This is review number eighty seven and it’s still part of the Summer 2012 lineup. I figure that I’ll finish all the short anime in this season first before I touch the other seasons. The anime I’m reviewing is Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai or “So, I can’t play H?” It’s a twelve episode anime that has boobs and panty shots. Yes, another ecchi anime because you can never have too much ecchi when you’ve taken the path of an otaku. This anime is very perverted. Let’s read on.

Story

This anime is about Ryosuke Kaga who speaks what he thinks thus being called a massive pervert in his school. He lives a pretty nice and perverted life even having a big breasted childhood friend. One day, as he was walking home from school, he sees a girl in the middle of the street completely drenched by the rain. He offered her his umbrella and invited her to dry off in his house. The girl agreed. One thing led to another and now this girl has formed a “contract” with Ryosuke. She is Lisara Restall who is actually a grim reaper. She came to Earth to search for a “special specimen” that can provide her limitless energy for her to stay on Earth. She used Ryosuke as a temporary energy supplier until she finds the one she is looking for. The “special specimen” happens to be in Ryosuke’s school so Lisara is now living in Ryosuke’s house and attending his school. Ryosuke can’t say no because according to the grim reaper; he’ll die in three months unless she finds her special specimen.

Taking the Pants Off

This anime had a really nice premise to it that I couldn’t get enough of. It had some serious potential to it that could’ve resulted into something wonderful. It’s sad that the anime is Ecchi though. The Ecchi genre isn’t known for its story. It’s all about boobs and panty shots. A lot of people call it another Highschool DxD because that anime also had a decent yet clichéd story. Highschool DxD had a nice pacing though and the perversion was mixed in pretty nicely. “So, I can’t play H?” was aiming for a decent story even toning down its Ecchi elements but sadly failed at doing so. The anime turned out to be an Ecchi anime with a convoluted story. Ecchi anime doesn’t really need a deep story. It just needs enough grease so the boobs can shine *giggles*. Just give us some boobs and we’ll rate it an eight.

I actually give props to this anime because the first episode impressed me. It established the status quo, introduced the main characters and even provided a shower scene. The anime isn’t shy showing of Lisara’s boobs which is a good thing for an Ecchi anime. It has some minor blemishes but there is actually a story the anime took time to set up. I really liked the first half of the anime because it actually cared about the story. Lisara is looking for the special person that can give her limitless energy in the school. There were some moments of Comedy and Ecchi during the search. The best part is that the anime followed through with it and uses that story to introduce the characters. As it progresses, the anime became a very funny School anime with some Comedy and Ecchi that it maintained very nicely. The icing on the cake is the Action scenes in the anime. This is where the girls display a lot of their fan service but I also give credit to the these sequences because they are decently paced.

Step back a bit and admire the setup of the anime. An Ecchi anime with Comedy, School and Action elements that has a decent plot isn’t easy to pull off. Some anime abandons the plot at episode four so the character can grab some boobs. For an Ecchi anime to take time to setup a great story, it’s a rarity. I’ve never seen it done and I was seriously impressed with it. The anime made the story its main priority. It sneaked in some panty shots during the fight scenes and I was expecting it to dominate the anime. The Ecchi aspects of the anime actually take a back seat to the story. I could cry right now just at the idea of a plot in an Ecchi anime but for it to be this nice makes me want to happily skip in a park or something.

There was even some transformation for the characters. It’s a bit ridiculous but Ryosuke wanted to help Lisara during her fights but the only he can help is by giving her energy powered by his libido. So he actually trained and got better at releasing his perverted energy to help Lisara. It’s a bit stupid, to be honest, but it was part of the story. Ryosuke transformed from this perverted guy who speaks what he thinks to a dependable guy that helps Lisara overturn her battles. Lisara also transforms a bit from this cold girl who only cares about finding her special person to a girl who blushes whenever she is in front of Ryosuke. It was f*cking cute and a romantic flag were set up. All the anime needs to do now is to set tension for the characters, develop them some more, add a beach episode, build the climax and have a very happy ending in the second half. Oh god, if only I can review the first half of this anime. I would happily do it. Sadly, this second half of the anime is where it all went downhill.

I noticed some minor blemishes in the anime that I could easily ignore because the anime is focused on the story.  The second half really destroyed the story though. Instead of sticking to the strong plot the first half was building up, the anime decided to rush it come the second half. Instead of continuing the romantic setup of the first half, the anime decided to go an entirely different route. The nice story the anime had going in the first half was shattered and replaced with a pretty weak and much more cliched one. I wouldn’t really mind it if the anime gave us a warning it was going haywire in the second half. The anime just threw it out there though and the characters just followed along. The problem with this story of the second half is that it needed the episodes of the first half to lay the ground works for it to make sense. Since it just appeared out of nowhere, the pacing was rushed and the plot jumped from one scene to another. It was a different creature than the first half and with the sudden change of story, It was pretty hard to enjoy it.

