First Impression: Maken-Ki! Episode 1

Let’s all close our brains and pretend that Maken-Ki is GOOD…ERROR…CANNOT COMPUTE!

I couldn't find a download link for the RAW ep; so crappy shots from Manycam will have to do

I’m almost surprised that no legal streamers or even fan-sub groups have picked this show yet. It’s been Tuesday since the RAW came out! Well, it’s not really an anime that requires subs to understand it either.

The story revolves around Takeru Ohyama who unknowingly enrolls into a high school that focuses on magic and battles. The identity of the show quickly manifests itself when the main character already falls on his childhood friend’s (Haruko Amaya) F-Cup b00bs and a blondie (Kodama Himegami) with smaller breasts falls on him in a kiss landing. This serves a plot device as Blondie discovers on Takeru’s body a Tomoe symbol (see Wiki) which can be interpreted as a family emblem, thus hinting that he comes from a special family. Of course, he gets challenged into a duel that eventually results in him being saved by another F-Cup girl (Inaho Kushiya) who claims to be his fiancée. This episode concludes with Takeru living together in the same dorm room with the 3 chicks because the School principal doesn’t give a shit.

Impressions

I remembered at one point of my life that I liked the manga. Today, I’m NOT really sure why I did. In addition of having unimpressive character designs, this anime doesn’t have anything beyond stereotypes and tropes.  Takeru looks and is normal to a fault. He is a pervert, yes, but still a loser. I do give props to AIC for choosing a Seiyuu that doesn’t sound like a wimp. Of course, Inaho is pretty much the obligatory doting & brainless lover that is forgotten by the main character. She is also easily one of the ugliest female leads in anime. Her design is quite fugly. She seriously reminds me of a dog. You also apparently can’t have a mediocre harem without a breastless Tsundere like Kodama.

Obviously, this anime isn’t free of censorship. However, the censorship is unbelievably inconsistent. Some panty shots get censored while some don’t. It is as if the staff members weren’t sure what to censor or they abandoned the idea of censoring everything. Or, maybe, they’re censoring the BEST panty shots for DVD sales. But come on, panty shots aren’t meant to be censored.

The animation and artstyle…OUCH! Maken-ki! is painful to the eyes. The lighting of the show is too bright. That’s something that can and needs to be corrected. When I saw the unnecessary circle of light around the Kiss between Takeru and Kodama, I just had a facepalm. Then I looked at the staff of the show and I saw the name of the director: Koichi Ohata, the man who directed garbage like the 3 sequels of Ikkitousen, M.D. Geist and Burst Angel. Aside from one or two anime, everything he directed can be considered crap. An okay manga given to a bad director…  This is good reason enough to believe that Maken-Ki! will continue and end as dog poop.

Score: 4/10…BAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!