Ranked #1246

Shuffle!

Shuffle! is a classic Supernatural, Harem, Romance, Comedy, Drama that feels fairly average to begin with but it’s full of surprises as you go on. My overall score may be somewhat biased but this show is just truly amazing. ^_^

The story is just your basic harem anime as it follows a male protagonist (Rin Tsuchimi) an average high school boy who lives with his childhood friend Kaede (girl). Of course to make this a harem there are more girls included into the mix (5 in total) and not to forget the all important supernatural element to the show, by adding gods and demons to the plot. As the series begins it is your typical Rom/Com with plenty of cute and hilarious moments and heaps of casual fanservice. It is until halfway into the series that the drama kicks in, bringing forth a great deal of heartfelt moments, which will get most viewers all teary eyed and plenty of character developments.

The characters themselves are compelling and fun to watch as they all have something unique about them, including the guys. It’s true that the set-up for the girls is pretty clichéd (childhood friend, eccentric, tsundere, shy girl, loli) but they all bring something special to the story. What’s more amazing is that the male protagonist also brings a great deal to the story, including deep-rooted jealously that all us guys feel whilst watching the series.

The animation quality for Shuffle! was somewhat unique, with its own style and having subtle differences with similar anime. This allows the animation aspect of the show to excel amongst others; with amazing environments, well animated character expressions/emotions and most importantly the superb character designs. One thing I noticed is how most of the characters wear around 5-10 different outfits throughout the series, which is rarely seen in your average harem. It would be perfect but there were instances when the quality of the animation degraded.

On another note the music for the series was great and went well with the mood of the situations (comedy & drama), nevertheless it became somewhat repetitive. At least there were some really good insert songs.

Overall Shuffle! is the epitome of what a harem romance anime should be; one guy + cute girls = a variety of romantic outcomes. The best thing about the show would have to be the characters because they are all developed incredibly well and their actions aren’t always questionable, seeing how it suits their personality. And because the male protagonist isn’t a worthless guy, there are numerous romances and a number of possibilities. The series managed to end well without relying on too many clichés. So in the end this is a classic series that most romance anime fans would enjoy.

^_^ read more

Demons, Gods & Humans. Five beautiful Girls & One Guy. The story of 6 lives, filled with jealousy & hope as well as with hope & joy.

At first I was hesitating to watch this series but it provided a lot of fun for me. The story didn't become boring either due to the fact that you get to know more and more of everyone's personality, character and history.

:: Story ::
When I read about this series and noticed that Gods and Demons play a roll in such a rather typical human environment like school life, I was doubting if I would enjoy watching it. But I did. And that's because the story line is not just a straight line from the beginning to the end. There were moments I was surprised about, moments I laughed my butt off, and moments I couldn't really believe what I saw and heard. If you aren't too biased about the scheme you will enjoy the story, I'm sure. It's simply not an action packed anime. Rather a calm and funny one. Yet, you might find yourself surprised sometimes - just like I did.
~8 out of 10~

:: Animation ::
It's simply beautiful. The Characters, the environment, little details like water and leaves look great as well. Very nice art.
~9 out of 10~

:: Sound ::
Haha~. Certain Character's ways of speaking still put a smile on my face. There's not much to say about sound - I didn't have the impression that there was anything that sounded not like it's supposed to.
~8 out of 10~

:: Character ::
Each Character is different. They are all beautiful and have their ups and downs.
~9 out of 10~

:: Enjoyment ::
I would have dropped it if I didn't enjoy it. But instead, I enjoyed every single episode and was always looking forward to watching the next one. This anime will get a special place in my collection - but maybe that's just because I'm into these kind of shows.
~9 out of 10~

:: Overall ::
As I said, this anime is special to me. I'm really glad I decided to watch it and will surely check out the 'sequel' -"Shuffle! Memories"- as well.
~9 out of 10~

*I know it's a rather short review, but it's also my first one so bear with me. I'll do my best to write better ones in the future.* read more

Originality in harem anime is an oxymoron. It simply doesn't exist anymore nor will it ever exist again. Shuffle! is the same, but despite all odds, it manages to put a few chinks in the chain of mediocrity with some suprirsing twists.

Unfortunately for potential viewers, Shuffle's raison d'etre won't make it's presence known until a little more than halfway into the series. Until then, enjoy a plauge of mindless expositional filler, all for the sake of seeing under every girl's skirt. Yes, even the loli's. This curse comes with a gift though in that the series progresses with an ambiguous nature toward who our hapless harem hero will eventually end up with. Then, when the twists kick in the series manages to redeem the crap it's put you through up to then. That is, unless you're already fed up with it. In which case, it won't matter much.

This relatively bland narrative is naturally helmed by a gaggle of too-good-to-be-true jailbait. While some of the girls are somewhat interesting (especially when you know everything about them), they are for the most part harem stereotypes.

The animation is nothing spectacular. Being standard harem fare, it's only right the animation be mediocre as well. It's rough and choppy in places where a lot of action occurs, which tends to make some of the best scenes rather ugly. My biggest concerns though are the backgrounds. They look like standard H-game background frames. No attempt at being anything other than mediocre here.

The sound is pretty lackluster as well, like it took about an hour and a half to compose and it was all recorded through a synthesizer.

It's definitely not a must-see but there were definitely points that made me feel like what I was watching wasn't an entire waste of my time. Since Shuffle!, all generic harems are following its lead and attempting some dark twists to make them more interesting. If you're in it for the dark twists, it's worth a look. But if you're in it for panty shots, you're more likely to come out a little happier than others.

