Sleeping with Hinako - Reviews

There is something humankind has never been successful with: Sequels. They are always terrible. Who can forget the adrenaline pumping Speed 2, the testosterone fuelled 2 Fast 2 Furious or the epic fail that is the Kanokon OVA? Despite the rare occasions where the follow-up formula does actually work, I had very little hope that Sleeping with Hinako would fare quite so successfully as Toy Story 2; it just sounds so bland.

And guess what? It is. To be honest, you get everything that is on the tin: Hinako sleeping, but it is actually very dull. Where Training with Hinako was fun, and at a push, had some practical uses, Sleeping with Hinako is an utterly boring and pathetic way of trying to milk some more cash from the top-heavy cow. Opening with the familiar faced cutie, it seems another day of strenuous exercise has completely drained our idol, and she is ready to sleep. But today, she wants to share her bed with the viewer and let them experience a night watching her scantily-clad, buxom body as she visits the land of nod.

Firstly, avert your eyes as Hinako coyly strips off layer after layer. Then follow her to the bathroom as she works her toothbrush to fill her mouth with creamy white toothpaste, as oral hygiene is extremely important. Once the seductive minx is ready to sleep, she tugs a thin sheet over her shapely body and gets ready to settle down for the night. And it is at this point that the dirty otaku amongst you will be rubbing their hands together in glee; the thought of Hinako at her most vulnerable as she breathes deeply, gently tossing and turning will definitely have the most voyeuristic of fans reaching for the tissue box.

Unfortunately, there is a huge disappointment on the way for these people, as Hinako actually spends less than half of the show asleep. Well, how about the initial promise that this would be a great way to help insomniacs with their problem? Even this is pretty much forgotten, as Hinako irritating giggles as she hides her face shyly beneath the sheets, or mumbling as she staggers to the kitchen to sleep-eat are more than enough to make a person spend the evening desperately searching for the remote just to make her stop...

Using the same animated standards as Training with Hinako, the lines (or more specifically, curves) are clean and fresh looking. Gravity is a little hit and miss, as the star still doesn’t seem to have any back issues and somehow her clothes remain fully attached to her body no matter how she twists or turns with her impressive DD's. Even if there is a disappointing lack of nip-slip, the sleek and dainty nightwear has been drawn to give even those most lacking imagination food for thought.

Bubbly and bright as ever, Hinako brings certain energy to the show. Where the high pitched excitement was an absolute must in Training with Hinako, it feels extremely out of place in a show designed to lull the viewer into a soothing slumber. Although her girlish whimpering is adorable as she sleeps, the over exuberance during her playful moments are more like a cheese grater to the ear than a silk scarf.

She doesn’t snore. Or eat toast and make crumbs in bed. Hinako is the perfect woman!

I questioned whether to give this show 1/10, or an ironic 10/10 for bringing something so different to the table. Sadly, it errs more towards the former. Satisfying neither the voyeuristic, nor the sleep deprived amongst its viewers, Sleeping with Hinako aimlessly flails about in desperation for forty-five minutes. Apparently, those purchasing the legitimate DVD will have the option of an 8 hour play-through, where the scenes are tacked together to treat a restless sleeper to a view of Hinako sleeping alongside him – albeit through a television screen. Personally speaking, I’ll hold out for Shopping with Hinako, or maybe even an interactive game on the Wii...

First, a short PSA. If you find that you are tossing and turning as much as Hinako, you should invest in a mattress that is more suited to your preferences. Also, if you find that your breathing stops as much as Hinako's, you might want to see a sleep clinic about sleep apnea. This has been a helping PSA from your reviewer, hamletsmage. Onto the review

Story: Ok, so you find yourself in Hinako's bedroom and she tells you that it's time to sleep. You don't find out how you got there until the flashbacks begin about 8 minutes into the anime. Even then, it's a simplistic storyline. The main storyline is that sleeping with Hinako may get you tossed onto the floor because the girl moves constantly. 

Animation: The proportions when she slept didn't really match the ones you see when she's standing. And I can't even blame the concealing factor of clothes because those booty-short hide nothing. Other than that, the entirety of the animation is Hinako's movements, which are often copied throughout the 50 minute anime. 

Sound: Well, that was soft snoring. Maybe if you need white noise to sleep with, you can have the middle section playing in the background. There's really nothing spectacular about the sound booth for this anime. Even Hinako's voice is pretty mediocre. 

Character: Just one, Hinako. And she's unconcious for most of the anime. I mean, she seems like an okay girl, but she's boring. Super boring. I want her to react to the fact that you blatantly stare at her panties for minutes at a time. (Seriously, dude, that's creepy). But no, she keeps on sleeping. 

Overall: Cut out the middle section, use it as background noise when you can't sleep. Otherwise, avoid at all costs. 

What can i say this is not an anime is a hentai w the wrong name on it. i believe the time when anime had plot meaning and understanding is past. This is just for hormonal teens to explore the line .

wish i could say more sadly i cant.

Training with Hinako sold really well, selling out on release day, so Studio Hibari, the company behind the first OVA, decided to make a sequel to capitalize on the first, releasing it a quick 7 months after the first. This time around, instead of exercise, you're now falling asleep with Hinako, assuming that you're all tired out from the exercises from the first one. Or you're watching her as she sleeps, depending on what you're doing under those bed covers of yours.

Much like the first OVA, Sleeping with Hinako is a few bits of original animation, like Hinako talking to you while you're both in bed, a few moments from the first OVA followed by on a scale to see if she's losing the weight, to her brushing her teeth, her dreaming about snacks, and her getting up to go to the fridge to get snacks, only for you to catch her in the act. But most of it is reused animation, mostly of Hinako sleeping (obviously). It doesn't look bad, but you can tell the budget went into a few of the scenes, and then some of it was copy and pasted until they had something long enough to press to a DVD.

It doesn't even have the interactivity of the first one. I imagine that this was released on an even tighter schedule to try and get something released to capitalize on the success of the first one. I guess you could call it a step down, but there wasn't much going on in the first one, so it's more like shuffling in place then a step down.

There isn't too much to say about this one. Once you've read the description, you've got the gist of the OVA is about, and it's pretty obvious what this is and what it's trying to do from the DVD cover alone. I guess if you're a big fan of "Training with Hinako", then this is for you. But for me, it's the weakest of the three Hinako OVAs. It has a few cute moments here and there, with the going to the fridge in the middle of the night being the best part, but most of it is just watching the same animation of someone sleeping.

All of this sitting in silence watching this makes me wonder the logistics of the world, if more people have been sucked into this anime world, or if Hinako is the only. I was so underwhelmed with this that my brain started trying to figure out the logic behind it just so my brain had something to do.

This anime isn't great. It doesn't have an amazing story or creative characters but it does serve a function. If you look past all the panty shots and breasts. You can notice that it does work has a sleeping aid. Some people listen to music or the ocean but for the anime fan those may not cut it but it does feel good listening to a girl gently sing and hearing the slow gentle breathing as if your partner was next to you. I can't say I love the character or the story but I do love using it as a sleeping aid to let me rest easy at night