I am very, very upset and disturbed. Given that I☆Can is a netorare (NTR) hentai (netorare is when a girl is "stolen" from her lover by a third party), I'm not surprised about the former. The latter, though, is a bit unusual.
Quick summary: I did not enjoy I☆Can.
I☆Can is the story of a girl (Miyu) who is just starting out as an idol. Her manager (Ryouta) is also her high-school sweetheart. They are in a slowly progressing, supportive relationship, when Miyu's producer (Terada) decides he wants a piece of her. If you are familiar with NTR, then the rest is
...
obvious. If you aren't, here's a summary: Terada repeatedly rapes Miyu. Ryouta finds out but is powerless to stop it. Then finally, when Ryouta manages to confront Terada about it, Miyu decides she'd rather have Terada and abandons her former lover.
I do not consider that summary to be a spoiler. Someone I know made the point that, in order for a statement to be a spoiler, it must, by revealing information about the plot, make something less enjoyable than it would be were the viewer to go in without knowing that information. I think knowing what happens in an NTR hentai is the only chance for it to be at all satisfying. That's my disclaimer.
So, to begin with, I have to wonder why I put myself through I☆Can in the first place, since I don't even like NTR. The answer is that PoRo makes very, very hot hentai. I've also found that the sex in NTR works tends to be hotter than average. This is kind of disturbing under critical analysis, because NTR usually consists of pretty much nothing but rape. So, for starters, I☆Can is only going to float your boat if you can deal with (or are totally into) rape scenes. I can deal with rape scenes, but I am most certainly NOT a big fan of them.
Let's start the standard review with the art. The art is pretty good. Bright colors, sharp lines, everything you've come to expect from a recent production. The animation is pretty average for a recent hentai, which, in terms of non-hentai productions, would qualify as mediocre to decent at best. The female character designs are nothing special, really, although, because we're dealing with idols here, we get to see some pretty intricate clothing. Ryouta's design is average (not unattractive, but he's no ladykiller), and Terada, well, he's an older, not-so-incredibly-attractive fellow, typical of most of the NTR I've seen (surprisingly much). He does look the part of the rich, Hollywood director (money is sexy, right? RIGHT?), and he has some pretty cool shades. Not even remotely close to Kamina-level, but I'll take what I can get to make him less repulsive. The cinematography, overall, is nothing short of utterly mediocre.
Sex is where hentai gets a chance to shine. The sex in I☆Can is AVERAGE. It isn't particularly interesting. The positions are somewhat lacking in diversity; the sex is devoid of enthusiasm, energy, and passion; and the seximatography (cinematography during sex, for those who aren't familiar with my totally made-up lingo) ranges from uninteresting to downright boring for anyone who has seen any other recent hentai productions. Granted, as is the norm in recent productions, I☆Can is pretty darn explicit, with a lot of drippy detail, but, seriously, there's far more interesting stuff out there.
The sound is up next, and it is not anything exceptional. I don't remember anything about the BGM, which means that at best it merely did its job setting a mood (and the moods weren't particularly strong, I might add). The voice acting was decent; there's not much to criticize on that front. During sex, it was all the usual erotic vocals and noises for a recent hentai production, maybe a little light on the squelching sound effects or whatnot. There's a fair amount of talking during the sex, often involving something along the lines of not liking being raped. Go figure.
The story is next in line for my rant--I mean, review--and boy, do I have something to say here.
THE STORY SUCKS.
Now, I'm not even saying this from the perspective of someone who doesn't like NTR. Even if I liked NTR, I would have to admit that the story is utterly generic. I have additional firepower in declaring the story's suckitude for those of you who, like me, are not into NTR. However, if you like NTR specifically for the RAGE aspect (those of you who like NTR probably know what I'm talking about), then what I have to say next may actually be a positive.
I☆Can is more RAGE-inducing than most. Let me start out with a question:
Is it right to get angry at or blame someone for something they are not responsible for?
