Wakaranai

Chu-bra!! is a fast-approaching TV anime adaptation of a popular and unabashedly erotic manga published in the renowned Comic High! Serialization. Comic High! is known for producing high-quality manga with a strong fanservice bent, including the controversial Kodomo no Jikan, and seriously ecchi High School Girls. Like those two manga, this one is interestingly also written by a woman, Nakata Yumi. It would seem that these days the men in the manga industry either don’t have the balls or the experience to pen a decent ecchi manga! Several volumes of the manga have been released, and the first two chapters have been translated, and it is solely through my exposure to the source manga that I am at all interested in the upcoming anime version. I’m not usually one to get enthusiastic about a series that blatantly flaunts fanservice without any attempt at plot or characterization. That’s essentially what this is, but the key component is that it’s GOOD fanservice, unlike the Queen’s Blade or Ikkitousen. You could say that this H-toned manga offers tasteful fanservice with its focus on cute characters and nice art. As the title suggests, the theme to the ecchi is underwear, so expect to be overloaded with panty-shots and a huge variety of underwear. The premise makes no attempt to mask this focus:

The story centers on Nayu, a middle school girl who shocks her schoolmates on the first day of school by wearing black lace panties. She likes this kind of underwear, and she tries to “spread the word on the merits of [these kinds of] underwear” via an underwear club with her schoolmates, who are worried about their bodies’ development and which underwear to choose.

The protagonist and perpetrator behind much of the fanservice, Nayu, makes her fondness for underwear a way of life! The origins of her passion and wisdom on the topic of braziers and panties lie with her casual career as underwear-tester for her friend who designs them. But the pantsu-mania extends from her bedroom into her middle-school when she earns reputation for keen advice on styles and sizes! Yep … the plot, if you care to call it that, is about as thin as they come. But that doesn’t matter when we’re barraged by images of cute, half-dressed. And they really are cute; the characters designs are very easy on the eye, and they come in all shapes and sizes to maximize the fanbase. There’s the flat-chested girls, the one girl with the gigantic bust size, and the even more voluptuous teacher. All bases are covered. So the source manga is good (shallow, but good). The anime being good is a different matter. Fortunately, a trailer was screened at Comiket 76 which shows plenty if promise:

You can see that the art quality looks very high, especially for this kind of series. There’s lots of detail and the colour palette is good. Visually this looks like a pretty flawless transition from manga designs to anime ones. The series is being produced by ZEXCS, who have created some other fine works, including Umi Monogatari and a personal favourite of mine, Macademi Wasshoi. Things are looking all-green in this area. The other thing the trailer shows is that full-colour panties are far more exciting than black and white ones! So it’s therefore important to know that the series will be airing on satellite/cable TV channel, AT-X. This of course means it should be completely uncensored! If everything goes according to plan (keikaku doori!), then this should turn out to be the ultimate pantsu-fetish anime ever to have been created! There’s still an important factor to consider though: will the seiyuus be up to the task of making the characters fun and likeable? Here’s the cast list:

Nayu Hayama: Minori Chihara
Yako Jinguuji: Minako Kotobuki
Haruka Shiraishi: Sayuri Yahagi

Minori Chihara has played a wide variety of roles and, I think, has proven herself more than able to take on a character like Nayu. I especially liked her as Coopa from Druaga and Chiaki-sama from Minami-ke. I honestly haven’t heard much of Sayuri Yahagi. I must be subconsciously avoiding her anime or something. But I have heard her play the very sweet Rima from Shugo Chara. Rima had a lovely voice, so I’m hoping that’ll apply here too. I’ve gotta be least excited about Minori Chihara though, who hasn’t really pulled off anything memorable yet. I guess she wasn’t half bad at playing the soft-spoken Tsumugi from K-ON! Overall, the main cast looks fine, no risky newcomers but no really big names either.

In fact, on the whole, this is shaping up to be as good as I could’ve hoped. It’ll certainly fill my fanservice quota for the coming season!

➡ ANN Page
➡ Anime Suki Thread
➡ AkibaBlog
➡ Official Website

It’s that time again! Released alongside the special edition of volume 28 of Ken Akamatsu’s contemporary manga masterpiece, Mahou Sensei Negima, comes the second OAD episode in the ‘Another World’ series, unleashing a massive shockwave of ecchi and awesome. At the moment I type this, the raw isn’t yet widely available, but investigating the comments and pictures shared by fans and proud owners of the new release reveals a good picture of what to expect, and gives a good look at all the sexy extras crammed into the package.

