Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko

I don’t make it a point to write reviews, but I particularly enjoyed Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko, and, upon seeing its subpar ratings, felt somewhat obligated to defend it, so, here goes:

Art:

Wonderful, wonderful artwork. I’m a stickler for art, having dropped numerous series simply because I couldn’t stand the way they were drawn, and Denpa Onna definitely wins in this category. Shaft has outdone itself – colorful, lively scenery, vibrant, multi-toned characters, and, in general, great color schemes, compositions, and dynamism in each frame. It’s not quite 5 cm/s, but I daresay it’s approaching that level.

Soundtrack:

I usually neglect this category, as I find it to be a relatively minor component to my viewing experience. However, Denpa Onna does provide some melancholic piano keys and nice ambience music that complement the pacing well. Can’t say I’m a fan of the OP or ED, but, then again, I was never into the high-pitched squeals that permeate much of anime JPop.

Characters:

As many reviewers iterated before me, eccentricities abound in this motley crew of a cast. Honestly, it’s refreshing to see a show invent new personalities instead of rehashing the standard anime prototypes. (I especially enjoyed how Erio Touwa [E.T.] sat in Makoto’s bicycle basket as he pedaled her into the sky). Development is admittedly slow, but it’s definitely there. This is something I feel many reviewers don’t emphasize enough. Denpa Onna is a show about the gentle adolescence of our halcyon days, and, to that end, I think it’s nice that events and developments aren’t explosive or convoluted. The subtleties and gradual changes are meant to mirror the normalcy of our teenage years and, thus, offer a stark but welcome contrast to the eccentric personalities – that is, while the characters are themselves bizarre, their growth is relatable and meaningful.

Story:

Denpa Onna opened with an explosive start. Bracketing the rest of the show, I think the first 3 episodes could operate as a short, standalone OVA series. Really, I was hooked after watching a prologue so rife with meaning and mystery. Erio’s personality is fully emphasized here, and here, too, is where the show probes most philosophically at the deeper themes of life. Makoto’s rejection of Erio’s delusions is a deeper rejection of ontological relativism as a legitimate means to happiness – his actions nuance his convictions well, and we really get a sense of Makoto’s take on what it means to be human.

Sadly, I feel many casual viewers gloss over this last point and take Denpa Onna to be yet another mindless harem. Let me emphasize that it is not. Its insight is subtle, but present, and acutely profound.

So, what about the rest of the show, you ask? Well I can say that the first three episodes are somewhat anomalous when compared to the slow pace and slice-of-life themed events of the last 9 episodes. Critics charge that Denpa Onna lacks plot or hooks to keep viewers interested, and I’m not unsympathetic to this criticism. However, as mentioned above, I think the slow pacing works well with what this show takes itself to be: a chronicle of a boy’s adolescence. I find it far more realistic that schoolgirl crushes don’t blow up into soap operas and baseball games don’t become matters of life and death. Don’t get me wrong; it’s not like the series never scratches below the surface – it really does, but, often, it does so almost imperceptibly. Take episode 8 (Tsiolkovsky’s Prayer), for example. It centers around Meme’s daily routine over a week, but the conclusion of the episode is nothing short of powerful, poignant, and profound, letting us really glimpse the depth beneath her skin. People are unique, change slowly, and offer interesting and poignant stories. This, I think Denpa Onna emphasizes very profoundly.

Moreover, among these events of every day life are the rare gemstones that move boys closer to manhood, and Denpa Onna doesn’t forget this. Conversations with characters often revolve around mundane occurrences like deep sea fish or basketball games, but are artfully and subtly infused with lessons on the importance of curiosity or the rate of human progress. It’s important, when watching, to pay attention to these moments – as they offer enlightening insight into the human experience.

So, what’s the final verdict on Denpa Onna?

If you’re looking for something explosive, convoluted, and plot-driven, then I advise you to turn away. If, however, you’re looking for something light-hearted yet penetrating, then I urge you to pick this up. By the end of it, Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko, with its subtle but philosophical messages, really offers you a novel and reflective outlook on that awkward phase between puberty and responsibility. And, after all, that’s how life is: subtle but profound.

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This review exists within the internet, authored by a SHAFT fanboi.
It functions only as a test ground for me. It is also a spoiler zone in this page.

Under the current assessment of the series, it is a "9/10".
This was determined by my reaction to audio-visual investigation of the SHAFT seishun anime.
Patience is the closest thing viewers have to salvation.
However, accelerated exposure could amplify the viewing experience of a class-2 audience.

A collective of readers that has forgotten it is a collective of voters... That is you.
Members of the self-unaware, clueless MAL users under aliases are not permitted to vote "Not Helpful" on this review.
Injection of corrective program to opinionated haters with inflated pessimism and distaste!

I would write the entire review in Denpanese, but I used up my esper mana for speaking an alien language.

The word "denpa" (lit. "electromagnetic waves") is used to refer to people with overly-active imaginations who appear to live in their own world. In other words, delusional psychopaths.
The word "seishun" (lit. "blue spring") means "adolescent" or "puberty". However, the term often implies the joys and challenges of overcoming immaturity, and youthful romance, as per usage in "seishun points".

'Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko'(loosely translated to "Psychopathic Girl and Adolescent Boy") begins with the the protagonist Niwa Makoto moving into a new city, known as the "the City Watched Over by Aliens". He's in his aunt Meme's care, whose daughter Erio is a denpa hikikomori wrapped in futon.

The story begins with Makoto getting to know Erio. She's got a serious case of denpa, believing herself to be an alien who came to Earth to investigate the mankind. Being a nice guy that he is, Makoto takes her out to prove she's a human being and can't fly like E.T. After that, the focus is transferred to the remaining cast, Mifune "Ryuushi-san" Ryuuko, Maekawa-san, and Hoshimiya Yashiro.
Many viewers must have felt betrayed when Erio turned from a jargon-spitting enigmatic girl in a futon to an ordinary shy girl, but ironically, Makoto and Erio are surrounded by denpa and therefore has plenty of material for comedy and accumulation of Seishun Points.

Niwa Makoto is your average protagonist in a harem setup. He even describes his own situation as a typical protagonist in school drama in the first episode. However, he does have his own unique Seishun Point system to keep track of the quality of his school life, and does actively pursue opportunities to accumulate points. He is one of the more likable protagonist around in that he has a skeptic, realistic personality, but man up when it really counts. He has a pretty good sense of humor, and we as viewers follow his narration as a guide, seeing things through his perspective almost the entire time.

Touwa Erio started out as a hopeless loner whose own mother had given up on her for becoming denpa after a traumatizing event in her childhood. She does eventually get "fixed" by Makoto, and makes a slow return into the society. Her character provided early selling point for the series, and we see her gradual change after Makoto showed up. This season ended at volume 3 of the novel series, out of 8 volumes in total. Her change in character was limited to finding a part-time job and participating group events, but there is surely more to come if a sequel is ever made.

Touwa Meme is a 40-year old aunt of Makoto, who acts like a child all the time and sputters nonsense all the time. Her role in this series is mainly MILF moe and acting as a puppet-master who influences the other main characters to get the story going. She's quite mysterious, and it's hard to know what she's thinking, but as audiences, we know she's hiding something about Elliott, who may or may not be an alien.

Ryuushi-san is probably the most interesting character in this series. She is a moeblob, but has an unique and consistent quirkiness that worked really well with Makoto. Their chemistry is excellent, and she's just one of those adorably cute hard working character that you can't help but cheer for. She is the de facto Heroine in this season, spending most time with Makoto and the only one to actively try to win him over like a character in a true seishun series. Yashiro's line in ep11 makes me wonder if they would eventually become an item. The way she blushes around Makoto was really cute, and I'll certainly be cheering for her.

Maekawa-san's personality is almost the opposite of Ryuushi-san. She's always composed and has a dark sense of humor, also seems to have analyzed every situtation and knows what's going on. However, she also seems to have a screw loose on her head, with all the strange cosplays shown in every episode. Her role in the show is mainly to tease Makoto and Ryuushi-san, but getting them together conflicts with her apparent feelings for Makoto. There could be some major character development for her if the sequel is ever made. And of course, her costumes are also there for moe to niche viewers.

