Shuffle!

NOTICE: if you are looking for an anime that has a good plot, worth of the time you spend watching then you shoulent watch this.

Story/Character:
i heard a lot about shuffle so i was expecting a bit more from this anime..but it really disappointed me..
the story is about an average guy which girls fall in love with for no reason.
the demon and god girl met him 8 years ago, i don't even think it is possible for a kid that young to fall in love in the first place. just because they played together for 1 day.. well at least kaede made more sense, since she ... lives together with Rin..
The main character isn't bad, just average and nothing special about him.
the first 2 episodes weren't that bad, but it just got too boring and i couldn't stand it anymore, the girls just throw them selves at the main character just by seeing him once in the past..
i tried giving shuffle! a chance and thought it might improve, but no, there was no improvement and the story continued moving on with the boring episodic stories, it was like they were just dragging th story and trying hard to make something out of it.
Art:
The art is not bad, though it is nothing impressing either. its average.

Sound:
Not good. the opening was annoying i coulent stand it, though the sounf effects in the series wasent that bad.

Enjoyment:
Didnt enjoy at all.

Overall:
The only thing that i will encourage you to watch shuffle is if you really like comedy with no meaning and random and unreasonable romance in between, fathers and parents who act like 2 years old kids, then you should go ahead and give this a try.

Although Shuffle is a kinda old anime now, I still felt like I had to make a review for it, because I felt it was a little underappreciated. This won't change that, but maybe it will help one or two people discover this anime.

I have also played the VN before I watched this anime, something I don't think other reviewers for this anime mention. I'll talk about that at the overall section.

Story: The story is pretty great. It starts off as a typical harem rom com, but by the middle, that is when the anime really starts. That's when everything begins to really come together, ... and you will know when it happens. When the comedic relief starts to disappear, stuff get's real. 9/10

Art: For its time, the art isn't bad. Inconsistent, a little, but not too horribly. It's also somewhat unique, as I haven't really seen anything quite exactly like it, although I must admit to not having seen much anime from this period. 7/10

Sound: It's noticeable, I think, and I feel that it truly does help to enhance emotions in the sad and happy parts alike. The only thing that holds it back is lack of variety. 8/10

Characters: This is really where the anime shines above all else. Character development becomes important and prevalent halfway in, so it's definitely there if you can get there. Although many other people say that jealousy and anger and emotions similar to them should be more prevalent in the girls, considering the MC takes a while to choose, you also have to consider a couple of things.

Nerine and Lisianthius are not human. This may not seem to be very important, but it also means that they don't feel or react like a human girl might. There is a culture gap there. You can easily tell why Primula wouldn't feel like that. Kaede and Asa are the only ones that feel this, but only eventually, and this is due to life problems, and for one of them, serious mental issues. 9/10

Enjoyment: I really enjoyed this anime. I watched it very happily, and it wasn't a waste of time at all. 10/10

Overall: The VN this is based off of, wasn't very good. I enjoyed it, but it was short, it didn't let you connect with the characters enough that you cared much when their story got tragic. In the anime however, this problem is taken and shattered.

All unexplained things, almost all loopholes, are resolved in the anime. Not only that, but the VN was short. I finished it in about 10 hours. So, 24 episodes is actually kind of a lot. But, the anime took everything in the VN, cranked it up to Super Saiyan 4, until the anime took a life of its own. The stories and characters connect with you deeply, and you actually feel the emotion.

The girl Rin chooses was definitely unexpected for me, but it also made sense to me. And the routes are all finished almost completely, (minus the endings where they get together and everything, obviously) with tons and tons of new material that adds to it.

If you're looking for a faithful adaptation, this isn't for you. However, it is a GOOD adaptation. Which is really rare, ESPECIALLY for a VN adaptation.

Overall, I rate this anime a 9/10, one of my top 5 favorites now.

