Ranked #1648

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu: Purezza

The first season of Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu (Nogizaka Haruka's Secret) was a quite enjoyable little romance anime. One day, by accident, the very ordinary guy Ayase Yuuto finds out about the titular secret of the shy, ladylike school idol Nogizaka Haruka, the secret being the fact that she's an otaku. Having been ostracized in her previous school due to her otakudom being exposed, she naturally becomes afraid of the same thing happening again. But being the nice guy he is, Yuuto swears not to reveal this fact to anyone. One thing leads to another and they eventually fall in love, though neither of them consider themselves an official couple by the end of the series.

It goes without saying that one expected at least some development of the two main characters in this second season, Purezza. Problem is, there is none to be had. The reason being that Purezza possesses nothing resembling a real plot. But let's go over the good stuff first - don't worry, it won't take long.

The somewhat unknown studio Diomedea is responsible for the animation, just like they were with the prequel. Purezza's animation is - while not original or impressive in any way - crisp, clean and generally consistent (some QUALITY moments are to be found, though, like the rims of Yuuto's glasses mysteriously disappearing).

The opening animation should also be complimented; it shows a browsing through a magazine starring the show's characters and is pretty detailed and well-designed. As for the opening song, it couldn't be more forgettable; just your standard j-pop fare, albeit a little more rocky than usual. The same applies to the ED and the BGM, with them both being non-descript to the point of absurdity, but not really grating.

As I mentioned, this anime is devoid of an overarching plot. The major reason as to why this is the case is because Purezza spends most of its running time focusing on its plethora of minor characters (most of them girls, with almost all moe stereotypes covered) and their relationships with Yuuto, more often than not putting them in indecent situations with him (of course). What once was a cute, semi-innocent romance has completely deteriorated into a generic ecchi-harem.

There's even one particular scene with Yuuto applying "erotic, sexy massage" to three girls, resulting in moaning that would make your average hentai blush with embarrassment. I found myself becoming increasingly irritated with Yuuto as the episodes went on and he degenerated into a simple tool with an uncanny resemblance of School Days' Itou Makoto, fooling around with - and getting used by - about every female character around.

Not having read the manga, I don't know if this is the case, but it does feel jarringly obvious that this season is riddled with fillers. And with it being 12 episodes short, it goes without saying that it's unacceptable.

Consequently, the time Haruka and Yuuto get to spend alone is reduced to a select few occasions. And with them both being annoyingly shy and indecisive, their relationship is never given a real chance to progress. Add to this the fact that the scarce romantic events between the two are generally interrupted by the Nogizaka family's obtrusive maid team or some other random (un)supporting character(s) and you have a recipe for disaster.

There are admittedly a few laughs to be had while watching Purezza, but they are always followed by ten or so minutes of painful facepalming. By the end of this season, it felt like Haruka and Yuuto had gotten at most a couple of centimeters closer to each other (not that I gave a damn about their relationship at this point). It also felt like my brain had been thoroughly decomposed.

I could continue ranting about the worthlessness of this anime and perhaps mention the episode in which Yuuto works as a butler for a loli ojou-sama voiced by Kugimiya Rie, but I'll leave it at this. Purezza is a prime example of what's wrong with the anime industry of today, replacing plot with moe pandering and excessive fan service.

Needless to say, this second season of Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu was a complete trainwreck and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone expecting a decent romance anime. And if you're in it for the ecchi, there are also better picks than this one. Thusly, we're left with a series that is simply bad and useless. With competent writing, this story could've been told well within 12 episodes, instead of dragging on for 24+, considering that the manga isn't even finished and that a third season is hinted at after the horrible ending.

The only purity found in this anime lies in its complete and utter shittiness. Do not watch. read more

Ok, I'm aware that this series has both a manga and a light novel series, but i've not seen any of them. However, I've watched S1 of this series. And I've seen a few reviews written about this series in MAL too, and most say this seires is not that good. I disagree, my reasons are below...

[Specialty-Harem and Slow Romance]
[Weakness- some unconnected episodes and unexplained stuff]

Story:6
To be honest it's a bit disappointing. Cause there were quite a lot of scenes loaded with some form of fanservice, or at least were short on details. I infer that a lot of content from the light novel has been cut out.

Those who watch this after S1 may feel a bit dismal at the quality of the storyline. Reason being: the main focus of Haruka being an otaku is gone, cos she no longer has to keep it a secret, and the original plot you can't really see it in S2. S2 is more of the romance build-up between Haruka and Yuuto (slow type, like Yume de Aetara manga), some unconnected episodes featuring new girls who fall in love with Yuuto, and some events here and there.

I really like the unconnected harem episodes where Haruka disappears and the episodes where Yuuto and Haruka "bond together", cause there were often many emotional scenes. That's why although the S2 isn't as exciting as the first, it is still of a fairly high quality in storyline and progression.

The ending was similar to S1, and still a lot of harem relationships were still not resolved and unexplained (That's why I said they are unconnected).

Art:8
Fairly hgih quality, a few great special effects, but not much change of art quality. Same to S1.

Sound:8
It may be a mistake, but I actually felt that S2 is better than S1 in terms of the bgms. They were well-placed and well-cut-off and as usual, the voice acting is good, some parts having excellent voice acting. And the bgms really raised the mood for most of the scenes, especially the emotional ones.

Character:6
This is quite sad. A lot of characters show up but play almost no part in any of the episodes, for example the rest of the maid team that did not show up in S1. Then a lot of side characters may disappear for 3 or more eps then come back again. And the new girls who fall in love with Yuuto (Yes, the harem is realistic) may feature in only 1 or 2 full episodes then disappear again.

1 major flaw could be that Haruka isn't really an otaku or a very well-known girl in this season. Most of the times I have an impression that she is just a normal girl who likes 1 show, the Lacrosse High School Club or sth. So, S2 is really not as exciting as S1 as 2 unique points of the main female character had been more or less abandoned.

And 1 problem with Yuuto is he's really really super dense. It 'wows' me at times. And he's also super super kind at the "right" times. A little too perfect of a gentleman...

Enjoyment:6-8
Really can't decide. At the end of S2 I feel quite empty. Cause a lot of things were unexplained and unresolved. So many things that I wonder if S2 is following the main novel. Some potential passed on from S1 were still undeveloped in S2. Really sad...

But to be honest I liked S2, some eps were very touching, and at other times inspirational. I enjoyed the very realistic setting of the romance featured between 2 reserved people, and could really feel the love between the 2.
Aww read more