That's a good one-line summary of this anime taken straight from the last episode. It's safe to say that the enjoyment of this anime is inversely proportional to the amount of plot stuffed into one episode. Simply, the more plot, the less fun. Ichiban is a harem anime. That means it doesn't exist to cater to the brain, and it doesn't. You should be aware that if you're going to watch this anime, then you're watching it for a good laugh, a small smirk, and moments where you can go "Oh Japan!" and laugh at what makes it onto millions of TV sets across seas. You will like the fight scenes, and you will never learn the characters names - you will refer to them by hair color.
Story: 5/10
The demon lord, 100 years ago, tried to destroy humanity. The demon lord was killed and peace resumed, and up until our story begins, nothing as terrible has happened since then. Here our protagonist is introduced, Sai Akuto. His goal is be someone of great authority who will lead people to lead righteous lives (the anime alludes to the Pope). He then meets Hattori Junko, or "the Blue one", and she and Sai hit it off and look like they're going to be great friends. Then a tweest. Sai Akuto is designated by the sorting hat, I mean, the Yata-Garasu, as the future demon lord! Oh no! Blue gets mad, challenges Sai to a duel, then tsundere love kicks into effect and then a robot (Green) comes out of nowhere and an invisible girl gets fingered (Red) all in one episode! Actually, the exposition was pretty awesome and I really enjoyed it... But... It is safe to say, that the plot of the anime was almost nil after the first episode. Eventually we have incestuous sibling love, the power rangers, ninja idols, time travel, pseudo-space and all other kinds of crazy stuff coming into the anime. I understand it's anime about magic where 'anything could happen because we are led into a mysterious world whose limits are not ever revealed' but I would like at least some boundaries. When the mysterious man who is awkwardly introduced tried to rape numerous protagonists with giant sea cucumbers, I could safely say that I no longer took the plot seriously. But that's okay. It's a harem.
Art: 8/10
Think Gurren Lagann fight scenes. Then turn it down a little bit and make sure that there is a lot more OVER 9000 and laser beams and is sped up about fourteen times. You now have a good idea about what fight scenes in Ichiban are like. Animation is superb, art is a little different. The art for me was a little too generic. It felt kind of like fluidity and motion were really nice but left more to desire when someone wasn't kicking ass. If you were to compare this to numerous other harem anime, it just doesn't seem to be much different visually. But that's okay. It has cool fight scenes.
Sound: 7/10
Aki Toysaki does a really awesome job as Soga Keena (Red), but if you don't like her then I recommend turning the volume off, she gets a LOT of screen time, and talks a crap load. Aoi Yuuki (who voiced Mina Tepes from Vampire Bund and Noel from Sora no Woto) had a great voice too. She voiced a monotone character, but did a really job making it sound "not as monotone." I really had no affection toward the OP or the ED. But that's okay. They suited a harem anime very well, and maybe you'll like them because music is a developed taste.
Character: 6/10
I don't know whether to give this a 1 for about a million bland characters, or a 10 for Peterhausen the dragon who shoots fiery drills. The main cast is a pallet of fun (rimshot). Everyone is a different hair color and a different "dere" so they're easy to tell apart! That's where the harem anime has the most trouble in my opinion. A harem has set archetypal characters and refuses to create an original endearing woman. I'm not saying that any woman in this anime is poorly written. Each one is written with her character in mind, but never strays from what the textbook says. Red is an airhead, Etou (Purple) is masochist, Blue is tsundere, and Green is emotionless. All of them can be summed up in one word.
Sai Akuto is on the other hand, a very interesting character. The setting continually sets him up to be a bad guy, but somehow he always manages to do the right thing, whether people know he's doing it or not. The typical male protagonist in a harem always tries to avoid temptation, but without a clear motive as to why. For example, for some craaaazy reason one of the beautiful ladies has appeared in front of our protagonist naked.Our protagonist, who very often envisions this event happening, suddenly has an over-powering urge to avoid any sexually conduct with this woman. BUT WHY? She's beautiful, naked, and right freaking in front of you! This creates character inconsistencies, but where our protagonist differs, is that when he refuses the woman (which alas he does), he is still in character. In summary, Sai Akuto is a good guy, and no one can tell him otherwise. I like that. As for the rest of the other characters, they're nothing special. But that's okay. Sai is a really cool character you'll love to see on screen, and to boot he isn't a sissy wimp like a lot of other harem protagonists!
Enjoyment: 7/10
Even with so many things working against this anime, there are so many moments where you'll seriously just laugh. I enjoyed a great portion of this anime. The only problem I really had was with the plot. But that's definitely okay! I remembered that it was a harem anime and anyone who forgets this key factor should try to understand that a little bit of mindless humor is good once in a while.
Overall: 6/10
Ichiban is not a memorable anime. It really has nothing worth remembering (except Peterhausen). It just follows a long line of other harem anime into oblivion. But hey, it's only 12 episodes, and it's a fun little anime. I'd say it's worth recommending, but not worth ask feedback on. The response you'll get will be "Well... It was a harem anime... I liked 'X female'" so on and etc.
But that's okay. Because it IS a harem anime and expecting anything more than that is just plain craziness.