When I first started watching Shuffle! it seemed like any other harem/ecchi/romance anime which I'd watched so far. I even dropped the series after 14 episodes. However, out of sheer boredom, I decided to give it another shot and I must say I was quite pleasantly surprised.

The first half of the series is quite typical and mediocre. You get to know the characters and witness the typical harem nature of most anime in the said genre. You also get to witness a fair amount of ecchi. The latter half though takes quite a twice in the plot and this is where I really enjoyed ... it.

The characters seemed to mature to quite an extent. Although it did maintain the harem nature to the most part, it seemed a bit more mature I suppose. The latter half is also where you get to witness true romance. The romance between two character (whose names I will not mentions :P ) is tried and tested quite deeply. It's purely for the romance side of the plot that I chose to rate it 8 (whereas I rate most other harem/ecchi 7 at most).

In my opinion all those who enjoy watching anime of the romance genre will enjoy this (if they can be patient with the first half that is)!

Rin Tsuchimi is one of the most underdeveloped main characters I've ever seen. He lives with his equally underdeveloped, life-long friend named Kaede who's only goal in life is to cook and take care of her precious Rin; not that he cares. Despite his lack of character, every girl in anime land STILL wants him.

You're probably wondering by now why I gave this such a high score. By the time I got to the end of the episode I found the set up so ridiculous that I was actually laughing and so I clicked on to the next episode. Then the next. And I'm ... really glad I did.

The focus on this anime is not really the male, of course, but all of his female interests. Kaeda's persona gets fleshed out to reveal a dark regret. Other characters include Sia, princess of the gods and Nerina, princess of the demonds, and Primella a young demon. All three have their own secrets to reveal.

Magic doesn't play a huge role until the second half of the series and while the buildup to the finale was great I found the reasons for conflict a little, well, stupid. Overall though, Shuffle! has some great moments that will reward people if they give it a chance.

When I was first recommended Shuffle! I was put off by the gods/demons side of the plot. I'm not a fan of excessive supernatural elements in school based anime. That reason alone resulted in me avoiding watching it for a very long time, which was a shame because I was already aware of how outstanding the art style, quality and character design was.

After watching a few series, I came back to Shuffle! and decided to look past the supernatural elements of the story and the pointy ears and just give it a go. I have to say I'm very glad I did. For anyone else ... put off by fantasy elements in anime like this, please just ignore it as you'll find it really isn't as bad as you'd think. Although the Gods and Demons part of the plot is relevant at times, it doesn't really involve anything more than a source of comic relief for the majority of the series. So, if you like drama, school, comedy, harem or romance then get Shuffle! watched.

I'm extremely picky when it comes to artwork, being an artist of sorts myself. By definition, I wont watch a series unless I like the art style and character design. Shuffle! has fabulous character design and the art quality and animation is top notch at all times. If you're looking for some well made anime, the art quality of Shuffle is definitely a 10/10. The last show I watched with this quality of artwork was Clannad, which also happens to be my favourite anime. Anyone who's familiar with will have a sense of just how well done the artwork of Shuffle! is. Definitely one of its strongest points.

The general story of this anime isn't really anything original. You have your main guy and several lovely ladies who all happen to have a thing for him. The series essentially revolves around this lucky guy named Rin having to choose one of these girls. Of course, as expected in this genre, Rin is pretty clueless when it comes to girls and even worse when it comes to making a decision.

The thing which really highlighted Shuffle! for me was the character development. In Shuffle! every single one of the main characters gets almost equal screentime. This is particularly important for a show like this, because it allows the viewer to establish which girl they'd like our lucky guy to end up with, in an entirely fair judgement, due to them all getting their equal chance to shine. There are a lot of other shows which fail to do this, and the fact that all of the characters were so well explored really helped me enjoy Shuffle!. In addition all of the girls have their own unique sides which really sets them apart from each other. Some are more shy and lightly spoken, whilst others are outgoing. We have those who are somewhat of a tomboy and others who are very lady like.