The answer is no. A second question:
Is a victim of rape responsible for being raped?
The answer, again, is no.
Why ask all this? So you can fully understand how disturbing the following is. The primary reason Miyu abandons Ryouta at the end of I☆Can:
He doesn't get angry at her for being raped.
You heard me right: Miyu abandons Ryouta because he doesn't blame her for something beyond her control. Not only that, but Ryouta did nothing but try to be supportive of Miyu. He never pressed her about it for fear of hurting her (it is painful to talk about stuff like that). However, he showed concern when she was troubled, and tried to get her to talk to him of her own accord, if she was ready for it. Then, in the end, it's like she said to him, "You shouldn't have been caring and concerned; you should have hated me instead!" That is just plain wrong, and it's the take-away message of I☆Can.
Oh, of course, there was also the standard NTR break-up reason: supposedly, post-repeated-rape, only Terada is able to satisfy Miyu sexually. If you think about it, this is also just plain wrong, but it's the usual in NTR. And, in fact, a lot of hentai.
Anyways, some interpret Ryouta's lack of forwardness (forwardness defined briefly as anger, possessiveness, murderous jealously, etc.) as him being an idiot, which thus justifies the overwhelming betrayal. This, I think, is due to the internalization of really bad standards about male behavior and ownership of females. After all, his behavior was not very manly, right? No, I see Ryouta as a sort of paragon who is hated for the very virtues that make him likable. He even goes straight to Terada and offers to sacrifice his own career to save Miyu. By hentai standards, no, even by real-life standards, he's a something of a saint...
...and yet he's still not a very interesting character. What a great transition to the characters! Someone give me a high-five.
No one in this show, except perhaps Leina, is at all interesting. Leina herself is something of an enigma, since it's hard to tell for sure exactly what motivates her. Is she Terada's pawn? Or is she after Ryouta? Or is she just a concerned friend, schoolmate, or coworker? Who knows, since she is not remotely the focus of the show. Miyu is unusually infuriating, but not INTERESTING. I've already said my piece on Ryouta. Terada is, well, just yet another creep in a position of power that he likes to abuse. I...I really don't have anything more to say about them; they're that uninteresting.
It should be fairly obvious now why I did not enjoy I☆Can. Are there any reasons, though, why I might have actually enjoyed it? After all, if I have nothing good to say, why not one-star it?
Well, the sex was okay (in the grand scheme of hentai), and I☆Can, overall, wasn't as horrible as I can imagine a hentai being. And, to an extent, it was, somehow, kind of gripping. And, after all, I'd rather save my one-star rating for something that REALLY, REALLY deserves it. There's a lot more hentai out there than what I've watched.
So, in summary, the only reason to watch I☆Can is if you love NTR especially for the RAGE. Otherwise, AVOID AT ALL COSTS. You have been warned.
Alternative Titles
Synonyms: I Can, Ai☆Kyan Joukan
Japanese: あい☆きゃん
Information
Type:
OVA
Episodes:
3
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Jun 25, 2010 to Apr 24, 2015
Producers:
None found, add some
Licensors:
None found, add some
Studios:
PoRO
Source:
Visual novel
Genre:
Hentai
Duration:
29 min. per ep.
Rating:
Rx - Hentai
Statistics
Ranked:
N/A2
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#6759
Members:
8,505
Favorites:
26
Available AtResources | Reviews
Filtered Results: 10 / 11
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Your Feelings Categories Dec 5, 2010
I am very, very upset and disturbed. Given that I☆Can is a netorare (NTR) hentai (netorare is when a girl is "stolen" from her lover by a third party), I'm not surprised about the former. The latter, though, is a bit unusual.
