Kono Minikuku mo Utsukushii Sekai

They sure got it right by putting 'ugly' in the title.

This marvellous piece of crap is a terrible anime about aliens, boys who love them, and boobage.

The story was bad, but who cares? Boobage!

The art was poor and looked like it was recycled from the early 90s. But does it matter?? Boobage!

Who can remember the sound? There were better things, I think. Boobage!

The characters were flat, cliches, and underdeveloped. The boys seemed to be horrible clashes of several bad male characters, and the female characters had no personality and were nothing more than fanservicers. However, there were several pairs of things the ... girls had that were developed. Boobage!

This was a very bad anime. It was short, but it felt like an eternity that wouldn't end. There was very little that made it salvageable. Maybe the interesting title was the best thing about it. Boobage!

Unfabulous. And that goes for the boobage, too.

This anime is definitely a gem, but like any gem in the rough, it's not without its flaws. A lot of them, unfortunately.

Story

The story is quite interesting, and fairly original. The quality of its presentation varies throughout the series, however - foreshadowing, for example, is plentiful and very well intertwined into the story, so that little details that you might notice but not think much of turn out to be intricate plot points later on. On the other hand, there're the cheesy "OMG! The sky is falling!" bits usually associated with fantasy series surfacing all around the second half of the series which definitely ... hurts the suspense of disbelief. Another flaw is the climax being stretched into the last 3 episodes which could've easily fit in a single one.

Art

Not bad, but nothing to write home about. It's detailed and fairly pretty, but the sudden switches from ultra-contrasting (butterfly clouds, Hikari's hair and dreams) to ultra-pale colours (most secondary characters, slice of life sections) that happen every few minutes are annoying. The deformed butterfly logo is a definite plus though - very memorable.

Sound

The opening/ending songs are quite generic, but the last episode's ED is nice if only for the fact that it's meaningful in the context, which is a rare occurrence in anime. Background audio is hardly noticeable, but it completes the atmosphere well enough so that's good.

Characters

I'm a bit torn on this point. On one hand, the four main characters are very likeable and by the end I definitely cared about their fate. On the other, however, apart from Akari, all of the characters bring on a sense of deja vu; a reckless protagonist with a funky hairstyle, a troubled past and superpowers - check; a jealous childhood friend - check; a calm and popular big brother - check; a busty foreign drunkard who is actually wise and "cool" - check as well, and those 4 is just the icing.

Enjoyment / Overall

I've enjoyed the series, personally, but it felt like I had to go through all the silly action segments, plain stupid fan service, boring showcases of jealousy and unfunny jokes to get to the few excellent romantic scenes here and there. On the whole it was worth it, but it could've been much better if they didn't try to put in a little of every genre and concentrated on getting just one or two right.

This anime sounded promising, the concept of an ugly yet beautiful world where life is cleansed and reborn every so often fascinated me. After a promising start however with a great opening battle with great action, the anime seems to have shifted gears and quickly became a ecchi / school-life, slice of life comedy. Then it sprinkled some "sad, but true" stories of the past.

Let's start off with the good. The art is fairly decent. For the most part, colors are nice, and natural features such as the trees and character outlines are quite nice. Hikari's outfit in particular is great. Sound isn't really ... noticeable for me until near the climax, in most cases it was absent at all, which sometimes is a nice change of things. The humor and ecchi was entertaining, I found myself cracking up from time to time. The side characters do a surprisingly good job blending in, almost better than the main roles!

My biggest irk with this series was the fact that it starts to become interesting right from the start. Then suddenly, it sidetracks into something different. Only near the end are we reminded of the first episode, and "Oh, by the way, the world is in trouble!" The idea behind evolution and fate is an interesting one, but it's a bit difficult to comprehend and follow. You are left with a lot more questions than answers. The producers kind of through you into it and expect you to eat it all up and nod your head. Some characters are decently developed, while others are flat and stale. Sure it was only 13 episodes, but I've seen animes do better with fewer episodes. I personally am not fond of the guy loves girl concept occurring after only the first episode.

