Chuu Bra!!

I originally watched this show because the synopsis for it seemed absolutely ridiculous, but surprisingly enough it was good for a lot more than just cheap laughs. After reading other people's opinion on it, it made me very sad how few people really understand this anime.

The target audience is in fact not horny young men attracted to 2D girls. It isn't even ecchi. It is targeted to everyone with an open mind.

The message this show is trying to get across is that underwear is a lot more than just eye-candy for men.
It portrays painfully well what the state of the world is for underwear ... and how people can't shake off the belief that it is something shameful, something to hide and talk about only in secrecy -- which is a pity, because, as this show proves, there is a lot to be said there, and the designs are worth admiring.

While the anime is lacking in visuals, sound and unique characters (except Nayu), many of the problems it deals with no anime to my knowledge has dealt with before.

By now, every regular MAL visitor is pretty much used to all sorts of anime, be it action, drama, romance, or something light-hearted and silly. There is one thing a lot of them have in common, though: They can be rather naughty from time to time. To see an anime that takes the subject of showing off cleavage and underwear without trying to lean towards the 'ecchi' side is rather courageous. It didn't exactly succeed in staying innocent and all, but it did bring us a silly yet heart-warming story featuring characters with each their own personality, a loose yet fitting storyline and some fairly ... decent art.

"Chuu Bra!!" is really an anime targeted towards a female audience. It's light-hearted, silly and involves girls talking about their undergarments. For guys, this might take a turn to the pervy, but it's not all that bad. It did add in some subtle elements to prevent leaning towards a female-only audience too much by including a guy's perspective, and some rather "interesting" scenes which to be honest didn't exactly have to be in there, but they were a fun extra bit.

The story involves a girl named Nayu Hayama, a middle schooler with an obsession for female underwear. After accidentally tripping during the opening ceremony and revealing some rather interesting panties, rumors stated some wrong things about her, but this didn't stop her from making some good friends and starting a "society" (club-like, but not a club) that researches underwear for girls who are not sure what kind they should be wearing. The whole society is pretty much the main plot element that keeps the story together, as the main characters always meet up during events and such, which improves their overall character development. The society includes our main character, two of her female friends (Yako and Haruka), and a guy who can't look at underwear for a second without feeling embarassed (Hiroki). Later on, another girl joins in (the typical rich-type girl who looks tough and all, but is actually kind and stuff) named Kiyono. All the club really does is converse about underwear and the likes, but as in anime like K-On, it tends to lead to different everyday conversations. The rest is pretty standard school stuff, and event planning and such, similar to before said anime.

Granted, the story seems a bit bland, but it's the whole "talking about underwear as if it's the most normal thing in the world" that makes the anime interesting. Normally, you'd expect it to go all ecchi and stuff when it comes to that, and it does have its moment from time to time, but it's surprisingly innocent as a whole. For the 12 episodes that it has, it's really nicely executed, and you can say it "provides fan-service without it feeling like fan-service". It simply doesn't feel naughty or anything, it's just fun to watch.

The art and sound are basic. It's a shame the show itself got a very poor BD release, resulting in artefacts and poor upscaling. However, the art as a whole isn't that bad, but it's nothing special either. It's similar to anime like "Love Lab" and "K-On", which still makes it entertaining. Same goes for the sound, it being nothing special, but not bad either, and both the art and sound add to the overall silly atmosphere this anime has. It really fits well with the character builds, and I wouldn't have seen it drawn in any other way.

In conclusion, this anime is a unique experience. Even though it's categorized as both "Comedy" and "Ecchi", it doesn't exactly feel like the latter should be marked, but it's understandable. Granted, the underwear bits (which there are a lot of) can be pleasing to the male eye and mind (or female depending on what you're into), but it's certainly not the main goal of the anime. Not only does it educate girls by learning them about proper underwear, it brings it in a way that both males and females can enjoy it without feeling awkward. The characters in overall are a lot of fun to watch, each sharing their own traits and having their own personality. Although character development is difficult with only 12 episodes, I think they did a pretty decent job at it. I would probably re-watch this with friends and have a laugh, too. It's quite a fun little anime, and although not exactly memorable, it does leave kind of an impression on you. I certainly would recommend giving this a try, either if you're into comedy or if you simply want to check out the "fan-service". Either way, it's a fun little show to watch inbetween. Something I never would've thought I would say about an anime mostly featuring women's underwear. At least, without having certain thoughts about it, if you know what I mean.

Honestly, this is one of the animes that gain low notes by the stupidest mistakes of the reviewers. So, i am gonna make things clear right from the beginning. Point 1: These are NOT elemental school girls, they are 15 in the least. Point 2: This is NOT a fanservice show, it may sound like so from the premise, but it has minimal amounts of fanservice, this is a story anime. Now that's taken care of, let's start with the actual review.
Hayama Nayu is a fanatic for underwear, given that her grandmother and her brother are both designers, it is not unreal. She has good ... grades too, but dont have any friends, due to some nasty rumors spread by nasty girls. But, things start to improve when she manages to befriend two classmates, then they start to try and inform people about the right way to use underwear.
I'll say it again, this is not a fanservice show, it deals with things like the taboo of the underwear, which keeps girls from asking about it, thus prompting them to use their underwear in the wrong way. And makes very hard to get the school to accept the underwear club.
The character development is great, from Nayu learning to not run away from the difficulties, the other girls learning to accept her own bodies and Komachi (the boy of the club) learning to ignore the opinions of others, on the matter of him being on the underwear club. Of course it's more complicated than that, but i will spoil no more, it's best to see by yourselves.
Woman will probably identify more with this show, as it adresses very real problems related to the teenage years, where your body is still developing and things start to get confuse, but it can be enjoyed by anyone.
And last thing, it has NO ACTION, not even a single bit, managing to keep things entertaining only by the story and characters proves that is a good show. And now that is over, i would gladly watch a second season if it were ever produced, overall i like this show.