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Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru is NOT just another harem romcom. I've had my full fill of harem romcoms, and few hit the mark like this one does. And I'm not just saying that because it has higher quality content, but also because it has DIFFERENT content. You might have no idea what I'm talking about, so I'll be very specific.

Each of the heroines actually has a real reason to "fall in love" with the protagonist. They don't suddenly start falling into his lap for no reason, but they rather each come to him in a well paced manner for very believable ... reasons. Of course, that said, other romcoms aren't necessarily unrealistic in this respect. Girls and guys ask each other out all the time just because of physical or emotional attraction without anything deeper being there. However, the fact that there is a deeper reason behind each heroine loving the protagonist gives Oreshura that much more depth.

There is also the concept of a fake relationship. While this concept might not seem unique, I've only seen one other anime where it is central to the plot. The way this anime goes about the fake relationship is outright different than what I've seen before. I can't say more than that without spoiling the anime. It might not seem like much, but even this alone makes it stand out from the vast majority of romcoms, harem or not.

Oreshura also doesn't end in a way that just maintains the status quo. The final episode changes things significantly enough that a second season of this anime would not have the same feel in many regards. Again, I cannot elaborate without spoiling it, but the fact that this anime does not have a static ending sets it far apart from the typical romcom.

Other than that I will admit it has many similarities to other harem romcoms (such as a sometimes far too clueless protagonist), but it is also not littered with certain things that plague other romcoms, like constant ecchi fanservice or lewd joke after lewd joke. While this show does have its fair share of comedy, it takes a turn for the serious quite often (and not necessarily in a romantic way).

I watched Oreshura in two days. I would have watched it in one had I not had to sleep badly. I don't usually go straight through anime even as short as this, preferring to pace myself, but this one was so good that I couldn't help but be pulled into the next episode.

I definitely recommend Oreshura to anyone who wants to watch a school romcom that is far better than the norm.

Now, something for the MAL review elitists, even though the guidelines are not rules and my review has already met what a review MUST be. Plus, I actually have something relevant to say about each section this time. Feel free to skip this part as the review before this paragraph was the real review.

STORY: 7/10

The story was nothing special, though there is the potential for it to develop into a truly strong plot if one of the elements is developed more significantly. I was disappointed that element wasn't elaborated on more; however, given that this was only a 13 episode season I understand why it wasn't developed more yet as it would have completely thrown off the pacing. Saving such development for later in the story is a good idea, but it means that the story covered in this season is nothing special. It's nothing profound. It's nothing that will change your life. But it's certainly good, good enough for me to say it's well above the average plot, though nowhere near a masterpiece.

ART: 10/10

I have one reason for giving Oreshura a maximum art score. And that is that the art is unique. While I like the typical style of anime these days, it is getting old to see the same exact style in almost every single new anime, and the same applies to the year Oreshura came out in. But Oreshura's art has an almost muted and pastel feel to the colors. Between that and the character design, which while similar to the typical style these days has large enough differences to distinguish them from other anime, I feel the art of this anime stands out against a sea of anime that look practically the same as each other.

SOUND: 7/10

This is the most pointless section in my opinion, as unless the sound or music are particularly noteworthy or terrible, it's not worth even mentioning. Perhaps the only value of this section is to make one's arbitrary score slightly less arbitrary if one even chooses to average the section scores. Nothing about the sound stood out in Oreshura. The voice acting was good, but not noteworthy. The opening and ending themes were actually quite catchy, but not something I'd go out of my way to listen to, and the rest of the music was average and forgettable.

CHARACTER: 10/10

The characters are lovable and cute, but that's not nearly enough to warrant a 10/10. I give them a 10/10 because they are NOT typical of their character archetypes. Childhood friend characters are almost always boring with the personality and art design of a wet towel. And yet in this case, we a get a loli with short twintails wearing a collar that is quite eccentric in her own right and isn't a weakling that just rolls over to everyone else. The girlfriend character doesn't even have an basic archetype, which is absolutely refreshing. Her emotions bounce around so much, from friendly to harsh to loving to depressed, that you really buy this twisted girl as a real human being. She's not anywhere near hysterical, but she's also obviously not in control. She is the antithesis of extreme character types. The chuunibyo girl was the character I was most worried about being bland, but when they paired the chuunibyo trait with a kuudere-like quiet, monotone voice and very forward actions I was pleasantly surprised. I don't think I've seen that combination of character traits before. The only character that comes even close to typical is the tsundere, and even then she's far more shy and dere than any tsundere I've ever seen, though not nearly so much that I could consider her even close to being a dandere. And lastly we have the protagonist, who while he might not seem like much, is an intelligent boy who got to the top of his class through sheer determination, which is a sharp contrast to the average everyman we usually get for a protagonist. He is typically clueless about the heroines' true feelings, and he does see them as an annoyance as many protagonists often do, but the rest of his personality makes him a character I'm not used to seeing. He's not an idiot, and that is very refreshing.