There are two sides to the story. Akari's side and Hikari's side. I found Akari's more interesting than Hikari, maybe because Ryo's personality was interesting and mysterious. Takeru on the other hand is a piece of work...

The story was rushed and it feels as though we're sidetracked for six entire episodes before things start to get interesting. By then, it's too late to save the show and the ending is predictable.

It will please some certainly and like other have said, you could watch the first two episodes and then skip to near the end and not lose site of anything. If you can look past the story and just take it rather lightly and enjoy the humor and cute girls, then you might be alright, but even that gets stale eventually. If I wanted to watch several episodes of filler, I'd watch something else. This anime tries to be too much - an action, school life, ecchi, and romance/drama. My advice is to give it a shot, and if you find yourself not being drawn in, then walk away. It wasn't a complete waste of time, but it fell far short of what I had been expecting it to be.

Konomini is sadly that one anime that always seems to be overlooked by bigger, more popular titles. It’s such a shame, because this series is a little jewel. There is something in this anime for everyone.


Story:

The only reason the story gets a 9 instead of a 10 is because this anime was so short. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy short animes. However, the basic concept had so much depth this series could've easily had 120 episodes instead of 12 without repeating itself at all.
One thing this series can be described as is dynamic: shojo, shonen, slice of life and certain elements of the ... supernatural are seamlessly interwoven from episode to episode. This change of pace helps keep things fresh.

Art:

Probably my favourite aspect of the art is Hikari and Akari’s designs. It’s hard to find cuter girls anywhere. It doesn’t stop there, however. If you are able to peel your eyes away from the pretty, pretty characters, you’ll see that the scenery is also rich and detailed, and the brief, but very epic action scenes will knock your breath out. The opening is really nice and the animation is smooth.

Sound:

What is guaranteed to capture everyone’s attention from the start is the opening theme, Metamorphose. It’s sung by Yoko Takahashi, the same singer who did Cruel Angel’s Thesis in NGE, and is probably the best opening music I have ever heard. With that said, it overshadows the ending theme a little bit, but both are really nice.
Granted, the English dub could’ve been a lot better. Takeru and Ryon especially don’t always sound natural, but it’s not bad.

Character:

I dare you not to fall in love with Hikari or Akari. I DARE you. You will fail.
As the series nears the conclusion you’ll find yourself caring about the characters a lot – and even sympathizing with some of the more annoying ones. (Cough – Mari, cough.) Not to mention, there is also a great variety of characters with different designs or personalities, so you can definitely find one to fall in love with.

Enjoyment:

I think this is probably one of the most entertaining animes I have ever seen. It’s funny. It’s sad. It’s got action, fanservice, relationships, you name it. Given that each episode gives off an almost completely different vibe it’s really hard to be bored or not amused by this at any given time.

Overall

It’s safe to say that if you like anime, period, you’ll like Konomini as well. If you’re looking for a short series to watch or are a fan of Gainax you should this a try – you won’t be disappointed.

Being a major fan of Neon Genesis Evangelion, I'm going to say this with some limitations in mind.

I consider this series to be on par with NGE.

Mind you I never thought I would ever make a statement quite like that, but that is why I try everything and anything when it comes to anime - more often than not it tends to catch me off guard when I least expect it.

This series has an interesting concept, which unfolds itself after a decent bit of foreshadowing. The story itself has a somewhat predictable ending, in my opinion, but it finishes quite well.

Art-wise, I think presently ... that most of the prolific stuff is coming out of Kyoto and Artland, with Melancholy/Luck Star and Mushishi, respectively. While it didn't blow me away it didn't take away from the series itself, which is the main reason I gave it the score I did.

Music: Personally I think it has one of the best opening songs in quite a while, with the simple music carrying the words rather nicely. The insert music has a habit of blending in with the dialog, which is a plus in my book.

At the end of the series I really cared about the characters - a lot. On top of that there was a lot more main characters involved, unlike NGE, but it did not get bogged down.