The comedy elements of Shuffle! aren't outstanding but it certainly never gets dull. Of course a few of the characters don't really have a funny side, but others are complete comedians. Overall Shuffle brings out a few laughs every now and again, sometimes with originality, sometimes not. If you just want to sit back and enjoy a calm comedy/drama while you work then give it a go.

For those wondering there is a bit of fan service present in this series here and there. In many anime reviews people complain about this, but for me it doesn't boost or lower the rating. I don't feel it was excessive, and in some ways it actually helped bring out more of how certain characters think. So, I wouldn't call it excessive, and since the art is so beautiful I don't think it is anything to complain about. If it really bothers you then just close your eyes.

The second half of the series focuses more on story than comedy, unlike the first half. In the second half we have a lot more drama, but still the occasional comedy. All of the characters are explored once again, in most cases in more detail, and this detail tends to bring more intensity to the show.

For the most part I thought the writing wasn't incredible, but its definitely of a decent quality for this kind of show. The one story related thing I was disappointed with was predictability. This isn't to say the whole anime is predictable, because there were certainly moments which really surprised me, but in the last half of the anime some of the more dramatic scenes were a little too predictable in places. Without spoiling anything, one thing which was a pleasant surprise for me was who ends up together. I wont say who, but he ends up with who I designated my favourite character right from episode one. Lets just say as much as I loved her I certainly didn't expect her to be the choice, in fact I thought she'd be one of the last, so that was a nice surprise for me which definitely bumped my rating of the show up and made the last six or so episodes of the show far more enjoyable.

For those like me who prefer watching the English dubbed version of anime, I'd like to talk about that. When I originally came back and reconsidered Shuffle! I checked out the cast. Judging from the names I have to assume I didn't look at the cast the first time I was recommended this show, or I would've probably watched it then. There are some great actors in this, and in general although a lot of people seem to disagree I thought the English dub was outstanding. Some characters are definitely better than others but overall the English dub was great. Britney Karbowski and Carrie Savage did a great job bringing their characters to life, and Monica Rial gave an absolutely flawless performance as usual. If you're one who goes for dubs you should like this cast.

Overall Shuffle! is a fun, easy going anime with a nice balance of comedy and drama, and a unique use of character development. If this is the type of genre you're interested in I honestly can't give a reason to avoid it. As many have stated it definitely isn't anything original, but the artwork is outstanding and all of the characters are lovely and perfectly developed. It isn't often for me that I like all of the characters, but in this case I did. At the very least I usually have one of two characters who annoy me, but this is definitely absent in Shuffle!. I would've liked to see a real second season of Shuffle! perhaps resembling the format of Clannad After Story, but at the same time the ending did have me satisfied.

Shuffle! isn't a series which will have you sitting in a pool of tears by the end, or something which will give you a lot to think about or change your life, but it definitely is one of the good shows of it's genre. As I've already said, if you like the genre and you like well designed anime then give it a go, or at the very least watch the first few episodes.

Look, I have to be frank with this, and i realize that I might take a bit of heat for what i say here but whatever, I feel like this series could have been far better. I have a few reasons for this such as: most notably this is a harem series which allows for there to be a wide array of characters to satisfy a plethora of viewer desires, which is good. The problem however is that for harems to work the main guy CANNOT pick a girl, there can be moments with some, and small victories for others but the ... end result of who is actually chosen needs to be left open for interpretation by the viewer, because like i said, if it doesnt happen like this its not harem, but simply some show with a bunch of chicks who cant take a hint!
Asa wasnt a romantic interest until about the last six episodes but she just shows up and takes over, whilst all the other girls are just all like "awe good for them"
So yeah i feel like the romance just kinda goes out the window in the whole 2nd half of the series, except for kaede who actually discovers hers, albeit in a completely psychotic manner but hey, by that point it needed a little intesity and that just shows that she cares!-probably more than the rest combined... yes it was painful to watch kaedes slip into (dare i say) insanity, but personally i found it to be touching, plus when she got all up in asa's grill i was cheering becuase kaede was the only girl in the whole frickin series that wanted to stand up for herself, just her means of expression were a bit off and she is condemmed for it, but this side of her is what made her my personal favorite!!
That brings me to my next point, it seems like all the girls have some metal disorders here, we have: 2 with disasociative identity disorder, 1 with severe depression, 1 with bipolar disorder(you have to watch for it, but trust me its there), and finally there are some signs of schizophrenia tossed in too so yeah... psych wardin it up...
Seriously though, towards the end my train of though was as follows: "no no no no NO WHAT THE HELL BRAH!, THIS ENDING IS BULLSHIT!" I literally threw shit across my room at the end, which was funny as hell till my mom started thinking that i was doing drugs or something...
Still in all it starts great, but it is just a general progression of shitiness from then on out. ep 1~17- 9/10, ep 18~24- 1/10

