I don't generally like to review anime after only one episode, as it doesn't seem entirely fair. However, having watched 25 minutes of this, I'm happy enough I'm not going to watch any more of it. So, have a review.
Unless the plot changes dramatically in episode 2, this is the story of Yaichi, a 16 year old, who wants to be the world's greatest Shogi player. During a bout of dehydration in his competition to become Ryuo (the top player in the region, or somesuch), he accepts a glass of water from someone, and promises them anything they would like in return. They want to learn at his feet as a disciple of Shogi, call him Master and wander around his house naked. They are Ai, a 9 year old girl.
And I thought Eromanga Sensei was bad.
Okay, taking a step back, it wouldn't have been impossible for this to have been done in an innocent style, so that it actually was just a young kid looking for a friend who could teach them a new game. Except that our protagonist also has a fellow Shogi student, who he calls "Sister" because they consider their Shogi club family, but they are very definitely not related by blood. Honest. So it'd be fine if she turned out to be a sadist who beat him up all the time.
Oh sure, you're not going to turn out to be a harem show (with a 9 year old! What the hell Japan), when you also have various other girls turn up in the credits and floating around in that "we're going to be introduced bumping into you next episode" sort of way.
There is some attempt to make this both silly and serious. I suspect that the Shogi might actually be really quite impressive, if you actually knew anything about the game. I don't. I suspect even among anime nerds like myself, it's a relatively small number who do. You can read a bit of it if you substitute chess in your head, but you're probably missing a lot. And the silly is likely to keep coming in the form of ludicrous competitors for Yaichi (and his tiny Shogi apprentice) to play against, a fine example of who was in this episode.
I might have attempted to keep up with it even though I know nothing about Shogi, as it might have acted as an interesting insight. But I honestly just can't watch a series that decides that the best thing to stick in its first episode is naked children (and the utterly stereotypical falling over together when a third party walks in unexpectedly). It's just more wrong than I can put up with.
Not recommended.
Tagged: Anime Comedy Board gaming Ecchi Crunchyroll Subbed