Ranked #2662

Ladies versus Butlers!

Many criticize the harem genre of anime for its overly formulaic approach and execution. And Ladies vs. Butlers will probably not change the opinions of these critics, since practically every convention common in harem anime is crammed into this show.

The premise behind Ladies vs. Butlers is simple yet predictable. The main character, Hino Akiharu, attends a school for upper-class ladies that is also dedicated to instructing maids and butlers how to function in high-class society. The story basically details Hino interacting with the various girls at the school and the various ecchi situations he gets himself into. The majority of this series is episodic and, in all honesty, serves nothing more than to introduce the female characters and to show ecchi scenes.

Ladies vs. Butlers includes almost every female archetype found in the harem genre: a tsundere, a childhood friend, a (reverse) trap, lolis, clumsy girls, foreign girls, etc. The harem lead, Akiharu, is also a fairly generic character. While he doesn’t fit the “total loser” persona as many other harem leads do, there is nothing really noteworthy about him. Also, there is hardly any significant character development, but that is to be expected of an anime of this type.

The art is decent and very reminiscent of one of XEBEC’s earlier productions, Kanokon. And while some of the character designs may be slightly off-putting (for example, there is a 19-year-old girl who looks like an elementary school student), this will not detract from overall enjoyment of the anime.

The opening and ending songs are appropriate for this kind of anime but nothing all that memorable, and the voice-acting suited each character’s personality well. The background music is virtually nonexistent, though you will probably be too fixated on all the bouncing breasts, panty shots, and nudity present in this anime to even notice.

While Ladies vs. Butlers does not fail in one particular aspect, its main issue is that it does nothing to stand out from the countless other harem anime out there. It doesn’t deviate from the harem formula at all, and as a result, this anime most likely will not appeal to anyone looking for anything more than fanservice and comedy. However, if you are a diehard harem or ecchi fan, you should give Ladies vs. Butlers a try.

Overall, this was a decent ecchi/harem anime, albeit nothing exceptional or ground-breaking. read more

I'm just gonna get the obvious stuff out of the way first. Ladies versus Butlers is an ecchi harem comedy that does little to break the chain of "we don't need a story as long there are boobies" shows that we see in shows of this genre. Almost all the characters fall perfectly within some set archetype, and don't really see anything in the way of character development. Also, this show has more of these archetypes than I think I've ever seen in one place, as well all the gags you'd expect in this genre.

Despite this, I still enjoyed this series quite a bit , for two main reasons. The main character, and fact that the non-ecchi related jokes were actually funny.

Story: Didn't really expect anything from the story to begin with, didn't really get anything. The show basically just follows him around as he lives at this school with all these girls. No real plot. He's just sorta there with all these girls, and.... yeah.

Art: The show does look nice, which is definitely a plus. It's not incredibly unique in terms of style, but it's not bad to look at either. It gets the job done for this series just fine. A show based on fanservice should be something fans would want to look at, no?

Sound: Not really anything notable about the sound. The OP was kinda catchy, but that's about it. It wasn't bad, but it never really stuck out during the series.

Character: The show has more character archetypes crammed into it than I've ever seen in any place before, and nobody really develops beyond these roles. However, I was pleasantly surprised by Akuharu. While he's no brilliant character himself, I'd definitely choose him over most of the other male leads you see in ecchi harem. Him not being a spineless loser without any backbone or opinion of any kind was nice change from the usual, and his appearance (red eyes, scar on his eyebrow, and not small/wimpy) felt like someone actually gave it a bit of thought rather than just taking the concept art from another ecchi harem and doing just enough edits to make him not a blatant clone. For the first time, I actually CARED about the male lead. While there's still lots of work to be done in terms of characters, L x B was at least a step in the right direction.

Enjoyment: While there was more than enough fanservice for those who came here looking for it, the show was quite amusing with its more worksafe bits humor(the principal and ninja maid in particular). It was enough to keep me watching the entire way through, although I really would have liked to see more of it in place of the "I tripped and grabbed a boob" gag or the ever present "Some random situation has forced us into a sexually awkward position" bit.

Overall: Ladies versus Butlers is by no means a greatanime, but it definitely preferrable to most of the shows in this genre. Akuharu hinted at something in the way of effort in his design, the art looks very nice, and there's enough not fanservice related humor to actually, well , make someone not as into that as others find some enjoyment out of this, however small that may be. read more