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「空間閉鎖(プリズンロック)と王立図書館検察官(グリモワールセキュリティ)」 (Kuukan Heisa (Purizunrokku) to Ouritsu Toshokan Kensatsukan (Gurimowaarusekyuriti))
“Prison Lock and Grimoire Security”
Arin is on the attack, in more ways than one.
Arin’s Danna-sama
I sympathize with the harem author; it’s hard to get your girls to quickly fall for the male lead when you don’t want to spend the time to make them fall for him organically. Original creator Saitou Kenji has done a decent job of this; Lilith going all tsundere for this guy she just met is suspect, but Selina Sherlock (Suzaki Aya) being interested in him for the story and Levi for the lulz are good reasons for them to be hanging around. Arin glomming onto Arata because she’s going to be the demon lord’s wife is borderline, but good enough. She hasn’t fallen for him yet, but the convenient “destiny” angle does smack of contrivance … though isn’t that the author’s prerogative? Sure, it’s convenient that she has this reason to follow around Arata, but it works well enough for me. Plus, it’s good for something very important…
Arin Boke, Arata Tsukkomi
The boke (trope!) is Arata’s natural role, so while my first instinct was, upon seeming him flip to the tsukkomi when Arin was around, was “Nooo, don’t be a typical male harem lead!” But then they called it out, and went so far as to leave the Headmaster on the ground and go find a tsukkomi (well done, Lilith-sensei!) so Arata could go back to being a goof. I’ve a soft spot for self-aware comedy, so that struck all the right notes for me. More than that though, Arin’s wife act is funny simply because of the shit she gets up to. From asking what kind of bride her prefers (the really young bride, of course) to asking about sex before marriage and cheating, she’s ecchi-hilarious. I can’t help but think her “This is pretty difficult” line is going to wear thin, but until it does, I’m all on board the Arin train.
A Bizarrely Appealing Sight
Arata continues to be perverted without descending into such abject perversion as to become indefensible as anything but a shameless pervert. For example: when the girls first mentioned how there was no toilet, I can’t help but imagine Issei being immediately excited. Arata? “I won’t say anything.” He also was never excited about the, ahem, act the girls were trying to avoid, but their reactions as they tried to avoid it. Me, I’ve never really gotten the whole pee-fetish. More power to you if that’s your thing, but it’s not for me. But a bizarrely appealing sight … yeah, I can see that.
More than that, I would have been irked if it was just Lilith-sensei, but when Levi admitted that she was in trouble too, and then hypnotized Selina (somehow) into the same predicament, I couldn’t resist! Over-the-top is the way to do it. It can even make a pee joke funny.
Lighting the Arata Bomb
First of all, that $@^&% cliffhanger, am I right? Of course, the preview lets us know Arata will be all right—along with the fact that the series is set to continue for more than two episodes—but right there at the critical moment, they cut out. Gah!
It looks like what we have here are amoral mages. Not immoral, amoral—the morality of what they do doesn’t matter, as long as they get to further their research. Arin is willing to let the school—perhaps even the world—dissolve, just to see what’s on the other side. I’ve got to admit that I don’t find that compelling so much as it could lead to interesting situations. Ditto with how much power Arata holds. Once again, convenient—why wasn’t there a sign of this before? (Or maybe there was. I can imagine Hijiri had the codex and was sticking to Arata to restrain his power. Did I just spoil something? I don’t know, I’m guessing.) It’s still mostly the comedy and the quirky personalities that are drawing me to this show, not the serious plot. Yet.
Looking Ahead
New characters Yamana Mira (Hikasa Yoko) and Fudou Akio (Yuzuki Ryoka) are sure to factor in more next time, and—wait, swimsuits? Already? WOOHOO!
Trinity Seven has been picked up for weekly coverage.
tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – Arin is to be the demon lord’s wife, but first she wants to see his power … with potentially disastrous results #trinity7 02
Random thoughts:
- So far, Levi is my favorite. Her teaming up with Arata to tease Lilith is the best. They’re nothing without Lilith though—she’s the tsundere tsukkomi that makes the rest of them work.
