Good Luck Ninomiya-kun

Summary: >

Shungo is a high school student who also happens to be a master at martial arts. A new girl has come to town, and will be living at his house from now on. Mayu is very cute succubus who has problems controlling her powers, and afraid of boys. It's decided to push Mayu and Shungo together in steamy situations in order to "train" her to overcome her fear.

Can any guy stay sane in this situation? Hang in there Shungo.

Thoughts: >

Judging by the cover it's yet another brainless harem title... except it's not a harem show. Wait really? While I won't say many happy things about this anime, NOT being a harem show is one of its saving graces.

So much is nonsense, with many things crammed into this anime which should have a point to them, yet don't. Shungo is a martial arts master. Why? So he can fight. His sister is a mercenary. Why? So she can blow stuff up. The list goes on and on. So where does all this succubus stuff fit in? This should be a core feature, but it but instead acts as a minor plot convenience when the story needs it. Which is pathetic since a plot this simplistic shouldn't require such a crutch.

Most of it is dumb fan service swamped pointlessness. I'm okay with that idea, but didn't find very entertaining even at that level. Characters are generic and not appealing, except for rich girl Reika who cobbles together enough traits to have a personality. Where most harem titles dilute relationships with too many girls, Good Luck Ninomiya-kun (mostly) focuses on two, making the show a little more watchable.

It tried to have a story, but failed so hard I was kind of impressed. 10 out of 12 episodes involve the two succubus girls and Ninomiya-kun running around accomplishing nothing. Side stories don't go anywhere either. Throughout all this there are flashbacks of Shungo's childhood - a nauseating amount of them. The last two episodes reveal the true story... which took place in his childhood. It's explainable in about two minutes, and makes nearly the ENTIRE SHOW irrelevant. It attempts a heartfelt back story of a forgotten childhood, but feels forced.

As a pointless fan service anime, Good Luck Ninomiya-kun is pretty bad. A few things save it from the lowest rating. It is occasionally amusing, and the end-credit sequence is hypnotic in a very bouncy way. It fails everywhere else, so I'd probably skip it even with low expectations.

Screen Caps: >