Cast Aside Your Virginity - Musings on 30-Sai no Hoken Taiiku

This was quite clearly a sleeper hit for me; I realized this when I was looking through previous entries to make sure I didn't re-use pictures (couldn't find any fanart...) and I saw how I used to say that the anime wasn't interesting. I'm pleasantly surprised to be so wrong.

Ah, Pii, Kuu, I'll miss you.

30-Sai no Hoken Taiiku is an anime based on a guidebook teaching 30-year-olds how to lose their virginity. However, far from being about getting some and spreading your seed, the anime actually focused on a relationship and how to have healthy sex. To present the lessons in a quirky way, beings known as Sex Gods were utilized (two females for the girl and two males for the boy), who provided the advice and comedy. Being only 12ep on top of each episode being only 12min long, the development was lightning-fast, which created a short and sweet story that left a really nice after-taste.

30-Sai no Hoken Taiiku Eps11-12 [END]

I actually meant to write this last night, since I was really looking forward to watching the ending of this anime, but I was absolutely exhausted after a day of combing Hong Kong hunting for nail polish (stupid Pearz...). A day later, I've finally finished watching this, and I'm actually really very happy with it.

So, she's a shotacon.

Ep11 focused on the aftermath of the fight leading into the making up, incorporating some hilarity such as Natsu having ballooned into a morbidly obese woman due to her depression leading to a very unhealthy lifestyle. Ep12 suddenly shifted gear to focus on the relationship with the gods instead of their relationship with each other - however, considering their relationship had stabilized, it was only right to do a traditional wrapping up. In the end, it did finish on a sad note since the gods couldn't stay forever, but the future shots of Imagawa and Natsu added happiness.

30-Sai no Hoken Taiiku Eps08-10

I can't believe how excited I was to watch and write about this. It doesn't mean I think it's a great anime or anything (it's pretty average); it's just incredibly refreshing to see such breakneck-speed development.

Underaged cross-dresser fanservice. You can see the bulge.

This batch of 30-sai moved along quickly with the relationship, covering the first kiss, a date, and the first argument (which led to a temporary "break-up"). The female gods really stole the scenes, which made me happy since I had hoped that they weren't useless. It ended with a cliffhanger, since the couple wasn't actually back together, but I can't wait to see how far they progress by the end of the anime.

30-Sai no Hoken Taiiku Eps05-07

After quite some delay (this should have been up a week ago), here's the second batch for 30-sai~ (This post made me realize that the "x" key on my keyboard is pretty stiff.)

Macaron's pretty much a cosplayer by hobby.

I don't know what it is, but 30-sai has been really growing on me. The story is running forward and every episode generally has a good mix of random humour with lots of development. This batch of episodes dealt with the aftermath of Imagawa's rejection from Natsu (I had to Wiki those names...) and then the eventual getting together.

30-Sai no Hoken Taiiku Eps02-04

After waiting a full three episodes, I think I have enough to write about. I won't lie; the first episode didn't generate enough interest for me to actually watch this anime diligently every week. I watched all three of these episodes back-to-back; at least that means I'll be more coherent.

The older sister looks so strangely-proportioned...

In comparison to the first episode, these three blazed through the plot point. That's good; it would have been pretty boring if everything was as "slow" as the first one. Of course, in keeping with the theme of teaching, quick development (and set-backs) is pretty important.

30-Sai no Hoken Taiiku Ep01

After first hearing of this in Pearz' Spring 2011 Anime Preview post, I was genuinely intrigued. For one thing, what genre was this anime? For another thing, how do you get a series out of a guidebook? For a third thing...oh, there's no third. Those two reasons led me to watch it this morning. (I'm using Doki's 720p version.)

This shows the relationship of the introduced characters pretty well.

I can't say I regret having watched it. The episode was over before I knew it, there were no points where I had to pause and breathe (for example, due to sheer insanity), and this first episode answered both of my questions really well. I'll watch the second episode to see what direction (if any) this series will take, but it'll really be purely for curiosity. That said, this anime does have its merits.

(My recap will be shorter this time, after getting chastised by the Rho-Pearz Combo last time with OreTsuba ep01.)