Hoshimiya Yashiro made a very late appearance this season, but left a huge impact into the story. She claims to be an alien esper, which no one believes, but she has shown evidence of her super powers throughout the final few episodes. Interestingly, she says Makoto and Ryuushi both have "the potential", which was precisely what Erio said to Makoto early in the show when she was still a major denpa. Yashiro also brings a new theme to the show, that one should not limit their potential, and develop the strength to believe. This message is extremely similar to 'Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin', but it is executed far better here, with many great inspirational scenes.

Every major characters have their roles in the show, and the character headcount is very low to ensure every character gets their own spotlight. There were some pacing problems in the middle as one non-linear episode mixed in and extremely slow story development, but there are incredibly inspiring and touching moments of youth in every episode as a treat. There are also plenty of references to other manga and anime, sometimes even real life events to keep us entertained.

Art and animation is this series is generally very good. The character designs are attractive, with great cuts and camera angles (although it's almost completely devoid of the signature SHAFT animation style). There are few scenes where characters seemed deformed for budget saving purposes, possibly using Korean animators, but every single inspiring scene (and fan service scene) that actually matters is drawn to perfection. SHAFT knows how to inspire and how to best use visual support to tell a story, and it shows once again in this series.

Voice acting, with exception of Erio, is spectacular. Ryuushi-san's voice acting is what I would call 「ハマリ役」, epic casting. Her voice is so unique, yet fits the character perfectly. All the seiyuu staff in this series are extremely motivated, and their lines are filled with emotion, especially in the most critical lines.
BGM is also incredibly touching and flows extremely well. It kind of just plays in the background, but becomes really noticeable in critical scenes to improve the viewing experience... it's in total harmony with the story.
OP is a "denpa song" in a whole different way. The term is usually used to describe songs with incomprehensible lyrics. In this case, the lyrics do make sense, but BGM composition and the vocal sound absolutely retarded. This works extremely well for a series about denpa, and it's somehow addicting. Absolutely brilliant.
ED is rather dull, but cute song with fun lyrics and unique whisper vocals.


'Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko' has many classic, almost cliché seishun elements, such as screaming out corny lines in public, running towards the sun (its variation biking towards the moon was used), awkward silences between the opposite sex, working hard on sports... However, it's the execution that makes all the difference, and it really shows in this series. The main message of keeping our minds open and appreciate every moment of our lives, it really reached my heart.

This series has also given me a new level of appreciation for NisiOisiN's works. Although the series does attempt to use witty dialogs to advance the story and succeeded to some degree, it lacks the pacing and sophistication seen in similar NisiOisiN adaptations by SHAFT, 'Bakemonogatari' and 'Katanagatari'. If I had to pick, this is closest to 'Soredemo Machi wa Mawatte Iru' for being a rare authentic 'slice-of-life' anime, and also the extreme quirkiness that's hit-or-miss for its viewers. It was a definite hit for me, and I'll definitely look forward to the sequel.

'Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko' is a story full of dreams and depicts an ordinary guy in a crazy city, trying living his life to the fullest. It's brilliant, and exactly what a true seishun series is all about. If you disagree, I guess I'll just say it out loud in a clear and concise phrase...

"If you say so."

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Let's say you have a drinking problem. Instead of admitting that you have a problem, you blame your drinking because your wife nags at you, or because the devil told you to do it, or some other excuse I could not think of because I do not have drinking problem. (No, I'm not in denial here, I seriously don't have a drinking problem)

Reality distortion

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko deals with characters who distorts reality to their own convenience to escape facing the inconceivable truth. As normal human beings, we usually believe our perception of the worlds within and around us is "true."

The story revolves around Niwa Makoto (who is playing as the youthful man) and his cousin, Touwa Erio (who is playing as the electromagnetic wave woman) living with his aunt Touwa Meme (horny old woman with a 20 year old body. Yes in Japan it is possible without cosmetic surgery) in a small city famous for alien encounters.
Now if you all know me (which I doubt you do) you probably think I picked up this title because it has youthful scent all over it which means a harem is soon to follow.

YES. I wont deny that. Other reasons would be due to Erio hot legs. (No I do not have a leg fetish)

So we follow the journey of Makoto collecting youthful points for god knows what reason (as if you can measure youth) and along the way he meets (as expected) more girls to add to his circle of harem... I mean circle of friends.

Art wise, it's very obvious that you can tell that this is one of SHAFT's handiwork. The dramatic zoom into background objects, character faces, (especially the eyes) I've read a couple of chapters from the light novel and it is clear that the portrayal of the story using the artwork is nicely executed.
The voice cast chosen are befitting for their characters.

Now I can't go into detail about all the characters as I want to avoid spoilers as much as possible. But I would like to stress something on Niwa Makoto.
[REASONS WHY MAKOTO SHOULD HAVE A HAREM]
1) He is a nice guy (Main characteristic a harem male lead)
2) He is a transfer student (Research shows that 4/5 of anime transfer students gets a harem)
3) He doesn't live with his parents (He is independent which means less cockblock)
4) He is not ugly (Have you ever seen an Ugly harem male lead?)
5 His name is Makoto (Reference To the Makoto from SchoolDays. I just hope his balls is still intact when everything is over)

Basically, Makoto here is a personification of everything that is adolescent in anime terms.

His cousin on the other hand (Touwa Erio) plays the fumbling yet lovable character (well I find her lovable because I love girls with blue hair. No I do not have a blue hair fetish) She plays the electromagnetic wave woman in this series (electromagnetic wave woman here means weird, crazy or someone who has an obsessive behavior on an perception) She provides the story for the first arc in the series, Makoto helping her cope from her transition from an 'extraterrestrial being' back to a 'normal' human being.
She is also the main example of a person who is clearly distorting her own reality.
But she may not be in denial? Perhaps it was misinformation?
For example have you ever experience sleep paralysis? People who don't know the term sleep paralysis may think that when this occurred to them, aliens are actually probing them. This is just the way it is when you do not have information on your current circumstance.

Do I find this amusing in any way?
- I find adolescence amusing
-I find eccentric characters amusing
-I find futon wrapped Erio amusing
-I find getting a million youth points for seeing a girl naked wrapped with a bath towel amusing

What I do not find amusing?
- I find incest not amusing
-I find cradle robbers not amusing
-I find cattle mutilation not amusing
-I find no harem in a supposedly capable harem producing anime not amusing

Overall if you're a fan of SHAFT like works (and no I'm not referring to Madoka, damn Madoka fanboys...) then I see no reason why you should not watch this.
I have learn from this anime that sometimes blaming aliens is all what it takes to escape reality. (For those of you who had sleep paralysis, blaming alien is very common)
Examples:
"The crime rate had risen over the past few years"
-I blame Aliens
"Baby dumping has increased from a decade ago"
-I blame Aliens
"Our job opportunity has been falling recently"
-I blame Aliens
Case in point.

Oh by the way, "Aliens" here DO NOT mean Mexicans. Racist pricks.

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A really casual one, it was a totally random choice, but I don't regret it though. So what's it about? It may not have an incredible climax and everything... Instead, this anime focuses more upon reflection. It's simple: just take a teenager who wants to enjoy his high school years to the max and add an odd girl to whom he begins devoting his time, in order to get her back to real life.

Makoto's first time in a big city made him create big expectations about how his life would be from now on. He wanted to meet girls, spend time with them and even maybe fall in love, afterall, that's what being an young boy is all about. Meeting Erio was the first step from this new journey. Having met his "energetic" aunt, Meme, and after her, Maekawa and Ryuko, most episodes are dedicated into showing his relationship growing with all of them.

Still, that's not all... Believing he would be able to change Erio's attitude and put an end to her self-isolation from society, Makoto becomes her only true friend... Making her forget all this "alien stuff" and the past she couldn't remember, trying to get her to be more sociable and stop hiding from everyone... This also affects Makoto, as he gets more self-confident.

