The anime, produced by XEBEC, starts with the meeting between Mahiro, a normal high school boy, and Nyaruko, a Nyarlathotepian (or alien). She was sent into Earth by an organisation to protect Mahiro from aliens that lurked in this planet. As it progresses, more characters are introduced, be it with the pair or against them.
The story has some funny moments. You ain’t looking at an ordinary heroine, but a crazy one. The one who obsess with anime and manga, not as someone who is serious to follow commands. That makes the anime good, in the sense of comedy. Fan-service is spread in these twelve episodes and they are not very excessive.
With mythology as a theme to the story, there isn't really much talk about myths. Don’t expect a lengthy explanation about each creatures, otherwise go to Wikipedia and do your own research.
There are quite a number of battles, meaning good potential action. I would say that most of them are interesting. The rest fell short for its repetition. Even after a few episodes, the story’s quality started to decline for its low action but again peaked again after a while.
There are a lot of references, mostly coming from anime and manga. I managed to pick a few but I didn’t care much. There is some romance too, which isn’t fully developed. Think of it as one-way. I actually think there’s a harem Mahiro has. hehe…
Sometimes, drama can seep in, especially the last episode. But usually it can be broken off into comedy, which I am not happy about. Therefore, if you are looking for a serious story, I’m afraid this anime is not for you. I guess it is good for chuckles only.
The characters aren’t very special. Mahiro is someone who doesn’t like a particular person and tries to avoid that person. Nyaruko is someone who wants to be attached to another particular person. This cat-and-mouse relationship has really never changed throughout the story, but there is some development in both characters.
Their other friends are Kuuko, who loves Nyaruko a lot by some weird reason, Hasuta, who looks like a girl but is really a boy, and Kurei, who is the gossiper of their class. Not much character development is seen in these three, but they are adapted to what has been going in.
The art is nice. I find the opening and ending animations very cute. The scenery is good-looking, especially on places where aliens frequent on Earth, as it gives a different look outside the human world. The character designs are well-down and facial expressions can be both cute and nice. I like how the scenes change as a battle is about to start. The action animation is great.
I really can’t stop listening to the opening song the moment I started playing it. It has some nice beats to get your body moving. It sounds like you want to dance. Meanwhile, the ending song has a different approach, and it really bored the heck out of me, honestly. The background music is nice and the voice acting is great. There are certain voice actors recognisable from their other characters, like Nyaruko, who is voiced by Kana, who voices Hinata and Komari.
In the end, I enjoyed it for a while, until the part where there’s little action. I wished it could have gotten better, and if I were to remove these anime and manga references, and change Nyaruko’s personality, I think the anime can be more interesting. I will still watch the second season and see how it goes.
Don’t take this anime too seriously. Watch it and laugh.
(And I don't see any bad reviews at all. About two reviews received a rating of 3 and I totally respect their decision.)
