StoryOf all my reviews, the one to cause the most controversy is my abhorrent hatred for DearS. So as Sora no Otoshimono fired up and one of the first things to grace the screen was a
top-heavy, vapid bint with a collar who insisted on calling the hapless
protagonist “master”, I steadied myself for an entire series of
panty-flashing bilge. And oh boy, did its pathetic little perverted
dance live up to my expectations.... well, for the first 4 episodes it
did.
Playing on every single clichéd anime device, expect to see the skin
flashing swimsuit episode, the girls donning yutaka for the festival
and even the shock classroom harem scenes! It required a few episodes
for me to understand Sora no Otoshimono is most definitely not a series to be taken seriously. There are countless shows parodied (including DearS and Saikano), and surprisingly it is done very well at times. Yes, at times. Lacking the ecchi finesse of Shuffle!,
the show struggles on a little confused about direction. Should we care
more about the childhood friend or the fact Icarus, an “Angeloid” who
seems so sweet and naive is actually a destructive weapon? For a
thirteen episode romp, there is too much crammed into a short space.
Speaking from experience, I have always found I either love or hate an ecchi anime. But Sora no Otoshimono baffled me with moments of pure brilliance hidden amongst the trash.
The first few episodes are dire, and it is only my resolution to not
drop a series that let me persevere through to the end. Unfortunately,
many people will have dropped this show early on and sadly will miss
some genuinely hilarious parody filled scenes. Although the story is
not great, and the comedy a little hit or miss at times, ecchi fans
with a sense of humour may enjoy the amusing digs at other shows in the
genre.AnimationUtterly stereotyped women with overly inflated funbags are the main focus of Sora no Otoshimono,
and to be honest, it’s starting to get a bit overdone. Even the token
loli-like character with the pettanko chest is on the “how to make an
ecchi anime” check list, and this show makes sure to capture every
single last one of these clichéd devices. That said, the unbelievable
artwork is really quite sexy, and the use of CG adds to an extremely
over the top pantsu flying scene. Yes, a host of ladies delicates
soaring through the sky in formation is probably one of the
unbelievable highlights that had me rolling about with laughter. The
chibification of Tomoki, for me anyway, is another plus point; seeing
the degradation of the pervert into a stumpy caricature is laugh out
loud funny, especially the set of wings covering his (petite) modesty.SoundWith some extremely well performed voice acting, the staple characters
of the show have voices that fit their personalities extremely well.
From the shy and girlish tones of Icarus, to the immature whine of
Tomoki, the professional seiyuu seem to have been practicing in other
series within the genre. If only the soundtrack had fared as well.
Instead, a nasal J-pop track straight out of an eroge put my teeth on
edge before the show even started. The closing audio is
middle-of-the-road, however the accompanying video unique to each
episode is frequently panty-wettingly funny.CharactersCounting the number of likable characters on one hand, the other hand
contains those that I wouldn’t bat an eyelid if they fell under a bus.
Tomoki is hilarious. His non-PC antics are one of the things that kept
the show moving along whilst managing to hold the train-wreck together.
Conversely, Sohara is a complete flake who can’t decide if she wants to
bed the protagonist or beat the crap out of him. Unfortunately, the
dynamic between the two is a necessary evil, as much of the humour
comes from the violent beatings but loses its edge as a sappy romance
is introduced.
Also worthy of a mention is the slyly sadistic Mikako, whose mischief
is not used as often as maybe it should be. Her dry and wicked sense of
humour resonates with me, and I often find myself grinning at her wind
up tactics. The two angeloids, Icarus and Nymph, sadly aren’t as
interesting. I really don’t like the feeble and clueless female types,
and so their whiny natures had me wishing for the next scene just in
case they weren’t involved.OverallLike so many other shows, Sora no Otoshimono tries too hard to
please too many people. The convoluted and unnecessary storyline did
not fit what could have been a harmless, but fun perverted romp. The
laugh out loud hilarious moments that make your ribs ache are too
infrequent for this to reach excellent heights. Just take the series
for what it is: pure parody that is not as bad as some people make out.
Screenshots
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