CCVI: "Eiken"

Just when I thought I saw it all. I felt that the majority of Gonzo's works would fit in excess cleavage, and then there are those fanservice titles like Girls Bravo and Highschool of the Dead. However... it seems there's still much anime out there unknown to me, which Seiji Matsuyama's Eiken happens to be one of. I thought Girls Bravo upped the ante with breasts, but that's nothing compared to this title! I saw clips of this in the fanmade AMV Hell series, so it took me by surprise actually finding this title.

Densuke Mifune is the common plain, nobody-type character, and is the male lead in this title. After an accidental run-in with the busty yet kind Chiharu Shinonome, he is forced to join the exclusive and mysterious Eiken Club by the also absurdly busty Kirika Misono. The interesting part is that, aside from being mysterious, it's a female-dominant club, with Densuke as the only male in it! As with any love comedy, there seems to be affection between Densuke and Chiharu, but as usual, there are others who intervene, wanting Densuke for themselves. For a klutz, he has too much going for him.

Before I go in on this title, it has received harsh criticism left and right. The manga was badly received, the OVA series even worse. You can say that in terms of criticism, it's received as the worst anime ever made, which says a lot. And the fact it was dubbed makes me really concerned. Chances are that my final thoughts MAY coincide with the other critics, but that's likely the worst case scenario for me. To be fair, I do see the merit as to why this is such, but I'll get into that a bit later.

Regardless, you might as well put this into being one of the shortest title around, for there were only 2 episodes, much like the previously covered Animation Runner Kuromi. Made in the GENCO and J.C. Staff studios and released under Starchild Records, it was licensed under AnimeWorks, a subsidiary of Media Blasters. It ran it's awfully short span in 2003, and the manga, which was published by Media Blasters as well, wasn't relatively long either, only lasting 18 volumes, which obviously meant more to the story. Dubbed in English, Densuke was voiced by Bryce Papenbrook, Chiharu by Becky Chiang, and Kirika by Cindy Robinson. Aside from the manga and anime, it also had a radio drama series, which was most likely also short in length. Given the content, it's considered borderline hentai much like how it was for Golden Boy, another titled I covered with good marks.

As for the criticism, the title did have enough faults to warrant it. For starters, the mistranslation, which is something rather common for manga. Aside from the misspellings, there were some inconsistencies with the names of characters and the academy itself. During it's 5 year lifespan (2001-2006), it went from a 16+ range to an 18+ range, since after the 3rd volume, it went to more mature levels. The anime, however, wasn't shown any mercy in comparison to its paperback counterpart. I have nothing against fanservice per say, but there are times where it is too much, as was the case with Girls Bravo. Yet, with that in mind, it wasn't badly received like Eiken, which debuted much earlier than the former (which is kind of sad, given Girls Bravo debuted earlier manga-wise in 2000, for the same lifespan as Eiken save for having less volumes.) Where Girls Bravo wowed the crowd, Eiken was a disappointment generally, some declaring this as a nightmare, and a demeaning anime.

All that said, I'll give my take on the matter as well, since most of the time I CANNOT take these critics seriously. Anyone that follows this blog should sense how reluctant I am to share the same views as them. Regardless, the animation is kind of sketchy, the content is beyond highly suggestive, and the dubbing is somewhat tolerable, yet mediocre. It is an old title, however, so I'll be lenient and say that back then, I wouldn't mind it, but it's been 9 years, and I've heard better voice acting since then. I'll say the voice acting is a little less than okay, at best. While it's common for anime to be created from just part of the manga series, with the material, before it surfaced here, I'd expect more than just a mere 2 episodes. Another Starchild Records title, FLCL (Fooly Cooly), was another short one, but lasted 6 episodes with only 2 manga volumes (though in all fairness, the anime began first.) While it is another Harem comedy, it also falls victim to the same traits as the others, but they took it too far in Eiken.

Despite all that, I still feel they went just a little too hard on this one. It may have received an F for failure, but I won't call it something that shouldn't exist. Still, it is relatively bad, so being lenient, I'll give this one a 4 of 10. A disappointing title, but at the same time, it's something I won't run into the dirt completely. Besides, it did find its fans (heaven knows how) so to say it's the worst ever is jumping the gun (and a little arrogant...)