Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko.

A strong cast of characters is sometimes all that is needed.

Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko (referred to as HenNeko henceforth) is a romantic comedy that knows its own strengths. Rather than focusing solely on panties, cleavage and harem tropes (oh, there's still plenty of that), it delivers a genuinely refreshing experience that cleverly combines its moe appeal with a strong cast of characters.

The story follows Yokodera Youto and his hidden perversions. Hidden, of course, as joining the track club solely to gape at girls is not considered socially acceptable behavior. He conceals these thoughts under a facade, acting in part as the average highschooler so that his intentions are not misunderstood. But eventually, as just about any teenager would, he grows tired of behaving like somebody that he is not. He decides to visit a purportedly wish-granting statue to ask that he can simply be himself, and in doing so entangles himself with the fate of another: Tsukiko, who instead wishes to conceal her emotions.

Immediately, you will probably find yourself thinking how silly this sounds. And you would not be wrong-- it is very much silly. The entire notion that a cat statue can somehow grant wishes (and just about any wish, really) is supremely contrived and difficult to accept. But HenNeko seldom takes this aspect seriously. There are still the occasional moments of melodrama here and there marring the overall experience, but provided you are not looking for anything more than some lighthearted fun, it is easy enough to tolerate the lacklustre storytelling. Perhaps not forgive, though.

The biggest problem with the story is not necessarily that it is poorly written or abundant with plotholes, but that it relies solely on the cat statue to get anywhere. Characters don't resolve issues or develop on their own-- the statue does it for them. If it's time for some drama, hey, why not have a character wish for something inconvenient? And they do. Again and again. It becomes entirely predictable by the end. How is the audience supposed to empathize with a story that feels so artificial, so reliant upon a single plot device? It is almost too bad that a wish-granting statue doesn't exist in the real world; it could have been used to wish away the show's own issues.

Thankfully the characters are enough to amend the otherwise juvenile storytelling. Aside from the lustful Yokodera, HenNeko consists primarily of three female characters: Tsukiko, the ojou-sama Azuki Azusa (she's referred to by her full name for some reason), and Tsukushi, Tsukiko's violent older sister. Chances are that if you have any potential interest in the series, moe is one of the first things that you are looking for. And HenNeko provides plenty in that regard. Hell, it is the embodiment of moe. Tsukiko may just be one of the cutest characters in anime history, though Azuki Azusa is certainly no slouch either. The only issue is that Tsukiko's seiyuu overblows the dandere trope. She sounds less monotone and more like an android.

In standard harem fare, they all come to love Yokodera in some way or another. It is justified in the case of Tsukiko and Azuki Azusa, but Tsukishi's infatuation is shoehorned in from nowhere. It also baffles the mind why she somehow believes that Yokodera and his mythical younger brother (which is just a bluff of his) are separate people, despite looking, sounding and behaving identically. Somehow she is collectively the most dense and mature character of the show.

Speaking of Yokodera, he is actually one of the series' strongest points. For the harem genre where the protagonist is almost invariably some blockhead with the supernatural ability to inadvertently undress girls in mid-air, a comment like that may as well be considered nonsense. But Yokodera defies the genre's mold. He is honest, knows how to communicate with people, does not run away screaming at the sight of panties, and most importantly, has a brain. He is able to instill value to his interaction with the girls and as a result (Tsukishi excluded) their feelings for him seem authentic rather than forced. HenNeko could just as easily have been another insipid harem title if Yokodera behaved like every other harem lead, but thankfully it is a show that understands the importance of a quality protagonist. I just wonder why other harem titles haven't learned the same.

In terms of art, HenNeko is pleasing to the eye and uses thick lines to give the show its own visual charm. Character designs are considerably appealing and while the art fidelity may not be enough to impress, it still does the job just fine.

The sound also leaves little to be desired. The seiyuu are spectacular all around with veterans like Yukari Tamura and newer names like Kaori Ishihara providing their own personality to the female characters. Yuki Kaji lends his talents to the role of Yokodera and does a stellar job overall (though initially causes some concern for previously voicing a number of aggravating protagonists). And while the background music is restrained and rarely noticeable, the opening and ending sequences are infectiously catchy and adorable. It would be insanity to skip them.

Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko does not tread any new ground, but what it fails to provide in creativity it makes up for with a solid cast of characters. If you are expecting a decent story, deep themes or anything beyond some nice lighthearted fun, you will be sorely disappointed.

