Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata

Tomoya Aki, an otaku, has been obsessed with collecting anime and light novels for years, attaching himself to various series with captivating stories and characters. Now, he wants to have a chance of providing the same experience for others by creating his own game, but unfortunately, Tomoya cannot do this task by himself.

He successfully recruits childhood friend Eriri Spencer Sawamura to illustrate and literary elitist Utaha Kasumigaoka to write the script for his visual novel, while he directs. Super-group now in hand, Tomoya only needs an inspiration to base his project on, and luckily meets the beautiful, docile Megumi Katou, who he then models his main character after.

Using what knowledge he has, Tomoya creates a new doujin circle with hopes to touch the hearts of those who play their game. What he does not realize, is that to invoke these emotions, the creators have had to experience the same feelings in their own lives.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Katou, Megumi Main

Yasuno, Kiyono Japanese

Kasumigaoka, Utaha Main

Kayano, Ai Japanese

Sawamura, Eriri Spencer Main

Oonishi, Saori Japanese

Aki, Tomoya Main

Matsuoka, Yoshitsugu Japanese

Hyoudou, Michiru Supporting

Yahagi, Sayuri Japanese

Hashima, Izumi Supporting

Akasaki, Chinatsu Japanese

Hashima, Iori Supporting

Kakihara, Tetsuya Japanese

Mizuhara, Echika Supporting

Tanabe, Rui Japanese

Kamigou, Yoshihiko Supporting

Uchida, Yuuma Japanese

Satomi, Azusa Supporting

Okuno, Kaya Japanese

Mori, Akitoshi Producer

Shimizu, Akira Producer

Kashiwada, Shinichirou Producer

Segawa, Akito Assistant Producer

Reviews

Mar 27, 2015

HaXXspetten

Recommended

Here's a show with an interesting theme
About an otaku with a dream:
To create a new game
That puts all else to shame
And produced by the girls from his team

One day he met a girl dressed in white
It was a case of love at first sight
Except instead of love
It was rather kind of
... Like he wanted her soul's copyright

She would model for the female lead
For the game; he made sure she agreed
But despite interests joint
To just get to that point
There was one more thing that they would need

So he then asked with all of his heart
If his tsundere friend could take part
Since under a fake name
She'd gotten tons of fame
For her professional hentai art

Lastly the top student of his grade
With the plotline, he asked for her aid
But as he came to see
What she wrote up was the
Most ridiculous script ever made

So at last the circle was created
Which made the protag oh so elated
However although he
Did not care 'bout 3D
All the girls thought of him as their fated

So they did everything that they could
To ensure that the game would be good
And when there was a chance
At him they'd steal a glance
Whilst pretending to work as they should

Overall it was touching and cute
But there's more where that came from to boot
If you thought that was it
Please calm down for a bit
That was still just the very first route!







And that, ladies and gentlemen, is Saekano; quite possibly the most positively surprising show of the season.

First of all I would like to say that despite the ecchi tag; the fanservice in this show is very light (other than episode 00). In reality, Saekano is much more similar to shows like Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai, OreImo and Outbreak Company as it has a character cast mainly consisting of otakus, and it consistently parodies and makes fun of today's anime industry as well as the eroge market as a whole.

In case that wasn't clear, the story is about your typical high-school otaku named Tomoya who has a dream of creating "the ultimate galge" that can touch the hearts and souls of everyone playing it. In order to do so he seeks the help of his tsundere childhood friend Eriri who secretly works as a hentai doujinshi artist on her spare time, as well as the so-called "smartest girl in school" Utaha who is a famous romance light novel author. Together they form a doujin circle and seek to create a homemade galge in order to fulfill Tomoya's dream. As the icing on the cake however, Tomoya also recruits his completely plain and emotionless classmate Megumi to join the circle, with the intention of "training" her into becoming the model for the game's main heroine. It's a very silly concept that doesn't take itself seriously whatsoever, but as a result it's surprisingly entertaining.

If you're well-versed in today's anime industry, along with all the moe and ecchi shows that come out these days, then you'll probably like this show a lot because the endless references and parodies of it are absolutely hilarious. If you also happen to play visual novels, then it'll be even better still. I familiarized myself a lot with this anime, and as a result it almost never failed to put a smile on my face.

Over time, there are some moments when the show gets a bit more serious on the romance/drama front but it still keeps it fairly light and doesn't go past the point where it starts feeling cliché. This pleased me a lot, because Saekano is truly at its best when it's being non-serious, light-hearted and just plain fun.

All-in-all, out of all the various comedies, harems and other simplistic shows of that nature from the Winter 2015 season, I'd definitely have to say this is the best one. This is mainly because a) it actually feels fresh and not overused by any means, and b) it's actually extremely funny.

If you like moe and/or ecchi shows, play visual novels or just like to have a good laugh, then I'd recommend giving Saekano a shot. You probably won't regret it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Apr 1, 2015

reaganomics

Mixed Feelings

This series commits to nothing.

Great coloring, animation, camera angles and alternative color palettes. A pleasant viewing experience that delivers fan service in spades.

