This is review number two hundred and fifty eight. This anime is part of the Fall 2013 lineup. This anime is also the most voted show in my Fall Review Poll. It’s a little project I’m doing to make my reviews more interesting. If you want your favorite anime show reviewed then please click on the picture of the girl with “Review Poll” located at the right side of this blog and vote for your favorite show. I’ll review the most voted in one week then the least voted in the next. This week, I’ll be reviewing the most voted and it’s a ten episode anime called Noucome. It has a longer name but I’m too lazy to type it. Anyways, it’s a show about a guy and a lot of girls. It has a really interesting premise but also a handful of cute girls to balance the whole thing out. It’s pretty awesome. Let’s read on.

Story

This anime is about a guy named Kanade Amakusa. He is just a normal high school guy but he has a special condition. During random times, he’s mind will make him choose between two absurd and random things that he must carry out. If he doesn’t choose then he’ll experience pain in his head that won’t leave until he makes a choice. This phenomenon is called Absolute Choice and he’s been branded as a weirdo and a pervert because of this condition of his. A lot of people are avoiding him and the choices are often designed to humiliate him. Sadly, he has no choice but to comply. One day though, he was given a chance to get rid of this condition. God, of all people, called him and said that he must carry out missions assigned to him with certain deadlines. If he fails to complete one then this “curse” will never leave him. If he can finish all the missions given to him then Absolute Choice will go away. It all seems good and well but the missions are as random as his condition. Most of them are designed to interfere with his relationship with some girls in his school often making them fall in love with him.

Taking the Pants Off

Per the rules of my ‘Review Poll”, I’ll be reviewing the most voted in one week and then the least voted for the next. I’ll now be reviewing the most voted show for this week. There are a handful of people that wanted to see this review and I can guarantee that they’re all dudes. Ore no Nōnai Sentakushi ga, Gakuen Rabu Kome o Zenryoku de Jama Shiteiru or My Mental Choices are Completely Interfering with my School Romantic Comedy or just “Noucome” for short, is a harem anime. It has a lot of generic girls and it has a generic lead. It also has a lot of fan service and general cliché you’d expect from a harem anime. The interesting thing about Noucome though is that it didn’t start out as a harem. It played around with a promising premise that made the show refreshing. A harem anime ultimately leads to a bunch of girls against one guy though and that’s where the anime ended up in. I actually missed harem anime. I’m having long weekdays where it seems like it’ll never end and I often reminisce about my days watching harem anime in my room. They’re dumb and they’re meant to be just pure entertainment. If you are the kind of people that like the appeal of a lot of girls falling in love with one guy then I’m sure you’ll love this show. For such a simple genre, it is among the most common simply because a lot of people like it. Noucome spiced things up a bit but the simple harem elements still came through.

The show had a pretty interesting setup. I was actually instantly sold on the show after the first episode. I think the concept is interesting enough and the anime presented it quite nicely. We have a main character that is forced to make choices. The show has pointed out the importance of choices in the progression of history by doing this really stupid gag of having Edison choosebetween being a shut in or inventing something. Anyways, choices made the world what it is and the main character is actually forced to make choices almost every day of life. He has this “curse” called Absolute Choice where he is forced to choose between two insane choices often making him look like a fool or a pervert after choosing. In the first episode, he was forced to choose between pressing a dirty magazine against his face or eating it. He was flailing around like a mad man as the choices constantly fill up the screen and then he took a big whiff of the magazine. This is what the curse does to him. It gives him constant head pain until he is forced to choose one of the options. It’s insane and absolutely intriguing because it does make the show pretty unique on its own. As the first episode progresses, we are introduced to Kanade’s classmates and a school gag of sorts soon commenced. It had random gags and a wonderful character interaction that is hypnotizing as you watch them just make fun of each other. There is a nice balance in the show that I really like. By the end of the first episode, I guess I can sum up the show as a mix of GJ-bu and Date A Live. It had random and funny conversations but still making sure it had an absurd premise to make situational comedies hilarious as well.