As for fun, though? There are few better ways to spend an afternoon. read more

You know one of those days when you're feeling down and is hunting for something, anything to calm your moody day? Well, that hunt might not be easy but if Henneko is something on your hit list, then you might of hit a bulls-eye. That's because this is an anime that will brighten the mood of your moody day. In more ways than one, Henneko caters to the fantasies of a young teenager. It focuses more on Youto Yokodera, a young boy who is going through the journey of adolescence. What he seems to be more interested than sports or academics though is of the opposite sex. Thus begin the story, a tale of The "Hentai" Prince and the Stony Cat.

Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko. (also known as The "Hentai" Prince and the Stony Cat) is an anime series based off the light novel and manga of the same name. No contrary to its title, this is NOT a hentai. Rather, it's about a young boy named Youto Yokodera who got nicknamed with the infamous title of the “Hentai Prince” after making a certain wish onto a particuarly gifted Stony Cat. Sounds strange right? Well, that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Coming into this series, I already knew what may be expected. It doesn't take long for any viewer to realize this is a typical romantic comedy. The twist here is that it involves some magic at works in the form of the Stony Cat. So begins this strange tale, the story of the Hentai Prince. Note that not everything starts out like this though. In fact, while it's obvious that Youto is seen a pervert to viewers, the series doesn't directly depict these traits until after he makes his wish to the Stony Cat. It's the result of a wish he made and there's a saying that always stays true: be careful what you wish for.

Unfortunately for Youto , he isn't very careful and now has to deal with the consequences.

For Youto, the boy is naturally a pervert. He likes to read 'ecchi' magazines of perverted nature. He joined the track team so that he can actually see the girls in their swimsuits (the pool is close to the tracks). And of course, he often references to shows that he watches to heighten his interests. Despite his faults though,Youto at the same time is also shown to be a kind boy who often comes to the aid of others especially his female friends. He also seems to be somewhat clever with a crafty mind as he is able to manipulate a certain track leader into believing some obvious false ideas. Needless to say, Youto is the type of boy that's hard to be friends with unless you know his true visage.

Among the people Youto meets in the series includes the adorable Tsukiko Tsutsukakushi. Being presented as both the mascot as well as the main female character, she is the younger sister of the Steel King and someone that accidentally also falls in the case of 'be careful what you wish for' category. Unlike Yuto, the wish she called for made her emotionless. Now, she is like a cat but without the excitement. At the same time, it seems that she and Youto has a sort of deal to get back what they've lost. It's a relationship of awkwardness and benefits all the same time.

Throughout the series, Youto also establishes connections with other characters in particular with a school beauty named Azusa. As an animal lover, she is admired as a school idol, a wealthy lady, and someone who is to be respected by everyone. Despite her outer self, Azusa seems to be quite insecure with herself and often mistrusts people because of her past. Her first encounter with Youto seems to be some sort of fate because for the first time, we see her insecurities manifest thanks to Youto and his new personality granted by the Stony Cat. So much for being a goddess...

The series follows more of a story arc telling format rather than a straight out story. However, the most common features of each episode involves Youto and what he does with his new situation. Of the many new changes in his life, one is his more closeness to three of the main female characters in the series. Youto gets closer with Azusa, Tsukushi (the “Steel King”), and Tsukiko as each episode progresses. Despite being labeled as the 'hentai prince', Youto is also surprisingly reliable at key situations. His reliability as well as ability to help others earns him more affections from the girls. As a matter fact, they seems to see the better side of him and even goes to lengths to return the favor at various points.

There is also a whole cluster of moments and gags that calls out 'cute' throughout every episode. The opening song itself is one with the expressions of our main characters. Its animal-like gestures, high pitched vocals, and moe artwork paints this series as a headline for cuteness. It doesn't stop there either with the cutey artwork. There's the way that Tsukiko moves and way she eats that are formulated from the extra gags. Among other moments, there's the tsundere-like behavior of Azusa where she flatly denies what's really on her mind. Speaking of which, Azusa herself also shows her love of animals. Whether you're an animal lover or not, the show goes to portray many analogies. A clear example is Tsukiko likeness of a cat while Azusa seems to be fond of dogs. Naturally, the two sides don't get along just like the two girls. And naturally, Youto is the center of the drama when it comes to the duo.

Despite the series having many comedy moments, there is also some serious times when we see that characters are more troubled than what they seem to be. Azusa is one of those characters especially with her past and Youto does his best to help her out. Then, there's also the tensions between the two sisters that balances between silliness and moody at various circumstances. It's hard to take them serious but at the same time, it's clear that there's something deeper going on between them.