For all the people that disliked this anime and are about to question my line of thought for it's rating, or are about to "unhelpful" this review, hear me out.

Shuffle! is a great anime that shows supernatural, comedic, dramatic, and romantic scenes in beautifully constructed ways. The show is structured very simply at the beginning, where it's just Rin's normal way of living with Kaede, who takes care of him and goes to school with him. Later on in school they meet up with Asa Shigure, as they probably usually do. But there is a surprise in their class when it is said there are ... two new students transferring. These happen to be princesses of the Gods and Demons, and also happen to know Rin from their childhood. They both fight for his hand in marriage, and they're fathers try really hard as well to help out their daughters. The reason i'm stating everything like this is because many people believe that everything was introduced so quickly. But that's where they're wrong. The anime started where all the events started to occur, and the transitions seemed smooth, because it felt like everything, up until the two princesses came along, seemed to happen everyday. So I feel like it had started at the right time.

Something about school oriented animes seem to enrage people. If one of the genres say "School" and your not a big fan of it, then why watch it? I feel like Shuffle! would be stupid without this setting. Kaede wouldn't have met Asa, so Rin wouldn't have met her either. This would destroy the series, so there's no reason to dislike it. I feel like itis a huge help to the anime, and most of the scenarios do not even occur in school.

Sorry for my ranting, here's the Genre Rating:
Comedy, Drama, Ecchi, Fantasy, Magic, Romance, School, Harem, Seinen

Drama - 30 out of 30
The series doesn't start off too dramatic, usually only through jealousy from the girls. But what really hits hard is Kaede's and Asa's arc. The amount of anxiety and depression between these two arcs are insanely emotional. I won't go into detail due to spoilers, but these scenes caused me to keep constantly thinking back on them well after I finished the series. Primula also has a pretty emotional arc, and that's why Drama get's all of it's points.

Harem - 25 out of 25
Yes, I consider the Harem genre as second to drama. But the whole Harem idea is crucial in Shuffle! Not only do they all try to get Rin to love them without regard to his feelings, he also tries very hard to spend time and be kind to them all equally. Only later does Rin realize his stupidity and how he's only hurting each of them more the longer he waits to choose. So I give Shuffle! a lot of credit for the skillful use of Harem.

Romance - 20 out of 20
To be very honest, there's isn't much romance to go on about in the beginning, with some exceptions here and there. But then, when you figure out who Rin really loves, romance booms, to the point where it is surprising. And then there are many circumstances that come with this love, causing in many heart-warming scenes and very saddening scenes all the same, which causes the romatic parts to be somewhat enhanced.

School - 13 out of 15
I did just make a big deal about how school was very important to Shuffle!, yet there is one thing that kept it from getting a perfect score. Lisanthius and Nerine both switch into Rin's class. Right then, it seems like all the main characters are all in the same class and are also sitting next to each other, which bothered me a great deal. But as I said before, the series wouldn't be much without the school setting, so it was very significant in Shuffle!

