When Takeru arrives at his new school, it’s magic, mayhem and panties galore.
What They Say:
Takeru’s first day at the Tenbi Academy is full of fights and panties. After accidentally kissing a second-year girl, she challenges him to a duel in front of the entire student body. Without a Maken or Element, how is he supposed to protect himself?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Based on the manga of the same name by Hiromitsu Takeda as appearing in Dragon Age Pure, Maken-Ki! Is a new series with animation by AIC, which means at least the characters are going to be pretty and have a sense of bounciness about them. The original work began in 2007 and has seven volumes compiled so far so there’s a bit of material to work with that should be able to keep the show going decently for the length of its run this season. The series introduces us to the the first year student at the Tenbi Academy, Takeru, getting accepted into it. What helps is that someone he knows goes there, the pretty and voluptuous Haruko. The two follow that usual childhood friends kind of angle with silly sexual tension thrown in as would be expected, which we get right from the start. And being AIC, there’s no shortage of upskirt shots of Haruko here either, especially considering the lack of length on said skirt.
What Takeru quickly discovers upon entering the grounds of Tenbi Academy are two very important things. The first, and arguably the most important, is that it’s filled with girls who have equally short skirts and they’re often being blown about in the wind or easily viewable from the right angle. The other is that the students at this school are able to use magic. It’s not something that Takeru really registers right away as he’s more overwhelmed by the number of cute girls and their very active lifestyle here. Even the school principal has a large chest to her that would make a normal person tip over on a regular basis. When Takeru hits the opening ceremony, he starts to get a better clue about things though as she talks about how each student will have to figure out what Element they need to use and what kind of Maken will fit them best in order to maximize their abilities.
What the opening episode does is to shove all this right into Takeru’s face and to show that the number of women here will definitely be a challenge for him, as you have those that want to defend him and those that want to hurt him. Justifiably so since he accidentally kissed her earlier in the episode. Takeru’s pretty confused by everything as it goes on and it’s fun to watch those like Haruko get upset over how things unfold, especially when Inaho arrives on the scene and professes some real love for him. We get a good look at the basic personalities of the characters here and the basic setting as well, so there’s not a lot in the way of surprises to be had. Maken-ki! Battle Venus sets up a fight/magic/fanservice series as you’d expect and it does so in fairly straightforward AIC tradition.
In Summary:
Maken-ki! Battle Venus doesn’t exactly separate itself from the pack, but I have to admit something here. This show gives off a vibe I haven’t felt in quite some time where it reminds me of the early AIC works. I can’t put my finger on it, but it has the right kind of perverted nature to it that I enjoy, a potentially predictable but fun cast to work with and a pleasantly oblivious lead who is just going to get himself into more and more trouble. It’s the kind of show that I know I shouldn’t like, but it feels like it could be a good deal of fun and silliness. The mixture of magic and battling will likely be used heavily to deal with a variety of things, but with the core cast established here and a few more likely to come, it’s your typical harem piece with a battle piece and no fear of being perverted. Against my better judgment, I’m actually looking forward to more of this fun show.
Grade: B
Readers Rating: [ratings]
Streamed By: Nico Nico
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
