Unlike the majority of people, I think this show is legitimately good for what it is. Obviously they had limited resources, but they made the most of them, and the animation holds up well compared to contemporary efforts in similar anime.
It somehow managed to build what was, for me, a convincing romance out of the comedy-trope situation that it started with in terms of Ryosuke and Lisara. A lot of the emotional beats that people have criticised it for ring true to life.
"I would have married you if you weren't a childhood friend" really just translates as "you're a wonderful girl but I don't feel any chemistry with you, nor am I attracted to you", but it's put in a much more sensitive and compassionate way.
As for Lisara not wanting to bathe with him, the truth of her character is that she's immensely proud, duty driven and as a result finds intimacy very difficult. She also finds his pervertedness very off-putting. What she wants from him is normal romance and loving sex, not his over-the-top shenanigans. Which, when you look at what he imagined in his fantasy that allowed him to use the Gram properly, is exactly what he wanted deep down too. Not the "erotic dictionary", not lewdness - his ultimate erotic power came from the life he imagined where they dated and became lovers.
Some people might feel like there's a conflict between the fact that Lisara struts around topless for a whole episode and her more reserved (well, normal) sexuality, but this is overlooking what really drives her. She's always been a very serious character, and always put her duty ahead of other things. Whilst she is no exhibitionist, she is certainly not going to let anything so trivial get in the way of what is, for her, the greatest fight of her life and what her entire purpose of living is.
One other thing to note about Lisara is although she is quite tsundere at times, that takes the back seat to her overall seriousness as person. Whilst she did need to be pushed into a corner to say that she loved Ryosuke, she does it with absolute clear conviction, in the plainest language possible whilst never breaking eye contact, and without any of the 'baka!' follow-up undercutting. And when that's not enough, she kisses him. And when he's still wavering, she even meets him in his pervertedness, the thing she can't stand about him. The latter could be seen as being humour, which it is a little, but the beat isn't quite right for that, instead of the comedic timing, they instantly return.
Why, a viewer might ask, is Lisara back to trying to put a lid on Ryosuke's antics after all this? Well, things change for people, but people often don't change. They will always be pushing each other's boundaries, but that is solely within the context of their love for each other, and a mutual understanding.
The very end of the season leaves the door open for future harem antics, but that's anime and the nature of the business for you - they wanted the option of a sequel if it ever became available, so that's just very much the nature of the beast when it's an adaptation of a longer or unfinished work.
Ultimately, there are many things about this anime that make it superior to Highschool DxD, which is still treading water after four seasons at this stage. Despite its terrible and completely irrelevant title, it set up a proper and genuine ethical dilemma for its characters, and resolved it convincingly. The overarching story is far more interesting as well, where the main villain genuinely could have been the hero of the story if told differently. Not only did he love humans, when you look back on it, he only ever attacked Lisara, and almost all of his violence was directed at his fellow reapers, unless he was defending himself.
As for Ryosuke, others have pointed out how he is a pretty decent protagonist, so I won't rehash that. One thing I will say though, is that he actually goes through quite a bit of growth as a person without losing his essential nature. I found him aggravating and at times unbearable, and my frustration at his decision to just charge on to rescue Mina had me raging at his stupidity. Yet, out of all of that, and for all of his chauvinistic beliefs about protecting women, he emerges a little humbled, and matures to the point of accepting his death. During his final week of life, he's shown packing away his porn mags, and spending his time on a date with Mina. Unlike other people, I thought a "date in the apocalypse" was actually a pretty damn fantastic inclusion. Not only have their earned it after what they did, but having been in the battle in the Grimwauld, why would they be fazed? Far better than him spending his last week locked in his house.
I guess, unlike other people, I also ended up appreciating this anime a lot. Perhaps it's just a sign of how low the average anime has fallen in the 2020s that this one seems like a lost gem, if you're willing to enjoy it despite its innate shortcomings as an ecchi drama-adventure-harem. |