Kaguya-sama: Love is War (Season 2) [Anime of the Year]

Type: Hey Hey!

Synopsis: Love still never changes does it? Fundamentally, this show is still about two high school kids who are too shy to tell each other about their feelings. That’s the joke. Only this season also has a student body election and tragic back story in it.

Pros: The fact that this was able to come out in 2020 in the middle of the world ending was pretty nice. Gave us all a few weeks of solace. Apart from that, the show is still fantastically directed and animated. Comedy with high quality action will always be my favorite genre. The show sticks with the segment format, so it feel like you’re getting a lot of story in only 12 episodes. The show has two main story arcs: The student body election and Ishigami’s backstory. Both are well done, and blend well with the comedic bits. By this point, the characters are all well defined, so little moments of character growth just add to the whole. We get to meet Shirogane’s sister and father. Kaguya learns to deal with her reactions. Ishigami’s back story is showcase. Hayasaka broke the internet for a while. And we’re introduced to a new character, Miko. In this season, we get to see the “world” of the anime expand a little, which highlights the strong character work from the source material and adaptation. No character feels unimportant or one-dimensional, which Love is War’s biggest strength (P.s. The manga’s also pretty good. I read it between seasons. Go read it!).

Cons: My biggest beef with the show was probably it’s episode order. Which in hindsight even I’m reconsidering because those first two episodes are hilarious. But I just found it weird that the third episode suddenly reveals that the Student Council’s term in office is ending. Although it’s used to set up the next story arc, it feels like something that should have happened at the end of season 1. The student council is ending, Kaguya “confesses” that she wants Shirogane to still be president, and we get a sweet moment before season 2. But hey, that’s more of a minor complaint that show ruiner. This show is great. The characters were great. Hayasaka was cute as a button in her attempts to “seduce” Shirogane. Kei’s rebellious phase was hilarious and Papa Shirogane is just about who I expected him to be. Miko is a welcome edition, as her shy demeanor mixes well with her Frank Grimes-like reaction to the council’s antics. And of course, Ishigami’s backstory was both tragic and uplifting, and made this old weeb tear up. I haven’t Chika because Chika is still Chika, and Chika is the best. I almost want to say that the thing that suffers the most if the main romance between Shirogane and Kaguya, but then I remember the moon scene, the manga scene, the check-up scene, etc, etc. Trust me, those two kids get more of their fair share of romantic mishaps. This anime is another strong season from a strong story.

Watch it?: I would be surprised if you haven’t already (5/5)

MVP: The Student Council

Which is cheating because it’s the whole cast, but they really come off as friends.

Best Episode: “I Want to Make Miko Iino Smile” or “Yu Ishigami Closes His Eyes, Part 3″ in Ep.11 (But personally I like Ep. 4’s Ai Hayasaka Wants Him to Fall for Her” and Ep. 3’s “Miyuki Shirogane Wants to Gaze at the Moon”)

Isekai Quartet (Season 2)

Type: Now featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series!

Synopsis: I mean, now featuring Naofumi from the Rising of the Shield Hero series. Sort of. He stars in the first episode, but then becomes a background character for the rest of the season. This is still the Ains, Subaru, Kazuma, and Tanya show after all. Though, it was funny that a lot of the characters point out that cynical and cranky Naofumi is actually the most heroic and successful protagonist when compared to all the others.

Pros: This is a lot more of the same from the first season. Characters from different Isekai stories are forced to go to high school together. The casts of Konosuba, Overlord, Rezero, and Tanya the Evil are all still the main focus, but main characters of Shield Hero join the supporting cast. Now that introductions have been finished, the story focuses more on typical comedy plots. I’m talking about Test Day, Valentine’s Day, a School Festival, and finally a School Play. The jokes are still funny, so I say watch this season for a laugh and a chuckle.

