First Impressions / Series Introduction / Snapshots

OP Sequence

OP: 「ユビキリ」 by 門脇舞以 and 沢城みゆき (Kadowaki Mai and Sawashiro Miyuki)
Watch the OP! Mirror 1, Mirror 2

Enter Ninomiya-kun – not your typical harem lead, as we find out from the get go that he’s better at kickin’ bear ass than Ikuto, has a crazy/hot onee-san who dresses like the chick from The Third, and is somehow the target of abuse from every other student at his school.

When I say abuse, much of it is in forms most of us could only dream of (or watch anime for…) – for starters, a group of girls have him tied up in the classroom and flash their panties at him, just cuz they like seeing his troubled face. Girl, I’ll show you any face you wanna see for treatment like that.

But no, Ninomiya is above all that schoolgirl stuff, so he dislocates his shoulder (!) and escapes. Then dives out the fifth story window, only to be attacked by members of every sports club, but apparently he’s tighter than all of them, cuz he schools them all. Anyways, he finally falls in some pit, but none of that matters cuz an army helicopter lands on the school grounds, dropping off a pink-haired F-cup chick wearing a frilly white dress, who promptly falls out of the helicopter, right on Ninomiya’s face.

See, with harem anime, everything is pretty similar up to this point. However, it’s also been ample time to realize that the animation isn’t so great, the voice acting doesn’t sound quite right, and there’s been very poor scene to scene flow so far. Most of the time I chalk this up to first episode weaknesses and hope it gets better later on, but the problems with this episode so far are systematic issues that indicate a problem with the show itself, and not the particular episode. Furthermore, we usually don’t see harem shows with spotty episodes until the third episode or so – this is the first 5 or 6 minutes of the first episode!

Anyways, apparently the impact of a perfectly formed tush on his face (is she a natural pink-head? He might be able to tell us), and not the 5 story fall, nor the dislocated shoulder, was enough to knock him unconscious, so we get some dreamstate flashback scene where chibi Ninomiya is gazing over chibi hot pink haired chick. Once again, this is nothing new and nothing objectionable, but the timing in which it was presented just felt odd. If shows like Mushishi and Seirei no Moribito are masters of storytelling, this one is all the way on the other end of the spectrum, sitting somewhere between… I dunno, Tonagura, and uh… Kono Aozora. Well, no, that’s being unfair to those shows, which are clearly superior.

He wakes up and sees this crazy sexual girl sleeping next to him… tries to cop a feel and decides not to (sigh). The chick wakes up and…

You know what, this is stupid. Here’s the abridged version: hot girl needs protection from Ninomiya because every man in the world wants to bang her. Even if she wasn’t emitting some crazy sex aura. Never mind that she’s wearing an incredible white dress and looks dumber and hornier than the chick from Girls Bravo and the one from Maburaho combined. Which, depending on what kind of show you’re looking for, is either a great thing, or a buzzkill. Well, it’s probably a good thing anyways. She’s really hot. And has nice ankles. Anyways, he takes her home, cuz apparently that’s the only safe place (smooth), and starts… cooking. She starts getting all guilty seeing the guy in the kitchen and offers to help…

At this point, the show can take one of two directions. She could either be some ace cook, which would raise her worthiness as an anime female back to acceptable levels, or she could be totally useless and clumsy in all facets of life except in looking hot, which she doesn’t even need to work out.

Ah, shame. Guess we can’t take her seriously, as she succeeds in instantly screwing up the sink (how the f*** do you mess up a sink???) and floods the entire kitchen. But really, can you stay mad at her… especially considering her nice white dress is now soaked (knowing, of course, that girls like this wear lacey pink panties to show off, and don’t wear bras just in case they ever got soaked).

Afterwards, Ninomiya almost molests her unconscious body again, his sister catches it on tape, then pink haired bimbo goes to take a bath, which we viewers are privy to. Naturally, she slips while getting out, causing Ninomiya to run in…

Yea, you’ve seen it before.


Spoiler-free summary and thoughts in a nutshell:
Super slick Ninomiya-kun is assigned to protect mega cutie who emits more sex pheromones than a drunk Japanese schoolgirl. Had its moments, but terrible animation, unconvincing voice acting, and a lack of overall flow make this show an utter failure. But then again, that’s like bagging on a kid with down syndrome trying to play tennis – at least he’s trying and having fun…

If you can look past its glaring weaknesses in production quality, it’s a pretty interesting show that provides some laughs and plentttyyy of fanservice.