The pictures used in this post were obtained from the sites listed at the bottom of this page.
 

 
 

The primary attraction of this release is the next installment in the anime adaptation of Negima we’ve always wanted! Okay, maybe not the animated Negima we’ve dreamed of, but this new slew of OADs being released by SHAFT far outshine all previous attempts at converting Akamatsu’s fantastic manga, in both quality and faithfulness. This OAD episode clearly continues on right where the last one left off – Negi and the rest of his posse have been separated and disparately strewn across the vast Magical World after their gateport clash with villain, Fate Averuncus. It would appear that this episode only manages to cover the stories of Chachamaru and Chiisame fending for themselves in the fantasy wilderness and eventually being reunited with Negi.

A lot of people are a bit worried about the fact that the OAD is going so slowly, and I have to admit that it’s kind of unusual that they spent so much time working on fairly unimportant chapters such as these when there’s so many more chapters to plow through before they catch up to the manga. But luckily, I really, really enjoyed these chapters from the manga. Having the girls isolated from their leader and champion was a new experience. Especially in the case of Chiisame, where you really got a feel for her vulnerability as a regular human thrown into this dangerous new world. My main disappointment rests with the fact that they didn’t include the lovely Setsuna/Asuna bathing scene, which was simultaneously hot and cute in the way it showed their friendship. That’s for next time I guess (OR ELESE!).

The thing that no one should be complaining about is the fact that they kept in the fap-worthy fanservice from the manga totally unaltered or uncensored!! KITTA!! We get some awesomely dirty tentacle rape for poor Chiisame-san (she just wanted a normal net-idol life and now she’s been violated by a slimy fantasy creature ;_;), and the first extra-erotic “charging” scene between Negi and Chachamaru. The orgasmic charging session looks pretty exciting, although Chachamaru saves up her greatest climax for pactio foreplay later on. I think Negi needs to charge up some of the other girls, if you know what I mean. Chachamaru is probably the only sexually satisfied character in the whole manga!
 
 

 
 

 
 

As before the disc comes with an audio commentary, and also features some neat character design art, shown below.

 

 
 
Per tradition, the limited edition release of the manga has received an enticing erotic upgrade. As far as I’m concerned, nothing can beat the sheer nosebleed-inducing hotness of the Setsuna-stripping that graced the civer of volume 25, but this is also kind of nice. I’ll never say no to Yue fanservice.

 
 
This time the packaging is hotter than ever though, featuring a swimsuit-clad Setsuna and Konoka in a shy and super erotic pose! ❤❤

 
 
The bonus rare item this time is a nice-quality Negi card that will be part of a set of 27 pactio cards:
 

 
 
Overall, it seems that Ken Akamatsu and his publishers/marketers have really been doing their fans justice with these OAD and limited edition releases. Not many manga get great releases such as these. As for the content of the OAD, I’ll have to wait a bit longer before I can truly judge, but it looks to be a wholesome intake of win that should satisfy most fanboys! The timing of this release was also good because it will help keep the enthusiasm flowing as Ken Akamatsu takes an unprecedented several-week break. But there’s also some bad news. Apparently we’ll be waiting till May next year before the next OAD. May! COME ON …

And I still wish Del-Ray would get their game on and help captivate their American audiences with extras and releases like this. I am damned positive that a good number of Negima fans, including me, would pay extra for limited edition goodness.

 
 

➡ EARL.BOX
➡ Cartoon World
➡ Akiba Blog
➡ Nanamibeya

 

Thanks to Akiba Blog’s neta column I was already privy to the fact that this episode of The Sacred Blacksmith would be a maid episode, but that didn’t help me prepare for the sheer cuteness of seeing the girls all dressed up in charming maid outfits – it overwhelmed the senses, particularly that sixth sense that all otaku possess – the moe sense. Depending on which way you want to look at it, this episode could be labeled the nail in the coffin of studio Manglobe’s dignity, or as a rallying service to its new, more otaku fanbase. This series has only really treaded lightly with its fanservice element, but this episode is a double dose – allowing the moe side to the characters to blossom by dressing them up in cute maid costumes, and then plainly showing off their sexyness in a cliché group bath (which featured that fan-favourite anime past-time of breast-grabbing). Personally, I’m an unashamed fan of tasteful fanservice, and this episode fits that description perfectly. It had cliché moments but certainly wasn’t trashy. Despite all the service, the episode also had a few moments of dramatic potency, including Aria confronting her kin, the other human-form demon sword, and the shocking letter from the empire at the end of the episode. Also, woven throughout the whole episode is the emotional tale of the orphaned Charlotte struggling with her place in the world. Occasionally poignant, powerfully moe, featuring a bit of ecchi, and even managing some intense scenes, this was a really, really entertaining episode. It only lacked an action scene.