Right away, you can tell the show has two plot points. The first plot point is about the Absolute Choice. In the end of the first episode, Kanade was forced to choose having a girl fall from the sky. It’s a random thing that he didn’t even bother thinking twice before choosing. That is, until a girl actually fell from the sky and landed on him. As it turns out, this girl is actually here to help him get rid of his absolute choice. God called him and told him that he must complete certain random missions to get rid of the absolute choice. If he fails to complete one then the curse is stuck with him forever. Kanade couldn’t believe it. He can’t believe he is talking to God through his cellphone and he also couldn’t believe that there is a cure for his condition. This first plot point is about the missions he must complete. They are as random as the options of his absolute choices but there is one thing completely clear: they all involve girls of his school. The missions are often about making a girl cry or making a girl laugh. They’re not that far out there but completing the missions is often the fun part of the first plot point. These missions often involve him getting close to a girl and the encounters often lead to some insane moment that makes the mission impossible to complete. The whole thing gets whacky though when Kanade realizes that he has a deadline to complete the mission and he often goes on overdrive to reach his goals. Every mission is full of situational comedy and absolute random stupidity that really draws you in. It’s a pretty simple thing to follow so you’re often caught up in the moment. You’ll eventually wonder if Kanade can even complete the mission. This turns all the more whacky when his absolute choice interferes with his plans. He would often have a plan to clear his missions but then his curse will turn on and it’s often related to his mission. When you are forced to touch the girl’s boobs or make her touch yours, completing the mission often becomes all the more difficult but also undeniably fun at the same time.

The path to completing the missions might be hilarious but I also quite like how a mission is actually completed. It’s meant to be stupid fun and I quite like how each mission wraps up. The first plot point really made the show special. While it’s not really that groundbreaking, it was able to keep me entertained. The way the plot flows is fun to watch. As he clears more missions and open up new ones, the craziness slowly intensifies and the tasks just keeps gradually becoming more difficult. It came to a point where he had to create a harem and it’s interesting just how he’ll manage to do that while keeping his absolute choices in check. This plot point is not that perfect though. The show asks the audience to go along with the flow and just let certain details fly over their head. I’m guessing it was the ten episode limit but certain parts of the story were glossed over. It appears that Kanade was popular in middle school then had the curse in high school. There were no explanations on how he got the curse. The show opened up with him having it and just asks the audience to not bother with the details. Apparently, the curse was also experienced by the school’s guidance counselor. This little loli teacher is actually giving him advice on how to manage the condition but it never explains on how the teacher got it or how she removed it. It also never fully explained the extent of the condition. I’m guessing its way beyond supernatural since God is apparently involved. I’m not sure if the light novel also dodged the details but, as an over thinking viewer, these details feel like they need to covered. Exactly how does Kanade manage to get a girl fall from the sky? There was even a moment where he can erase memories. Kanade just make choices and the audience is asked to not over think the whole process. At some point, all of these absurdities pile up to the point where the show is simply doing non sense for the sake of comedy while sacrificing the continuity of the story. It sucks a bit because they could’ve achieved random comedy while keeping the integrity of the story intact. It then hit me though: this show is a harem anime. Yeah. I’ll expand on that later on.

The second plot point is about Kanade and the girls of the show. It appears that Kanade belongs in this group called “The Reject Five”. They are people voted by the school to be the most impossible to date because they are weird and they are just hard to get along with. Kanade is classmates with two of the reject five. Including him, there are three of them in class. No one else talks to them but it doesn’t stop them from doing random skits in class. As if they’re on a world of their own, these characters would just do stupid and random stuff that you’d expect in comedy show. They’d poke fun of each other, deliver gags, hurt each other and even turn a simple “good morning” into a trial about Kanade being a pig. The wonderful part about this plot point is that the character interaction flows along smoothly. Even if you have never seen the character before, she doesn’t ruin the pacing of the anime and actually contributes more nonsense and comedy to the show. The whole appeal of this plot point is just to deliver gags and it comes through nicely thanks to the wonderful characters of the show. The comedy they deliver is pretty insane though. I love how the whole thing escalates. A scene would start with two characters talking but then certain cut scenes are jammed in and more characters enter the fray. A lot of stupid things and absolutely random insanity is produced in the little scene. It’s easy to get caught up in it and I honestly can’t follow most of the skits because it’s going in a direction way too stupid to comprehend but I still love how the characters make the whole thing interesting.

