Eromanga Sensei / First Impressions / Series Introduction

「妹と開かずの間」 (Imouto to Akazu no Ma)
“My Little Sister and The Sealed Room”

Man, everything I’ve been covering thus far has just been getting better and better and I think I’ve hit the peak with Eromanga-sensei. Erm, I mean I don’t know anyone by that name.

General Impressions

I 100% absolutely loved everything about Eromanga-sensei. Having previewed this show for the Season Preview, I had some pretty high hopes since the manga was just oozing with charm. Starting with the obvious duo of Masamune and Sagiri, or Izumi-sensei and Egomanga-sensei, there are so many good things to talk about that I could probably fill this entire post with a detailed analysis of the pair’s personalities as well as their interactions with one another (probably). But lieu of that, let me talk about a few things that I really enjoyed watching.

Starting with the former, I was so happy to see that Masamune wasn’t your typical dense male lead that doesn’t have the courage to do anything and lets the younger sister get away with everything. Sure, you could make an argument that letting anyone be a hikikomori for over a year might be letting someone get away literally everything, but based on the unique set of circumstances around why Masamune would let Sagiri be like that, I think we can let it slide. Brushing that one aside, I for one can appreciate Masamune wanting to do his best for his only remaining family member. As the “man” of the house and more importantly the Older Brother, how can you not be rooting for a guy that’s been trying so hard to make things work with his little sister? Also, I really enjoy knowing that Masamune isn’t the type of guy who’ll let little setbacks screw up his confidence. Using the scene where Sagiri was questioning whether or not they were actually family or not, I nearly broke out in tears of manliness watching Masamune handle it like a boss. Last but not least, I LOVE how animated this guy gets when his emotions are showing.

Jumping over to Sagiri, I’m glad she isn’t the bratty little girl I was afraid she was going to be. Seeing how we have a bit more information about why she’s stuck in her room all the time and the fact that she’s probably been making pretty good money between streaming her art online as well as producing art for actual publishing companies, it’s tough to really criticize her. If anything, I suppose me calling her a hikikomori may be a bit harsh and instead I should be saying she’s someone who just prefers to be alone. Getting back on topic, I think what I found the most appealing about Sagiri is probably just how conflicted I was thinking about whether or not I actually found her character appealing. Which might sound kind of weird, but I think is actually a good thing when it comes to what the story can do with her character. I guess if I were to try to concisely describe it, it was like we actually got to see her as our little sister who you wouldn’t have any type of concrete feelings for.

Overall, I think that Eromanga-sensei has a lot going for it and has more than proven itself with this first episode. With tons of other things to build on from here ranging from both the home life side as well as the professional working side, I can’t see there being any shortage of material for the story to work with. Anyways, I’ll cut things off here and see what you guys have to say in the comments.

OP Sequence

OP: 「ヒトリゴト」 (Hitorigoto) by ClariS

End Card

31 Comments

  1. Don’t let the fact that the author of this series is the author of Oreimo discourages you. This series has similar elements with Oreimo, but it does enough things different to differentiate, and the things that are similar, it does them much better, both in term of characters and plot wise. Like TAKAII said, this shows is oozing with charm and people should check it out XDD

    P/s: Not sure how the ending of this series will be, but since the parents are dead, we can reassure that the b/s ending of Oreimo will not resurface. I have never been more glad for the protagonists of a series to be orphans more than in this series (that sounds a bit mean, now that I think about it) XDD

    Olghag
    Reply

    4. I’ve read a bit of the manga, but I felt the characters were moving along in their relationships a bit too quickly (Especially a certain genki girl), and to begin with I’m not a big fan of incest at all, fictional or otherwise, which was why I dropped oreimo fairly early.

      SerRompalot
      Reply

  2. I did not like this for one reason. The sister(and probably the brother) need professional mental help.
    The fact that anything going on in this show is considered ok is just another example of how badly japan handles mental health issues. Your parents die and you are left with someone who isnt even an adult and you dont leave your room for a year. That is serious neglect and in most of the world would require government intervention. I know I just said like a pedantic fun ruiner. But a child losing there parents and not getting adult help is not ok.