Art impressed me... Glowing style, slow-mo scenes and fluid animation, despite not having much action, overally amazing! I think OP theme could've been better and the ED song is so sweet and calm... Characters have nothing really special in particular. Most of them are ordinary people with different personalities. Both Ryuko's and Erio's shyness attracted me... Besides that, they're so cute and lovely! Also, voices chosen for both of them match perfectly!

Never give up and believing in yourself, just two of the many lessons we can learn from this anime... Nobody comes to this world for no reason and, since we don't understand the real purpose of life, all we can do is live, make it worthy... Taking the best we can from our youth years and making every moment count, Denpa Onna was really made to change the way some people think about their own lives, to encourage those on enjoying it the best they can... That's so deep...

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A problem that a show with interesting premise or quirks can run into is getting far too wrapped up in itself. A show can become contrived, focusing on playing around with its quirkiness; forgetting that there is a story to be told. Such is the case with Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko, a charmingly eccentric show that ultimately gets deflated by the eccentricities that made it appealing to begin with.

Denpa Onna is a bizarre show, to say the very least. It centers around Makoto Niwa, a somewhat sarcastic young man who goes to live with his aunt Meme; having certain expectations of his new life. Expectations that are shattered after meeting his impishly flirtatious aunt and beyond bizarre cousin Erio,who claims to be an alien and wraps herself in a futon. He later meets a cheerful and clumsy girl named Ryuko (or better known as Ryushi, to her irritation), and the resident cosplay character, Maekawa. While this sounds like your standard cast for a slice-of-life anime, rest assured, the cast is eccentric enough to stand out from the crowd. Every character has their weird quirks and talk in a way no normal person would. Erio in particular is a winsome odd-ball, a hikikomori who uses the guise of being an alien as a shield from her insecurities; and Maekawa existence seems to be poking fun at use of pun humor in anime. The off-beat way these characters behave and interact with one another is what gives the show its unique flavor.

The show puts its eccentric characters and rambling dialogue to good use. Pretty much every conversation between characters has an entirely different meaning than its face value. A conversation about aliens can actually be an exchange of worldviews; one about ESP can actually be about peoples' hidden potential. This makes the exceedingly strange exchanges between characters meaningful, rather than just nonsensical ramblings. Just as interesting is seeing our dysfunctional recluse of a female lead, Erio, slowly warm up to her cousin. We see her change from being insanely introverted to a slightly more stable, though still fairly unsociable, weirdo. She even has a part-time job and joins an amateur baseball team by the shows finale, all the while retaining the charming weirdness that grabbed our attention in the beginning.

So why does this show fall short, well... it doesn't really go anywhere. Sure, Erio progressively becomes more active in the world around her, but as for everyone else progress is near non-existent. Even as Makoto gets to know Maekawa and his aunt Meme better, their relationships remain static through the entire series.This is even true for Ryuko, who has a big crush on Makoto. You think with all the talking in the show these relationships would develop nicely, but instead the characters spend most of the time talking around each other and dodging pressing matters. When they aren't in convoluted conversation or monologue, the characters are usually engaged with some trivial activity that is entertaining enough to watch but pointless in the grand scheme of things. Not to say these aspects of the show are not enjoyable, but they do get tedious to watch as the show continues on its merry way to nowhere.

The show's visuals are pretty solid, though nothing to write home about, really. The scenery is pretty much what you would expect from a slice-of-life, nothing breathtaking, but it gets the job done. As for the character designs, most attention goes to the female cast (of course), which is the visual highlight of the show. Erio is gorgeous, likely the best looking leading lady of 2011, and mother Meme; rival for Makoto's attention, Ryuko; cosplaying Maekawa; and late arrival Yashiro are just as pretty. The rest of the cast is more average looking, but pleasant on the eyes nonetheless. The music is also pretty typical of slice-of-life (except for the bizarre opening and oddly cute ending themes). It pleasantly floats around supporting the shows atmosphere, though can also build up excitement when called to do so, like in the "I can't fly" scene, which is the the shows most striking moment.

In the end, Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko is a generally pleasant experience. Its strange, off-kilter tone and characters definitely sets it apart from regular slice-of-life anime. Plus, Erio is the cutest basket-case you are likely to find. It is a shame the story doesn't really progress, getting caught up in a web of convoluted dialogue and all too quaint events. This is actually not a bad show, just a disappointing one.

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I hate Shaft, I really hate this studio. For every good show they make, there must be some 5 mediocre ones in between. However, I still love their artsy touch and the way they handle most dialogues that is much present in Denpa Onna. Yet, there’s something lacking in Denpa Onna to make it good and that is a focus. It’s a shame really, because this anime had such a great start. I find it sad that they had to ruin it in the second half.

Based on a light novel, the story shares some similiraties with the Haruhi Suzumiya. Most notably, the two main characters, which both have the same personality, are emerged in a world of bizarre situations. The difference is that Denpa Onna is completely voided of any supernatural element, even though it brings aliens and espers in the foreplay. Though the story could be considered as some sort of coming of age, it is never clear what it is really about. The big problem with Denpa Onna is how well it handles the many elements that it is given, for I must say, not well at all. While it does begin as a simple story of “saving the broken girl”, it doesn’t take time before the series loses its initial charm. For the second half, the anime turns around in a midst of pointless moments that can range from enjoyable to plain boring. Though, these pointless moments, are for the best, emotional. The results here shouldn’t be surprising. Denpa Onna concludes in a unsatisfying and completely out of place way that leaves you a bitter taste in the end. In other word, what it needs is a satisfying sequel with a much, much better direction.

Knowing Shaft, it is not surprising that Denpa Onna shares a good amount of mentally ill characters. For new comers, this might be a refreshing outcome since they act mostly in an extravagant way. For the Shaft followers or other anime connoisseurs, it is nothing that you haven’t seen before and might even annoy you. Though, while the characters’ traits aren’t problematic, there is a big lack of character development that would have helped this anime greatly. If Denpa Onna would truly have been a coming of age, some actual development for the characters would have been great. However, everything stays static in this series. There is also an issue of not enough screen time for the female characters in this series. The series is mostly in the point of view Makoto and we mostly see him jump from a girl to another many times in the anime and this only ends up in some sort of unassuming harem between two friends and his cousin.

Shaft, as always, delivers in the production value. Erio might have been an uninteresting character after all, but her character design is probably the most interesting of the season. Sadly, the same could not be said about the other characters. For the visual, Denpa Onna has its fair share of eye candies and sparkles moments that will please any fans of the sort. I have to admit that some of these scenes were actually beautiful. Shaft is also more lay back in this one, and Denpa Onna doesn’t have too much quick and weird angle shots. The music is also top notch in Denpa Onna. The anime opens with a tad annoying, but very catchy song. The score in the actual series doesn’t have anything impressive, but it does the job well done. As for the voice actors, well they were great, no doubt about that.

To kill the mockingbird, Denpa Onna is actually a very forgettable show. The anime did have an interesting and original premise, but it soon falls into something that has been done million times before. Still, if someone is looking for moe characters, this anime is definitely for them. There are some rumours about a possible second season. If this happens, let’s just hope Shaft does it right this time.

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The central problem with 'Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko' is the way it treats the supernatural. It attributes normal, everyday occurrences to aliens, espers, clairvoyance etc. Had a bad day at school? Must be god's fault. Achieved something you've never even dreamed of achieving? Must be your esp abilities. Amnesia? Aliens. Cute girl smiles at you? Fate.

You can pretty much see that this kind of storytelling is going to get ridiculous after a few episodes and sure enough that's exactly what happens in this anime. Despite the "Sci-fi" tag, there's no attempt at any scientific explanation either. Things that have no basis in reality and haven't been proven scientifically are depicted in here as if they were the bread and butter of the natural world. And despite the main protagonists doubts as to such supernatural events, the anime pretty much ends on the same note - "Yeah, it's real. Deal with it."

