Story: 8
The primary reason that this isn't a 9 is the fact that in the early goings, it did seem like your forgettable, run of the mill harem anime. I came into the title, thinking after about 3 episodes that I was looking at a '6' rating at best. However I was far off base, though it took getting close to the midway point for me to realize this. Once the basic setup of the story was taken care of, the series dives into the meat of things, and really begins to move. Now, this *is* in fact a harem title, so we do have 5 different girls seriously vying for the main character's affection, with the stereotypical 'loli' character that while pining for him has no reasonable chance of coming out on top.
Each girl, even the loli of the group, has their own character arcs. They all seem to get fairly close to winning the main character's complete devotion, though only one girl actually does. That is another HUGE kicker about Shuffle!, the fact that he does actually pick a girl to love exclusively, none of this open-ended crap we see nearly everywhere else. On the character arcs, we get some pretty interesting storytelling, though there are some flaws to be found. For example, two of the girls share a very similar motivation/circumstances. The mechanics of each arc are varied, though the end result of them are pretty much the same. One girl's issue has a positive spin to it, and the other's has a kind of troubled setup, but in the end, when summarizing the arcs, it's quite easy to say 'well both girls have 'x' going on...'
The arcs also include some serious issues such as health problems that create dangerous situations for the girl in question, along with a girl that does an abrupt about-face behavioral wise, that is pretty jarring and initially seems out of place, but when examined from a psychological point of view makes perfect sense. These arcs, and the resolutions to them, are not always the happy-go-lucky outcomes that are so prevalent in this genre. Some of them have very serious consequences, and are not hand-waved away so easily.
These arcs are the meat of the show, as we get to know about each girl and her relationship to the main character in greater detail. Another interesting detail that Shuffle! carries that isn't the standard boilerplate harem trope is that not every girl has an equal chance with the guy, nor do they push that every girl is equal in his eyes. Yes they are all swooning over him, but throughout the series you can see fairly quickly which girls have a shot, and which ones don't even have a snowball's chance in Hell of ever being Mrs. Main Character. Oftentimes in this genre we see the main character stringing all the girls along, and never moving in any decisive manner towards choosing only one to be with. This series does not do that for the most part. The main character is kind, but clearly doesn't return the intense feelings most of the girls express to him. Instead of saying 'I love you' to each girl during their respective arcs, we actually do get him saying 'thank you' when some of the girls actually openly confess to him.
Another interesting factor, from my position at least, was that I didn't see his final choice coming at all. The story makes it easy to make assumptions about who's in the real running for his feelings, but beginning the series I did not guess the girl he ends with at all. It's not out there, I mean it still fits well into the story and is not a pitch from deep left field, it was just a bit surprising, which is pretty important for the harem-ish type shows to pull off. If you can see in episode 3 who the main character is going to end up with in episode 24, it can be pretty much a waste of time and a serious bummer. A nice change of pace is found here, and that's always welcome in my book.
Now to some flaws. A flaw that kind of bugged me was the fact that during each girl's character arc any girl that wasn't directly related to that storyline pretty much disappeared. Sometimes there's several episodes some of the girl's are pretty much completely missing from. Understandably you can't have all of the girls in his face and still tell compelling plotlines for each girl, of course. But with each girl openly declaring their love of the main character, and at least paying lip service to the fact they are supposedly not giving up on him loving them back, regardless of which girl he's interacting with most at any given moment, it seems odd they wouldn't still show up enough to indicate that they aren't ready to give up on his love. It's like Girl #1 says 'Oh it's Girl #2's turn to be the center of attention, so I'm going to just quietly sit in the corner for 3 or 4 episodes and not say anything.' Naw, in the real world all the other girls would still be flirty and engage with the guy, if they were still competing for his affections. Perhaps not in an open battle for him, but in a 'hey baby when she lets you down, come running to me' kind of way.
The synopsis tells us that we're dealing with some of the girls being supernatural creatures, the daughter of the King of Gods, and the daughter of the King of Demons and all, but another flaw is the use of magic in the story. It really feels tacked on, and is only used to prop up weak answers to some of the questions brought up in the girls' character arcs. Kind of like: 'why is this bad thing happening to whichever girl?' 'because magic!' Magic isn't really used at all outside of the crisis moments in the character arcs, and it seems like they could have left it completely out and gone with other causes to the problems the girls face and it wouldn't have hurt the story any at all.