Cons: I would say that more of the same is a bad thing, but the episodes are so short that they don’t overstay their welcome. My main gripe would be that despite being the new hook for the season, the cast of Shield Hero don’t really do a lot. They’re the main focus of the first episode, but they don’t participate in the main plots of the other episodes like the rest of the cast does. They may be part of a throwaway gag, but they aren’t main players. And although this is very whiny and entitled, I would have liked more characters from different franchises to show up. I know that the Kadokawa Corporation basically has a monopoly on Isekai stories, so why not add Sword Art and No Game No Life already?

Watch it?: Still a fun time (4/5)

MVP: Ainz

I think the writers just really like having Ainz around

Best Episode: Ep. 1 “Join the Fight! Transfer Student” (You kinda forget the Naofumi is actually a better person than the perv, evil skeleton, loli hitler, and human pin cushion).

A Centaur’s Life

Type: Who is this for?

Synopsis: For reals, who is the target demographic? At first, I thought it was for the Monster Musume crown. You know, perverts. Then I saw the first five minutes and I thought, OK, this is for lesbians. Yuri bait, got it. But then we get a lot of scenes with little girls and I thought, loli lovers? You know, criminal perverts. Then a bunch of discrimination stories and historical allegories where thrown at me, and I just gave up. I don’t know who this is for, I just know it’s pretty good.

Pros: A Centaur’s Life is a pretty good anime. While I can’t pin point it’s exact audience, can say that this is a dramatic comedy in the slide-of-life genre. Despite the animal-people, it’s pretty down to Earth and mellow. The closest match in terms of tone is Hinamatsuri. So there are funny-ish moments, but they are interspersed with cute moments and dramatic moments. Most episodes revolve around two or three segments centered around different characters. These can me as mundane as studying for a test, or as goofy as the girl’s checking each other’s privates to see if they are normal looking (which is a real segment that happens). This brings me to something you need to know before watching: some of these segments veer into very opposite directions. This is what I meant when I said that the target demographic and audience is difficult to identify. One segments could be about teaching an underclassmen not to take archery so seriously, but the next episode has a straight up holocaust story. The tone of the show ebbs and flows from silly to gloomy, depending on the story. This is actually pretty well summarized by the intro, which has silly moments, fan service moments, sad moments, and odd moments. So if you want a realistic down to earth show, that’s also swarming with anime-people, this is your show (p.s the English dub is really well acted).

Cons: For me, this shows biggest sin it that it’s hard to summarize. Because a lot of stuff happens that explores different facets of it’s world. On the surface, this is show about high school girls. They each have different personalities, different interests, and different lives outside of school that inform their personalities. Hime is beautiful, but also gentle and a little sensitive, which makes sense because she’s a single child, but also kinda funny because she’s a giant centaur. Manami is composed and blunt, which makes sense because she’s been helping raise her four younger sisters, but is ironic because she’s an angel. Quetzalcoatl is just as gentle and sweet as Hime, but that’s in contrast to her snake life appearance. Out of all the characters, Hime and Manami get the most screentime. However, Hime is usually accompanied by her friends Nozomi and Kyouko as they do girl stuff. Manami on the other hand is usually shown taking care of her triplet sisters (The Chi’s) and her toddler sister while her Father tries to make it as an artist. I really liked that the show takes time to explore the character’s home lives, which is usually ignored in slice-of-life high school shows. It helped flesh out each of the main cast. But again, this is just what the show is on the surface. You go a little deeper and you become very aware that the theme of the show is discrimination. In the show, the world has strict anti-discrimination laws enforced by government agencies almost in real time. As the show goes on, you learn little bits and pieces of the world’s history, and how certain races interact with one another. And, to the writing’s credit, we do see little bits of discrimination here and there. From an interracial couple being criticized, to Hime’s friends getting weird looks for attending an all-centaur archery contest, to Quetzalcoatl getting anxious over negative media coverage about her race. And as I mentioned earlier, there is a 7 minute holocaust allegory in Episode 09 (I said the theme was deeper, not subtle). I also really liked this aspect of the show. Again, the show has a lot of different things that it did very well. It’s just that there are a LOT of different thing. So my advice would be to watch the show, but don’t binge it. But honestly, the more I look back on it, the more I like it.

Watch it: Do it one at a time. (5/5)

MVP: Manami

I loved that she told the student committee that “no, I’m not staying here longer that I have to. I have a family to take care of.”

Best Episode: Ep. 06 “Is Being Able to Retrace One’s Past and Ancestors A Reason to Be Happy or Unhappy?”/”Does Getting a Job Doing What You Love Really Bring Happiness?” (This was hard to pick, but I think this covers a lot of what the show is about).

Date A Live (Season 2)

Type: TWINS (but for like 4 episodes)

Synopsis: In a world were the story forgot about the horrible space quakes destroy cities and ruin families, one man is going to high school with pretty girls. This man is Shido Itsuka, who’s basically the government’s gigalo. His mission? To seduce teenage super-beings and seal their power by making-out. This time, he has to deal with totally hot and totally down twins and a rich and busty bi-sexual idol. Life is just hard sometimes…

Pros: It’s been a minute, and this show did not do a good job jogging my memory. It took a while to remember that this show is about Shido, a high school boy with the unique ability to seal the spirit powers of inter-dimensional female warriors. The season has two main story arcs. The first arc deals with the storm twins, sisters that are in the middle of a heated rivalry. The comedic twist? The girls decide to resolve their rivalry through a seduction contest, with Shido acting as the meat to this fan service sandwich (often literally). The primary amount of fan service comes from this arc. The second arc deal with Diva, an idol with an intense hatred of men and love or women. This leads Shido to dress as a girl for the majority of the arc in an attempt to get closer to Diva, with hilarious results. If you ever wanted to see hot lesbian action, I suggest looking into the various adult websites found online, researching lesbian literature (shout-out to Melissa Brayden), or supporting your local sex workers. Cause this arc is mainly about seeing Shido act like a girl. The season ends in a quais-third arc where Kurumi (the big bad from last season) helps/flirts with Shido to stop Diva and rescue Toka. This was fun as I forgot how fun Kurumi was as a villain. All together, the season is funny, but not a home run.

Cons: This has second season syndrome, which is most often associated with light novel adaptations. You really need to remember who most of these characters are, even the minor supporting cast. As two seasons, the story already has a lot of characters to juggle, especially the military personnel. For a show about Shido and the spirit girls, there are a lot of members of AST, DEM, Ratatoskr we are expected to know and care about. What you have to remember is that this is not a show about Shido living in a house full of super-powered babes. This is a show about Shido being caught in the middle of a three-way military power struggle over the control of Spirit Beings entering our world. That’s what show and author are more interested in. This means that after their initial arc, the spirit beings become side-characters, except for possibly Toka, since she’s Shido’s main love interest and the most powerful spirit in the story. Apart from that, the fan service in the first arc might be a little much, as I don’t think I’ve ever seen twins being used to this extent outside of…research. The second arc was fine, though dovetailing it’s ending with a Toka rescue mission was a little abrupt. Diva herself was a good antagonist in her own right that could have closed off the season.

Watch it?: Sexy twins and a power hungry idol. I can thing of worse stories (4/5).

MVP: Diva (Miku Izayoi)

For a minute, I actually did not know how they are going to stop her.

Best Episode: Ep.03 “Two Wishes” and Ep. 08″The Promise to Keep” (One for ridiculous fan service, and the other for good story beats).

Nichijou- My Ordinary Life

Type: Just a show about high school girls doing high school stuff.

Synopsis: Yep, just a realistic down to earth show…that’s off the wall and swarming with magic robots.

Pros: At least we have the Speedo Man. On the surface, Nichijou seems like any other high school comedy with female protagonists. That was certainly my impression of it. In fact, it took me two to three tries to really get going. But once your start this roller coaster of an anime, you won’t want to get off! Nichijou may just be the most well made, or at least artistically diverse, comedy anime in the medium. The only one’s that I would come close to it’s comedic variety and directorial flexibility are Lucky Star and High School Rumble. What you see in Nichijou is a show that continues to evolve right up to it’s last episode. It becomes increasingly funnier, and the choice of action becomes increasingly more impressive the longer you watch. While some of it’s jokes may not always land, due to a difference in humor between East and West, the good content far outweighs the bland. It’s little wonder that Nichijou stands as one of the comedy greats in anime, alongside shows like Konosuba, Lucky Star, and Excel Saga.

Cons: Nichijou is great. Nichijou also takes a long time to become great. The reason it took me a while to get started on watching Nichijou is because it’s a little slow at the beginning. You are slowly introduced to the characters and their dynamic. In addition, the reason the show feels like it keeps evolving is because it feels like the directors and animators take a while to realize how far they can go with the animation. If you look up Nichijou clips, you should be able to find amazingly crafted animations that are used to infuse certain jokes with more impact. The ways the characters move or react to certain things is what makes Nichijou so impressive. It’s just takes a while for that to become obvious. For example, the show relies too much on speed lines early on without really doing with them. A good way to observe this change is to notice how expressive Yuko and Mio become over time. Other than that, the pacing of the show is not without flaws. The anime tends to repeat certain jokes, such as hikus and poems to end a scene. The segments at the Shinomone Labs aren’t that funny, and takes up too much time during the first half of the show. But because one of the main girls, Nano, is stuck there so are we.

Watch it?:  Give it 6 episodes to see if it’s for you, or just look up clips online (5/5)

MVP: Mio

I’d give it to Yuko, but Mio’s growing assertiveness is way more relatable

Best Episode: Ep. 25 “Nichijou Episode 25” (Honestly, all of ep.14-26 is strong, but I love the Mio scene in this episode).

Hensuki: Are You Willing to Fall in Love with a Pervert, as Long as She’s a Cutie?

Type:  “If she ain’t blood, be a stud” -Ancient Proverb

Synopsis: Sigh. I was with you until the ending…

Pros: Look, I’m going to need to give me at least a few sentence here. But spoiler, you probably shouldn’t watch this.

Cons: I will say this, I came to this anime with an open mind. I was like, hey, I need something stupid to watch while I exercise. This seemed like an ecchi anime I can trust. The art style and hue of the show tells you everything you need to know. It going to be about a teenage boys and a harem of cute girls that like him for being relatively nice. And that basically is the show. In fact, I would hazard to say that the best, though generic, parts of the show are when the girls say why or how they came to love the protagonist. Those were at least mildly sweet moments. But the gimmick of the show is that every female character has some sort of “perversion” or kink. These kinks run the spectrum, from mild stuff like sub/dom play and fujoshi (boy’s love artist) to some hardcore stuff like voyeurism and exhibitionism. Each of the girls get about 2-3 episodes, with the major plot thread being the mystery of “panty-rella,” a girl that left her panties in the protagonist’s locker in ep. 01. None of this is actually that bad, and the friendship between the voyeur and the protagonist is kinda nice (since she’s the only girl that likes him as a friend). No, what turned me completely off the show was last two episodes, where it turns out that “panty-rella” was really the protagonist’s sister. What follows is a last episode that spends almost it’s entire run time trying to convince the protagonist (and audience) that humping your sister is totally fine, cause love is love. And hey, she’s not blood related, so no mutant babies for you! Goddammit, did that leave a bad taste in my mouth. There’s trash, and then there’s garbage. And that was garbage.

Watch it: No. No. No. At least the dubbing was silly. NO. (2/5)

MVP: The English Dub

At least they got paid.

Best Episode: Ep. 4-7 The Koharu Arc (For a show this bad, it had a pretty good male-female friendship develop here).

Ping Pong: The Animation

Type: It’s like mini-Tennis

Synopsis: How come Mini-Golf doesn’t get the same respect? Is it because it’s a little goofy? Are we SO afraid to be silly that we can’t endorse something built on fun? Because no one, in the history of Earth, has ever enjoyed Ping Pong. Even the boys in this anime don’t seem to enjoy it. Well, Peco does. Everyone else treats it more like a job, obsession, or personal mission statement. God, Ping Pong sucks. The game, not the anime, which is actually pretty great.

Pros: The big hook for this anime is that it was directed by Masaaki Yuasa, the director behind stuff like Kick-Heart, The Tatami-Galaxy, that one episode of Adventure Time, and 2018’s Devilman Crybaby. The guy’s know for having a unique style to say the least. And that’s the best way to describe this anime. It’s not groundbreaking or revolutionary, but it is unique. There is not other anime out there like it, and that’s surprising given that it follows the sports anime cliches pretty closely. But since it’s based on a Manga, that’s not surprising. The story follows Peco and Smile, two friends on the school’s ping pong team. The arrogant Peco is beaten one day by the new imported ace from a rival school. Humiliated, Peco quits the team for a while, leading his coach to focus on Smile, a talented but reserved person. The story follows their and their rivals’s growth as individuals, using Ping Pong as an analogy for life, like any other sports anime. Peco learns the value of humility and hard work. Smile learns to accept vulnerability and desire. And other players learn other things, like accepting your limits, being part of a team, or learning that fun and drive aren’t segregated concepts. The story’s not complicated, because it focuses on the character’s inner turmoil and conflict, and uses the “dramatic showdowns” to further along the character’s emotional arc.

The animation is the other hook this anime has. It uses a sort of rougher sketch style that accentuates the character’s movements and stances to enforce exaggerated realism. No one really moves or looks perfect. In fact, sometimes characters move and stand oddly. Which is exactly how people move and stand in real life! Everyone in this anime looks different, moves differently, and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate that. For example, Peco moves loosely, while Smile is stiff and a bit uncomfortable. But amazing, both of these character’s postures change to reflect their growth at the end of the series. Seriously, you can compare how each character stands to check how the events of the story affected them. Despite looking obviously drawn, this anime may also be the most realistic looking anime I’ve ever seen. (P.s. A great example of this is the killer opening). I honestly thought this was made in 2017, it’s that good looking.  It looks weird enough to scream ANIME, but is well made enough to say Anime. In fact, this is one of the few anime I’d recommend you introduce to any of your non-anime friends or family members.

Cons: I know I talked a lot about stances, but for real. This anime does stances right. Speaking of stance, one draw back about this anime is that there are a lot of still frames where characters just stand around and talk. Or a lot of jump cuts to static action scenes. Classic cost cutting measure. Another thing, I’m aware that I made fund of Ping Pong at the start, but I actually didn’t mind it in this show. The exploration of Ping Pong was entertaining. My personal research (the internet), revealed the Ping Pong is actually pretty ping overseas, particularly East Asia, Europe, and Africa. Not being from there (USA #1!), I don’t really get it, but I liked it nonetheless. I fact, this anime made me realize something: I don’t really hate sports anime. Every sports anime I’ve watched for this site has been enjoyable. I think I only hate The Prince of Tennis. Yeah..Screw you Prince of Tennis!

Watch it: Literally the most fun you’ll have with Table Tennis (5/5)

MVP: Dragon

I’m really glad he mellowed out in the end.

Best Episode: “Yes, My Coach” (the real turning point, though honestly almost any of the episodes could be watch by themselves and be marveled at. It’s that good.)

High School DxD Hero

Type: This show is stupid

Synopsis: I loved ever minute of it!

Pros: Just by looking at it, you should know what to expect from High School DxD Hero. It’s a comedy-action show about a pervy high school boy how became a thrall for the buxom student body president whose also a high class demon. Being the fourth season, a lot of things have changed from episode 1. Issei, our protagonist, has gone from an unknown servant to a famous warrior. He’s also now treated as one of the most eligible bachelors in the underground. All the main female characters have gone through their individual arcs, and are in total love with Issei. This is so pronounced, that most of the characters will immediately enter a room and strip in front of Issei. That’s right! The pretenses are over. It’s basically naked boob town every episode. Now, normally, I would decry a show leaning mostly on fan service as lazy at best, and misogamist at worst. But High School DxD has always been very honest about what it is. It’s a fan service show where the protagonist gets powered up by grabbing breasts. That there’s a certain…nobility in it’s honesty. Yeah, let’s go with that.

Cons: That being said, this show is one big a lazy boob joke. Now that all the characters arc have ended with the girls falling in love with Issei, I feel that the fan service has gotten a bit lazy. Akeno isn’t quite the tease anymore. Koneko isn’t as annoyed anymore. Asia isn’t as shy anymore. As one character said, “you see their boob’s every night Issei! Why are you still trying to sneak a peak?”  I mean, real talk, there was a scene were these girls found Issei in a room, started a conversation, stripped naked, and then continued their conversation. It’s pretty much soft core hentai at this point. In addition, besides Issei, no other character gets any character development. The cast is now mostly there for fan service. Story wise, we get two arcs: The Kyoto Arc and the Rating Game Arc. The Kyoto Arc was pretty good, as we got to see Issei in a leadership role, which really reminded you of his growth as a characters. The Rating Game Arc was less interesting, as it was mostly a tournament arc with no real stakes. Issei did get a powerup, but mostly out of pride than anything. However, this arc does get points for developing Issei and Rias’s relationship. (p.s. The animation style changed, but I don’t mind!)

Watch it?: Even though a lot of fun characters didn’t get to do anything, it’s still a fun watch for the English translation alone (3/5)

MVP: Issei

Boobielingual. Yeah. That’s a major plot device this season.

Best Episode: Ep. 8 “A Girl’s Heart is Complicated” (the turning point for the season)

Ai Tenchi Muyo!

Type: Sponsored by the city of Takahashi, Okayama

Synopsis: Come visit beautiful Takahashi, Okayama, home to the beautiful Bitchū Matsuyama Castle. Be sure to also visit Raikyū-ji, a Buddhist temple with a historic garden. That’s all I could find on the Wikipedia for Takahashi!

Pros: This anime is also based loosely on the Momotaro, or Peach Boy, legend, and serves as a 20th Anniversary special for the Tenchi Muyo! series. We’ll get to how well the show represents the franchise later. Since Tenchi Muyo! holds a special place in my heart, this entry has been on my list for a while. As luck would have it, it’s got an English dub with all the original actors (except for Ayeka). So for a long time fan like myself, the best part was hearing Petrea Burchard play my girl Ryoko one more time. And the story really is the strongest when the original Tenchi Muyo! cast take part it it. The core characters get updated looks, which are pretty good (though Ryoko and Washi apparently grew a few cup sizes during the franchise break). And while the show says it has 50 new episodes, there’s about 8 minutes each with credits. So it’s really more like 10 regular episodes.

Cons: First of all, the show did a poor job of detailing Takahashi, Okayama natural splendor and charming locals. If I was the city council, I’d ask for my money back. Because all I know about Takahashi right now it that it has all girl’s high school that is severely understaffed, may have buried treasure, and suffers from dimensional breaks. It makes be reconsider my planned stay at one of their numerous and affordable 5-star hotels (free wifi included upon request). As for the show itself, the length of the show makes watching it inconvenient. While the episodes divided up, the story lines aren’t. So 3-4 episodes are really just one big story cut up to bloat the episode count. The plot isn’t all that special: Tenchi becomes a student teacher at an all girl’s school, and sexy misunderstandings happen. Being anime, the teenage girls naturally all hit on their new teacher, making feel all types of uncomfortable. To it’s credit, the show does try to utilize it’s short episodes by mixing in two parallel stories every 3-4 episodes. One parallel story follows Tenchi escorting a young girl in the past, while another shows Tenchi’s home life with the original girls. These serve as nice breaks between stories, though they do make you wonder they can’t be the main plots. Teenage anime boobs is probably the answer, I guess. Things do ramp up towards the end, with all the story elements coming together rather nicely. Except for why the Feudal Japan girls look exactly like the student council. Speaking of which, how are the new female characters? Ai Tenchi Muyo! basically adds a new harem for Tenchi to interact with. And it falls into the typical harem overcrowding problem because of this. Five characters in a harem is fine, moreso is hard to follow. But let’s review anyway: Rui and Yuki are nice comedic foils, Tori is pointless, kinda the same with Hana, Hachiko is fine, Beni is a good stoic addition, and Momo is…Momo. Yeah, Momo’s good girl “let’s all be friends” gimmick was not fun, and doesn’t really mesh well with Tenchi Muyo’s humor. Even Sasami has a playfull side. Plus, Momo’s speech defending the love between a teacher and student was weird. Ultimately, I just don’t know who this anime is for. If it’s for long time fans, then why focus on a new cast. And if it’s for new people, why use Tenchi, Ryoko, or the others in the first place? And easy fix would probably be using a new main lead, like GXP and Geminar did, but it’s a little late for could ofs.

Watch it: Skippable, but maybe hunt for the Ryoko scenes (3/5).

MVP: Ryoko

Because she’s always MVP

Best Episode: The Tenchi at Home episodes (a little too dispursed to track down the episode numbers).

SHIMONETA: A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn’t Exist

Type: NSFW

Synopsis: In a world, where smut has been outlawed. Where phrases like “putting your yogurt tosser into the butter boat” is blaspheme. A world of prudes. A world of abstinence. Only one person will be able to bring back the raunchy. Follow our heroes on their trip towards an uncertain end. THIS SPRING, STAY TUNED FOR HIGH SCHOOL KIDS DISTRIBUTING DIRTY PICTURES AROUND SCHOOL CAMPUS AS A FORM OF PEACEFUL PROTEST.

Pros: Where has this been all my life. Why was I not informed of this anime sooner! What am I…what am I even doing here!? Shimoneta is half brilliant, half stupid, and all parts entertaining. The basic premise is that Japan has outlawed lewdness in all forms, forcing our protagonists to rebel through pervy behavior and inappropriate language. And I mean INAPPROPRIATE. I watched the English Dubb, because sometimes this world is a beautiful place. The words that came out of Ayeme Kajou might be THE filthiest collection of saying that I have ever hear. I did not know that the English language was capable of making that many euphemisms for sex, penises, or vaginas. Aside from the admittedly sophomoric charm of the show’s content (sex, masturbation, etc), the program does have a good message. Kajou’s group, SOX, fights in the name of personal freedom and sexual education. They don’t necessarily want to bring the government down, they just want to be explore the subject of sex without punished. Which is a good thing to say. Sexual education is important. And while issuing every teenager a box of sex toys and a porn subscription isn’t necessarily a good option, neither is pretending that lust doesn’t exist. The show argues as much. You have characters like Fuwa who are so ignorant about sex that they need to study the reproductive habits of bugs to better understand it. Or you get extreme cases like Anna, who becomes a sexual deviant after her first taste of physical romance because she has no background knowledge to help moderate her new urges. And as a side note, I liked the organic relationship that developed between Tanuchiki and Ayeme, especially since it’s based on comradery  and not idealization.

Cons: I mean, this is basically smut. Well, that’s too harsh. I’ll downgrade to softcore porn, not unlike American Pie or Not Another Teen Movie. You know, the classics. Aside from Ayeme’s amazingly dirty dialogue, a lot of the jokes come from Anna. After episode 3, Anna becomes a sex maniac who constantly tries to share her “love nectar” with Tanichiki after an accidental kiss. This girl is so turned on whenever she even sees Tanichiki that she immediately undergoes vasocongestion, causing her to secrete a combination of carbohydrates, amino acids, proteins, and other acids produced by the normal lactobacillus bacteria. Clean up in aisle 3, am I right! Normally I would say this goes overboard, but given the context of the show, it actually fits right in. I do kind of think that it’s messed up that Tanuchiki losses interest in Anna after her “pure image” is shattered, but the exaggerated nature of her character change makes it work. Story wise, I feel that the last arc involving Gathered Fabric is not very strong, and I didn’t really like them as antagonists. I would have been perfectly happy if the show had followed a scheme-by-scheme narrative.

Watch it?: Does a footlong taste better with mustard on it? (5/5)

MVP: Anna Nishikinomiya

L-O-V-E  N-E-C-T-O-R.

Best Episode: EP. 1 “Whom Public Order and Morality Serve?” (I have my own favorite [ep4], but I feel that this one tells you everything you need to know about the show)