Maken-Ki! First Impressions

Holy shizznits.

Eyecatching eyecatch is very eyecatching.

Before I do my little first impressions post here, let me get something clear. While I do enjoy ecchi stuff such as oppai and pantsu, it doesn’t mean I can’t LIVE without them. Surely life would be a lot more bland that way, but it’s not a necessity for me in anime. So if I’m not that terribly into ecchi, then why am I doing a first impressions for this show? Well, since it is all about ecchi and sexuality, I’d figure that most people wouldn’t want to do it, plus I wanted to watch the show for…”personal interests”.

Haru-nee ❤

So now that I’ve established I’m not a total pervert, let’s begin~

With the main focus of Maken-Ki being all about chicks fighting, nearly all girls having D cups+, guys not doing anything at all, and the whole osana najimi gimmick, Maken-Ki doesn’t sound terribly original. I mean, straight off the bat, I was reminded of Freezing, a show in Spring 2011, that had the exact same genres. While I do admit Maken-Ki!’s plot does have a sense of originality based on the whole “school girls fighting each other” with odd weapons called “Maken” and being able o control elements, the plot is essentially a Frankenstein of parts from other anime. While I’m not trying to make sound as if Maken-Ki’s plot was absolute crap, it certainly gives off that feel in the first episode.

That oppai. Anybody wanna go for a boat cruise?

Alright the moment you’re all waiting for. What do I think about the ecchi? Well it certainly does the “vodka shots per pantsu shot” game very well. No, seriously speaking, if I had a vodka bottle and did shots every time I saw a pantsu from Maken-Ki!, I’d probably be hammered 5 minutes in. That’s how much ecchi there is. And while I certainly don’t mind ecchi, there are certain limits. Confucious once said: “A couple of pantsu at a time is the correct dosage. Too much is what I call overdose”. Okay he didn’t say that and neither would he say something so lame, but certainly, the fanservice is TOO excessive in Maken-Ki! It feels like a Highschool of the Dead / Freezing! Like I mean, don’t you notice that all girls jiggle their oppai every time they walk? Ridiculous!

Also, again, while I certainly don’t mind lingerie and cheeky brassiere, you’d expect a reserved vice president to wear something more her age and less…slutty? That lace/colour/ribbon literally shouts: “Come f*** me now! I want you c** all over my oppai~! Ahhnnnn~”. Certainly that’s what my mind was going through as I went through that scene, but your mileage may vary.

Totally jizzed my pants at this point. This was only about 6 minutes in.

As for Maken-Ki!’s execution of its first episode, it was a total disaster. Many characters were introduced and by introduce, I mean as in, they give you the names of the character and that’s about it. While Takeru and Haru-nee are introduced to a good degree, the other characters, including the other main characters seem so…redundant. Aside from the failure of a character introduction, Maken-Ki! also blatantly fails to explain its own premise. I mean, what the hell is a “maken”? Why our bishoujos fighting each other? How can they synthesize those weapons from mid-air? Why does Haru-nee, why next potential waifu, have to stick with that pussynyan nerd Takeru? Certainly Maken-Ki! provides the audience with lots of questions, but not enough answers to make the audience know what in the world they’re watching.

Glorious, glorious oppai. This oneechan. I must make her mine.

Also, another noteworthy (in a bad way) of Maken-Ki!’s premier is how it resembles a typical eroge adaptation anime. I mean, in this very first episode, Takeru, gets to kiss 2 girls and grope my beloved Haru-nee. HOW DARE HE LAY HIS HANDS ON MY HARU-NEE. DOES HE WANT TO DIE?! Anyways, you get my point. It seems like it was literally “stuffed” into one episode, which is usually a bad idea.

So how can this show improve as the season progresses? Well, first things first. TURN DOWN THAT ECCHI CONTENT. As I said before, I’m certainly a “fan” of ecchi, but I can’t stand an excessive amount of it, so instead of putting emphasis on 2D oppai, they should work on their godforsaken plot line. This brings up to the second point. Maken-Ki! needs to get its plot organization a lot better. I mean, sure you can have kisses in the first episode, but TWO? That’s simply overkill. And while Hannibal may say: “Overkill is underrated”, it certainly is not in ecchi anime and especially when it’s random and/or poorly staged. Next, Maken-Ki! needs to slow down its pace and be able to explain the plot more carefully. If it continues along with the Majikoi bandwagon and assumes all viewers have played/read the original, then Maken-Ki is going to lose a lot of viewers because Maken-Ki somehow just doesn’t seem as appealing.

 

This is going to be a love tri...wait. What shape would this be?!

So, had Maken-Ki! accomplished all that I mentioned above in the first episode, I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to cover it, but because of the excessive ecchi and the whole “enjoy-on-your-own-time” approach to Maken-Ki!, I’m just going to have to watch this. By myself. Probably with a Haru-nee dakimura. In a dark room. Together.

If she looks this moe while she's angry, then I can't wait to see what happens when she tries to be moe~