Gave the manga a skim, and I finally understood how bad this was.

so you recommend reading the manga from the beginning and not where the anime ended?

the anime had worse animation than 90s anime was the problem

Oh yeah the anime made me want to read the manga as poorly adapted as it was. It made me read the manga. If I read the manga than watched this anime, I would give it a lower rating. I gotta say the last two episodes of the anime was what made me read the manga because it was strange. Like poorly written wrapping things up… and when I read the manga about the cat-girl curiosity… I nearly cried. It was really good.

I love the cat dance… it was so wild. In the anime it doesn’t explain why the cats dance… but in the manga it’s actually pretty tragic.

Personally the sound elements in adaptations make it near impossible for me to enjoy Manga in lieu of it. So I simply enjoy the show for what it is and leave it at that. There is always something else on the horizon, and so its not like I am short on things to watch. In fact there are too many, but I digress.

As for the fan service I felt the show had enough of it. I did not ever feel like I needed more. Also the randomness and or lack of context as is common in adaptations can sometimes be enjoyable too.

That's what happens with modern anime studios and directors. They think they know better, so they censor, and they are also extremely self-centered, wanting to "leave their mark" on someone else's IP, so they change around the story in the most bizarre way. Completely cutting sensei out of the bath scene, the whole anime original ending which was not necessary. It was all very bizarre, especially all these bootlickers in any discussion.
Not just this series either, it's happening to anything remotely lewd. Any and all fanservice and exposure, even if obviously more artsy/thematically done gets wiped clean unless it's nearly porn like Gushing or Reviewers. I've been basically exclusively reading manga for the last few years and not watching anything since it's gotten so bad. It's extremely annoying and disheartening seeing a series you like get a disrespectful adaptation.
Also the weird anime only yuri selfcest kiss scene for the finale of vtuber arc was really strange and was obviously just the director's perversion snuck in, extremely uncomfortable to watch considering that scene was supposed to be a wholesome farewell.

There is nothing particularly, notably gainful in excessive Ecchi.. specially in narratives with enjoyable characters and stories. But that's exactly what you get in some Manga (well many).. and its not because it's the greatest thing in the world. Not at all. It's because it's what sells. Now some Mangakas like the one who authored MIA do have a genuine interest in spreading their strange ideas to others, but generally speaking Ecchi is a means to market and sell things better. Now with Kaii to Otome it appears to be a diluted form of what you expected.. well as an adaptation these things can happen. But its not necessarily a bad thing, Id argue its a good thing as I think we're already overly exposed with perversion as it is.

@LordKirkis Half the series is SOL bits made specifically for Ecchi. What's left if you take that out?

@HyperlinkBlocked The anime series? To me it comes off as a Comedy, Mystery, SOL kind of show. I really enjoyed it as it was, but then again my expectations were totally different from yours.

@RKGS Wait, the kiss was also anime only? So basically the ONE episode they do any kind of fanservice, and they decide to use it to dress Oto like a cheap whore, and make the dying girl swap spit with her alter ego?

There is nothing particularly, notably gainful in excessive Ecchi.. specially in narratives with enjoyable characters and stories. But that's exactly what you get in some Manga (well many).. and its not because it's the greatest thing in the world. Not at all. It's because it's what sells. Now some Mangakas like the one who authored MIA do have a genuine interest in spreading their strange ideas to others, but generally speaking Ecchi is a means to market and sell things better. Now with Kaii to Otome it appears to be a diluted form of what you expected.. well as an adaptation these things can happen. But its not necessarily a bad thing, Id argue its a good thing as I think we're already overly exposed with perversion as it is.

@LordKirkis How does that boot taste? Censorship is bad no matter what. Crazy to act like perversion has no place in art when it's been like that for millennia.

@RKGS

Ecchi in art is fine, but its not necessary to have an enjoyable show. And while I do enjoy Ecchi its not exactly an essential piece for me. Sometimes Ecchi actually gets in the way of a shows potential or it's used to elevate what is in truth a poor show.

@LordKirkis Exactly It's just like fighting: It really isn't necessary for a good show. Just imagine how much better the Dragonball series would be if we took out all the violence.

@HyperlinkBlocked

Thats a bad comparison since violence makes up 75% or so of the scenes in DB Series and so it's violence IS essential. Ecchi in Kaii to Otome? not so much.. as demonstrated in the adaptation.

One show where Ecchi might be argued to be essential is Gushing over Magical Girls... even then if you remove most of the Ecchi you'd still have a decent show.

I don't want to say Ecchi is not important.. It can be, but personally it's low hanging fruit; animation quality, writing and sound production each individually are far more important.

I meant as Kaii to Otome show demonstrated to me.. I thought it to be a very good show. SOL is plenty popular, and has farther reach than Ecchi. Also typically adaptations calls for a new script.

The Ecchi in Magical Girls was very nice but I actually didn’t care for it half the time as I thought other parts of the show had enough quality as to be past the need for abundant Ecchi.

You need to understand that there is more to shows than just Ecchi. Hundreds of artists work on these productions and not all of them care for Ecchi, but a lot of them do care about creating something compelling. So they do it in the best way they can, letting their passion dictate the way. There is nothing wrong with that, specially if the goal is to reach more audiences past the ones who already read the Manga, past the ones who enjoy Ecchi and little else..