Ranked #472

Sora no Otoshimono

*Dramatic ending to an overall ecchi humour series*

“The following story depicts the downfall of my quiet and peaceful life.” – Tomoki Sakurai

If someone is telling you this anime has flying pantsu (underwear), what will come to mind? People throwing pantsu at each other? Or if you are a bit more creative, perhaps you may be imagining them using the pantsu to wrap around a volleyball for practice? (I really got that as a response before). But will you believe me if I say the underwear in this show can really fly like a bird (heck, they even fly in a wonderful formation in the sky). Furthermore, what if those pantsu can explode? Yes, they can go KABOOM! How’s that for a change? Assuming you are still hanging around, let me give this one final piece of advice. Stop reading right here if flying and exploding pantsu is not what you want to see because it only gets much more exciting and chances are you won’t like it (ie. you can drop this show from you list).

Now for the rest of us, where should we begin? How about the ordinary lifestyle of the young man, our protagonist of the story, Tomoki Sakurai? All he ever wished from his small town was to live a peaceful and quiet life where he can eat, sleep, and play. He even made a motto for himself, “peace and quiet is the best”. One night under a cherry tree, a pretty angel came falling down toward our hero and that is how his quiet and peaceful life comes to an end. Who might this girl be? Where did she come from? What kind of past did she have? All these questions will propel the story forward and eventually develop into something much more than what anyone would have initially thought possible from this type of show.

Unsurprisingly a great deal of character developments, in terms of personal growth, lies with the fallen angel. As the series progresses, she not only begin to show depth as a character, but at the same time get involved in a funny four-way romance. Various characters’ past have also been revealed which explains a lot about their current self, particularly their behavior. This also made them more real and believable as a whole.

The sound department really deserves special recognition for this show. Not nothing does it have a special, one of a kind, ending per episode, but each ending also features the aftermath of what happened at the end of the episode (think of it as some form of epilogue). As an example, I strongly urge you to look up the second ending (flying pantsu ending). In addition to the various endings, the unique background music (BGM), that does not often repeat itself, also deserves honourable mention. Often times I feel that I was nearly going in tears thanks to these BGM. They make a strong compliment to the already excellent series.

Sounds come in many different forms. Music obviously counts as one, but voicing is another, especially in the anime industry. Some voices can make a character seem like a lifeless zombie or can totally repel viewers from watching further. Others can bring life to a character, making them more lively and believable. Fortunately, Sora no Otoshimono has a large group of talented casts that helped make the characters come to life and also aided the comedy aspect of the show. If I were to select one seiyu from the group whom I believe have performed the best, it will have to be Souichirou Hoshi (Kira from Gundam SEED, Keiichi from Nigurashi no Naku Koro ni). His ultra hilarious performance as Tomoki, the protagonist, played a key role in the overall success of the series in my opinion. Though his voice may be hard to get used to at times, his role as Tomoki is certainly refreshing, highly different from most of his previous character voices.

You may think that there is probably nothing else that is good about this series. You are dead wrong. The ultimate selling point of Sora no Otoshimono lies in the animation. While it does not have the unique animation techniques like those we often seen by SHAFT, this series cannot be taken lightly either. Production quality is top notch. With smooth fluid-like animation, great scene transitions, and consistently level of high quality production by the studio, all made this show an eye candy to watch. Of course this is especially true if you are into ecchi-fan service. But even if you are an action fan, you will not be disappointed as the series totally shines with its animation. You have to see it to believe it. Certainly one of the best quality anime (animation-wise) of the Fall 2009 season.

To be honest, I am not an extremely big fan of ecchi comedy. But Sora no Otoshimono completely changed my view on this genre. I was really drawn in by the emotional scenes multiple times throughout the series. Similarly, I was also captivated by the very sad, yet powerful, scenes toward the end of the show. It certainly showed us that Sora no Otoshimono is not just about pure ecchi humour, but actually have a strong background story to back it up! I would also like to applaud the production studio, AIC A.S.T.A. for a job well done in adapting the original material from the manga. Lastly if you have read the entire review, do yourself a favour and watch the series now. It is only 13 episodes long, so why not give it a shot? read more

When you see the phrase "generic, mindless fanservice, you expect an anime thats just horrible. Fortunately however, Sora No Otoshimono is anything but. Surprisingly well done and developed, Sora No Otoshimono takes you on unforgettable ride.

Story
The story at first sounds really generic. Small town, childhood friend who happens to live next door and is well endowed, and a mysterious "angel" falling from the sky. Yeah, so it is generic BUT throughout the series, the story gains more depth and eventually becomes interesting and enthralling. As a reader of the manga, the plot follows it to the dot and the pacing is also quite similar. Sometimes it does feel slightly rushed but keep in mind they are trying to condense about 5 volumes of manga into 13 episodes. The more you delve into the universe the more interesting it gets.

Animation
One word :wow
The animation in this series is flawless. The quality of the animation is simply amazing and this anime isnt even based on action. Animation is smooth and consistent throughout the whole series and camera angles are interesting and dynamic enough to add realism in dialouge. In every scene there is something moving and in most cases it is multiple objects (i.e consistant blinking, arm gestures etc). The bigger scenes that incompass massive explosions and giant crap are also done very nicely. Also, there are always different animations for the credits so there is more new animation packed in every episode.

Sound
Im not a real expert at sound but there is nothing wrong with the sound in my opinion. Ambience sound are consistant and sound realistic. The voice actors were nicely chosen and all act out their respective characters well. I've heard people say that Tomoko's voice (the protagonist) is annoying but i've had no problem with it. Maybe i'm just tolerant?
Since there is always a different credit theme, it means different songs. WOW. Some of them are just plain silly and some are strangely addictive. Also watch out for ep 10, two great songs.

Character
The character designs are nice and certainly live up to the generic ecchi anime standards. With this in mind however there really isn't anything ground breaking when it comes to the characters. Still though, like the plot line there is more than enough character development to keep the series interesting.

Enjoyment
Who would have thought that an anime with romance, ecchi and comedy as its central genres be so interesting and funny. You'll get plenty of laughs here in this series but i warn you, the humour is more on the corny-ecchi side (golden boy) rather the smart ass side (lucky star). Still though, the humour is great and come in great quantities. The extensive use of chibi characters really make the irony in the "serious" scene unbearable.
However thats not to say that the plot line is completely neglected with somewhat cheap humour. As a reader of the manga where this series is based on, the plot is actually quite deep and meaningful. Its really the polar opposite of the humour found in this series. Throughout the series both humour and plot development are nicely balanced so that viewers of the anime are satisfied in both ecchi and plotline values.

Conclusion
An anime that probably has the highest production value of the season (and dare i say the year), a deep plot and truckloads of humour, this anime cannot be missed. Seemingly neglescted due to its appearance as a "generic", this anime is anything but. A must watch

[{eggysz - otakuzone.com}] read more