Impz’s first winter impressions – Asu no Yoichi, Fanservice that Impz likes…What?

Loli is…too cute. No, you are not supposed to tempt Impz with a cute adorable innocent loli!

AIC is a bloody cheat. They used all the things that Impz superficially likes in a show, such as an adorable loli that is so cute (like Mei of Clannad) that you just have to watch her antics and a green haired hikkimori/comic type of character that compels me to keep on watching.

This is war, AIC. You are making me like a fanservice series! I HATE YOU!

Summary

Yoichi Karasuma is a modern day samurai living in a mountainous region with his father. As his father realized that he could teach nothing more to Yoichi (and hating the fact that he is getting owned all the time), he told him to get some experience in the city. His father added that he would live with the Ikarugas in the city, a family known for its Ukiha Kamikaze Swordplay. Kagome, the youngest sister of the Ikarugas, found the arrow shot by Yoichi’s father. Her shocked scream alerted Ibuki, the oldest sister. The scream also woke up Ayame (yellow haired) and Chihaya. Ayame was perplexed how Ikubi could openly allow a total male stranger to live in their house. Ibuki said that the two families were very close since a long time ago, and Yoichi’s father can be trusted. Ayame asked Chihaya to object, but Chihaya said that a man in the house would be good. Ayame wanted to walk off in anger, but Ibuki warned her that Ibuki should never waste food.

Yoichi arrived in the city, surprised at the boisterous urban life. He waited at the meeting place patiently and accidentally crashed onto Ryo Washizu. Ryo, a famous delinquent, picked a fight with Yoichi. He mocked at Yoichi’s outlandish clothing and touched Yoichi’s wooden sword. Yoichi said that his pride was hurt and made Ryo fly back by the sheer wind caused by the velocity of his stroke. However, a policeman came to arrest Yoichi for his violent act. The policeman talked to Yoichi for a while about why he was wearing his weird clothing on the streets. As Yoichi checked his watch, he realized that he was late and ran off.

The four sisters waited at the meeting place, only for the three sisters to walk away with different reasons/excuses. Yoichi was also lost after running away from the police. As Yoichi was unfamiliar with riding the elevator, he flew into a trolley and somehow rushed into the dressing room of Ayame. Ayame was about to scream at the sudden intrusion of Yoichi, only for Yoichi to make a hold on her. When Ayame struggled, he accidentally grabbed her breasts and he was given a kick to the groin.

Just then, there was a burglar and Yoichi gave chase. When he cornered the thief to a bookstore, he knocked against Chihara. He was also misunderstood by Chihara to like yaoi manga. Eventually, he was able to catch the thief but ran off after realizing how late he was. As he roamed around aimlessly, he saw Kagome crying alone. It turned out that Kagome was lost after going to the toilet, and wondered if her older sisters would laugh at her since she was already ten. Yoichi decided to help her find Ibuki, and did so by gliding down a metal support. However, he over swung that extension, and flew out the window to a train. Luckily, Ibuki realized his sword style and picked him up. When he got home, he realized that his “hentai” encounters with the three ladies were in fact the three other younger sisters of Ibuki.

Thoughts

Asu no Yoichi is nothing new in terms of concept and plot, but it does not mean that having little creativity means a poor show. When it comes to light hearted shows like this, the characters are perhaps the most important element that makes or breaks a show. I mean, you should not expect any plot that will impress you like the ending of Planetes, or even hitting the heights of Simoun. What you have is fluff, and it’s really how it manages to make the fluff pleasing. In this case, it is able to deliver in the first episode what Akikan failed to deliver: Interesting and easy to the eye characters that can satisfy a wide spectrum of viewers.

Starting from Yoichi, Yoichi is perhaps a rather refreshing country pumpkin with a sense of honor. Honestly, I am tired of either hapless guys who are completely useless in any other way other than being a vehicle for the fanservice. Yoichi is likely to go to that route after a few more episodes when his fighting prowess is completely swallowed into more and more fanservice, but he is really decent as a good main quirky character for now. In addition, his very respectful speech patterns is rather funny to be honest.

Now, the girls other than Ibuki are interesting enough to capture my attention. For example, Ayame is the quintessential tsundere, with yellow hair and small breasts. Now, that is something that pleases my viewing taste buds for something fluffy. In addition, they even throw in a green haired girl that has a quirky nonchalant character with spectacles too! Hell, just for the sake of making sure that Impz will watch this, they have a loli of close to Mei Sunohara proportions into the mix. I am saying that they have probably hit the spot for a very anti-fanservice anime viewer to watch this.

In terms of animation, it is definitely good enough to showcase the characters. Obviously, since this is AIC, I expect that the animation quality will eventually deteriorate along the way because they are rather notorious to my knowledge of degrading animation after a few episodes. Let’s hope that we do not see another occurrence of Sader for this show. That will be the time where I wept and then rage in happiness that I have finally escaped this fiend of a show.

The OP is by Egao no Riyuu by Meg Rock. I feel that it is just typical pop music without any distinct feel to it. It’s probably the type of music that you listen and forget. However, there were two girls in the OP who loses their clothes when they unsheathe their weapons. I wonder if that is a premonition to come in the future. Moreover, I am very sure that the last few screenshots of Ibuki’s considerable assets will mean that there will be more perverted scenes. I am wondering if the gratuitous levels of fanservice in the near future will turn me off enough to hate this. For now, it has been surprisingly manageable at the very least. Back to the music description, the ED is equally forgetful. There is nothing great about the music at the very least.

So, Asu no Yoichi is not an original anime at any level that you want to look at it. The plot is somewhat used in quite a few other fanservice anime series. The girls are quite typical of the stereotypes that are often available in harem shows. However, they managed to make the girls seem appealing, a strangely impossible task lately considering how poor harem shows have become in order to milk the money off horny otakus who have nothing to do but to ogle at anime girls. So, if you can tolerate a few short snippets of fanservice, why not try out Asu no Yoichi. You might be like me, an anti-fanservice fan, who realized that it is actually a nice, light show to just enjoy and turn off your brain for the sugar coated show.