Now on to the individual components :

STORY (3/10)

Again, this is the weakest point of this anime. Guy comes to the city (Niwa Makoto), meets his horny aunt (Meme), his mentally unstable cousin suffering from amnesia (Erio), goes to school and assembles a generic, albeit miniature harem. Obligatory introductions over, 'Denpa' shifts focus to supernatural events. Some of the most common occurrences in every day life will be passed here as being caused by some kind of supreme power that lives within all of us. Yeah sure, that's about as Sci-fi or slice-of-life as Norse mythology. I would have been glad to at least see some sort of an attempt at science here but no such luck.

In between bouts of acts of god the story also tries its hand at drama and fails because most of said drama is either caused or attributed to... you guessed it - more paranormal acts. 6 episodes in and I already had to force myself to keep watching this anime because I knew that nothing intriguing would come from it. Moreover after the first 3 episodes, the story just starts repeating its own premise with minimal plot and character progression. Why did Erio lose her memory? Aliens. Episode 6 - Why did Erio lose her memory? Aliens. Episode 9 - Why did Erio lose her memory? Aliens. Episode 12 - Why did Er... Hey we don't know but here, chew on more alien and esper theory.

I think what this anime relies on is the fact that you can't disprove the supernatural. You may not believe it but you can't steadily disprove it. At the same time this anime offers no insight or explanation of the supernatural. Most sci-fi works rely on some mixture of quantum physics, time traveling, parallel universes etc to explain their seemingly ESP-esque characters. 'Denpa' is more of a case of "believe it or don't". Unfortunately that also means that most watchers will either love it or hate it, depending on their beliefs.

CHARACTERS (6/10)

While the characters in this show possess a decent degree of originality, as I haven't noticed any known popular arc-types in this anime, they also receive very little development throughout the show.

A prime example of that would be Erio. Initially a social recluse, she opens up a little after her cousin's arrival and... stays that way throughout the whole show. She engages in very little dialogue and even though the name of the show and the synopsis would imply that the story will heavily revolve around her - that's not actually true. I was disappointed to see that she is pushed away and focus shifts primarily towards the protagonist and his micro-harem.

The male lead himself seems to be among the only three rational and realistic characters in this show, refusing to believe in the supernatural without proper evidence. The other two would be Makoto's classmates Maekawa and Ryuuko who seem to provide even more realism to the series. Again, the problem with this section is that there is practically no character development present. The relationships between Makoto and his classmates go nowhere, the show doesn't expand upon their personalities from what we originally see and from the beginning to the end the show maintains a near-perfect status quo.

Makoto's aunt, Meme, serves no real purpose apart from comic relief, with her over the top perverted antics. While initially being quite surprising and slightly amusing it quickly gets old, luckily the show reduces her role in comic relief just before it starts to get annoying.

Yashiro's late introduction to the series made little sense and I think that it would be fair to hail her as the most underdeveloped character in this series. Personality-wise, she's an annoying shallow tsun character who runs around screaming about esper supremacy. Everyone else that I haven't mentioned is so far down on the totem pole that they are plot insignificant and only there to serve as background characters.

ART (10/10)

This is the strong point of 'Denpa' as the art here is flawless. The characters are certainly appealing and attention has been paid to every single little detail. Static background is crisp and well drawn. I haven't noticed any mistakes in the coloring, the art is consistent all throughout and true to its style and as such this section deserves a full mark of 10 points.

SOUND ( 7/10)

While the opening is rather irritating with that high-pitched squealing for 2 minutes straight, not to mention that the rhythm just completely doesn't fit to the drum solo in the background - watchers will find respite in this anime's OST. It does contain some decent pieces, especially the ones that play during the more dramatic sequences of 'Denpa'. The ending song, while a little bit bland, at least wasn't annoying.

The voice acting itself was authentic and matched the characters quite well.

ENJOYMENT (5/10)

All in all I didn't enjoy this series. It wasn't bad but it wasn't good either. Something to watch if you're really bored or you're really into the whole ESP stuff but a casual anime watcher will be confused, bored and then agitated while watching this - in that order.

As I mentioned in the story section you will either love or hate this anime. Holding a middle ground here is extremely difficult because this anime does not attempt to reference its content in any way. If anything, watch it for Meme's wackiness, or watch it for the lighthearted high school dramedy. Either way, not taking this anime seriously is paramount if any enjoyment is to be had.

5 points out of 10.

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In one of the opening scenes of this anime, a certain character welcomes the main character (along with the viewers) by saying "Welcome to the city watched over by aliens." After watching this I have come to realize one thing: how horribly distasteful these aliens are.

Seasoned anime fans will take notice of the fact that this show is directed by Shinbou Akiyuki. You might recognize him for directing great shows such as Bakemonomgatari, Arakawa Under the Bridge, and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, which all have a similar formula going on: a male character surrounded by a harem of weird quirky females. Considering how much of this type of show he has done, and the valuable attribute of the human mind to gain experience, one might expect him to have garnered enough knowledge to create enjoyable shows with absolutely no effort at all. Well, apparently, no. Either his brain has become too dense with all the success and praise from his previous works, or he just suffered a nervous breakdown to which he responded by making the most incoherent, dumb, and most boring anime he could possibly conjure. And that is Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko (Electromagnetic Wave Woman and Adolescent Man).

The story is the same old "Guy moves into a city" "New home has cute girls in it" "New school has cute girls in it" and so on. Oh, and the girls garner an inexplicable affection towards the main character. In the case of Denpa, a regular country bumpkin Niwa Makoto moves into the city to live at his aunt's house. Upon entering the house he notices a girl wrapped in a mattress lying near the doorway. This is how we are introduced to the show's main attraction, Touwa Erio, an amnesiac girl who believes she is an alien put on earth for observational purposes. The story then resolves around Makoto as he tries to help Erio overcome the barrier she has put up between herself and society. Of course, this is not a story-driven anime. You get the vibe that the makers didn't have any idea what they were doing and the story goes down the drain pretty quickly, as this is apparent half way into the show when all the characters are just loitering around trying awkwardly hard to get a giggle out of you. I'd gladly pay you if you find anything groundbreaking about this anime's plot.

The comedy in this show really throws everything at you, which at the base level boils down to a 'hit or miss' game where the chance of a hit is that of winning in a million dollar lottery. The so-called witty conversations between characters that SHAFT does so well literally falls apart here. There are tons of dialogue but they just go into one ear and come out of the other, rarely triggering anything along the way. How could anyone rely on a cast of such uninteresting characters to deliver good jokes is beyond me.

Animation is generally quite colorful and neat, but there's just something about the character designs that make them look overly childish, to the point that it's hard to call them "high schoolers". From an objective point, it felt to me like most of the work done in this department went into Erio's appearance and elaborate schemes to make her more cute, as she glaringly stands out among all the other bland characters that occupy this show. One of the few redeeming features of Denpa Onna is it's OP and ED. The OP sung by Erio's voice actor in an epic karaoke voice is quite fun and almost makes the rest of the show worthwhile. Maybe the unimpressive dialogue mentioned earlier might have been the cause of poor chemistry among voice actors because the voice acting here is decent at best.

Overall, I have to say that Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko fails in soaring through the sky, not to mention space. The first few episodes might keep you occupied with a false sense of more to come but what's to come is mind-numbing stupidity and a whole load of wasted of time.

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Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko (English: Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl) is an excellent series that can be counted as a unique and hidden gem among more popular titles. The story follows the daily life of high schooler Niwa Makoto who has recently transferred to a new school and a new neighbourhood. Makoto is a fairly normal guy, but the characters that soon surround him are an eccentric bunch to say the least. He quickly finds out he is one of the few people in this new town who does not belive in aliens, is a fan of dressing up as an eggplant (among other ridiculous things) or openly declares themself as an otherwordly being. Its hard not to empathise with Makoto’s confusion, and its an extremely fun ride to watch as he discovers more about his new friends and family. In particular – the most intriguing cast member has to be his cousin Erio – a young girl almost as gorgeous as she is mysterious who has a penchant for wrapping herself in a futon and not coming out.