    Ishkander
    Reply

    2. While I’m willing to overlook it in general this time, I do see and understand what you mean.

      I felt similarly towards Ako in “Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta?” and one moment, from what I recall others talking about anyway, really showed that Ako was just not right in the head and needed such professional help.

      Show Spoiler ▼

      HalfDemonInuyasha
      Reply

    3. Probably way better than the US foster system where abuse is rampant and siblings often separated.
      Or the Orphanages of other countries.
      Love to hear about a country that does it right. Right now I think giving the kids funds and leaving them alone is better than a lot of governments do.

      Of course after reading Peter the Great’s history and learning from 7 on he had complete freedom to do almost anything he wanted, a huge number of noble and rich sons to be his followers, and a massive budget. He could have just goofed off but ended up arranging a good education for himself, except subjects like writing he did not like. Peter’s playing at military training with his friends ended up creating the first two guard regiments. HIs enemy the King of Sweden somewhat similar, kids can be a lot more mature than you think they are.

      RedRocket
      Reply

  3. Good summary. I went into this series blind, pretty much with a vague plot summary given to me by a friend who wholeheartedly recommended me this with intent that I’d trash it. Pretty unfair start in my eyes, but it’s a charming little show with standard gag/slapstick humor and a way out there plot synopsis. I did a little write up as well about Eromanga-Sensei where I pretty much ragged on it for the reasons Ishkander gave (well not exactly, but I did provide a different insight on what the show actually seems like!), but I’m not one to just prematurely drop an anime because it’s a bit schlocky. That would make me a hypocrite because I suffered through 26 episodes of the Devil Survivor anime.

    A big ol’ thumbsup emoji for you, my man.

    Prinny
    Reply

    1. Thanks for reading the post!

      Yeah, I didn’t want to dive into that since I don’t think I’m all that qualified to speak about it as well as it would be a big downer.

      That said, it looks like things are on the up-and-up from here!

      Takaii
      Reply

  4. I said Hinako Note is my 50% partial replacement for kanna kamui weekly dose… This anime is the another 50%… Damn Sagiri is quite a kawaii imouto. I wouldnt mind someone cute as her whispering to my ears everyday

    Jeffers
    Reply

  5. Yeah Takaii I’m also worried about shortage of source material. Even though I totally won’t mind multiple seasons to reach any ending. I liked Oreimo so I hope this one will be better.

    This show’s got #toomanytsukkomis to get into me at this point, as I also reacted greatly to how close-in Sagiri is and how much reaction Masamune is giving up till this point. Can’t wait to see what happens or if Sagiri ever gets out of the house or whatever haha

    (Damn if I’m an illustrator and I can use a selfie of my butt to draw my own work. And you bet I’ve been pausing the show and reading all the comments on that livestream haha)

    Kaineng
    Reply

  6. I didn’t like this for the same reason that I didn’t like Oreimo (at least from the episodes I saw):
    These two characters, their situation and their interactions all feel very fake to me. Between the brother just being the most tolerant high schooler I’ve seen in my life to the sister still looking like a porcelain doll in a well-kept room, despite having been a shut-in for a year. I’ll try until episode three, regardless.

    Crook
    Reply

  10. In my opinion, Eromanga Sensei is an upgrade from Oreimo. The characters are decent, interesting Oreimo-style writing, and no incest worries since they’re not blood related.
    I’ll probably keep this on my weekly watch-list for now. 🙂

    Seorori
    Reply

  11. Damnit Takaii, forcing me to watch a new series because of your first impression.

    …
    /jk

    …The room layout in the Izumi residence in Eromanga-sensei is humoringly identical to the Kousaka household in Oreimo…

    Also, their parents not being here should be Sagiri’s reason for not wanting to leave her room (guilty conscience?) as well as a plot point…

    Still, this anime got me good. Sticky-ed.

    ps. It looks like several of Kirino’s plushes migrated over…
    https://randomc.net/image/Eromanga%20Sensei/Eromanga%20Sensei%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2035.jpg

    info600
    Reply

      1. Congratulations, you have convince me. I was fairly interested in this siries but ever since oreimo broke my heart years I swore to never watch an adaptation of the work of same author but this first episode was amazing and your review convince me of giving this series a shot ans watch the whole thing.

        haseo0408
        Reply

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