Obviously I found it entertaining, but if I would really have to classify it it would be Evangelion's drama mixed with Furi Kuri's humor, then some relationships development tossed in for good measure. All the same it was balanced rather well.

In general I would recommend this anime to pretty much anyone, especially someone just interested in the genre but not really well versed in it. Admittedly I was quite surprised to see that there were so few people that had actually listed it under their anime list, especially given that it is a GAINAX, and I think it is being overlooked by too many viewers.

Well here's an anime that has been made before, seen before, heard of before. Basically this anime has been around the block a few times. It's always with some new twist, but still the same generic, true to its roots as fanboy/girl anime. Am I being too harsh? No.

When you set out to make an anime, any anime, you need to have some sort of idea of how the characters act in the anime. If, as so many times before, the characters feel as unreal and sort of pasted in as they did in this anime then the anime probably isn't going to turn out ... to be very entertaining, or whatever they wanted this anime to make its viewers feel/think. Now to put away the bashing bat for a second... no there really aren't any redeeming points to this anime.

I'm being annoying and arrogant indeed, but I'm really trying to look out for future viewers of this anime, when the storyboard seem to be found lying at the side of the road like some roadkill that's been there for a few days and characters that seem similar to earthworms in all their features and traits then it's really not an anime worth watching.

Overview:

Time to travel back to the past and review another "lost" series that anime fans have forgotten! Put on your Indiana Jones outfits, because we are going deep into the obscure for this bit of anime archaeology. "This Ugly Yet Beautiful World" which I will hereafter refer to as "TUYBW" is a series that came out in 2004, but was completely forgotten shortly after despite a decent budget and being produced by freaking GAINAX themselves! How could a Gainax anime become so quickly forgotten despite the legions of fanboys that will swallow anything Gainax shits out? The answer is timing and overshadowing. If another ... series has a VERY similar plot and premise, but becomes much more famous and came out at the exact same time, it is possible for the twin series to be completely buried. An example of this would be Independence Day vs. Mars Attacks, which came out the same year. Tim Burton is usually much better liked than Emmerich, but Mars Attacks was completely forgotten and overlooked because of the hype surrounding Independence Day. I will explain in the next paragraph.

TUYBW is about a bland male protagonist who finds a naked girl in the middle of the woods. This naked chick suffers from amnesia, but rather than take her to the hospital or police station, he decides to take her home. Unfortunately, this chick has multiple personalities and one of them is an evil killing machine! This was the year 2004. At the same time TUYBW was airing, another anime called Elfen Lied came out with the same plot and quickly gained fame online for being "over the top madness" and one of the goriest anime people had seen in years, because no one cared about the utter bullshit that is Gantz. Elfen Lied spread through word of mouth, AMVs, and youtube clips like wild fire, whereas TUYBW was simply overlooked in favor of its bolder cousin.

The interesting thing is that TUYBW came out BEFORE the Elfen Lied anime, but after the Elfen Lied manga. So is one a ripoff of the other? Not really. The plot of a clueless male finding a beautiful, injured chick that claims to have amnesia, but is really a psycho killer and bringing her home despite ALL logic was actually started way back in 1952 in the novel East of Eden by John Steinbeck. That's right kids! If you need to blame someone for that ridiculous sub-plot, blame Steinbeck, because it is entirely his fault!

