Akikan!

Like Hollywood, it seems Japan is suffering from a lack of creativity recently. Here we have been brought Akikan!, a story about empty juice cans that turn into girls. Uh what? It certainly is a bizarre concept and I guess it scores some points for being one of a kind in that sense.

The story revolves around your typical anime loser Kakeru. Of course he’s a virgin. Being a pervert is a given. He’s never had a girlfriend, despite having the cutest girl at school practically throwing herself at him on a daily basis. Are you retarded? Blind? ... How could you not know!? Anyway back on track, so he buys a can of melon flavored soda, drinks from it and surprise he’s lip locked on a busty girl in his apartment. I know this will sound surprising for anime but they both become extremely embarrassed by this! No way! She’s also a magic powered tsundere! Wow! I’ve never seen that before either! You’re never going to believe what happens next either... she’s going to live with him! Even though he’s only 16 he lives by himself. Does this really happen in Japan!?

While watching this series, if you have seen any other echii romance comedies then you’ve seen the basic plot and characters of Akikan. It’s so similar to a dozen other shows that I almost knew what was going to happen before it actually did. The plot is extremely thin and mostly uninteresting. Akikan suffers from the way it seems to meander around and not settling down on what it wants to be. Is it an action series? Romance? Comedy? It tries to be too many things and ends up being nothing. The biggest problem I had was with the introduction of this mysterious government agency that knows about the can girls and wants them to join this group called Akikan Elect and battle each other until only one is left. By the end of the series it feels like such an unimportant part of the overall story that in hindsight they shouldn’t have ever bothered to mention it in the first place. There are some other bizarre elements that really made no sense as well, such as the inclusion of the witch character Kochikaze. She is very typical of the schizophrenic nature of this show. The ending is typical of what one should come to expect from these kinds of shows. That means nothing is resolved in terms of the character relationships with each other.

All that being said, it’s not completely devoid of humor or enjoyment. Just about anyone will probably enjoy Kakeru's antics and dramatic perversions and overacting. For a while anyway as they eventually get old and overused. I also give the story some credit for not having every female character in the cast be in love with Kakeru.

The characters are a mixed bag. Kakeru is the most animated of them all and entertaining most of the time. Though because of his voice actor the entire time I was reminded, its Lelouch. His personality is almost exactly like Lelouch's silly school persona. He is completely over the top, overly dramatic, and has absolutely no tact once so ever. The various can girls, Melon and Yell are mildly amusing and entertaining. The relationship between Melon and Kakeru reminded me a lot of the one between Keita and Youko in Inukami! Najimi as the childhood friend of Kakeru who is blind to her love is not anymore interesting. The characters who steal the show are really the pair of government workers, Otoya and Kizaki. I found the interaction between them to be pretty funny. Most of the other characters are forgettable.

The animation and art are solid but unspectacular. I enjoyed the character models and all the action scenes were well fairly exciting. The voice cast was stellar, it featured some of the top talent in the industry and a few of my favorites. Unfortunately because of the unoriginality of the story too many of their performances sounded like characters from other anime. Because of this it’s unlikely anyone is going to remember any of them for their roles. The songs from the OP/EN were also not very inspired either.

Overall, Akikan was a show that was mildly entertaining but completely lacking any new ideas or originality. There are definitely better shows out there to watch than this one. But its not a complete disaster. If you don’t mind that it doesn’t bring anything new to the table and is as filling as an empty can of soda, then you might find some enjoyment out of it.

“CO2 Cans, talking and alive”

The Story…

First of all there isn’t much story occurring in this anime, it’s all about the comedy and ecchi moments that makes it bearable to watch. As for the story, it leads to an intro that ‘cans’ can turn into a human being particularly into a girlish one and by touching its lid by the lips it will activate its transformation. It also has a little love issues and minor arc that gives us curiosity but what they did is they focus on just giving laughs and seductive scenes.

It has a capable to be an interesting story but what ... they did is quite sadden me.

Art & Animation…

The animation is fine and quite attractive. The backgrounds are somewhat suited in some scenes as it doesn’t stand out on giving entertainment. The characters are in its typical approach, and how they’re drawn is common.

Sound…

It has a quite catchy OP & ED. It gives an average sounds and music to hear.

Nothing to impress on and to be happy on it…

Character…

For the characters on this show, they're quite interesting to watch as they give laughs and gags to keep the show alive but it isn’t enough for this anime to keep it up. Kakeru the one who always appear to the show is quite silly for us to be entertainment while his partner Melon is the one who makes his day miserable and merry as it gives laughter. Other than that there is nothing to be focused on to this show because the others are rather an addition to fill the series.