Thoughts

How’s that for disappointment? Here I was thinking this show could take over the harem load from Nagasarete, and maybe the comedy load from Seto no Hanayome, but I was sorely mistaken. Brought to us by studio “AIC Spirits,” the guys responsible for such hits as Girls Bravo, Tenbatsu Angel Rabbie, and Burn-Up Scramble (what?), they seem to have tried to cut costs and take the low road in pushing this show out. Quite simply, they have cut and pasted scenes and situations from other generic harems, gave Miharu a boob job and more transparent clothes, all while throwing less animation production dollars at it. It’s cheap, in every sense of the word.

Sure, the show is likely to get more interesting as more characters show up, and the premise still seems halfway interesting (as soon as we find out what it is). However, as I mentioned above, the problems with this show are not the fixable kind – they are intrinsic weaknesses with the production in general. Not a single aspect of this show, whether it be animation, the script, the voice acting, nor the general direction seem to be average, with most things below well below average. Which isn’t to bag on the otherwise decent seiyuu cast – the pink haired bimbo is voiced by Kadowaki Mai, who did Enomoto in Haruhi (the girl who hired the SOS-dan to look for her loser computer club boyfriend), Hiyokokko in Tokimeki (the piyo piyo bird), and Chika in Kyou no 5-2, among others. Well, ok, maybe she’s not that popular. Melissa Mao is the Ninomiya onee-san, and uh, well, it’s not important. Most of the seiyuu are experienced but have never had any major roles, kinda like the rest of this show, and it really does show.

But anyways, if you’re just after some fanservice, this is some good eye candy. Unless a miracle happens next week and AIC turns in a KyoAni level production, this one isn’t getting blogged.

-jaalin

69 Comments

  23. i hope u continue to blog this. you guys need to blog more fanservice anime shows cus most of the good anime shows that doesnt have a lot of fanservice or none will most probably come to north america.

    f(_)ck
    Reply

  37. Will RandomC blog this show? Yes i know the animation doesnt do justice to the light novels, which is unbelievably a lot better than the anime, still I want to know if their adaptations of it are at least decent.

    X
    Reply

  38. nothing new…just a new ecchi maybe harem anime? You know…like I kinda noticed if the blogger says its not good, a lot of you guys agree with him…but when he says its good…you guys agree…

    Terry-Kun
    Reply

  39. yummy – another harem-alternative univers…but looks quite interesting..and after “Bustsize 0” Louise something pink with “life” again… when this thing has a love story wihtout a “sakura tree” or some “alien-sans” than this could be a 2nd maburaho…well reconsider it in 3 weeks 2 see which animes have a “good start”…

    anotheronebitestehdust
    Reply

  40. I don’t often jump to watch harem shows but for some reason (I don’t even know)I think I may check this out after all a little mindless entertainment isn’t a bad thing to watch every now and then …

    KLolita
    Reply

  41. Hmm, at first glance of the raw, the girl has some problem/magic power/whatever or is otherwise somehow special… when guys touch her, she glows purple and they faint. (Wha?)

    https://randomc.net/image/Ninomiya-kun/Ninomiya-kun%20-%20OP%20-%20Large%2003.jpg
    She appears to be running from a sea of boys. (Presumably horny ones, but who knows?) Not sure what the context is…

    https://randomc.net/image/Ninomiya-kun/Ninomiya-kun%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2012.jpg
    Male lead is tempted, but restrains himself. (Because nobody else can, it seems.)

    https://randomc.net/image/Ninomiya-kun/Ninomiya-kun%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2016.jpg
    Again, female is scared…

    https://randomc.net/image/Ninomiya-kun/Ninomiya-kun%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2017.jpg
    of these guys, who seem drawn to her like flies to a lamp… >.>

    I don’t get it, but, hey, why not? I think I’ll wait until I hear some story/see subs before making any decisions… yes, it’s fanservice, so the art isn’t exactly “sheer brilliance”, but… *shrugs*

    I don’t plan on showing it to any girls I know, though. 😀

    cbhl
    Reply

  43. Once again Jaalin’s take on a show is half-assed. People, I talk to him often online, just ignore his opinion and give the show a try yourself. If by episode 3 you don’t like it then you can call it quits.

    GP
    Reply

  52. fanservice fanservice….yes it is fanservice. It doesn’t have to be bad just because it has fanservice. What about the comedy part? I find it amusing and refreshing than similiar shows. Hey but thats me 😀

    semtex
    Reply

  53. By the looks of what I’ve seen, definitely needs a designover. Honeslty, this has a lot of potential to be a great anime series, now it’s all up to the way the animators do it. I just wish that they wouldn’t blatantly show oh, it’s obvious that he’s going with this girl… I mean, atleast make it a damn mystery like they did in Shuffle.

