Anime: Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku o! 5f1g35

This is a romantic comedy which somewhat tries a bit harder than the usual. You see, the main couple is established from the first episode and thus there is no 50-episodes-stall-until-he-its-he-loves-her. With that in mind the show proceeds with having the couple doing everything a normal couple would do… apart from sex. Going on dates, making chocolates, going on vacation together. All of the above are originally playing out as a stereotypical romance but just for kicks various weird stuff are standing in the way.

For example, Ayako, the main girl, is an edgy superhuman who constantly beats everybody who stands in her way or just irritates her. One would expect for her prime victim to be her boyfriend but no, he isn’t. She hardly slaps him; most of the times she is very protective and caring around him. She unleashes all her epic anger to those who bully him or try to spy on them.

The boy in question, Mamoru, is your average harem lead with the difference he looks like he is still 10 years old and everybody is out to help him. Usually in such shows the entire universe is set to keep them apart and to torment the boy. Jealous schoolmates, rival girls, monsters, whatever, they are all there to constantly hurt the male and make him give up. Not in this show though; most of them actually want to help him or just test how strong his love for her really is. The thing is they do it in such an annoying way that they actually stand in the way despite their good intensions. To the most part they will feel like perverts, stalkers, annoying nose-butters, and that results to Ayako constantly causing mass destruction all around her.

All that basically make this show a parody of a genre which is already a parody of romances and thus may attract you to keep watching further. The thing is, there isn’t much of a story in the show and it actually lasts 24 episodes, which will probably tire most who expect developments and plot twists. The plot is just small arcs with the couple in a different romantic situation and various people around them standing in the way… with usually good intentions that go wrong along the way. The whole thing plays out too light as there is nothing overly serious to ever make you worried. The lack of excitement and the simple storylines have a high probability to make most lose interest.

Production values are average for their age. This anime was made at the same time as the first Haruhi and the difference is painfully huge. Most who like good visuals and great soundtracks will be disappointed to the almost simplistic character figures, the blunt backgrounds and the forgettable pop songs. But hey, what can you expect from a studio such as Zexcs? All their shows look run down regardless of their age.

On the other hand the cast is very colorful and almost different than the average romantic comedy, as the roles are different for the reasons I stated above. None is given great development or is special enough to but they are all quite distinctive in whatever they are doing and most of the times quite funny. The period of which they will start to feel repetitive and tiresome is questionable and highly personal. I for example lost my interest half way through. A thing to notice is that there is fan service in it but it is kept at reasonable levels for its time and most of it is censored, so it never turns to substitute for porn. That allows for the characters to retain most of their dignity towards you.

It is not a bad comedy but the lack of an overall story or progress, as well as the rather long duration and average production values for its time make it hard to be appreciated for its merits. Recommended to fans of the genre only.

And now for some excused scorings.
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