First Impressions / Series Introduction / Snapshots

OP Sequence

OP: 「miele paradiso」 by Nomizu Iori

「戦略防衛学園-ATARAXIA-」 (Senryaku Bouei Gakuen – ATARAXIA –)
“Strategic Defense Academy Ataraxia”

Lewd. Dats lewd.

Lewd to the MAX

Masou Gakuen HxH is the story of a world all gone to shit because of some attacking aliens or whatever, and the school of youngsters who are going to defeat them. Technically. If we’re being serious, though, this show is about the lewd. All that other junk? An excuse to get jiggly girls in skimpy outfits and have ’em fight ill-defined enemies by taking frequent battle pit-stops to get felt up by the main character.

Understand that I’m not judging. It’s trying to be what it is, and I don’t let other people tell me how I should spend my time, so neither should you. This is firmly in the magical-fantasy-action-harem-ecchi genre, so if’n you want one of those, this show is bringing the PLOT. I felt it was important to get that out of the way first. This show is leeeewd, and it ain’t shy about showing so, censorship aside.

The Critical Details

But in the framework of a magical-fantasy-action-harem-ecchi anime, how is this one looking? Fine. It’s pitching itself entirely on the lewd, and the other elements are doing their best to stay out of the way. Main character and master groper Hida Kizuna (Akabane Kenji) is tolerable if uninteresting, and the girls are all easy to figure out—the mysterious beauty with a foul mouth Chidorigafuchi Aine (Kageyama Akari), the prude who shouts “Harenji!” Himekawa Hayuru (Nagatsuma Juri), and the flirty popular girl Farandole Yurishia (Akasaki Chinatsu). Or maybe she’s the onee-san type, or the ojou-sama type? It’s unclear. Though we’ve only known these characters for a max of 23 minutes so far, which isn’t a lot of time for character building. Mostly the girls are just T&A so far, and the guy is just an audience insert. The real question is whether that’s as far as they’ll go.

As for the other elements, it’s refreshing in a way that they didn’t try to give a reason why the Magitech weapons were attacking, because this early no one gives a shit. From that and the wholehearted embrace of the usual tropes, this episode makes me think that Masou Gakuen HxH is stripping away everything that could distract from the ecchi (stripping away, heh). That includes much of the technobabble, which was present here, but not as overdone as I’ve seen it.

I can appreciate this decision, in a way. This story is trying to do one thing really well (be lewd), and it’s focusing all of its attentions on that so far. My only concern is that the ecchi shows that are truly beloved try to do the plot and the drama and all the rest as well, becase otherwise they’re quickly forgotten. Will Masou Gakuen HxH try to do more as well? Hell if I know. This first episode gives little indication that it will, but it doesn’t rule out the possibility either.

Looking Ahead

I don’t have any plans to blog this series on a weekly basis. Blogging decisions won’t be finalized for a couple of weeks yet, so things could ostensibly change, but I personally have a couple of shows I’m planning to cover (no points for guessing what they are) and a deficit of free time, so extra pick ups are unlikely. Thanks for reading this post!

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – This show is lewd. Super lewd. Mega lewd. LEWD! #masouhh 01

Random thoughts:

  • I hope they don’t go far with this hard work vs talent theme. I don’t hate it by any means, but there are usually only two ways anime approach it: hard work triumphing over talent (Deku, Ikki), or the main character turns out to be talented after all (the classic ordinary high school student). The former can be amazing, but the latter is blatant pandering, and I have a feeing this show might hew closer to the latter.
  • I guess normal weapons take out these baddies just fine, even if the magic suits are better.
  • If someone tells you to fondle an unconscious girl or you’ll both die, don’t do it. That’s assault, son.
  • To anyone who’s still confused, no, this isn’t an alternate version of Hunter X Hunter. The author was just mean with his title. Maybe next time.

My first novel, Wage Slave Rebellion, is available now. (More info—now in paperback!) Sign up for my email list for a FREE sequel novella. Over at stephenwgee.com, the last four posts: I love sales jobs, Good realism is character realism, Dying idols, and Frictionless routines.

Full-length images: 16, 33.

