NoaIzumiAnime Review: DearS
November 8th 2008 16:19
The DearS are human-looking aliens who, at the time of the story, have been stranded on Earth since their spaceship crashed in the waters off Japan a year ago. The series follows one DearS, Ren, and the somewhat xenophobic high school student, Takeya, whose life she falls into. As they spend time together, Takeya comes to realize that Ren isn’t just an alien, she’s a slave, and believes that Takeya is her new master.
Based on an eight-volume manga, DearS is a high school romantic comedy with a sci fi element. The anime is fun, raising interesting issues, but never delving that deeply into them. It’s something of a harem comedy, with Ren (center of picture above), her fellow DearS and sometimes rival Miu (right side next to Ren, pink hair), Takeya’s next door neighbor and childhood friend Neneko (upper left corner), and Takeya’s stepsister, all of whom are interested in him in some way. The main characters are fairly developed and later episodes show us the backstories for a few of them. The plot is mainly driven by Takeya’s evolving relationship with Ren, and the attempts by the other DearS to keep their slave origins secret, which means silencing Ren somehow, since she has no idea of the need for discretion.
Personally, I found the most interesting character to be Miu. She develops a great deal in the space of the anime, both as a friend to Ren and as a person in her own right. If the anime had continued, I would have liked to seen her development taken further. And, you gotta love that hair.
Neneko is also noteworthy. She’s the no-nonsense childhood friend who helps keep the main character in line, but still cares for him very deeply. Her character doesn’t develop quite as much, partly because she’s more mature than the others. But we do see the backstory on her and her relationship with Takeya, and we see the direction she’d like to go.
However, there are some things I could have done without. The English teacher (left side center, below Neneko) is an exhibitionist who seems to have sex on her mind constantly and wears outlandishly revealing clothing in and out of the classroom, although you do get used to her eventually. Then there’s the high school Lothario whose only goal is apparently to seduce every female member of the student body. He figures in a plot point toward the end, and may provide a counterpoint to Takeya’s personality, but in my opinion, the story would have been just fine without him. And there’s the little cat girl, Nia (upper right corner), an apprentice hunter who’s assigned to capture Ren until her masters realize she’s utterly hopeless at the task. Her purpose here seems to be solely to get into trouble and look cute, although the creators seemed to be setting her up for more development in future episodes.
Then, of course, there’s the whole slave angle, starting right up front with the opening theme. Now, if you have characters who were bred as slaves, it does make plot sense to have them wear collars and want to do housework and want to “please” their masters (and yes, I do mean “please” in the physical sense), but it’s still uncomfortable. Which is, I suspect, intended. It allows us to feel what Takeya feels and better understand the whole conundrum that he and the DearS face.
The ending isn’t bad. It’s built up to fairly well, if haphazardly, predictably, and not all that believably. (After the catgirl fails, the DearS send a bare-chested unbermensch who successfully captures Ren, but trashes half the neighborhood in the process and rouses everyone to Ren’s defense. So much for discretion.) And it’s not really an ending, it’s more of a stopping point. There are a number of loose ends left, and characters and relationships that you wish would be developed further. There’s a strong impression that the makers intended another block of episodes, but weren’t renewed (the manga takes the story further). Still, it ends on a good note.
Great moments: Ren and Miu find Takeya’s pornographic videos, the backstory on Takeya’s and Neneko’s relationship, the ending theme.
Summary: a fun anime, with a somewhat meandering plot and a definite ick factor, but the funny moments and the dimension of the characters make up for those. Grade: B
Characters of DearS
Based on an eight-volume manga, DearS is a high school romantic comedy with a sci fi element. The anime is fun, raising interesting issues, but never delving that deeply into them. It’s something of a harem comedy, with Ren (center of picture above), her fellow DearS and sometimes rival Miu (right side next to Ren, pink hair), Takeya’s next door neighbor and childhood friend Neneko (upper left corner), and Takeya’s stepsister, all of whom are interested in him in some way. The main characters are fairly developed and later episodes show us the backstories for a few of them. The plot is mainly driven by Takeya’s evolving relationship with Ren, and the attempts by the other DearS to keep their slave origins secret, which means silencing Ren somehow, since she has no idea of the need for discretion.
Personally, I found the most interesting character to be Miu. She develops a great deal in the space of the anime, both as a friend to Ren and as a person in her own right. If the anime had continued, I would have liked to seen her development taken further. And, you gotta love that hair.
Neneko is also noteworthy. She’s the no-nonsense childhood friend who helps keep the main character in line, but still cares for him very deeply. Her character doesn’t develop quite as much, partly because she’s more mature than the others. But we do see the backstory on her and her relationship with Takeya, and we see the direction she’d like to go.
However, there are some things I could have done without. The English teacher (left side center, below Neneko) is an exhibitionist who seems to have sex on her mind constantly and wears outlandishly revealing clothing in and out of the classroom, although you do get used to her eventually. Then there’s the high school Lothario whose only goal is apparently to seduce every female member of the student body. He figures in a plot point toward the end, and may provide a counterpoint to Takeya’s personality, but in my opinion, the story would have been just fine without him. And there’s the little cat girl, Nia (upper right corner), an apprentice hunter who’s assigned to capture Ren until her masters realize she’s utterly hopeless at the task. Her purpose here seems to be solely to get into trouble and look cute, although the creators seemed to be setting her up for more development in future episodes.
Then, of course, there’s the whole slave angle, starting right up front with the opening theme. Now, if you have characters who were bred as slaves, it does make plot sense to have them wear collars and want to do housework and want to “please” their masters (and yes, I do mean “please” in the physical sense), but it’s still uncomfortable. Which is, I suspect, intended. It allows us to feel what Takeya feels and better understand the whole conundrum that he and the DearS face.
The ending isn’t bad. It’s built up to fairly well, if haphazardly, predictably, and not all that believably. (After the catgirl fails, the DearS send a bare-chested unbermensch who successfully captures Ren, but trashes half the neighborhood in the process and rouses everyone to Ren’s defense. So much for discretion.) And it’s not really an ending, it’s more of a stopping point. There are a number of loose ends left, and characters and relationships that you wish would be developed further. There’s a strong impression that the makers intended another block of episodes, but weren’t renewed (the manga takes the story further). Still, it ends on a good note.
Great moments: Ren and Miu find Takeya’s pornographic videos, the backstory on Takeya’s and Neneko’s relationship, the ending theme.
Summary: a fun anime, with a somewhat meandering plot and a definite ick factor, but the funny moments and the dimension of the characters make up for those. Grade: B
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