Overall, I give Shuffle! a 6 out of 10. read more

Alright, I'm going to try to hit all of the bases with this review because Shuffle! has a wide range of mixed views and I can see everyone's point on why they did or didn't like it.

Plot: Me being a Fantasy lover, I did enjoy the plot. In Shuffle!, there are two worlds that parallel the human world, the world of the Gods and the world of the Demons. Each ruled by a king, who are actually best friends and each one has a daughter that at one point in their lives, comes to the human word and falls for a guy named Rin (pronounced R-EE-N). Both of these girls wish to marry him. With this being a harem anime, there are also many other love interests involved such as the girl Rin lives with and one of his best friends he's known for a long time. They all go to the same high school and they are friends, but each one has individual secrets that are revealed throughout the series.
Since I am not a fan of girls throwing themselves at a guy, but I love the idea of the different worlds, so I gave the plot an 8.

Art: I rated the artwork a 10, because it was original and the characters didn't look anything alike so unlike other anime, it was difficult to get them confused. The art was a ten for me, but the high amounts of fan service was ridiculous and ruined some of the anime for me, but not enough to stop watching it, because the anime itself was original and I wanted to finish it without regrets.

Sound: I have to admit that the opening and ending songs got stuck in my head, so I gave the sound a 10.

Character: This is where many people found that Shuffle! failed many viewers. (I'm trying my best not to include spoilers) Rin himself is surrounded by beautiful girls and each one goes on individual dates with him at one point or another, and yet he never tells any of the girls his feelings. It frustrates many that he is willing to lead girls on with no emotion whatsoever. I myself found it frustrating.

Some of the characters later in the show develop glitches in their personalities that ruins the individuality that I can to love at the beginning of the show. The sweet character turns a complete 180 and turns into an aggressive crazy chick, which I can only compare to School Days (I really didn't like that anime btw). One of the characters that I enjoyed because of her independence turns not only clingy, but slutty as well.
The other characters kept to the personalities that they originally started with. Because of my love for the characters toward the beginning of the show, but the unfortunate let down towards the end, I'd have to give the characters a 6.

Enjoyment and Overall: My love for certain characters throughout the entire series is what kept me going, and I still have to say that it wasn't TERRIBLE, but it doesn't make my top 10 when it comes to characters and outcome. Certain aspects of this show will stay with me and I might even watch the first episode every once in a while or listen to one of the songs now and again.
To summarize it to just a number: 6.5 (rounded up to seven)

I hope you enjoyed my review, thanks for reading!
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This is going to be the shortest review I ever write, because Shuffle! is a piece of crap that doesn't deserve even 50 words describing it. It starts out as a harem comedy, and is mildly entertaining until about the half way point, whereby it has already trapped you in its mediocrity and you are now a victim to find out what/who the (very terrible) main character eventually chooses out of all the girls.

Once you make it past the halfway point the show devolves into a burning trainwreck that will eventually leave you with an aneurysm. The majority of the cast eventually disappears from relevance about 3/4 of the way through. What was once a light hearted harem romp is now a ridiculous anime soap opera drama. The main character is terrible, indecisive, and enjoys ruining other peoples lives. Many stereotypical harem leads at least do SOMETHING for the girls in the harem - make their lives a little better, somehow. Rin does nothing. It is frustrating to watch him. The only lead I can consider worse than this guy is that retard off School Days or the guy off Ichigo 100%. Protip: Don't watch those shows either.

The girls are just as frustrating. Their motivations for liking the guy are pretty bland and basic - one of them has a more solid reason that is touched on towards the end of the show. But the girls are unbelievable. They get rejected and cling until the end of the show. All their worries and development is washed away by the finale. They each love the main character because he is 'kind' although to the viewer he is very obviously a dickhead.

Do you enjoy ecchi? I guess you might enjoy Shuffle. The sluttiness in this show is laser guided. Whether it's an alternate personality, little sister character with see-through top or crazy ass yandere that just wants to FUCK, there's a different girl for every taste. There are better harems out there though. Like if it has "harem" listed as a genre it is probably a better show.

The two top most reviews for this piece of crap are 9s. NINES. Like this review, send it to the top. Think of how bad you felt watching this anime and protect the innocents who haven't been suckered in to watching it yet. We are doing God's work here people.

Yea, I'm done. Fuck you, Shuffle! read more

I can't begin to explain how much disliked this anime. I guess It's your typical passive male character (who is beyond daft) surrounded by senseless females that throw themselves at him for ridiculous (and quite unimportant) reasons. It drove me nuts.

I kept watching this anime because my friend insisted 'it gets better!'. I watched until the end ... and lets just say that the ending pretty much just spirals down into the most outrageous and pathetic ending i've ever seen.

The good:
- Primula is an adorable character
- The character design was pretty and the animation good.

I'm sorry there's nothing else good about this anime.

The bad:
- The main character is by far the worst part of this anime. If this is the kind of guy girls want... or the kind of guy other guys aspire to be... there is no hope for the human race. How hard is it to say 'hey! i'm not interested'... but nooo hes like 'i dont know how to express myself to i'm going to just let everyone believe i love them so we can be one happy family.'
-The ending (i cant go into detail because of the no spoilers.. but the last couple of episodes were painful to watch... it was like 'bad, bad, bad, happy ending (wait wut, how can this have a happy ending?')
- The girls... they just won't get a clue... I mean seriously. 'i will go on loving you with the hope you'll love me someday...' @_@
- Kaede is also painful to watch... I guess some guys like their girls passive and easy to walk all over but it's not my cup of tea.
- Suicide attempt scene. I will say no more.
- ok with the gods and demons thing... but the sudden surprise about magic girl? it just came out of the blue and seemed to be thrown in there at the last minute to be able to give this anime an ending (and thank god it ended.)