Makoto’s new home belongs to his Aunt (Meme), who lives alone with the enigmatic and bizarre Erio. The dynamic of the 3 works to great success. Meme loves nothing less than to tease Makoto in particularly hilarious, manipulative and inventive ways which makes for a number of great moments. Throw Erio into the mix and the show presents a highly entertaining and unpredictable household as we watch Makoto struggle to live a normal life amidst all the weirdness. We soon discover that Erio has a fascination with aliens and the supernatural – she’s incredibly shy so it’s very rewarding to find out more about her personality as the story unfolds. But the strangness does not end at home. At school Makoto befriends the bright and bubbly Ryuuko, along with the very tall, mysterious Maekawa. This pair also have distinctly odd characteristics and stand up as interesting and well fleshed-out characters by the conclusion of the series. To summarize, the underlying plot comes as a secondary device to the character comedy but toward the last few episodes the sci-fi theme kicks in a little more and the many mysteries of the show get a closer look. The balance of narrative and comedy is well paced and works to great effect.

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko’s clever writing and character design are matched with equally brilliant visuals and a charming OST. The background tracks are dreamy yet catchy. Both the OP + ED are top quality and the latter comes with some great lyrics in reference to Erio -”I’ll catch a cold, I’ll catch a cold, It’s cold without my futon”. Art and sound combine to make Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko a unique viewing experience.

I can guarantee that you will not once get bored watching this show, and that you will miss Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko by the time it wraps up. You will miss the hilarity, the atmosphere, and most of all the bizarre characters that call it’s equally bizarre universe home. Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko is fresh, inventive, smart and often hilarious. I strongly urge you to pick it up and find out for yourself.

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An anime with a normal, ordinary boy couldn’t be anything but an ordinary slice-of-life comedy right? Well, hate to break it to you, but it’s not. It’s much more complex, intricate, and amazing than a run-of-the-mill standard anime. Even though the plot may seem a bit bewildering at first, the series proves itself worthy of an amazingly high score.

The basics? A high school boy named Niws Makoto recently moves to his Aunt’s house and becomes a Transfer Student. There he meets his mysterious cousin, Touwa Erio. She walks around every day wrapped around a futon and believes that there are aliens and tries to stop “alien invasions.” Touwa Erio lost her memories one day after being missing for half a year and then being found floating out in the sea. Makoto thinks her idea and beliefs are absurd and believes that she is using aliens as a cover up for her missing memories. Touwa Erio then dropped out of school and everyone thinks of her with harsh memories and treats her as “extremely weird.” At school, Makoto makes good friends with two girls, Mifune Ryuuko (or Ryuushi, which is kind of a teasing nickname for her) and Maekawa, a tall girl who gets dizzy easily and works at a lot of different part-time jobs. Makoto is into “adolescence points” which are points that he gains when something good and memorable happens, like when a girl is invited to his house.

Now, let's get scoring!

PRESENTATION: Beautiful from the first episode. The animation and art were both wonderful, and so were the background designs. Not really any complaints, as this is for first impressions. [10]

ANIMATION: Done well, for the most part. Most people are all shown to be moving, the sky to be animated, and the beautiful colors of the scenery and the characters themselves. I loved the whole art aspect, I could daresay it’s approaching the level of art of 5cm/s. Though, some parts are lacking, as they fail to animate most people during the summer festival, and some explosions as well. Overall, the main portions (characters, setting) are all animated and drawn beautifully. [9]

STORY: As you can see from the basics, it’s a great sci-fi story. The first three episodes are Erio’s main story, but after that, critics state that Denpa Onna lacks interest to continue hooking the viewer. I believe in the opposite. Each of the episodes after reveal much more insight to the characters, as one episode revealed Meme’s true feelings towards things than just what she acts like on the outside, and adds in character personality for Ryuuko and Maekawa as well. This is certainly not a harem (even though it could be considered one) nor a normal slice-of-life. I guess it’s to say that there are an infinite number of mysteries out there, and no one theory of belief relating to a mystery is false. It takes belief and consideration and respect, not ignorance. That’s almost like my moral in life, which is one of the reasons I ended up loving this series. Of course, I wish the ending was still more resolving, but what can I say. The way it doesn’t resolve everything but manages to leave us in awe and in mystery is good enough to net it a [10].

CHARACTERS: Obviously the strong point of this anime. With a happy, energetic, and flustered fruitist Ryuuko to a tall dizzy Maekawa and an ignorant but considerate Makoto and a childish but caring Meme and a serious but silly Yoshira really brings the story to light. Of course, don’t forget Erio. She used to be without personality, almost unhuman, but now she’s become a shy, reserved girl. With these characters and episode insight, we can see deeply into their character and feelings even. Great development, and great characters. [10]

MOOD: What can I say for mood? Generally, if it doesn’t play a big role in any anime I end up scoring it with a 10 unless major faults were here. I can’t really think of any. There were a few stand-out exciting mood areas, especially where he biked off a cliff (when he was planning not to but his brakes failed) and when he made that long speech cheering Ryuuko on, and that final meteor hit. It strays a bit far away from slice-of-life, but after all, this is sci-fi, is it not? [10]

MUSIC
(OP) The OP isn’t exactly to my tastes. In my opinion, it’s sung a bit off-key and a bit too screamy and high-pitched. That was my first impression, but now, I like the OP. It takes a while to get used to it, like Hana no Iro (which has now become one of my favorites as it has become the first full song I can play on my guitar), but once you get used to it, I like it. Still, I wish it wasn’t as…screamy…but still, a lot of jRock is like this. So, what can I say? High pitched voices isn’t really my concern, and the song’s melody is really something that is kinda memorable. Also, this song doesn’t seem to fit with the overall story of Denpa Onna, being fairly relaxed with a few jolts and anxiety mood changes, but this song is pretty drastic and surprising and emotional and…loud. The only place where it could describe could be that meteor hit…[9]
(ED) The ED was a song I love. It began a bit too slowly, which almost turned me off, but then it suddenly becomes much more upbeat in the middle. It’s cheery and all-around happy, which kind of fits Erio’s new personality. The OP was a bit…too drastic to really represent anything in the anime except for the meteor hit. It’s quite memorable, and I have no complaints. [10]
(InAnime) If it’s not noticeable, it’s good. That’s my motto for OST music in-anime. Nothing was really spectacular, but nothing was really noticeable and bad either. There were a few songs that played that were really good, such as the track that played when the cast launched all the bottle rockets and the final ending ost before the credits in episode 13. With this, really no complaints. [10]

Music Average = I don’t really give 10s for music averages unless there are multiple OPs and EDs and spectacular OST songs and insert songs. I don’t count character songs in this also, so I’ll give it a [9].

ENJOYMENT: Loved it all the way. The first episode was a bit dull as it was a bit…surprising and not to my tastes, and I ended up temporarily dropping it after the 5th episode because of schedule conflict. When I picked it back up, it got extremely interesting. I ended up loving it. I watched it at a fair pace, finishing the rest of the anime in 2 days. I loved the whole story, and enjoyed all the characters and all the conflicts and resolution. I definitely enjoyed all of Ryuuko’s parts, her energetic personality and her silliness always brings light into the story. I loved the series and enjoyed the ride to the max. Definitely worth a rewatch, if I had the time. Ugh. It just shows to watch it through, you'll definitely enjoy it, especially if your a fan of slice of life. [10]

OVERALL: It’s amazingly wonderful. Easily strikes into my top 5% of all anime. The presentation and animation is just wonderful, and the characters are spectacular. I’m hoping for a season 2 because I really enjoyed watching this, even though I did temporarily drop this anime. But it turns out, like Nichijou, animes that I drop for a while and go back on easily become one of my favorites. If you're a fan of slice of life, this is definitely for you. If not, I still recommend that you give this a chance. It is true that the first episode may be weird and turn most people off, but endure it and keep watching, since the first episode gives you the main idea to the brilliant series. So, give it more than just one episode, give it 3, or maybe 4, or 5. Maybe you'll love it like me?