✔ Despite her arrogance last episode, this episode’s expose on Charlotte reveals that she’s just a young girl at heart, who craves affection and happiness. I found the motherly relationship she quickly formed with Lucy really quite touching. Needless to say my affections for her have grown considerably. She has some strong moe traits to her after all, in the sense that she’s such a sympathetic character that you feel the urge to protect. I can understand the loyalty of her trio of subordinates now.

✔ The scene between Cecily and Luke was so perfect! Well, it was until Cecily punched him. It’s definitely in character for her, but I feel bad for Luke. He did just try to compliment her, after all. But Cecily’s embarrassment was again totally adorable. Having embarrassed about wearing a maid outfit was made even better by the sense of pride she usually exudes over her knighthood. Her trying to hide under that basket was just too cute.

✔ I’m glad they explained the fact that none of the other demon swords transformed, and the fact that the demon swords were properly confiscated. And actually it adds an interesting twist that I didn’t see coming – the fact that only some demon swords can transform. Aria’s a bit more special again! The scene where she talked with the other demon sword was really good, and I appreciate the way it alluded to the demon swords being related to that big apocalypse that has been ominously alluded to. Actually, speaking of omens, I just sort of got my head around the symbolism of the smoke/dark cloud-topped mountain beside the village. It’s reminiscent of a town at the foot of a volcano that threatens to become active and thus wipe out the city. Weather you look at it directly like that or not, the imagery still conveys that same sense of a city blissfully ignorant of an impending doom.

♡ The girls just looked so gorgeous in those maid outfits, I felt like I was in heaven! I took like 4 million screencaps this episode owing to the lovely maids, about 3 per frame I think XD. We’ve all seen a lot of maids as anime fans, but I think this episode ranks up there amongst my favourite maid moments because the character designs are so great that

♡ The breast jokes just keep coming! Cecily’s breasts got their due amount of attention here, but things are going even further because no Penelope has become an additional target for chest-size jabs. In her case though, she has a right to be upset because she’s getting teased about her lack of bust (even though she’s about the same as her two comrades). Shame, I think these three girls have perfectly nice breasts! Hasn’t Mahoromatic taught us that small breasts are fine too!?

● Who else saw the contents of that letter from the empire coming? It was always kind of clear that Charlotte and the others were being naive and overly optimistic if they expected a fair shot at her right to the thrown given the context behind her mother’s relationship with the emperor. But I guess the maliciousness of the letter was surprising. They might really be in a pinch of the empire is demanding they be returned to be tried as criminals.

✔ This episode was directed and storyboarded really well. A lot of the scenes were really enhanced by some excellent visuals and camera angles that helped give atmosphere. In particular, the scene where Aria visits the jail cell, and the final letter-reading scene, were executed very well. I’ll be curious to see who the episode director and storyboarder were for this ep when the ANN page is updated.

 

Usually when a bunch of disparaging comments are combined with very generic-looking character designs and a cliché premise, you can play a pretty safe bet on an anime sucking. But this wasn’t one of those times. Either I was the victim of a mass troll event or I was just unlucky enough to only see people’s complaints, but the impression I got of this series was totally wrong. Although everything points to a derivative harem series, this is actually primarily a comedy & parody show. The harem element is definitely present, but this is a rare series that can perch itself right on-top of the fourth wall – simultaneously nurturing a romantic harem and self-referentially parodying it. This results in a highly entertaining mixture – you can have you heart stolen by the profoundly cute characters one moment, and then laugh at the stupidity of the whole thing the next.