Those minor blemishes of the first half also started showing. First of all, the characters are super generic. They just move along the story. The characters has no definite personality to focus on and so you really relied on the story to shape them as the show progresses. It’s actually a fatal flaw of the anime. An anime with a plot needs nicely rounded characters to be good. If the characters just follow the mood of the story then it’s actually a pretty weak anime. Like in one scene of the anime, Ryosuke was wielding a sword fending of the villain but it was clearly established in the first half that he can’t fight and all he can do is provide energy. So the anime just decided to give him sword fighting abilities and have him fight the bad guy? That doesn’t make sense.

The second blemish the anime had was the fight scenes. Most anime uses the fight scenes as a way to enhance the story or build the characters. It usually has a smart storytelling in it and I even give points when a villain does a monologue. The fight scenes in this anime are just…there. They don’t improve the story or the characters. It was just a segment in the anime. Most episodes starts with the characters talking, set up the perverted scenes, then a bad guy appears and the characters defeat it. It was a bit inconsistent too because Lisara would always be defeated by a monster once every time she fights and would only triumph after Ryosuke gives her energy. The fight scenes are not only bland but they are predictable. The fight scenes were missing a nice storytelling to it to make the characters look great. It needed some villains with some personality to make the scenes more memorable and more exciting. It needed some tension like some characters having internal struggle but all the fight scenes look the same and all of them aren’t that great.

I was hoping the villain in the anime would save the story but he was pathetic. The anime had a choice of focusing the second half on him but he was wasted on the first fight. What kind of villain dies on the first fight? So the anime suddenly shifts focus from one story to another and I just gave up afterwards. The anime became a convoluted mixed bag of something else. It just break my heart how awful the second half is and how great the first half is. It’s a damn shame the potential of the anime was horribly wasted. I was even hopeful since it was adapted from a light novel which is often produces great anime. I think the studio just tried to cram in as many scenes needed from the light novel in a twelve episode anime. The result is disastrous.

Let’s talk about the Ecchi elements of the anime now. I admire the anime for downplaying its perversion for the sake of the story but it isn’t shy dishing some dirty scenes out. Every episode has a scene where Lisara exposes her boobs. The girls in the anime even had some nice transformation scenes before they fight that highlights their sexiness. The fights are pretty nice as well because when a character loses energy, she loses her clothes and Lisara ALWAYS loses her clothes. For Ryosuke to get his energy charged, he often grabs Lisara or squeezes her boobs. It was awesome. The anime is also utilized angles that make the scenes more perverted. The anime also had a bit of Harem in it but it wasn’t fully achieved because of the botched story. The others girls in the anime are pretty nice. They all have big boobs and they all had a scene of nudity so it’s all good.

It’s a shame the anime couldn’t live up to its own expectation but it is what it is, I guess. It’s bad enough that it’s an Ecchi anime with a weak story but the forced melodrama and the pathetic second half just brought the anime down. There is boobs and that’s great but it isn’t really enough. In the end, this is just a forgettable Ecchi anime.

Sight and Sound

The animation is pretty plain and the character design doesn’t really stand out. The characters are pretty nice with their big boobs and the cute uniform. They are a bit generic though but the familiarity helps you enjoy the Ecchi scenes a lot more. Lisara also looks pretty good. The girl’s costume when they transform is also pretty nice. The animation of the scene is pretty impressive because it wraps around the girls like latex and the outfits are pretty provocative on their own. If you add the giant boobs then it’s a win-win. They don’t wear bras when they fight so that’s a win-win-win.

The monsters in the anime are nicely designed. The tentacles they use to fight is suggestive so that’s a plus. The fight scenes themselves are nicely animated and the pacing of the fights is pretty nice. I personally enjoyed the fight between Lisara and the villain in the second half. It had a big fight feel and if the anime was able to make it matter then it would’ve been much more impressive.

The anime’s opening is “Reason why xxx” by Sayaka Sasaki. It’s a nice song with a fast beat. The song is actually suggestive and it reflects the Ecchi aspects of the anime. The opening sequence summarizes the anime and it introduced all the characters including the minor ones. It was a bit misleading but it did have all the scenes of the anime. It even had some nude girls and the transformation scenes of the anime.

The ending song is “Platinum 17” by yozuca*. It’s a nice song and it’s actually romantic. The ending sequence features Lisara and Ryosuke trying to be romantic and ends with the two of them kissing in bed. Yes, very romantic indeed. The sequence also had the girls in the anime nude in some perverted poses. It’s pretty nice fan service.

Overall Score

4/10 “Nice Ecchi. Horrible story.”

I shouldn’t have expected an Ecchi anime to have a great story. It’s my fault for thinking that. I think the story could be passable if the anime had twenty four episodes or just make the twelve episodes cover the first half. Oh well. If you want boobs then this anime is for you. If you can ignore the sad attempt at a story then you are a hero.