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「ちッ」 (Chi) by Nomizu Iori

Preview

62 Comments

  4. Lewd is right-LN readers say the book is “borderline hentai”.

    The creation of Masou Gakuen’s a funny story – the ero-content was originally less obvious, but the author’s editor, O-san, “advised” him to amp up the lewdness more, telling him that if he’s going to do lewd, then he should do it thoroughly.

    One month later, O-san blasted the revised story for becoming a “mere porn novel – where the hell’s the plot, you bastard!”
    https://bakapervert.wordpress.com/hxh-vol-1-afterword/

    As always, character designs are by ero-artist Hisasi.

    zztop
    Reply

    4. That always seems to be the case. From manga to movies, give in to the “suits'” demands and they get mad at you when it doesn’t work out as they planned.
      As for most ecchi shows, if you’really not going to try for a plot,action, or humor,just go all the way with the ecchi, no half-assing. It’s like a girl that teases you really hard then leaves you with blue balls.

      chimp
      Reply

  5. Sadly, it seems like ever since the success of season one of Infinite Stratos, there has been an ever-growing number of these particular types of anime lately (Bahamut a couple seasons ago, Hundred last season, and now this), but rather than trying to make a somewhat decent or interesting plot with actual likeable characters (at least Bahamut tried), the people behind Hundred and this simply seem to be trying to appeal more and more to the otaku crowd by dumbing things down to largely just pretty faces and/or bodies for a generic male lead (usually self-insert material) to do things with in one way or another, while minimalizing things like plot and characters because…oppai.

    Even more sadly, it tends to work…

    Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for ecchi and fan-service in anime if it’s executed well and tastefully (and you can have an interesting plot and/or likeable characters who aren’t merely pretty faces, attractive bodies, and check-listed tropes while still being heavily ecchi), but in this case, it just felt more tasteless compared to other similar ecchi series’, especially with Hida being encouraged by his sister, and actually listening to her, to essentially molest and sexually violate an unconscious girl he just met to show the ridiculous ecchi-related gimmick, and to top it all off, Aine will now most likely end up falling in love with Hida from this point on.

    All they would have had to do to completely change the way it came off for me would be if Aine woke up first, then both she and Hida would be told about how she could be given power, and then she (hesitantly) consented to letting Hida do those things, leading to the conclusion of the episode. That’s all. It would still be really stupid, but at least I wouldn’t have been bothered by it and could just watch with my brain turned off. Instead, the way it was executed turned me OFF rather than on.

    I didn’t continue watching Hundred merely because it didn’t really interest me much at all (nothing about the plot OR characters really drew me in), but this actually made me feel a bit disgusted with the way the last part of the episode went…am I the only one who ended up feeling this way…?

    HalfDemonInuyasha
    Reply

    1. What you’re saying reminds me of an aniblogger’s comment, who likened the current animanga fanbase in Japan to the US superhero comics industry of the 90s.

      “…a hardcore audience of fans which are increasingly pandered too, an unwillingness to step outside limited genre boundaries to try and find new audiences, as well as too many projects trying to do the same thing and win a share of that core demographic.
      So you get the situation that every season you have series with not only suspiciously similar stories, but suspiciously similar scenes…(But)in the short term, making yet another mediocre light novel adaptation makes good business sense: it’s a known market and nobody ever got fired for buying IBM.”

      zztop
      Reply

    2. @HalfDemonInuyasha

      Yeah, that bothered me too. Hence my assault comment. Not a great sign, all told.

      @zztop

      To be fair, IBM is still in the Fortune 500. The Fortune 50, actually—it’s 31, from what the interwebs just told me. Not that I don’t understand and agree with what yer saying, but IBM may be unfairly maligned.

      Stilts
      Reply

  6. There are times when a series is Ecchi but still somewhat decent with something passable as a plot that allows you to watch it for that with a side of Ecchi. Sadly this isn’t the case with this show

    Juan
    Reply

  7. Yeah… skipping this. I love boobs and ecchi… but you have to have something else as well. Some good battles, some DECENT mecha-suit designs, a badass MC… this has neither of those.