Finally, while there are some interesting developments and attention grabbing events in the second half of the series, we are still dealing with the most part very cliche base characters. There is of course the childhood friend in the harem mix, the requisite loli character, the overly nice girl, the somewhat competitive girl, and so forth. And also another staple of the harem genre appears: the main character is as interesting as watching paint dry for most of the series. He's overly nice to all the girls, until the end run he doesn't do much to discourage any of the girls, even the ones he knows he's not interested, from loving him. He doesn't string them out on purpose, necessarily, but like most harem guys, they get strung out regardless. Then of course he plays the fool, with the whole 'oh my God, I didn't realize what I was doing!' which we've all seen a bajillion times in this kind of series.
Art: 8
I liked the way the series looked, loved the green-haired girl, and the overall flow and character design. The art also does a very good job of indicating the emotions of the characters. For example there are a couple of times throughout the show that have characters being in pretty dire duress, and it clearly shows in their faces. This is a detail that many anime overlook. When a character is in really bad shape, they *look* it, and we don't have to have any reminders dialog wise to indicate this. So overall, I found it pleasing to the eye.
Sound: 8
The opening theme is just freaking awesome, I love it! The ending one is pretty good, but not something to jump around about. The sound effects are really well done, and they didn't overuse the comedic 'boings' and 'booms' and other tired sound effects, so we had a good balance there as well. The voices, save for the main character, are all awesomely done, and feature some heavy hitter voice actors as well. The cast includes names like Brittney Karbowski, Monica Rial, and Vic Mignogna which all do a great job with their respective characters. Though the voices were from several well known actors, they aren't phoned in. The only voice that really reminded me of other roles the actress has done was Monica Rial as Asa. The problem there is Monica has a very distinct (and cute!) voice when she is playing high school and/or young characters. Otherwise, the acting was quite enjoyable.
Character: 9
Now I know I have already knocked the main character for his blandness and all, but he's not the only character in the show, and the girls more than make up for his typical shortcomings. While the character types are somewhat typical, they are played enthusiastically and are given enough uniqueness through their origins as gods or demons or are other forms of life. As said previously, the entire cast really gets to shine as the story slides into the separate character arcs and we get to spend time with each girl in a more exclusive manner. When examined close up, they hold together well as characters, and we're not left with gaping questions and plot holes that are common in this genre.
Another interesting thing is the fact the girls all have somewhat justifiable reasons for carrying a torch for the main character. Oftentimes in these kind of stories we get no clear motivation for the lovelorn girls beyond 'love at first sight'. These girls' motivations, while not always very original, are well written and actually make a little bit of sense, and are not left with them fawning over the guy for no reason at all.
On the comedic side of things we have the King of the Gods and the King of the Demons both making appearances quite often and usually to their respective daughter's chagrin. The God King is always hungry and making a fool of himself, embarrassing his daughter who isn't above smacking his ass around with furniture or other blunt objects. The Demon King is a bit more laid back and less over the top than his counterpart, though he manages to embarrass his daughter quite often as well. However, oddly enough, we see parent characters for all the girls but one, and the one we don't see would have had the largest impact on the main character. It's an odd little thing, that everyone else's mom or dad show up but not the one closest related to both the main character and one of the girls.
Enjoyment: 9
I honestly wasn't expecting much at all from this series when I began it. Taking a cursory glance at review scores beforehand indicated that many reviewers were not in the least impressed by the show. I decided that I'd go ahead and give it a spin because I do enjoy the harem genre and am willing to tolerate the more cliche elements, probably better than some other folk. So I started it and hung with it. I was really thinking a '6' at best for most all the first half of the show. But when it took off, it took off well, and I found myself looking forward to watching each episode. I'll even own up to the fact that the last 3 or 4 episodes put tears in my eyes. This is one of those series I'm very glad I said 'eh, lets give it a try' to. And the ending! What a kicker! The last 3 or so episodes were worth putting up with all the typical harem junk of the first 6 or 7 episodes. For me, it was worth the time invested to experience the story.
Best Girl: the green haired Asa. She is cute as a button, played by one of my absolute favorite voice actresses, and has, by far, the best character arc in the show. I adored her hair color, the cut, the voice, the personality, and the resolution to her storyline immensely. Top notch!
In closing I do recommend Shuffle! in general, but with the caveat that you will have to sit through a bit of typical harem stylings, but there is a point to it all. If you can tolerate the general setting up of the story, you will make it to the good parts soon enough. You may find, like I did, that every episode led to thinking better and better about the show. It may not be for everyone, but if you're down for this genre, then I believe you'll have a genuinely good time. Also, natural green hair should totally be a thing, let's see if we can get Elon Musk on that too. Thumbs up!
