There are times when I tire of watching films and shows that are built up to be intellectually stimulating (ie thought-provoking and capable of making one a better critical thinker, and ultimately become more wise), when they end up being anti-intellectual, ethically damaging, doing anything but promoting good values, and teach anything but good lessons. Naturally, since I get tired of the consistent failure of locating such shows, I eventually turn to those that are anything but intellectually stimulating. If they stimulate anything, its my libido.
Mother of the Goddess’ Dormitory (2021)
Rated: 3 / 5
An ecchi only works in a show like this, in my personal opinion. Because when it comes to ecchi, it’s all about some dufus male protagonist who always winds up in awkward situations involving something accidentally sexual in nature, without actually intending to have sex. Usually the protagonist has to be dumb as a box of rocks, accompanied by one or more women who are not only smarter than him, but tend to physically abuse him purely because of misunderstandings that happen way too often. It usually gets to the point where I start to hate these women, because it’s like they’re just waiting for a situation like this to occur where they have a valid reason to act like the bitch they really are. And all this time, I just start to think, “Why can’t you both just fuck and be done with it already!?” And that’s the one thing that never happens in an ecchi, at least 99% of the time. The protagonist never gets laid, and neither do any of the women around him. And that irritates the fuck out of me, especially considering that the ecchi genre serves to be nothing but a bunch of cockteasing. Sometimes you’ll be lucky if there’s any nudity, at least from anything in the genre made pre-2010.
Thankfully, Mother of the Goddess’ Dormitory (MGD) makes this genre work where others fail for a number of reasons. Aside from the fact that it actually shows nudity without having lighting, and other more opaque objects, blocking our view of the tits and asses, there’s a good reason why the protagonist doesn’t get laid. He’s only 12 years old, and not exactly through puberty yet. Sure that’s not going to stop him from unintentionally getting into sexual situations with women in a dorm, but at least now I can’t blame him from shying away from this sort of thing. In any other ecchi show where the male protagonist is the same age as the women around him, I get pissed that he doesn’t grope their tits, muffle his face into their crotches, or view them naked deliberately (at least after the first half dozen times it happens anyway). In any other ecchi show, I get pissed that not one of these women helps him get laid… successfully. Here though, I can’t get angry with it. That’s just not the type of thing a 12 year old boy does. I mean, what do you think this is, a hentai? Ecchi shows are more classy than that.
Plus this show throws in pretty much every girl stereotype that tends to be in the ecchi-harem genre. The tsundere, the bitch, the horny one who has the hots for him, the legitimate girlfriend in the making that he is falling for, the wise one, the one who does something equivalent to sports (in this case wrestling… and getting off on it). Almost like it’s required to have these characters in it. And you know what? It’s right. Any respectable ecchi-harem is required to have women like this in it so the male protagonist can see how he interacts with all the potential types of women that could be some other guy’s girlfriend in real life. Me personally, I’d go for the wrestler chick.
Normally a show like this would be difficult to bear because of the obligatory bitch chick who always physically abuses the protagonist (kicking the shit out of him whenever she’s even slightly irritated with him for reasons that are often irrational). But this show does a few things that make it bearable. For one, she’s not in it very much. For another, all the other girls are pretty much the opposite. They enjoy screwing with this kid, and almost never get angry with him, and enjoy getting him into these awkward sexual situations. And if nothing else, at least the bitch girl knows how much of a bitch she is, and knows she has to reform her ways (most anime doesn’t even get that much).
Add in how good-natured the protagonist is (he’s not some hopeless horndog), and the viewing experience becomes rather pleasant. You hope he’ll get all the chicks in a few years after the events of the show (or at least the one love interest). But unfortunately, as is the case with pretty much all harem shows, this never happens. The protagonist never definitively winds up with the girl he should by the end, and he never gets laid (a harem that’s a glorified love triangle, as in there’s only 2 other girls, does not counts; a true harem has at least 4 girls getting into perverted situations with the protagonist). These shows only exist to cocktease and leave you unsatisfied for the purpose of trying to keep the series running indefinitely, because they only care about keeping viewers/readers hooked like coke addicts, and continually squeeze money out of them, thus discouraging them from ever spending money on actual real-life girlfriends, because they will never get laid, like the protagonists of these shows.
