Princess Lover!

Of course this is series is still ongoing so I'll be giving my current impressions of the Anime.
Initially I was skeptical about watching this since it seemed like just another harem Anime thrown at us. But so far I find it quiet enjoyable.

. Pros
+ Not your typical generic harem
+ Has a mature feel to it
+ Nice balance between comedy and drama
+ Unique setting, harem in a rich setting
+ Pleasing visuals which matches the theme and setting
+ Ecchi not over the top ( well most of it is censored anyways )
+ Comedy level is just right
+ Potential to get serious in the latter of the series
+ Characters have depth to them
+ Big boobs

. Cons
- Censored ( it can be good too, fanservice can be distracting ).
- Girls a bit cliched ( but the series makes them feel refreshing )
- Will it be able to wrap up nicely given it's only 12 episodes total?

. In Detail :
So far it doesn't seem to be your typical generic harem Anime. I haven't watched an extensive amount of harems. But I found the rich harem theme of this Anime unique. The main character is rich and so are the rest of the girls. While harems are typically comedic this one has a serious tone right off the bat. Of course that doesn't mean this Anime doesn't have comedy ( it is labeled ecchi, though it's currently censored ), it does. I feel that this Anime so far has a nice balance of comedy and seriousness. The series so far seems to have more depth than the typical harem. It takes the characters and plot in a mature way while being able to entertain us at the same time. Something that definitely stood out to be was the visuals which I found very pleasing to the eyes. It fits the theme of the Anime well which I believe greatly enhances the entire experience. While the characters may be fairly cliched ( girl with sword,tsundere, etc ), the way the series currently presents them makes the experience more refreshing. There's not so much to say bad about the Anime, it only just started and I didn't start watching with very high expectations. But so far I'm surprised by how well I enjoy it so far. It seems that it well get more serious in the latter of the series. I'll continue watching. read more

When asked about the nature of a harem anime, most anime fans think: average guy, surrounded by 3 or more seemingly unattainable girls, in an unusual setting chuck full of breast-grabbing and panty-flashing. Does Princess Lover fall into this abysmal group? Yes, however it had the potential to achieve a lot more than what most harems fail to achieve, seeing how it's based on a rather popular visual novel.

That potential was shown in its characters however that same potential was foolishly squandered with its mediocre story. The story itself is typical, yet intriguing enough to keep most viewers interested. It’s about your average teenage boy named Teppei, living an average life, with his average family... Then shit happens and our protagonist is later forced to live with his super rich grandpa and transfer to some absurd school for the super rich.

After watching this I thought the writer must’ve taken whatever he could find from “Ye ol’ book of anime clichés” and decided that was their plot. Strangely enough, it worked surprisingly well when it came to introducing the characters to this profoundly entertaining story. The first half of the story basically sets this kind of tone for an exhilarating short series but in the end it was a wasted effort once the “real” story kicks in and boy, are you in for a ride. By ride I mean a one-way ticket to idiotsville, because only an idiot would throw away an enjoyable story for the garbage that replaced it.

With all that said, this anime didn’t entirely turn into a steaming pile of crap and that’s thanks to the interesting cast of main characters. Harem protagonists usually fall into 2 groups: the losers and the kind-hearted saviours. Yet Teppei initially doesn’t fall into either, because within his playful character is a young lad struggling to deal with his past and moral dilemmas. Not to forget the 4 leading heroines, who were rather well developed, some more than others and 2 of which who seemed similar in design and personality to 2 more well-known characters from other series. Whether that was intentional or not is unknown to me but they happened to be the most interesting of the 4 heroines. However apart from Teppei’s grandpa, the supporting cast turned out to be far weaker than the loosely put together story and if a couple of them were killed off, the story could have done a whole lot better.

The production values are somewhat difficult to delve into since a fairly unknown studio (GoHands) took on this series. The music was just about as memorable as every breath I take and the sound productions overall really isn’t any good. Yet the art style and animation has a unique vibrancy to it, giving a colourful experience that’s pleasing to the eyes. However the jarring simulated camera panning/rotation and the out of proportion bust sizes really brought it down for me.

