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Warning : This anime was made to be enjoyed drunk, and boy it is a ride.


Postmodern Masterpiece,
I especially liked the deconstruction of humor and genre.
You never know what to expect until the crossover with Gurren Lagan and Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

Everything from the start to the finish is great. At first the anime try to trick you into thinking it's some lewd fantasy and then it become clear right at the end of ep 1 that this won't be the case.
Rather than that, the story is a commentary about the very notion of purity, it makes us rethink about the way we think about ... men's relationships with women. However, to my surprise, this anime is not about feminism, no, it doesn't get political in any way and manage to keep its purity right until the end.

The way the characters are handled is also pure genius : Most of the cast don't get any character development. While some may think about this simply as lazy writing, it's not the case, rather, the lack of character development is the point, it's a part of the show. You see, it is not a story about a protagonist nor is it a story about the maidens. Rather, this show tells us something about how vain the very concept of personality is. You do not need a personnality to care for others, nor do you need one to enjoy the company of your loved ones.

I'm a big fan of Conception and as such I proudly say that after seeing the whole show, I can't remember a single human character and that's how it was meant to be.

The art is perfect fot this piece of art, I've never seen such a generic artstyle elsewhere, it really helps the public to understand that things do not need to be sublime or even unique to be appreciated. Same with chara-design : We would not be able to understand how meaningless the characters actually are (which again, is the point) if we were able to actually tell them appart from the background.

Some people will tell you that the quality of animation is lacking. While this take has some credit to it, the only things it tell you is how ignorant those people are. Did you even take a look at the staff ? The art director is the hugely famous Yoshimi Mineta, which is notably known for his work in High School DxD, trust me, if the point was to make top quality animation, he could have, and he WOULD have.
You have to understand : The use of frames with double drawings is minimalist as a criticism of consumerism and productivity, and the close-up to not show facial expressions nor the mouth is parsimonious.

I could write another paragraph telling you about how the soundtrack clearly does an amazing job, but I think most people who watched this masterpiece get the point : It's not great, however it manages to make you wonder about the mysteries of human relationships on his own, without the need for context, which is actually great because most of the time you won't understand the context behind most of the scenes. (Which I'll have you know, is a commentary about the way the omniscient spectator in generic anime has way too much knowledge about the world the protagonists live in)

All in all, I enjoyed Conception to the fullest and would absolutely recommend it to anyone with an open mind.