And for the record, I can actually recommend the English dub for this series. The guy who does the dub for the male protagonist deserves a medal.
Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World (2022)
Rated: 3.5 / 5
And I guess I’m cheating a bit with this one. On the other hand, no more so than this show cheats the viewer with its borderline false advertising. This doesn’t become an actual harem until the last episode of the show (or at least the first season; can we get a season 2 please?). Which I guess explains why the protagonist is able to actually get laid in this. On the other hand, classifying this as an ecchi isn’t exactly accurate in my opinion. There’s the ecchi genre, and then there’s the hentai genre (which isn’t what this is either). An ecchi will do everything but show full frontal nudity and allow people to have sex. A hentai will show all the nudity (even if it means fuzzing it out via post-production censoring by hypocritical cocksuckers who don’t believe in the 1980s time period of anime) and all the sex and penetration a horndog could ask for. A series like this is in-between both those genres. I guess this genre is considered to be erotica, the genre that shows sex and tits and ass, but no visual display of penetration, and no dicks or pussies. This is something relatively new from what I’ve seen, a compromise for those wanting more than ecchi but less than hentai (if only for the sake of reaching a wider audience, and putting more emphasis on story and characters; because they can’t all be Words Worth).
The problem with erotica is that you can tell this wants so badly to be hentai when the sex scenes actually happen. Because I get why this new genre exists (or at least has gotten popular enough to be noticeable). This genre wants to have as much emphasis on character and story, while having sex scenes that further the character arcs and the plot. This works at first, because the protagonists first sex scene has significance for with him and the woman he’s with. But with each successive sex scene, you start to realize this falls into the trap of wanting sex for the sake of it. And when that starts to happen, I just had to sigh and lament at this not being full-blown hentai (even if this means there would be a few episodes without any sex or nudity if it was). Because it compromised for the erotica genre just so it could exist.
That said, there is merit to this show. It’s like if Sword Art Online wanted to be a hentai, but the protagonist was more of a chad. And the very ending didn’t leave you hanging in a bullshit manner that happened just because they wanted a 2nd season to milk this fucking series (SAO should’ve been fully resolved after one season, the second season can kiss my ass). At least with Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World (HLAW, Hentai Law, heheh), it has this sequence early on in the series indicating how things would turn out well in the future for out protagonist. Honestly, I didn’t like that the show did this, but it’s preferable to what SAO did. And there’s enough potential in this series to warrant a second season (maybe even a third) to expand upon it. Because there is an implied purpose for our protagonist in this world, aside from getting wealthy and experienced enough to get his own harem of slave girls. There’s implications that all the dungeons in the world can be beaten and destroyed. As for what would happen after that, who knows? Maybe he can change the game world. Maybe he’ll wake up from it (which would be tragic). There’s plenty to work with, much more so than with MGD (I could take it or leave it as far as a season 2 for that show goes, because it’s inconsequential for something like that).
Plus this series seriously goes against the grain of the anime tropes I’ve been accustomed to ever since I first experienced anime. The protagonist isn’t a horndog wimp who gets beat up by the girls he goes after. There isn’t that obvious female empowerment because of how they dominate a conversation, or some altercation involving the protagonist. Hell no. In this anime, the women are slaves meant to be sold to men who can afford them, and are to do their bidding. And the protagonist even notes that, “This is the custom/culture of this world; who am I to question it?” Damn straight. So of course he takes full advantage of it, and bangs those slaves he acquires like the chad he is. But make no mistake, this isn’t a show where the women only exist to get fucked whenever their master wants them. These women are also capable fighters, with their own skills and such. They form a combat team with their master to make them a capable force when going through dungeons. Teamwork is emphasized. And when it comes to the sex, the protagonist treats them right. Plus he’s also intelligent, responsible, and resourceful enough to know he has to save up money for a house to keep him and his harem in, and cultivate the land for farming purposes to keep them all independently sustained. So on top of everything else, this show promotes the message of hard work and responsibility will make one rewarded. The only thing missing is raising a family with children made through impregnating the women he bangs (which unfortunately is an impossibility for the slave girls). But considering how much this series bucks a trend that needed bucking, I’ll take it.