Ecchi - 10 out of 10
Can you believe this? An anime that uses ecchi to increase problems for the main male protagonist and is used in these situations smartly? I couldn't believe that Shuffle! could actually use ecchi other than fan service, even though some scenes were obviously fan service. Besides those, the use of ecchi was all in all creating problems for Rin throughout, most notebly Kaede and Sia. Some people may complain that it is unneccessary, but don't realize the specifics behind it. So I find it as the last major genre that is worth mentioning.

Overall - 98 out of 100
Shuffle! hit me hard with all of it's dramatic, romantic, and anxious scenes. I find this as one of my favorite anime and I can't see why anyone would find it any worse, but I guess personal opinions matter the most. If you are reading this and haven't watched Shuffle! yet, I highly reccomend you do, because it stirs emotions in you that you may never had experienced.

I have written A LOT because I felt the need to show the people that dislike it are so very general with their dislikes. Hopefully reading my specifics helped clear some things up. And if you noticed that I didn't include comedy or fantasy as one of the rating scales, that doesn't mean they aren't important. The comedy helped get through some scenes, and Asa was completely full of laughter, as was the princess's fathers. And fantasy is hugely important due to the fact that Sia is from the World of the Gods, and Nerine being from the World of Demons.

Thanks for reading this review. If you have any questions about my genre rating scale, then just message me. I leave you with the traditional ratings.

Story - 10/10
Art - 10+/10
Sound - 10/10
Character - 10/10
Enjoyment - 10+/10
Overall - 10/10

"I love you...please don't leave me..."

This anime sucked, plain and simple.
Most of the time i watched this anime, i found it hard to watch as a result of boring storyline and largely boring characters.
When I say largely boring characters, I mean they were just one Dimensional harem characters e.g childhood friend, aggressive girl. For a brief period of time somewhere after episode 12, some characters began to show their darker sides. This was interesting.
It even led to a scene involving a knife (wont go into too much detail and spoil). As someone who who watches alot of film on top of anime, I can tell you this was one ... of the best scenes I have ever seen (scene seen lol).
Sadly though, one scene alone cannot lift a mediocre anime filled with cliché. Even the interesting character developement fizzled out after a while, leaving us with boring characters once again.

Also worth mentionin is that the whole demons and angel supernatural thing was kinda unnecessary. They seemed to at points want to make subplots about it but the anime would have worked much better as a traditional high school anime-sans supernatural.

All in all, if you are foolish enough to watch this anime you will likely regret it. This review will probably get alot of votes down (as is traditional in anime fandom), but please save yourself by not watching. Or at least dont get your hopes up.

Shuffle! Is an anime that may seem like a typical harem anime where the girls compete with each other to get the guy, BUT towards later on in the story a lot of surprises happen that no one can expect, you girls and guys might as well start guessing who he will end up with!

I know you may think that he will end up with either the god or the demon girl's but who knows it may happen, not going to give out any spoilers but it is a true shock of what will happen the first 15 episodes are introduction to the characters ... in my opinion and then the real story starts , this is a very good anime to watch if u enjoy romance / drama / fantasy , with some comedy.

This anime packs a lot of secrets and unexpected turn of events all i can say about this certain anime is do not judge a book by its cover ! you may be bored the first 4 episodes but you will enjoy the anime if this is your kind of genre

What to expect - expect a good ending ! it will give u closure and make you happy that you finished this anime because it is well thought out! this anime contains Drama / Romance / Comedy / Slice of life / Fantasy , If this is not your kind of genre I do not suggest it to someone who enjoyed an anime such as hellsing and prefers to watch action over anything else


All i can say from this anime is prepare for a shock of a life time , i know my ratings may seem a bit over exaggerated but , this is my personal rating for this anime

This is by far the worst anime I have ever seen, I thought the bar couldn't actually go any lower than School Days but I was wrong, oh I was so wrong.

