Author: Tsukasa Fushimi
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Episodes: 3/?
Production Studio: A-1 Pictures
Introduction
An anticipated series that was revealed at 2016 and I’ve been personally hyped for. I’ve seen people compare it with Oreimo and considering that they’re both by the same author and they’re both sister/brother romance based, then I can see what they were going with. But after watching a few episodes, I see a difference between these two series. How so? Well read on to find out!
Story & Characterization
The story focuses on high school light novel author, Izumi Masamune (Side note: why the hell does everyone name their protagonist that?) and his interactions with his skilled, yet some might say perverted, illustrator, “Eromanga-sensei”. After a few scenes regarding Izumi watching Eromanga-sensei’s livestream, Izumi finds out that his illustrator was actually his shut-in stepsister, Izumi Sagiri. The whole thing continues more of a like slice-of-life anime instead of the way Oreimo went with its slightly dramatizing tones.
As for characterization, I have to say i’m a little turned off by some of the characters. The main character was interesting for the first few episodes but once the 4th episode hit he suddenly became a creepy incest enthusiast. Sagiri could’ve worked out differently as well. In the first few episodes, she was this quiet and timid girl, but as the episodes go by she started becoming less timid and more erratic but still maintaining her quiet composure. There were also some more likeable characters that I really wished had more screentime such as (best girl) the MCs friend, Tomoe.
Animation & Art
Firstly, it looks different from Oreimo except for the character designs which are slightly similar. Backgrounds and landscapes are simplistic in design but do have a few touches of niche details here and there. Very light and bright colours are also used for the backgrounds, making the background seem cartoony in a sense. The timing of the animation is amazing, but nothing to brag about with the current generation’s animation prowess. There are a few scenes that were awkwardly placed though. A scene to really show this is a part of the opening where the two main characters stand in their iconic poses.
But other than that everything else is on par with the current generations animation quality. Definitely something important for an anticipated series.
Sound & Music
Having the musical stars, ClariS, sing the opening for the anime is one thing. Having the musical rising stars, Trysail, sing the ending is another. ClariS also sang the opening theme for Oreimo. Trysail has even been rising in the media as “The second ClariS”. And sure as hell these two groups did not disappoint. The opening theme was catchy as heck. It was a really cute opening with the lyrics tying to romance. The ending theme wasn’t so romance-based but it was still definitely catchy. ClariS defined their presence in the opening and Trysail followed suit with the ending. A lot of the cute scenes also happen in the opening and ending, but then again that’s where the most awkward scene comes from as well.
Conclusion
Is it a good anime? Hell yeah. Could it have been better? A little bit. But is it bad? No it definitely isn’t. Eromanga-sensei’s story is really “out there” but it was enjoyable to watch and I do intend to follow the series. With such colourful animations too, why wouldn’t I recommend Eromanga-sensei as an anime to definitely watch?