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To start off, I must start by saying that if you are having second thoughts about Shuffle; give it a try. At first, I didn't really want to watch it either. What I loved about this anime is that in the end main character Rin Tsuchimi needs to decide who he wants to spend the rest of his life with. I admire how they dont just end the anime with all of Rin's lovers deciding that they are all going to love him together like in the ending of To Love Ru, Asobi ni Iku Yo!, etc... I tend to dislike the animes that just give up and say, "Hey, let's just make all the girls fall in love with this one guy." Shuffle is different, as I said earlier our main character, Rin, needs to make one of the biggest decisions of his life.

Plot: Shuffle is definetly one of those animes that you can easily predict what will happen next. I found myself scene after scene saying to myself... "OMG SHIT'S GOING DOWN NOW!!! __________ is guna happen next and 9 times out of 10. It happened, However Shuffle makes up for this with it's very amazing character development

Characters: Some of the characters such as Shigure, Asa and Mayumi, Thyme completely make the anime into an amazing comedy. I won't reveal any of the scenes because I'm not into spoiling animes.

I understand this review short, (to ur standards maybe poor), and doesn't really go into depth, but to tell you the truth if you looked at my review and said to yourself, "You know what, maybe I will watch this anime and have myself a good laugh and see who Rin chooses in the end."

My goal for this review is to get the reader to make a second decision. If you are thinking about skipping this anime I strongly recommend that you reconsider. Shuffle is full of classic comedy, and i can promise you that you will find it enjoyable. My main inspiration of writing this review is after seeing yet another anime where the main male character falls in love with every single female character that he meets in the harem. To me, that's just like a middle finger to us viewers. Now don't get me wrong, those types of animes are still very enjoyable. However, after a while they do get repetitive and Shuffle is a nice change of pace. I can guarantee that you will like what Shuffle has to offer.

Thanks for reading my review, it's literally my 3rd review and I don't really have much experience. But as long as my short review got some sort of reaction in you then that's what I was aiming for.

Now do us all a favor:
1. Open a nice can of Mountain Dew
2. Turn on your laptop (or if you have a ps3 or Xbox (Netflix) )
3. Watch Shuffle for at least 6 episodes
4. You will definetly get hooked
5. Get another freaking mountain dew
6. Finish Shuffle XD read more

I just had to write a review on how disappointment I was in the time i wasted on Shuffle!

Story - 1

Some out there (like the small amount of posts on the forum) seem to have liked the story.. But seriously it is so full of plot holes and terrible planning I can't begin to explain. Some of you have actually seen this may see this as a total hate, but honestly it isn't. The beginning episodes got me into the show - and I really only stayed for the humor and the princesses (I liked there personalities - they were a little too overcharged emotionally but they had nice differences). Sadly the humor completely dies off - no real reason (The hilarious fan clubs just stop..).

The story arcs are sadly very underused. There was honestly so much potential that could have been utilized in the story... instead it's all wasted on stupid emotional charges and of course the large amount of echii (I'd be lieing if I said I hated Echii -_^). I could go on and on.. but seriously it's not worth the time waste.. there are so many plot holes where characters disappear as if they died and later resurrect, and without spoiling anything, IT JUST MAKES NO FREAKING SENSE!.

Art- It was pretty well done, it never bothered me.

Sound - The music was so-so, it helped at some parts that were too overcharged with fake emotion.

Character- The main character is awful, he is just the single worst Anime character I have ever come across. He has literally no personality, they make you believe he might gain some, but never does, instead to me he is a total jerk. If you somehow decide to watch this - you will quickly realize that. That said, it managed to gain a 5 because the girl characters all had fairly different personalities. While a certain someone is my least liked of the girls - ahh s - it was still not too bad. The princesses are appealing in the sense of who they actually are - not the pathetically crafted love for Rin.

Primula (what a terrible name) is easily one of the most adorable/lovable anime characters I have run across... it's just something about her that would make one want to do anything to protect her. She is honestly the only TRULY bright light of wasting time on Shuffle!

Enjoyment - First 10 eps or so were pretty enjoyable for the comedy.. which is sadly what got me to continue watching hoping it would return in full force.. It's obvious my stance. The rest of the eps become so pathetically overcharged with fake emotions, story lines and ridiculous drama, so ridiculous I view it as a really lame joke.

Overall - 1. I understand a 1 really isn't all that fair, I truly do. However the amount of plot holes, missing dialogues, fake emotions, ridiculous drama, terrible main character and numerous other flaws have led me to hate this so much as to be the worst Anime I've ever watched. Given my rage is a little reflected from wanting it to be good - I guess thats a redeeming quality. However I don't play into the "Oh for being based off a H-Game its pretty good" is just weak. Honestly I just hope I save at least one person from wasting time on this. Please do not understand my review as being subjective - Unless you're really itching for some heavy Echii (Yes, Nudity and explicit shots are aplenty - pointless even) then move on... just move on. read more

10 years ago, the realm between the Gods, Demons & the human world was irreversibly opened, giving an excuse to add the supernatural/magic to Shuffle!; the humans, demons & Gods inevitably come together as a lot of the demons & Gods migrate freely into the human world, changing the Shuffle! world forever.

You may be off-set by hearing the general overview of the series, but demons/gods & magic don't play as big a role as one might think by simply seeing a review. In fact, there are only 2 serious/emotionally-driven scenes where they use magic in this series and neither are against any adversary/foe and both are in the more-to-the point second season.