So what exactly made Elfen Lied take off in fame and TUYBW languish in obscurity? The most obvious answer would be "shock and awe". TUYBW was aired on regular Japanese cable and couldn't afford to push the envelope with gore, nudity, and controversial topics such as child abuse, animal abuse, and graphic human experimentation. This was one factor that made Elfen Lied catch people's eyes much more effectively than TUYBW. However, the real answer is one word: "ambition". TUYBW never tried to take itself that seriously, remotely challenge the viewer's worldview, or really try very hard in any category. The reality is that TUYBW is completely average to mediocre across the board from characters to soundtrack, to animation. Elfen Lied is a highly divisive series that is either considered complete garbage or a freaking masterpiece of anime. The reason is that Elfen Lied no matter how much some people hate it actually DID try. EL had a unique opening for its time that referenced classical art while playing a rather haunting, yet serene Gregorian hymn. TUYBW just has a VERY generic opening. Elfen Lied tried to use CG mixed with traditional animation, whereas TUYBW is one time Gainax did NOT go all out in the art department. It is simply par for the course animation. Elfen Lied offered rather memorable (even if completely insane) characters and tried hard enough in its plot that you WILL remember it whether you love it or hate it. TUYBW is the type of anime that is so generic that you watch it and forget the next week that you ever watched it.

Overall: 5/10

Am I saying that TUYBW is a buried gem that was unjustly overshadowed? No! I just wanted to shed some light on an obscure series and try analyze why some series get famous and others are forgotten. To be honest, TUYBW is a very average and cookie cutter series that no one should really have a reason to watch. It isn't good, but it isn't memorably bad either. It is forgettable vanilla, which in my opinion is the type of anime that is least worth watching!

This anime is a piece of work. People if you have not seen this anime I think you should because its simply about a boy name Takeru and he had a hard past. But that same day him and his best friend wittness something they never seen before. I dont want to tell all of the action but the beautiful girl named Hikari has a dark side that is evil, wicked, and erotic. She is the destroyer of the earth and its up to Takeru's power to help save the earth from his one true love Hikari.

Maybe I started watching it with too high expectations but it really didn't hit me as interesting or fun.

The characters are just typical anime characters, they don't really have any uniqueness at all. You have the carefree guy, a brainless girl that likes the guy, a jealous cousin. The popular guy that isn't interested in girls.

At first the story seemed appealing but after the first episode the story didn't really evolve at all untill the last 3 episodes. The only reason I give it a 6 and not a 4-5 in story is that the main plot about how the life needs to be erased ... now and then was pretty interesting.

For anyone watching this anime:
Watch the 3 first episodes then if you don't like it skip ahead to episode 10, you won't really misss anything important storywise.

Story: (8/10)
It's nothing very unusual. I'm pretty sure there are more anime with similar story. It's about guy Takeru meeting a girl, who came from space. However, Hikari isn't that innocent like everyone might think. Hikari's true purpose makes story more unique.

Art: (9/10)
Art is nice, but nothing extraordinary.

Sound: (9/10)
I love both opening and ending themes. Also, all voice actors did great job. I have really no complains here.

Characters: (7/10)
Most of the characters are stereotypical: normal guy, who has no luck with girls, quite guy, who's very popular but isn't interested in girls, jealous cousin, who's in love with main guy, innocent girl, who's also in ... love with main guy....
But they have their own problems and sad pasts. Also, Takeru's ability to transform is what makes him more outstanding than other similar guys.
Still, I didn't like Takeru very much and I think Jeniifer is very annoying (when she's not working).

Enjoyment: (8/10)
After episode 1, I wanted to drop this anime, but I changed my mind after Akari was introduced. I enjoyed watching this anime, but sometimes it was boring.

Overall: (8/10)
I was a bit disappointed by the end, but if everything ended like in Hikari's illusion, which she showed to Takeru, I would've given 7, but since ending is different, I give 8.
It's a good anime. Romance and supernatural fans probably will like it.

Don't bother. Just watch Elfen Lied please because this is just what this story tries to be. the keyword is TRIES. Actually, if a bunch of writers were sitting in a room trying to come up with the story for Elfen Lied, this would be one of the rough drafts after a long night of tossing out first ideas before it goes through several rewrites and becomes the story we get in Elfen Lied.

This story is a cheap lazy rip of Elfen Lied (boy finds naked girl, takes naked girl into his large boarding house, naked girl has two personalities /sweet and ... evil, naked girl has powers, main boy has tragic past, and a female cousin who is in love with him and jealous of naked girl with powers).

