Yes ladies and gents, Airantou is a paradise like no other. However, before I describe the epic scenery of that island let me start with the story. It's very banal, in fact anyone with half a brain could come up with it. We have a teenage dude Ikuto, who one day has an argument with his father and decides to run away from home. He boards a ship which cruises around the Pacific. One day however there's a terrible storm and our hero is thrown overboard and the ship's staff doesn't really do much to save him. The following day Ikuto is fished out (literally) of the water by an exotic girl and finds himself stranded on an isolated island (escape is not possible) in the middle of the pacific. Much to his suprise, he finds out that the island is only populated by women. Young women.
So it's just an another average boring Harem anime, right? No. The girls on the island are not your average boring harem girls who just stand there waiting to be scooped up by the male lead and Ikuto is not an average teenage guy who'd take every oportunity around him so you can pretty much see who's chasing who in this anime. Also the island of Airantou is not exacly normal... not only does it have a huge ass mount everest in the middle but there are also "pokemon" living on it. From weird and exotic creatures that glow at night (and I'm not talking about fireflies) to huge dragons capable of creating whirpools. Hence, I'm calling them pokemon.
Anyway, Ikuto soon finds out that being the only male on the island is not easy as most of the girls never had any contact with a boy before however they're eager to experiment (hmmmmmm). And so the wacky adventures of our hero start. In order to get use to the way of living on the island, Ikuto must go through a lot of challenges and every episode is filled with "WTF did I just watch" moments which never make the viewer bored.
Nagasarete Airantou consists of only 26 episodes though. I say only because this anime has such a good and strong plot that it could have been at least twice as long. This anime has a lot if innovative ideas and there are no loopholes in it. Everything's thoroughly explained as the story progresses, inculding the reason why the island is only populated by women (and why the hell there are pokemon living on it).
The art is very good and high quality imho. Whoever came up with the idea of Airantou is a genius. The island is beautiful, huge mountain in the middle with lush forests around it and then we have vast grasslands on the outskirts which go all the way around the island. It's as if you took Honshu and pulled it on itself, making it into a circle. Not sure why but I think that explanation sucks... anway, the scenery is breathtaking and the island's tropical weather makes it even better. My hats off to the studio who did a fantastic job.
The sound is very good although it's not anything special. Standard comedy tunes and there's some serious music too (usually for serious moments, though there aren't many of those in this anime). The music is perhaps the weakest aspect of Nagasarete Airantou, but who cares anyway? The story and art makes up for it tenfold!
The characters are amazing and they all have an interesting story to tell. Let me see, we have a sourcerer, a ninja, a carpenter, a psychotic genius (all of those are girls btw) we have a girl who's mother looks younger than her and... many many more! Phew, it's a crazy mix for sure and that's also what makes Airantou special. All the girls have depth and their lines are not limited to "Hi" and "goodbye" as in most Harem animes. Again, my hats off to the studio and the author for making the characters so entertaining.
All in all, Airantou is an island where crazy adventures never cease. Be it Ikuto being chased by a horde of curious girls to awesome ninja like fights between giant tigers and pandas. The series never ceases to amaze you, there's always some kind of a crazy twist waiting behind the corner. Also the ending itself is a one huge twist but at the same time it perfectly completes the anime. It's what I like to call "explanatory twist". Now, if you've read this far then that means you're either interested in watching this anime... or you just like my sarcastic way of describing things.
Whatever the reason, I strongly encourage you to take a look at this anime, shows like this should not be missed and Nagasarete Airantou is a true gem. It deserves a full score and it gets a full score from me.
