Shuffle! - Reviews

Watched only the first episode of this...the characters seemed incredibly boring and 1-dimensional, the "gods" and "demons" were just regular normal every day people with diff. ears, which was a big disappointment. The jokes were lame. Art was mediocre as well.

Beautiful work on this piece.

I'll be refereing to the English Dub for this review. 
Please keep in mind that this is a review, so there may be a spoiler or two. I'll do my best to highlight (so you look away!), but I can't cover everything!

Let's start with the story. We have Rin, an average highschool guy, easily relatable to many of the young men and women who watch anime today. He's a come as you go character. The fact that he's so relatable I believe is what draws such an audience to appreciate him as a person.

The series revolves around Rin as Sia and Nerine (Princesses of the Gods and Demons respectively) try to earn his love. However the love triangle becomes a complex with Rin's other admirers, Kaede and Asa as they start to open their emotions to him.

Let's pause here and look at the values of each of the 4 main girls.

Sia:
She's the outspoken fun character. You could almost compare her to the "party girls" from most modern highschools. She's a poor student, but she just loves having fun.
The artists have Sia depicted with long red hair, which is to represent the beauty of women, along with the firey power of the gods.

Nerine:
The blue haired demon princess is a sweetheart. She's quiet and soft spoken. Someone who appears to have it all figured out in her academics, but unlike Sia, her social standing is a little lacking. She's self conscious about her bathing suits, and she's a poor cook. Nerine's blue hair has the calming sensation you get from other blue scenery like the ocean or the sky. It gives the relaxed and chilling feeling, relatable to the solemn powers of the demons?

Kaede:
I thought they overdid it with Kaede when I first saw her. She's like a Japanese maid the way she dresses, but even more so in the way she acts. She's by far the closest character to Rin, and there's an obvious connection she feels between the two of them.
Multiple times you hear that she's the "hottest girl in the school" which normally would be odd, for the sweet and caring type (come on, we've all been to highschool.). She also has the most natural hair colour of the four girls (orange).
The idea of having the hottest girl in the school being so sweet and nice is totally a farce, but by making it real in this series, I believe a lot of viewers became attached to her.

Asa:
So, my favorite colour is green. Its the colour of vegetation which represents life and rebirth and all that happy stuff. I don't think there is any better of a description to Asa. She has it all.

 
So based on these brief descriptions, where do you think Rin's heart would go?

Story:
Imagine a tug-a-war with Rin in the middle and each of these girls pulling from opposite sides. The story was very episodal in the way he spends time with virtually one girl at an instance. In most cases you'd have jealousy building in each of the girls' rivals, and don't get me wrong because there was definitely a scene or two where we get to see the power envy can have on a person, but what was interesting was that the girls became good friends, to the point that they took each others' feelings into regard.
I appreciated that, but at the same time, its so extrememly unrealistic. Bittersweet I'd say.

(scroll down to Animation:) 
=========SPOILER STARTS HERE==========

The best scenes of the anime came after Rin did choose his love interest. The psychological damage it caused Kaede was so imense, and believable that it left me with a filthy feeling on the inside. The story had really come to life, and its a pity that they could not have had the same type of storyboard throughout the series, rather than just near the end.

==========SPOILER ENDS HERE==========

Animation:
When I see an animation, I like it to be smooth and everything must be proportional. The best animes I've seen have had the animation done so vividly that its nearly imossible to notice any flaws, thus we are left to focus on the story, and the characters.
My only complaint during Shuffle!  were the fan clubs. I'm talking about the KKK, SSS, etc. They just made the show look stupid. Entirely unrealistic especially how the girls found it normal. Even celebraties don't have that many people chasing them around.

Sound:
Can't really say much about the sound. Voices and dubbing was done exceptionally. Its a shame that there was very little artistic music. I mean, the  music fit very well with the sound effects and the scenes, but I suppose the best image would be that of a pop song. After a while, its all the same thing. 
The opening song, "You" by Yuria though, was wonderful! Best way to start off a show is with good music!

Characters:
I suppose we've already talked about characters above. I think the minor characters fit their roles wonderfully. We could tell that they weren't as important by their natural or dull hair colour (with the exception of Kareha) which I think was a nice touch. However each of the minor characters were very well rounded. 
I have no complaints with any of the characters.

So that about wraps up my review for Shuffle!. Final verdict? I'd say its definitely one that you should watch if you ever are presented the opportunity.

This show was very good. It is a little hard to get into right away and at some points you just want the story to move along but when you get past episode 3 the show seems to really pick up. When you start to really meet and see the characters the show begins to take some crazy twists and gets very good. I loved this show. It was one of the better animated series I have seen. It was a bit emotional near the end.

Oh Shuffle!, you peculiar little gem of heavy hit, and light miss anime. Before reading this review, understand that my rating is high because of how I felt about the characters to the storyline, and not on a principle of "the ecchi was awesome in this series". I'm sorry to disappoint you guys out there, but if ecchi panty flashing is your thing, this anime doesn't deliver too much. It's much moreso about the relationships the characters form, and the beautiful, and gritty emotions that come with them.