- Why do I think that grope fall was on purpose? (Because that’s what I would do.)
- “What good would it do to freak out over it?” I like Arata’s attitude. Amusingly enough, Nanatsu no Taizai’s male lead shares that same attitude, and both shows refer to the seven deadly sins. Nanatsu no Taizai is a good show, if you haven’t checked it out yet.
- I think Arin was okay with Arata flirting with another woman in front of her. Her ahoge was dancing! (Or maybe that just meant she was telling a joke.)
Check out my blog about storytelling and the novel I’m writing at stiltsoutloud.com. The last four posts: From me to you, The glorious unburdening of less, Rape fiction, and Five movies on a plane. For book updates, sign up for my mailing list.
Full-length images: 08, 10, 15, 17, 19, 23, 31, 34, 39, 40.
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the ninja and him are funny when they interact with either other.
What happened to RandomC?
I feel like there is a ton of really interesting anime coming out this fall, but somehow you guys chose to mostly cover the weaker offerings.
I know you guys are short staffed this season, but it bums me out. I like this site…
As long as I’m complaining, you guys should do more podcasts too!
I actually think they cover all the interesting ones. I think it is better they cover the ones you think WEAKER ones as sometimes they will surprise you that they are good.
You’re opinions are your own, of course. And I’ll admit there are some shows we didn’t get to intro due to time constraints at the beginning of the season, which kinda sucked—I enjoyed the first episode of Shingeki no Bahamut GENESIS, for instance. I’ve also been thinking that I zero in on shows I’m excited about too early and don’t leave enough room for serendipity , which is something I may watch out for more next season.
But I also felt like blogging a goofy harem show, so that’s what I’m going to do!
We’ll have more even coverage next season when three of our writers aren’t on break. Please bear with us. We don’t get paid to do this. We’re just doing the best we can.
Oh, and the podcasts should be back shortly. Had to miss one due to everyone being hyper busy, but we should be back to having one every 3-4 weeks as usual.
Let see, Trinity Seven, Akame ga Kill, Fate Unlimited Blade Works, Log Horizon 2, Psycho Pass 2, Amagi Brilliant Park…
Yep, all the good shows are covered by RC. Dont know what bizarro world RC website you’re reading.
Stiiiilts. You’re not doing your infamous reputation any good by picking up this series, you know.
(Also I was hoping you’d pick up one of the things I’m actually watching.) 🙁
Shouldn’t he be free to choose what he wants to blog and watch? And also does he really need to protect his reputation ?
Setting aside the fact that you chose to comment on a series that, one can infer, you’re not “actually watching” simply for the sake of complaining about it being followed by people who aren’t you; last time I checked, it wasn’t up to us – the commentators – to decide what series are and aren’t followed.
*pokes* I wasn’t talking to either of you. I was talking to “the ecchi blogger” who has picked up yet another series that will cause people to refer to him by that title. Secondly, I was reading this review because sometimes there are shows that don’t immediately catch my eye that later turn out to be interesting enough to pick up. Sadly, this one hasn’t done so yet, at least not enough to overcome the premise of “girl dies in the beginning,” as that is a major turn-off for me. And thirdly, Stilts is one of my favorite bloggers here, so I tend to hope that the things he covers will be the things I am watching, so I can see how he reacts to what I’ve watched.
Lastly, if you folks want to pig-pile on someone, why not gang up on the guy who accused the whole site of just choosing weak shows, rather than the guy who was just teasing the reviewer about how he’s sabotaging his own denial of being the ecchi blogger?
But, of course since the teasing wasn’t intended for you people, and it seems like you have no senses of humor, you’re just going to downvote these comments into oblivion rather than care about the actual meaning of the messages. :/
@Wanderer:
Obviously, as I’m not Stilts, I’m in no position whatsoever to speak for him, therefore anything I say is purely my own opinion on the matter and nothing else.