However, take all of that and do nothing with it, then draw boobs, and you have ugly yet beautiful world.

The characters were totally unwatchable and I hated them all except for Ryou, his little sister, and Akari. They were the only good thing about this whole show. Everything else was just fan service, and characters sitting around explaining the story. It was boring as heck! if you just want to see boobs, You will not be disappointed, boobs are all over the screen in every episode. I guess they were too busy drawing boobs to actually tell a decent story.

Sometimes in watching anime I feel like I've entered the twilight zone.

Anime stories often are about and for teenagers, and for that reason they routinely contain romance, and some have shots of semi-clothed beautiful girls. This one has both, but the romance is passing odd. The kids in the story are all in high school, but when romance time arrives the boys regress to approximately age 11. They agonize endless (usually through several tiresome episodes) before they kiss the girl, no matter how clear she makes it that they're welcome to do so. In general, these late-teen anime boys twitch and draw back like ... maidens on their wedding night whenever a girl gets close to them physically or emotionally. This syndrome is so totally routine in anime, including this one, that I'm beginning to think that in Japan boys are brought up very, VERY repressed. That's the business of the Japanese, of course, but it can make for very tiresome storytelling.

For that reason, I think this anime is likely to bore anyone in the USA or Europe who is over 12 -- yet it contains some pics of semi-unclothed girls that our USA version of puritanism says are a no-no for persons of such an age to see. The result is that, caught in between the puritanism of Japan and the quite different puritanism of the USA, anime like this just don't work in the USA, as far as I can see, at all.

Okay this anime sucked. It is filled with Mary-Sues, plot holes, and useless characters. There is no plot! It is a relationship based anime but the relationships suck!
Episode 1 of this series seemed to be okay but past that, it sucked.
The main female character, Hikari, is an alien who has no clue what her past is but everyone seems okay with that fact and goes along with it.
The main protagonist, Takeryu, is a high school student who finds Hikari in a tree and saves her from a monster that came out of nowhere. By saving her, he turns into ... a monster but when he tells his friends and family about it, they are okay with it and accept the fact with no questioning.
Honestly, I can keep going on about how dumb this anime is but to keep this review short I am just going to say this series sucked and no one should watch it.

This anime is good for people who like Nudity and some killing in it.

Story:
Don't get me wrong its not that bad of an anime but the story was kinda fast paste one it try fitting the whole story line in 12 episode but overall it was worth watching in the end.

In honor of Gainax's thirtieth anniversary, I've decided to review the anime they released to celebrate their own twentieth anniversary, ten years ago! It's time for This Ugly Yet Beautiful world, so here we go!

In the long history of the Earth, there have been several major mass extinctions, each one wiping millions of life forms out of existence. Because of this, over ninety nine percent of all life forms that have ever existed on earth are now gone forever. But what caused these mass extinctions, what was their true purpose, and... When will it happen again?

Following this admittedly intriguing monologue, we ... cut to our main character, Takeru Takemoto, delivering a monologue of his own. He talks about war, famine, disease, and all that fun stuff as an excuse to get out of helping his classmates clean the pool. Yes, this is our main character. He then lies around, wondering what he should do while doing absolutely nothing. And in the same episode, he remarks that his uncle, who owns his own delivery service AND dormitories, where Takeru is living for free, isn’t ambitious enough.

This is a person that I wouldn’t want to be friends with under any circumstances, and yet he actually has a healthy little collection of five friends that spend way too much time at his dorm and obsess way too hard over his love life. But I digress.

He and his best friend Ryou are out making a delivery when they witness a bright comet shooting down from the sky. It doesn’t move like an inanimate object, though... It moves like it has a destination in mind, and after following this light, Takeru discovers a beautiful naked girl with orange hair... Who he names Hikari. Japanese for light, of course. Because Chi. She forms an instant attachment to him... Like a newborn animal would... and their whirlwind romance thus begins.

