Time for ep 2, and it'll be my last. Intriguing concept, good art, and offensively bad writing == not interested. If this show were developing better, I'd have put more effort into taking frame grabs.

But since it isn't, I only got three. Nonetheless, NSFW below the fold.

UPDATE: Man, it's been a long time since I've done a poll. I wonder if I even remember how? Anyway, let's try it.

UPDATE: Ed Hering has comments about the art.

UPDATE: I have been informed by a knowledgeable source that Sai begins to get his act together in the third episode. I'll give it one more chance, then. But I don't promise to write an extensive post about it.

In our last episode, Sai met haremette #1, Hattori Junko. She's a tsundere. In her second attempt to kill him, at the end of the episode, Sai unleashed a tremendous explosion creating a really huge crater. Fortunately this happened out in the woods, so casualties were light. Junko was pretty much the only one.

So Korone is a "lilidan". I have no idea where that term came from, but she's a magical android. "As of three minutes ago, the God Mahct assigned me to observe you." She uses some sort of gun out of her purse on Junko, and it turns out to do healing magic. Junko wakens, starts crying, and runs away.

The first reaction is to think that Korone is an emotionless girl, along the lines of Yuki in SHNY. In fact, she's more of a deadpan snarker.

Anyway, she's haremette #3. Haremette #2 is a redhead named Soga Keena who seems to be very good at magic. She flies easily, and seem to prefer to do so. And when she gets upset she vanishes, leaving behind a pile of clothing, including her underwear.

At the beginning of ep 2 there's a flashback to when Sai was younger, just before he left the orphanage. There's a younger red headed girl, and he gives her a small silver bird. The redhead in the present has it, so presumably it's the same one.

Anyway, when she vanishes, or dematerializes, or whatever it is, that bird is the only thing she keeps. So as she runs away, you can see it bouncing around. It seems to be a prized possession of hers.

Korone does seem to like to tease Sai. In his dorm room, she stands and looks at him while he lays on his bed. He asks her if she ever gets tired, and she says she doesn't. He says it bothers him to have her standing there, and she says he should give her other orders. He tells her she should sleep, too.

So she takes off most of her clothes and gets into his bed with him. Which freaks him out. So she says she'll sleep somewhere else.

And from this catlike perch, she watches him the entire night. He asks her, "Are you teasing me?"

"A little," she says. "Are you having fun?" "A little."

Next morning we meet haremette #4. Etou Fujiko is head of the girl's dorm, and something of an idol at the school. She tells him she doesn't believe he'll become a demon lord, and says that if there is anything he needs help with, he should call her.

Back in classroom 1-A, Korone sits on the floor in the back. The rumor mill is going hot and heavy about Sai, about Junko not being there, about Keena not being there, about Sai, about Korone being there, about the events of the previous day, and about Sai. No one is bothering to keep their voices down, so Sai hears it all.

After class, Sai wants to use the restroom. Korone comes in with him, but at least she stays outside the stall. He uses his magical communicator (one is issued to every student) to call Fujiko, hoping to get her help in making up to Junko.

Fortunately, they're not picture phones. She's changing her clothes for, or after, gym class. The call is handled by telepathy, so Korone can't hear what he says. Anyway, she's busy watching all the other guys in the restroom.

Fujiko tells Sai to go to "The Back Mountains" during lunch, and come alone. Problem is, Korone won't leave him alone. Fujiko tells him that Korone can be shut down by pulling her tail.

There's a guy who has attached himself to Sai as his "friend". He tells Sai where the mountains are, and he also thinks that Sai wants to go there in order to seduce Korone.

Korone plays up: "It'll be my first time, so don't be too rough, OK?" Lots of people overhear. Sai gets mad.

Out back, the two of them walk up a stairs in the woods. Sai lets Korone go first because he wants to look up her skirt to try to spot her tail, which he presumes is above her panty line. So we get a couple of minutes of sight gags of him trying to spot the tail. Korone eventually asks him if the real reason they're there is so he can look at her panties.

I'm not going to describe the rest of the episode. It's too painful.

The problem with this show is that it's the kind of comedy I hate the most. For the situations to happen the way they do, in order to yield alleged "comedy", the protagonist has to be a blithering idiot -- and Sai is. He constantly does things which are obviously ill-advised.

He's naive and gullible and hasn't yet figured out that there isn't anyone at that school who isn't out to screw him over. That jerky guy (who reminds me intensely of Daisaku in Real Bout High School, which character I wanted to strangle) has attached himself to Sai because he believes Sai is evil incarnate. Junko is at least honest: she's a holy warrior and wants to kill him to save the world. She also thinks he's broken an oath to her.

Korone doesn't work for him; she works for the school and for that god. She might be a bodyguard depending on the situation, or she might not be. She might also end up trying to become an assassin if she's ordered to do so. At one point in this episode she hauls out handcuffs and threatens to arrest him.

Keena may well be the only character in the show who honestly loves him and has his best interests in mind, but we haven't gotten enough opportunity yet with her to find out. Anyway, she seems to be a real ditz, so even with the best of intentions she may well be (as in "almost certainly will be") a source of grief for him.

And Fujiko? She's a real piece of work. She's got the head of her brother sealed in a magical jar. He's still conscious. (They show that in the OP.) Her goal seems to be to gain control over Sai, whether by seduction or some other means, so that when he finally manifests the power of the demon lord, he'll use those abilities as her servant.

Sai's teacher, meanwhile, is fascinated by zombies, and since she's convinced that Sai is going to die soon, whether by being murdered or through suicide, she wants to be there when it happens so she can convert him into one.

And Sai, the blithering idiot, has been following advice from several of these people who are trying to steer him wrong. One hopes that before the series is through he'll develop a bullshit detector and understand his true position -- but I don't think I care to wait around until then.

My general principle about harem comedies is that they are worth watching if and only if the guy in the middle gets a grip. Sai hasn't, and probably won't for a long time because "Sai gets double-crossed and ends up in an embarassing situation" seems to be the staple of the show's comedy. It's happened multiple times in just the first two episodes.

As of now, the only point in watching this show is fan service, and for that I don't need fansubs. I don't think I'll be doing any more episode posts about it, and I may not bother with it even for cheap thrills.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in General Anime at 06:11 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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