Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? is a class example of "Don't judge a book by it's cover". Yes, if looking upon the surface of this anime, one may find that it as "just another romantic comedy". However, it is much more than that. Yes, the interactions between the characters were hilarious and they will get you to laugh every single time. But, the true genius behind this show was its strong "parody" element.
Story
So for the story, I guess someone finally got the message that the harem genre is getting stale and is in dire need of a new twist. So, why not instead of girls going after a male harem lead, we make the entire cast go after something else instead? Now, this was new and no one has ever done that before in the history of harem animes. Now for the actual story-line, The story of this anime involves many different girls invading "Apartment 106" (the Rokujouma), a place in which our main character, Koutarou, lives. For one reason or another, everyone seems to have great affection for this particular building. Thus, the characters are locked in a never-ending conflict against each other, always duking it out to see who can lay claim to the apartment. Truth be told, their resolve isn't that great and all of the girls end up befriending Koutarou and each other, and by the end of the anime, they all live together in harmony.
Characters
So, if we have a plot that doesn't exactly pan out as how it was supposed to, what is there left in this anime? The Characters, of course. Now, every last one of the girls were created to mock the various stereotypical anime character archetypes and the biggest parody characters were the Co-Splaying Mahou Shoujo and the Tsundere Mage. Didn't the tsundere mage (Theia) not totally scream like Louise from Zero no Tsukaima? Her entire character seemed like a shoutout to pettankos everywhere, and how seemingly ridiculous their tsundere personalties are! Then there was Yurika, who just cannot seem to convince those around her that she's an actual Mahou Shoujo. Instead, everyone writes her off as just another girl in "that" phase, never really taking her seriously. Then we have the other main characters, Koutarou, who is in love with his Senpai Sakuraba, who happens to love him as well. However, the two of them are never able to profess their feelings to each other. Then Ghost Sanae, another girl who is in love with him, and seems not to be able to do anything without Koutarou. In fact, she can't even eat without him; he needs to allow her to "possess" him in order for her to intake food. Then there's Kiriha, who is probably the most mellow of all the girls. However, it is later discovered in the anime that she is the daughter of an incredibly powerful man, and he is the reason why she has to invade the Rokujouma. Overall, As you can see, I could talk about these characters for days. They are simply that lovable, and that is what sets this anime apart from the other harem anime. While other harems would focus on fan-service and romance, this anime is more interested in character development and solid comedy!
Animation and Sound
The animation and artwork was actually amazing and it was produced by Silver Link. The overall look of the show was slightly moe with the appearance of the girls, but the detail of the characters looked very nice and nothing stood out as very jarring looking. In addition, the show also sports some comedic scenes where they change the look of the character to exemplify certain emotions giving a nice bit of tone change for a brief moment. Overall, it wasn't bad by any means, but I had one problem with it in terms of artwork that seemed a bit odd to me, and that is the side ahoges. Regardless of who the girl was, every girl in this series had a stupid bit of hair sticking up from the side of their head. It just looks odd as it's just so blatantly there, I was confused as to why that was even in the character design in the first place!
For the Sound, this anime sports what I would call one of the most enjoyable OP's this season! The song, while being slightly generic, was very catchy. It also had a nice upbeat song that could boost spirits rather easily. What really stood out in terms of significance for the song, was the fact that the four voice actresses who did the voices for the four girls sang the song. The ending for this show had a more mysterious and mystical feel to its tune. While I do feel like it deserves some attention, to me, it doesn't stack in comparison to its opening counterpart.
Enjoyment
Yes, I really enjoyed this anime. There were a lot of good aspects to it from an entertainment standpoint which holds well for this show as for what it was really supposed to be, was entertainment. The plot was mostly focused on the four main girls of the series, which I found to be different and exciting due to how little other harem shows focuses on the girls in their series regardless of how core they are to the show in general.
Overall, While I did enjoy the series, I was expecting more from a title that was ambitious enough to combine a huge diversity of themes as their female cast. But then again, I might be expecting too much from a harem genre. Though, The lack of harem cast over-bearingness was a step in the right direction. The little twist at the end was a gentle slap to my face for forgetting something that happened in the first episode which I cast aside due to the escalation of female invaders. So give it a try, draw your own conclusions on what this anime is about or take it at face value for what it is!
4 STAR ANIME.
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