Anime Review: Shuffle!

I started watching Shuffle! after almost a year–long hiatus from anime. The break wasn’t for any particular reason other than being busy with real life stuff. Then there’s the growing trend of more and more “ero” in TV anime, which is now being used as a marketing tool to sell DVD and Blu Ray releases. The two things I can’t stand are SD videos and censorship in any medium, so I usually end up waiting a full season or more before watching a show. Shuffle! was a little different because it was actually released several years ago and I just happened to stumble across it by chance.

The show starts off like any other harem anime (this one is actually based on a visual novel, which I’ll cover later); with a ridiculous story that seems more like an afterthought than a true plot. Tsuchimi Rin is a regular high school student in an irregular world, where “gods” and “devils” have crossed over from their respective realms to join in human society. It seems like that would be a pretty important point in the story, but that’s the only explanation you’re ever given. The real plot is that Rin has been chosen (for seemingly unknown reasons) to marry the daughter of either the king of the gods or the king of the devils. 

Devils on the left, Gods on the right.

Commence the tried and true anime formula of boy meets girl, girl systematically destroys boy’s peaceful life.

Rin runs from a mob of haters.

To be sexually harassed by his upperclassmen.

Rin has already been living with a girl and her father (who is on a forever business trip), since his own parents, and her mother died, in an accident some time earlier. Kaede has already devoted her entire life to Rin, and professes this on the regular basis when they are attacked by the KKK (Kitto Kitto Kaede) fanclub. Rin could care less.

A crazed member of Sia's fan club the SSS.

Things get more complicated when Rin realizes that the reason all of his neighbors have moved away, is really because the two kings have bought up all the property around his house to build two large mansions. He is now forced to interact with the two daughters (and their respective fan clubs) both at home and at school. Combine that with an overbearing, attractive upper classman, and an introverted, bra-less underage youth, and you’ve got yourself a harem anime.

Rin's friend assumes the worst.

 The first half of the 24 episode series is the typical light hearted fare you’d expect from this kind of title. There are funny moments, ero moments, and your mandatory “everyone’s going to the beach!” episode. It’s for sure not the funniest anime I’ve ever watched (that title is still held by Golden Boy and Sora no Otoshimono) but it’s certainly entertaining enough to warrant watching once you’ve started. Episodes seem to pick out events from the visual novel that focus on the different girls, just enough to build them up for the second half. It does end up feeling like the majority of the episodes focus on Sia, the daughter of the king of gods, more than the rest.

Rin and Sia fall asleep at the beach and end up in the ocean.

 

The second half of the show is where things take a decidedly not funny turn. 

When the cute cats disappear...

...you know things are going to take a turn for the worst.

In the original visual novel, players were given the choice as to which girl they would be dating. The game would then center around that girl; taking you on a climactic “end game” of sorts; finishing off the storyline with what may or may not have been an adult oriented intimate scene, depending on the release you were playing (the game was originally released on PC, and then re-edited for PS2).

As with most harem anime, or any that feature a love triangle (or other multisided shape), I expected the ending to remain neutral; leaving Rin in an ambiguous situation that allows the fanboys to make up their own outcome. I was surprised to find that this simply was not the case with shuffle. Each of the girls gets a series of episodes which serves to wrap up their storyline with varied degrees of dramatic realizations. The overall tone quickly becomes serious as these episodes usually feature some very dark situations, when compared to the rest of the show as a whole. 

The girls defend themselves against

Primula's awakening

 What shocked me is, that the main character does actually make a decision, and the show is brave enough to focus on the consequences of that choice. Starting with episode 18, the show quickly becomes a horrific train wreck of revealed truths, attempted suicide, mental breakdowns, rejected sexual advances, and terminal illness. In some ways it really captures all of the drama and pain of an ugly divorce with a child involved. At times it was really hard to watch, but the story becomes so engaging that it’s near impossible to stop.

This show is definitely worth your time, even if the genre isn’t your forte (mine is usually giant robots and thrillers), just as long as you plan to stick with it for the long haul. Otherwise it’s just not that strong. If you don’t like the choice Rin makes in the final episodes, the up side is that you can always play the original visual novel from Navel. The down side is that with the exception of the original game, which is available from MangaGamer.com (at a $50 premium), the sequels and expanded editions are only in Japanese. Some of these feature brand new stories that center around specific girls, and the expanded edition features new characters and other girls who may have only appeared as minor roles in the anime.

 

The DVD release is available through FUNimation, while the Blu Rays and re-edit (Shuffle! Memories) remain Japanese only for the time being. 

As a side note: apparently each girl corresponds to a type of flower which is supposed to dictate her personality in the story. For more information be sure to check out the wiki.