STORY - 6/10
The story provided at Episode 1 of Nyaruko was one of the most baffling and convoluted setups I had seen in a long time, and this just made me want to watch it more. It turns out that the deities written about by H. P. Lovecraft are alive, and not only that, the main girl - Nyarthathotep - is a huge fan of anime and manga. The idea that the series was going to star a girl version of a Lovecraftian deity who loved the media of the planet was ridiculous to me, but in a good way. It almost felt like a serpent eating its own tail; a being that was made from media who saves the world in this media because she likes the world's media. It sounded like it could be a setup for something interesting, something that could explore the concepts of humanity's obsession with media, with outlandish concepts like Anime Girl Lovecraft, and the like.
However, by Episode 12, those hopes that the series could explore something with its tongue-in-cheek tone and meta subtext was thrown out of the window, as it becomes something jarringly generic and basic for a majority of its run time. While we still have moments of outlandish Outword out-of-body experiences, the majority of the series focuses on the same jokes being repeated ad nauseum in a typical high school harem setting. If this were the point - to use this outlandish concept to do something generic - as a form of meta storytelling itself about how these dime-a-dozen stories themselves have practically become indescribable and horrific beasts of the art form could have been funny; but if this is what they were going for then it failed miserably.
Nyaruko never changes. It never explores anything it has the potential to. Nyaruko stays as one of the most generic stories I have seen in a long time. Every character has their joke, they are forced to say it once every two minutes or so, ad infinitum. What had potential to explore the ways we have seemingly started grabbing at straws for story concepts, or how media itself is a shapeless beast that seeps its way into our mind like a Lovecraftian beast itself, or even make a tongue-in-cheek homage to the ridiculous anime concepts that come before it, it does the most unfortunate thing and does nothing. The references it makes are incredibly basic - Jojo, Fist of the North Star, Gundam, Dragon Quest. It's nothing that would be unique or interesting to it as a series. The only times Nyaruko brings up media isn't to explore it, or to gleam any meaning from it or even the show itself, it's just to reference it. References make up a large majority of this show's humor, and while that makes sense, seeing as how the show itself is almost like one big reference to Lovecraft itself, that does make it a good or enjoyable show.
ART - 4/10
The art is incredibly generic. There's no semblance of a unique art style here or a unique vision from a director. It... Exists. It isn't ugly, but it isn't interesting. There's nothing to say, as it itself says nothing. Asking me to comment on the visuals of Nyaruko would be like telling me to describe the taste of water.
SOUND - 5/10
While I appreciate the attempts that the musicians take in attempting to make the OP an earworm that goes into your head, almost like the whispers of an Old God itself, besides that there's nothing to mention. The ED isn't interesting, the OST has nothing going for it, the voices are generic and don't come close to resonating with me. It exists and doesn't sound terrible, so I can give it that.
CHARACTER - 1/10
These are not characters. These characters are sheets of paper with a single character trait written on them and nothing else. Nyaruko likes anime and the protagonist. The protagonist doesn't like Nyaruko. Kuuko likes Nyaruko. Hasuta likes the protagonist. This is the entirety of the personalities of these characters. It becomes increasingly annoying as you watch the show and continue to see the exact same jokes repeated over and over for 20 minutes at a time for about 12 episodes - I'll be generous and say 10 because the first and last episodes may not have had AS MANY of these bog standard jokes.
And the characters that we have the pleasure of hearing repeat the same jokes over and over for 20 minutes a pop are some of the most annoying pieces of trash I have ever seen. They are unchanging from their original personality trait, and that personality trait is annoying and boring. Characters have to always be loud and annoying and yelling all the time in an annoying manner. It's absolutely some of the worst writing I have seen when it comes to giving characters personalities and unique thoughts and moments. Hasuta, for example, only has the personality trait of wanting to have intercourse with our main character. At least Nyaruko also enjoyed media on top of wanting to lay with our main character, and at least Kuuko liked games as well as liking Nyaruko (though sexualizing Nyaruko is her defining trait and becomes the line she must contractually say every 30 seconds), Hasuta is the worst written of them all as he has no defining traits outside of wanting to "have babies" with our protagonist. It's just awful. They're all awful.
ENJOYMENT - 3/10
Again, while I enjoyed the concepts the first episode had the potential to bring up, I was enjoying the first episode or two, but the show fell into a trap of annoyance and repetition that caused me to despise watching it as I continued. However, as much as I hate to say it, there was a joke or two I chuckled at later on, mainly because those jokes were escapes from the generic repetitive jokes of the past 4 episodes.
OVERALL - 3/10
It has a generic look, generic sounds, some of the least developed and most annoying characters I have ever had the displeasure to watch, and has the substance of watching a single episode 12 times in a row rather than watching all 12 unique episodes. It's like watching a series comprised of nothing but Endless Eight, except turning up the volume so loud it makes your ears bleed and shoving a bunch of references into it.
