Sometimes you just want to quit the guild but the guild keeps loading you up with cute girls.
What They Say:
Protecting the land from monsters is a noble profession, but Kikuru wants to retire from the Guild and explore other options while he’s still young. Before he can ride off into the sunset, however, he’ll have to find acceptable replacements to care for the Guild in his absence. Lucky for him, four new recruits just turned in their applications! The catch? They’re all young women, and the local monster population has been developing some VERY disturbing new appetites when it comes to female adventurers. Now Kikuru must guide Hitamuki, Maidena, Toxico, and Hanabata through one sticky situation after another as he tries to leave the Immoral Guild!
The Review:
Audio:
The audio presentation for this release brings us the original Japanese language in stereo using the DTS-HD MA lossless codec. The series is one that is pretty much all dialogue-driven when you get down to it but it has some moments where it gets to go a bit bigger and have more fun with the forward soundstage. The opening and closing sequences make out the best in fullness but the music throughout hits well and the dialogue is solidly done. Placement is spot on where needed and we get a good bit of movement across the forward soundstage with how the characters move as well. The instances of depth are pretty nicely done as well when we get a few more people on screen and the encoding captures it all as it should with clean and clear levels and no dropouts or distortions during regular playback.
Video:
Originally airing in 2022, the transfer for this TV series is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 in 1080p using the AVC codec. The twelve episodes are spread across two discs with nine on the first and three on the second. Animated by TNK, the show has a better look than I thought it would with its animation and designs as there’s a good bit of pop and vibrancy throughout and the movements are strong with some very fluid sequences. And I mean very fluid and squishy. While not a super high-motion piece in a lot of its scenes, there are some really nice design moments with some of the quieter ones that made me really like the character designs The backgrounds may not be in-depth overall but they have some good detail as well and the color design lets it hold up well and without any problems. There’s a lot of bounce to be had throughout the show and that’s handled pretty well, especially since it’s done to draw attention to it. The solid production work essentially translates well here with the transfer as it’s clean and problem-free while having plenty of space to work with as a monolingual release.
Packaging:
The packaging for this release brings us a standard-sized Blu-ray case that holds the two discs against the interior walls. The front cover has a big full cast visual piece that we saw early on prior to the show airing and it goes about as you’d expect. It’s very busy, and very full of color, as it highlights the fanservice side well with lots of skin and torn outfits in places. But it also just showcases a lot of neat design elements that will be appealing – though even those sneak in some torn stockings here and there as well. The back cover throws us an angle or two for some of the pictures and how they’re shown as well as for the very expected tagline for it. The summary of the premise is pretty nicely covered in an easy-to-read form against a white block in the middle, which I definitely appreciate. There’s also a clear list of what extras there are on the disc so you know what you’re getting clearly. The rest is the usual rounding out of production credits and the technical grid that breaks it all down cleanly and clearly. No show-related inserts are included nor is there a reversible cover.
Menu:
The menu design for this release stands out nicely as we get some of the overall color design from the logo being used here throughout, which isn’t a surprise considering that it’s a full-on rainbow of colors The right side features different groupings on each disc of the cast that looks good and plays up some of the assets or characters personalities pieces. They’re vividly colored and detailed, giving them a rich look. The background is done with a mix of soft pastels to help highlight the character artwork in a good way. The left side draws in the purples as we get the breakdown of episodes by number and title that has its own slice of style to it. Submenus have languages on both while the second disc has a submenu for the extras as well. Everything moves quickly and smoothly throughout with no problems in terms of access or load times.
Extras:
The extras for this release are a touch more than the norm but are mostly things that are pretty common. We get the clean opening and closing sequences and we also get some of the Japanese promotional videos for it..
