Genres: Comedy, Ecchi, Harem

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Hakureiryou high school provides students enrolling in its servant education program a fully paid scholarship. Students in the servant-ed group are trained up to be proper maids and butlers under their superiors in the upper-ed program. The upper-ed program is comprised of girls from affluent families. Akiharu Hino, having recently lost his parents, has entered the academy to have some place to stay. There are only 5 boys enrolled in the academy as of episode two.

Akiharu runs into Selnia Iori Flameheart on the path to the school. She marks his as a strange and suspicious person, berating him while he tries to walk away, and the eventually charging after him. They collide and land in an classically inappropriate one-hand-grope position. Selnia then begins to chase Akiharu across the school hurling insults and epithets. Akiharu clumsily gets himself into more trouble with more girls as he tries to find his freedom. Its only when Tomomi Saikyo intervenes that the girls stop chasing him.

It turns out that Tomomi knows Akiharu, and worse yet, used to bully him in elementary school. Akiharu overcomes his initial terror at this realization and attempts to fit in with the others in the servant-ed program. Selnia, unwilling to forgive what happened, attempts to make Akiharu as uncomfortable as possible. She arranges for him to serve her during tea; havoc ensues. A clumsy maid pours hot soup on Akiharu; shower scene and unintentional groping ensues. Que sera sera…

There have been both censored and uncensored versions released to various outlets. I leave it up to you whether you wish to watch a scene that is 80% obscured or 100% over-the-top unnecessary. The reason I ranked this series a C was due to the funny situational comedy that surround Akiharu PULLING the rating back from a D due to stooping to a lowest common denominator to get a fan(service)-base. Without the excessive nudity, but still keeping the outright ecchi themes and situations, this could have ranked higher.

Maybe companies should have more confidence in their writers; allow a STORY to develop, not just a few extra boob shots to make their rent.

Overall Hook Rating: C

Genres: Comedy, Ecchi, Fantasy, Romance

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Tomoki Sakurai’s morning start off much the same as any young male in a generally ecchi series. His family is away on a trip and his equivalent-age female neighbor, Sohara Mitsuki, lets herself into his house to wake him up in the mornings. Life is good… and above all, predictable. This is what Tomoki desires in his life, but change is on a collision course!

Tomoki has been having a recurring dream of an angel asking for his help ever since he was young. He wake with tears in his eyes, which concerns Sohara to the point of her asking him to see professional help. Tomoki, however, write this off as nothing. Her second plan is to drag Tomoki to meet Eishirou Sugata, the president of The New World club. Eishirou understands completely about this phenomena, so he claims, and shows the two a mysterious floating black hole over earth that is supposedly linked to the dreams.

Tomoki, Sohara and Eishirou agree to meet under an giant, ancient cherry tree to watch as the spot moves over their town. First Sohara cancels on Tomoki, soon followed by Eishirou. As Tomoki wonders why he even bothered to come he gets a panicked call from Eishirou telling him to run; the spot has apparently become unstable. Before he can take action on those words, Tomoki sees what appears to be an angel crash to earth. His conscious won’t let him leave her on the ground as hundreds of falling pillars begin to decimate the countryside.

Just as one is about to crush them both, the “angel” wakes and flies them to safety. This creature introduces herself as Ikaros, a Pet-Class Angeloid – Type Alpha, and promptly bonds to Tomoki as her new master. She informs Tomoki that she exists to carry out his every wish. This is where the story ends up following the perverted Tomoki on his exploits for one and a half episodes of my two-episode review process. I would have rated this series higher except for the latter two-thirds of the second episode consisting entirely of Tomoki making all the girls panties fly off. This barely makes its rating, and will fail utterly if it doesn’t get to the over-story ASAP.

Overall Hook Rating: C

Check out episode one after the break…
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Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Ecchi … no, Hentai … no wait Ecchi

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It is to be noted that this series is part two of the Queen’s Blade saga. The Queen’s Blade is a tournament for control over the continent in which the story takes place. Every four years warriors chosen from all over the world will converge on Gainos to battle each other (and the current queen) for the title. at the close of season one, the combatants have finally reached Gainos and Queen Aldra has admitted them to the tournament.

This season starts with the angel Nanael recapping the warrior women who will be taking part in the Queen’s Blade tournament. She is also assigned a special task to make up for her slight failure in the previous story; she will be taking part in the tournament as well. As the clouds of heaven part, Nanael is cast down to the world by The Seraphim. She lands in the church tended by Melpha, a priestess who uses sexually explicit poses to cast her abilities.

A second force, brought together by the “Swamp Witch,” threaten to destroy the Queen’s Blade process, and in turn cause total chaos to ensue. Her minions: Melona (a shape shifter), Airi (a ghost), and Menace (a resurrected Amaran princess, much like Egypt) enter the tournament. Melona, dissatisfied with taking the long route to their goal, decides to attack Queen Aldra directly. Queen Aldra uses her powers to freeze Melona in an amber crystal, ending her threat… for now.

The first two battles of the tournament are called: Tomoe versus Melpha, Nix versus Elina Vance. Tomoe, a major character from the previous story arc, is a Shinto priestess from Hinomoto (much like Japan). Nix and Elina knew each other since childhood when Nix served the Vance family as a servant. Nix has a unique fire magic ability granted to her from a tentacle beast-like staff. Tomoe wins the first battle and the second has yet to be concluded by the end of episode two.

The characters spend nearly equal time during the series clothed and unclothed. A good number wield larger than life weaponry that obviously used up the majority of the metal in their countries of origin, as their armor is scant-to-none. There is more than a fair share of T&A and some additional breast molestation, tentacle beast and acid breast squirting scenes. There is a solid underlying plot, but the over the top fan service muddies it.