Enjoyment…

You’ll enjoy this on what you’ve seen and perceive on its scenes. The characters keeps me entertained while the art & animation isn’t attractive enough. About the story and the sound it has a weak approach to be attractive. In short it is kind of an average show.

Overall…

It’s an odd anime and it lacks on development and ideas to be added on. It is an average show that keeps the viewer to be entertained. No more, no less.

For some reason, I had to write a review for this anime.

Akikan! is has to be the worst anime (by comparison) I've watched so far. I'm not saying it's bad; not at all. It does have its good points, but only a few. I'm actually quite disappointed in it.

Story= 7
The story is about juice/soda cans transforming into girls once you take a sip out of them, and have magic powers based on what their drink is. When I was first introduced to the story, I thought "What the hell?" Well, I'll give it a good score for originality. It's weird, but original. So, ... in a sense, it's a good thing.

Art/Animation= 5
The art scores the lowest for me. I was a little weirded out by how the characters were drawn. One of the factors of making a good anime is good character art. And Akikan! failed at making any appeals whatsoever. The main protagonist Daichi, Kakeru looks a lot better in the manga than in the animated version. Animation could use some work too, but it isn't that bad.

Sound= 6
There's nothing special to point out about the sound. I mean, the voice acting is pretty okay, and the opening and closing songs were alright. So I can only give it a 6.

Character= 7
Tsundere, Perverted lead, Childhood friend. Most of the characters are pretty much cliche. But what I found unique about this anime is how open it is to homosexual characteristics. Especially that Otoya guy, who is a molester. I also like how Amaji is barely noticeable every time. But I am quite sick of perverted leads.

Overall Enjoyment= 6
Akikan! could have been better than how it is now. If only the art can be improved, I think it'll get a better score. But it'll never get a rating of 8 or above. Story is unique but really weird. Some characters are really annoying (Especially the main lead) I did enjoy some parts of it. But will I watch it again? Never.

Think your typical male protagonist tossed into a situation which leads him to becoming popular with a select few ladies.

Think magical girl transformations.

Think... cans transforming into girls?

Now take a step back and recheck everything that's happened so far and you have the premise of Akikan! which leaves a rather awkward feeling at first which just makes you burst out laughing after Jun manages to portray a rather unique character in Kakeru, the protagonist for this series.

What could be more hilarious than a very humorous sudden-girlfriend-appearance set-up than Kakeru being stark naked as Melon shows up and continues on as if nothing has happened?

What this anime ... lacks in actual storyline it makes up for with rather enjoyable humour, albeit awkward at times.

I mean, come on, the story itself is supposed to be the display of a 'war' between girlished steel cans and aluminium cans.
Can't really say there's much room for potential there.

Moving on, the cast themselves all had their highlights throughout the show.
Najimi with her overly perverted mindset, Yurika's mysterious allure and Hidehiko's bizarre character to name a few.

Overall the series provided quite a few laughter inducing moments and came off as worth the time, but only just.

My rating for the series remains at:
6/10.

Let's start with the fact that "yes this anime has a very interesting plot concept. No they do not embellish on it." The story does revolve around this supernatural phenomena, but then it puts out nothing. The humor in here is either very perverted or moderately funny (unless you love ecchi, then its both). The fight scenes in here were as well tasteless with little to no finesse. It just didn't have it's own flare.

AND NOW FOR MY MOST STRESSED DETAIL IN ANIME HISTORY! ~THE ENDING!~ (Dramatic drum roll)... It was terrible! Really, it was like a terrible season finale to some crap Power Rangers ... spin off except with an even worse soundtrack. Plus I think they tried to send me off with a life lesson!

Anyways, I give this anime 6/10, I'd only watch this again if all anime in the world dissapear or if I had to choose between this and Hatenko Yugi.

okay folks let be honest
when it first shows its a masterpiece of the best jokes that i ever seen
the story is good and the character are good to be ture
but in epi 6 it shows that it was end to its oringal story so the rest would be just as i freard filler fanserving episode until 12

so i say like this
this anime is quite good better than the manga version at least
but see only 1-6 if you want to see the ture storyline, the rest is up to you

Lets start with the thing that this is a clear example of someone who ran out of ideas because lets admit it drink cans turning into girls might be even more absurd
than pigs flying to the nearest mcdonalds to get slaughtered. The art was not satisfying at all i could see many imperfections and faults like unevenness of the eyes terrible perspective and lets not talk about animation at all. BUT putting that all aside the kind of humor appealed to me in a weird way i cant even explain in words the characters in my opinion were lovable and funny at times. You ... can call me and idiot or unexperienced in anime but in as far as enjoyment goes i give this anime a 9/10 , but i know many people will be raging over this review of the high score i gave to it so taking ALL the things together i could just get a 6/10 on this anime. The story is horrible art is not the best not even talking about the animation, but the characters and humor are appealing to certain audiences.