Much like Mahoromatic, this series was a joint effort between Studio Gainax and Studio Shaft. While neither studio is perfect, and they’ve both released some poor looking shows in the past, the animation in This Ugly is embarrassing by either studio’s standards. The budget was clearly bare bones, and even the high points of the story are marred by obvious tricks like sudden technique changes, bounce-walking, and speed lines. The artwork is equally bad, with flat coloring, boring backgrounds, and enough jagged outlines to make FMA Brotherhood look lovingly rendered.

As far as the character designs, they’re nothing special... Derivative and forgettable are the words of the day, at least for the most part. The only thing really noteworthy is the insert from the first volume DVD, in which the Character Designer and Chief Animation Director himself chronicles his reasons behind each design. Without any exaggeration, his explanations range from such deep, complex specifications as “I thought this would be cute” to “I wanted him to look cool” to “I like large breasts.”

Although one of Takeru’s buddies was apparently based on a famous Japanese motorcycle who died shortly before production began. Do with that tidbit as you will.

As for the music? I didn’t like it. The tunes were repeated over and over again, which sucks, because I find about half of them distracting and inappropriate to the series. The opening, however, is a thing of beauty, possibly one of the top ten of 2004.

In any case, for the sake of Studio Gainax’s twentieth anniversary production, we’ll suspend disbelief and pretend that science doesn’t exist. We’ll pretend that each mass extinction was caused by a supernatural being that periodically comes to earth on a comet, takes the form of whatever the most intelligent creature in existence is at that time, and evaluates the world to see if it needs to be demolished. We won’t ask where they came from, or how this system came to be, or how the Earth knows to send battle monsters to stop these entities, because we don’t want to go to bed feeling as though we’ve wasted precious energy that we can’t get back.

The entity splits into two, and this time around, those two take the form of hyper-sexualized teenaged moe girls who are given the names of Hikari and Akari. Yes, that’s a spoiler, but trust me, knowing that in advance won’t hurt anything. Hikari winds up with lazy boy Takeru, and we’ll call that Story A. Akari winds up in the home of the space cadet Ryou, and we’ll call that Story B. Story A, as I mentioned in my plot summary, is a romance tale. And I’m going to say this up front, it is a very weak romance tale. Both of our main characters are completely milquetoast, with the only really interesting thing about either one being their tragic backstories. They flounder in their efforts to form a relationship, and while there is a pretty good reason, the awkwardness between them can sometimes be flat-out painful. I mean, I have Asperger’s syndrome, and even *I* wouldn’t strike out in some of the situations that Takeru finds himself in.

On the other side of the coin, we have the B side of the story, which in my opinion should have been the true A side, as it’s a lot stronger. Ryou is a pretty damn likeable character, despite all his bishie-ness. While laid back and easy-going, he’s a very paternal figure to his precocious little sister, whom he allows to think that she’s the one in charge. They pick up Akari, and while I’d be hard-pressed to say she has any important role in the story, she’s still given much more personality and development than her ‘sister’ is. I may be alone in this, but I found myself enjoying the show a lot more when the three of them were on screen. They even get some pretty good blink-and-you’ll-miss-it sight gags, if you’re looking hard enough. Like Ryou being the only person on a test of courage to be dressed as a western monster. or Akari catching a giant fish with a nude bear-hug, only to be seen subtly gnawing on it’s severed head at lunch a few scenes later.

As for the supporting cast, there’s little to no support to be found. Takeru has two male friends, who obsess over the fact that he’s living with a hot girl, and two female friends, who call those two stupid. Oh, they also coordinate activities and make clothes for the aliens. Overall, characters that need not exist, as there’s nothing they contribute to the plot that other characters couldn’t offer. I found myself wondering why they all invested so much of their time in such a boring character’s life.