Shuffle is probably one of the better harem anime. The first season has a lot of comic relief whereas the second is much more serious comparatively, though both have their pros and cons. The first season is more about character connections than it is the main plot which, you'll find, is very necessary when watching Shuffle!

As stated, the second season is much more emotional and in depth story-wise than the first with one of the more emotional arcs (12-15) coming at the beginning of the second season. Basically, the first season is much more involved with character development and the second with story.


The animation quality was excellent. On the more unique side of things, the character design/clothing for each main character changes a lot throughout the series and you can't grasp any character in one outfit for long, further adding to the variety of the overall series. For those who prefer to watch the dub, don't hesitate as Shuffle! is one of the better English dubbed anime and each of the characters voices fit nicely.

I enjoyed the series a lot more than I thought I would by initially seeing reviews of it and I expect anyone who watches it with an open mind to do the same, though I can see if it really isn't your style. In short, my Shuffle! experience was great and I wouldn't change that much. The fan-service doesn't interfere with the main plot, though there are a few ecchi situations.

Overall rating of the series: 9/10. Exceeded expectations. read more

Shuffle
"The story of an ugly man surrounded by a group of women who all want a piece of him!"

Storyline:

This is a world where demons and humans get along just fine. So fine that they live together and what not all peacefully! A teenage boy named Rin gets extremely lucky one day. He becomes the main character of a freaking harem Anime! To begin, he lives with his childhood friend Kaede, but his new neighbors are totally in love with him too. He has many admirers: the daughter of the Gods, Sia, and the daughter of the demons, Nerine, are both deeply in love with Rin after having met him the past. Along with his friendship with older woman Asa and his encounter with the silent but cute Primula, Rin has much on his hands dealing with the affections of all of these insane girls who love him way too much.



Reactions:

Well personally I thought that this Anime was so-so. Seeing as it is based on a triple X wtf eroge game, I kind of figured it was about one guy and a lot of women surrounded by him. To begin, the guy was kind of ugly and his personality was meh. If I was a woman I would personally go for another guy, but of course as you can see...they all love Rin. Each of the girls has a different type of personality from childhood friend to hyper-active upperclassmen...etc. Which kind of makes it fun, but then again most of the time they are all catering to this lame, pathetic excuse for a man Rin. JUST FREAKING DITCH THIS MAN ALREADY PEOPLE. He sucks.

This plot totally makes no sense. It seems rather dry because all that the character do is...CATER TO THIS MAIN CHARACTER. I'm sure they catered this to the average man who would want girls on their hand and foot like that. The whole Anime feels rather fake. Maybe they should make these girls more 'realistic' ya know?

Rin only ends up with one person in the end of course. But who? Well I am going to have to make you watch the crappy drama and what not to find out. Too bad, I can't spoil the Anime for you.

Overall, this Anime is like some kind of funky Japanese Soap Opera. It has its ups-and-downs. Watch at your own risk. I was about to drop it myself, but I was just curious as to who the jerk would end up with!

However, if you do not want to watch it because I would never, ever want to watch it again...look it up online.

I recommend this Anime for guys more than girls in the end. It is more of a guy anime than a girl anime.


Happy Anime Hunting!~ The above review is my opinion and it may not be the same as yours. I respect other people's opinions because one person's vision of an Anime can be totally different from another vision. People perceive things in different ways. read more

The show starts as usual with introduction of the female candidates from Rins point of view, Rin is the narrator giving their opinion on the characters and development along the way. At the start there will be plenty of ecchi and school comedy like any other Harem but Shuffle! is much more then that, soon more girls are introduced and a couple episodes later the dark pasts start to be uncovered and, as we learn more about the girls the show changes into a more dramatic development, not everything is happy and Rin always being kind and helpful tries to help everyone solve their problems and make them happy.
The indecision last for most of the show as usual but the episodes are used to give the viewer a deep understanding of each girl, their personality and traits are fully explored and explained.
The character development is long but well constructed and even Rin develops so expect changes and a decision towards the end. Both the comedy and ecchi scenes are very good separating right away Shuffle! from your standard harem, the beauty of this show lies in the development and the strong emotional load although, the characters are interesting and as mentioned, the development is very good, the change into a dramatic plot, featuring dark pasts and some of the stronger sad moments I ever watched is a fresh breeze in this genre. Its also easy to fall in love with the charismatic characters.
The girls and the clothing are expertly drawn, all beautiful, fit perfectly composing a cheerful environment.
The soundtrack is another plus, the music accompanies and leads the situations portrayed not only as a complement but defining the scenes and taking them to another level. The opening and ending is of the best I have seen and blends right in.


As a side note Shuffle! was based from an hentai game, a non hentai version was also launched for ps2.
This is the king of the Harem style, technically superb and featuring interesting characters and plot Shuffle! defines its own style carrying great scenes in several genres: romantic, ecchi, comedy and drama, the character development is good and everything together makes it stand out from the crowd and shining on his own merit. If you like strong dramatic scenes this show will specially interest you, features some of the best I ever seen.
It immediately became one of my personal favorites of all time, I never dreamed a ecchi comedy could ever reach such high quality overall and Im afraid my words alone aren't enough to display its beauty.
The only negative aspect I can possibly squeeze is the first half of the show which episodes are only "normal" ecchi harem style and may discourage the viewers to continue watching.
The ending also feels a little light but that's just because its right after some really heavy dramatic scenes and you pretty much know who he ends up with a couple episodes before, so despite being a good end pales a bit next to the episodes right before it.