You will get several self aware character archetypes and a very superficial look at visual novel game creating. Closeups of female body parts and flustered faces.

Other than that its not really much of anything.

It is not quite slice of life, not quite character drama, not quite comedy, not quite romance. It seems to try to be all, but not really committing to either of them.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Apr 16, 2015

deepbluejeer

Not Recommended

Saekano is the most frustrating kind of bad show: the kind which could have been legitimately good if it tried.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hyped for Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata (Saekano for short) at the start of winter 2015. It’s a shiny new adaptation of Fumiaki Maruto’s light novel series – the same Fumiaki Maruto who wrote White Album 2, which got an anime around a year and a half ago. He also wrote Parfait and Sekai de Ichiban NG na Koi – both of which I’ve seen glowing reviews of. Naturally, I’d expect Saekano to be something close to his work ... in eroge.

I probably should’ve listened to the warning signs. Certain Maruto fans on Twitter had already panned the show and the LN for being self-gratifying otaku humor. People who have watched the first two episodes called the show obnoxious for having snarky commentary on its clichés while also indulging in them.

But let’s give credit where it’s due: Saekano isn’t complete trash. I would probably be more forgiving of the show if it were: it’s easier to let go of a show that’s a total failure than a show that flubbed with its great ideas. There are two things that Saekano did well in portraying: the relationship between consumer and creator, and the character of Katou Megumi. Let’s start with the former.

Episode 6 of Saekano is the first episode where I thought the show was being genuine. The episode frames Utaha as the creator and Tomoya the consumer, and the show asks: how far should an author go to in trying to please their readers? And I feel that the show gave a good answer to the question: fans want something that the creator wrote, not something that would go with their expectations. The framing of the scene was even reminiscent of White Album 2: two high school kids throwing their emotions at each other under the snow might be a clichéd scene, but if there’s anyone who can make it work, it’s Fumiaki Maruto.

Episode 9 is another good episode that gave Eriri much-needed characterization past her generic tsundere shtick. This time, the show asks why a creator, well, creates works for fans – for whose sake are they putting out content? Again, the show frames this question with Tomoya as the consumer and Eriri as the creator: does Eriri draw so she can get better for her fans, or does she just draw to satisfy herself and stay where she is? Eriri finds her foot forward when she decides to get better at drawing to win over Tomoya and satisfy her fans. The show doesn’t give a complete answer, but it gave her character a push forward.

Ultimately, I think Saekano’s best point was Katou Megumi’s character: the deadpan non-otaku who joins the group as the “main heroine”. There’s no mistaking that the title’s “boring heroine” refers to Katou: the show keeps referring to her as having “no character” and a “half-assed personality”. On the contrary, her character doesn’t conform to the show’s pre-established archetypes: even though she doesn’t stand out within the show, Katou is perhaps the most memorable character because she’s not a generic archetype. And this is what I think the show was trying to accomplish with Katou: characters should be people, and not just generic archetypes.

Unfortunately that's where the show’s good points stop. The conversation between Eriri and Tomoya from the start of episode 5 exemplifies what exactly makes the show so frustrating:

“But I just want to always be myself.”
“That’s impossible. Everyone has a secret side to them.”
“But… Katou doesn’t, does she?”
“She’s a non-otaku, but even when mixed up with us otaku, she stayed exactly the same as she was, right?”

It's an insightful conversation, only to be cut short by Eriri acting like the stock tsundere archetype. Saekano knows that Katou stands out the most among the characters, and it knows that characters that follow archetypes like Eriri need to have more than their shallow character traits. The show demonstrates a degree of awareness of its clichés – it knows that its characters are generic archetypes, and Katou serves as a direct contrast to them. But that’s where it stops – it’s satisfied at being aware of its clichés, but never does anything to rise up above them. Even worse, the show’s title and all of the show’s characters want Katou to become one of them: a generic character who talks and responds to situations with nothing but stock phrases. It’s hypocritical and obnoxious – in short, it’s a show that gives advice and chooses not to follow it.

But I would’ve been okay with the show if it had stopped there. Instead, Episode 10 onwards indulges in all the trashy tropes that it comments on. Episode 10 throws all subtlety out of the window and pours male gaze all over the show, not to mention indulging in classy humor such as flashing a girl. It’s not even the more sensual kind of fanservice like episode 6’s Utaha scene where she puts on her stockings. It’s the point where the show stops trying and just revels in all the trashy LN tropes we all love and “cleverly” comments on all of them. This show is completely in love with itself and all of the trashy things that it comments on.

The bottom line: if you’re watching this because you heard it was by White Album 2’s author, don’t bother. If you’re watching this expecting a trashy, fanservice-y show, you’re better off watching an actual trashy, fanservice-y show, because shows like those don’t bother pretending that they’re not trashy, fanservice-y crap. Saekano is obnoxious, hypocritical, and pretentious. Avoid it like the big, stinky turd that it is.

(Full review with images here: https://oneofepisodes.wordpress.com/2015/04/17/saekano-how-to-write-a-stinking-pile-of-crap/)

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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