The "pilot" of Rin becoming the next king of heaven or hell gets scraped half way threw the show, Kaede the childhood friend who would do anything for Rin is treated like trash, Asa the chick who is playing the friend roll for over half the show ends up dating Rin, not the girl who took care of him for 8 years and acts like his abused wife or the two princess, nah ... the friend from middle school who kind of likes him, the last 3 episodes are filler, none of the other girls move on once Asa and Rin are together, the soundtrack is dull, the animation only gets worse and worse, other than poor little Kaede none of the characters are developed past your typical anime stereotype chicks and on top of all of that trash whenever the show needs to progress they would throw whatever they felt like in at the last second with no warning like Asa being the only human with magic or Lisianthus having a split personality.

this show is the worst anime of all-time, kill it with fire!!!

this was bad enough for me to write my first review this is not a harem comedy. I don't consider anime where the main char chooses only one girl in the end, to be a harem because lets face it thats not why i fucking watch these. the MC is the biggest most indecisive douche bag I have ever seen the story is great up untill the middle it gets rly fucking dark i did not sign up for that shit. the "supernatural" is not even rly a big part. if you are watching this because it is a harem "DO NOT BOTHER" this is ... not a all the girls go for all being in love at the same time deal.

This is very belated, what with it being 2017 as I write this, but, if you actually get down to my review, I hope you'll find it helpful.

This is an important anime. The reason is because of the very serious issues it addresses, that the writers buried in the harem aspects.
It is the only anime I've ever seen that addresses ALL of the following issues:

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Abortion and the possible consequences thereof.

Just how far is it ethical to go when experimenting ... on humans?

What should the rights of clones be?

How should we react to family groupings that are outside the norm?

What do you do when you find out that someone you've blamed for years for a horrific situation was actually protecting you and it was your fault?

Not discussing a situation with someone who could help you can result in a potentially fatal result.

How do you deal with guilt over a situation that you didn't participate in but which was of great benefit to you?

The writers also handled the use of symbolism, in the literary sense, in an excellent manner. They used it to emphasize the other questions they presented. It was done so well/smoothly that I suspect that most people missed it.

To be honest I watched many harem anime but this one blew my mind. The Anime started off as a demon god harem comedy with girls competing with each other ( like in a normal harem anime) over one of most pathetic MC you will ever see. When you can become a demon king or god or both but you choose something off the list is when it drives me up the wall. Moreover MC is a pussy who thinks he can make others happy by friendzoning all the girls after that choosing someone who is off the list and he realise he has hurting ... what was once precious to him by ignoring them he tries repent his sins by running away from home living separately because he think he was spoiled by the care given to him by someone who loves to serve him. More even being surrounded by beauties MC can't figure out his feelings whom he should date or should he date. If you like harem ROM com which stays on the track then this anime is not for you

The daughter of the King of Gods and the daughter of the King of Demons move in next door.. Now what?
There's 3 girls clambering for his attention;
Lisianthus Eustoma, Sia for short, the princess of the Gods.
Nerine, or Rina, the princess of the Demons.
And Kaede, Rin's childhood friend whom he lives with.
Then Primula and Asa Shigure come along.
All the girls are beautiful, adorable and sweet. But you can tell there's secrets and possibly darker things lurking in their pasts.

It starts off really fun, lots of comedy and story building. You get introduced to the characters and see little snippets of the past.
The Ecchi is there, ... but it's mostly subtle. To an extent, anyway.
Then it has it's sad parts, starting toward the middle and continuing from there.
The second half is definitely more serious, and gives the anime itself more appeal. It seems to bring everything together. The drama and secrets start coming out and turns the story around completely.

For a good mix of comedy and drama, Shuffle has it!

Ok, I got annoyed a lot by this show, the biggest problem for me, is it starting taking one route, then purposely running it into a brick wall. What starts as a harem, with a guy living alone with a girl who he has no real feelings for, explores the ups and down on harem life. The jealousy, possessiveness, naivety, and of course the classic guy who is clueless as never dated before.