Rating:
· Presentation = 10.00
· Animation = 9.00
· Story = 10.00 x2
· Characters = 10.00 x2
· Mood = 10.00
· Music = 9.00
· Enjoyment = 10.00 x2

Total: 9.80; Excellent
Opinionated Total (My biased opinion): 9.80, Excellent
FINAL (Whole number rating): 10/10 [10]

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A few weeks ago, as I’ve watch the last episode of this anime, I kinda felt a bit disgusted with the genre of this anime, but the weird slice of life and mystery does made up for it, so my rating for this anime are the following:

Story – good 7.

So, this anime is not exactly sci-fi even thought there mentioned of extraterrestrial aliens and espers in it, but the story is not focus on Erio, rather it is Makoto who is the story here, co’z every episode is on him and his struggle to cope up within the weird world of the people around him. Also, the very thing make him the story here, is the way he keeps his sanity when everyone else is going cuckoo by simple have a positive attitude and going with the flow. There isn’t much any comedy here and the sci-fi aren’t that much around it either, in fact those mentioned genres are just tidbits which makes up this anime, you might say the Yashiro is the only esper in here. There is of course the mystery genre like where did Erio went and what has happen to her during her disappearances only to reappear again and walks around with a mattress covering her upper body and why does her mother Meme is not even bothered by it, also why does Maekawa have to wear her mascot outfit even when she’s hardly even near her place of work and does Ryuuko have any idea what she talking about, those are the stuff that makes the mystery genre of this anime more profound than the sci-fi and comedy and what make me give this portion a “GOOD” rating.


Art – Mediocre 5.

There isn’t much for me to say about it. But I really like the way Meme the MILF is drawn.

Sound- Mediocre 5.

Same here, except I like the opening theme.

Character – Fair 6.

Well, I guess even if the muchacho (male lead) is the story of this the anime and everyone else are just additives it still deserves such rating. I don’t have much to say about each character since their roles are pretty simple. In fact their role can be compare to that of other characters from other anime such as Haruri Suzumiya , but with some twist (read between the lines “with some twist”).

Enjoyment – Fair 6.

As in fair enough to be watch by everyone, even though the skirts that the female characters were wearing are short no panty shot were seen and it is also fair enough that it can be watched everybody that is if you focus on the muchacho and not on the Chiquita.

Overall – Fair 6.

I think that it’s enough that this anime would just remain as a season 1, that is unless some fan service would be included if the author decides to make a season 2.

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Denpa Onna is a slow paced, light hearted anime. Quite the contrast from Shaft's Madoka Magica which aired the previous season. The show benefits from strong and likable characters, good art, and a feel good type atmosphere.

There is less of a plot and more of a tale personal growth and change for each character, especially our protagonists, Niwa and Erio. Not only how they grow, but how their actions, beliefs, and personalities effect those around them.

As stated above, Denpa does not have a super deep plot, or a really anything out of the ordinary as far as the genre goes, but the charm the show delivers is stellar. The closest show I can think of with the same charm level is Aria. However, while denpa might not have a complex plot, it does have a small one that connects the characters together.

A person's enjoyment of Denpa Onna will most likely depend on how much they like the characters in the show and their gimmicks. Some have found them annoying, while others have loved them. Each character does have a distinct personality and a unique way to put a smile on your face.

The show gives you a sort of X Files complex. As in, you really want to believe aliens exist in the show somehow. It does a good job messing with your head making you think one thing, and then all of a sudden you're not sure anymore.

I highly recommend you check this out. You might struggle a little early on because of the pacing, but once you get to know the characters you'll be a believer.

The Truth is Out There.

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I just had to write a review for this because I really enjoyed this anime.

And for a change of pace, I'll break down this review to its components: Story, Art and animation, Sound and Overall enjoyment. (I don't do this normally and wanted to try it out)

Story= 8

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko deals on the mysterious and the unexplained. We have Touwa, Erio who has been missing for half a year and claims to have been abducted by aliens. But really, what actually happened while she was missing? What caused her to have amnesia? And then there's Niwa, Makoto, whose line of thinking depends on what can be seen and is proven, has to face these events.

Despite this serious-sounding background, this anime is quite far from being serious at all. Dealing with Erio's condition and helping her return to society as a normal Earthling is what Makoto is aiming for, while having to deal with some other things. I don't really think I've seen any anime with this plot, but I think it's actually pretty good.

Art/Animation= 10

I really liked the art for this anime. Its art is actually quite similar to the more recent Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (Which is another good anime I recommend) It's bright and very well-done. The animation (especially of that on the opening song) flows rather smoothly and deserves a perfect score on my review.

Sound= 10

The sound effects were unexpectedly good. The opening song didn't quite get to me at first, high and weird squeaky voice and all. But eventually, I came to like it and it's actually pretty catchy. The ending song, however, I didn't like as much. Voice acting is also good. No complaints there. The background music is what I'd like to point out, especially.

The music that plays sometimes in the background is outstanding and very well-done. It doesn't distract you from whatever is happening, and actually helps improve the setting of the scenes. Another perfect score there.

Overall= 9

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko would've been nice if it had more romance in it. Relationships between cousins are legal in Japan, right? Either way. despite not having an romantic elements in it, it's still a very enjoyable anime and I recommend watching it. No regrets guaranteed.

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First, before I jump right into the review of Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko, there are some things to be said. Let me level with you for a sec:

Characters in the anime:

Niwa Makoto: A dumbass going through puberty, but is probably the most normal person around.

Touwa Erio: As intelligent as a puppy.

Mifune Ryuuko: As smart as a six year old.

Maekawa: Wear cosplay to work and evening walks.

Touwa Meme: Mentality of a sixth-grader despite being 40 years old.

Hoshimiya Yashiro: Dresses up as an astronaut to play baseball.

Tamura (the old coot): Pretty senile. Obsessed with cattle mutilation.

And they are involved in a comedy.

When you have loony characters in a comedy, you can expect the intellect of the show to be pretty much in the drains. Despite that, there’s actually morals to be learnt which I will go through later in the review. There’s a lot of similarity between Denpa Onna and Arakawa Under the Bridge (also directed by Shinbou Akiyuki), and I will be constantly mentioning them in the review because it is just ridiculous how much Denpa Onna borrows from Arakawa.

Story: 7/10

The plot is extremely vague. Check out the synopsis. Everything written up there are the original bits of the anime that makes it interesting. So like Arakawa, there is a pretty girl who claims to be an alien. The interesting and most original part is that she wraps herself in a futon mattress as a way to avoid the society. She’s a typical hikikomori(social withdrawal). Then her cousin Makoto moves in and helps her get back into society. This is the proposed plot. Up to this point, there’s nothing wrong with this main plot. However, the plot constantly wavers to the side-lines as Makoto flirts with all the girls. There’s this one episode where he goes out with Ryuuko, and then the next episode, he hangs out with Maekawa. There are only 12 episodes to find out the mystery behind the disappearance of Erio for six months, where Elliot (Erio’s irresponsible dad) is, who Hoshimiya really is and which pipe hole she crawled out of and 2 goddamned episodes are wasted on building up the relationship with the two girls. Not that this is wrong or anything, but there’s just too much unexplained mysteries in Denpa Onna. How the hell can Meme (Makoto’s 40 years old aunt) look 18 years old?
The worst of all is the way Denpa Onna ended. Okay, here’s how it works: the city is divided up into two, the City and the Shopping District. They have a baseball match involving the main characters and the winning side would have the upcoming festival taken place in their area. This is cool and all. It is a good scenario to allow the characters to interact with each other. But this is the last episode. The LAST goddamned episode! Why the hell are they playing baseball when they should be solving one or all of the above mysteries? Then things took a turn for total shitstorm when they decided to end it off with Makoto talking to some old guy about life lessons rather than using that time to show us footage of the festival. It ended very disappointingly, just like Arakawa did.