Story: 7 out of 10

Story was a tough decision for me when it came to reviewing. On one hand the actually linear storyline was quite bland. Gods and Devils and Humans all exist in 3 different worlds, awkward male has a bunch of amazing girls fighting over him, yet he shows no interest, blah blah blah we've heard it all before. On that basis alone, I would have given the show about a 3 or 4.
The reason it received a 7, however, is that the in your face storyline isn't the compelling part of the show. The progression of the series through the actions of it's characters are what pull you in. Every character starts as a stereotype, and then wonderfully opens up into an almost human feeling entity, capable of feelings, and complex thoughts that a typical harem female would not be able to have. That alone redeemed it to me.

Animation: 5 out of 10

The lowest point of the series, the anime was 100% average to me. There are times when characters out of focus are crudely drawn, and there are times during intimate scenes where the characters are gorgeously drawn. All in all, an easy 50%.

Sound: 7 out of 10

Sound was a treat for this series, being that it was mellow, yet memorable. I think alot of animes try to hard to feed off of the melodrama cake, and they stuff your ears full of drowsy, dramatic instrumentals, and with Shuffle!, this just wasn't the case. They used a small set of mellow, yet recognizable tunes, that you quickly registered mentally, and were able to gauge the mood of scenes before they even happened. A very good job. the only fall back were unmemorable opening and ending songs.

Characters: 9 out of 10.

I'll be the first to admit that i have fallen in love with the majority of the female characters in this series. Perhaps it is because I am a man, and all of the females in this series are fractured beauties, I don't know, but all the characters are wonderful. A spoiler here would ruin the magic of the show, but allow me to explain as best as I can.
Kaede is a sweet, wonderfully loving character, with a dark past, whose interactions with Rin are the most emotionally tugging, since they are both the most dynamic, and the oldest in terms of character time. Sia battles herself with a sort of lack of confidence that makes her seem so fragile; you can't help but want to scoop her up in your arms. Nerine has a problem with ghosts from her past, but with the help of Rin, she overcomes them in a way. Rimu may not necessarily be a "love" interest in the romantic sense, but the relationship she has with Rin is very sweet. She has perhaps one of the rougher pasts, and the bond she grows with Rin will put a smile on your face with how much it means. and finally Asa, whos very health is thrown into the mix in this compelling series.

Overall: 8 out of 10.

If I had to explain this series in a small amount of words to a friend, all I could say would be “deceptively dark, and curiously human”. The series starts off as a harem comedy, and within a few episodes, starts changing into something much more substantial. There is a lot of panty flashing, and even exposed breasts, but it’s usually used to exhibit comedy, or depression. Off the top of my head, a particular scene in which Kaede exposes herself, makes you want to reach out and hug her for how sad the scene is. For these reasons, again, I suggest that if the ecchi and harem appearance of the show have pushed you away, please give it a chance, because it will change into something much deeper than the bland portrait is started off with.
I myself started watching this almost a year ago, and dropped it after the first episode, thinking it was just more bland shit. It took reading a wonderful review by KiraRin to convince me to get back in, and I am proud to admit my mistake with the series. It’s a wonderful gem of melodrama, comedy, and even action in a few parts that I suggest everyone with some time on their hands go see. It won’t change your life, but it will put a smile on your face, and that is important too I suppose.

Shuffle! is a classic Supernatural, Harem, Romance, Comedy, Drama that feels fairly average to begin with but it’s full of surprises as you go on. My overall score may be somewhat biased but this show is just truly amazing. ^_^

The story is just your basic harem anime as it follows a male protagonist (Rin Tsuchimi) an average high school boy who lives with his childhood friend Kaede (girl). Of course to make this a harem there are more girls included into the mix (5 in total) and not to forget the all important supernatural element to the show, by adding gods and demons to the plot. As the series begins it is your typical Rom/Com with plenty of cute and hilarious moments and heaps of casual fanservice. It is until halfway into the series that the drama kicks in, bringing forth a great deal of heartfelt moments, which will get most viewers all teary eyed and plenty of character developments.

The characters themselves are compelling and fun to watch as they all have something unique about them, including the guys. It’s true that the set-up for the girls is pretty clichéd (childhood friend, eccentric, tsundere, shy girl, loli) but they all bring something special to the story. What’s more amazing is that the male protagonist also brings a great deal to the story, including deep-rooted jealously that all us guys feel whilst watching the series.

The animation quality for Shuffle! was somewhat unique, with its own style and having subtle differences with similar anime. This allows the animation aspect of the show to excel amongst others; with amazing environments, well animated character expressions/emotions and most importantly the superb character designs. One thing I noticed is how most of the characters wear around 5-10 different outfits throughout the series, which is rarely seen in your average harem. It would be perfect but there were instances when the quality of the animation degraded.

On another note the music for the series was great and went well with the mood of the situations (comedy & drama), nevertheless it became somewhat repetitive. At least there were some really good insert songs.

Overall Shuffle! is the epitome of what a harem romance anime should be; one guy + cute girls = a variety of romantic outcomes. The best thing about the show would have to be the characters because they are all developed incredibly well and their actions aren’t always questionable, seeing how it suits their personality. And because the male protagonist isn’t a worthless guy, there are numerous romances and a number of possibilities. The series managed to end well without relying on too many clichés. So in the end this is a classic series that most romance anime fans would enjoy.