Based on the manga from Taichi Kawazoe, Immoral Guild arrived in the fall of 2022 and delivered a big dose of fanservice and fantasy material to audiences. The original manga, which translates as Guild of Depravity, began in 2017 and has twelve volumes out with Square Enix releasing it digitally in English so fans can continue past the anime. The anime itself is one that came from studio TNK and made out well with its animation for the most part because it knew to put its best work in the saucy material and have fun with the rest. It’s not bad in other areas but rather pretty standard in a lot of ways. But it knows how to work the bounce or certain looks and angles in order to delight fans. I know there are plenty that deride works like this but I’m continually glad we get saucy and pervy stuff like this alongside everything else because spice is the variety. And this is fairly spicy, just without something truly serious.
The premise is quite simple in that we’re introduced to Kikuru, a hunter who is quite skilled at his work in the hunter’s guild he belongs to. He’s been doing it for some time but has grown tired of it and has realized that he’s missed out on a lot of his life by doing this work whereas people he knows have basically drank and fornicated their teenage years away. He’s been a key part in defending the city from various dangerous creatures that prowl outside the city limits so the guild isn’t pleased by him wanting to retire. The young woman who basically manages the front desk knows this quite well and she does her best early on to ply him with attractive women that he can train for a bit and guide before he formally retires. The problem, of course, is their level of competence and he just can’t bring himself to leave them to fend for themselves.
After all, during the first mission with Hitamu, she’s overwhelmed by a couple of simple slimes that turn into some pretty strong hentai material, just with her maintaining her clothes. She does have some skills as a martial artist but her ability to do the actual job is going to take time and training as she’s had none of that prior to this. The others that he takes on, mostly against his will, have their own issues as well. Maidena is very talented when it comes to her magic and she’s got the smarts to back it up, but her arrogance disappears in an instant when the actual danger shows up and she’s basically hiding behind Kikuru. Toki is the flip side of her in a way being a black mage to Maidena’s white magic but Toki is all about being lazy and just not putting in the effort. That can be an obvious drag on this slowly growing group as well. And the cast grows well from there as well over the episodes, though strangely I’ll keep saying my favorite is Enome, the receptionist at the guild with how she manipulates situations. And they definitely gave her a great character design as well.
With a solid setup, solid cast, and pretty good animation to great animation, the show is very much done in the right style by being largely episodic. Yes, there are slight character arcs here in their growth over the course of it and the bond of the group that basically forms along the way, but the general idea is fairly standard in that each episode one or all of the girls get attacked in some disastrously perverted way that results in a lot of raunchy material. It’s not explicitly sexual in that you see everything but it goes all out in how the monsters and situations lead to a lot of sexual situations. And a lot of skimpy outfits as well to take in. It doesn’t feel as cruel in a way that some other shows have gone in the last few years with it where it can feel uncomfortable to watch. Of course, that can vary from person to person with this kind of material, but there’s a better sense of fun about the adventures here and how they end up in the situations.
In Summary:
Immoral Guild basically tells you what to expect from the title and it works better than Guild of Depravity because it’s not depraved. It’s basic raunchy humor with a lot of fanservice that generally avoids being cruel about it. It’s teenage fantasy stuff that doesn’t have to get deep or complicated and just have fun with a lot of open sexuality and exploration of things. I’ve seen this kind of stuff to varying degrees for years and years in anime and this is definitely on the better side of the list than a lot of others by a good measure. It’s fun, it has enjoyable characters to spend time with both in the saucy material and not, and it has a pretty healthy sense of things about it. The release is one that looks great with a clean encoding in high-definition and spreading it out for a bit to just enjoy single episodes instead of bringing may be best so you’re not overwhelmed by how absolutely horny this show can get. I know why it didn’t get a dub but I wish it did because it would just be a hoot or two.
Features:
Japanese 2.0 DTS-HD MA Language, English 2.0 Language, English Subtitles, Japanese Promos, Clean Opening Animation, and Clean Closing Animation
Content Grade: B
Audio Grade: B+
Video Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: B+
Menu Grade: B
Extras Grade: B
Released By: Sentai Filmworks
Release Date: October 3rd, 2023
MSRP: $59.99
Running Time: 300 Minutes
Video Encoding: 1080p AVC
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