The story isn’t nearly as linear as the plot suggests. An event happens and even though it could have been summed up in a single episode, three episodes were aired instead to show the same event from three different character’s point of view. This is without a doubt, derived from the creative mind of the director. Now let’s talk about the morals that can be taught in Denpa Onna. It teaches the viewers, behind the slap-stick Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei-like humor that if you try your best, you will succeed. Also, there’s the part about finding courage to return back to society, among various other things to be learnt from Denpa Onna. I expect Denpa Onna to come up with a second season to explain everything.

Art: 9/10

The art is really beautiful. It can be compared to Bakemonogatari or 5 centimeters per Second. All the girls are incredibly pretty and well designed. That’s pretty much all to be said. You won’t be disappointed with the art in Denpa Onna. That is a given. The main reason why this anime got a score of 8 from me depends heavily on the art.

Sound: 8/10

I am not a big fan of the opening and ending song. Initially, the opening song sounded like a squeamish toddler singing into my ear, but I have come to liked it because the song suits Denpa Onna very well. The ending song was really emo but I guess it was calming. The background music in Denpa Onna is pretty good. There’s the light piano music when Makoto hangs out with one of the girls, which builds up the mood. There’s good music to be found here.

Character: 7/10

Now I’m about to rant about how original/unoriginal some of the characters are, so forgive me if I write out of topic. I can’t help but notice how Makoto is a mirror image of Ryuugamine Mikado in Durarara!! I mean, the hair is just uncanny! I found myself typing Mikado rather than Makoto many times in this review. Ryuuko might as well be the twin sister of Minori Kushieda from Toradora! I mean, aside from the hair color, she’s basically a more childish version of Minori. They have the same ‘overly-energetic-attitude-that-makes-me-shout-out-everything-in-my mind’ personality. Then, obviously Meme can be found in the thousands of anime which have ‘Moe’ in it. All this characters kind of make the cast unoriginal, but then, there’s Maekawa. God, she is the best character in Denpa Onna. She likes to cosplay a lot, which isn’t an uncommon anime character trait. But in a certain episode, she dresses up as a Xenomorph from the Aliens series. A freaking Xenomorph from Aliens. I could not even begin to comprehend how awesome that was. I must have replayed that scene more than ten times. The way she nonchalantly walks into the baseball field with that costume. That was pure genius.

Enjoyment: 8/10

Well I must admit that I have cracked up a couple of times when Makoto tries to be the straight man against his aunt Meme and fails miserably. So that makes Denpa Onna pretty enjoyable. I don’t particularly hate being drowned in Moe when Erio, Meme or any of the female characters come into the scene either. The weird score board that determines Makoto’s adolescence points is pretty entertaining as well. I was intrigued by the unexplained mysteries but soon gave up on the hope of ever achieving the answers to them.

Overall: 8/10

Denpa Onna is like the Arakawa it never was—Arakawa with Moe. I guess the director realised that having half the cast being whacked out wierdos wearing freaky masks wasn’t going to win the hearts of the viewers. Denpa Onna is then created to make up for those mistakes, replacing crude old-men’s humor with cute Moe comedy and toning down the level of weirdness of the cast. Still, it is unique in its style and comes about to be a pleasant anime to watch.

Ps. Oh by the way, it probably wasn’t the best idea to have the hottest character of the anime be a 40 year-old aunt. Seriously, Meme is hotter than her 16 year-old daughter and the majority of the school girls Makoto ever had the pleasure to meet.

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Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko manages to slowly drag you into the story only to give up on you by the end. Providing a constant stream of comedy each episode is enjoyable, but after soaring to great heights the plot falls into a river. No, literally. I never questioned dropping it, but I felt like the focus switched from a comedy of a young girl who thinks she is an alien and the events conspiring around that to a slice of life.

Niwa Makoto, our male lead, moves into his aunt's house who was apparently living alone. To his surprise he finds a girl his age wrapped tight in a futon to be living with her. Thus, his sanity is put to the test as he takes it upon himself to convince Erio she is not an alien but a normal girl. On the side we have the classmates who disapprove of Erio, and warn him to try and stay away from her.

That encompasses everything that transpires in a nutshell. At first the story is rather captivating and the comedy works well with it. However, after the first arc ends the focus drastically changes. The story switches to a baseball tournament. Wait, I thought this was about adjusting Erio back to a normal person? Now, it is still funny and it is nice to see him interacting with his classmates and neighbors. It just betrays your expectations a little that the story just turned into something average.

Besides Erio there isn't much backstory, but instead the strength of the characters is in their personality. Let us take the aunt Meme for example; she may be 40 but acts like she is a little kid teasing Niwa, and is just awesome fun. We have Ryuushi who is energetic and who makes a very cute couple with Niwa. We also have Maekawa the more collected one in the show who almost subconsciously cosplays everywhere she goes. If we add Erio that makes up the entire cast of the show, including a few supporting characters. It may be that because the cast is so small it is able to make the few characters it has look even better.

Denpa Onna was always fun to watch. After a good introductory story I was very disappointed in how it transpired after that. Yet, as a comedy it never failed to make me laugh once or twice. While ending up a different show than expected I would still recommend it to others.


Thanks for reading my review and I hope it was helpful. Comments and questions are welcome!

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I'll be the first to admit that the only reason I watched this anime is Buriki, the original character designer. Ever since watching Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai and the sequel, I've been a huge fan of his.

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko unfortunately has quite a few ingredients that I hate. First, the protagonist is the 'hobby psychologist' type, who thinks his viewpoint on others is absolutely correct, and won't back down from his arrogance unless punted in the head with absolute proof. Granted, we are talking about a girl who thinks she's an alien here, but the whole 'I am going to fix you' mentality of this guy is too cringeworthy to bear. Luckily, he gets past that stage fairly early and the rest of the season can be enjoyed in peace. Additionally, it does tie into the conclusion, so I am forced not to deduct any points for it.

As much of a fan I am of Buriki's character designs, I think this is his weakest hour. Apart from Erio Touwa herself, he didn't bring a magic touch to much of the rest of the cast, though his style does pop out in every character. I just feel they weren't characterized much, not only in art but also in writing.

All that aside, the anime does feel like a low budget job. From the opening theme, Erio Touwa's voice acting, to the fast-forwarding of minor events and the decapitated "adolescence points" sub-plot/ time-filler that has no relation to the anime at all - there are a lot of incongruities that makes this anime at times look like it was given away as an amateur prize in a chocolate bar; "create your dream anime storyboard".

The season does get a lot better in the final quarter - maybe someone on the staff floor realized that the potential of this anime was greater than the effort they had put in it up to that point. Whatever the reason, it is a bit sad that it got a bit neglected early on, and that it didn't get a second season.

Hopefully, Buriki will stay away from SHAFT from now on. His work on Haganai and Nagi no Asukara were way less of a waste of his mountainous talent.


Summary of my ratings:

Story : 6
Art: 9
Sound: 4
Character: 7
Enjoyment: 7
Overall: 7

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"Why are you chasing me!!"
"Because you're running away!"
"I'm not running away, I'm on a journey to find my true self!"


I'd like to view ET: the moe version as an experiment in storytelling.
However, there is not much of a story to speak of.
Guy meets girls and his life changes.
Ok, so what is done differently this time around?

1. Characters

There's the eccentric 40 year old mum who is seemingly happy and carefree. In reality though, she has no idea how to approach her daughter who seems to have some loose screws in her head and is unable to tie her shoe or cut a paper straight. How on earth is this girl so beautiful when even the basics of hygiene are unknown to her?
In comes the young boy from the title to take care of his eccentric cousin. I don't know if teenage boys would wipe my face from food stains and find it cute but maybe if I wore a see through dress, why the hell not. In any case, transfer student is somewhat of a typical harem protagonist. The story is mostly from his perspective, so somewhere halfway through you'll be thinking "why doesn't this have a harem tag?"

Don't let yourself get distracted by sparkling cute girls or nurse cosplay because then the show suddenly switches perspectives.
There's a little heartwarming, family friendly part. There's the cool, youth-like, DO YOUR BEST!!! part. There's baseball and summer festival and school lunches and cicadas. It becomes less of a harem and more of a feel good slice of life where even the side characters get their time to shine.