I personally am a sucker for tragedy so I might overrate it a bit but it was so unexpected that hit me that hard. Must watch if your into drama or like me eager for an ecchi harem with deeper content.
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This is a review for the first volume (disc) of Shuffle! It was so bad that I just had to say something about it, so here it is. :P there are spoilers BUT you will be warned before i get to them

- Story -

This anime is about a regular Japanese high school boy who lives with a girl who is his childhood friend in his house. I'm not even going to mention their names because that is how forgettable they are...

She makes food for him every day and has been doing this since they were kids it seems. The twist to this show is that Heaven and Hell have connected to our mortal realm in the middle, and now people from heaven and hell are immigrating to our dimension. The only visual aspect of these other-worldly beings is their ears (they don’t have clichés like horns or wings). People from Heaven have pointy ears that point up, and people from Hell have longer pointy ears that hang down. Surprisingly the people from heaven don’t act like goody-goodies and the people from hell don’t act evil, they all act like any normal human. They do have magic powers, but this is only shown once in disc 1. The theme of this whole Heaven-and-Hell thing is barely involved in the first episodes, and becomes quickly irrelevant. I do not know if it’s supposed to be subtle or if this is just a lazy move, but it’s leaves me wondering why they even bothered to put it in the plot in the first place if the creators won’t even use this plot device. You won't even get to see what Heaven or Hell looks like (at least for the first 4 episodes), nor will you see anything super-natural except for pointy ears and 1 magical attack (at least for the first 4 episodes).

The main ''protagonist'' boy gets two new neighbors: God and Lucifer. God and Lucifer act like normal people and are even good friends. They both have an only-child-daughter. The daughter of God and the daughter of Lucifer have encountered the main character boy on one occasion when they were all very little. The guy was kind to them one time, and they’ve both had a crush on him ever since. Now God and Lucifer are offering the guy their daughters to marry him so that he may become the next king of either Hell or Heaven, and so he is stuck with this choice of which girl he wants to be with. There is also a very little girl who has come to Earth from Hell. This little girl named Prim has heard all about how nice the guy was (one time) to Lucifer’s daughter, so she likes him too. However, he completely ignores this huge choice he has to make, and decides to try to live his life normally. He gets annoyed when anything interferes with his normal life. He's kind of a jerk.

The guy doesn’t seem all that interested in girls. He’s got something like 5 girls who want him but he doesn’t care at all. He has no interest in girls. I swear something is wrong with him. His super-perverted friend is envious of his position.

There are a lot of things that bother me about this anime… One thing that bothers me about Shuffle! is that the main character guy is portrayed by the director as a ‘nice guy’, but he expects the girl he lives with to cook for him everyday and a whole bunch of other stuff, and she obeys. If she doesn’t do a good job then she feels guilty and he is disappointed. At one point he thinks to himself something along the lines of, “I feel kind of bad not helping her out with the housework and cooking…,” but instead he decides to continue sitting on the couch (literally). That is the only single moment he even considers helping her out with stuff. I think she even cleans his whole freakin house.

I have no idea why these girls like this guy besides him being nice to them 1 time years ago, and the fact that he looks like every average anime boy. He has no skills, no hobbies, no interesting past, no talents; he's just a guy. That's the only way I can describe him; just a guy. Perhaps he has no traits because the creators of the show wanted a blank slate that male viewers can use to feel ''in-the-show'', but the reason why the girls want him still eludes me....

Whoever made this show has a twisted perspective of the world, and thinks that what defines a ''nice guy'' is a guy who looks average, acts average, has no brains, expects women to do his bidding and [SPOILERS] is allowed to punch his best friend in the gut with all his might (really happens in first episode).

[SPOILERS] Let me elaborate on that ''punching'' thing. The guy and girl are walking to school. The guy opens the door to the classroom and his best friend jumps out and embraces the guy, thinking he is the girl as he shouts her name. The guy then punches his best friend in the gut with a great amount of force as a shock-wave can be heard and seen votrexing out from his best friend's back. This is portrayed as a comic relief, but I wasn't laughing... Anyways...

Since this guy has so many girls wanting him, there are armies of perverted creeps who are jealous of him. I’m not exaggerating, there are literally hundreds of perverted guys who stalk him and try to abduct him and/or kill him in mob-formation, and they insult him every chance they get. They come out to ambush him at his school and in the streets, and chase him. They are in stereotypical ‘manly’ groups like jocks or delinquents, etc. They are in every episode I’ve seen and they freak me out. They also stalk the girls once in a while, peeking up the skirt of Lucifer’s daughter at one point. This makes me sick. They are drawn with ugly faces and creepy expressions.

The girls don’t seem to mind the competition of one-another, as if this guy is soooo great that he is worth the self-esteem they have to put aside for him. [SPOILER YOU SHOULD READ] One episode is about a picnic that the group is planning. The girls all want to cook a meal to impress the guy. However, the daughter of the Devil doesn’t know how to cook and is feeling worthless. The guy tries to reassure her, but instead of saying something encouraging like “Don’t worry, it’s the thought that counts,” or, “I don’t need a fancy meal or material objects to know that you care about me,” instead he says something along the lines of, “I’m sure you’ll make a great meal for me.” He says this with a smile. I was like, wtf? What an ass. And so they have their picnic and he expects to eat all the girls’ food that they made for him.

One of the only things I liked about this show was [SPOILERS] the comic relief that the daughter of God brings to the show. Whenever God says embarrassing things about his daughter, she somehow appears behind him with the nearest heavy/sharp object and hits him over the head with it, knocking him out. She then drags him home. I thought this was hilarious.


