Haiyoru! Nyaruani: Remember My Love(craft-sensei)

“Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane.” -- H.P. Lovecraft

Remember My Lovecraft-sensei, like its predecessor, is an Adobe Flash-animated omake work; this time, it is on TV. The show currently sports a bizarre cast of the Great Old Ones: Nyarlko (Nyarlathothep), Cthuko (Cthugha), Atoko (Atlach-Nacha), and Nyarue (another Nyarlathothep). Also, an ordinary high school student boy.

So far, the Nyaruani series have not actually made an anime adaptation; though, this may change with the upcoming Haiyoru! Nyaruko-san. This show, again like its predecessor, is dedicated to people who have read the light novels; the huge attention to this niche is disconcerting for other ... viewers, aka us. We are pushed into this already developed world with no idea what to expect; sudden randomness and sexual references proliferate throughout the work and we are stuck in an eternal R’lyeh, confused by its Cyclopean plot structure which will decrease your SAN.

Thus, we have to ask, “How do we watch this show?”

We need to learn to accept and turn off our brains; a huge suspension of disbelief is required for this show. The work follows a Lovecraftian code to newbies: Never Explain Anything. Although this adage usually explains the conventions of horror works, this is also suitable to explain comedy. Watch it for the pointless sexual surreal comedy which can be funny to a group of people, like me. Think of it as a standup comedy routine.

And that’s how I enjoyed it.

The work pokes fun on light novels adapted into anime and breaks the fourth wall numerous times. It imagines the Great Old Ones as perverted bisexual females in a slice-of-life setting -- two of them hopelessly in love with the male protagonist. Atoko, with even a perversion Freud can’t stand, has some great lines of comedy; Nyarlko has some good ones too. The seiyuus, especially the one voicing Nyarlko, do a fantastic job at rendering their personalities. Asumi Kana basically plays Nyarlko like Tachibana Miya from Amagami SS and that choice for acting style is perfect.

Its weakest factor is the art and even the animator agrees. There are better Adobe Flash animators (Egoraptor, anyone?) that work for free; having a work done in Adobe Flash is not a good excuse. It is better than its predecessor, but that isn’t saying much. Yet, there are some great pictures, obviously stolen from Google Images and later changed in Adobe Illustrator through the live feature, that complements the humor. You have to at least laugh at the random Borg cube appearing at all the episodes. The OP is the only one that is animated, but it involves the characters moving their heads; the budget shows its toll a lot.

This is a work that is hard to recommend to most. If you know anyone who has a good dose of Lovecraft insanity and a good sense of Pythonesque humor, this might work; hence, my Lovecraft quote. Everyone else may have trouble watching it. Nevertheless, it does not hurt anyone to try watching it. I suggest watching the previous work; its running time as a show is only about 18 minutes. Remember My Lovecraft-sensei is just that, except with funnier sexual jokes.

Until an actual anime adaptation of this work exist, Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.