Kouryuu no Mimi: Mina no Shou

For an OVA about a guy with a magic earlobe, this anime is woefully mediocre.

A young man has inherited the power of "The Dragon's Ear" which gives him superpowers. Every time he removes his earring, he goes from cute fop to wild-haired Lothario, able to use the superpowers of incredible luck, weather control, hyper-seduction kisses, super agility, and the ability to see the future. These he uses to conquer an evil clan of women and save the girl he loves.

The series starts out pretty tame, but by the end of the finale, the show devolves into bonkers. One would assume that a story ... about a man with a magical earlobe would be bonkers from the start, but it isn't until the last half of the second (and last) episode that all suspension of disbelief demands to be put aside. Villains emerge from layers of disguises, venomous moths attack in clouds, needle spitting becomes a fighting technique, and a skinless Goliath learns the value of human camaraderie.

Is the animation good? Reader, it is not. How's the music? A fan of vaporwave might enjoy it, but to the average viewer, the synths provide nothing special. Character designs? They're okay, but nothing a regular anime-watcher hasn't seen before. All in all, this is a middle-of-the-road effort.

Being just a scant 2 episodes, those curious about it can consume the whole series in half a lazy afternoon, but might walk away wishing they'd watched something else.

I enjoyed the anime for what it was. It's a decent two-part OVA that was geared to those who read the manga. That being said, there isn't a big learning curve, so anyone who doesn't know of the manga can kinda get a feel for the plot and characters.

The main character is an affluent descendant of a powerful family with two sides. His public side is charming and boyish, but when the golden earring is off, he becomes a powerful man with his most potent ability being his luck. It'd be an overpowered ability that would quickly remove dramatic tension if this was a standard ... 12 or 26 episode anime series but luckily it's just a two-part OVA that runs just shy of thirty minutes each.

One day, he encounters a beautiful woman and falls in love with her, but she's also an affluent descendant... of an adversarial family that has a long-running, past history. It's not the most original plot, but it suffices well enough in its simplicity that it can be easily resolved in two parts without any loose ends.

Even if the story is somewhat plain, I thought the animation was pretty good. A significant portion of the budget went into that aspect and it shows.

As long as one sets the right expectations, it's a good, fun romp to watch. And I think it achieved its purpose because I now want to read the manga and learn more about the setting and characters.