Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata

Tomoya Aki, an otaku, has been obsessed with collecting anime and light novels for years, attaching himself to various series with captivating stories and characters. Now, he wants to have a chance of providing the same experience for others by creating his own game, but unfortunately, Tomoya cannot do this task by himself.

He successfully recruits childhood friend Eriri Spencer Sawamura to illustrate and literary elitist Utaha Kasumigaoka to write the script for his visual novel, while he directs. Super-group now in hand, Tomoya only needs an inspiration to base his project on, and luckily meets the beautiful, docile Megumi Katou, who he then models his main character after.

Using what knowledge he has, Tomoya creates a new doujin circle with hopes to touch the hearts of those who play their game. What he does not realize, is that to invoke these emotions, the creators have had to experience the same feelings in their own lives.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Adaptation:	Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata
Prequel:	Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata: Ai to Seishun no Service-kai
Sequel:	Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata ♭: Koi to Junjou no Service-kai

Okuno, Kaya
Japanese

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Staff

Mori, Akitoshi

Producer

Niwa, Masami

Assistant Producer

Nakajima, Yasuhiro

Assistant Producer

Kamei, Kanta

Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

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Opening Theme

"Kimiiro Signal (君色シグナル)" by Luna Haruna

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Ending Theme

"Colorful. (カラフル。)" by Miku Sawai

Reviews

Nov 2, 2022

Myrmiderp

Recommended

Spoiler-free should-you-watch review of the entire series:

Early warning, in case you don't finish the review: I recommend skipping episode 0 and starting with episode 1, explanation buried below.

In short, Saekano is a harem anime with heavy male gaze that tries to stand out by 1) being extremely self-aware, and 2) directing its humor at otaku. These attempts range from cringe-y to super funny, so it's a bit of a mixed bag. Combine that with attractive character designs and a half-hearted drama that strengthens into an emotional romance over time, and you're left with something I'd describe as "pretty dang watchable". I had a good time. ... I'd even go so far to say that some elements are quite inspired. Though Saekano initially flounders in a sea of otaku humor and fanservice, it hones itself over time into a compelling story about passion and motivation.

I'd say Saekano starts off as about 60% comedy, 35% sex appeal, 5% plot. Although disappointing in some respects, it's great if you just want to laugh at something. The comedic dialogue is surprisingly well done, and the situational and character-based comedy is executed well, despite being kind of repetitive. My only real complaint is that some of the otaku-referential humor falls flat, coming off as exclusive and to some degree elitist, which is… embarassing. And yes, if you want the camera to stare at butts and breasts while women are talking, Saekano does that. A lot. It's a bit transparently horny--not quite as tasteful as other anime I've seen--but at least it's honest about it. If that's what you're looking for, it's drawn very nicely, you will not be left wanting. If not, you're kidding yourself if you think that's a valid criticism; Saekano did not decieve you, the male gaze is a major selling point of the anime, don't watch if it you don't want butts and breasts in your face.

The art in general is attractive, cute and clean without relying on any kind of unusual style. It gets a little wonky in the first season when people are more than ten feet from the camera, but I give it a pass because it's impeccable the rest of the time, both the seasons and the movie. The animation even manages to sneak in some charming manga-esque details where something interesting happens in the background while characters talk in the foreground in parallel. Given its self-aware-otaku-humor nature, it occasionally makes references to other anime, which are rewarding to recognize but not a big deal if you don't.

The characters aren't exactly groundbreaking, but I quite enjoy Megumi as a twist on the "straight man" role; she's delightful. The premise of why she's part of the story is a little cringe-y, but that cringe factor is one of the elements that works best with the self-awareness, and she plays off of those expectations very well. It's yet another series set in high school, but luckily the character designs aren't too homogenized because of it. The voice acting is wonderful, and I frequently noticed it picking up some slack in the writing. I'll admit, it is tiring to watch another terminally uninteresting protagonist receive the seemingly unconditional affection of all the young women around him, but it's ridiculous enough to be funny every once in a while, especially with the fourth wall breaks.

That said, the second season is when the show really hooked me. Character development exists in season one, but it's weak and mostly serves the comedy. Due to a weak overarching plot, season one is mostly episodic and any drama is resolved fairly quickly by the characters returning to their archetypes and butting heads again. Season two takes itself a bit more seriously drama-wise. The characters care about real things, and their feelings and frustrations are given a chance to develop into something compelling. This especially helps the protagonist who, like I mentioned, had been pretty bland up until that point. He is still one of the weaker characters, but he's finally given a chance to not only grow, but more importantly show a real flaw that isn't a glorified punchline. The sexualization, otaku humor and self-awareness are still very much present, but they're toned down a LOT to prevent detracting too much from the story. The movie is also good, and maintains the focus on drama while bringing everything to a close. I can't say I was 100% thrilled with the way they handled some of the plotlines, because it felt like the writing regressed a little bit towards the end, but overall it was well done, and I was left quite satisfied.

I think it's a bit aggressive to say, as some have said, that Saekano fails to rise above its intentional, self-aware tropes; it too confident for such a broad claim. When people go out of their way to identify and condemn tropes and patterns, they risk pigeon-holing new experiences. Saekano introduces harem anime tropes to poke fun at them. Saekano also indulges in allowing these archetypal characters to play out classic trope-y situations. Does this mean Saekano has failed in its self-awareness? For clarity, I'll go ahead an answer what I'd hoped would be a rhetorical question: no. In fact, I'd say this contradiction is actually one of Saekano's more profound themes: it's okay to consciously recognize how stupid something is while subconsciously being compelled by it. That is the human experience. I'm not saying Saekano is a masterpiece, or even consistently profound, but it maintains its own identity beyond the tropes. It's good at providing different perspective, even if it doesn't take a stand to support one or the other. I wouldn't say it's a weakness in the writing as much as it's simply a choice they made.