    DmonHiro
    Reply

      2. Hmm, that could be rather interesting to see… On one hand, they either have to cut it out or censor it to hell while on the other hand they could show it with a few minor tweaks here and there… Hell, if shinmai can pull it off to make the censored episodes more erotic then the actual uncensored episodes, i wouldn’t be suprised about it anymore 😛

        Unknown
        Reply

      3. A few anime actually have 18+ episodes. Explicit in nature, they are rarely (if ever)aired on TV. The ones I’ve seen are based on eroge though.

        ps. I haven’t seen this anime, so I don’t know if the mood fits cutting it off or using creative directing to make it more “palatable”.

        theirs
        Reply

  10. Utter trash, just like all the other clones before this. The sad thing is that as long as there’s demand for this genre in Japan, they’ll continue to put out shit like this every season.

    I really wonder who the target audience is. Besides teenage boys with raging pubertal hormones, I have no idea who else is appreciative of this kind of thing.

    ET
    Reply

  11. Generic, idiotic, not even “so bad it’s so good”, and more of the “useless MC which only purpose is to power up the girls by being a fapper wet dream”

    Why, Japan? WHY?!

    SeedStriker
    Reply

  12. Eh, at least this show seems to be honest about what it is instead of pretending to be the next must read/must watch of the bunch…
    I can appreciate that in a show when they are honest about it. Now if only they could get rid of those damn censors >.>
    I mean, the show is already blatanly honest about the ecchi with how the power-ups work and how the girls look after all so the censors are just a nuisance like in other ecchi shows.

    Unknown
    Reply

    1. To a point I agree with you, but Past Stilts would have agreed with you much more. I appreciate the honesty, and how the show wholeheartedly wants to do a fun thing even if critics don’t see it as “fine literature,” but is it too much to wish for more than just empty entertainment? Time is limited, and if it’s not going to be straight-up porn—which has other goals in mind—I would prefer that all my fiction try harder. There’s honesty and pulpy fun, and then there’s settling. Why is it okay to settle?

      To be clear, I have no problem with a good yarn. Not everything needs to have depth of meaning that challenges our perceptions of life to the very core. I would prefer that more stories at least try to challenge us, though, instead of remaining content to be the McDonalds of fiction—which might be doing McDonalds a disservice, to be honest.

      Stilts
      Reply

      1. True, and maybe the anime will get better over time ( haven’t read the LN’s yet so i don’t know if that is correct ) but if the source material doesn’t give it more depth, the anime studio’s usually have 2 options.
        Either stick to the source material and try to be honest about it, or change it to the point that it might tell a better story but in turn it tries to do too many things.
        In the case of ecchi shows, Maken-ki gives us a few nice examples for both options.
        With maken-ki, the first season followed the source material relatively close while the second season was mostly anime-original from what i remember (the source material was still a better read as it didn’t have that much fanservice last i read it though )
        The first season tried too hard to be something it wasn’t and the second one didn’t even try 😛

        While i do agree that more effort in stories would be nice, at the same time i’d prefer it if the story was at least honest about being the mcdonalds of fiction instead of trying to be like the next michelin restaurant.
        As for why it is okay to settle, some ecchi shows just have a slow start i guess? B Gata H Kei had a slow start but eventually turned out to be better than one would expect with that story premise (and she didn’t even get a single guy of the proposed 100 she wanted 😛 )

        Unknown
        Reply

      2. A slow start I can sympathize with. I very much worry that my own series might end up as one of those “The first few books are good, but it really heats up when you get to X!”, both because of my penchant for long, expansive/epic storytelling, and because first time authors get radically better in the first couple books. It might be that the author just wasn’t good enough to do better early on.

        I don’t think that explains this series, mind you. I just have sympathy for that situation.

        Stilts
        Reply

      3. Like i said, i don’t know if it indeed gets better further on in the LN’s but if your example is anything to go by, then the author might have gotten better over the course of the first few volumes?
        I am probably a bit biased as there are some great shows that just have a slow start but eventually turn out a lot better then expected.

