First Impression – Shoujo-tachi wa Kouya wo Mezasu

A Wasteland, or not a bad show?

One of the shows that was almost a complete unknown before the season was Shoujo-tachi wa Kouya wo Mezasu, or “Girls in the Wasteland”. So how was it? Let’s find out.

Who?

Genki Derp-face osananajimi will lose out in the end

The show is being produced by Project No. 9, which really doesn’t have a long list of shows on their CV. You’ve probably at least heard of the few they have, like Ryo-Kyu-Bu, Momo Kyun Sword, and Recently My Little Sister is Unusual, that last which is famous for a chastity belt that manages to do nothing to stop the wearer from being sexual. And honestly, Momo Kyun Sword is famous for being terrible, not that ImoCho is much better.

How many games could these two actually buy here?

But let’s not jump to too many conclusions, and give the show a chance. You have to say that they’ve gotten spendy at least for the VA’s, with Kana Hanezawa, Satomi Satou, Haruka Chisuga, Satomi Akesaka, and Toshiyuki Toyonaga filling up pretty much all of the cast (and Ai Kayano on the phone as the Bitch Queen)… except the main character. Unfortunately, that role is filled by Seiichirou Yamashita, whose only other lead role was as Takahiro Mizuno in Walkure Romanze, a role best known for failing the 2×4 test. That is, you could put a 2×4 up against the TV when he was on, and the 2×4 would outact him. I even called him “Plankahiro” when writing about that show. But in that show, 8bit’s animation and the co-stars managed to pull out a fairly good show, even though Yamashita’s voice acting didn’t get any better (but he basically said nothing anyway).

Are They Really Trying

It’s gotta hurt when your face gets all twisted up like that.

Why do I say that? Well, this show really goes basic. The show is completely straightforward. Buntarou, our main character guy, is a really helpful and reliable person. But he doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life, so there’s the specter of his future hanging over his head. Into this void, or more accurately, into the mens room, steps the enigmatic Sayuki Kuroda to bring the reverse kabe-don. She’s got a proposition for him, but first she demands he take her on a date. I have no idea why he wants to go, or why he would go to the lengths of getting someone to cover for him at work to do so, but he does. And the date doesn’t go badly, perfunctory all the way around. It’s so perfunctory that Bunta’s friends who are peeping on the date get bored and head off to do something else.

“Wanna go to a love hotel?” “Sure.”

I gotta say that the characterization of Kuroda is pretty good, although the character is like a toned-down Utaha from SaeKano. In fact, the whole show is pretty much a toned-down SaeKano, and at least this one starts out without all the girls being loopy in love with the main guy. The eventual take-away is that she wants him to join her circle to make a bishoujo game, after a side trip to Akiba to see the market for them. It gets a bit off the rails when she starts talking about the world being a wasteland, but he’s gonna join in. Because of course he is.

“bai bai!”

Another basic thing is the art in the show. It’s… fine. That’s what you can say about it. There are a couple of pretty bad off-model shots, but other than that, it’s… fine. There are some places you can see that the show is really cheap. Shading is acceptable but basic. Backgrounds are static, and nearly every one was reused at least once. The show doesn’t use hardly any camera movement – no pans, no dolly shots, only one minor zoom that I could tell. If they wanted to recreate the galge experience, they’ve pretty much done it.

Exactly like a galge

Daytime…

And now back to the exact same place in the evening.

When rewatching the show to write this post, I actually found that I thought of it a little better than the first time through. I’ll admit I’ve got a weakness for harem-y romance shows, so I’m predisposed to like them, especially when they don’t get stupid, which this one doesn’t. And actually, Yamashita doesn’t do badly as Bunta in this show, turning in a fine performance even against the bigger named ladies. The show is not necessarily something that will really stand out, but it’s not really that bad of a watch, and I find I like it a bit better than the aforementioned SaeKano, which I felt was too much screaming and too manic throughout. There’s nothing in this that blows it, even if there’s nothing that great in it. So I’ll keep watching, and see how it develops.