He Also has a cousin named Mari who’s madly in love with him, but didn’t know it until he was taken... I guess I should be disgusted by that, but this is Japan, and that DOES sound like typical teenage logic. Besides, I can’t hate a Luci Christian character. What I can hate, however, is the American scientist that lives in their dorm, and embodies every single stereotype that the Japanese may have against American women. She’s loose, she’s an alcoholic, she’s immodest, she’s always making passes at her teenage co-stars, she looks like Ritsuko Akagi... She’s investigating the mass extinction, and she just happens to move into the exact right dorm house. Hikari introduces herself as an alien, so of course, Jennifer Portman’s first instinct is to shower with her.

They also have two alien sidekicks named Ku-on and Ionios, and I actually found them to be quite funny.

Now, I can’t talk about the English dub without addressing a very interesting little fact. For whatever reason, the majority of the actors used really ridiculous false names. Was the show so bad that they didn’t want their names attached to it, or was this just a joke? I can’t find any explanation, but if I meet one of them at a con, that’ll be my first question.

Cynthia Martinez... AKA Goldie Fawn... Has been a favorite of mine in some shows, and I never really minded her gravely voice up until now. Her line deliveries are spot on, but the tone and pitch of Hikari’s voice makes HER voice sound like a dying cat. Shelley Calleen Black does a great job relaying all of Ms. Portman’s eccentricities, as much as I may hate the character, and Hilary Haag... AKA Alexis Bestman... is adorable in the role of Kimi. Quentin Haag, presumably related to her, has only had seven acting roles to date, but he does a pretty decent job in the role of Ryou.

Braden Hunt doesn’t fair nearly as well in the role of Takeru, giving a performance that’s charmless and wooden throughout. Taylor Hannah, Chris Patton and Monica rial are wasted in low profile roles, when they could have easily taken on the starring roles by themselves. Patton and Rial as Takeru and Hikari? Yes, please!

But the star of the dub is Jessica Boone... Or Circe Nightshade of SNL fame... playing the role of Akari. She’s playing a sweet, wide-eyed innocent who’s trying to enjoy life to the fullest as she secretly evaluates it, waiting patiently for a tragedy that she knows will eventually occur... It’s a subtle performance, and she plays with this nuance beautifully. Hell, she’s so good that other actors sound better just by interacting with her.

Fun fact: About half of the affore-mentioned characters will, at some point, make a pretentious speech. Okay, so that’s not a very fun fact, but it’s also a fact that can’t be avoided. Gainax has always been known to indulge in pretense, but this particular project takes that predilection to a whole new level. This anime is very pretentious, and it LOVES to hear itself talk. The characters are blabbing with more ideas than the series is willing to commit to, ruminating on the nature of life, and spewing philosophical metaphors that barely make sense and never really get explored. This is where the collaboration of Gainax and Shaft comes to blows, as it seems like the former is trying it’s damnedest to bring depth to the material, which the latter is trying to jam with as much gratuitous nudity as possible.

The basic plot could be an interesting one, scientific heresy be damned, but the writing that should be supporting it is awful, and I’m not just talking about the awkward translations. There’s barely any development, way too many characters, character descriptions that are told to us rather than shown to us, constant otaku pandering, and aimless philosophizing that serves no purpose other than to jam the characters heads up their shiny asses. The humor occasionally works, and when it does, the comic timing is spot-on. But this show isn’t focused on being funny. It tries to be serious and tell it’s story, while dishing out wacky hijinks and harem cliches, despite not really being a harem show. The filler material makes up half of the story, and it can range from tolerable at best to painful at worst, with the obligatory beach episode being a particularly low note.

And yet, even when it is focused entirely on it’s plot, it’s still barely watchable, as that plot relies too much on it’s milquetoast leads. I won’t reveal how the multi-episode climax plays out, but it is both catalyzed and carried through by some of the most melodramatic high school bullshit ever animated.

In short, I rarely ever see a story or plot that are executed this terribly.

However, despite my complaints, I like this show. Don’t get me wrong, it’s bad, there’s no arguing that. It might be the worst Gainax show that I’ve ever seen, and it rips off former Gainax properties without mercy or restraint. But it’s a pleasant kind of bad... The kind you pop into your DVD player when you’re feeling bored and forgiving. It’s lighthearted, and if you’re not overthinking it, it isn’t too insulting or offensive either. And I genuinely do like the side B story, at least for what it offers. It’s an ugly show, without a doubt, but there’s still some beauty to it, which is why I’m going to be generous and give it a 4/10. You can shave off two full points if underaged nudity gives you the creeps, and I’ll understand completely.