Even though the series is cute, there's many overused themes of a typical romantic comedy in Henneko that might turn some viewers off. There's plenty of fan service like the traditional beach episode. In fact, because the school has a pool, it's natural that the girls will be in their swimsuits. Therefore, expect some of those gratuitous outfits to hit the screen some time here and there. Among other little gags in the series are the various misunderstandings. In one fact, among one of these misunderstandings turns into more of a serious admiration for the Steel King. Furthermore, the Steel King is portrayed as the sex symbol of the show with her well developed body (thanks to her status as president of the track team) and sexy moans during exercises. It turns the physical education class into a theme of fan service and one that is presented clearly with both the vocals and visuals. It doesn't stop there either as we also have the master/servant like relationship, the repetitive tsundere-like behavior of Azusa, and later on seemingly a harem being under construction by our hentai prince.

For J.C. Staff production, this series makes usage of its more colorful atmosphere. The way artwork is enforced throughout the series brings out the fairy tale-like cuteness of most of the characters. It is not realistic but rather overly flows with cuteness and moe. Given the setting of the romantic comedy genre, it does fit the overall idea. I'm not sure what the objective it's trying to achieve but if cuteness was one of them, it nailed it on the spot. At other times though, it tries way too hard and the characters' designs are generic. The petite figure, the flat chest, and the well developed bodies for our three main female characters shapes the different sides of this anime. There's nothing unique to see here but it's kawaii.

The soundtrack of the series clearly is lighthearted. It also seems that a lot of times, it puts more effort into each and every single tiny moment to bring out the cute factors. These can also turn into more lewd moments such as our Steel King and her erotic moans. It does match though with our small cast of main characters and the way they portray is also expressed in their voice actors/actresses. The softness of Tsukiko's voice is a more prominent example as we can clearly see that she lost most of her emotions. Finally, both the OP and ED songs of this series brings out cuteness and moe at its best. The way the OP song is overflowed with adorable moments and gif worthy material. The ED song fits with the same flow with the dancing moments of Tsukiko and her adorable outfits. It's needless to say that in terms of audio features, Henneko brings out 'cuteness' at its best.

Ultimately, the end game of this series is how you might decide to watch Henneko. If cuteness is something you're looking for to brighten up that moody day you just had, then this series is definitely something to hit the play button on. Otherwise, enjoyment can come in different shapes and sizes. For one thing though, the series itself is hard to take serious even with its more moody moments. The fan service and little fun gags can give different results depending on how you view them. Otherwise, Henneko is a series that is probably not a masterpiece for me. I might forget it in the future. However, those cuteness and adorable moments are hard to take my eyes off of. read more

Usually, anything with the word "hentai" in it is instantly thrown out the window for most people, as its word association is for the most part, is towards porn, as hentai means "pervert" in the japanese language. Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko, or the hentai prince and stony cat in english uses that word in such a way, that it almost means nothing, in this pretty damn good rom-com.

Story (8.05/10): The story of Hentai Ouji (simplifying the title), bases itself around Youto Yokodera, an open pervert, as many can guess from the title. Through a series of circumstances involving the best friend character giving up his pervert ways, and Youto's own desire to be open about being perverted, as well as hearing about a wish granting cat statue thing, Youto meets a girl named Tsukiko, who attempts to also make a wish, only to find out that both of them are discontent with their new lives, and make a pact about getting back what is theirs.

Above all, this story is as imaginative and original as they come. Personally, I have never seen a story quite like this before, and because of that, it piqued my interest. However, it should be noted that that story only pertains to about 3 or so episodes.

The anime's plotline is split in about 3 or so arcs where it mainly focuses on 3 of the main characters. (The last one arguably focuses on 2 at one time.) Each of the arcs having their own separate focus as a whole. It's to the point that since the anime stems so far from the original idea, that the story becomes a completely different thing altogether. However, though this sounds like a terrible thing, the story actually fits together really well, and provides a very good viewing experience. Personally, I liked how the anime went, because I was never really bored with it at all.