It almost felt like several people were writing the anime, each trying to sabotage the other's work and hopeful outcome. We have multi personalities, craziness, an ... emotionless loli, the girl who hits and breaks rib force among the group and the characters feel a bit ludicrous by the time, they build and then are sabotaged. It feels like walking into a random room at the asylum, picking up a partner who is one person today, another tomorrow.

Add on top of that when a daughter is looking like she will die, the mother is just, i will leave it to you, to our clueless male MC. The character development at some stage came to a while after we got to know one side of the character, and then totally distorted how you feel about them so what had the potential to be good v evil. human v devil v god just felt like picking the best of a bad bunch.

A nice idea, shame about how badly was carried out. As an older anime sound and art aren't as good, characters are ranging but plot holed and this made the entertainment and overall value drop for me

I'll start by saying this. Harems are harems - you should know what you're getting when you sit down to watch the genre. Having said that, Shuffle! is pretty much everything you want out of a harem without being too predictable.

The story is pretty good overall and the characters are great. A harem without good characters is really just the worst. This show is a little more fun/light and comedy-based but it gives me Clannad vibes a bit. It certainly doesn't match Clannad's awesomeness but it's a good show if you're looking for something similar (aside from the other Key VN stuff).

Shuffle!
Shuffle. Shuffle? Shuffle! Shuffle! Shuffle! Shuffle! Shuffle! Shuffle!
Hhmm Sorry, on to the review then.

Art and Animation
Shuffle! is technically ok. Artistically it is "good" if you consider inappropriate fanservice good, I don't.
5/10

Sound and Music
Opening and ending themes are good, I liked them. Rest of ost is background noise.
... 6.5/10

English voice cast performance
For some reason FUNimation decided do give this show a really good dub, apart from voice actresses trying to sing.
7.5/10

Story, Characters, and Writing in general
Overarching story is average at best, apart from one or two episodes with genuinely good writing episodic story isn't much better.
Two characters have personality the rest of them are harem checklist tropes.
Ending is rage inducing, but at least show ended with out possibility for another season.
3/10

Enjoyment
Shuffle! is rage inducing show. I did not liked it.
1.5/10

Final score and conclusion
Shuffle! is not good, disgracing one of two decent female characters for horrible ending didn't help.
Apart from the dub there isn't anything of value to be found here

FINAL SCORE: 4.7/10
IGNORE IT!

Yes. I know. It doesn't average out. Deal with it.

Shuffle! is a harem anime based off a visual novel, as you probably already know. Beyond that, the series completely lost me.

Story: When it got to a certain point for me, there story blew right past me and everything kind of went downhill. Guy meets one girl from the past, then another, and soon has all sorts of girls around him. Typical harem, nothing special.

Art: For the most part, I have found that animes that come from visual novels tend to have good art, and this series was no exception. The overall art to me was ... above average, but nothing that stands out.

Sound: Meh. Again, nothing special. Voice actors aren't bad. For instance, the voice actor for the main male protagonist Rin also did Kyon in Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi. Nothing particularly bad about the overall sound, but wasn't great either.

Character: I should really be giving this a lower score...The fact that some of the main characters were introduced for no apparent reason in the end really hurt the series. Still, anyone looking for a harem anime will find that there is a girl for almost all the general categories.

Enjoyment: I didn't like the ending. There's nothing much more to say. Again, the fact that some main characters did not have a big impact in any way at the end really hurt. Other than that, I almost thought the series was going to turn out like School Days for a moment, and I almost stopped watching the end altogether.

Overall: If you want a harem anime, it's right here. If you were looking for a romance series between the main male protagonist and one of the more main female protagonists, prepare to be badly disappointed.

6/10

The only redeeming features that this anime has are the artwork and the sound, and even those are fairly mediocre and simply typical art for the early 2000's.