        Unknown
        Reply

  13. Just dropping by that there are uncensored releases on the net thanks to AT-X
    Also, I actually enjoyed this because I have utter trash taste. It’s also good to help me recover from the pain of depressing shows, like DR3 and Fafner in the Azure

    bassgs435
    Reply

  14. I’m in a conflict here. I’ve read the light novels and my impression of the story is it’s downright generic ecchi harem tropes in full-swing. However, i’ve gotta admit my “son” down there is excited by the animation and the *ehem* sheer lewdness that i might actually watch this through to the end.

    AnimeFan
    Reply

  19. Just once, I’d like to see an ecchi series that has the guy actually get into what he’s doing. It’d make it so much tolerable rather than watching him go at it like he’s an unfeeling robot. Just sayin’

    Ryan Ashfyre
    Reply

    1. You might like DxD then, Issei usually gets into it whenever he is a pervert.
      After the first 2 seasons, just continue with the LN as the third season is rather bad…

      Unknown
      Reply

  20. this show isn’t the least bit funny, the action is complete and utter crap (i’m trying really hard not to swear), and there’s no romance whatsoever (unless you count the rapey groping scene). if the creators of this show just wanted fap material for loser otaku virgins, why didn’t they just make a hentai for f@#ks sake?! what really frustrates me though is that when you make an honest attempt to create a good story to go along your ecchi you end up with some really good stuff like dxd and prison school. unfortunately for this show, it is 100 miles away from being dxd or prison school. it will get 12-13 episodes, a couple of ovas and then that’s it, it will be totally forgotten.

    cookievalenz666
    Reply

  22. I really hate this nonsense so much. I mean, I can tolerate a fantasy fanservice show as much as the next person who isn’t the target audience, but this is just utterly ridiculous. There’s better porn and there’s better anime, who does this serve? The tits look like boulders I have had ENOUGH. Can these studios think with their bigger head and actually make shows worth watching. This is an insult to my and everyone else’s intelligence. STOP. STOP. STOOPPPPPP.

    sosbrigade1991
    Reply

  23. Why are people so angry at the simple fact that stuff they don’t like gets made?
    Nobody’s forcing you to watch this , you know
    Now stop acting like stuff like this shouldn’t even exist, because some of us actually like it (And there’s nothing objective about liking or disliking something)

    bassgs435
    Reply

    1. Not a bad point, to be honest. The feeling probably comes from a zero-sum assumption of “If this is getting made, the thing I like/a thing I might like isn’t.” This time is being wasted, in other words. Which isn’t necessarily true, but might be.

      I think of it like this. If someone is mad that something in a certain genre is getting made just because it’s in that genre, shaddup. That’s wrong. If they’re ticked off that something is getting made because it’s not very good, however, that’s another thing entirely.

      So if someone’s mad that ecchi shows are getting made, probably give it a rest. There’s a demand, it’s a free market, etc. If they’re mad that a bad ecchi show is getting made instead of a good ecchi show, however, that feels more valid.

      Though when it tips into getting mad unless the one property they love is getting made, that’s problematic again. It’s a world of grays.

      Stilts
      Reply

      1. @Stilts: That’s a good point – “zero sum game” though it’s not like there’s only a handful of anime shows each season (i.e. room for a lot of different genres). There is also flip side to this coin – how many true ecchi shows are there this season (2 maybe?) vs. how many boy band and idol shows (and not everyone likes idols and boy bands)?

        And YES, WITHIN a genre quality counts (or perceived quality since opinions will vary on what’s “good” and “not good”).

        daikama
        Reply

      2. So based on your logic, it´s a big shaddup to most of the people bashing the series here.

        One episode out of 10-something of anything is simply not enough to pass definite judgment. The “bad ecchi show” requirement cannot be possibly met yet.

        Those who continue to watch this will get the answers they want.

        The author did bother to give surprisingly reasonable explanations to most plot circumstances, including the reason why the MC readily agreed to molest an unconscious girl despite initially not wanting to.

        Show Spoiler ▼

        vand
        Reply

  24. As terrible as this show might be, i am actually more interested in how the technology and enemies work in that world…
    Normal weapons seem to be capable of killing those robots so why would you need those girls in their skimpy outfits besides the fanservice? Secondly, how do those suits actually got charged without our walking battery? Did they have a lot of yuri action for hours while our walking battery can fix them up in a few minutes? Get your mind in the gutter if you want 😛
    Oh and last, but not least, is that energy hybrid thingamadoodle supposed to be magic and if so, why not just use that magic to blow the enemies to smithereens?

