Sparrow's Hotel

It took me longer to write this review than to watch this series. I cannot imagine this series being expanded to a full length 26 episode series. And that's why it works! No need to explore these characters it's like an ongoing SNL sketch and the fact that it doesn't promise to be or try to be anything more is where the entertainment value lies. That's the charm. Comedies tend to over exert themselves or run to the well one too many times. This was a refreshing comedy that took its premise and jogged with it. Now there will be those who cry misogyny give ... it a one and try to make you feel bad for watching it. but they can sod off. It's a great diversion, it's funny and it's not long enough to leave a lasting impression so watch it and move on.

Having this be my first review you probably shouldn't take anything I say to strongly due to my lack of experience. However, I didn't think this anime was that bad compared to what others say.

I gave the story a 1 because this anime really doesn't have a story. But I would exempt this anime from this category merely because It is one of those anime that focus on trying to push in comedy.

I gave the art a 5 due to the fact that it isn't the best art that I've seen, but it also isn't the worst. I admit that the art is pretty bad ... for what could be done at the time, but it's art kind of make it unique in some regard.

I gave the sound a 5 because it didn't really stand out from my perspective but it also didn't not fit the anime.

I gave the character a 1 because the characters had no development whatsoever. However I think this anime should be exempt from this category as well due to the fact that it is not the type of anime that would focus on developing characters. and if it were the episodes would have been a bit longer and some of the comedy would have been cut.

I gave the enjoyment factor a 7 just because it doesn't take a lot to impress me. The anime wasn't the best thing ever but it was still enjoyable which is a category which some anime fail to achieve.

Overall I gave the anime a 5 due to it being an good yet not outstanding anime with average scores all around for me. However I feel that this anime is a hit for some or a miss for many more. I wouldn't stay away from this like some reviews say, but this anime isn't outstanding. Please don't take this review to seriously though because I have no experience reviewing anime whatsoever. Thanks for reading.

A simple litmus test for how much merit one might find in Sparrow's Hotel can be done by the brief uttering of one of its jokes: "Cute girl with large breasts is good at fighting". Now, if you are presently convulsing in laughter with tears in your eyes and a pain in your sides at the mere thought of that "joke", boy are you in luck, Sparrow's Hotel uses that joke repeatedly! Hell, it's the only joke it has! None of that pesky "variety" garbage to encroach on your love affair with that perfect, solitary joke. As such, Sparrow's Hotel's doubtlessly masterful sense of humor ... will remain laudable for as long as one finds this lonesome joke funny. For most of us, however, that moment will arrive mere seconds into the first episode.

Sayuri Satou, a busty and overly capable bouncer for a successful hotel, is somewhat renowned for her eccentricity and her overzealousness. She tends to go overboard and treat the simple task of calming the guests as that of an assassination or something of comparable severity. That is the entire premise. The meat of Sparrow's Hotel rarely strays from this barebones scenario. Various quirky characters occasionally enter the fray, but they are similarly marred by being one-note affairs. For instance, the sis-con is characterized entirely by his unhealthy affinity for his sister, and the grizzled biker character never diverges from his trite archetype. This isn't necessarily an inherent flaw - better comedies such as Cromartie High School have thrived on this sort of characterization - but the jokes associated with these characters are just as banal as their cardboard cutout personalities would suggest. It'd be a stretch to even consider incessant reoccurrences like Satou fervidly beating up gangsters a joke, but Sparrow's Hotel sure tries its darndest to frame it as one. And as one might expect, the results are invariably poor.

In terms of presentation, Sparrow's Hotel started out as something unique. The show had an art direction straight out of the early 90s, but even by those standards, it would've been hopelessly deficient. The animation was choppy and innumerable corners were cut, resulting in a product that the director even had to apologize for on account of how shameful it was. While this would have looked bad in the 90s, it feels entirely alien in 2013. Being remarkably bad is hardly commendable, but it made the show almost worth watching just to marvel at the fact that this was a show that existed in today's modern anime climate. "Almost" being the operative word there. "Was" being the other, because Sparrow's Hotel abruptly changes its art direction to a rounder style that is more in line with modern sensibilities halfway through the series. While it might sound like a positive turn of events, it takes away the only thing that made the show noteworthy: all we're left with is the comedy, and we already know how that turned out.

And that's the long and short of it. Sparrow's Hotel is an abject failure of a show in every respect. Avoid like the plague.