While I remember watching about half of this anime when I was younger and thinking it was pretty decent, upon finishing it recently, I realize just how awful it is. The story, scripts, and character design are all dreadfully mediocre. The entire anime can be summed up as follows:

An incredibly simple protagonist who doesn't know how to clearly tell women that he's not interested forms a harem with girls he knows at school, some of which ... are demons, and one of which is his psychopathic childhood friend. The girls all fall in love with him just because he's "kind" and that's it. Nothing else. He has no redeeming qualities other than he's "kind" which ends up causing more harm than good as he never makes his intentions clear. By the end, he ends up with a girl that didn't have nearly the same amount of character development as the other characters (nearly in harem anime where the lead character ends up with one character, a good amount of time is spent on that character specifically with the other "arcs" simply acting as additional content to flesh out the world and interactions with other characters, not simply go from one girl's arc to the next, in order, so that the last one's arc is the one he ends up with with no real development leading up to that point) and, quite frankly, was an odd choice, in my opinion, for the girl he ends up with.

tl;dr
A guy is "kind" to some girls -- including demon girls --, they end up absolutely in love with him, and he's not clear with his intentions which simply leads to cliche and incredibly mediocre "drama."

The last several episodes don't even feel necessary. There's no need to have a whole 24 episodes. The same story could have been told in 21 or fewer. In fact, to be quite honest, this should have just been a 12 episode anime, from the start. There's not enough depth of story or character depth to keep it going for as long as it did.

I watched the Japanese dub (as I always do) and this is one of the first times where I've watched an anime and felt that the Japanese dub was fairly poor. Almost the entire cast just came off as really whiny compared to most high school slice of anime casts.

The only reason I finished it was simply so I could mark it as "completed" and never think about it again. That, and because I like Nerine's character design. That's about it. This is one of the first, and so far one of the only, animes I've ever regretted watching.

painfully mediocre/10.

Ok here i go, this is more of an overall review instead of a break it down, for sound, lighting,positioning, ect. So if you wana hear a review of the Anime as a general please keep reading, you might find this very insightful. Lets start from the Start of my adventure with this anime, i was looking for a comedy, ecchi, somthing fun. I ignored the Drama setting on the side, and said its ok. I was wrong. This anime, i give it a 5 not because it was terrible, but because of the logic and understanding of it. I wont lie, the story and ... development is Amazing, down right amazing. Done well. But the characters, this isnt some happy thing, the first 10 episodes trick you. They make you believe this is all going to go smoothly, but after about episode 15, you see the true colors and it only gets worse. I already knew this anime was going to end not so well, but didnt expect it to end or even get close to such an ending as it did. This anime non the less is not for the weak of heart, nor the people that will linger of who the love selection is. This anime only showed me one that its trying to tell everything, and is how Weak and unstable people can get, that how the lowest point of your mentality can be. The characters are not smart at all, they are all redundant to be an Entity (an individual) they all feed off of others and can not find there own will to live.
If your looking for enjoyment, please walk away you will not find any joy here, just a fake lie within the 10 first episodes to keep you drawn in, and then it bursts at you, and you wont even relize what you got yourself into, but your already to far in to back out. This anime, is only for those looking for an amazing story, that will not take it to a serious level, this is my first review, not because im angry at the anime, but because of how Terrible Amazing it was (a Paradox). In the end this animes characters are its down fall, and its success. This anime has stunned me and make me never want to see it again. But yet, i have respect for this anime, because of the story, and how it is. But on a lighter note, these characters personalities are soo @#@#@#@$@#@$ over xD its just sad to see. But yet its amazing with there personalities, what they still had done. I say, heres my check off for those wondering to see this anime
Want joy, and only a good time, dont care for story? Dont get close to this anime.
You want story? and yet a laugh and a chuckle, and maybe even a WTF? then watch it, but honestly, even though this anime was Amazing and terrible at the same time, Im glad i watched, i just never want to see it again.