Maken-Ki Ep 03 - the whole harem is here!

This guy was fighting her to become her boyfriend.  I don't want to imagine how the sex would break her.

It seems this week had a bit more story to balance out the censored (soft)porn-fest that was last week's Maken-Ki. Not that I hate the fanservice, but I do believe you can have too much of a good thing. And my penis will react for only so long. If I could have my way, I would cover this episode in screen captures with my amused sarcastic commentary in the captions. However, consistency and mild OCD dictates that I summarize - at least a little. Expect more pictures and shorter paragraphs.

As I expected, this week Ohyama saw another one of his roommates scantily clad; in this case - unclad. Haruko (and I believe it's her fault for walking out of the shower buck naked) mistakes him for one of the girls and moseys out asking to borrow their shampoo. In my humble opinion, she deserved to be seen stark naked on national television.

Upset from the morning's fiasco, Haruko is on a short fuse when it comes to Ohyama's mistakes. And he is a slave to Murphy's law, like the rest of us unfortunate souls. We are finally introduced to the perverted kindred spirit from the previous episode, Usui Kengo, and in an attempt to save Haruko from being molested by him, Ohyama, uh, grabs her breast instead!

This leads to wrath from another first year girl. This show has a lot of lesbianism in comparison to the previous episodes. My roommate is probably wondering just what I was watching given the loud, high pitched moans that were leaving my room. It's all very sexy. This girl - Minaya - likes pasta and Haruko. I bet you it's the big breasts. The love showered on any character is proportionate to their cup size.

We see Himegami. We do not see underwear. That is all.

I squealed a lot when my favourite character was finally legitimately introduced. Oh I love her so. She's a hybrid of badass and firecracker. When a boy destroys her shirt during a fight, it doesn't even phase her. She has the most substantial build of all the girls in the harem, and I'm not surprised considering the fights she gets into. She destroys her opponent who seems to be seven to eight times her size, only losing her undies in the process. It seem that she's unfazed by the world seeing her underwear (which to be honest is a lot more concealing than the swimsuits we see on this show), but is shy and embarrassed about flashing her netheryeya.

Ohyama, seeing the fight, decides that it is unfair to have unfair fights and that all fights must be fair. Haruko puts on her maternal smile and explains that that is what the Kenkeibu (disciplinary club) does. He signs up. So does Usui. And boy are they happy they did. Finally, we are introduced to the harem. These introductions are merely names and body types, but I'm sure we'll get to know them all intimately before the show's finale.

The club goes on a retreat to indoctrinate the new members. I remember being promised some Himegami dominatrix-style training. I was sorely disappointed on that frontier. The platonic, quasi lesbianism more than makes up for it though. According to Ohyama, the retreat was nothing but a "blue balling torture fest." So, there you go. You now know what to expect.

Why bother wearing a bathing suit at all.

We are treated to a few more deliciously erotic shots. Then suddenly, a ferocious bear attacks. It chases the boys. Of course. The girls swoop in to save them and we are introduced to the magical powers of two more girls. I think they are meh (read: lame. If you're going to be outrageous, go the distance with the audacity.). One can manipulate the mass and volume of inanimate objects. The other can draw things in sparkling lights in front of her and what she draws shows up at a position she dictates; "Like drawing SFX for manga."

To close, the name Maken-ki is explained. It is a portmanteu of the japanese words for magic disciplinary club. The new troops are finally indoctrinated!  The next episode is filled with panty thievery, I think.

/Envy

ps. If anyone cares about Ohayama, he's apparently pretty strong:

Maken-Ki Ep 02

I don't have much to say about this episode. I could let screen captures to the talking for me, but I would have to hemorrhage panty shots and boob shots in order to accomplish that. This episode moves to further the fantasy rather than the magic. I was disappointed at the lack of fighting girls, but I've been promised some dominatrix action a la Himegami for the next episode. I'll have to wait patiently.

This show makes me want to buy copious amounts of lingerie.

We start by watching Ohyama discover the real joys of living with girls - walking in on them in the shower. I'm guessing by episode six or seven the three girls will be fighting to seduce him with their wet sexiness (pun intended), but in this episode all he got was a long look at Himekawa's black lingere before she electrocuted his eyes. A lesser advantage of this arrangement is delicious home cooked food. It's wholly secondary though.

This is actually more scary than cute to me. When I stare at a girl's ass, I don't want a bear staring back.

The four of them are running late for school and Ohyama has no energy to make it into the school ground on time. As the gate is closing, we see him steps away from it, dying from exhaustion. Himekawa surprises us by sending her Element to pull him over the gate in the nick of time. A large change over her homicidal intentions from the previous episode. So far, she is the best developed character and is earning her way into slot number three on my favourites chart. The president of the student council chides Haruko for being almost late. Mother Nature blows a breeze and Haruko gets her redemption by discovering the president's embarrassing secret. She likes cute things. I wonder why role models think it's unbecoming of them to like cute things. Be yourself Kaicho; we love you for who you are!

That must have been a widescreen crack in the curtain.

It is appalling to see how fast Ohyama can run to spy on women. This is the episode with the physical examinations. Ohyama finds his kindred spirit in a boy who sits next to him in class. Alas, he isn't introduced to us. There is a lot of synchronized talking to make up for it though. And then there is a lot of peeking to make up for it even more. I am convinced this school has a minimum B-W-H requirement. Ohyama pulls out the chivalry card when his new found friend is excited to spy on his fiancee. Shortly after this they are caught by Himegami who stomps their faces into the ground. Minute character development occurs here, but it's too ambiguous for me to comment on. It is hinted that Himagami has temper issues. (This is good news given the preview for the next episode.)

