Dec 28, 2022
I'm not mad, just disappointed.
I will give it this, this show certainly knows its marketing. First, it introduces itself as so generic and cliche a harem anime that people will actually end up checking it out if the studio is really going to invest an original anime on this. Then halfway through it brings in the plot twist so that a new set of viewers will be released into the wild, grabbing passing people, shaking them and screaming, "Guys don't give up, this changes everything!"
But what matters in the end is the entire product. Does this show feel complete in its story and characters, and
...
does it succeed in the themes it wants to tackle? I think my score and recommendation should speak for themselves.
The first and probably biggest issue with Renai Flops is that unless you are truly a fan of harem rom coms, you will probably drop this anime from the first episode. The show initially promised some wacky harem stuff, filled with all the tropes and cliches imaginable, and that is indeed what you get for six and a half episodes.
During that time, we get small individual arcs with the heroines in typical harem fashion. That itself isn't a bad thing; it is a way to appeal the heroines to the viewers, and also build up their love towards the main character. The issue is that the show only invests a single episode per heroine, and wraps up a good chunk of their emotional arc within that episode. This means that we mainly skim over their actual development, and also don't get a deeper picture on what sort of people they are, other than their basic trope. Admittedly, the arcs get more and more bizarre and some of the antics introduced are pretty funny, almost feeling like a parody than anything else. But that only means we don't get enough genuine character study on them or the main character. They are just roles for a harem scenario for those episodes.
Now, you might say, "Well this is a harem story after all, it's usually par for the course, so you should set your expectations accordingly." Normally, you'd be correct. But then the show suddenly brings in a twist (come on, let's not pretend that the fact that there's a twist to this show hasn't already been leaked to high heaven) which then turns this show into more of a techno-drama that's much heavier and serious.
So now we have a deeper, emotional second half that's built on a tropey, style over substance first half. The emotional bits don't hit as hard as they should because they are based on characters we only got caricature versions of before, and also because the pacing is rushed due to only having about five and a half episodes, most of which is filled with some techno-thriller plot rather than genuine character exploration. It's like trying to build the Eiffel Tower on a bed of key lime pies. You ruin the pies and also fail to set up the tower properly.
It's really a shame. I feel if the tone and characters were better handled, or if it had more episodes for better pacing and fleshing out its arcs, we could have had a clever subversion of harem stories, and also a thoughtful exploration of technology and loss. As it is, both its harem bits and its dramatic bits feel artificial. How ironic.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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