In my honest opinion, this anime was an average to me. It had a good story line and was funny at points, but it took everything I had just to watch it. I also didn't like the fact that the ending was so.......bad. Sorry to anyone who thought this anime was great, but I'm just voicing my opinion on the matter. If they want to make it better, the people who made this could add a second season to further explain the series. So that's my opinion on TUYBW.

Overall this was a good anmie and one worth viewing.It had a really nice story , lots of splice of life, romance and a nice ending as well.
The art was nice and the sound excellent , both the subbed and subbed versions were spot on.Not something you can say about all anmies.

If its so great why the over all mark of seven , you may ask?.
simply put , its extremely slowly paced ,more than necessary and in places it drags.if it wasn't for the "mystery " surrounding the girls , ... i would have given up. In the latter half , it does pick up a bit, which redeems the series.

The characters seem a bit generic at times, yet at other times they really shine and come into their own.

So as i mentioned above , its worth a look, just don't expect brilliance because its not , but its a good solid performance for all that

I don't even know where to start with this review. This Ugly Yet Beautiful world started out strong. The first episode was really good. But then everything just went down hill from there. The concept was good, the storyline was good, there was just some rough areas of this anime.
I'm gonna start this review with the pros of this anime. The storyline, I thought, was very interesting. The concept of two girls coming from space and taking human form is what made me want to watch this. The characters are okay. Some of the characters are just unneeded and unwanted in my opinion. I ... thought that ending was good though.
Okay, now the cons. The anime started out strong like I already said. The problem with starting off strong is you have to stay strong. This anime, unfortunately, didn't. Episodes 2-8 honestly, I don't even want to call them filler episodes because some of the episodes didn't even tell you anything. Some of the episodes were just really unneeded. I watched the dubbed version. If you watch, be prepared for Hakari's voice because her voice made me want to just watch the subbed version. I found that this anime turned more into a romantic drama because of all the love triangles that happen. There's a love triangle between Takeru, Hakari, and Mari even though Takeru and Mari are cousins. There's also a (family) love triangle between Ryou, Kimi, and Akari. I feel like you could've probably watched the first episode and then the last 3 episodes and you would've understood what happened. If this anime was over 12 episodes, I probably wouldn't have finished it. There's also a lot of unnecessary nudity.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this anime to someone. Even if I did recommend this to someone, I would say to just watch the first episode and then the last 3 because those are really the only episodes you need to watch.

I honestly have an extreme appreciation for this anime and that is mostly because of the great prominence of duality in all aspects of the story. For this, I would say that the title is creative and appropriate because it introduces this concept of two perceptions or sides. The heaviest emphasis on duality comes mostly from the characters, but also the underlying message (that can be derived from the title). It makes the viewer think and notice how the story has depth to it. I praise this and welcome it, and would say that, beyond anything else, it is the duality that makes this anime ... worth the watch.

takeru takemono and his friend ryou nishino are out on his motobike one night. one there way back to his house they see a light that flys though the sky and lands in a tree. the boys run over to find a strange girl floating in the tree. she is named hikari. takeru gets hikari down from the tree and decides that they should take her home with them. before they leave the three of them are attcked by a monster that seems to be drawn to hikari. takeru proteat hikari with an stange power that he suddenly got. they defeat the monster and take ... hikari back with them. a few days later another girl is found, by ryou. the two girls are brought together and class each other as sisters. it is later discovered that hikari and akari are aleins from a distant demension, unknown by any of them, that the hikari and akari were actually sent to earth to destroy it. later in the anime hikari discovers her dark and evil side that wishes to get rid of her friends and destroy the planet. find out if takeru can stop her, watch to find out