Just getting that out there.
Moving on…
>] “But, of course since the teasing wasn’t intended for you people, and it seems like you have no senses of humor, you’re just going to downvote these comments into oblivion rather than care about the actual meaning of the messages. :/”
With all respect, you do yourself no favors in the hopes of people “caring about the actual meaning of the messages” when you try and paint yourself as some kind of a victim. Just sayin’
That being said, just so we’re clear, the reason I downvoted you was because, IMHO, you made a blatantly stupid comment on a matter (a blogger’s choice as to what show he/she chooses to follow) that doesn’t concern you.
In addition to that, now that you’re being called out on it, it seems as though you’re trying to backtrack and even attempting to shift the focus onto someone else, as you yourself made painfully clear in this comment:
“Lastly, if you folks want to pig-pile on someone, why not gang up on the guy who accused the whole site of just choosing weak shows, rather than the guy who was just teasing the reviewer about how he’s sabotaging his own denial of being the ecchi blogger?”
To be fair of course, maskedmecha’s comment was, IMHO, a bit rude, however he (or she, possibly. I dunno *shrug*) didn’t go out of the way to drag a person’s personal reputation into it as though it were any of their business. You, on the other hand, did, and that is why I chose to respond to you in the way that I did.
That’s all I have to say on the matter, period. Have a good night.
…You have an astounding level of misunderstanding going on here. I would ask if you were new here, but I’ve seen your name around before.
ANY time Stilts comments on any show that has any ecchi content, someone teases him about being the ecchi blogger. It is tradition. Actively picking up a harem anime was just asking for it on his part, and I would be absolutely shocked if he didn’t expect someone to say something. I was following the tradition, but attempting to phrase it in a way that made it sound more like I was trying to be helpful by warning him, rather than actually accusing him of being the ecchi blogger outright. I have no idea how well that went over, since you folks jumped on me before he could respond, so the whole thing has been ruined before it could begin. Perhaps I should have phrased it better, but it is his interpretation of what I said that will decide that, not yours.
My reactions to you are because I am angry that someone who said something clearly insulting was mostly being ignored while I was being attacked for following what is essentially a Random Curiosity inside joke. You can call it trying to shift the attention: I was simply saying what I thought as I was responding. “Why am I getting jumped on for something that is always said, and isn’t even an insult, when someone who said something that is plainly rude is being ignored?”
You may choose to wander off in silence and ignorance if you wish. However, abandoning the conversation does not make you right.
Chill, chill Ryan Ashfyre. I appreciate it, but I know Wanderer well enough to immediately know he was poking fun at me. He loves poking fun at my tsundere ecchi blogger routine, lol (which I’m not above doing myself … see my edit note on the fall schedule).
Sometimes comments rub the wrong way, especially in text when there are no non-verbal cues to lean on. No biggie, make up ya’ll.
As for blogging stuff you’re watching Wanderer, I’m watching flippin’ everything, so you’ll probably hear some thoughts from me on the monthly impressions! And we’ll have a podcast in a week or two, so maybe there as well.
Sooner or later these kids will understand that Trinity Seven is just another generic harem anime with nothing to offer aside from fan service.
Well poor you, too old to watch. It’s good to be a kid enjoying these PLOTS.
Plot? Oh, you mean boobs and panties? Sure. Ironically I got flamed and dog piled as well when I claimed that Mahouka was gonna be a massive flop, which it was. Someday humanity will grow to understand that that “Boobs is not Plot”.
Heretic! Invoke computer shutdown on Spoilerino!
you know, I am actually surprised a lot of people liked this series. I watched it and read up to ch.10 of the manga but it has not piqued my interest yet. Weird since I mostly like harems+magical stuff even if they tend to go awful (Tsukaima and Shana).
IMO, the only saving grace the series has is the protag. He is a level headed pervert and I like his dialogue.