Redo of Healer (2021)
Rated: 3.5 / 5
Of course, with this trend of erotica and chad male protagonists with a based concept becoming a thing now, some are bound to make the argument that this will cause a slippery slope of moral degradation. And they’re right. Because this is a show where the male protagonist rapes women and mind-wipes them afterwards so that they become his glorified sex slaves who always want his oversized face-slapping cock. And he’s justified in doing this because of the hell they (would’ve) put him through (in another timeline that he lived through). In other words, the show makes the argument that rape can be justified. And damnit if I wasn’t agreeing with it.
This is one erotica that has a plot it takes more seriously than the other aforementioned shows. And like HLAW, the sex scenes do serve a legit purpose initially. But also like HLAW, it starts to do some sex scenes less for the plot and character development and more just to have it. Because of this, the first two episodes are probably the best in this entire series (so far anyway, hopefully this will get a much-needed season 2 to wrap things up; this needs a second season far more badly than the other aforementioned shows). The protagonists backstory and reason for vengeance against one girl in particular, and his carrying out that vengeance, makes for a strong initial 2-episode act. A protagonist who seems justified in his vengeance, yet one questions his sanity and the long-term consequences. What his acts of vengeance will ultimately do to everyone and everything around him. If he’s doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. And so on.
It’s initially compelling, but it loses a couple points for some issues. For starters, the protagonist is overpowered as hell. Just for his “heal” ability alone. This fucking ability can do everything. Naturally it can be used to heal virtually any injury, even to the point of forming limbs after they’ve been cut-off. Fine, I’m on board with that. But then it can be used to allow him to gain the abilities of those he heals. And it can be used to do the opposite of healing (ie it kills people by destroying their bodies rather than healing them). And it can mind-wipe people and give them false memories. It can purge water of any impurities, or amplify the impurities already in the water. It can change the physical appearances of anyone. It can make his dick bigger.
At some point, I had to take a step back and wonder, “Wait a minute, what the hell is going on here? Where’s the magic classes that can do mental attacks? Or those that can mimic other individuals and their abilities? You telling me a healer can do all of that and more? Then why the fuck aren’t healers considered to be the strongest magic class in the world?” It’s a bit ridiculous.
Aside from an overpowered protagonist, this show makes a fuck-up early on in the second episode. It’s revealed that each hero can be granted some kind of weapon unique to them because of this rare material that exist which can form into something that’s suited to the hero they become attached to. But when the hero dies, this weapon reverts back to its initial abstract material form until it becomes attached to a different hero. So if that’s the case, why didn’t anyone figure out that the pink-haired princess wasn’t actually dead after the protagonist faked her death? He didn’t take her weapon with him, therefore it’s still at the castle, therefore someone would’ve come across it and concluded she’s not dead, which would’ve thrown a wrench into his plans.
The other main issue was with the pink-haired princess’ sister. This show built her up into being a big deal for most of the episodes. Stating that she is very intelligent, is capable of seeing through the façade anyone makes to conceal their true motives, capabilities, and identities. And she is a strategist who can lead military campaigns, and is generally successful at that. In other words, she is capable of perceiving the threat of the healer, and can plan countermeasures, and lay traps for him. This show does not deliver on that at all. She gets dealt with too easily, and she underestimates her opponent too much. Wasted potential, and contributes even further towards how overpowered the protagonist is.
For a harem-erotica that puts as much emphasis on the characters and plot as this one does, and goes quite hardcore with the subject matter, it really didn’t take things as seriously as it should’ve. Makes me think this is just glorified male wish fulfillment. Which I’m fine with, but I’m a bit disappointed because it could’ve been more. And it may not be more if it doesn’t get a second season.
That all said, the sex scenes in the latter half if the season start to get a bit hilarious. Because this guy is somehow capable of pleasing multiple women at once, like he cast heal on himself to grow multiple dicks so he could penetrate up to 4 girls at once. It’s not a pleasant picture to paint, but it’s the only one that makes logical sense given how these sex scenes are shown (again, this is erotica, not hentai, so it leaves the visuals of penetration up to the imagination). On the other hand, this show has already proven to have holes in its logic, so I guess one man with one dick is capable of satisfying four women at once simultaneously. After all, he is a chad.
Here’s to this not being the peak of harem erotica. Here’s to other based shows with chad protagonists that raise the bar even further and provide something that’s satisfactory to both my lust and intellect. If Japan pulls that off, maybe they’ll reverse their birth rate trend while they’re at it.
The Anomalous Host 