Story (7.43/10): Have you ever played an RPG game before that involves you, the player, as a hero, questing and adventuring to go and defeat the dark evil of the realm? (Games like: Final Fantasy, Legend of Zelda, Fire Emblem.) After you finish the game, a game over appears after completing it, right? And without a second thought, you go about your way, happy that you conquered the evil of that world. But do you ever think about the afterthought of said world?
The story of Yusibu is what could be considered as in my eyes, as a show that continues the story of the world, after it was saved. Because the demon lord in Yusibu has been defeated valiantly by some unnamed person, all of the heroes-in-training, including our main protagonist Raul, are reluctantly disbanded and sent away, as there is no more evil for them to fight, and therefore, no need for heroes. It is because of that, that Raul must work at a magic shop to sell magical goods such as a "hair dryer" and a "refrigerator" in order to take care of himself. (btw, magic = electricity in this world). It is then on, that a new person by the name of Fino comes in, wanting a job, meeting Raul, and the story goes on from there.
I won't lie. This exposition really reeled me in. The sheer ridiculousness that this beginning exposition had, was more than proof enough that I was going to enjoy this to some extent. And, I was gladly rewarded. The story itself isn't really that difficult to understand. It mainly follows the lives of Raul and Fino, as the two of them live their lives, working at the equivalent of a small department store in our world. As such with commercial market, and animes involving businesses, the general idea of bigger competition, new products, the payday, and breaktime are all featured in the episodes, giving a very supernatural slice of life feel to the series. The pacing is rather steady the whole way through, and didn't feel rushed or anything.
At the end though, the story threw me for a loop, as the whole series turned into your stereotypical "female lead is in a situation that the male lead must save her from" sort of bullcrap that exists throughout all of the anime world. It did feel a bit different when watching it, and it was executed in an original and different way; but all in all, it was still the same thing, regardless.
The story isn't bad in any way, shape, or form, and it wasn't executed poorly either. It was just a little bit cliched and generic with an interesting twist to it.
Characters (7.43/10): The characters are an interesting mix. Some are developed and explored to a large degree, and others are just there to appease the perverted crowd of the anime fanbase (you know who you are).
Raul Chaser. True to his name, Raul chases his dreams, only to have them be brutally crushed before he could even start. As the main protagonist, Raul gets a greater majority of development, as he begins the series as an ungrateful twat who can't appreciate what he has, to someone who's happy for what he's accomplish and/or done. He's not a bad character per se, as he can kick ass when need be, as well as being an awesome guy with some common sense and little to no denseness, but he is still quite dull at times.
FINO BLOODSTONE. She needs to be in all caps because, she makes this show what it is. Fino is the daughter of the late demon lord that inhibited the demon world. A charismatic and enthusiastic girl who always tries her best and gets happy at the smallest of things. She mainly occupies the role as being the show's major comic relief, as she can turn any situation or object into a depressing and sadistic one at the mention of about ten or so words. Also, she's completely shameless, being, for the most part, ok for our main lead Raul to see her completely nude (A rare sight in anime, I find.) Fino herself is the show's main focus, and it emphasizes that a lot, focusing the last couple episodes on her position as the demon lord's daughter, and throughout the series, building up her familiarity with the human world. While she definitely is a bit much, the show heavily relies on her to carry the show along, which is a bit unfair considering that the side characters get jack. (Other that Airi, who gets a minuscule amount.)
The supporting cast is gigantic, consisting of about 95% of the cast. All of them are associated with Raul in some way, either being a coworker or friend, adding into either the comedy aspect of the show, or the non-existent story aspect. The ratio of men to women is about 2:7, so it's kind of obvious what you're in for when you're watching this show. I'll get to that later. Troupes include a proud loli, a tsundere with a bust complex, a kuudere, an overly happy person, the shy girl with the crush on the main lead, the coworker, and even a pervy old man.
The characters of Yusibu is a mix of well developed characters, and cardboard cutouts, creating a mix that works as well as it could've done for this show. I wouldn't bank on this show being the most developed show ever.
Art and sound (7.02/10 and 7.00/10): The art is good, for starters. The palette used in this show is a more lighter tone, veering over to a whiter shade of coloring for this anime. It is quite pleasing to the eye to look at, and the quality doesn't really dim down or anything. The comedic scenes are also fun to look at, as they have your usual standard fare of simplified drawings for exaggerated expressions.
Now...the character designs. There's a big, big reason that this show has been walled off by some people in the anime community (Make that two big, big reasons.) And that is, of course, the fanservice. While the actual facial designs and looks of the anime are pretty well done, (except the awkward eyebrow colors that I see on the majority of the cast), the dimensions of said characters remains to be...determined. 5 out of the 7 female cast members are very big in the chest area, and as such, according to the laws of anime physics, each one of them individual breasts must move independently even due to the slightest movement of the body. As an ecchi show, it's obvious that this should be standard fare. But even so, they do go out of their way of glorifying it even further, and it just feels so weird to watch it. Personally, I'm fine with some ecchi, but it was just a bit over the top for me.
The sound was good, but forgettable. The OP and ED were quite similar sounding, and sounded good, but they didn't stick in my head like other anime tracks, and they didn't seem that great to listen to. Mood fillers are mood fillers. No extra explanation needed. Voice acting on the other hand was a slightly different story altogether. Tadokoro Azusa does a fantastic job at being Fino, and I felt like it was worth mentioning because she does such a good representation of the character. (Hope she gets more roles in the future.)
Personal enjoyment (7.41/10): Large breasts and other ecchi complaints, Yusibu was a rather interesting series to watch. It was intriguing enough for me to start and finish all the way to the end, and gave me a somewhat satisfying feeling after finishing it. The story was an interesting idea that was executed as well as it could've been, and the characters were one noted, but still fun to watch. One thing to note, is the non-existent romance. The possible romance in the series goes absolutely nowhere, and was rather pointless to begin with since all they did was blush every now and then, and gaze into each others eyes, making you want to reach into your screen going, "KISS! KISS!" I will admit that I throughly enjoyed it regardless. By no means is this a required anime for people to watch, but it does provide some nice, time-killing entertainment with adequate comedy, occasional female molestation, and a cliched ending that was bought from the cliche store on overused ave. Good for killing time, not good for if you want to watch something really good and meaningful.
Overall Score: 7.01/10
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