At last! The long wait is over! Chu-Bra began today!

We complain about shows that are remakes, redos, sequels, imitations, and wonder where there are new things. This is new. It is also really ecchi. If you're not prepared for that, the show will probably turn you off.

Here's our cast:

On the left is Yako, a DFC who seems to be a bit of a tomboy. Haruka is her friend from grade school. Nayu is our star. The last one is named Kiyono, but she didn't appear in the first episode.

Nayu is an underwear otaku. Why? Who knows? But she's also a very good student, and had the highest score among all the incoming 7th graders at Ounan (sic) Middle School. When I saw that name, I burst out laughing. So she gets called upon to speak at the opening ceremony. On the way up to the stage she trips and gives the whole student body a good view of her panties -- black lace, very adult.

Rumors start flying about her. She's a slut. She's maybe even a madam. They think she's involved in enjo kousai aka enkou.

Well, she isn't any of those things, she's just fascinated with underwear. But as a result of this, she has a hard time making friends.

It doesn't help that she has a friend, a guy named Keigo (heh), who seems to be into designing and making women's underwear. He may be in high school. She has been field-testing his designs, to see how they feel. The black ones she was wearing on opening day were his.

But circumstances arrange that she becomes friends with Yako and Haruka. Haruka is blooming rapidly and may well have the biggest boobs in the class. Yako is a DFC tomboy, a member of the kendo club among other things. They were friends in grade school.

There's an accident where they all fall down stairs, and Yako ends up on her face with her butt in the air. And as with all otaku, Nayu tries to bond with them by discussing her area of fanaticism. She instantly recognizes the exact make and model of shimapan that Yako is wearing and gives discussion.

There seem to be three cartoon characters, a doggie, a duck, and a turtle, which show up all over the place, especially in fantasy images.

And the ecchiest images in the show are fantasies, mainly Yako's when she's thinking the worst of Nayu.

The story has barely started as of the end of the first episode. It turns out that some of the other girls really have been wondering about more adult underwear, but had no one to advise them. What's eventually going to happen is that Nayu will create an underwear club at the school. A stacked blonde teacher named Mizuno will be the club adviser. And we'll go from there. Maybe that'll happen in the next episode.

In the mean time, I think a lot of people will be shocked by this first episode, and repelled by it. (I predict that Hinano will hate it.) Every season there's a show that it becomes fashionable for everyone to despise and heap abuse upon, and I think this season it's going to be this one. It has been getting no love in season previews. (How anyone can hate this more than the one about milk vampires is beyond me.)

But I think Chu-Bra has a lot of potential, in terms of comedy and character development, and not just in terms of fan service. And I think that will become more apparent with the second episode.

This is a gentle fan service show with interesting characters, a unique premise (to say the least), no violence, no intrigue, and little or no angst. And that's not a bad thing at all. I certainly intend to keep watching it.

UPDATE: This show is from ZEXCS, who also gave us Macademi Wasshoi. It has something of the same kind of good-natured charming feel as that show, though it doesn't have any of the same top staff.

And Macademi Wasshoi was another show that lots of people loved to hate.

UPDATE: No love from Kurogane.

UPDATE: Washi liked it.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in General Anime at 02:04 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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