The art style in general may look unappealing from the outset, but as soon as you get a feel for the characters, the designs really work and you totally forget about the fact that the series is ostensibly fairly unattractive. The excellent voice acting and dead-on casting are what make this happen – in all cases the seiyuus manage to bring their characters to life with an energy and spirit that outgrows the stereotypical roles. Mariko Hondo in particular shines as the loli-styled student council president, Aka-chan, perfectly portraying both her ambitiousness and childishness. As far as I’m concerned, Aka-chan steals the show, but the other characters all hold their own appeal; the sporty Minatsu, the mature Chizuru, and the geeky but adorable imouto-character, Mafuyu. The sole male character in the show, Ken Sugisaki, channels the inner desires and passions of all men and boys, and is the perfect foil for all 4 girls. His self-professed love for H-games and freely-admitted wish to make the student council his own personal harem, are the basis for much of the show’s funniest content.

The humour of the show is shared between the fanboy-like commentary of Ken (and the girls’ reactions to his advances), and the innumerable parodies of other anime and clever references to the anime/manga/light novel industry. Although, given that it’s about a high school student-council, it doesn’t revolve around the industry, it does take every opportunity to slip in these references. If you’re someone who keeps up-to-date with the state of the whole gamut of sub-industries related to Otaku culture, this series will provide some good laughs, on top of the gags bought on by Ken’s failed attempts at flirtation, which anyone should be able to laugh at. In general every episode feels a lot more like a rapid sequence of jokes rather than a plot or character-driven series. As a result, it almost never gives any opportunity for boredom.

For those intimate with the otaku industry and who have a decent ‘watched’ list of anime, this series should offer heaps of fun. And for those who enjoy their moe girls, and are intruiged by the idea of a harem lead who is frank and upfront about his manly ambitions, this is also worth checking out! There’s little reason for anyone not to find this series enjoyable, unless they really can’t stand unrealistically cute girls.

The thing that really elevates this show is the fact that it’s jam-packed with references and parody scenes. If you’ve seen a good selection of even just the more popular anime of late (Lucky Star, Gurren Lagann etc), then you should enjoy a whole pile of jabs and allusions to other series, games, light novels, or manga. Some of them are sharp and subtle, others are are about as explicit as I’ve ever seen a parody anime get (as the Japanese are very conscious of property rights..). If you’ve seen screencaps for the show lying about, you’ve probably seen the Strike Witches parody, which features the the seitokai characters simply replacing the strike witches in a scene straight out of that anime. Apparently they collaborated with GONZO for that one. While it’s not the only source of humour, these parodies contribute a lot of laughs to the show, and give it the ability to occasionally be self-deprecating by breaking the fourth wall or acknowledging the cliches it panders to otaku with. I love being pandered to, but I love being pandered too ironically even more. This series works very well as a fast-firing comedy, and works even better for those in tune with the otaku culture, who can appreciate the moe assets it offers, and who can catch the references it frequently pitches.

This guy is the fucking King! He is one of the few who could wear an I AM BOSS T-shirt and get away with it. Of course, my envious assessment of him comes from the perspective of an otaku. By that I mean he garners admiration for, counter to the norm for a male harem lead, being open and honest for his fascination with H-games and the degree to which he sees life as one of them. He actively and openly seeks to turn the student council into his personal harem. His confidence in the inevitability of the girls falling for him, combined with his underlying strength of character, his fearlessness when dealing with the opposite sex, and his proud perversity, make him a hilarious and impressive character to watch. His observations about the girls are always spot on, and he has a high-level ability to tease Aka-chan (always producing amusing and moe results). I don’t think I’ve ever found a harem leader this awesome.

The shining star and beating heart of Seitokai no Ichizon, Kurimu Sakurano (Aka-chan among friends) is an energetic and ditsy loli temptress, whose moe appeal lies within her confident and perhaps even slightly abrasive attitude which occasionally gives way to the vulnerable and self-conscious young girl within. Her cliche power is: being in high school but looking (and often acting) more like an elementary student. Kodomo Janai Mon~! She has a mild case of the Moetan syndrome that has stunted her growth, in both height and chest size, and preserved her cuteness. As I said above, Aka-chan is one of the biggest pulls this series catches with me. Her seiyuu, Mariko Honda does an utterly stellar job portraying this character, capturing her adorable moe moments as well as her angry ones. I think another great thing here is that she is actually a new seiyuu on the block, with no prior major roles in anime. I think this an excellent debut for her, and the fact that she is new means that Aka-chan is blessed with a refreshingly new sound. I’m not exactly sick of hearing major players like Kugimiya Rie or Aya Hirano, but it’s always a great experience getting acquainted with a seiyuu for the first time. But both in terms of her personality and charming character design, Aka-chan gets my strong stamp of approval in the moe category. There’s just something about pink-haired girls. Her cuteness is a miracle of the universe. I love the way she’s often drawn in a chibified manner. It accentuated her childishness relative to the other characters. There are really moments when her moe power warms my heart.

