Oh, I am ALL THE F*** IN on this show.
What an engaging first episode. It's not perfect, by any means, but it's dynamic and funny--and pretty darn unique.
Because, yes, we've seen a million anime schoolgirls (and their dutiful male love interests) fluster like hell at the idea of sex, clinging so wholeheartedly to their virginities as to create a bubble absent even the
idea of sexuality around them...but, really, how many of them have been honest enough to admit that, however unready or afraid or embarrassed they are, they really actually do
have sexual urges? It's a conflict I am excited to see this show delve into, the internal struggle exacerbated by the external pressures and roiling within their own (totally believable) self-contradictions.
Assuming they go that route, of course. Which, from this, seems to be the case.
And I just love how immediately I can grasp the main case of characters. Each of them is distinct and rounded
from the opening moments, even before the traditional expository list-all-the-girls-and-their-assigned-quirk moment (which was certainly among the better implementations of the cliche), which is something I haven't seen done this well since...well, since the first episode of
Miru Tights.
The flaw, at the moment, is the manner in which they swing from jokey to serious. Because the humor is portrayed like that of a more overtly comic show, where the jokes are gags performed for the sake of the audience, not humor that arises from within the universe. To jump from the serious concerns of our main protagonist's more-than-friends affection for her friend coming directly into conflict with her complex fear of/frustration at her level of sexual readiness to a series of
double-entendres as she sprints manically away from her first encounter with the existence of
his sexuality, for example, seems so lacking in subtlety that one would be forgiven for thinking two different writers were penning the script.
The emotions and dynamics, here, are heavy and complex, and I'd hate to see that...not spoiled, exactly, but under-served by a less deftly-handled counterbalance of humor.
BUT...the big takeaways are
very much a positive. Let's hope the momentum keeps up.
