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4 of 15 people found this review helpful
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12 of 12 episodes seen
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I wasn’t sure about the title at first; about what it was, what to expect and whether or not it would be good. Well it turned out to be a lot of things and good is one of them. This is one of the rare great shows I’ve had the chance to see lately.
Opening sequence: 8/10
Ending sequence: 7/10
My Age Rating: 8: Fanservice is light, violence is moderate and bloodless and the mature themes are handled very well.
Ookami-san’s plot is something that is better left undescribed for when you finally watch the show yourself but as a comedy with a bit of drama it is certainly not stellar nor does it have to be. It is the small elements and the characters that carry this show and they do this splendidly. It mixes in elements from several fairy tales and adds them with an anime setting (high school) and throws in drama, comedy, great characters and some light yet fun fanservice. It does all of these masterfully too without going overboard on any element, which is a surprise since comedy (or romantic comedies) often fail to introduce serous storylines or mature themes (anyone recalls Magikano’s ending, just horrible) but this show succeeded.
The characters are drawn from fairy tale characters and have several attributes of said characters but their personalities are tweaked to befit a more mature and humoristic series in the anime format. They have their flaws brought to the extreme, evil characters are depicted as truly evil, some of their light hearted traits are twisted for comedic purposes and some of their fairy tale elements are not transferred literally but serve as a metaphor for some of the characters’ personalities. Overall it is entertaining to see what they did with our most beloved fairy tale characters and they also provide genuinely good characters that are original in themselves rather than easily recycled cast from the various stories they come from. This is one point that is to be praised, they could have used the simple unaltered cast of the fairy tales but they decided to be cleaver and take a shot at something original instead which I appreciated.
The voice acting was fine and spot-on and the dub was entertaining enough with some lines being tweaked but for the better.
I liked how despite being a fanservice comedy they decided to play the fanservice for laughs rather than arousal and how they unexpectedly added a touch romance: they really did a romance and not just an awkward “we’ll never admit our feelings” thing. While the main character is reluctant to give into Ryoshi’s love, he on the other hand does actually confess his love to her and tries to make her see he’s serious. She also as good reasons for acting the way she does (tsundere at times).
The series also added the more serious theme of sexual abuse: it is revealed early on that Ryoko (The main character) was assaulted when she was barely a teen. The series deals with this in a realistic and believable manner with the psychological effects that accompany such an event and show us how that shaped the person she is today. But they also made it so that she managed to escape being raped so it was simply an assault. While that may seem like a cop out, it is far from it: the attack was more than traumatizing enough on a kid the age she was and as such its effects are believable, had it been rape the effects would have been far worse, and it gives the main villain’s motivation as well. It also draws the metaphor of how she is a sheep in wolf’s clothing (thus the wolf of the story) by showing us how she became stronger to take care of herself and stopped trusting others in the process and not having it going to the worse possible scenario allowed the show to be serious when it needed too but still be light hearted most of the time without too much heavy drama. Make no mistake though, you will most likely hate the main villain and his presence as well as scheming will be a source of stress at times if you get attached to the characters.
What really drew me to the series are the little light hearted moments with the characters, how their relationships were sweet yet funny at times and how the characters’ little quirks were pleasantly offering constant comedy. It also had interesting action which was funny as well as entertaining.
No matter how you look at it it’s a nice story that offers everyone something: May it be comedy, romance, action or drama and even dealing with serious and often mood killing (for comedic series) mature subjects in a believable manner. I recommend it to anyone no matter what they’re looking for.
Opening sequence: 8/10
Ending sequence: 7/10
My Age Rating: 8: Fanservice is light, violence is moderate and bloodless and the mature themes are handled very well.
Ookami-san’s plot is something that is better left undescribed for when you finally watch the show yourself but as a comedy with a bit of drama it is certainly not stellar nor does it have to be. It is the small elements and the characters that carry this show and they do this splendidly. It mixes in elements from several fairy tales and adds them with an anime setting (high school) and throws in drama, comedy, great characters and some light yet fun fanservice. It does all of these masterfully too without going overboard on any element, which is a surprise since comedy (or romantic comedies) often fail to introduce serous storylines or mature themes (anyone recalls Magikano’s ending, just horrible) but this show succeeded.
The characters are drawn from fairy tale characters and have several attributes of said characters but their personalities are tweaked to befit a more mature and humoristic series in the anime format. They have their flaws brought to the extreme, evil characters are depicted as truly evil, some of their light hearted traits are twisted for comedic purposes and some of their fairy tale elements are not transferred literally but serve as a metaphor for some of the characters’ personalities. Overall it is entertaining to see what they did with our most beloved fairy tale characters and they also provide genuinely good characters that are original in themselves rather than easily recycled cast from the various stories they come from. This is one point that is to be praised, they could have used the simple unaltered cast of the fairy tales but they decided to be cleaver and take a shot at something original instead which I appreciated.
The voice acting was fine and spot-on and the dub was entertaining enough with some lines being tweaked but for the better.
I liked how despite being a fanservice comedy they decided to play the fanservice for laughs rather than arousal and how they unexpectedly added a touch romance: they really did a romance and not just an awkward “we’ll never admit our feelings” thing. While the main character is reluctant to give into Ryoshi’s love, he on the other hand does actually confess his love to her and tries to make her see he’s serious. She also as good reasons for acting the way she does (tsundere at times).
The series also added the more serious theme of sexual abuse: it is revealed early on that Ryoko (The main character) was assaulted when she was barely a teen. The series deals with this in a realistic and believable manner with the psychological effects that accompany such an event and show us how that shaped the person she is today. But they also made it so that she managed to escape being raped so it was simply an assault. While that may seem like a cop out, it is far from it: the attack was more than traumatizing enough on a kid the age she was and as such its effects are believable, had it been rape the effects would have been far worse, and it gives the main villain’s motivation as well. It also draws the metaphor of how she is a sheep in wolf’s clothing (thus the wolf of the story) by showing us how she became stronger to take care of herself and stopped trusting others in the process and not having it going to the worse possible scenario allowed the show to be serious when it needed too but still be light hearted most of the time without too much heavy drama. Make no mistake though, you will most likely hate the main villain and his presence as well as scheming will be a source of stress at times if you get attached to the characters.
What really drew me to the series are the little light hearted moments with the characters, how their relationships were sweet yet funny at times and how the characters’ little quirks were pleasantly offering constant comedy. It also had interesting action which was funny as well as entertaining.
No matter how you look at it it’s a nice story that offers everyone something: May it be comedy, romance, action or drama and even dealing with serious and often mood killing (for comedic series) mature subjects in a believable manner. I recommend it to anyone no matter what they’re looking for.
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