Title: Shuffle!

Director: Naoto Hosoda

Japanese Production Studio: WOWOW

Type: (TV)
Number of Episodes: 24

Vintage: 2005-07-07 to 2006-01-05

Licensing Company: Not licensed

 

General Summary

 

Rin Tsuchimi, is an ordinary boy who is in his second year of high school. He lives with a girl (in his same grade) Kaede Fuyou. The background story is, Rin mother passed away so Kaede’s father took him in and decided to raise him. However, since Kaede’s father is away for several months at a time, it is just Kaede and Rin. One day the school received two transfer students. Lisianthus (called Sia in the show) is from the realm of the Gods while the other transfer student, Nerine, is from the realm of the Demons. Both these girls come to Earth to fulfill one wish. To become Rin’s bride!?! If Rin marries Sia he can wield as much divine power as he likes. If he marries Nerine he can wield as much demonic power as he likes. Who will he choose? Will he choose neither? Or can he choose both? You will have to watch “Shuffle!” to find out!

 

Art and Animation

 

The visuals of the show are nice and the environment the characters are in is lush with color. The actually movement of animation is good, meaning the transition between the frames are well done. The character design is superb.

Character Development and Storyline

 

The characters in the show are developed to a certain degree, we have Rin Tuschimi he is just a normal high school guy. He actually isn’t a pervert which is very odd for a harem title. Then again after you watch the series you may understand that the whole show is kind of messed up. Then we have Kaede, she is a quite girl, she cleans, cooks, and her only real purpose is to “serve Rin” you understand more about the reasons why later in the show. Then we have Sia, she is has an aggressive personality, she beats up on her dad with chairs, desks, random household items. She is selfish at times but overall she’s a well rounded character. Then we have Nerine, she is a quite girl, she is more proper then Sia, and often acts more mature. I find this funny because you would think the girl who is from the demon world to be the more violent, but in this case it’s the complete opposite. Primula has to be my favorite character in the show simply because of how much she changes throughout the show and her personality. The whole mystery around her makes her by far the most interesting character in the show maybe the real highlight of the entire show to begin with. The pacing of the show is good; it introduces the major players for Rin early in the series and really doesn’t introduce anyone out of the blue. The show was not consistently powerful. The problem with the show is that the overall tone of the series drastically changes from a light harem to becoming dead serious and the results are not good. The last episode alone freaks me out a bit. Just recalling what occurs is mind disturbing, it’s something you don’t see in a harem orientated show. Now the way end (when I say “way end” I am referring to the last 15 minutes of it) turned out good and became a good wrap up to the show. What will I take from this series to be remembered years down the road? Unfortunately what occurred in the last episode will be forever etched in my mind. The ending does wrap of the show so on the plus side the ending is very clear cut. You will know which girl he picks by the end of the show.

 

Final Summary

 

Basically, summing this show up is fairly hard. What should have been a light harem changed into a rather depressing and emotional drama. The ending may have not been as bad if the overall theme of the series was consistent but by changing it so sharply, it threw off the whole feel of the show. This show is unique, and unfortunately not in a good way. It seems they were trying to mix harem with heavy drama and the end result was not good. Do I recommend this series? It really depends on the person, if you don’t mind a series with a good beginning and middle but an ending which changes the entire feel of the show completely, then go ahead and watch it. However, if you do care about keeping a certain consistency throughout the show, then you are in for a rude awakening and should avoid this series like a plague. As for me, I was disappointed with not the ending but really how the show changed from a light and decent harem to a heavy drama orientated series.

 

Rating:

 

(Pictues are taken from the first half of the show, the part I liked)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(This review/pictures made by EternityOfPain)