"Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai yo ne" (Anime) Episodes 3-10 Thoughts

After ten episodes I finally know what Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai yo ne really is. It's not a good anime BUT an extremely cute one (so a s#!tty one right...?).

Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai yo ne I think would be considered the generic harem anime of the season due to the fact that nothing really happens...ever. The only thing that I can tell you what this show is trying to accomplish is that there are four girls (two extremely cute ones and three others that I could care less about) trying to get with our main character Akito. They go through the typical “Going shopping” and “Shower” scenes that are in EVERY other harem anime. There just really isn’t any plot twists or hang on…any plot whatsoever.

But hey characters can save a show…right? I actually like Akito because unlike a lot of male protagonists in harems, he has likeable qualities. He is neither a perve, sex crazy adolescent teenager nor the polar opposite super shy but strangely likeable to every girl everywhere. He is simply a guy who lives with his sister and childhood friends while attending high school. He has sexual desires but he doesn’t want to lose “it” to just any girl. He isn’t the best male lead I have ever seen but a solid one that I can bear with. The female cast is however a mixed bag. We have five main female leads introduced by episode seven that compete for Akito's affection, Akiko the annoying (but too cute) sister, Anastasia the mischievous (and WAY too cute) instigator, Arashi the assertive s!ut, Haruome the…I don’t know what…(boyish looking girl?), and Arisa who is quite annoying and little. The only characters that I have even a lick of liking towards are Anastasia and Akiko. Anastasia is extremely cute and is always trying to get Akito to say inappropriate things. She is by far the one with the hardest time controlling the inner struggle of how to deal with her feelings towards Akito. The other female character, Akiko is Akito’s sister (I’m sure they will pull an “Oh she is actually his cousin/half-sister/adopted sister” crap to try to make it ok for incest -___-). She is madly in love with Akiko and no it is not the brother sister type love; it’s the type of love that apparently Japan loves to throw into anime…Unlike most of the world I don’t particularly mind a brother and sister getting married since in our past it happened quite often. Inbreeding to an extent can produce dangerous results but it has been scientifically proven that these odds are very slim. Even with this thinking though, the love that Akiko supposedly has for Akito seems very forced. She is also quite annoying as every scene I see her in makes me want to duct tape her mouth shut BUT she way too cute for her own good. The things she goes through trying to get Akito’s affection is remarkable and impossible not to find adorable. I wouldn’t mind having a sister like Akiko to be honest…Anyways the point is that minus these two characters, the rest in my opinion are s#!t. The other characters just do not appeal to me physically or ideologically; they are just boring and/or generic. 

How could you not find this cute!?

or this?!

So there’s no plot and pretty crappy characters…well the animation and sound are bound to be amazing by today’s standards right…? WRONG well kind of…There are many scenes where the animation is quite good such as the one-on-one scenes between Akito and the various female cast. The character models are where some of the…let’s call it quality control seems to slip a little bit. I don’t know if it is just lazy animation or a lack of a needed budget but some of the scenes sport some bad character models. Whether it is the hair, facial expressions, or just how the shot is well…shot, something always seems to be off. It’s like the characters could look better but they just don’t…IT may be just that I have become excessively picky with animation since technology has helped animation tremendously but I feel as if this anime is not getting the amount of work it deserves. The females are still very stunning in most scenes it just seems as if the quality doesn’t hold through all the episodes. Sound wise the voice actors have done a decent job expressing their characters. Even though Akiko and Arashi are very annoying (multiplied by their voice actors), the voice actors pull their personalities off quite well. The sound track however is extremely generic…Both the openings/closings and the music during the show are just not noteworthy. It is barely passable. 

Most of the scenes are like this; they are shooting for a comedic effect with the style of animation but it just isn't done very well.

So let me get this straight…there is no plot to be found, crappy characters, inconsistent animation, and passable audio qualities? Why the hell would I watch this then!? Well that’s a tough question to answer. It seems that many animation studios think that today’s audience just wants cute, high school shows rather than the thought provoking, action orientated, or deep romance anime we have seen in the past (Steins;Gate, Death Note, Fate/Zero (actually pretty recent), Rec, ext.). Maybe they think we are easy to please, I don’t know but I have to say one thing about this show; it’s decent. It’s extremely cute, funny in a lot of parts, and at certain moments rewarding. The character interactions are enjoyable to watch and each episode does not feel like it is dragging. Overall it’s an average show with some cute characters; is that not good enough for you?

WHAT DO YOU MEAN CUTE CANNOT CARRY A SHOW!!?