Thrawn

From Secret Santa 2011

Story: Behind the comedy lies a serious plot, one where 2/3 of the mains try to cure their crippling flaws: one of supreme masochism and the other of androphobia. Some more serious events abound, backstory wise, and infront of all that, overshadowing it all, a tsunami earthquake of hurricane comedy on fetish fuel, cosplay, beatings, violence and righteous perversion.

The comedy it does exceptionally well, using the main schtick and character quirks without overusing the secondaries. Since it's what it is, it's slapstick oriented and verbal abuse aplenty, which I get a kick out of. And the obligatory Christmas episode and the obligatory "Last episode or two mood whiplash" was very well done and not overly serious.

Animation: I like the eyes... I like those chibis in the OP... it looked good? I got nothing.

Sound: Loved the OP/EP, with the fast beats and gratuitous English and a classical score in some parts that totally made the scene. Felt out of place at times but that just made it more hilarious.

Characters: One of the best parts is how there is no clear winner in the love triangle for some time. The two females each get time, their moments, and the pettanko isn't in the lead entirely. Some anime have them win but this... this has it be anyone's game, and I have to give it massive points for that.

Another is that their flaws are continuous; the masochism and androphobia aren't cured instantly or cured in a cheesy way. They're great character traits and it's used pretty well, as well as providing some backstory for Arashiko (The one with androphobia (Fear of men)). And that... they're just plain fun and have more depth than one would expect of an anime where the guy is smacked around every few minutes.

The secondaries do their role quite well, and are memorable, especially the manager, who pops in every so often with his fetish. Which is to say they're all messed up in some way with their own fetish/problem, and it makes for great fun character-wise.

Overall: This one was just plain fun. Laughed throughout, loved the slapstick and double for the constant verbal abuse, loved the classical score and it's a great comedy overall.