Story (7.21/10): The story of Ookami-san to Shichinin to Nakama-tachi revolves around the high school lives of the Otogi Bank, a club in the school where the story is based in, where they accept the requests of people in the school, in order to get a payment of a favor in return. Essentially, this club is the school mafia where you are expected to return the favor, or you will get possibly screwed later on. Our main protagonist Ookami Ryouko is faced with the fact that someone out of nowhere confessed to her in the middle of the street, before finding out that he is a new member of her Otogi bank club.
From a story standpoint, the anime uses its base idea well, branching off several stories from the request/return policy of the Otogi bank as its base. Every episode, or several episodes, consist of a separate story that has to do with this policy, each with their own story that in the end, reaps some character development that makes the show a bit better as a whole. But with this idea, there are a few bugs in the mix.
One thing that this series has a bit of a downfall in, is its use of time. While for the most part, the story is well-written and executed rather well, staying true to its own plotline, the plot in certain episodes, diverge from what the main idea is. In short, side stories. Roughly a quarter of the series is essentially plot points that don't really have much to do with the main plot, and as such, play no real significance altogether. Mostly, these episodes have to do with certain members within the Otogi bank and give them a little bit of backstory. This is fine and all, but the actual impact altogether doesn't have as much due to the fact that these people who get an episode about themselves, are supporting characters compared to the actual main plot. Still though, this problem is still quite minor due to the fact that those particular episodes do still have the charm that this series has.
Another thing this series has a bit of problem with, is a lack of actual explanation. There are moments in the series where backstories are explained, mostly about our lovely wolf girl, Ryouko. What makes this particular thing a downfall, is the fact that when the characters talk about her backstory, there are always some holes. A few things are mentioned, and you get the general idea of what happened, but the specifics aren't mentioned and a clear and concise story of what exactly happened is never really mentioned, different to most animes that have back stories, which usually end in a full telling of what happened.
The pacing of the series except for the one episode side stories, is rather decent. It's pretty steady and there are no real faults in the pacing of the story.
Overview
+ Entire story connects to the main key idea well
+ Good pacing throughout the anime
- Missing back story areas
- One-episode side stories that have little plot significance
Characters (7.89/10): Take the big bad wolf, little red riding hood, a guy scared of attention, a bodiless narrator, and a whole slew of colorful and overused anime troupes. This is basically the whole cast of this show.
Ookami Ryouko. With the word "wolf" literally as her name, she Ryouko exhibits a sort of tough aura, always stating that she can do things herself, telling the main guy to man up, and overall, is a rather badass female lead. What is really likable is he fact that she has a very conflicting personality, having a hidden, inner personality that she never shows to people around her. Quite frankly, she is the show's main focus and a reason why this show is relatively good in the first place. She seems to be more of a real person than many other female characters in the "tsundere" category, and is overall, a very good character who is very befitting of a show like this.
Morino Ryoushi is the main male lead of the series. As a timid person who shies away from attention, Morino is shown to be the main romantic lead, as he confesses his love for Ryouko in the very first episode, something that romance tagged animes pretty much never do. What I like about him is the fact that throughout the series, you can see the growth in him, to the point that watching his actions from episode 1 to episode 12, are completely inverted and different. Similar to Ryouko, his personality gets fleshed out as the series goes on, without the exception of a backstory.
Akai Ringo, or little red riding hood, is the final true main character of the series. For the most part, she gets a bit of a supporting role, with the exception of her backstory episode, being Ryouko's friend, supporter, and companion for the majority of the series. (Kind of ironic given their base character idea.) Different though, is the fact that she has a heart of stone, being very conniving and tricky when the plot needs her to be. She provides a lot of good support to Ryouko's role and character in the series.
A special character mention that NEEDS to be said, is the narrator. Contrary to a lot of comedy series, this specific anime has a narrator to tell out the story in a storybook sense, staring pretty much every episode with "Long, long ago..." and pointing out the obvious, making her own remarks, as well as breaking the fourth wall to the extent that the characters might as well know that their own existence is an anime.
For supporting cast, the anime consists of about 30 or so members, (you heard me, 30), each of them based on some sort of anime troupe from one place of the universe to the other. (Maid, playboy, studious, sadistic villan, fanservice, etc.) While for the most part, these supporting characters compliment the show well, some of them play no real purpose beyond a given episode or two. Also, the fact that the supporting cast is so gigantic, it's to the point that remembering their names is an issue. Without the handy narrator giving mention of their name every time they come on screen, you probably wouldn't know who they are, saying "Hey, it's...that guy....yeah..." Every now and then. Another problem was the fact that there were some characters that had some decent significance in the plot, but they were either introduced too late or not given enough time to prove what they could offer to the show.
Overview
+ Fleshed out main characters
+ Decent supporting characters
- One note characters that show up at most with an episode, then a cameo
- Too many people to remember (It's like Angel Beats all over again.)
Art and Sound (7.01/10 and 7.00/10): For the most part, the animation is rather average. It looks pleasing to the eye and there was no real jarring things to see, but nothing truly stood out for me as a scene or piece or artwork that was really astonishing. The art was good, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't the best thing I've seen in recent years in terms of artwork. Although, seeing Ryouko with wolf ears in the opening song was a nice little touch.
From a music standpoint, nothing stood out either. The tracks weren't terrible, they were rather good with the opening being a very nice and inspirational song and the ending being a happy-go-lucky electronic one, but nothing really stood out as memorable. They were good enough to stick around and listen to, but it wasn't a god track that you would want to keep in your head forever and ever.
Overview
+ Decent looking art
+ Good soundtrack
- Nothing stood out as "memorable"
Personal Enjoyment (7.45/10): As a personal fan of animal-themed anime characters, and strong female leads as a whole, I found this series to be quite enjoyable due to the fact that Ryouko prove herself to be a great female lead for this show. Her character, mixing in various other people that have interesting traits, made the show quite enjoyable.
A little complaint or wonderment I had throughout the whole series was if the school even had a legit uniform or dress code, seeing as how pretty much all of the characters never really follow a traditional school uniform that many other school-based anime do.
In any case, I personally enjoyed this series. It was a nice series to relax and enjoy some decent character development while watching a good comedy show. I enjoyed the quirky characters, the storyline, and above all, the narrator, which made the series far better than what it could've been. (Seriously, I shudder to think what this series would be like without the narrator.) I would recommend this show to anyone who likes a comedy anime that has a balance of story-driven and plot-driven idea.
Overall Score: 7.48/10
