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「パンツを落としたシンデレラ!?」 (Pantsu o Otoshita Cinderella!?)
“Cinderella Dropped Her Panties”
The first episode of Kawaikereba Hentai demo Suki ni Natte Kuremasu ka came at me in such a surprising way. Although it seemed like it would be your standard fluffy harem anime, the framework and presentation of the first episode at the very least left a positive inkling in my mind. The notion that it would effectively pull off its central premise with a level of wit, shrewdness, and polish was all the more realistic coming away from Episode 01.
It was surprising in particular to see how it pulled off the mystery behind the identity of the series’ Cinderella. To set the scene, the episode revolves around
Kiryuu Keiki (Shimono Hiro), a member of his school’s Shodo Club, who discovers the answer to his prayers for a beautiful girl in the form of a love letter. However, the mystery sender also included their panties with the letter, fueling Keiki’s on-going quest to find out who the girl may be. Usually, with this kind of anime, it’s a no-brainer to see who the mystery girl is from a mile away. With a rewatch, it’s easier to telegraph, but upon first glance, the first episode does a great job at giving everyone an equal playing field. There is enough subterfuge throughout the episode that there are at lease.
Fellow club members such as Koga Yurika (Hidaka Rina) and Mao Nanjo (Nomizu Iori) have ample time they spend with Keiki that could raise suspicion of them being this episode’s Cinderella. Before Keiki hones in on who it could be, Nanjo seemed like a likely choice given how much time they spend with each other in the episode. Even his best guy friend has a moment where it may seem like it could be him given his animosity for his female admirers. But the true identity of Cinderella is Tokihara Sayuki (Taketatsu Ayana), the president of the Shodo Club who had fallen in love with him around the time that she made enough of an impression on him to join her club and allow it to continue. Around the middle of the episode, I assumed that the show would end up keeping the identity of Cinderella a mystery that will linger until the end of the story when she would come out and reveal herself only after he’s gotten to know her on a deeper level. And because each of the girls would eventually have something perverted about them, it would get more and more challenging to figure out who she is.
But with the title in mind, they would have to jump into the meat & potatoes of the anime itself and give us some ecchi hijinks with our perverted leading lady. So within the last moments of the episode, our otherwise strict and composed image of Sayuki is flipped on its head when she takes off her shirt, revealing a dog collar she’s wearing as she begs Keiki to make her his pet. It’s slightly reminiscent of Shobitch, the anime where a boy discovers his girlfriend is both a virgin and a full-blown pervert. The anime’s approach to just how far she would go did feel like a cheap copout to the notion of her being perverse when the virgin aspects of her are also overtly fetishized to the point where it felt like a caffeine-free Rockstar energy, retaining the same sordid flavor without the bite that would give its existence meaning.
But while Shobitch revelled in the cheap, tacky veneer of its premise, Kawaikereba Hentai shows promise by presenting itself with a crisper artstyle and leaving the reveal of Sayuki’s perverseness at the very end. Rarely does the anime outwardly thrust ecchi and sleaze in front of the camera, giving a far more nuanced and tasteful way of delivering fanservice to us. This could definitely be proven wrong when we see more of Sayuri’s antics, but given how restrained the show has been on its very first impression, there is a positive feeling that it won’t be the type of anime that is derailed by its ecchi. The Cinderella mystery may be gone, but with the quality of the artwork and how the anime aimed to be subtle with its first episode, highlighting character relationships over T&A, there are reasons to believe that Kawaikereba Hentai could possibly give us both substance and titillation. Time will tell what Sayuki’s reveal will mean for Keiki’s interest in continuing their relationship further or the other girls of the Shodo Club who may want to make an attempt to win Keiki’s heart. But for now, it’ll be exciting to see what Kawaikereba Hentai will deliver within its next episodes.
ED Sequence
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ED: 「無謬の花」 (Mubyuu no Hana) by Mia Regina
Not familiar with the source material, but the “Cinderella” probably hasn’t been found yet, especially since what the MC thinks is the secret (the letter/panties) isn’t what Sayuki thinks he is talking about, but rather her secret of being into “pet play”. We still have other female characters who have who-knows-what fetish to reveal, so the panty-letter could be from any of them… or all of them.
Honestly, this is boring as a “rom com”, but could work if they emphasize the ridiculousness of the various paraphilias and how the girls showing their “love” end up putting the MC into awkward situations.
I’m with you on this. As yet, the bones tell me nothing.
I liked how the characters all played everything straight, for example Sayuki in the scene with Vegetarian. And it was kind of fun how Keiki ran out to follow Mao’s suggestion for dealing with skittish women, and how earnestly he speaks of his feelings for Sayuki after having discovered her secret… and then that last scene. It’s a pretty good start although I hope they don’t spend an entire episode on each prospective Cinderella.
Better than I expected. Like you said, the different interactions he had with the heroines while trying to find Cinderella were interesting. And as LoliHat said, I think Cinderella has yet to be found.
I’ll be watching this, but I’m checking my expectations because of the title of next episode… which seems to confirm what I suspect–now that one of the heroines has been so direct with him, he’s going to start waffling about willingness to be with her, and this will probably repeat with all the heroines (the kouhai looks like she’ll be an S). Still, even if it’s formulaic, this could be fun, since the writing is solid.
https://randomc.net/image/Kawaikereba%20Hentai%20demo%20Suki%20ni%20Natte%20Kuremasu%20ka/Kawaikereba%20Hentai%20demo%20Suki%20ni%20Natte%20Kuremasu%20ka%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2033.jpg
Despite the excitement for this season’s ecchi rom-com series, I still had to brace myself for the awkward feeling of hearing Ayana Taketatsu’s voice in an ecchi series after her recent marriage to Yuuki Kaji. (That being said, may the Issei x Koneko ship sail true IRL. o7)
Anyway, HenSuki‘s giving me flashbacks of Ichigo 100% (an already ecchi rom-com/harem series that also involves panties as a plot-driver for the main character), but this time with more pervy fetishes thrown in the mix and cranked up to eleven(?)–though not so much in this episode considering the characters are still being introduced.
And with the reveal that Sayuki wants to be Keiki’s pet… Ummm… It’s probably bad that I’m finding that reveal relatively tame compared to what KonoSuba‘s Darkness (a.k.a.: “Lalatina”) is willing to go through. (She’s also funnier to watch as well.) I guess it’s down to this show leaning more toward romance instead of comedy(?), but I’m still hoping HenSuki has solid comedic moments in the next two episodes.
Speaking of Shobitch, I’ve been meaning to watch that show for a while but never managed to start it (some subtitle errors in the initial release kinda put me off). Is the comedy of that series similar (if not better) than HenSuki?
This remindsme of Ichigo 100%, and for some reason i think is going to be the same shitty ending
“But the true identity of Cinderella is Tokihara Saiyuki …”
Maybe not: When Keiki mentions taking a shower, his sister brushes her skirt nervously. When he finds the letter, it seems someone is hiding in the left locker. The lurker could leave while he talks to his friend with the cards. Buddy’s comment about the gesture being childish is suggestive. Cooking dinner and dropping the chopsticks when Keiki asks who was last to leave the club room, shows some nerves … a bread crumb trail toward Cinderella-imouto. Keiki’s normal healthy lack of interest in his sister is a nice touch and distraction away from it being her. While the semppai, classmate and kouhai all seem receptive, they probably didn’t leave the letter. I suspect his search for Cinderella will be the catalyst to spark each of their interests in turn.
Ahem, Masochist sempai is best girl in the series.