First times all around...

As the boys get their physicals, all new students are expected to place their hands in this talking mechanical device which will match them to their Maken. Ohyama's Maken is unidentifiable. This hasn't ever happened and it stuns the teachers. Ohyama doesn't seem to mind too much because he gets to cozy up to the nurse's best assets. The resolution to the problem lies in the genius builder of the Maken matching gizmo  hand crafting a Maken for Ohyama. I like him because he's arrogant enough to compete with God because empirical proof shows him he can. Logical pepole are win.

I want to say "Punish me sensei~"

The finale of the episode features more jealous and possessive Haruko. She's so adorable when she gets this way. Ohyama tries to appease her by asking for a tour of all the clubs. It is a rule at Tenbi that all students must join a recreational club. As they toured the possibilities I cowered in fear. All the sports and martial arts are taken to the next level. The Kendo club look like they are fighting with light sabres. It is commonplace in Tenbi to hone your Element while participating in a club activity.

Put the camera down and go take it off for her, you sloth.

Ohyama decides that he wants to join the Gravure Photography Club. Oh, he'll hone his element alright. Haruko can't stand the thought of Ohyama and Inaho participating in such a club together. So she tells him that he will join the Kenkeibu. From the previews, we see that it's headed by Himegami which calls for interesting times and more panty shots too.

/Envy

Maken-Ki Pilot

The best way to save a girl from a stack of falling boxes? Include sexual favours and offer more as needed.

This anime is a lot of fun. It is your basic harem genre, with swarms of girls around one very nerdy boy. Despite the blatant perversion in such anime, I do like the fact that the boy isn't a bishonen. It's always entertaining to gun for the underdog! A magical girl theme is layered over the fundamental harem structure to make everything look pretty and sparkly. However, this anime's claim to fame is it's appeal to the fantasy we all have: to be surrounded by beautiful people who shower us with love and other naughty things. Indulge in this for it is a guilty pleasure; nothing more, nothing less.

Her proportions... her innocence. Even I want to touch her. It may be the purple hair; that is totally my thing.

The episode starts with a bodacious girl walking down the street. It's been a while since I've seen va-va-voom like this on an animated girl. Unfortunately, I'm more of an ass girl, not a tits girl. But this anime (and most ero-anime from my experience) is a lot more breast-centric, so I resort to being the beggar who cannot be a chooser. Of all the girls, this one is probably my second favourite. Her name is Amaya Haruko; Haru-nee to our hero, whom she has a possessive crush on.

Why be in charge of your own balls when you can just have a priestess service them for you?

Ohyama Takeru, the protagonist, the transfer student, the centre of the harem, has the delightful aesthetic of a nerd. By that I mean, strange, realistic haircut (who has that in anime!?) and glasses. He is somewhat of a man-ditz which makes it even more amusing when girls flock to him left, right and centre. Ah~ A great time to be a nerd.

She's so refreshing. It's difficult to resist!

Tenbi Gakuen is a school of magical girls. And now boys too I guess since the school is newly co-ed. I'm still unsure on the magical boys aspect of the story because I have not seen any boys use magic. Ohyama does have a strange symbol on his chest which randomly appears and flickers. It resembles the Sakuke clan's Sharingan symbol from Naruto. I expect there to be some tie-in to the magical girls down the road which I hope will lead to the harem multiplying at supersonic speeds. The cattiness between fighting girls is entertainment at it's finest.

I can't believe he told her he could see her panties. I would have enjoyed the free show for however long it lasted.

After a brief fight between Kinua Galette and Shinatsu Azuki - my favourite so far; I'm partial to firecrackers - we are introduced to Himegami Kodama, a girl who cannot do anything without flashing her sparkly white panties to everyone. I think she's flashed the public assembly while standing perfectly still with no help from an indoor breeze. She can talk to these little fae called Elements. Her personality is a bit difficult to follow, leading me to conclude that she is mildly bipolar. She claims to be natural enemies with Ohyama, challenges him to a public fight during the introduction ceremony and then moves in with him "because he lives in a three person dorm and there is space". The only thing that I really know about her is that her favourite pair of panties is white, and everyone else loves them as much as she does.

The problem with this picture is that there is only one girl. 

The fourth key character, and third harem girl so far, is Kushiya Inaho - Ohyama's self-proclaimed fiancee. She steps in and saves Ohyama in his fight against Himegami. She also wields an regional Maken, which sends waves throughout the stronger magical girls (including teachers) at Tenbi. She has a cute feline face and characteristics and is extremely attached to Ohyama. She moves in with him on approval of the headmaster on the basis that they are betrothed.

She sleeps in this?! How unrealistic! Yes, of everything, this is what I fixate on. 

The last order of business is Karu-nee moving into the house of her own volition because of her possessive tendencies. This makes the harem count three (and rising, hopefully). Quite a few mystery points were introduced in this episode, mostly focused on the magical girl aspect of the story. While plot matters, what makes this fun to watch is the blatant sexuality and cattiness. The omnipresent panty shots, the swords which are subtextual penal symbols, the massive cup sizes and the fighting over trivial things like boys and teddy bears - these are the entertaining points in this anime. T minus 2 till my next fix.