Well...We all know what the Harem genre is about. So I can tell you, even though this Anime has a unique story, it's basic concept is no different to the others.

Story: Well...this part is interesting to say the least. Akikan is about a boy buying a can, drinking from it and suddenly finding himself kissing a girl. He finds out, that the girl is the can herself and needs to drink more of the juice that normally is in her.
The show scores some points for it's unique concept, but it doesn't really know where to go from here. It has many attempts to become a ... comedy but has some really serious points too. In total the story might have become something that would be quite ok, but the writing wasn't really the best.
5/10

Characters: The characters are for the most part quite cliché. We have the perverted main character, the shy but kind one, the annoying little girl and so on. But they are going to develope in the course of the series. It might not be much, but it still is more than other Harem Animes did.
6/10

Visuals: The Visuals of Akikan are quite ok. This is of course no ufotable like work, but it's still watchable and I didn't have any big problems. There are moments when the animation quality goes down and moments when it does get better. In total a
5/10

Sound: To be honest...I have no idea of the soundtrack. I didn't recognize it, which is no plus. It always fir the scene it was used in, but it never stood out or was incredibly good. The same goes for Opening and ending. It is ok, but nothing memorable
5/10

Enjoyment: This really depends on which kind of humor you like. I laughed a few times, but that isn't enough for an Anime that is mainly focused on comedy. Of course that is because it just isn't my taste and if you laughed more than me, than score this part higher. The drama scenes of the Anime were suprisingly good though. It isn't anything that makes you cry, but you'll at least feel depressed.
4/10

In total the Anime is really mediocre. It doesn't stand out in any point. Neither in a negative way nor in a positive one.

5/10

"What.The.Fuck." ,actually none animes between those I've already seen deserve this expression more then this one.Those three little words will pop in your mind again and again and again during each episode of Akikan.I won't teach you anything ,everyone know that japanese are kind of crazy ,everyone on Internet know that.And if you had some doubt about that fact...Well Akikan is the proof you needed !

Nah really...Cans?...Like...Seriously? Cans transforming into girls? Cans-girls fighting each other in a war for selecting which between aluminium and steel is the best?...As the Dalai-Lama said : "Oh my dayum.".

You know ,I've already watched some really crazy animes and in ... most of them you need to switch your brain to "OFF" or you'll lose some sanity points like in some Cthulhu rpg.Excell Saga for example...Don't watch it with your brain activated or it's gonna melt and turn into marshmallow.Akikan is one of them ,and it's a good thing that I've already lost all my sanity points because this one can inflict a -50 points immediately !

Let's examine it a little :

Story (7) : Yea ,I give it a 7 even as I say that the story is a big mind fuck.Why? Because it's original ! I have to admit that ,it's stupid ,it's totally "what the fuck" ,but it's original in it's own way.After all ,nobody already had the idea to create Cans-girls.Nobody already had the idea to turn them into fruity magical-girls.Nobody already had the stupid idea to make them fight each other in a kind of battle royal.So that's what I said ,it's original...in it's own way.So yea the story was certainly made when the author was drunk like hell and had more alcohol inside him than a bottle of whisky ,but some masterpieces where made under the effect of absinthe so don't judge the power of alcohol too hardly !...What the fuck am I saying?...Anyway ! 7 because it's totally crazy but original ! It's a good story ,perfect when you want to disconnect your brain ,have a few laugh and watch some cute girls.

Art (6) : The artwork aren't excellent but they aren't ugly.But I'll be honest I've seen better ,really better.And I've seen worst too.This one is in the middle.The characters are kind of normally made ,the girls have some charm ,the colors are not too flashy nor dull.

Sound (5) : Like for the art part ,the sound part is neutral as hell.Not bad ,not good ,nothing exceptional ,nothing awful.

