Nov 22, 2014
*Warning - Review probably contains spoilers. I can't really remember.*
If you stopped viewing Yosuga no Sora after the first four episodes, your impression of the show probably wouldn't be very high. Let's be fair, at face value it looks like another raunchy high-school drama starring another perfect male lead, another meganekko neighbour, another creepy tsundere girl...However, what sets this apart (and I never thought I'd say this about an ecchi) is it's way of storytelling, and while the Amagami SS style parallel arcs may seem rather gimmicky at first, I thought the show came together in a rather compelling way.
First of all, the animation here
...
is stellar. While the countryside / highschool setting has definitely been seen before, Yosuga no Sora feels somehow fresh in its approach. It really hit me in the scene from the opening episode when the car just brushes past Sora just how sweeping the landscapes are. While most of the show has a classy, muted colour scheme (mainly black, white, brown and green), suddenly you'll be hit with these intense sunsets and colossal cloud shots. On top of that, the music is incredible and always well chosen to suit the scene - something ecchis seem to have a problem doing. There are some real tear-jerkers in this. Not to mention the opening and closing themes are fantastic, and the omake segments flip all of this completely with hilarious chibi art and a cute as heck closing tune.
The way the anime deals with sexual matters - which no doubt drew in its audience in the first place - is surprisingly mature. Although in terms of explicitness it seems to stray into hentai-land, Haru's encounters are never meaningless. They almost work as payoff for having seen him develop a strong relationship with each girl. While Kazuha is a close second, the incestuous relationship at the end was probably the most intriguing of all. At the end of the first episode Sora's intentions are made clear to the viewer, so throughout the first two arcs Sora has an almost menacing presence with constant cut-aways. But even when her arc takes off, it comes across as more like animal desire than romantic love (they have sex a lot earlier than the other couples as well). You can really see the life being sucked out of Haru. I personally didn't find it arousing in any way, and I heavily doubt that that was the creators' intention.
Finally, the multiple story arcs are incredibly well integrated. Each girl turns out to be more than a surface level stereotype, and are fleshed out with more quirks and personal information than 4 episodes each would suggest. I never thought I would find the family drama of Akira, say, so compelling. Some of the smaller characters, such as Kozue, were cleverly incorporated too; while I originally wrote her off as a badly developed supporting character, in Sora's arc her role of catching the twins having sex and later confessing to Haru was cleverly played out. Like, in the other arcs she would have just been watching from afar, hoping Haru is happy with his partner, but this last scenario is enough to bring her forwards about her feelings.
I only had a few problems with this series. Most notably, it being an ecchi there just had to be some pointless boob jiggling and wet t-shirt moments. These just felt really out of place because after the first episode I really stopped seeing the characters in that way (came for the incest - stayed for the character development). There were also some characters that seemed a bit bland. I would have loved to delve into Haru's psyche, especially to explain how his mind could accommodate sexual relations with so many girls. I feel like a critique of male lust is just waiting to be explored here. Yahiro and Ryouhei also didn't bring much to the story in terms of plot that couldn't have been introduced otherwise, though Ryouhei did bring a fair amount of unexpected comic relief.
So, if you're feeling randy but like your porn to make you cry, then this anime may just surprise you
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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