Move over, Sugisaki Ken, I want Aka-chan for MY harem!

Unless it airs on an evil TV station like TV Tokyo, no anime has any excuse for letting its entertainment value slide. When you don’t have any plot handy to throw into the mix, just substitute fanservice in its place! This show doesn’t fall into the trap of playing the fanservice card to excess, but rather hits us fortunate male viewers with the occasional moment of potent sexiness. I always find fanservice, when it’s good, and used in moderation, is a crucial step to consolidating the fanboy appeal of its characters. By the time they’ve sat through all the eye-candy the swimsuit episode has to offer, no real man can say their interest hasn’t been aroused. As you can see from the pictures above, these are THE BEST SWIMSUITS EVER. Now I’m a fan of the traditional school swimsuit (sukumizu) but goddamn these designs make them obsolete. It’s like lingerie but in swimwear form. I think I may now be stuck with a permanent fetish for swimsuits and thigh-high socks. Ken’s honest imagination gives some really great fanservice moments (which are also really funny), and there are often a lot of parody-based yuri scenes thrown in too. Not to mention the standing yuri subtext between Aka-chan and Chizuru. Then allusions to their relationship can be paralleled to the seme/uke (top/bottom) featured in yaoi, with Chizuru as the dominant one, and Aka-chan as the submissor. And speaking of yaoi, there are plenty of yaoi references for female fans to enjoy, largely stemming from Mafuyu’s oft-stated passion for BL. It doesn’t go as far as the that episode of Genshiken season 2, but there’s some pretty steamy stuff going on there (purely in imagination-land though).

 

Although this series continues to get the job done in its role as an ecchi/harem/comedy anime, with ample amounts of fanservice, and consistently impressive production values, I personally feel like it’s lost a bit of steam since the first episodes. Since the first couple of eps, this series has lost a bit of its comedic edge. I originally compared it to Seto no Hanayome with its well-timed punchlines and great visual humour, but that comparison has now expired because it no longer really makes me laugh. I think episode 2 has to be the pinnacle of the show so far in terms of entertainment value, with the ero-value of Mitsuki in handcuffed nopan mode and the general craziness. Maybe it’s because this series has been gradually leaning more and more toward a dramatic tone. Mitsuki’s childhood-friend love story is coming more and more to the forefront and the real plot behind the pet angels is beginning to surface. The result is a more serious feel for the series, even if it still features plenty of sexy eye-candy and ecchi gags. While I am somewhat interested in the origins and purpose behind these angels, I’m not sure the series should start taking itself too seriously. The odd bit of drama is good to flesh out the characters and make them more likeable, but this series works best when it embraces its ridiculous and perverse premise.

So I think this episode could have been a lot more entertaining that it was. I mean, even if it was a beach episode, most of the fanservice was just crammed into the ED! The beach episode is a staple tradition of anime, and usually just a thin excuse to get a bunch of girls in bikinis for a concentrated dose of fanservice. It’s kind of ironic then that the beach of episode of this series, marketed as an ecchi series, actually had less focus on fanservice than most of the previous episodes! There was still a good amount of eye-catching swimsuit shots I guess.

But the strangest thing was the way that this episode was used as the introduction point for Nymph. I’ve been eagerly awaiting Nymph’s appearance since the very beginning (largely because I find her to be the most attractive of all the character designs, but either way two pet angels are better than one, right?), but just slipping her in like this without any explanation kind of stole her thunder. Even though she’s now a part of the cast, she hasn’t really made an impact yet, or changed the dynamic between any of the characters. I guess they were just trying to be different, but it didn’t feel right. I almost thought that I’d missed an episode! So I can’t really say I like yet because so far she’s just hung around pointlessly and been rude to Tomoki. I really hope the next episode gives her a bit more of an opportunity to capture my heart. I really want to like her!

