AMAENAIDEYO
Monks are still not as perverted as Catholic priests
Review by: Craig “Losing My Religion” Norris
Length: 13 episodes
Genre: Comedy, ecchi, supernatural
Watched: All, subbed
Got a hankering for some perverted monk hijinx since Inu Yasha got canned? Well, you’d better really be jonesing for it to be able to finish this series. It’s not that it’s particularly bad; it’s simply weak and rather boring. Even the fanservice couldn’t keep me interested. And that’s saying something!
Plot synopsis: Temple trainee Ikko is about as inept as one can possibly be at performing exorcisms, and even routine tasks. Except, however, when he sees a naked girl. Then his power of Horiki activates, and he becomes a supercharged monk capable of exorcising even the most powerful of spirits. This power sometimes becomes more of a problem than an asset, since all of his fellow temple trainees are young women.
Artwork: The art is only average for a contemporary release, but it’s not something that is noticeably flawed. Standard big-eyed anime goodness awaits all who view it. Still, there is nothing that causes the animation to take a step up from its peers in the timeframe or genre. As long as one does not have inordinately high expectations for the visuals in this series, there will be nothing to disappoint, but there will also be very little to impress.
Music: Nothing much to say here, either. It’s all background noise with little real substance, but it fulfills its purpose well enough. There are a small handful of times when the soundtrack offers more than standard fluff tracks, but those instances are few and far between, and largely not worth dwelling on. Besides, from reading the plot synopsis, I’m sure you can infer that any music would be quickly drowned out by the visual stimuli (read: breasts).
Characters: The story revolves around Ikko, a monk in training who can’t ever seem to do anything right. As such, he is treated like a gopher boy by the head priestess and his fellow students. His power of exorcism is released whenever he sees naked female flesh. It’s nice to watch a character that I can truly relate to, and have something in common with. Whenever I see a naked young woman, a powerful force is awakened within me, as well. What, you don’t consider maniacal lust a powerful force? The purveyors of this naked flesh are a host of rather typical anime girl personalities. First is the main love interest, Chitose, whose relationship to Ikko is similar to that of Naru and Keitaro from Love Hina. Therefore, expect many punches and general ill feelings launched by Chitose. Sumi has the gentlest personality among the girls, and instead of beating Ikko within an inch of his life when he sees her naked, she simply shrieks in embarrassment. Yuko is the violent tomboy of the group, so she obviously contributes judiciously to the pummelings endured by Ikko. Haruka is the flighty blonde/big sister figure who always seems to be more capable than her flaky exterior would have one believe. Sakura and Hinata are sisters, Sakura being the eldest. Sakura is very protective of her younger sister. Hinata is an Ayanami-type, expressing very little outward emotion. Still, she is not without a heart, and does open it on precious few occasions. Jotoku is the head priestess of the temple, and levies the most degrading tasks on Ikko. She has an iron fist, but is generally not unreasonable, as she wants to develop her trainees not just into monks and priestesses, but adults as well. She is particularly interested in reigning in Ikko’s powers. This is actually a pretty standard bunch of characters for a harem series, so don’t expect fantastic character development or surprising maturation.
Plot: The plot is very episodic, following a monster-of the-week (or, in this case, ghost-of-the-week) format. Each ghost must be satisfied in some different way in order for them to be exorcized. However, this is usually conveniently avoided by having Ikko see boobies and instantly banish them. As for the romantic sub-plot, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. Honestly, unless exorcisms really interest you, I don’t see anything in the plot to get very excited over. Well, except that nudity is used as a plot device. That’s always nice.
CHICKS!: As stated before, this is a pretty standard bunch. Plus, since the personalities are not that complex, your choice should be clearly defined. If you like violent but caring girls, you’ll like Chitose. If you like unfeminine tomboys, you’ll like Yuko. If you like busty airheads, you’ll like Haruka. If you like shy, sweet girls, you’ll like Sumi. If you like stoic loli-goths, you’ll like Hinata. If you like responsible elder sisters, you’ll like Sakura. There are plenty of tastes that get catered to, but overall the chicks are nothing really special. Relegate them to eye candy and move on.
Overall: This is another harem series that fails to impress on most levels. It’s not horrible, but there are much better options available in the genre. The whole exorcism thing was neat for the first few episodes, but it got stale after a while. Unless you’re in the mood to watch priestesses get naked (and I understand if you are), you can skip this one. You can also skip the sequel, Amaenaideyo Katsu. You can bet that I will.
IN A NUTSHELL
+/- Typical harem anime
+ Somewhat entertaining...
- ...for the first few episodes
- Largely boring
- No innovative characters
Rating: 3.5/10
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