Story (6.11/10): The story of Sister Testament as I call it, follows the life of a boy named Toujou Basara, a boy who has a father who is remarried, gaining two little stepsisters in the process. However, not is all that it seems, as it is later revealed that the two "sisters" that he now has is the budding demon lord, and a succubus. In addition, Basara is hiding his own secret, hiding the fact that he is from the hero village, a place where they regulate the demons of the world. With the two sides now coming together, what challenges will they face with demons seeking the demon lord's power?
At first glance, sister testament seemed to be a little bit more than what the synopsis led one to believe. The first episode wows you and honestly, surprised me with a complete 180 on the show's comedic feel by putting in an action scene that made me for a moment, rethink the entire series altogether. It was that value of shock factor that really made me think for a moment that this was going to be a good show, and that I was in for one hell of a ride. Quickly though, that idea became less and less prominent as the holes began filling up with regret rather than joy.
While not only a series about action and the conflicts between protecting the new demon lord, Mio, Sister testament proudly shows itself (quite shamelessly might I add) to be an ecchi show in the worst possible way. In the show, there is a technique or plot device known as the "succubus curse", where one person becomes the "master" over the other, allowing the two to become bonded and grow stronger together. This one little detail manages to completely screw over the show plain and simple. Because this plot device exists as the basis for the show, the actual plot for the series I feel becomes jaded more than anything. Basically, the show makes it so that character strength is equal to the intensity and frequency of any kind of sexual act (as pointed out by the show's own characters) which can lead to, well...you get the idea.
The biggest flaw that I felt about this series was just purely about how frequent and how starkingly intense this show's ecchi moments actually were. They were done in such a way that they had to do a Tokyo Ghoul-style censorship involving censor bars that basically blocked so much of the screen that you can't see anything, and above all, made any sense of the actual storyline completely disappear. In this show, it seemed like the perverted moments took priority over anything, and for a show that actually seemed to have a decent plotline and story elements, it just really felt disappointing cause all of that stuff that makes a good anime is put in the trunk. (Not in the backseat, the trunk.) In terms of actual story, the progression was moderately well done. Because of just how often you'll see fanservice, ranging from a casual stripping of the clothes to full-on foreplay, the story won't come as often as one might think, and just isn't fleshed out as well as it should've been.
Overall, sister testament just failed to be any sort of proper story. Because of its way of "getting more powerful", the show showcased sexual foreplay more than anything, making that the first thing anyone thinks of whenever they talk about this show. In fact, I strongly believe that this series could've done better, and should've been a hentai more than anything. In the end, the story suffered a lot from the show's "other half" and would've done better had it not had the amount of fanservice that it did have.
Overview:
+ Decent story idea
- Story suffered greatly
- Fanservice overpowers the show GREATLY
Characters (5.55/10): The characters in sister testament similar to the story, don't really feel as fleshed out as they possibly could've. Rather, each one of them except a couple few don't get what they should've gotten.
First, we have Toujou Basara, our harem/main protagonist of the series. As a member of the hero clan, Basara has the ability to summon down a weapon that he himself can wield, and uses it to fight the demons if need be. Basara is more or less your standard harem protagonist. While he does get a sort of backstory to explain his overpowered ability (cause every harem protagonist these days is either useless, or OP), Basara follows your cookie cutter troupe of the "nice/good guy." Even though the girls he now lives with deceived him, he, throughout the series, makes a VERY conscious effort to protect them as their older brother. (Even though that idea becomes completely redundant and useless by episode 2.) He gets nervous in ecchi moments, he tries to protect his loved ones, you get the shtick. Moving on.
Naruse Mio is the main female protagonist in this series, aka the tsundere (cause main girl ALWAYS is one)/damsel in distress/one with the big breasts. As the upcoming demon lord who had her throne taken after having to run away when her father was usurped, Mio serves more of the Zelda/princess Peach character of this series because she very often can't fend for herself, relying more on Basara for that job. Since Mio follows the tsundere troupe to a certain degree, there really isn't much to say about her since it's such a stale troupe.