- Art Style -

The characters’ faces are drawn in a subtlety unique style that I have not seen before. For example, the girls in Air TV and Kanon have an identical style to how their faces are drawn, but I have not seen the faces of Shuffle! anywhere else.

The animation is average, meaning it’s not so great that I noticed it, but it’s not so bad that I noticed it either. It’s meh. Nothing to note here in animation quality, background paintings or graphic quality.


- Final Score -

This anime is extremely shallow, the girls are dumb and the main character guy is a free-loading jerk. He doesn’t do anything to make him a jerk, but it’s what he Doesn’t do: he doesn’t care about the girls almost at all; he doesn’t feel guilt for not helping the girls with things like housework or food preparation or hurting their feelings; and he doesn’t show any sincere compassion or deep thoughts (this guy’s head is totally empty). The story is just about a bunch of girls wanting some guy who was nice to them on 1 occasion, years prior. The whole Heaven and Hell thing barely exists in the story in the beginning, and is completely unimportant after a few episodes. If you want to see hot anime chicks then by all means watch it, but that’s all this anime is: hot anime chicks, nothing more or less. [Shuffle! in a nutshell: a bunch of girls like some guy and he doesn’t care, and they don't care that he doesn't care.]

Worst of all (and the thing that horrifies me the most) is that this show takes itself seriously!

For the unique cute faces of the girls and the comic relief of God’s daughter, I can only give this anime a Horrible score of 1/10 (a generous score imo). Those are the only things keeping me from giving this 0/10.


If you're a female with self-respect, or if you're a male who respects females, I would NOT recommend this anime for you. On the contrary, I'd tell you to stay away from it. It's grotesque. It's disgusting. It's degenerate. I hate to offend fans of this show but it's hard to deny what the show is trying to impose on its audience, which is ''Women belong in the kitchen.'' If you're into that, regardless of your gender, then by all means, don't let my review dampen your spirits. It's just my (strong) opinion :P

However, if you're a female who wants to cook, clean, etc. for your man who doesn't show you any affection, or if you're a male who thinks females should cook, clean, etc. for you without any obligation, then this anime is Definitely for you.


Granted, I only reviewed episodes 1-4 so there might be things in later episodes that contradict my review, but come on, the first episodes were a hugely distasteful first impression, and 4 episodes goes beyond giving the benefit of the doubt. This show has told me what it's about and I'm dropping it. It got it's chance, and I even gave it the benefit of the doubt by going all the way to episode 4.


It's shows like Shuffle! that give anime a bad name, and allows mainstream media to politically attack otaku culture as vulgar and in poor moral taste. read more

Story: I've read the sypnosis of Shuffle and I was like "wow!". Then, first few episodes I've seen I was like " gotta be patient, it should get better soon". Exactly at the 20th episode I was like " I should have done my nails instead". The story was so shallow...... yeah shallow couldn't think of a better word to describe it.

Art: Great.. its the only thing that got me to finish the anime.

Character: This is why I had the urge to write a review. I'll start with the protagonist. Fine.. he is kind thats why everybody is going gaga 'bout him but his indecisiveness is really lame. I've seen quite a few harem type animes and this is the first one that got me really annoyed about the protagonist. There isnt really a strong force that would make you feel attached to his character. And then the girls.. I guess their characters are fine except for being martyrs.

Enjoyment: I had a fairly good laugh once in awhile.

Overall: Poor. Not a good recommendation to anybody. Well I have to move on now. read more

Story is, Rin Tsuchimi is the object of many a girl's affection. His adoring childhood friend Kaede pampers him daily; his senior Asa teases him lovingly at every turn; the princesses of the World of Gods and World of Demons, Sia and Nerine, want to be his bride and a certain deadpan loli called Primula is inexplicably attached to him. In other words, he has quite the harem on his hands. These early episodes focus on introducing the cast, the world in which they inhabit and then they get started on fleshing out each girl one-by-one come episode three. It's pretty standard harem/bishoujo game adaptation fare, but its beauty lies in the execution.

In fact, what grabbed me about Shuffle! initially was the character designs. Luckily there was far more to it than that. The show simply hits me in all the right places. I like it when things are over-the-top and celebrate what they are almost shamelessly. In the same way that Giant Robo loves being a crazy, overdone, epic adventure story, Shuffle! loves being a moe moe harem show. All the girls are adorable and well dressed, they all have cute voices, and they are ALL deredere to some extent. But beyond that, the show delivers entertainment in the form of decently done character interaction and heaping helpings of quirky humour. What will really help you get into this show is if you find a character to latch onto, since in these early episodes, each of the girls gets roughly equal amounts of screentime.

Shuffle! is not for everyone. It's a harem show, pure and simple, but one that's extremely well done and caters more towards guys with a deredere leaning. To me it's actually something of a healing show, at least in these opening episodes- watching it just feels so calming and relaxing. So basically it's like Aria for men even lonelier than the men watching Aria! At least at the moment, things will heat up. read more

Shuffle is a harem anime with a mix of Angels and Demons, that really peaks ones interests... at first.

The anime starts off innocently enough, theres the required single male character, and a plethora of female leads who all want him to be theirs. Typical Harem stuff. One of the girls is a childhood friend, one is a mutual friend of him and the childhood friend, one is the daughter of the king of the demons, one is the daughter of the king of the angels, and one is an off limits loli choice with a spoiler background.

During the first half of the series or so the show is typical in its course of harem, having funny situations with the occasional serious bit of romance going on.

