Genki Life Magazine 35 - Spring 2019

far, but certainly not a bad one. Meanwhile we also have the
ongoing subplot of the siblings trying to create the supposed
“greatest light novel ever” together where Masamune writes
the story and Sagiri draws the illustrations. It reminds me a
bit of Bakuman in that sense, but of course it’s not quite as
forefront about it here. However, this subplot is most certainly
something that really asks for a sequel one day.
Perhaps the biggest problem with Eromanga-sensei though
is that despite everything, Masamune and Sagiri aren’t actually
blood-related. The main appeal of incest in anime to me
is the general taboo feeling of it, you know: “it’s forbidden,
therefore it’s exciting” and all. Making them step-siblings
instead is thus both a bit of a boner-killer as well as a copout
move by the author, and it kind of feels like the anime
goes out of its way to remind the audience
of this annoying fact a few too many
times. However, if you’re familiar with
the infamous ending of Oreimo and
more importantly the backstory behind
why that happened in the first place,
this was most likely a conscious decision
by the author in order to make
sure the same thing won’t happen
a second time around. Oreimo was
kind of ruined by its terrible ending,
so having the knowledge that at least
Eromanga-sensei won’t suffer the
same fate is a bit of a relief. I just wish
he didn’t have to sacrifice part of the
show’s main appeal to ensure this part,
but I guess SJWs are unfortunately
just that powerful in today’s society.
You probably shouldn’t compare
everything to Oreimo though—after
all this is just as much of a standalone
work as that was—but considering that
even the main characters of Oreimo makes
appearances in Eromanga-sensei, they’re not only similar
but evidentially also take place in the same universe
and time span. For what it’s worth though, minus its ending
I would still probably say Oreimo was slightly better not
only because of the blood-relation issue, but there was also
more of a struggle there due to Kirino’s conservative father
being fully against her otaku hobbies, whereas in Eromangasensei,
Masamune’s parents are both conveniently absent
from their house. It all feels a bit easier in Eromanga-sensei,
which is not inherently a bad thing mind you but I think it
makes it a little bit less unique. Then again, as they say: “if it
ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
As far as the production values goes, the animation (done
by A-1 Pictures) is… okay, I guess? Nothing out of the
ordinary but enough for the girls to always look attractive,
which is about all that’s required in this case. On top of that,
both the OP and ED of Eromanga-sensei are honestly great;
they’re both incredibly catchy tunes that easily stand out as
among the best from this season.
Overall, Eromanga-sensei is a simplistic, cliché and quite
lewd romcom which will surely turn
off a lot of people due to its themes,
but it excels at doing the exact
things it sets out to do for its own
specific target audience, and thus
at least for me it was one of the more
enjoyable shows of the season.
I also find it a bit ironic
how other shows like New
Game for example (which I
also really liked) get to receive
general praise from the community
for doing nothing
but showing cute moe girls
working in the entertainment
media industry, mixed with
comedy and fan service, yet
Eromanga-sensei is receiving
so much hate for doing basically
the exact same thing?
Hypocrisy at its finest. Are
the incest themes really that big
of a deal? Or is it the supposed
ages of the girls? I mean really now?
I can’t help but feel legitimately
sorry for people who let something
like that ruin their enjoyment of an
anime. v HaXXspetten
Genki Life Magazine • Spring 2019
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