The first and second plot point actually goes hand in hand together. In the first half of the show, Kanade would be doing stupid things because of the absolute choice while also being crazy with his friends. Once the girls are introduced though, thanks to the second plot point, the show would then give Kanade some missions to get rid of his curse. These missions involve the girls that are involved in the second plot point. So the natural progression would then be about Kanade completing his missions while also doing some crazy stuff with the girls that is topped off by the random stupid things that his absolute choice inflicts on him. It makes the anime pretty damn fun to watch. The way the two plot points play off each other is really smart. While the plot isn’t really taken that seriously, the comedy and the appeal of the characters really carry the show splendidly. The combination of the first and the second plot point will really keep you entertained. As more girls are introduced and more missions are given, you often wonder just how Kanade will pull it off since some of these tasks are just too hard to complete. I guess that is what makes the whole thing interesting. Seeing Kanade try his best to complete a mission, while dealing with a lot of things, gives this anime a complex yet easy to follow appeal. The balance of the show is tipped though when the anime entered its second half. As more girls are introduced and more missions are cleared, Kanade’s absolute choice starts to become less frequent. It’s the proof that the curse is slowly disappearing. The first plot point would start to slow down towards the second half and the combination of the first two plot points introduced us to a new plot point.

The third plot point appears in the second half of the show and it deals with only one thing: harem. Yes, we’ve reached the show’s peak and it’s all about girls crushing hard on Kanade. The focus on the absolute choices slowly faded and the random comedy skits are slowly pushed to the sidelines so the show can finally be true to itself. It can now focus on various girls having some flirty time with our main character. This is your standard harem stuff. A lot of girls are slowly developing a crush on Kanade while his absolute choice would complicate matters for him. He’ll have a lot of chance encounters with the girls like accidentally seeing their panties or accidentally grabbing their boobs. It’s the things that make a harem anime juvenile and they appear on the later parts of the show. Of course, a lot of fan service starts making its way into the show. There is also some fan service in the first half of the show but it’s given more emphasis on the second half. There are moments when Kanade would really just have dirty moments with some girls and, considering there are a lot of them, the harem elements just slowly become more prominent. The show still had missions for Kanade to complete but it’s often just a way to get him to have more flirty moments with some girls. The change in the show is certainly drastic. The show got rid of the thing that made it great. The random and stupid skits that drew you into the show were replaced with a lot of fan service from the same girls. The absurdity of the random choices that was meant to embarrass the hell out of Kanade now aims to provide more fan service in the show. It’s a step up for some people but a step down for others. I like fan service and I certainly missed watching harem anime with shallow contexts but I am entertained by the show’s stupid and random balance. I’m a bit bummed that they took that away. In fact, the second half really has nothing much to offer other than harem and fan service. The plot slowly becomes stupid to the point where you’re not really watching the same show as before. It still had focus thanks to Kanade’s mission but the stuff in between are all different. No more random scenes that’ll make you laugh and no more random absolute choices that bullies Kanade. It’s all replaced with boobs, girls crushing on the main character and panty shots. Again, it’s a plus for some but a minus for others.

Characters are all one dimensional. The main character is Kanade and he’s your typical main character. He just goes with the flow and most of his actions are meant for gags. He has no discernable quality and he lacks a decent personality. The thing you’ll love about him is how the absolute choices just torture him at any given moment. He is your typical harem lead so he also has a kind and gentle personality that girls are attracted to it. It’s like honey for these damn flies. Like your typical harem lead, he also has a perverted personality that often comes out and it gives him some great flirty moments with some girls of the show. He is really the kind of character you don’t like but also don’t hate. I think most harem characters are like that. I mean, you aren’t really wasting time on him, anyways because you’re more focused on the girls. In the first half, he also possess the comedy man personality where he reacts to all the jokes and gags presented by the girls. He was the blunt of all the jokes and he also provides some pretty entertaining reactions to certain scenes. Like this:

The girls are horribly one dimensional and they are defined by their stereotype. While most missions are about fleshing out a character, the plot is also designed to not be taken that seriously so there really isn’t any progress to gain for the characters. They’re generic but the way they interact is entertaining despite their lack of personality. Some of them are also poking fun of their stereotype by often going a bit too far. There is a character that is the “little sister” type but she takes it a step too far by calling anyone and everyone a big brother or sister. There is another character that is the moe and klutzy type but she also takes it a bit extreme by seemingly being moe at any given moment. These characters doesn’t have a lot to offer in the anime except fan service but their extreme personalities also made them interesting in their own right. Even without a decent progression, I can still remember the characters quite clearly after finishing the show and that is because they were pretty interesting and entertaining to watch. While some characters takes their stereotype a tad too far, some would possess polar opposite stereotypes. There is a character that acts a bit kuudere (cold and emotionless) in front of our main character but would then act like a shy defenseless kitten with a really innocent voice when his back is turned. It’s super damn awesome that I think a lot of people would call her the best character in the show. If you can trust how she appears a lot on my facebook newsfeeds and how people can’t shut up about her then I think the kuudere of the show is the most standout one dimensional character in the bunch. There are a lot of other polar opposite characters in this show and it’s often interesting seeing both sides of their personality being presented in the show. It makes it all the more interesting when these characters are interacting with Kanade and their doing their best to hide their feelings for him. The audience knows quite well though that the blushing under their cheeks will have a voice later on in the show.

Aside from the girls, there is also one more important character that I would like to point out. These are the background characters. They are often the people listening in on the characters making fun of each other. They’d be eavesdropping on the characters or their attention would just be drawn towards their randomness and it’s interesting how these characters make our regular ones look weird and stupid. They have no lines and they don’t have any role in the show other than give us a weirded-out look as they watch Kanade embarrass himself or give us a stupefied looks as they watch the regular characters interact. I think this is the first time I’ve seen it employed in a show and I guess that’s what makes me remember them a lot. It’s not uncommon for main characters of a show to talk loud in a classroom as if they’re the only ones there because it’s quite understandable that the other classmates don’t care about their ramblings. Even if they make a fool of themselves, you will never see bystanders or onlookers in the scene. This is the first time I’ve seen this utilized in a show and it does give us a better understanding of how random and insane the regular characters. It also makes Kanade’s embarrassing moments that much painful. Seeing him squeal like a pig is fine but seeing other people utterly speechless at what he is doing makes it all the more fun to watch.

This is a really great show. At first, I thought that the ten episode limit would prove detrimental to the show but the anime was able to deliver something outstanding in such a short amount of time. The show has its flaws but I think the positives outweigh the negatives for this one. I consider the harem phase of the story as a positive as well but I do understand if you think the show slowly crumbled at the end. It’s a great thing that the characters still made the show intriguing till the very end. One thing is sure though after watching this anime. It’s that Diomedia is a really promising studio. Also, most studios are releasing two anime in a single lineup. I’m feeling a bit paranoid because I feel like they’re doing it on purpose to impede on my 1000 anime goal. Anyways, as I stated in my previous review, Diomedia makes good shows and they like to dip on a lot of genres. I recently reviewed a healing anime from this studio and it was good. I’m now reviewing a harem from this studio and it’s pretty damn good as well. If Diomedia can keep on consistently delivering more shows with the same kind of quality then it’s only a matter of time before they hit it big. I’m crossing my fingers because there are a lot of studios that play it safe and a lot of studios that can’t quite break the glass ceiling. There is also the fact that Gonzo is still producing anime so I am hopeful that Diomedia can somehow stay consistent so I can rest assure that what I’m watching is certainly good.

Sight and Sound

Character design is pretty decent. It’s still stereotypical at best but the character still looks good. They certainly don’t stand out but there is a certain amount of detail work given to the characters to make them appealing. Since the character’s personality is also stereotypical, I think the design is actually meant to reinforce that idea. So it’s no surprise that the “little sister” character has pigtails and colorful knee socks while she looks childish and sexy at the same time. The kuudere has white hair and a fixed facial expression that is completed with a powerful stare. The energetic character a big grin you’d expect from an overly hyper character. Yukiwo (the designer) made sure there is enough detail work on the generic characters to make them stand out though. The first thing you’ll notice is definitely the faces of the characters. The big red blushing face of the characters really draws you in and then you realize the wonderful skin color of the character as you also admire the big round and colorful eyes they have. This is then complimented with the detailed outfits they have on. It’s not much since it’s usually just uniforms and plain dresses but Yukiwo was mindful enough to make sure the attire matches the stereotype of the characters. I love how the kuudere would have a blazer on top of her school uniform while the energetic character would have an unbuttoned coat on. The little ribbon and headbands they have on also made sure they look all the more appealing. It’s certainly the pretty faces and the sexy bodies that help a character stand out some more despite the lack of a decent personality.

