Futari Ecchi
| Also Known As: Futari H, FH, Step Up Love Story | ||
| Genre: Romance/Comedy | ||
| Format: 4 OVA | ||
| Allegiance: Hakusensha | ||
| Director: Moriyama Yuji | ||
| Vintage: 2002-2004 | ||
| Intelligence Agency Report by: Phate | ||
| Meet Onoda Makoto and Onoda Yura, happy newlyweds. However, they soon discover that a “certain aspect” of their marriage is lacking in enjoyment. They are very desperate to rectify this problem and seek advice from some trusted sources, including their relatives and their friends. Nonetheless, they still have some things to work on, even with increasing experience, inevitably leading to some fairly uncomfortable moments. | ||
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| Field Agent Report by: Phate | ||
| Plot Characters Impact Visual Audio |
2.00 3.00 2.00 6.50 3.00 |
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| Overall | 3.00 | |
| (not an average) | ||
I came across Futari Ecchi when I was browsing the anime realm for something that I could use to stimulate the needs of my youth. When I started it up though, not only I realize that it did not meet my (rather low) expectations in that department, also that I had stumbled upon one of the worst anime ever made.
Some may be ready to classify Futari Ecchi as pornography, but it is able to avoid crossing into that territory, albeit barely. While the plot is akin to that of an adult flick, the nudity never goes beyond “boobs and butt,” though there is still plenty of blatant body motion during certain scenes. Maybe the folks at Hakusensha did this so that they could also focus on the story elements. If this is the case, then it sure as hell didn’t work. The plot is still boring, events hold no real meaning, and side characters come and go without any impact.
While I do share a dislike for many, there are few anime characters out there that have managed to irritate or annoy me enough to make me want to hit them over with a baseball bat until they expire. Sadly, two of those characters can be found here, and their names are Makoto and Yura. Makoto at first just resembled a typical male lead, but later proved himself to be much, much worse than that. To be blunt, he is dumb as a rock and twice as dense. Yura isn’t too different; she’s just as dense, but in her case, she’s also about as fascinating as watching paint dry.
Considering the content, it shouldn’t be surprising that the only somewhat decent aspect of the show is the visuals. Animation on the one hand is generally passable; the artwork, however, is generic and borderline cheesy. While it may be tolerable somewhere else, it doesn’t fit too well here, and that especially applies to the women.
While one can argue that Futari Ecchi is not the worst anime ever made, it certainly has nothing to swell with pride over, and comes dangerously close to warranting that title. What is especially sad though is that as a whole, Futari Ecchi was never brought down by its horrendous aspects because it was unable to even get itself up in the first place.