    Sora no Kaze
    Reply

  56. I don’t understand the premature hate, fanchicks don’t count since this is directed toward hormone filled guys who are lovers of fan service plot be damned.

    The graphics are not that bad, the review made it seem like it was along the lines of Starballz or anime fiction.

    When the guy is around the girl he isn’t the typical “spineless guy– need a strong babe to save me from me” type in a harem series

    Manta
    Reply

  58. I didn’t think it was a bad start for a series by any stretch. Have a solid male character who isn’t spineless nor a jerk. Actually dislocates his shoulder to get away from the sexual harassment and then gets finally taken out by a pit-fall trap. He’s just a good guy and nothing wrong there. Seems both him and Mayu have similar aspirations of falling in love with one person and living with said person.

    Cut away a little fanservice that a lot of times didn’t show a lot. And you have a simple romance story with a guy just trying help her out with her problems. No doubt we’ll have chaos and calamity ahead. Should be a solid show so hope people don’t give up without at least watching for a couple episodes.

    FlareKnight
    Reply

  59. yeh despite the harsh criticism of jaalin’s review, I rather like this one. It isn’t the best thing out there, but it’s not as “cheap” as it could be.

    Perhaps I just like the show’s fanservice/ridiculous plot, because it’s completely opposite of School Days. Like others are saying, the guy at least isn’t some spineless creep.

    off2bali2
    Reply

  60. Let’s not be to critical of Jaalin here, I mean he has helped create abitrary new terms completely from scratch. Like “Kyoani Level Production”, on the assumption that all of us agree on the same definition for such a term. I’m assuming he means more lens flares and double the slapstick comedy.

    That said I’m not saying this is an enthralling show, I just don’t see why Jaalin and others need to constantly bring up bloody “Kyoani Production” everytime he/they can’t think of specific ways in which a show could be better. I personally would prefer to be a little more descriptive than “It needs to turn into a Kyoani Level Production in order for me to continue watching”. Maybe something like a little more wit and a little less ecchi situations would help to boost the level of comedy in this show to make it stand out more.

    Kaioshin Sama
    Reply

  61. interesting point, but here’s the counterpoint
    this blog is jaalin’s and omni’s

    “Let’s not be to critical of Jaalin here, I mean he has helped create abitrary new terms completely from scratch. Like “Kyoani Level Production”, on the assumption that all of us agree on the same definition for such a term. I’m assuming he means more lens flares and double the slapstick comedy.”
    the thing is not all of us have to agree with the definition of such a term

    not matter how much concept of community discussion it has, its not the “make sure Jaalin conforms with Kaoshin’s opinion” blog, this blog is ultimately the jaalin/omni opinion hour, and that’s that. its not a peer review journal. its not a collective review board. You don’t have to agree, and your critical review is ultimately meaningless

    so whatever criteria they choose, together or separately, is pretty much what’s going to be written and expressed.
    you can take it with a grain of salt.
    you can disagree with it.
    but your disagreement does not change the nature of the blog and ultimately what views it will express.

    whats more baffling than anything else is why you would continue to read the blog when you constantly claim the authors of the blog express nothing but shallow “arbitrary” (as if there’s is any non-arbitrary opinion when it comes to anime fandom) statements and/or opinions.

    Anonymous
    Reply

  63. @meow
    So what? I really enjoy it. Perfect for half an hour of completely brainless entertainment and always good for a chuckle. And if you think of all other “hyped” shows this season (which most of just suck, but get blogged bc they’re a big deal), I must say Ninomiya-kun is in my top 5 favourites.

    Neara
    Reply

  64. It is enjoyable though. At episode 2, we see a plot beginning, episode 1 seems it was an introduction, a weird introduction… Anyways, yes, at some points animation is kinda short, even I noticed, and I don’t really care for animation. I don’t know what you’re talking about voice acting, it seemed fine for me. But I only care the most about the plot, so my opinion isn’t shared with most anime fans. Script was also pretty good. Maybe episode 1 was a bit short, but hey, I’m not running this blog, so I’ll just watch it instead.

    Kev015
    Reply

  68. “he takes her home, cuz apparently that’s the only safe place (smooth)”

    hahaha that was funny..

    ive already seen this one i thought it was very good…. another pink haired girl :L, u gotta love em
    miharu from Girls Bravo, Yuna from Maburaho, Louise from Zero no Tsukaima.. ahh ad another pink haired love notch to my heart…

    (flutters away)

    75
    Reply

Leave a Reply

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