Apart from these two, we have the succubus character, Maria, who is both one of the better characters in the series for having some slight character development, and the ultimate reason why this series went down the drain so fast. (That's cause the curse was suggested and inflicted by her, ergo, it's her fault.) In addition, we also have Yuki, the character who serves as the childhood friend of the MC with a stone cold face, as well as Takamine, the one character who I thought was really the only shining glory in this cast of tired, old troupes regardless of how little he shows up.
In the end though, the cast of characters for Sister testament were more like a troupefest more than anything. Characters aside from the ones I have already mentioned barely get any substantial screentime, so there's not much to mention there. Because of this, aside from Takamine, the characters in this show really aren't anything special aside from being called what they are, troupes.
Overview:
+ One decent side character
- Tired anime troupes for characters
Art and Sound (6.50/10 and 7.00/10): The art for this series isn't really much to write home about. There really isn't any standout animation for this series aside from maybe the magic casting circles, and the series overall doesn't really have much of an impact art-wise.
What the art does have an impact on is simply how much of the series you can watch. Because this show is so ecchi centered, the show wants to tell you that, a lot, like at least ten minutes per episode. As I have mentioned before, the fanservice in this show is REALLY fanservicy to the point of it actually being sexual foreplay and should be considered hentai more than anything. Yes, my dear readers. This isn't ecchi, this...is hentai. And because of this, the show as of right now blocks any form of watching it because you get censors, flashes of light, and darkened areas that essentially cover up the whole screen, not allowing you to witness of what is going on behind the chibi versions of the characters. Because of this, watching this show can be quite frustrating because half of the time, you won't even get a clear picture as to what is going on.
Sound for me was a sort of solace for this series, as we have Sweet Arms make the opening for this series, which is a track that I feel like was rather good. While the show that it was tied to isn't really all that good, the opening itself is actually a rather good and actually somewhat memorable. Of course, upon mentioning this, the rest of the soundtrack is mediocre at best and really doesn't stand up too much.
Overview:
+ Good Opening
+/- Standard animation
- Ecchi. (Normally, I don't complain all that much about fanservice, but this is just simply too much.)
- OST didn't stand up on its own
Personal enjoyment (5.00/10): While I admit that I was wowed in the first 23 minutes of the series, the next 5.5 hours didn't really prove to be anything that I would bother rewatching or care for. As the weeks went on, I was more disappointed in this show than anything because without all of the foreplay, this show actually could've done really well. It had groundwork that it could've used, and a curse that was more of a curse on the show more than anything.
What did I like about this show?
If anything, it would have to be 1. Takamine (cause honestly, he's the only character in this show I give a damn about). And 2. The action sequences. While the animation was standard at best, the action sequences managed to for a moment, forget that you're watching a show that about a guy molesting his stepsisters (wait a second...that sounds familiar.), but rather one that also centers around the idea of action and heroes vs. demons, to some degree.
What didn't I like about this show?
The bland characters and the execution were really some big issues. The story was never fleshed out enough for it to be different than any other hero vs. demon story, and the idea of the damsel in distress was really more of a bore than anything cause it just added another member to the useless female group, a group that we seriously don't need to add more characters into. Above all though, I have to say, like what I've been saying this entire review, the fanservice by far is the worst thing to come out of this series. Not only is it prominent, so prominent that it's both ruined the story and my viewing experience, but because of the way it's presented, you probably won't be able to see it until a blu-ray release.
Would I recommend this show?
Honestly, I feel like this show is a waste of time. Throughout its runtime, there wasn't anything that stood out. The story wasn't made to be interesting enough, the characters were bland to all hell, and there wasn't anything fantastic aesthetic-wise. Because of how strong the fanservice was, there really wasn't much to make note of, thus creating this series' downfall. (I still don't know why they're making a second season. It boggles me.) If you want some hentai-esque material, go ahead and watch this. Make sure to get the DVD uncensored version because if you're watching for ecchi, I can guarantee that you that as of this review, you won't be able to anything but censor bars.
Overview: 5.00/10