Overall it was a pretty good episode. The series remains one of the most attractive of the whole season. Mitsuki’s romantic feelings were delved into with a little more sincerity, Icarus and her master are gaining a bit of chemistry (do I detect the hint of an approaching love triangle or harem?), and the mystery behind these strange angels is starting to be explored. But personally, I like the show when it’s wild and unhinged.

● I love how Icarus’s response to Tomoki getting attacked is invariably to start glowing, make wind blow around the place, and tear up some rocks and shit. It always strikes me as a strange way to react. Is she charging up some devastating attack or something? In that case it’s pretty ineffectual if it takes that long. Surely she has the strength to just beat the crap out of 3 guys rather than concocting some kind of spirit bomb attack.

● So Nymph is a newer model of pet angel devices, huh? That’s what I assume if Icarus’s model is alpha. The biggest difference between the two models appears to be the fact that Nymph is a lot more self-conscious and has the ability to make decisions on her own. When Mitsuki was in danger, Nymph flew in to save the day while Icarus just stood around looking concerned.

✘ I have to call Tomoki an idiot again because he should have just told Icarus to go save Mitsuki rather than trying to swim out himself. The writers are making a habit of ignoring Iacrus’s abilities to serve their own stories.

 

 

‘The flock of panties have returned!’ sums up this bizarre but frivolously fun episode of Sora no Otoshimono. They’re back by popular demand! Well, maybe not, but I have to say I didn’t expect them to make a comeback after their teary departure only a few episodes ago. When peace-loving Tomoki opens his window to take in the tranquil morning, he is soon mobbed by the returning panties. And that pretty much sets the tone for the remainder of the episode; much like their departure their arrival heralds an episode overloaded with underwear and pantsu-related humour. Only this time they stretched the ridiculousness to a new peak of absurdity - including exploding panties, and porn magazine defence pantsu-robot. As a self-prescribed pantsu-fanatic I am always delighted with the prospect of such an episode. Unfortunately, I was let down in a couple of ways. The main problem was that, despite being drenched in epic quantities of panties, there was very little in the way of girls wearing any. You know, actual fanservice, like panty-shots and girls undressing. Somehow pantsu strategically distributed around a house just isn’t as exciting. There was enough hotness for the episode to pass, but for an episode with a premise like this in a show that relishes its ecchi status, I expect a little more.

The other problem I had was a shortcoming in the humour department. I can’t really put my finger on why I found the previous pantsu-saturation episode more entertaining (and titillating) than this one, but it lacked that usual oomph that Sora no Otoshimono had. The jokes kind of fell flat. The episode was still fun from a fanboy perspective, but it didn’t have that Seto no Hanayome-esque edge of riotousness. By the time Tomoki was fighting his way through the projectile-pantsu onslaught of his own robot creation I was leaning more towards cringing rather than laughing. I think my issue with the episode boils down to it just being a bit too silly without having the sharp humour or self-ridicule to pull it off right. On the upside, the production on the show remains consistently great, and it was still pretty enjoyable even if it wasn’t as funny or fapworthy as it could’ve been. As a bonus, the long-awaited Nymph finally made her entrance (although it was a fleeting cameo in the epilogue).

✘ I felt they kind of undermined their own plot, thing though it is, by having Icarus spend the day with Mitsuki while her master, Tomoki, was delegated the punishing task of fighting his way out of his explosive house. It calls into question whether her loyalty to her master is conditional or by her own choice. Anyway, I thought she was connected to Tomoki by her chain (even though it’s invisible), so he surely could summon her and use her powers to get out of the situation. Unless I missed something it just seems like a bit of a lazy way to write this little sidestory. I mean, they don’t have all that much of a plot, it couldn’t be too hard to stick to what they’ve established..

♡ The best fanservice moment came when Mitsuki took Icarus underwear shopping. The underwear she picked out for Iacrus really WAS super-cute and fitted her angel status perfectly. The wings on the bra and panties are lovely!. I thought that scene was cut a bit too short (extension saved for DVD releases perhaps). I wanted a good look at Iacrus wearing them! Well, that might come later in the series. Mitsuki is good at picking underwear for others, she should refine her own choices a bit. Her striped panties this episode were and improvement, especially the pink-striped ones (sadly now-deceased ;_;). Lucky Tomoki got a mouthful of them..

♡ Mitsuki ended up in a nopan predicament yet again! Poor girl ^^ We don’t get any good flashes, sadly. For those who’ve seen how GAINAX played the nopan episode of Abenobashi for maximum eyecandy should agree.