ENJOYMENT: 10/10

There's not much point to this section given that it's clearly obvious I thoroughly enjoyed Oreshura. From start to finish, not even one episode disappointed me.

OVERALL: 9/10

The average of the section scores is 8.8, but I'd already decided on a 9/10 before I even wrote this review. This anime is not one of my absolute favorites nor is it a masterpiece, but it very much stood out to me as a unique and well-written work. I look forward to a second season, and if there isn't one, I'll quite likely buy the light novels or the manga.

While it was better than Motto because of its plot, I must say Darkness still fell far short of the comedic genius of the first season of To LOVE-Ru. In terms of ecchi, it is better than both prior seasons, and most ecchi anime in general. It still has the problems of simply rehashing the same jokes over and over, but this doesn't bother me as much given there is actually a plot to follow. However, therein lies the disappointment. There is no real finale. Not even really a cliffhanger. It gives the feeling of reading a book halfway through and stopping in the middle ... of a chapter. I understand it follows a manga, but it seems to me that either they should have waited longer so they could make a longer season (like the first season) or at least end at a good stopping point.

However, despite my complaints, I did still find it more enjoyable than most anime to watch. I would recommend it to almost anyone, with some discretion considering the genre.

While I liked the first season of To Love-RU for the comedy, I found Motto to be lacking. Sure, we get more of the ecchi aspect, but I feel like the writers got lazy with the humor. It's just the same awkward moments over and over. And while the first season at least had somewhat of a continuing story, this season is purely episodic until the last few episodes, even going so far as to split each episode into essentially three episodes. I will point out, however, that the main point of this season seems to be character development, and in that, they succeeded wonderfully. ... The variety of stories is also nice, but there just simply weren't any moments in this season that kept me laughing and laughing as in the first.

I did feel it was absolutely worth the watch; however, prepare to be disappointed if you expect the same quality of writing as in the first season.

I'm here to tell you this series is first and foremost a comedy. Sure, there is a lot of fanservice, but I was hardly paying attention to that because the humor is so good. To LOVE-Ru doesn't have some profound story that is going to change the way you think, but it's not supposed to: it's a comedy. The aim of every episode is to get you to laugh. Now, don't take that the wrong way. The writers weren't just throwing in a bunch of cheap jokes. And while I will say the writing isn't that clever, I'd say it is clever enough. Some parts ... of this series are an absolute laugh riot, in the good way.

So if you have a good sense of humor and you aren't bothered by the curves of the female body, I'd say you will probably enjoy this series. I know I did, hence the score.

Trigun is the very first anime I watched from start to finish. That was a long time ago. So I watched it again when I started getting into anime. Trigun is just... good. It just is. There isn't a better way to say it. It is hilarious, entertaining, and the plot just never slows down.

I particularly like the wild west/wasteland feel, but that is not the main reason I like it. The main reason is the morality. The hero chooses to do things the right way rather than easy way, which is something that you just don't see that much anymore. It's admirable.

Trigun is not ... perfect. While going over the top can be a good thing, Trigun sometimes gets too ridiculous. However, this flaw is not enough to keep me from recommending this anime to anyone.

Kiss x Sis is the best ecchi I have seen thus far. It will arouse you. The plot will also suck you in. You find yourself really rooting for the male lead's success. The plot has solid advancement, and while the end leaves you wanting more, that is what the OVAs are for.

I didn't like the rather annoying censorship and the occasional focus on... urine. If urination is a total turn off for you, than this is not for you.

Make sure you watch the OVAs as well. It is better to watch the TV series first, but I would say best to watch them OVA ... and TV series in the order they were released/aired.

I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this anime. For anyone who loves ecchi, but needs a good plot to go with their T&A, this is a must watch. While the "barbie-girl" anatomy is a minus, this anime still borders on hentai. Any real man is going to be aroused by it. However, lust is not the only focus of this work. It delves into the intricacies of the mind. Everyone has urges, the wish to suppress those urges, and the wish to indulge in those urges. I think this anime shows that very well.

I recommend watching the 2010 TV series first as there will ... be a large part of the story missing if you just watch the OVAs straight through. However, I think it would be most ideal to watch the episodes in the chronological order they were aired.