You might recall that I made one of the 12 Days of Christmas posts about this series.  That was after I had watched one or two episodes.  Now I have managed to complete the entire series, so it’s time for a better look at the whole and see if this is really something you might be interested in.

You'd like to think that, wouldn't you...

First off, we’ll start with the characters.  Sugisaki is our main character, and his personality is easily described as a pervert with a heart of gold.  Unlike many other ecchi or harem series, it’s quite explicit that he’s a pervert.  He constantly thinks of situations in terms of hentai games and his goal in life is to achieve the “harem ending.”  That said, he is fiercely loyal and protective to the girls in the student council and is a generally kind and unselfish person.  The quartet of girls, for the most part, fit into stereotypes of the genre.  Kurimu is the student council president, but she is also the most childlike out of the quartet.  Minatsu is literally made of hot blood, shonen action, and a booming voice.  Mafuyu is a borderline hikikomori yet has a surprising amount of inner strength.  Finally, Chizuru is the aloof big sister type character, and can at times be downright dangerous.

Again? Try all the time, Chizuru.

Most of this series rests on the comedy aspect.  Parodies of various anime series and aspects of Japanese culture abound, and if you’ve been watching anime for the past few years, you should be able to keep up.  The one that really sticks out in my mind is a very long salute to the Sentai genre where they all try to figure out what color ranger they would be and what kind of plot their supposed series would have.  They also poke fun at genre archetypes.  In one episode, they all attempt to write a novel of their lives in the student council, which all vary wildly based on their interests.  There’s also a two-minute segment where the cast manages to make a joke about almost every drama archetype in existence.  Since tropes are my thing, I really enjoyed how the writers played with them.  The writers make sure nothing is safe here, and stretch out enough that everyone will have something to laugh at.

Personally, I like a challenge.

The series is not entirely episodic though, there is a bit of a plot involved, but it’s quite nonstandard.  You see, all the character development that would usually take place in an anime series has already happened.  You get the characters as they exist in the present.  The story aspects, which usually take place in the first and last few minutes of each episode, trace back the characters and their pasts.  Every girl gets a small piece of the story, and all four have suffered some kind of trauma.  Sugisaki serves as the focal point that connects all the girls together.  Once you finally get to the end of the series, the individual threads converge on him as they play what would have been the opening seconds of the series as the ending.  What we would laugh off at the start is actually kind of a touching moment at the end.  This is no deep plot, but it’s enough to nicely tie the series together as one collective work.

Yes, and frankly... it's disturbing.

From an animation standpoint, the series is executed very well.  I honestly have to say that I have never seen a locker portray so much emotion before, just wait for episode 5 to understand that.  Given that the vast majority of the series takes place in one little room, the artists put a lot of detail into the design, but that doesn’t leave the few scene changes in the lurch.  Also, since this is a parody series, there’s a lot of call for style shifts and costume changes, in addition to the change in uniform as the seasons pass.  The voice acting is one of the areas where this series shines the most.  All four women in the student council have rookie seiyus, and they nail their roles to the wall.  Takahashi Kondo voices Sugisaki, and he really conveys the pervert quality to his speech and tone.  The OP is your standard Jpop fare, while the ED is somewhat nonstandard.  A lot of series like this have different EDs for each episode, and while Ichizon does that, it always uses the same tune, just different lyrics or inflection.  Unfortunately, one or two of the rookie team can’t quite stand up to the task.

Too bad it took you the entire series to figure this out...

All things considered, Seitokai no Ichizon is a fairly standard series.  The series doesn’t manage to break any new ground within its genres, but it does everything well enough that I feel it warrants a look.  It also manages to do it in such a way that it doesn’t grate on people who traditionally avoid its core genre, such as myself.  It might be worth a look for you.

Final Score: 7.5/10 Kaichos

*tap tap* Is this thing on?  Oh good.  Rakuen here, delivering the fourth post in the annual series of the team’s memorable anime moments.  My pick for today is the first episode of Seitokai no Ichizon.  Why the first episode in particular?  Well read on to find out.

Anyone who knows me personally knows that I am not a fan of the harem or ecchi genres, or their respective comedy subgenres.  You might have even picked that up from the preview posts as well.  I watched Love Hina simply because I had it fully available to me, and by the end of it I was bored and disgruntled.  At some point the only reason I was still watching it was because I felt I had dumped enough time and energy into it that I simply had to finish.  The most recent attempt to try picking up one of these series was Seto no Hanayome last year.  I watched six episodes and promptly pulled the plug.

So, what about Seitokai no Ichizon is different?  Perhaps it’s because in the opening minute of the series, the poor fourth wall is irrevocably shattered.  Personally, I am a huge fan of self-referential and meta-humor, so that is a large appeal to me.  There’s also the series’ overwhelming honesty about what it is.  This show knows it’s both an ecchi and harem series, and as a result all the characters are amazingly genre savvy.  The male lead even states right off the bat that he wants a harem, and views life as a massive dating simulation.  The writing staff also deserves a bit of credit.  The jokes hit hard, the situations transition smoothly, and the characters personalities are written to the full extent of their respective archetypes.

At the bottom line, it doesn’t break tremendously new ground, but it takes many of the components and puts them together just right.  Don’t come here for an amazing love story or moving screenplay.  That’s not what the show is about at all.  Accept it for what it is:  Fun.  I have to give Seitokai no Ichizon credit, not only for being enjoyable, but also for  single-handedly pulling me into a genre I have historically avoided.  Well done.