Ranked #2302

Princess Lover!

When asked about the nature of a harem anime, most anime fans think: average guy, surrounded by 3 or more seemingly unattainable girls, in an unusual setting chuck full of breast-grabbing and panty-flashing. Does Princess Lover fall into this abysmal group? Yes, however it had the potential to achieve a lot more than what most harems fail to achieve.

That potential was shown in its characters however that same potential was foolishly squandered with its mediocre story. The story itself is typical, yet intriguing enough to keep most viewers interested. It’s about your average teenage boy named Teppei, living an average life, with his average family... Then shit happens and our protagonist is later forced to live with his super rich grandpa and transfer to some absurd school for the super rich. After watching this I thought the writer must’ve taken whatever he could find from “Ye ol’ book of anime clichés” and decided that was their plot. Strangely enough, it worked surprisingly well when it came to introducing the characters to this profoundly entertaining story. The first half of the story basically sets this kind of tone for an exhilarating short series but in the end it was a wasted effort once the “real” story kicks in and boy, are you in for a ride. By ride I mean a one-way ticket to idiotsville, because only an idiot would throw away an enjoyable story for the garbage that replaced it.

With all that said, this anime didn’t entirely turn into a steaming pile of crap and that’s thanks to the interesting cast of main characters. Harem protagonists usually fall into 2 groups: the losers and the kind-hearted saviours. Yet Teppei initially doesn’t fall into either, because within his playful character is a young lad struggling to deal with his past and moral dilemmas. Not to forget the 4 leading heroines, who were rather well developed, some more than others and 2 of which who seemed similar in design and personality to 2 more well-known characters from other series. Whether that was intentional or not is unknown to me but they happened to be the most interesting of the 4 heroines. However apart from Teppei’s grandpa, the supporting cast turned out to be far weaker than the loosely put together story and if a couple of them were killed off, the story could have done a whole lot better.

The production values are somewhat difficult to delve into since a fairly unknown studio (GoHands) took on this series. The music was just about as memorable as every breath I take and the sound productions overall really isn’t any good. Yet the art style and animation has a unique vibrancy to it, giving a colourful experience that’s pleasing to the eyes. However the jarring simulated camera panning/rotation and the out of proportion bust sizes really brought it down for me.

Overall Princess Lover is a series that I hoped would break the chain of generic harem that seem to appear year after year, yet all it did was add unto the already tarnished reputation of the harem genre. Some of the blame falls onto the villains, who were the worst villains ever constructed but I blame the real villain… the idiot who thought of this crap. Well if you don’t mind all that I’ve said then watch at your own discretion; however I feel it’s more worthwhile to sit wait for the next Key & KyoAni collaboration.
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Of course this is series is still ongoing so I'll be giving my current impressions of the Anime.
Initially I was skeptical about watching this since it seemed like just another harem Anime thrown at us. But so far I find it quiet enjoyable.

. Pros
+ Not your typical generic harem
+ Has a mature feel to it
+ Nice balance between comedy and drama
+ Unique setting, harem in a rich setting
+ Pleasing visuals which matches the theme and setting
+ Ecchi not over the top ( well most of it is censored anyways )
+ Comedy level is just right
+ Potential to get serious in the latter of the series
+ Characters have depth to them
+ Big boobs

. Cons
- Censored ( it can be good too, fanservice can be distracting ).
- Girls a bit cliched ( but the series makes them feel refreshing )
- Will it be able to wrap up nicely given it's only 12 episodes total?

. In Detail :
So far it doesn't seem to be your typical generic harem Anime. I haven't watched an extensive amount of harems. But I found the rich harem theme of this Anime unique. The main character is rich and so are the rest of the girls. While harems are typically comedic this one has a serious tone right off the bat. Of course that doesn't mean this Anime doesn't have comedy ( it is labeled ecchi, though it's currently censored ), it does. I feel that this Anime so far has a nice balance of comedy and seriousness. The series so far seems to have more depth than the typical harem. It takes the characters and plot in a mature way while being able to entertain us at the same time. Something that definitely stood out to be was the visuals which I found very pleasing to the eyes. It fits the theme of the Anime well which I believe greatly enhances the entire experience. While the characters may be fairly cliched ( girl with sword,tsundere, etc ), the way the series currently presents them makes the experience more refreshing. There's not so much to say bad about the Anime, it only just started and I didn't start watching with very high expectations. But so far I'm surprised by how well I enjoy it so far. It seems that it well get more serious in the latter of the series. I'll continue watching. read more