Then the main character makes his choice as too which girl he likes.

The other girls don't take it so well, with one of them becoming mentally unbalanced due to his choice. The series rapidly falls from typical yet funny, to overly emotional and bad. I do like some emotion in my anime, but when the conflict between characters becomes so over the top that that actually attack one another... in a romance anime? No thank you.

Overall, it had a decent begging, but a horrible ending that killed it. If it went on as it was in the begging, I couldn't foresee anything special happening that would have pushed it up to being a stand out anime, it was forced to be one of the average rated harems for all time, but then it had to go and mess that up on itself, ending up on the bad side of things.

I'd say most of us have better things to watch. read more

Shuffle! is a generic romance harem story, featuring most of what is generally accepted to be good and unfortunately bad about its type of show. For those who have never seen a show of this genre, it's probably a good place to start to accumulate a background on the common traits of these types of shows. Besides that it's a pretty unexceptional show, and a rather poor adaptation of its related visual novel (having experienced both, I will immediately tell you the visual novel is by far superior).

Starting with whats good, this show is not particularly animated most of the time being more on the lines of slice of life (although there are a few notable exceptions). That being said it's mostly an aesthetically pleasing show with well drawn characters, and of course, it can't really hurt to have a lot of beautiful girls in the main cast can it? A few dramatic moments here and there did get some good visual emphasis as well. The voice actors (both English and Japanese) are pretty well chosen for the most part, and fans of the visual novel can at least appreciate the reuse of the same Japanese actors. Being based on an eroge, this show does present some obvious nudity, but for the most part it's not overdone, and it's usually humorous, so it generally shouldn't detract from your viewing experience much, if it even does.

The visual novel doesn't necessarily have the best plot ever, and unfortunately one of the problems with this show is trying too hard to fit too much all at once. Besides the fact that obviously Rin is only supposed to end up with one of the girls, the way Shuffle! attempts to translate all the routes into some kind of relevant single story ends up leaving our main protagonist Rin a very weak and indecisive man. This above all else is the single biggest flaw of Shuffle! the anime, a horrible main protagonist who is never willing to commit to anything, leaving many many people hanging and feeling desperate. This alone makes most of the characters (namely the girls and Rin) have seemingly shallow motivations, and is a primary reason why the visual novel is superior, since there is no indecision on Rin's part when you as the player make all the important choices.

For the most part the show generally tries to cut and paste stuff that happened from the visual novel into the show. To be fair though, a few things like Kaede's background and maybe to a lesser extent Sia's as well do get directed in a more interesting way than the visual novel presents. So for the sake of saying whether or not the anime does anything to separate itself from the visual novel, there is something to consider.

All in all Shuffle! is a fairly average show. It's mostly okay, a few good moments here and there, and unfortunately the show is held back by a lame protagonist, who as a result makes much of the plot a lot more lame than it should be. If you're still curious about learning what the romantic harem genre has to offer, this show is definitely one to consider looking into. read more

Shuffle!

Story (7/10)
Shuffle is your stereotypical harem. There's one guy and five girls and they all want to win his affections. There's really not a heck of a lot of originality put into the plot or the back-stories of any of the girls, either, but they're different enough save for two that it doesn't get repetitive. The good thing about the story is that it's straightforward -- you can really turn your brain off and stuff enjoy the ride and have the emotional thrills, laughs, and sadness. Despite being so stereotypical in its setup it manages to incorporate a good variety of emotions.

The best thing story-wise about Shuffle was unlike most harem you never know which girl the guy is going to pick until he picks her. That's one of the core things that kept me watching. I kept hoping he'd pick the girl I was rooting for. Of course I won't spoil who Rin picks in the end, but I'll just say keep watching, because you're constantly guessing at it throughout the entire show.

Art (7/10)
The art in Shuffle was nothing spectacular. It was nice, and that's really all there was to it. Sometimes it can get kind of choppy but most of the time it was fairly nice and flowed well. No real complaints here. Although I do have to say I love Aoi Nishimata's art and the character designs were cute.

Sound (8/10)
The sound was good. Again, nothing special, but it was good. The seiyuu did a very good job (I personally think Kaede's and Primula's seiyuu were the best) and the music was okay and fitted the anime nicely. The opening song was incredibly catchy though! Will forever be on my top 25 most played, probably.

Character (8/10)
Since Shuffle is a harem, all the main characters are different broad archetypes of personalities and looks. Thankfully, instead of the characters just being empty stereotypes, they have fairly interesting back-stories and just a little more to the archetype with their own little individualities. As I said above when I was talking about the art/animation, the character designs are cute and Aoi Nishimata does pretty good artwork. It's almost guaranteed you'll come out of Shuffle liking at least one of the girls and having a favorite that you wanted to win Rin's affections, whether this girl was the winner of the war of love or not.

Final Thoughts
Enjoyment varies from person to person. However, even though Shuffle is a stereotypical harem with generic character archetypes, merely decent art and a good dose of ecchi, which usually isn't for me... it was fun. It was a very fun ride. Shuffle has this mysterious element of enjoyability to it. So if you're looking for a fun romance with a good deal of comedy and ecchi (though it has a good deal of very serious bits too) try and pick up Shuffle. read more

Shuffle! is based on a visual novel developed by Navel.

(please excues my English)
At first, Shuffle seemed like your typical harem anime with it's protagonist, Tsuchimi Rin, a normal highschool student with a typical life. The characters, at first, seems to be just characters based on stereotypes; the idiot friend, the childhood friend, the loli that shows no emotions, the upper classmen and more. But please don't lable them as what they seem to be just yet! As the story goes on, you'll realize that everyone is not what they seem to be at the beginning.

