Eromanga Sensei / Final Impressions / First Impressions

「エロマンガフェスティバル」 (Eromanga Fesutibaru)
“Eromanga Festival”

I guess if you’re going to end something, might as well give the audience everything it wants and then some.

General Impressions

Instead of typically diving straight into the final impressions, let me talk a little about this week’s “finale” where I use the word “finale” extremely loosely since this was probably one of the weakest final episodes I’ve watched if you’re using the word in a traditional sense. There was zero closure, no sense that things have progressed at all (minus Sagiri at least opening her window), and most importantly no answers why Sagiri does that adorable dance in the opening sequence. Like, do the writers who adapted the story to our screens realize the huge trust issues they’re creating?

Jokes and small criticisms aside, I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy this week’s episode. Because when it came to showing me all the things that I loved about the show, I think it hit just about everything with an added bonus that the show somehow managed to sneak in a surprise penis that didn’t have to be censored. Like, getting to see Elf, Muramasa, Megumin, Ayame (Muramasa’s editor) and Tomoe was fantastic but it was probably the subject matter of it all that really enhanced all their appearances. Between sexy-twister and a famous piece of art dodging the mosaic treatment, it would have been amazing had every episode been like this.

Anyways, let’s dive into the final impressions!

Epilogue:

Final Impressions

Overall, I think Eromanga Sensei was an alright show. I had high expectations that it didn’t manage to live up to, but was definitely fire during its high points. Starting out strong by throwing us straight into the thick of things, I clearly remember being really invested into the characters and the story by the third episode. We had Megumin screaming about dicks, Elf being the girl we needed but didn’t deserve, and Sagiri serving as the final boss that I think we all knew would eventually win. Unfortunately, something happened after that third episode that brought the story to a crashing halt. With Masamune being as dense as a log and three (four technically but I’ll hit on that in a second) girls chasing after him, the middle part of the season felt a little off with any progress with any girl essentially meaning nothing. I mean, I can understand the story wanting to build a harem for Masamune to deal with, but if you know he’s set on Sagiri, I know he’s set on Sagiri, and all the Sagiri haters know he’s set on Sagiri, why would you devote so much time to not Sagiri which essentially also shafted Sagiri? Fast forward to the last two episodes where we actually got to see Sagiri and you have to wonder what the show runners had in mind when they thought sidelining the titular character would be a good idea. As the last “arc”, the few episodes that Sagiri got felt rushed and if we’re being honest a little half-assed. There are still so many unanswered questions that could have been used in a way to drive the story toward Sagiri and Masamune becoming closer but we instead got a time skip that leapt straight to Masamune’s novel being published and Sagiri acting a bit more like a normal person. And don’t even get me started on Tomoe who I thought could have been best girl had the anime not completely ignored her existence.

Like I said at the beginning of that giant paragraph though, overall I think the show was okay. I had a fun time watching it and even though it may not have been what was promised, there were a lot of great moments that I got to share with my friends as we bantered about who was our best girl and whether or not Sagiri would actually set foot outside before the show came to a close.

In any case, I hope you guys enjoyed the show (and the posts) and I’ll see you around the bend once the next season of anime starts! If you already haven’t, don’t forget to take a peek at our Season Preview for Summer and shout out your favorites (or shows that we should keep out eyes on).

See you later!

24 Comments

  3. looks like the manami tamura of this show is revealed… the “hidden” 4th girl. with this foreshadowing, and the original source still ongoing, i will not be surprised if this gets a second season in the future. nevertheless, this has been a good show, not the best just enough for good entertainment and fun… i have fun riding with them and will be back to watch should they make season 2 a reality

    so anyway basing on their characteristics not how they are drawn,:

    sagiri = kirino
    emily = kuroneko
    hana (muramasa) = ayase
    tomoe = manami
    megumi = kanako

    AGREE?

    Jeffers
    Reply

      1. yes they are different, but i beg to disagree that they are never absolutely the same not to pair. they are from the same author so definitely there are characteristics and some other factors like his writing style that will carry over from oreimo to eromanga. good example? sagiri and her IMOUTO factor the only thing changed is that, they are not blood related. (but hey, i read somewhere that kirino and kyousuke arent blood related either i think it was in the PSP game).

