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REVIEW: Haganai Episodes 1-5 Streaming




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EnigmaticSky



Joined: 06 Aug 2011
Posts: 750
PostPosted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 12:18 am Reply with quote
I await the day that someone can make a comedy harem anime and have it actually be a must-watch level show.

I was thinking about checking this show out. After the review... I'm still just thinking about it. I may, may not.
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vinamara



Joined: 30 Nov 2008
Posts: 229
PostPosted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 12:36 am Reply with quote
Quote:
At this point, your harem alarm should be at DEFCON 1.


Lol'ed at this Laughing .

The series isn't bad but the boring sighing facepalming protag can be a real drag to watch sometimes. He's not even funny at all.

The real meat of the comedy lies in the verbal battle of the two vixens viz. Yozora and Sena. Really, I can't get enough of those meat jokes.

And really the past three episodes have been built around swimsuit scenarios which really bored me a lot. This series has some potential but it isn't really trying.

If they can stuff more cat fights into every episode then I guess I can't really complain from a standard average series.
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njprogfan
Collector Extraordinaire



Joined: 08 Feb 2007
Posts: 1155
Location: A River Named Toms
PostPosted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 7:00 am Reply with quote
Sure, this could be all about unfriendly people making friends and at first that's all it was about, and it was funny and still is. But after awhile that gets boring and we need something to jazz it up. Sex. Yeah, harems are a dime a dozen this past decade, but what I'm seeing here isn't just a harem show, but a bit of a parody of harems. Tropes are tripping all over the place. Yet if it went straight parody, I would have bailed, (not a huge fan of Japanese parody shows). I don't think it will dissolve into a straight rom-com either, it's too smart for that. I myself like to see characters pair up, heck, we're human and we want things to work out. If it boils down to who hooks up with who, I'll trust Saito to end this with a Wink and I'll Wink back.
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Renaisance Otaku



Joined: 15 Jan 2004
Posts: 469
Location: Modesto, CA
PostPosted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 8:56 am Reply with quote
This review sums up my feelings on the show. It's great, but it tends to lose some of that greatness as it progresses. The first two episodes being outright hilarious (episode 2 makes the series alone), the rest being more up and down normal. The best is Yozora vs Sena, as long as Sena's fighting back. Though I imagine that would become tiresome if it didn't branch out anyway. Still, even if episode 2 is the high point, it continues to have it's redeeming points, which keeps me watching it.
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HeeroTX



Joined: 15 Jul 2002
Posts: 2046
Location: Austin, TX
PostPosted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 10:42 am Reply with quote
I think Rika is the best for comedy but also goes too far into the fanservice real sometimes. But I LOVED this sequence in the latest episode at the "club retreat":
spoiler[Told "scary" stories earlier:
(Sena enters Kodaka's room at night) "Can you go with me to the bathroom?" (Kodaka wonders WTF, but eventually agrees
(Kobato goes to Kodaka's room) "Can you go with me to the bathroom?" (it's his little sister, so sure)
(Maria goes to Kodaka's room) Kodaka asks "Bathroom?" Maria replies "wow, are you psychic?"
(Rika enters Kodaka's room) Kodaka knows the sequence now "Bathroom?" Rika replies "What? no, I came here to sleep with you"]


Also, after Sena used it in the episode at her house, I'm disappointed that all freak outs don't end with the strange exclamation of "UNIVERSE!!!!!!"
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Cecilthedarkknight_234



Joined: 02 Apr 2011
Posts: 3819
Location: Louisville, KY
PostPosted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 11:08 am Reply with quote
so it's harem that takes time to develop overtime?? Meh.. Maybe I will watch this.. not that anything this fall is really worth a damn anyways but who knows..
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One-Eye



Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Posts: 2260
PostPosted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 11:41 am Reply with quote
The review pretty much summed up my feelings on the show. I think if they stuck a little more to the kids awkwardness and difficulties in socializing and the jokes it would be a stronger show. It would also be nice if it didn't devolve completely into harem hijinks. If they threw one more guy into the mix it could still be quasi-harem (for those who must have it). Anyways, Carl nailed it. Attractive characters, a few good jokes, at times some decent verbal sparing keep the show from becoming totally unbalanced but it could have been much more.
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R315r4z0r



Joined: 30 Aug 2007
Posts: 717
PostPosted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 7:12 pm Reply with quote
I think the show is actually pretty good. I disagree with it "treks further into harem territory with every episode."

The premise is a harem anime just based on the characters alone, regardless of interaction. But I actually really like this show (I've only seen up to episode 8). I was expecting a random ecchi fest (which would have turned me away) but I was pleasantly surprised and I actually like all of the characters, their designs and their interactions.

I initially didn't like Rika because I thought she was going to turn the show into an ecchi fest... but she has yet to do so and her outbursts are purely situational and I'm cool with that.
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kamanashi



Joined: 08 Jun 2010
Posts: 65
PostPosted: Sat Dec 10, 2011 12:18 am Reply with quote
R315r4z0r wrote:
I think the show is actually pretty good. I disagree with it "treks further into harem territory with every episode."

The premise is a harem anime just based on the characters alone, regardless of interaction. But I actually really like this show (I've only seen up to episode 8). I was expecting a random ecchi fest (which would have turned me away) but I was pleasantly surprised and I actually like all of the characters, their designs and their interactions.

I initially didn't like Rika because I thought she was going to turn the show into an ecchi fest... but she has yet to do so and her outbursts are purely situational and I'm cool with that.


I like it a lot as well. It is so enjoyable to me to watch social awkward people who don't know how to have friends anymore verbally abuse each other. And Kobato is such an awesome little sister. Every time I see her, I cant help but smile.
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Vaisaga



Joined: 07 Oct 2011
Posts: 13224
PostPosted: Sat Dec 10, 2011 1:03 am Reply with quote
HeeroTX wrote:
the strange exclamation of "UNIVERSE!!!!!!"


I wonder how many people actually know where that comes from.

Anyways, I love the show. It's not like I ever considered harem elements bad anyways.

I am kinda getting sick of Yozora's attitude, though. Some of her actions make me want to punch her rather than laugh. Sena all the way.
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Wakazhi



Joined: 31 Dec 2010
Posts: 203
PostPosted: Sat Dec 10, 2011 1:14 am Reply with quote
Martian Successor Nadesico may look like just another mecha anime at first glance, but "romantic comedy" is definitely a solid element to the show. I highly recommend Nadesico to anyone that likes giant robots sci-fi with a huge helping of romance and comedy.
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gerbilx



Joined: 19 Jan 2009
Posts: 138
PostPosted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 9:02 pm Reply with quote
Love this show. (>")>

Uuuuuuunnnniiivveerrseeee!
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zensunni



Joined: 05 Mar 2010
Posts: 1291
PostPosted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 10:46 am Reply with quote
I have been really enjoying Haganai. Just caught up with the Funi stream of it last night and the show has some seriously fun episodes. It is getting more rom com over episodes 6-9, but the main triangle between Yozora, Kodaka, and Sena is getting very interesting. spoiler[The back-story between Yozora and Kodaka is funny and sad at the same time. One wonders how long it will be before he realizes who she actually is. As for Sena, and her father, there seems to be something more going on there than meets the eye too. It is obvious that Sena's dad and Kodaka's dad are really close friends, and they both have blond kids... One wonders if there is a connection between Sena's mom and Kodaka's?] The over-riding sense of loneliness and sadness in the characters prevents this from just being a silly harem romp, but even as that, it is fun.

I'll admit that I don't know where "Universe!" comes from. Anyone that would like to enlighten me may feel free to do so.

Oh, and the ED is awesome!
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