The animation is also pretty decent. It’s not really a high point of the show but the animation was good enough to give justice to the random and insane scenes of the show. When a character overreacts or when someone does something stupid, the show was able to portray the absurdity of the scene. I certainly love it when Kanade would be beaten up because it is pretty funny without actually making the animation stand out. I don’t really expect Diomedia to excel in animation and I’m really just glad the consistency was kept intact throughout the show. I also quite like the certain yaoi moments of the show. They’re pretty tame but the comedy factor of the scenes was still pretty damn effective because of how the animation presented it. Perhaps the best parts of the animation would be how each character is presented. A lot of them are very energetic and the animation was able to properly present each girl’s quirkiness at every scene they are in. Some of them would run a lot and others would hug nonstop but the presentation was really nicely done. There are some smidge of CG but it didn’t really do much for the show. A certain random car scene in the show was pretty decent but not enough to call the animation outstanding. It’s good and that’s really all that matters.

Fan service is something the anime handled quite nicely though. Objectifying the girls at the later parts of the show was a questionable move but my doubts vanished when I saw the amount of perversion the anime was willing to give. Kanade grabs a lot of boobs so be prepared for that. In fact, a lot of characters would fondle some boobs in the show. There are some scenes where boobs would jiggle like gello and it’s pretty damn awesome to watch. There are also a lot of scenes with the girls exposing a lot of skin. From exposed panties to characters undressing, the fan service was pretty ample in the show. Towards the second half, you’ll eventually like one girl over the rest and you can guarantee that this certain girl will provide some fan service in the show. The show has some censors though and I do hate that aspect of the fan service. Some severe panty shots are censored and it does suck a bit. I’m not complaining. I mean, I don’t mind censors but I really hate those blinding lights that block the perversion. I’m not a fan of that. Highschool DxD can expose some breasts so I think Noucome can cough up some panty shots atleast.

The anime’s OP is “S・M・L☆” by Afilia Saga. This is a really energetic song and the girl group had a really nice blending of their voices as they sing along the verse of the song. It starts out pretty decently but the voice work certainly carried it and it then explodes in a really cute and catchy chorus. The OP sequence is also pretty amazing. It starts with the girls doing some headstands and then it is followed by a montage of the girls being cute. There is a small reference to the actual plot of the show but it’s mostly about cute girls doing cute things while in their bikinis. Yeah. Also, the lack of panty shots in the headstands was disappointing though the flock of girls in the later segments of the OP gave us a clear sign of the harem potential the anime holds. I love the high quality animation given in the head stands though. I love it.

The anime’s ED is “Taiyou to Tsuki no Cross” (太陽と月のCROSS) by TWO-FORMULA (Kaori Sadohara & Saeko Zougou). It’s a pretty decent song. I don’t stand out as much as the OP but it’s still pretty decent. It is sung by Chocolat and a side character of the show. Apparently, they are a duo which is pretty cute when you think about it. The song has a decent progression but I find it a bit lackluster and the voices to be a bit too normal. That’s just me though. The ED sequence features the kuudere in cute poses and a real life scene where we see a highway with a lot of cars and absolute choices flashing through the screen. It ends with the girls in black suits with an awesome pose at the end.

Overall Score

6/10 “Choose. (1) The first half was great but the fan service of the second half ruined the show. (2) The comedy of the anime was decent but the harem aspects certainly completed the show.”

The complete randomness and absurdity of the show really made it special. The missions gave the show structure and the fan service at the end made the show unique. The ten episode limit did hamper the enjoyment a bit since you can obviously see some things are left underdeveloped or pushed to the side but I think the content was pretty satisfying. From the memorable characters to the comedy of the show, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the anime. If you like the dialogue heavy kind of gags in your show then you’ll love this one. If you like harem anime then you’ll enjoy how this show played out. If you like fan service and cute girls in your show then you’ll like this one. If you are looking for some unique premise then I’m sure a guy forced to make choices that is designed to embarrass him can certainly meet that need of yours. I recommend it.