Lastly, I didn't think I'd have a watch order note for this series, but here we are: I whole-heartedly believe that you should skip Episode 0 (the fan service episode) until after you've finished the first season. I made the mistake of watching it in-order, and it does a terrible job of pulling you into the show. IMO, a fan service episode is best when you already understand and care about the characters. Episode 0 on the other hand dumps you into the middle of an in-progress story, with hasty and uncompelling exposition to prevent you from being totally lost. I guess they put this episode first because they hoped the fan service would draw people in? Whatever the reason, it was a bad call, seriously don't start with that episode. I re-watched it afterward and it was much more enjoyable.

So yeah, Saekano is fun and sexy and kind of stupid, and that's what you're asking for in this genre. That said, it does eventually develop a compelling plot, and becomes fairly touching in spite of how cringe-y the premise is. Saekano is both a criticism and a celebration of harem anime tropes, and that's ok.

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Nov 21, 2022

Marco_Yooo

Mixed Feelings

THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

Saekano is a show that i watched on a whim. It is short, sweet and the premise interested me enough to give it a shot. Normally i take a lot of time before deciding to watch something because i am very scared of wasting my time, so my watchlist became an absolute warzone. But i bit the bullet and started Saekano. But was it worth it?

STORY – 7/10

First off, i have to say that although the plot is simple, the characters grounded and the fanservice manageable, this is not a show for beginners. The amount of references, otaku tropes, archetypes and ... inside jokes are to much to handle for someone who is not deeply into the otaku culture especially visual-novels, light novels and dating-sims. For someone like me, these references were an absolute joy to spot. From figurines to light novel covers, to anime openings and much more. The show is incredibly self aware and knows all the tropes that japanese entertainment is made up off.
Saying all that, i think this anime has a little bit of an identity crisis. The genres are „drama,romance,ecchi“ but it doesn´t play them out enough. There is drama but not enough, there is romance, but only slight bits off it, there is ecchi and fanservice but it is never explicit. The story just kinda flows in various directions and seems very unfocused. I can appreciate that this show is brave enough to battle all the different stereotypes that exists about anime fans and otakus, but the story seemed a bit too forced sometimes. It was still entertaining though, and definitely shines with it´s unique and self aware humour.

ART – 5/10

A-1 Pictures is known for it´s flashy and colorful action animation and i praised it enough in other reviews (Sword Art Online). But i have to say that the animation in this show seems very… average. There are some standout shots that are done beautifully but most of the time i didn´t even notice it. This show provides a lot of opportunities for interesting cutscenes and more. If you compare this show to Lucky Star (similar concept, but as a slice-of-life set in the mid 2000s) the animation seems… uninspired. A lot of that has to do with the artwork. This has been a problem of light novel adaptations for a very long time and this is just the continuation of that. The standout is definitely the final episode which completely hit it out of the park with a fantastic concert scene.
Another point of criticism in this category is related to the use of fanservice. Throughout the whole show it feels like the camera is never filming the face of the girls. It constantly pans over their breasts, their thighs, their feet and much much more. Even during normal conversations that have no sexual tension at all. Really? Why? This is incredibly lazy and definitely starts to get annoying after they had the audacity to reuse some of these shots. I can´t count how many times i have seen the girls put on their kneesocks. I get it, ok?

SOUND – 7/10

The BGM is pretty good. It contains your standard slice-of-life tunes that are incorporated seemlessly. The OP has really grown on me. It portrays the unique humour very well. The ED was good, but not outstanding. The biggest plus in this category has to be the final episode. The concert scene was done really well and gives us not one but two songs. One completely original J-Pop song as well as a FULL cover of „Sorairo Days“ which is the opening of what is maybe my favorite anime of all time, „Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann“. This was a big surprise that only a true otaku can fully enjoy :D.

CHARACTERS – 8/10

Like i stated in my reviews before, an action show is defined by it´s action, an idol show is defined by it´s music and a comedy show by it´s characters. And „Saekano“ managed to win me over bit by bit. What started out as a group of generic highschool anime characters evolved into something more episode by episode. The main character (Who is called „Mr. Ethical“ by the girls xD) fully embraces his otaku roots and is absolutely commited to his dream. Kasumigaoka is the best girl of the show, with a wonderful twist on the mysterious beauty trope. Megumi Katou, is a complete deconstruction of the dating-sim female lead, and has some of the funniest lines of dialogue in the show. Seeing her being thrown into a room full of anime fans will never not be funny. I felt that Eriri and Michiru (who was introduced very late) still need some development because they still feel like copouts of some very famous anime characters (namely Asuka and Misato from „Neon Genesis Evangelion“).

ENJOYMENT – 7/10

This show started out a bit weak, but gained a lot of traction over the course of it´s runtime. I do have to say though if you are not a real hardcore otaku who has played anime-girl dating-sims and 200 hour long ecchi visual novels (Which i have…..fuck) some of the tropes and situations that are parodied here can seem a bit weird and unrelated. In this case the series can be compared to something like „Lucky Star“ (Which goes even deeper) or something more light like „Netoge no Yome“.
I will watch season 2 and the movie, that wraps the whole story up.

- Marco_Yooo

FINAL SCORE - 7/10

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Aug 5, 2022

sirbigbeard

Not Recommended

The best way I can describe how I feel after finishing this show is if I went outside, someone ran up to me and kicked my ass, but I was somehow also bored while they were doing it.
There are all the pieces of a good anime here, but they forgot to add in a little thing called dramatic tension. That would be bad enough, but I'm a sucker for good romance, so if the romance was good I could forgive it a little. Well its not good, it left me feeling disgusted, sad, and overall wishing I could wash it from my brain like ...

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