Mamotte Shugogetten!

I can't believe I finished this anime. Why? Well first of all, it's not the kind of anime I would watch. The way the characters were drawn were a bit sub par for me (and there were occassions when Takashi's hair was miscolored) the color pallette used was a bit too tacky and it looked kinda old and dowdy for some reason. I just finished it because that's the way I am - I finish what I start.

I have to say though that watching it was a bit too painful at times. Some episodes were just so bad, like the episode were Shaorin first went to school. let me tell you - it was bad. It was so boring I find myself half asleep and not bothering to understand the situation fully. There were episodes that were ok, like the one where Takashi, Tasuke's friend, accidentally took with him Shaorin's uniform. That was an episode that gave me a lot of laughs.

It did remind me of Ranma 1/2. I would say it was a combination of Ranma and Ah! My Goddess, but the problem was the execution. It was executed poorly and it wasn't nearly as good as the two series I mentioned. I think it was the bad storylines - I just thought that some of the topics were shallow.

The music was the first thing that got me to watch the anime. The opening and ending sequence showed Tasuke and Shaorin singing the songs, and apparently it takes that much to impress me. I realized later that the songs tend to be stupid and boring after the first two episodes, and it doesn't make up for the bad storyline.
There were good points though. I loved the hoshigami. Rishu and Kohan were just too cute. I also find the Tasuke - Shaorin match up to be a bit endearing. Other than that, I can say no more.

Like I said in the beginning, the fact that I finished watching all episodes is a bit surprising. I probably wouldn't even have watched it if I had known it had a weak storyline and poor execution. I can't say it's the worse anime ever, but It's definitely in the bottom of the food chain.

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When I ran into this title, I foolishly set my expectations really high because the opening was fun and catchy and it made me look forward to meet the characters. However, it disappointed me completely to the point that at times it was really painful to watch; so painful that a couple of times I fell asleep.

Mamotte starts as your average anime, it introduces its characters, gives you an idea of what is to follow and leaves you with an impression that you will watch a mediocre at least school-life comedy. Well, in the beginning, at least. After that what follows is a bunch of formulaic standalone episodes which pretty much follow the same pattern; something triggers a random event, Ruan makes the matter worse - usually while trying to get Tasuke’s attention- Tasuke gets in trouble and the kind Shaorin comes to save the day.

As the story progresses, the only change is that Tasuke’s and Shaorin’s feelings for one another become clearer. But that doesn't necessarily mean that is actually a good thing as it can get annoying at times; the cheesy inside monologues and pointless melodramatic scenes do not really help.

But it's not just Tasuke and Shaorin who want to express their love, everyone loves them, what every single character wants is either to gain Tasuke’s or Shaorin’s love or just to be there to support them, they have no other purpose and no development, a cast full of dry stereotypes. Even though there were a bunch of likeable side characters they were left in the shadows due to the poor storyline.

I tried hard to enjoyed it as much as I could, with no results, it was with all honestly, a completely waste of time. I would not recommend this to anyone over 13-14 years old. In the end maybe I should have just watched the opening.

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It seems like a lot of people got interested in this anime because of its opening, and those same people seem to be disappointed by the show itself. I'm sort of in the same boat.

The story is your basic magical girlfriend plot line; if you've seen this kind of show, you know what to expect story-wise. It doesn't really do anything new in this department. Each episode tends to be a different misadventure of your main cast, and some of them can get kind of ridiculous, stupid, or boring. Mamotte Shugogetten tends to put more emphasis on the comedy than on the romance, though the humor can be really hit and miss. It might be enough to get a little laugh out of you, or might not.

The show has a cast of about 8 main characters. A lot of the time the show seems to just cram every character it's got into each episode and it can feel kind of overwhelming and unnecessary. The characters themselves are, again, not anything very new, but I think they can be enjoyable. Shaorin and Tasuke are your main couple, and they're cute enough, just your average couple you would see in this genre. The rest of the cast is the center of comedy, with the main gag being that they're all constantly trying to win the affection of either Tasuke or Shaorin (with the exception of two of them). This joke can get really stale when it gets used so often.

I think the art style is very nice, and Shaorin especially has a great design. Another one of the characters, Ruuan, also has a unique design that really sticks out. The animation itself isn't always great, but it does what it needs to do for this kind of show. The voice acting is fine and voices suit the characters. The background music is just generic synth/MIDI-sounding stuff, nothing special there. However, the opening -- and I hate to say this -- is really the best thing in Mamotte Shugogetten. I didn't skip it even once. Its a really awesome song with visuals that suit it perfectly. The ending song is also pretty nice, with interesting and creative visuals.

So, I didn't hate Mamotte Shugogetten, but I was let down. I was expecting something more unique and interesting. I guess the best way to describe this show is "harmless" or "mediocre". It doesn't really bring anything different or new, but it also isn't atrocious or offensively bad, and there is some charm to it. If you go into this show expecting a serious show and something really fresh and new, you're going to be seriously disappointed. But if you just want some simple lighthearted fun, I guess this is an okay anime for that, but you could do better.

The manga is pretty different and focuses more on the romance instead of the comedy, and it also doesn't have the filler that the anime does. So if any of the ideas in this anime interest you, I'd recommend to just read the manga instead. You will have a much better time.

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