Overall Hook Rating: C

Genres: Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Science Fiction

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There exists a technologically advanced city wherein roughly 80% of the populace are developing powers due to the cities highly advanced technology. This facility is named Academy City; its inhabitants are part of the “Brain Development Program” where in psychic powers are developed. To keep order within this city, powerful students are drafted into “Judgment”, as task force who deals with mundane and super-powered crimes.

We meet Kuroko Shirai and her roommate (and crush) Mikoto Misaka dealing with a group of thugs who are pestering a younger student. While Kuroko is an actual member of Judgment, Mikoto is not… yet she is one of the seven most powerful people in the city (we will later find out why her nickname is Railgun). As soon as the punks are dealt with, the girls must return to their middle school to undergo a “System Scan”, which is code for an analysis of their primary abilities, ranked Level 1 through Level 5 (the strongest). Level 0 is reserved for those with no powers.

Kuroko plots to get closer to Mikoto by allowing her cohort at Judgement, Kazari Uiharu, a chance to meet her hero (Mikoto). Kazari’s good friend, Ruiko Saten, also tags along. Ruiko is considered Level 0, having developed no powers as of yet. While the foursome is out they come across a bank robbery in progress. The two Judgment members (Kuroko and Kazari) step into action and begin to control the scene. in the commotion, a boy has wandered into the battle and is taken hostage by one of the robbers. Ruiko grapples him away from the robber and gets a boot in the face for her troubles.

The robber, now empty handed, steals a car and attempts to run down the one girl left standing in the middle of the road… Mikoto. She tells Kuroko that she will handle the situation. As the car bears down on her, she flips a coin into the air. Electricity begins to flow about her body and focuses toward her outstretched hand. As the coin returns in line she flicks it, releasing all the stored power… the Railgun. This pinpoint blast of power upends the car and sends it spiraling through the air. The day is saved!

Into the second episode the mood lightens somewhat to focus on more of the day to day school life, Kuroko’s crush on Mikoto, and other zaniness. The tone of the series took such a sudden shift that it worries me that it might spiral downhill. On the positive side, the concept and the Railgun itself is just epic.

Overall Hook Rating: B

Watch part of episode one after the jump…
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Genres: Comedy, Ecchi, Harem

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Teppei Kobayashi has a simple, predictable life. His family lives in a modest home near a railway line, he practices with his sword, and is happily unaware of the events spiraling toward him. The news on TV shows stories of affluent families who are dying in mysterious auto “accidents” that are anything but accidental. At dinner his father asks him what he would do if he found himself in that situation. Teppei brushes this off, as it doesn’t apply to a simple person like him, but says he would do what he had to do.

Teppei leaves for school, and notes in the voice-over that it was the last time he saw his parents alive. Saying his last goodbyes, he sets off to live with his grandfather. On the way to his grandfather’s offices he saves Charlotte Hazelrink, a princess, from attackers like those most likely responsible for his parents death. They share a small uncomfortable moment (well, maybe a little too comfortable of a moment) after they are safe, then go their separate ways. Later at his new school, the Shuuhou Gakuen academy, they will meet again in much the same way.

In the interlude, he learns that his mother, Kanae, was heir to the Arima family. His parents “accident” fits the others he had watched on TV; Teppei is filled with a desire for vengeance. His grandfather, Isshin Arima, adopts him as his new heir… warning him to temper his anger and wait for his enemies to make themselves known.

After Teppei (who has now taken the Arima family name) has been announced as the heir and escaped the social scene there-after, he runs into Maria van Hossen, a skilled fencer. He decides that the best thing to do while uncomfortable is to let his mind rest with a little sparring. They briefly match swords until his grandfather and Maria’s father let them know that they are engaged in an arranged marriage.

Teppei’s reactions to the sudden social status upgrade, the new school, personalities and quirks of his status are quite humorous. The underlying seriousness of the situation hides under the tide of perverse humor and general social uneasiness. While not a huge fan of the general harem genre, this one has its own merits.

Overall Hook Rating: B

Watch part of episode one after the jump…
(more…)

Genres: Comedy, Ecchi, Magical

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In a world parallel to our own a highly advanced society exists; in part, tasked with improving life on our side of the divide. The agents they send into our world are each known as a Charger-Girl (Juuden-Chan). They scan over our populace and find those of us who are depressed (ranked F through A, the most depressed and possibly suicidal). While most in this role see it as a simple job, one Charger-Girl takes a personal interest in her work. Plug, a rather hapless and mostly hopeless girl, tries to find the cause of people’s unhappiness.

One of the first encounters Plug has in our world (during the course of the story) is Sentou, a young many working hard to take care of his little sister. Unlike the rest of humanity, he can see through the Charger-Girls’ stealth field. Plug startles Sentou and he rewards her with a baseball bat to the head. Sentou’s younger sister, Hakone, is actually one of those in need of a “recharge” by Plug.

When she tries to carry out her work, Sentou again bats her to the side for “playing dangerously with electricity”. This is also the first instance that people peeing themselves makes in the series. It will NOT be the last (unfortunately). In the end of the first episode, Plug and Sentou save Hakone from jumping off a building… completing Plug’s assignment.

Come the episode, the barely covered nudity of the previous episode jumps the line and goes full out. It is also at this point that the thin string of the plot tanks and becomes more about perv magnet scenes of urination, latex and bondage. Oh yea, its mildly a magical-girl styled series…

Overall Hook Rating: D