Maybe I find Arin’s amoral personality so compelling is due to the fact that Dark Mages/Druids happen to be my favorite classes in the Fire Emblem Franchise, and most of them have that mind set. “I don’t really care what happens as long as I can further my research”…plus the fact that she does remind me of a dark mage.
Either ways, I got to say their faces really do crack me up sometimes. Like if any of you noticed the three girls expressions as they escaped the room to run to the bathroom.
eh…compelling was the wrong word, I just find her personality moreso interesting.
You’re terrible, Stilts
Lol, I actually decided to pick it up independent of the preview. Didn’t think of how that sounded reading one and then the other XD Made me laugh, lol
You know, I think Stilts-senpai should change his avatar to that of Hyoudou Issei.
Its hard to imagine Rudy going all ecchi-fan =3
They’re doing a perfect adaptation so far. I’m reading the manga (ch 3-4) alongside the episode, and pretty much everything is there. 😀
Mayhaps it’s just ’cause I’ve been following the manga, but I like Arata being called the “Magic King Candidate” instead of this whole “Demon King” schtick they’ve got going on. Goodness knows that’s been overused, interpreted every which way, spat on and regurgitated to the point that it’s not even funny.
Just sayin’
ANYHOW, Show Spoiler ▼
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Good review Stilts 😀
I like Arata and all the girls so far. I like how all the characters are likeable so far and no annoying characters in sight~
Hmmm.. a moment of needing to go to the toilet… =w=
I’ve been interested in Yamana Mira since I first saw her character design. Turns out she is pretty bad ass being able to halt the breakdown phenomenon. I thought it was a really cool way to show case how Levi had described Mira’s potential from the first episode.
Of course, Levi herself is so much fun to watch.
Glad you decided to cover this Stilts!
The whole ‘need a toilet’ thing reminded me of Hagure Yuusha no Esthetica.
Arin’s my favourite girl so far, she’s just too funny.
Let’s not remember Hagure Yuusha no Esthetica too much, lol. That one went too far (in my opinion), to the point I was rolling my eyes. This one treats the jokes and service with a lighter touch, and more character-focused too (so far). Much better way to go about it IMO.
Is it just me or Arin looks like Origami, from Date a Live, in terms of personality? :p
That moment when she was about to pee in front of him(?), was just Tobiichi Origami all the way xD
This is definitely my favorite harem of all time. Arata’s reactions to most situations definitely feel fresh. Levi’s personality translated extremely well over into the anime. I’ve been following this manga since week one of it being translated, so the anime was on my must watch list. The best of this series is definitely yet to come!
Damnit Stilts, don’t drag me in too!
And it has some nice pacing (to me) as well.
ie. Something for me to watch on a (otherwise empty) Tuesday…
I think my favorite character is also Levi, especially since we went so far as to hypnotize Selina, that was irresistibly funny and unexpected.
Some days it must feels good to be the ecchi blogger. Welcome back to the light, Stilts 😛
So, basically, this show is (early) Negima mixed with Seitokai Yakuindomo, making it prime guilty pleasure material.
I in all likelihood shouldn’t like this show, but hug me if I didn’t laugh out loud a bunch of times this episode. Seems like the show knows exactly what it is, doesn’t give a damn and just rolls with it as far as humanly possible. Looking forward to see where it all goes.
That’s a good way to put it. It might also explain why I was so excited for it coming into the season … Negima is one of my all-time favorite manga.
Dropped this show after watching 1st Episode. Inou Battle is MUCH better in terms of comedy, harem-building & entertainment value. This show didnt strike me the way other harem shows this season have.
Then what’s the point in posting this here if you don’t even watch this episode -_-
Although I agree that Inou Battle is better, I also agree that there’s no point in posting this comment here.
Inou Battle was enjoyable, but I didn’t think there’d be much for me to say about it. (I’ve only seen the first episode though. Maybe that changed in the second episode. If so, whoops. I’ll get to it soon.)