        Jeffers
        Reply

    3. I would’ve agreed had you used the term role instead of characteristics. Sagiri sure shares the same role as Kirino, that is the MC’s cute little sister. Hana’s & Emily’s roles are that sister’s different kind of friends just like Ayase & Kuroneko to Kirino.

      Characterwise, Sagiri is the exact opposite of Kirino except for the fact that they both love their respective big bro (and porn). Kirino is an outgoing person with many friends & fans while Sagiri is an introverted shut-in with just a few people she can interact directly with.

      Megumin is like a mix of a few different OreImo characters, but Kanako is not one of them. She’s so good at taking care of her younger sibling just like Kuroneko. She’s also very sociable at school like Ayase. As for her negative traits, they’re mostly similar to Kirino’s.

      Overall, only Emily is close enough to Kuroneko characterwise. Even then, they’re still very different.

      Ryuutobi
      Reply

  4. Thank you for the delicious Muramasa and Elf services. I wasn’t digging Muramasa at first, but now I am definitely liking her more now. Still on team Elf though!

    I wish our neighboring bookstore girl has more screen time though, want to learn more about her.

    Azalea23
    Reply

  5. Tomoe avoided sexy-twister. 🙁

    Overall I found this show a fun, laid-back ride. It was cute, good for a laugh and didn’t demand a lot out of you aside from a few cringy moments on Masamune’s part that were resolved quickly. Dunno if it was intentionally, but the drama was definitely dialed back compared to Oreimo, which both made it easier to get into and easier to see go.

    I’d definitely watch a second season.

    Aex
    Reply

  7. And you pretty much summed up my fears that I’ve brought up over the last few episodes – Sagiri being handed the win while putting in far less work for it than ones like Emily and Hana while also extremely lacking in both show and tell on Sagiri. If she’s going to be the main girl, then they need to make the viewers care about her and her situation. Get us to root for her to overcome whatever problems are causing her to remain cooped up so badly (worse than what we saw in the flashbacks). Don’t just make her look moe and do cute and/or quirky things as that isn’t actual character development, and it isn’t going to just make people forget about her situation. Yes, there are a lot of people who actually DO care about such things when it comes to anime.

    https://randomc.net/image/Eromanga%20Sensei/Eromanga%20Sensei%20-%2012%20-%20Large%2036.jpg

    Dat Fokker DR1 Triplane.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
    Reply

  8. might as well give the audience everything it wants and then some.

    Dicks?

    Jokes aside I think this sort of episode ultimately had to be expected since the episode that would make for a decent finale was used last week

    Arche
    Reply

  11. A different view of “Eromanga-sensei”. Yes she is a shut-in. But she have much self respect. Why i write this? Do you see how clean her room is? How does the cleaning? the Brother?

    Worldwidedepp
    Reply

  12. *sees that the last episode of Eromanga Sensei has aired*

    “And now my watch begins…” (Or so I’d say had I not started on that a week ago.)

    Thank Kuroneko’s cameo back in episode 8 (and again in episode 11) for making me reconsider watching this anime.

    Speaking of Kuroneko, if it’s true that the previous episode’s cameo of her, Kyousuke, Kirino, and Saori occurs after the end of OreImo, then it’s nice to see Kyousuke and Kuroneko still on good terms despite their breakup. (Any confirmation that OreImo and Eromanga Sensei really does take place in the same universe?)

    Currently at episode 5 (marathoning it and the rest of the episodes later), and while I’m glad to see that Sagiri is relatively less of a spiteful bi*ch than Kirino, I now wonder who’s more worse/annoying in hikkikomori-ness: Sagiri Izumi, or Umaru Doma (Himouto! Umaru-chan)?

    Also, I can no longer unhear Hans Zimmer’s “Hunger” whenever Megumi Jinno shows up. (You shouldn’t have summoned Dark Lord Chin Chin, Megumi…)

    Incognito
    Reply

  13. Oh well that was fun last episode although in typical harem fashion plot advances at glacial speed at best… hey, she is opening up, at least to the point of window-farewell.
    Bonus points for girls being so perverted yet at same time completely innocent (is it even possible in the age of internet?)
    And the show manages to give otaku a huge hint: go get your doujin you pervs!

    ewok40k
    Reply

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