Quick summary: I did not enjoy I☆Can. I☆Can is the story of a girl (Miyu) who is just starting out as an idol. Her manager (Ryouta) is also her high-school sweetheart. They are in a slowly progressing, supportive relationship, when Miyu's producer (Terada) decides he wants a piece of her. If you are familiar with NTR, then the rest is ... May 11, 2015
No Spoiler Review:
First, let's get this out of the way. Episode 3 really has to be viewed separately from episodes 1 & 2. More on that later. Episodes 1 & 2 are excellent. If you like NTR, mind break or stealth sex, you'll love this series. PoRO girls tend to look really similar but Miyu really stands out and you'll get plenty of action with her. The voice acting is good and compared to other hentai, so is the dialogue. Even if you don't like NTR, there's enough great stuff here you can over look it. Episode 3 is really a prequel ... Jul 26, 2012
After watching this hentai, I felt a very strong urge to express my feelings about it. I'll make sure to make it as short as possible.
The Artwork was great! That being said, this series was simply pathetic. The sex scenes were extremely boring and dull. To top that, on the rare occasion that I got aroused during one of them, the story and how the characters behave made so little sense that it managed to kill any boner that might have occurred. I'm the kind of guy that would endure a lot of baloney and enjoy the show, so long as the artwork is good. Not only ... Sep 8, 2015
It's a shame there's a fetish for hentai like this. I never understood the appeal of a girl cheating on her loving boyfriend with some rapist. The characters in this hentai are very annoying and unlikable. Nobody ever thinks of calling the police after Miyu gets raped. Her boyfriend just looks at Terada angrily as if that makes anything better. At first you feel sorry for Miyu after her rape but then hate her once she begins to enjoy it. Standard hentai cliche but still. None of the characters really stand out except Terada who looks like Gendo Ikari. The music is forgettable
...
Sep 21, 2018
Let me preface this by saying that I've never never submitted a review before, because if I find something enjoyable enough to consider writing a review for it, I feel that I will be biased - and there's usually plenty of reviews that can cover that. To be fair, I am biased about this one too although in the opposite direction. However, I need to warn those who are more of the same mind as myself before they watch this.
Before moving onto the actual review, I also need to elaborate on what I meant with my previous statements. I☆Can is Netorare (NTR for short). Most ... Jul 7, 2013
I know that lately there's a Netorare fashion in Hentai, but this is the first time for me to see one.
The story resolves around a girl, her boyfriend, and a rapist. It's somewhat sadistic towards the audience as the main character constantly suffers, but this is usual for Hentai. The unusual side is that the "main" character is not the girl, but her boyfriend. It's extremely weird and strikes you the most odd in the first visible rape scene - we first see rape only when the guy himself witnesses it. It's not the first rape that happens, but oddly enough we always get cut out of ... Jun 20, 2011
I wish I had read the review of this first I did not like this story at all. In my opinion there are many reasons to leave a loved one but that was just heart breaking it felt more like a story about drug addiction than rape. So for my review I would to have liked to have had something good to say but no I agree with the main review unless you like that type of story avoid this like the plague or get ready to write your review. They should ad 0 on the rating scale and use God Awful as the assigned
...
Aug 31, 2014
Okay... this hentai... so sex it's selling point of this anime...
so if you only likes sex scene with cute women,, maybe you can enjoy this anime... but if you want to enjoyed the story too... i dont think this good for you... all character in this hentai was good... i love miyu... if you dont see the story of course when you watched first episode i guarantee you want to know what happen next in episod 2.... and finnaly i dont like this hentai anime NTR genrre...other thing maybe ok but beacause the story it's ruins everything Feb 22, 2012
Well I liked the artwork but, the story is really bad.. The female main character is stupid, for me she's looks like just a plain cheater..
Apr 12, 2013
-SPOILER-
I started watching this because the art work and characters are well drawn and it started off pretty well with Miyu and her lover Ryouta, But the story just got stupid in the middle where Miyu was molested but did not say a single thing about it and the main characters was also stupid enough to not realize it sooner. Episode 1 ended with Miyu losing her virginity and Ryouta doing noting after what he saw! I think any guy who saw that would practically beat the living shit out of the guy. When episode 2 was released i decided to watch it hoping that ... |