Characters (8.45/10): These characters are actually pretty damn good. First, the hentai prince, Youto Yokodera. First of all, why is it always the perverted guy in anime, that always somehow gets the girls? Youto is a very interesting character as his pervertedness throughout the whole series is almost non-existent. Sure, he has porn mags, an obsession with having Tsukiko as his little sister, and above all, has perverted thoughts, but as a whole, he never seems to actually portray that too much. Rather, he's actually a really kind and nice character. However, he does at times act a bit denser then he should be. (as all male protagonists are) His character does get fleshed out at the end of the series, and really provides a nice backstory for him, adding to why he's actually a pretty good character.

By the way, backstory is a huge thing that this anime does really well.

Tsukiko, as the main female lead, is one of the more...interesting kuuderes in anime. Because of her wish, she became emotionless, showing absolutely no different tone in her voice, no emotions, no embarrassed facial expression, well, you get the point. Unlike most female characters that refuse to admit they like someone, Tsukiko...cannot. Because she literally has no emotions at all, the denseness that Youto has when talking to her makes a lot of sense, as you really can't tell what she's actually feeling at that moment in time. While yes, she is a good character, seeing as how she acts as Youto's voice of reason, as well as being extremely cute, they never really solve her problem in the anime, basically turning her into this emotionless doll, as they forget her whole purpose for meeting Youto as they did, and essentially, making the original idea of the story, null.

The other main characters like my personal favorite, Azusa and Tsukushi also have their part in the grand scheme of things, becoming the other 2 aforementioned main cast, and have very good fleshed out characteristics, that make their characters really good.

Various other characters, act as pretty good supporting cast, adding in more to the story, as well as fleshing out the main 4 characters more, which they excel at doing. Above all, the characters are definitely this anime's strong suit, and it really shows it clearly.

Sound and Art (7.25/10 and 7.48/10): The sound for this anime is somewhat generic I would say. It sounds really adorable, I will give it that, and the mood fillers for the anime do sound good and very appropriate for where they're placed. The OP and ED I would say are good but not overly fantastic. It's nice to listen to, and the lyrics are as cute and adorable as they would come, but I wouldn't say it would be something that you would remember for a long time.

The art I would say is above average. The art is very light colored and somewhat moe heavy, as the majority of the female cast are in fact, moe. The characters themselves aren't too overcomplicated in terms of design, and are definitely crisp in their design as well. It's very simplistic and very nice to look at.

Personal Enjoyment (8.67/10): Hentai Ouji to Warawani neko is definitely your above-average rom-com/harem show. (It gets a bit haremy towards the end.) Personally, I was never bored with the series, and enjoyed watching every moment. The comedy is pretty funny, I love the characters, and the story was plenty deep and interesting to keep me watching. I did feel that the story felt a bit incomplete, and would've liked to see more, but for the most part, I'm happy with what I watched. I did feel like it went a bit side-story like towards the middle; as well as losing a significant amount of its original idea as the story progressed, but it did finish itself quite nicely, and I will say that I was somewhat pleased on how the characters, and everything else turned out in the end. I would recommend this show to anyone who enjoys a rom-com/harem/ecchi (there's not that much) show; or anyone that enjoys a good drama.


Overall Score: 7.89/10.

Still hoping for a second season so we could fix Tsukiko. It sorta pissed me off seeing that she was never fixed. read more

[b]Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko[/b]
HenNeko is a comedy with bits of romantic elements that fails to bring the most of it by how confusing and fast paced the things goes.

[b][u]Story[/u][/b]
The story is weak, and you will find yourself to say WTF is this, i don't understand, and for the most part the story is silly and fails to be interesting, where you can see the plotholes and get confused and it bothered me that the cat statue could grant every single wish like if he was a god and can do even the imposible i mean the statue was made from two normal girls with no special powers whatsoever but until the last 2 episodes the things starts to be interesting in some way.

[b][u]Art & Sound[/u][/b]
Art was not that amazing, i have seen better but it wasn't bad, it was good. The sound was saved by the voice acting, you will recognize and like the voice acting, and you will find the OP and the ED good, the background music was meh.

[b][u]Character[/u][/b]
The only character that i liked the most was Tsukiko, she was adorable and i like that kind of soft vocals, she likes to eat a lot and i always found her interesting and i wanted to know why she didn't wanted to show her emotions. Youto was good but at first i found him like a little douche, because i thought that everytime he promise something he forgets it and just say the things to make others feel good, but you find out till the end why he forget things and it's a little sad knowing that. Tsukushi was funny and Azuki was fine.

[b][u]Enjoyment[/u][/b]
What i enjoyed from this was Tsukiko and her sister and the funny pervert parts and the VA, good enjoyment. read more