Review #12- DearS

Welcome all to our next anime review. Today we will be covering the ecchi anime from a while ago known as DearS. This is an anime I saw a long time ago, and is among the first few anime I ever watched. However, sentiment has no place in this review. Be sure to watch out for minor SPOILERS.

Now without further ado, let us begin the review.

Summary: One year ago, a spacecraft crashed into Tokyo Bay. With no means to return, aliens obtain Japanese citizenship and begin a home-stay program and were given the name “DearS,” meaning “beloved friend.” Takeya doesn’t trust the aliens one bit until he encounters a mysterious girl who is cold, hungry, and wrapped only in a blanket, he takes pity on her. As he brings her home to care for her, he finds that she is quite possibly one of the DearS. Add an alien cat-girl, an over-sexed teacher, and this DearS considers Takeya her master, life is beginning to become a little more than he can handle.

Plot: 4/10

DearS has a plot that has potential, but instead sacrifices this potential in the name of fan service. The entire plot focuses on Takeya’s relationship with primarily Ren, but a few of the other female characters. The pace is pretty relaxed, so it is not hard to follow anything, but the plot is also incredibly shallow. It offers several points that could have been developed, such as Takeya’s frustration with his parents, but it instead leaves this open ended. As a result, the conclusion of the series lacks much satisfaction and no real conclusion to anything.

Characters: 4/10

The characters of DearS are at best described as dull. They are super generic and cliche character archetypes ripped from the ecchi anime character pool. For example, Takeya is the perverted teenager with a surprising moral standard. Ren is a klutz with a habit of lacking clothes. See what I mean? Characters, much like plot, are sacrificed in the name of fan service, with severe oversexualization. A few characters have some development, but nothing groundbreaking. Some characters are even unnecessary, and exist solely for melodramatic or fan service reasons.

Animation: 6/10

The animation is nothing groundbreaking, and as it is from an earlier time, it takes some time getting used to. It appears chunky initially, but is not too bad once you adjust. However, do not watch this anime for the art.

Soundtrack: 6/10

Much like the animation, the soundtrack takes some getting used to. The opening can almost be an immediate turn off as it is strange and annoying in some ways. The ending is better, but still nothing spectacular. The soundtrack gets the job done, but just barely.

Themes: 7/10 

The themes present in DearS are a little more interesting than the rest of the show. Despite being a romantic comedy, the series show a bit more negative take on a developing relationship. They make it clear that you can’t force your feelings on someone nor force yourself to have feelings for someone. The show deals with also waiting for the right time, and adapting to new places. These themes however, like the plot, are shallow at best, and often lost in the waves of fan service. The show does have some sweet romantic moments with sci-fi and comedy mixed in, but is primarily an ecchi anime.

Final Score: 5.4/10

Final Grade: F

B-Ro’s Take

DearS was an interesting anime to say the least. I was not particularly a fan of this one. To start, I immediately did not like the animation style. I can deal with most animation styles but this one just seemed to be poorly done. Another problem was the over sexualization of all of the characters. Some were sexualized to the point where they were just unnecessary to the plot. If they had not made every character over sexual then maybe some of them would have been likable. But sadly they all were to the point that you really did not care for them at all. One thing that it had going for it was the main character made it clear that you should not be with someone you don’t love. But that was easily lost in ecchiness of the show. Out of 10 I would give this show a 4.5. I would recommend this anime if you want a quick fix of ecchi otherwise I really don’t recommend watching it, not because it is awful just because I felt like it was a waste of time. – B-Ro

LowKev’s Take

Oh Dear(S)… Oh Dear(S)… I was prepared to absolutely hate this show when I started watching it based on what I had heard. And there was a lot I disliked. However, I definitely cannot say I totally hated it. It actually kind of grew on me, but let me explain. The first thing I noticed was the animation style. It definitely shows its age, but I wouldn’t say that’s a bad thing. It has a certain charm to it, even if it isn’t too aesthetically pleasing compared to other shows. Then there are the characters….. which were main gripe with the show. First off, the teacher is by far my least favorite character in any series I have ever watched. I get she was supposed to be comic releif, and maybe even represented the sexual tension in the show or something, but she was just plain annoying and pointless. She just comes out of nowhere nearly (or sometimes completely) naked, extremely sexualized with no substance. I’m fine with fan service as long as there is some substance to go with it, and the teacher brings nothing positive to the show. And what was the point with the coffee guy? It feels like he was randomly shown at least once an episode, and didn’t contribute anything until he finally interacted with the main characters. I was also really annoyed with Takeya for a while, but I actually kind of liked his character development. It was just that his getting mad and yelling something every 5 seconds routine got old after a while. However I did like Neneko, Ren, and Miu after she developed more. The show does get almost childishly sexual at times, but it also explores some interesting themes/ideas to go with the show’s premise. However it doesn’t do as much with these ideas as they could’ve (maybe if they cut the teacher and coffee guy scenes, they could’ve done more). I also would’ve liked to see even more development with Neneko and Takeya. They had some interesting interactions in the show. The ending is nice, but leaves a few holes and unanswered questions. I guess the manga continues the story. The opening song is pretty good, though there are a few weird parts. I didn’t like the closing at first, but who am I kidding? It’s catchy and cute. I wasn’t head over heels for the rest of the soundtrack, but I still ended up liking it. This show surprisingly grew on me, though there still are a lot of parts that really annoyed me, mostly revolving around characters. Give it a shot if you must, but this probably isn’t a great first anime to watch.

Final Comments: The anime DearS is primarily an ecchi for ecchi sake, and as such should not be watched seriously. If one stays close attention, you can catch some of the decent and subtle themes.

Thank you for taking the time to read! Do you agree or disagree with our analysis? Feel free to leave a comment to let us know. If you like our reviews and want to support us, be sure to give us a follow, like us on FaceBook, or follow us on Twitter. Our next review will be Mars of Destruction.