If you open up the Beginner’s Handbook to Hentai, under “Good Hentai” you will most definitely see Tropical Kiss listed amongst them. While on the surface, Tropical Kiss seems to be a mediocre hentai standing solely on the pillar of Collaboration Works pedigree and production quality, however you’d be a fool to believe Tropical Kiss is the same as all other Collaboration Works such as Mankitsu Happening or Eroge!. While Tropical Kiss is up to par with other works in its producer’s catalog, where it shines is in the storyline and character relationships providing much more depth than those mentioned previously. I wholeheartedly accept that many only look at hentai as nothing more than ammunition for their meat cannons however hentai is still art, or at the very least entertainment, and thus I give much more credit to engaging hentai that keeps me postfap.
Story : 8
While this show is no Euphoria with its winding and convoluted plot, it certainly is nothing less than great storytelling. Tropical Kiss gets massive props for taking the risk of not making their entire show a montage of sex interspersed with paper thin plot threads to create the illusion of a cohesive plot which is rather brave when the mere thought of a hentai that isn’t all about sex can send many horned up degenerates reeling.
Tropical Kiss follows our typical MC-kun as he meets various girls he has had relations with in the past with each episode focusing on his relationship with each girl. While the other characters also reveal an interest in our MC-kun, they’re routes are not explored due to budgetary constraints however keeping faithful to the source VN they are portrayed as viable routes for our MC-kun to conquer. This decision to focus on individual routes rather than balancing multiple routes in each episode was a critical one in the success of this show as we have much more time to become attached to each girl through dialogue and flashbacks as well as general character interaction that exposits a great deal about MC-kun’s past experiences with each girl while withholding certain bits of information that trickles out as each episode progresses until we fully understand the relationship between MC-kun and the girl. This approach leads to a compelling narrative which eggs the viewer on to keep watching and to fully uncover the past with each girl. While the narrative sags in the second episode, the bulk of the narrative draw this show has comes from the first and last episode which delivers in spades and sated my thirst for compelling character development.
Animation and Art : 8
As expected of Collaboration Works, Tropical Kiss keeps up great animation and art not only during sex scenes but also in all other scenes with visual gags and important character scenes.
While a few motions seem recycled, for the most part the motions feel like a breath of fresh air with more or less realistic body proportions and well designed characters reminiscent of other Collaboration Works hentai. Not much to be said except that the animation is solid with great aesthetics to boot.
Dialogue and Character : 8
The strong suit of this show, that puts it above other similar hentai, is the character development and relationships which I gushed over in the Story section. Our character backgrounds are established rather efficiently and through the dialogue we naturally understand the character dynamics of the show. Towards the end of each episode, the prevalent theme of the past is reflected upon by the characters and through their more recent interactions we see real growth from the characters apparent in their newfound voices and actions.
MC-kun is as likeable as any hentai MC can be, breaking the mould of hentai MC’s with a bold move to cut off his naturally eye covering bangs. Truly a spectacle to see a hentai MC’s eyes but this is the new world we are living in. While not being anything remarkable, he isn’t some freaky sadist or an ugly bastard so he is more than satisfactory as hentai MC’s go.
On the other hand, the girls in the series reflect the more complex side of character relationships and instead of each girl being placed in a box like ‘Tsundere’ or ‘Yandere’, they’re defined by their previous relationship with MC and the past complications they’ve experienced resulting in more depth from a hentai than you’d expect.
Comedy : 8
You don’t really expect to be laughing in a hentai but this show manages a couple laughs here and there, especially in the 2nd episode.The girls competing for MC-kun always result in back and forth banter between them, strengthened by the chemistry between the characters results in the romcom type comedy that is pretty enjoyable.The comedy knows when to come into focus, sit in the background or disperse entirely according to the tone of different scenes making the viewer more invested in more serious scenes that develop the characters. Comedically where Tropical Kiss shines is in it’s wackier situations that serve as side plots in an episode that they try to normalize all the while adding to the ridiculousness such as Matsuri’s determination to fuck her way out of obesity and diabetes or the iconic water fight where balls exploded and clothes come off.
Conclusion
Overall Tropical Kiss truly shows strength in it’s restraint, not adding any gratuitous sex scenes while prioritizing a narrative that uncovers the true nature between our main characters while taking the time to focus on each with their own episodes. In terms of humor, the show is not a stand out however it gets some chuckles here and there which makes you stay postfap or even prefap, knowing it’s place in the show as to when it is and isn’t needed in a scene. The characters are well done and while the story is nothing special it’s still a hell of a lot more interesting than your typical hentai plot. Tropical Kiss is a fairly good hentai that stands high on by mastering the fundamentals while slightly shaking things up resulting in a safe bet when you need to get it going, there is no rape or ugly bastards or piss or shit so by all hentai standards you won’t get traumatized.