Characters (6) : This time I'll surprise you but nah ,the casting is not classic ! Actually I was surprised by how different some characters were from what I expected from.Like Melon for example.Telling the truth ,I've started watching Akikan imagining it like a clone of Chobbits/DearS/Ah my Goddess ,where a guy normal as hell (and stupid as hell too) get a cute girl out of nowhere and the girl is immediately or so in love for him.And here it's totally...Not that.The guy is stupid ,but he's really perverted (and maybe a little crazy ,this guy spend his time seducing a distributor...) ,and Melon is a little shy ,violent ,kind of tsundere and at the beginning she totally hate him.So yea ,a 6 for the surprise and because the casting is different from usual.
I give a special mention for the character of Amaji Gorou (aka Gigolo) because he's one of the most funny useless character I've seen in an anime.The idea to make him literally invisible in some episodes because everyone don't give a fuck about him ,this is genius :D

Conclusion : You know what? I think that if you really want to enjoy Akikan you need to choose between two options : Disconnecting your brain and watch it zombilishly (Like "Duuuuuuuh....Haha baka...Duuuuuh....Oppai...Duuuuh") ,or watch it drunk like the author was when he imagined it ! And now you'll really appreciate it at full potential I'm sure of that !...Nor you can watch it sober ,but it's less funny...But remember just one thing : Think twice before crushing you cans... :3

It's a sweet anime, it doesn't have a difficult plot. It's just empty can's wich turn into girls.. There's sweet romance & humor, but this doesnt get real serious. It reminds me of Chobits a little, without a real serious part in it. If you like sweet, fun anime's, you should definately watch this.

I don't need to say much here. Soda turning into girls and an oblivious young man. Soda girls moves in with him.

Watching this series makes me feel like god. I know exactly what happens before it happens.

Nuff' Said.

A guy drinks a soda and it suddenly turns into a hot girl! Add in the fact that the guy is a perverted high schooler and throw in a bunch of other akikans and you've got a comedic harem.

Sadly, despite my strong initial interest in the great potential that the series could have become, the series takes a very apathetic plot sequence and doesn't do justice to either the characters or the overall theme. There are plenty of large plot holes and things that should have been explained that the production studio decided to just leave as is.

The nature of the show is a combination ... of comedy, romance, ecchi, and action, with an emphasis on the comedic/ecchi aspect. The storyline can be understood by a 5 year old and the linear progression is quite appalling.

There are much better harems/mysteriously-appearing girlfriend series out there. Unless there is absolutely nothing else to watch, I'd avoid this one.

Animation:
The animation is fairly average for a series in its time. It is apparent that some scenes received much more attention than others. While the overall series is colored nicely, the battle sequences were fairly basic and didn't contribute much to the overall feel of the series. There is also an abundance of fan service shots.

Characters are drawn fairly well overall but it ended up looking a bit childish (minus the overflow of ecchi shots).

Sound:
The OPs/EDs were fair but nothing that great. I liked the first OP more than the second OP but they weren't great. The ED changes a bit every episode but it's sort of electro-rap? BGMs weren't very memorable but at least the VAs were good.

Music: 2/5, VAs: 4/5

Story:
Akikan had a lot of potential early on. The theme of a can turning into a girl is quite unique but the concept was explored in as great of detail as I had hoped.

There is this tournament between steel and aluminum cans (no plastic/glass bottles apparently) to determine which will be the can of choice in the nation. Apparently the cans have special powers and are very physically strong and, obviously, there is tension between steel and aluminum akikans.

The majority of the show focuses on the slice of life daily routine of Daichi Kakeru as he teaches Melon about the world and school life, and the occasion not-so-ordinary fights with other akikan.

The plot is very simple and there aren't really any serious complications till the final few episodes in which a somewhat tense but otherwise pathetic climax is reached. The overall climax and resolution are pretty pitiful as it didn't really have to do at all with the series before the final few episodes.

They could have done so much better but it felt as if they just made this a secondary show as Gonzo did with Kaze no Stigma... quite disappointing.

Character:
Daichi Kakeru, Melon, and the other main characters had fairly unique and interesting personalities, but much about the characters' pasts and relations were barely explored.

The largest issue is that the characters just suddenly have strong bonds between the akikan and the "owners". Likewise, steel and aluminum akikans suddenly work together near the end. The development of the characters sometimes didn't match up with the plot sequences and thus the overall series just felt disorganized.

Value:
This is a light, ecchi harem. Don't expect any deep philosophizing or a well-developed plot line. Though some parts of the show were fairly humorous, the lack-luster story and childish character development really made this show fall short of its initial potential.