2. Story is... where you find it.
In the second half, a sudden body of water appears and it's up to your interpretation whether you make it the depth of a puddle or the Mariana Trench.

3. Art
Well, it's Shaft. Enjoy sparkling water in a swimming pool, meteor shower, lips, nails, hair and various body curves of 2D babes to your hearts content.

4. Sound
My guess that the OP is denpa which is a genre of music. It's like pop-rock on drugs.
ED is sung by Yakushimaru Etusko and it's a slow, lullaby type of a song that I really liked.
BGM is fitting. Aliens/space play a big role in the series and so whenever we're watching stars there's this soft music in the background that's a little mysterious and nicely completes the atmosphere.

5. Enjoyment
Every Shaft creation is like cake with sweet topping with strawberries and chocolate and cream but because of that I don't know how the pastry actually tasted. Though I know for sure it wasn't bad at all.

TL;DR
pros: gorgeous art, quirky characters
cons: stuck somewhere between harem and slice of life. nothing much happens.

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I'm still not really quite sure what to think of Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko.

On the one hand, you have a generally thoughtful and depth-seeking piece that tries to provide meaning to one's adolescent life through alien and superpower metaphors.

On the other, you have a not particularly interesting, if weird, harem anime comprised of 1 guy, 3 girls + 1 annoying perverse aunt.

The thing with Denpa Onna is that it managed to keep my interest, but provided nearly no fun. It had a lot of attitude and style to its characters, but I didn't really like any of them much. It is, overall, an interesting experience, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

It's a complex thing.

Well there are some aspects of it that are plainly good or bad:

-The general art style, voice acting, and execution effort are all very satisfactory.
-The pacing is a bit slow, but it is necessary for all the inner monologues of the hero, which are the meat of the show, and do make it stand out very much.
-The storytelling that constantly colludes an allegated "aliens and superpowers are among us" with conversations that make it sound like the hero is really looking for aliens and superpowers, is a very serious effort and keeps you posted

-The characters reaaaaally aren't that fantastic, none of them, or even good, they're just a step above decent, a twinge above average if you're being generous
-The story is interesting but is all over the place, never giving you a clear vibe for whether we're supposed to ship someone or not, if this is a show that tries to be deep, or if it's a harem with some weirdness
-There is no real value to any story thread because of the aforementioned point, you always wonder if we're getting somewhere, and no, we never are

The gist of Denpa Onna is this: I don't know what they're really going for. What kind of story, what sort of message? There is a lot of value in the soul-searching about adolescent life and the relationships, even if it's a little too wordy for what it is. But is there something they're really going for? I don't know, even after having finished the anime, I simply don't.

Erio is supposed to come back to society. Does she really? Not really, but a bit. She also has an affection for "Itoko" aka Cousin, aka Makoto Niwa, aka protagonist, but is it supposed to evolve into love, or evolve into him becoming her bridge to a successful social reinsertion? I still don't know at the end.
Ryuushi is supposed to be the love interest chuniibyou, and I guess she does become the "main girl", but not entirely.
Maekawa is the possible love interest that will almost certainly remain in the friendzone. But at the end, is she firmly established as a friend or as a love interest? More than the others, but still not entirely.

There are loads of plots that are started but unfinished, thoughts that are expressed but unclear, and questions are raised by the dozens each episode but seldom get answered, by the anime or by us.

And that is the conundrum here: I was interested, but don't know what I was supposed to be interested about. There were creative ideas, but I have no idea what they were trying to express.

Denpa Onna was a mess, an interesting, original mess, but a mess nonetheless. I enjoyed it far more than less deep or less creative animes. But at the end of the day, I don't know what I was supposed to get out of it. For most animes, enjoyment is enough, but there was little enjoyment in this one, as it is burdened by long monologues that don't amount to much, and plot points that end nowhere. I see it as a project that didn't really know what it was going for, or was setting up for a very long run but only had 12 episodes and wanted to show off what it had coming in whatever light novel or manga it was showcasing.

It wasn't a disapointment, but I feel as confused about it now as I did 2/3rds into the season, except my interest started dying out somewhere around that time. I finished it hoping for a conclusion, I didn't get one, and I'll be left confused. I still don't regret watching it.

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I have really come to love and appreciate the work that SHAFT does when it comes to anime and this show really continues to win me over!

I think that hidden in this cutesy show about a a small town boy learning to find his voice in the big city is a deeper story about mental health and how it effects a family and in this case the community. Something happened to Erio something so bad she lost half a year of her life and can only find solace in hiding wrapped in a futon. She is shown in flash backs lashing out at her class mates. Really thinking deep into this it makes you wonder what happened and what if her fathers disappearance is linked?

The point i think this anime tries to get across using metaphors is that when some one is depressed and hurt that just sitting with them and listening can better than any therapy. the opening song even mentions its lyrics. The people around Erio where so involved in there own issues they immediately vilified Erio, her mother even deciding it was easier to ignore her instead of trying to help. I think in a culture that is being so rocked by suicides there is an important message here.

All it took was her cousin spending a small amount of his time and caring to take a girl hiding from the world to getting a job and joining a baseball team.

There are several other great sub plots about growing up and even in the end the ESPer story i think was more a metaphor for learning to question convention than it really was about a girl from outer space.

All in all very few animes has left me days later thinking about all the different deeper meanings and hidden ideas. I could be wrong it could just be a cute show with another quiet reserved female lead for the male lead to fawn over but i don't think i am.

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Note: This is one of my works from Sekijitsu

Art

What pulled me into this series was the art. There was something about it that appealed to me and I don’t regret being pulled in because Denpa Onna has some great art. Sure Erio might sparkle a bit too often but those sparkles add effect and I really don’t mind it. There were times when Shaft decided to degrade the art during those not-so-special scenes which was fine by me. Although, during a certain episode, the art was so deformed it looked half-assed. Overall Shaft sure does some good close up shots and we’re talking about the guys who did Bakemonogatari here!

Music

Talk about the most dreaded OP I’ve EVER heard! Maybe I’m exaggerating a little but I really didn’t like that opening at all. The notes in the singer were going everywhere and being a music student, I couldn’t really take it. I will admit it was catchy but it’s just not my type of music. The ED was nice to listen to, but it doesn’t fall under the ‘like’ category. This also goes for the BGM in the series which also didn’t fall under the ‘like’ category. With the use of BGM’s, you want to try and add more emphasis to the certain scene. At times Denpa did execute it well but most of the times it wasn’t anything special.

Story

I don’t think Denpa was originally supposed to have a strong story line to its slice-of-life feeling and because of that I was lead to disappointment. With all the alien references, I had hoped for the series to take a deeper dive into the sci-fi but considering I haven’t seen Arakawa Under the Bridge, I didn’t really know what to expect from Shaft. I still enjoyed the series for what it was.

Bouncing off each character and giving each character individual episodes did help in character development but at times it felt as though some characters should of appeared in certain scenes but just didn’t.

The flow of the series seemed on par with the story. There were plot holes and some characters just disappeared after a nice build-up of events leaving a very blended flow going up and down. There were times I liked some episodes and there were times I didn’t. An example of this was Shaft leaving the proclaimed esper near the end made me wish she was introduced earlier.

Another example included the cow tag man being spoken of but was left till an episode or two later for him to actually get introduced and Elliot was never heard of after we saw a child version of him. Of course, it’s not all so bad.

Overall

Other than being filled with heaps of moe moments and maybe some fan-service, it wasn’t as interesting and enjoyable to watch as I thought it would’ve been. Erio deciding to take on star gazing and a part-time job wasn’t what I expected for her social comeback towards society and the other characters had some lack of importance too in certain scenes. As I’ve said, the music wasn’t that great, the art was nice to see but there wasn’t an actual solid story to this series.

Should you watch it?

You might be hesitant to watch it after a score of 6 out of 10 but this is to appeal towards a wider audience. If you enjoy moe, sparkles, slice-of-life or nice occasional art then I’d recommend this show to you.

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