StoryI’m slowly starting to understand why so many people detest ecchi anime, and DearS is an example of just how low a typically fun genre can stoop. Now, I’m
as far from a raging feminist as you can get, but I was still shocked
to find that this horrendous trash was written by a pair of women. With
the fairer-sex portrayed as either clueless sex objects or raging
nymphomaniacs ready to rip off their clothes, the male protagonists are
always feckless guys who click their fingers and can choose whichever
beauty he wants for the night. Thankfully, not all ecchi is this dire.
Using the “unique premise”, the story consists of a top-heavy beauty
arriving on Earth, devoting herself to a complete loser and moving in
to become his housewife and lover. DearS runs with recycled off-cuts of many other ecchi shows, adding its own
lousy spin. With fan-service that makes you cringe, there is at least
one scene in every episode that will have you shaking your head in
disbelief and wondering why you should bother continuing this tripe.
From a teacher with home-made erotica as a classroom aid, to a sleazy
bishounen who uses coffee to seduce his “koneko-chan”, the perversion
is freaky – and not in a good way.
Jumping from the blossoming romance between two clueless lovebirds to
the plans of those trying to hinder their relationship, the story
includes too many characters with neglected motives thrown into the
mix. Instead of using what they have, the writers rely on tried and
tested quips from successful ecchi shows, such as risky sleeping
arrangements and rivalry between two beautifully buxom babes. The show
can’t decide if it wants to be a bondage dream or a fun-filled harem,
setting itself up to be both but never fully committing to either.
The awkward scenes between the horny schoolboy and reject slave-girl-cum-alien barely manage to even raise a smile. DearS fails to exploit the humour in this potentially adorable situation,
instead ending up falling flat on its face with a nonsensical plot that
opens numerous avenues and inevitably explores none. I know storylines
are not usually the focus of a kinky minded show, but it’s nice to
actually have closure when there is attempted narration to accompany
the curvaceous cleavage and plethora of panty shots.AnimationOn the plus side, you could distinguish male and female. The downsides
will take much longer to list. For an anime series but 5 years old, DearS is worse than substandard. Suffering from lousy lip-synching, poorly
proportioned faces and an inability to blend characters with
backgrounds, the artists are sadly more interested in some mediocre
costume transformation scenes and drawing boobies. The impossibly
proportioned aliens have saucer shaped eyes, a very pert derriere and
an overspill of cleavage all poured into an impossibly fitted spacesuit
– another thing that makes me believe the writers are living in their
own insular world.SoundTaking its cue from DearS’s repulsive portrayal of women, the
opening track is full of trashy lyrics likie “I am your slave”, sung by
what sounds like a pair twelve-year-old J-pop idols. Aiming for cute,
and coming off as irritatingly vile, I value my quick fast-forward
finger that prevents the band, UNDER17, from lamenting their submissive
bile. The closing track is also performed by the same annoyingly perky
childish-sounding duet and did not impress me enough for a second
playing.CharactersPopulating my entire top-five list of “characters you want to kill”,
none of the brazenly stereotyped cast found a place in my heart. Takeya
flip-flops between stealing porn for his randy male friends and giving
females the cold shoulder as he struggles with his immature emotions.
Giving out signals to both alien bed buddy and best-friend Neneko, his
naivety switches to idiocy as he breaks the hearts of those closest to
him. Hardly worth even mentioning, Ren is a hollow shell who
unquestioningly obeys her Goshujin-sama. If her personality developed
even a smidgen throughout the show, she may be considered a passable
character, but she unfortunately stagnates and remains unchanged
throughout.
The only character with any humorous potential was the sexually
aggressive teacher, Yoshimine-sensei. Completely skipping good taste,
the harlot frequently strips down to practically non-existent underwear
and lewdly gropes her own breasticles. Comedy gold plummets into the
realms of deviant fantasy as she attempts to seduce her horrified
students into punishing her for being a bad girl. And this is even
before the pointless and mindless loli cat-girl prowls onto the screen,
adding to the already astronomic list of atrocious characters.OverallNo, just no. I can’t think of any section of the anime community that DearS would appeal to. With a cringingly flimsy and stereotyped plotline, the
ugly animation and characters you would rather choke than befriend will
give even fans of ecchi a hard time. Both the fan-service and comedy
are misplaced from the get-go, leaving an overall feeling of
exasperated frustration. Instead of even attempting this two bagger*,
try Chobits, Girls Bravo or even Ah! My Goddess for the same story that unfolds in a successful ecchi romp. Perhaps
changing the title to “DearGodWhy” would be a step in the right
direction....
* A chick so ugly that you put a bag over your head just in case hers falls off – urbandictionary.com