One of the quirks of long-form blogging like this is it’s hard to blog about comedies … I almost need meatier fare (plot) or I’m going to run out of things to talk about by episodes four. That’s still possible here since it’s mainly the comedy that I’m loving at the moment, but it’s looking like there’s enough narrative here to sustain interest past the harem antics and jokes. I’ve been wrong before, ’tis justa quirk of how we do things here at RC.
To be fair, blogging a flawed show has the potential of being way more fun. Assuming the show is still fun to watch, that is.
In this case, I’m not talking about flawed or not-flawed. Flawed shows can be very interesting to blog, provided they’re flawed genius as opposed to all flaws. I was just referring to the seeming prevalence of plot (or not). If it’s all comedy, it’s too subjective and it’s hard to write about. That’s all.
My bad, that wasn’t worded the way I intended. In this case, I meant that it might be better to cover Trinity Seven because it has more to expand upon.
I thought I was watching Hyakka Ryoran Series.
this magus really just act like FATE magus, amoral and just dont give a damn about anything, and will do anything as long it is useful to his/her research
1. Bizarrely Appealing Sights is a common thing in our generation…. all hail the internet
2. Ninjas are amazing.
3. Lilith-sensei does her name justice. She’s sex appeal personified.
4. Who sang the OP? It is strangely addictive
op and ending is great but the music playin when arin is going magus mode. i really lke that especially that violin
One of the best Harem series I’ve read. I seriously like every single members of the Trinity Seven. All of them have vastly different personalities and quirks but none of them are dislikable or annoying. This is one of the few harem shows where I cant decide on a best girl. Once I lean on one, the next arc makes me lean on another. The author does a pretty damn good job at developing all of them.
Jiiiii~
Stilts no Ecchi…Blogger
Ahhh, the things not taught in schools (and should be).
The Japanese (at least some writers) seem to have a solid understanding of the
mechanics of this and exploit the humourous aspects tastefully and make it work.
Anyway, so far I like what’s happening although I’m getting a little of a Infinite Stratos
vibe for some of the character…
@stilts – thank you for covering!
Yuri harem ecchi master Stilts is picking this up… Woohoooo…
Seriously with a teacher like Lilith… I don’t want to graduate
This should be THE guilty pleasure show of the new season. :p So far I’m liking Arata for being brazenly honest about his own desires, yet drawing a line (I think) at certain points.
I find it funny how Lilith is apparently ‘Lust’ personified (as shown in the ED) but gets so deredere when it comes to ecchi stuff. It helps that the character design is appealing too.
Fun little show. Just beware of watching it in the public or switching on the sound without your headphones, though. :p
And the down-vote troll has invaded…
Don’t you mean the downvote ass?
Troll is too nice a word to use.
At least trolls still say why they hate the show
The only thing I don’t like is that they have given breast enhancements to the pettanko girls. Besides that one complaint, it has been been a good adaption.
I really like the initial premise for the show in Episode 1 and the overall darker tone and light-horror setting that they started with– however, I think this is a show that’s going to take a very weird direction because it is a harem show. It’s not what I wanted, but it still delivers on what it is good at.
The most important thing in a harem show is the protagonist. Bad harem shows are full of dense protagonists that have no personality which often forces the girls to do one-woman acts to keep the audience’s interest. Arata is very good at doing his part, participating in the comedy, and being an interesting character in his own right, playing a boke, tsukkomi, or co-conspirator as the situation requires.
The second most important thing is the girls. One of the golden rules of Harem shows is that the protagonist will be in embarrassing situations– for good harem, there are good reactions, for bad harem, we get screams of the protagonists name followed by a slap. This show delivered a bit of both this episode and overall the girls are shaping up pretty well.
This show could have gone a different direction. It didn’t have to be seven girls, it could have told a love story in a horror setting, had compelling male characters, adults rather than children for teachers, and gone for something more unique and perhaps a bit darker. However, for the direction it has gone so far, it’s doing a damn good job of being funny and entertaining. So while it’s not what I wanted, it delivers for what it is, and the comedy is extremely solid so far.