✔ Finally! Nymph! And her role is kind of interesting. She might mix things up even more than I thought. I wonder if she will be an addition to Tomoki’s pet angel collection, or perhaps she has a different master? I’m intrigued. And the scene where she appeared definitely had an air of mystery to it.

✔ Have to admit I loved the boner gag at the end. Something had to ruin his hero status. Poor Tomoki got a crushing Mitsuki-chop. His body is just being honest!

✔ I really appreciate the fact that each episode has its own ED relevant to the episode. It’s something anime should do more often as it’s a last bit of fun to finish the episode off with instead of the same old song. Also, I have to say Tomoki has an enviable dirty magazine collection.

 

 

I can’t say I was a big fan of the first season of Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu. I was probably just having Lucky Star withdrawals at the time, but what I really wanted from the series was a strong dose of moe, a bit of humour, some good otaku in-jokes and perhaps a spark of romance. Sometimes the series hit that mark but often it got bogged down in this self-pitying tone that really grated on my mind. By that I mean, I really got the sense that there were a bunch of otaku watching it tearfully empathising with Haruka having to keep her anime and akiba hobbies a secret or risk being shunned by society. The show felt like it was patting those insecure viewers on the back, but simply annoyed the hell out of me in this respect. Fortunately, the second season has moved on to a much lighter tone befitting of its actual content. Melodrama just doesn’t suit a show filled with maids, imouto-characters and super-moe girls!

So this season has been really quite enjoyable so far! The characters are still as adorable as ever, in fact I think they’re cuter than they were before, somehow. Haruka herself is utterly dazzling as the shy, soft-spoken, pure-hearted maiden. Her interests in anime and otaku culture are completely unbelievable, but the series has never tried to mask the fact that it’s forsaken reality for the sake of satisfying otaku fantasies! Haruka is the ultimate otaku dream girl, dere-dere, beautiful, innocent, gives off an aura of dependence, and, most importantly, shares our obsessions! Truly the perfect girl - 100% waifu material! I usually hate it when anime try to tick all the boxes like that when making a character, but there’s just something about Haruka that makes it impossible to resist. Other characters contribute to the moe levels of the show too: the mischievous younger-sister, Mika, adds some much needed loliness; the maid characters don’t stand out individually much but hey, they’re fucking maids!; Shiina is cute despite her reduced role this series. In short, you won’t be disappointed in this show if you dig moe girls.

This episode introduced a new character actually, an obligatory tsundere-loli voiced by the queen of tsundere, Kugimiya Rie. Her name is Hazuki, and she’s a rich, snobby girl with an arrogant attitude but a well-hidden dere core. Personally, she got on my nerves very quickly and never really got off them. I usually end up falling for most tsunderes but Hazuki’s bitchiness crossed my shit-line (much like Louise’s did). This is no fault of Kugimiya Rie’s though; as usual, her stuttering was as brilliant as ever. I swear Kugimiya Rie can blush with her voice. Her prominence this episode cut back on my precious Haruka time! Unforgivable. On the up side, they didn’t skimp on the fanservice - a trend that can be said of this 2nd season in general. The almost endless flow of panty shots and innuendo meant I could pretty much zone out, ignore what Hazuki was complaining about and just enjoy the eye-candy. There were many lovely sights to be had, shown below.

But overall it felt like a bit of a wasted, tangential episode. And it was kind of annoying at times. I’m looking forward to seeing the love-triangle start to heat up again. I want to see what Shiina pulls out to try and seduce Yuuto to the dark side! Either that, or I think a few more yuri rape scenes would be in order!

● What was the deal with that massive horse? It scared the fuck out of me just because it was so bizarre and out of place. Definitely the strangest this anime has got.

✘ The two permanently drunk bitches (sorry there’s no other way to describe those two) still get on my nerves every time they appear. They seem to serve no purpose but to repeat the same dead joke over and over again and to annoy the hell out of me. Their loud-mouthed and crass personalities remind me of the teacher character from Mahoromatic. Fortunately, even with their powers combined they cannot matches the annoyingness of that woman.

✔ I’m totally impressed by the OP. It follows a similar concept as season 1 but totally one-ups it in terms of the visuals. There’s so much detail and motion packed in there I keep scanning it to pick up new things each time I see it. Great stuff!