Intro
 
Geneon takes their turn at the plate and releases yet another harem anime into what has already been a long string of them released thus far this year.
 
The Story
 
This anime is about a young man named Yukinari who has always been the shortest and slowest boy (boy can I relate!) and because of this he has always been picked on everyone including all the girls. Also because of this he has become quite afraid of women, so much so in fact that when one comes near him he breaks out into an allergic rash.
 
One day though after he gets into a fight with his next door neighbor and childhood friend, Kirie, he finds himself transported into another world called Seiren. In this world he meets a young girl named Miharu who has seen his reflection and has wanted to meet him but was never able to until now. Unfortunately for him though this doesn’t turn out to be a pleasure trip for him as quickly he finds out that on Seiren, less than 10% of the world’s population are men and so women are constantly fighting over them whenever one appears.
 
He does manage to get away at first and get back to Earth but in the process, Miharu comes with him and now she must learn to adapt to a brand new world.
 
The first four episodes of this series are shown on this first volume and we are treated to an incredibly long string of introductions including the school rich boy and self titled woman killer Fukuyama and his little sister and practitioner of black magic, Lisa, who is convinced that Yukinari is her soul mate.
 
The Good And The Bad
 
When I first heard about this anime I was actually really keen to see it as it sounded like something that I could really find myself getting into but unfortunately it came no where near to living up to my expectations.
 
For the most part this was a good volume. The animation was very crisp and bright making it a visual treat for the eyes and the writing really wasn’t that bad. There were some occasions when the writing was really over the top but for the most part it was nothing that I was overly concerned with.
 
I think that the most annoying part of the anime was the very shameless use of nudity (although it was pretty light with mostly just breast and panty shots) and some very obvious phallic symbolism and innuendo involving Miharu eating her first banana. The sexual overtones in this anime were absolutely dripping from every pore and while sometimes it was a little bit too much to swallow, I managed to get through it with just a roll of the eyes. The sexual innuendo wasn’t enough to make it not be entertaining nor was it enough to make me stop watching but I was kind of hoping that they wouldn’t go in that direction so easily.
 
Music
 
I really enjoyed the music used in this series. All of it has a very light and poppy feel to it and so I really enjoyed the mellow mood that it kept everything at. Nothing was made to feel one way while portraying another as with some animes that I have seen.
 
I do have to admit that there were a couple of occasions when I heard some very cheesy sound effects that I thought were absolutely unnecessary, especially in episode two but these were pretty uncommon so again it was nothing that I was overly worried about.
 
Dub vs. Sub
 
Both tracks were really well done and I really can’t find much fault with either one. I think that Yukinari was dubbed a bit better than in the sub track and I also really enjoyed Lisa in the dub track but the standout performances have to go to veteran performer Michelle Ruff as Miharu and Hunter Mackenzie Austin (Whom I’m begging to get a shorter name because that’s a pain to type!) as Lisa. Great performances by both ladies!
 
Extras
 
Not really much here besides the clean opening animation and the original Japanese animation and a line art gallery. Nothing to get excited about and believe me, I didn’t.
 
Overall
 
One of the things that really drew me to this anime right away was the fact that it was directed by the same man who directed Onegai Teacher and Onegai Twins and since I really enjoyed those series, I really wanted to see what he did with this one.
 
Unfortunately what I found was nothing like I thought it was going to be. It’s entertaining sure but it’s still just pure fluff and there’s really nothing here to make it standout from the rest of the genre which seems to be growing at a very rapid pace this year.
 
If you really enjoy harem anime than I think that you’ll be pleased with this release. It has everything that a fan of this genre would like plus a bit extra put on top just for good measure.
 
If you’re not already a fan of the genre though I really suggest working your way up to this title instead. Might I suggest a tamer title such as Love Hina instead?
 
Final Grade: 79% – C
 
 

One Response to “Girls Bravo Vol. 1”