Overall Princess Lover is a series that I hoped would break the chain of generic harem that seem to appear year after year, yet all it did was add unto the already tarnished reputation of the harem genre. Some of the blame falls onto the villains, who were the worst villains ever constructed but I blame the real villain… the idiot who thought of this crap. Well if you don’t mind all that I’ve said then watch at your own discretion; however I feel it’s more worthwhile to sit wait for the next Key & KyoAni collaboration.
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Shit, where do I start, man. Well, here's the thing: I've been watching anime for over five years, which means that I've seen several romance/harem series (everything from Maison Ikkoku to Love Hina). Most of them have the same traits, but in order to poke out a bit from each other, they'll have to be in different settings. The question is if it's different and well enough executed in a fashion that captivates the viewer. And I'll let it out straightaway: Princess Lover fails epicly at that. By looking at the title, you know that you're already fucked:

Uh, so the main character, Arima is going to succeed Arima Group Corporation, and by the sounds of it, it looks like it's like the biggest company in the world. And who's gonna take over it in near future? A teenager that knows shit about business. Who in the world would give away such a big responsibility to a relative they barely knew just like that? I can go on and on about this plot convenience, but hey, I'll spare you for that.

Because succeeding the corporation is just a lame excuse to enter a rich girls' school (okey, there are also boys there, but we barely get to see them). And of course, who do we meet there? It's the pink-haired girl whom he saved and his fiancee. And to answer your question straightaway: Yes, they do have big breasts. And yes, the pink-haired girl hugs Arima all the time with her gonzanga breasts. She's your typical cheery girl with a cheery voice with a hand that likes to wave awfully a lot. And the fiancee? She's your typical, somewhat-shy girl who speaks little. And when she does speak, she speaks kinda without emotions. She has coincidentally fencing as a hobby, which coincidentally matches with Arima's kendo, so they have by chance some common ground, I guess. With other words, we've seen these type of personalities before. A lot. So what personality are we missing now? Tsundere? And yes, there is a tsundere girl in the series. You'll know it straightaway when she pops up for the first time (hint: she has a slightly annoying/whiny voice, which all tsunderes have, so I guess that's alright). Did I mention that we also have a big-breasted maid? The anime industry sure knows what we like. And Arima Teppei is your average male main character.

And that's not the best part yet (and by that, I mean the worst). The thing is with harem series, is that the plot can't be all fluffy and boobilicious all the time; it also needs some drama. Without telling too much: It's fucking ridiculous when you get to it. If you by any chance come to episode 7 or 8 (I don't quite remember which one), you're gonna have a fuckin' laugh. I swear, the plot progression from there might be the most retarded one in harem anime history. It's clearly not to be taken seriously. I don't know, but I sure facepalmed a lot during that particular episode. And by of what I've heard; the series is based off of an H-game, so that kind of sucky plot is expected, I guess.

Is there anything good in Princess Lover? The art is decent and not ugly to look at. The animation is standard, but not bad. And if you're looking for ecchi-ness, you've found it. A lot of booooobies. *coughEDcough* The music is not memorable at all; it's just generic. Visually speaking, the opening was pleasing to look at. In fact, I remember the breasts more than the music itself. And btw, Arima Isshin's voice is so badass (Wakamoto Norio is badass after all).

So unless you enjoy torturing yourself or your friends, avoid Princess Lover at all cost. I fuckin' used 160 minutes of my life saving your eyes. At least the show wasn't as bad as Koi Koi Seven. If you wanna see only big breasts and ecchi-ness, then there's actually better shows for that, like "He is my Master!". If you're looking for a good romance/harem anime, then go watch "Ichigo 100%" (the manga is better, though), "True Tears", "Lovely Complex" or "ef - a tale of memories".

YOU OWE ME YOUR LIFE. read more

[b]Princess Lover![/b]
I watched this anime because is ecchi and i like ecchi so i wasn't expecting this to have a good story but it was fine.

[b][u]Story[/u][/b]
At first this is interesting since the first episode, but as the episodes goes, it was ridiculous, there's a lot of plot holes and i felt that i was watching a mexican novel serie, filled with stupid plot holes that you can see even blindfolded, the thing is that the story could have been really good if this wasn't rushed, so i didn't like it because of those freaking plot holes, overall was fine.

[b][u]Art & Sound[/u][/b]
It was good on both, it really matched the scenes and the ecchiness was enjoyable too, the voice acting was good too.

[b][u]Character[/u][/b]
The characters weren't deeply developed, not everyone at least, is like they forgot the other two girl MC, they barealy appeared a lot and the girl of the main story was forgotten, they didn't have the time to talk and i'm talking about Sylvia, i hated that they didn't even try or at least Teppei didn't try to know her and she was a big part of the story for f**k sake, Seika appeared more than Sylvia, they only focused on Charlotte, and i still don't know nothing about Sylvia who i wanted to see more than Charlotte.

[b][u]Enjoyment[/u][/b]
I really enjoyed this despite the bad things, i wanted to take the good things, like the ecchiness, the comedy and a part of the story despite the plot holes and the writers not caring about the story, the ending was like lol wtf but overall was good enjoyment. read more