At first, the storyline may not be as engaging , there were gods and demons that may cause the story to be a bit confusing, but if you push through that first half, you'll realize just how wonderful and well developed the story is. Shuffle! has both suprises or unexpected moments, but and also expected suprises, if it doesn't make sence right now, you'll see what I mean if you've watched it.

The art is overall pretty good, there were some sexual scenes and panty shots which i felt are unessescary(since it took away from some of the tension that comes up sometimes), but other than that, the style of art was very suitable for this series, it wasn't too cute, nor too realistic looking. You can almost feel a hint of jealousy and anger as you watch the characters love Rin helplessly. There were moments which leaves you almost breathless and nervous, wondering what is next, and moments where you sigh of relief or cannot help but smile. The music has complimented the moments very well, weither it was funny, sad , or happy.

As much as I enjoyed the series, it wasn't the most satisfying, because I found Rin very irresponsible and unfair to the girls, but in the end, I felt the time I spent watching Shuffle! was worth it because it made me feel lots of different emotions at once! :>
Please give Shuffle! a chance before judging it by first impression !


read more

Shuffle!


Story: 9/10.

The story is about a Japanese Highschooler named Rin Tsuchimi. He's been living with his childhood friend who's been taking care of Rin for a while now. Her name is Kaede Fuyou. But one day Rin meets 2 girls from his past named Sia and Nerine. But soon after the girls fall in love with Rin.

This anime is full of heartwarming and heartbreaking moments. A story of one man's decisions and adventures, full of love triangles, and memories.

This story is loveable because it has Comedy and Drama in it all at the same time. The story should deserve a 9/10 because it's a heartwarming story of love and hate and it's twists and turns.

Art: 10/10.

The art for Shuffle! is flawless. Thanks to Suzuhira, Hiro and Nishimata, Aoi for creating the characters. They all look gorgeous, stunning, perfect. It makes it realistic and believable, just like any good anime should. The scenery was what it should be. Japanese neighborhoods and homes, Japanese schools, malls, train stations, rainy days, sunny days. Watching the sunny days on my moniter made me feel all warm. It was complety real. Good job! <3

Sound: 10/10.

The OP and ED were perfect. It fitted the story plot/theme. [: Yuria is a good singer, I love that song "You" by her. The lyrics were genius. Also the people who did the voices for the charaters. It really did fit the charater's apperence and personailty. And they really did show emotions in their acting, which is sometimes hard to do.

Character: 9/10.

The characters in Shuffle! were ah-mazing. They were alive and realistic, more than you can ask for. I loved every character, and none of them felt boring or dumb to me. Also, their outfits and apperence were great. I loved the hair and the eyes. :D But, I gave the characters 9/10 because sometimes I just felt that there wasn't enough information given on them, they really needed to show who they were in the inside and outside.

Enjoyment: 10/10.

I loved this anime so much. It made me laugh it made me cry, it made me feel what I should feel, and that's what makes up a great anime. Of course, a person who doesn't like Comedy, Romance, Drama, Harem, and Ecchi animes might not like this one, but don't get my wrong, this is a fantastic anime. Shuffle! was truely addiction, every single second of it was splendid.

If you liked Shuffle! I suggest you try Shuffle! Memories. It's basically a lookback on Shuffle and more. [: read more

Story:
This is where Shuffle! excels the most. There are at least 4 or 5 arcs packed into 24 episodes, so by the time you finish, you can’t say you didn’t get your money’s worth. I was hesitant about watching at first, but this anime can’t be judged by the impression the first two episodes give, because there’s a whole lot more to it. Every episode you learn a little more about a certain character, which makes a good incentive to continue. Most of the plot is filled with twists, but some episodes (especially the last few) are predictable.

Art:
This anime looks much older than it really is. I don’t know if it’s because of the shading or choice of colors, but the characters look really flat, which takes some getting used to. If I had to make a comparison, I’d say this anime looks like Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. What I do like is that the animation is very fluid. It’s like watching an oil painting in motion. The backgrounds and lighting effects are especially nice.

Sound:
The OP and ED themes immediately became one of my favorites the first time I heard it. It was hard to stop listening and sometimes I found myself humming them. The BGM on the other hand is a whole different story. Most of the tunes sound like something out of a 90’s video game. Again, it makes the anime feel more dated than it really is. Although I guess you could call it nostalgic if you want to, since the characters are in their teens. It’s unique, but definitely not for everyone. Even worse, it gets repetitive pretty quickly, but at least the right tunes are always played at the right time according to what’s happening on screen.

Character:
Rarely have I seen characters with this much personality. Both the male and female characters are nicely developed (no pun intended). The girls are beautiful on the outside, yet they each have their own set of flaws. I’m sure everyone who watches Shuffle! will find a favorite character -- mine’s Kaede, followed by Primula. XD But I wish some characters would have had more screen time. It seemed two or three girls took over the show while the rest of the cast was placed behind, which is really unfortunate.

Enjoyment:
I recommend everyone to watch Shuffle! because there’s something for everybody -- comedy, romance, happiness, sadness, and even good fan service. Shuffle! is downright funny, but will have you on the edge of your seat just as often.

Overall:
There are many harem animes out there, but Shuffle! is one of the few that does it right. As I mentioned above, despite its looks, this isn’t your run-of-the-mill anime. If you’re looking for a good romance, a light-hearted comedy, or just something with a bunch of twists, Shuffle! is one anime that you won’t forget about anytime soon. read more