    Oh and just a bit off topic, but is it just me or does the whole area seem rather similar to hundred? Same setting, same background, same appearances of city’s from the sky…

    Unknown
    Reply

  25. Eh, I don’t know here. I enjoy an ecchi series as part of my anime season watch, but this type of show where it pushes the boundary between ecchi (e.g. wardrobe malfunction, bath scenes) and straight up hentai tends to come across to me as just half-assed hentai (no pun intended :P).

    Frankly, the opening scene was more odd than anything “sexy” (and I watched the uncensored version) with ML acting like working on some faulty PC. “OK, got the new hard drive installed, loading OS… *looks at monitor* OS 64% uploaded… and done!”

    Maybe there’s plot to go with the PLOT. Don’t know. Also don’t know if I’m going to stick with this or not. Very borderline. Meh.

    daikama
    Reply

  26. Finally managed to watch this today after being stuck with a crappy subbed version that’s worse than the “DUWANG” scanlations of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable and more horrible than Horrible… I almost didn’t want to continue because it’s borderline hentai, but the crappy subs made me cringe more than the borderline hentai scenes (which were also censored, the f**k?!). Thank goodness better (and uncensored!) subs of this show are out now.

    Anyway, now that I’ve watched it properly, Masou Gakuen HxH looks like the unholy lovechild of Infinite Stratos and Shinmai Maou no Testament. (Heck, some of the enemy magitek mooks even resemble those Titan-like monsters in the second season of the latter series, for crying out loud.)

    Fortunately, Masou Gakuen HxH seems to be a pinch more interesting than the latter. Having Hisasi (also the illustrator from last season’s Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta) as the ilustrator for this series is also a plus.

    But based on what I’ve seen with other ecchi harem series before, it’s always easy for such shows to slide down the path of mediocrity (arguably, even good ecchi shows like High School DxD can fall into this trap–see season 3), to the disappointment of viewers who are passionately into this genre of anime.

    Well, I might watch this show from time to time, though with a certain degree of caution (lest I find myself in the throes of disappointment yet again). At least this is a better time-waster than the Wagamama Hi-Spec shorts (which were basically one big advertisement for the VN and whatever the hell KakoTama [sp?] is).

    Also (and going back to the topic of this show), what would happen if the male protagonist just decided to just screw it and go “all the way” (if you know what I mean…) with the girls?

    Incognito
    Reply

    1. Skimmed the LN’s a bit in search for that and what basically happens from what i’ve seen is that their powers fuse into one so that one of them gets a fusion of both powers while the other one is without for the duration of the fusion. The name for that is apparently a corruption Armament if they enter the climax hybrid thing.
      Still curious how they are going to animate that and what it will turn out to be.

      Unknown
      Reply

      1. Hmm, so does that apply only in the vanilla way (male protag x any of the girls with the Heart Hybrid Gear), or does a yuri pairing (girls that both have Heart Hybrid Gears) apply as well?

        Incognito
        Reply

      2. I honestly don’t know.
        While they do drop some hints about i being possible, the story so far never tries it and keeps the MC as the fuck toy for the girls to activate it.

        Unknown
        Reply

  28. The only reason why I’ll check out the next episode is that it’s available uncensored without having to wait for the blu-rays.
    Since the (real) plot seems to be bad, there’s no other reason to watch it.

    boingman
    Reply

  29. ….I think i’am gonna vomit…(BLERGH)

    I mean when i see this, Man I wish someone would adapting this…Soon, really!

    Bah…what else would expect from every light novel, yes…every light novel (including this) every Male MC is a Douche, Nonetheless. and I know anyone may never ever agree with me for this, but seriously they are…

    Just one thing…I don’t see anyone of you blogging Valkyrie Drive Mermaid, It’s a yuri/etchi…But again I can truly agree that it fails miserably. I guess I understand it…but hey i think it far more better than this…

    Namaewoinai
    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *