It looks like I’m on a roll today. I seriously have some hots for Sorata. How I wish we could have something like those Omake in Sankaku where they strip a character to a bear none, but rather than a cute girl it would be Sorata in this cute manly pose. While at it, why don’t we convert Sorata’s sister in a overly obsesses shota brother that is madly in love with our main character. Something of an opposite version of Who is Imouto, to Who is Ototo, or something. Come on, anyone with 1/4 the artistic brilliance of Shiina could make this.

Aside from talking about Sorata being hot, the reason behind mentioning this anime, is mainly due to how it is different to other Anime out there this season. By different, I don’t mean anything that is in level of Madoka, since that’s really something you don’t see every season. Even after it aired, it didn’t really spark a revolution on deconstruction type of anime or even spewing philosophical Magical girl on how their life of fighting bad guys is taking a toll in their life. It isn’t also have anything like that side-show in Sket Dance about magical housewife dealing with marital affairs or pregnancy, while fighting along evil men and strict bosses. It just different that despite flat-out, this is clearly a Harem anime about a guy being surrounded by damsels hungry for kindness token that can be converted to sex. Because we all know, if you feed them with kindness a mythical hole opens up that will give you the ultimate pleasure.

Stopping the endless comparisons, what’s so interesting about the series is that it doesn’t give the central focus on the female characters. Shiina did have its moments as well as Aoyama Nanami (the VA girl that is clearly Erika-chan from Ginga e Kickoff!! voiced by Mariko Nakatsu) had their moment of realization of how Sorata is the right man for them. In part of Shiina, it didn’t just help develop her character. But rather,  that arc is mainly to focus on Sorata in realizing his dream, which is to become a Game’s designer. That’s just one improvement over the rest of the harem jokes we have, specially To-LOVE-ru with Riko being the cardboard representation of a character to the audience. At least Sorata is developing to discover himself and his dreams with the help of the girls that is surrounding her. Fair enough, since surrounding your self with hard-working talented people would make you want to be hard-working and become a talented person. If that isn’t the case, make you realize that you have a pathetic inexcusable life that should need to be fixed. As what a famous variety hose show in my country use to say: “Ayusin mo buhay mo! (Fix your life)”.

The Mari Okada Effect

Another thing to note about this series, whether you can take it as a good thing or a bad thing, is that it has the Mari Okada effect. Now, I am not the most accurate Anime historian, but just to give the uninformed some enlightenment on why the name Mari Okada play a role on the entertainment of this Anime. It is because most stuff that came from her script is the direct confrontation of in-your-face emotional tirade of melodrama angst, coupled with shouting and uncontrollable burst of tears that could flood the shoreline as if a tsunami had struck it shores. While this method works in certain aspects. It didn’t with some of Okada’s work, mainly Ano Hana and Mine Fujiko, to which is still a subject to many fans. But then, we can also go on about exploring silent and indirect approach to expression of emotion, like Bunny Drop with the audience piece together the scene and build the understanding of the situation. The series reeks of Mari Okada and her direct approach to emotional barfs. Not to the worse of her previous works, but the series could do so without having to be this melodramatic. Given that these are teenagers, which emotion run as active as their sex drive. It is something that people can live about to liking this anime. Unless you really hate Mari Okada like Bakacast and Scamp. But then again, would you rather watch an Anime that develops all of its cast fairly with an emotional dash of tolerable fanservice (subject to the viewers’ tolerance).

So unless you rather go and watch girls being insufferably nice to each other, then get mentally tortured along with thousands of kittens being killed to add to the drama of its eventual death (Little Busters). Or happen to watch to get a decent anime about a kid wanting to be Games designer while being surrounded with girls that needed his help. The later is much more tolerable than the former.

I also have hots for Sorata as I mentioned, so that added in the mix.

P.S: Fujyoshi friends, I am patiently waiting for a Nude illustration of Sorata. Please leave a comment below with a link to your work. I would post it in this site and sing praises to you and your work.

Images Used are under Fair Use.