To Love-Ru

[therik]

To Love-Ru

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Story - 2.5/10

Oftentimes, the arrival of a pink-haired, amply bosomed alien girl would be cause for great joy and celebration amongst the male population of the globe. Quite how To Love-Ru takes this premise and turns it into an unsatisfactory 12 hours is anyone's guess. I suppose, with my stall set out thus, you might expect a brutal savaging of the series, but it is my nature to at least attempt to give balance to my thoughts, so I will begin with the show's strengths.

Ostensibly, To Love-Ru is a love-comedy, based around a love triangle, epic awkwardness on the part of the male lead, and relentless bucketfuls of ecchi. As a formula, it is certainly successful, and the show rarely strays from the comfortable ground of wacky, improbable shenanigans and accidental head-breast contact. Beyond any doubt its greatest strength is that it does not - at any time - pretend it is anything other than what it is. WYSIWYG, if you will.

Further to this, nothing in the show is absolutely intolerable or offensive (unless, I suppose, feminism is a value close to your heart). In fact, the show meanders pleasantly enough along its path without once giving you cause to dislike it, let alone drop it. So why the scathing bile at the start? It is because, in all honestly, To Love-Ru's strengths are also its greatest weaknesses. Formulaic shows are one thing, but for an anime to stick so ruthlessly to the tried and tested is another thing altogether. It is about as adventurous as a geriatric aristocrat, and only slightly more interesting.

Each episode begins positively enough, with an upbeat theme and images of the girls in various states of undress, which is, I am not afraid to say, quite pleasant. However, there comes a foreboding sensation that something is wrong, and you can't quite put your finger on the exact problem. Fortunately, the credits help you out with this as the katakana-literate become aware of someone being credited with "character design". I have no desire to be unkind, but To Love-Ru's primary character design innovation seems to be taking pre-existing characters and making them nakeder. This is hardly rocket science and leads one to wonder about the rest of the show given how little effort was clearly put into to creating the drones that inhabit it.

Distressingly, the body of the episode inevitably follows suit, wagging its tail, and with a dumb smile on its face. The "alien from space" premise and all the material that could come from this are gleefully discarded in favour of the usual high school setting. This overused basin of normalcy plays host to plots which are bizarre enough to obliterate any suspension of disbelief, but too banal to generate any interest. Instead, it takes an agonising middle road somewhere between Seen It All Before Avenue, and Don't Honestly Care Lane. In the process, the writing cruelly compacts any promise that the To Love-Ru's theme may have offered into a series of bizarre "inventions" which are so ascientific, they may as well have "Deus Ex Machina" scribbled on them in indelible marker.

Animation - 6/10

I have no quarrels with the animation. It's functional and the females are drawn in a way which complements their undoubted stock-character allures. Indeed, the second ending credits contains some delightful artwork. This said, certain animation devices are overused to the point of rabid frustration on the part of the viewer. Rito's head, by way of example, seems to spend half its time filling with blood and steaming, like some sort of badly broken kettle.

However, I guess this is all besides the point, as I can imagine the question you may be asking, and the answer is no. For all their patent desire to draw the curvaceous and the erotic, the animators stick to a strictly PG policy on nudity. This, in all honesty, frustrates to no end. The anime's target audience is clear and - with this in mind - such pre-watershed teasing is unforgivable. Perhaps I need to retake the unit on Japanese cultural norms.

Sound - 7/10

Again, there is really nothing wrong with the sound. Every individual has a voice which befits their character, and Lala manages to strike a balance between getting on my nerves and not getting on my nerves with her high-pitched, permanent excitedness. No sound effects are overused and no music is fury-inducingly annoying or overplayed. In fact, I'd go as far as to say the themes are catchy, but my opinion is worth little on this matter. I actually like J-Pop, for crying out loud.

Characters - 2/10

Surprisingly, not only every idea in the anime, but also every character has been done before, and has been done better. The pathetic, self-insertion vessel of a male lead, the wackjob pink-haired extra-terrestrial, the nurse whose breasts are so pendulous one could imagine them being used to measure time - it's all old hat. The nearest we get to "interesting" or "character development" is the semi-tsundere disciplinarian Yui Kotegawa, and even her character is a pale shadow of those which it so barefacedly rips off. Indeed, To Love-Ru's main problem is not so much that it follows a tried and tested formula, but that it follows a tried and tested formula without offering so much as a modicum of novelty and - in so doing - finds itself infinitely inferior to most shows of the same genre.

Overall - 3/10

Perhaps the most damning indictment of To Love-Ru is that the best episode is one where 22 of the 24 minutes are taken up by another show (Magical Girl, Kyoko Flame, or some such) which the characters are watching. If this is not a clear indication that something - anything - else is better than watching this hodge podge of ill-executed madness and abyss of characterisation, then I don't know what is.

If it all still sounds like your cup of tea - I can't blame you, I thought I'd enjoy it too - then can I recommend you watch Shuffle! instead. It's the same thing but better. Plus you actually get to see nips. If you've already watched Shuffle!... watch it again, ahead of this.

~D

[therik]

Oh, and please consider this an audition for writing reviews on the main site. I'm prepared to change the my review formula, if needs be :)

[Lemur]

*Mutters* Giving To Love-Ru a bad review and expecting a good response... *End mutter*

[llsektorll]

to love ru was a lost potential.... but watch it... lala is definitely something xD

[therik]

Originally Posted by llsektorll

lala is definitely something xD

If by "something" you mean "loudmouth nutcase" then we're in agreement. Generally a character like that is great, but there's not even a shred of anything else within her, which makes her boring and predictable.

If by "something" you mean she's stacked, then fair play. She is.

*Mutters* Giving To Love-Ru a bad review and expecting a good response... *End mutter*

Rolfcopter. What did you find good in it? Not a challenge to you, I'm actually interested.

[rockenroll4life]

I thought you did well for your review, though I enjoyed the anime, but I respect your opinion.

As for the review, normally to be excepted as a site review the review has to be broken down into categories (Story, Animation, Sound, Characters, and Overall. As well as given a rating of each category). I'd first suggest heading over to the review section of the site, which can be found on the "reviews" tab at the top, and taking a glace over some of the recent reviews. These will give you an idea of how to structure your review.

[therik]

Originally Posted by rockenroll4life

As for the review, normally to be excepted as a site review the review has to be broken down into categories (Story, Animation, Sound, Characters, and Overall. As well as given a rating of each category). I'd first suggest heading over to the review section of the site, which can be found on the "reviews" tab at the top, and taking a glace over some of the recent reviews. These will give you an idea of how to structure your review.

Thank you for the advice. I will try to stick to a more recognisable mold in the future.

Surprised at how popular the anime was. I'd love to read a positive review from someone :)

[sothis]

pmed ^^

[rockenroll4life]

Haha, It might not be as popular as perceived. I can imagine someone who likes To Love-Ru seeing a thread about it and flocking to it. I know I liked it because it was a light hearted romantic comedy, but that's just a type of anime I like. *Shrugs* Though at least for me I almost like everything, with exceptions of course.

[VivisQueen]

Dear therik.

You are a wonderful writer and I bow before your beautiful flow. :P

But in all honesty, I have no criticism about this review except for the run-on sentences. You even made me giggle inanely on occasion. Very much looking forward to reading more of your opinions around. ^_^