adaptation was much less fluid and continuous that other 4-koma adaptations such as SYD… even though it copied some of SYD’s style. O.o Not sure why that approach was taken. Personally, I found it a bit distracting. The show’s episode length is short enough – no need to break it up further. JMO.

    Overall, I’d say a decent, easy watch if you like this type of humor.

    daikama
    Reply

  18. Brain not required.
    Then again, I always kind of forget anime = cartoons so I judge them like any other TV show. Nevertheless, I wish the anime industry would phase out of stuff like this. At the very least use these recycled ecchi jokes in moderation. Boob groping, pantsu, bra sizes, yada yada yada.

    James
    Reply

  19. The only thing I hate about this show is that its only 13 minutes or so long. After factoring opening/ending credit thats barely 10 minutes, half the length of any other anime :\

    Other than that, I love this show, mainly because I read the manga already.

    YanDaMan
    Reply

    1. Might not happen in the anime.
      The characters page on the official website doesn’t include any of the other male characters, but includes female characters that first appear after them in the manga.
      Would be shame if they really leave them out though…

      Zannafar
      Reply

  22. wow…Ashisu-san is surprisingly sooo professional! Hahaha XDD i like her! and poor Editor-san…looks like her dream is still a long way to go lol XDDD

    anyways, nice anime to laugh the day off. Mangaka-san is pretty honest, perfect combi with Ashisu-san ^^

    onion warrior
    Reply

  23. I guess the show does its job well, but personally, it got old starting with the third ecchi joke… I watched this on a whim, and hoped it would be a nice, light-hearted slce of life, but apparently they had slightly different plans. Oh well. The protagonist’s hot-bloodedness reminds me of Kazuhiko Shimamoto’s Hoero Pen. It’s quite an obscure manga, but check it out if you can; I think it’s exhilarating without resorting to fanservice (which isn’t a bad thing in itself, but can bore people pretty quickly)

    lorenzo
    Reply

  24. The end card for this episode was done by Megumi Kouji, artist of the manga Bloody Monday and sister of Hiroyuki (the mangaka who made Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to).

    Zannafar
    Reply

  26. I love this manga series HOWEVER I was disappointed by the 12 minutes run, they can do an entire season in 20 minutes! I don’t think they got the right voice actor for the Mangaka although Ayase as Ashiu-tan is spot on, hell all of them are. I always picture his voice as a bit more high pitch than this, she’s gonna e good.

    Duzz
    Reply

  27. After just this episode, I’ll never see Kirito in SAO the same way ever again. XD

    Matsuoka Kiritsugu has simply got Yuuki’s “gentleman pervert”* absolutely spot-on. Even master “gentleman” Araragi Koyomi gets put to shame.

    *In Japanese web usage, 紳士 “gentleman” refers to a character who is openly and shamelessly perverted as to be an “absolute gentleman” about it, i.e. having nothing to hide.

    echykr
    Reply

  31. 13 mins D:! This is the second anime that had me fooled thinking it was a full episode ;/. I’ll give this one a shot over the other one that was 3 minutes long -_-.

    Funny episode, but it’s no Muromi-san.

    magoiichi
    Reply

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