Hybrid x Heart

Summary: >

Invaders from another dimension have made steady progress in claiming portions of the earth, including Japan. The tide may turn with the development of the Heart Hybrid Gear (HHG). Gear is embedded in a person to give them super human powers, however if their power level drops to zero they die. Kizuna is a transfer student to Ataraxia Academy where students train with HHG. The latest development may be the key to reclaiming the planet: the Climax Hybrid. Kizuna's HHG isn't powerful by itself, but quickly replenishes other HHG users - particularly when sexual excitement is involved. It's anime, you can see where this is going.

Thoughts: >

Very first visual: boobs.. and it's already censored. So I stopped watching right? Nah, I did what I always do: try to figure out what's happening behind that white fog. Damn you white fog! At least Hybrid x Heart: Magias Academy Atraxia is upfront about its content. It's been done before, but it just wouldn't feel right if there wasn't at least one anime in a season, making me wonder why the Japanese put this much effort into a soft-core porno. But honestly I'd be worried if they didn't. As I braced for the inevitable trashy mess I noticed something odd: this anime isn't anywhere near as bad as it ought to be.

The girl collection isn't bad, just uninspired. Kizuna is a lame male protagonist and a little annoying but otherwise fine. The concept of powering up girls by groping them is dumb, but provides the scaffolding for the more erotic aspects of the show; which it gives out in heavy doses. Kizuna is supposed to use "foreplay" to excite the girls, but that's not quite how it seems in the anime. It more so looked like the kind of interaction you might have with girls moving a mouse cursor over 2D images. I can't criticise it too much as I'm not sure how I'd do this well in an anime anyway (certainly not in a form air-able on TV). Wether you consider this content a detractor or feature is a personal taste. For me it was so-so, but I didn't take anything too serious and found humor in the way it's sometimes inserted in the show. Hybrid x Heart tries to work with the dumb concept but doesn't take it too seriously either, and that balance works well provided it doesn't offend you. Ero-time does however act as a drag on the story by consuming time which could develop other things - but would you be watching this show if you wanted those other things? Probably not.

Concept aside, the story is functional enough to be up to sci-fi anime standards. I thought Aine was a good feature; an arrogant confrontational girl who initially dislikes Kizuna. She wants power, but can only achieve this by pairing with him. Aine struggles with the juxtaposition of seeking power to do everything on her own, but unable to do so without pairing with Kizuna and opening her heart to him. I don't have much to say about the other girls, aside from the member of the morals committee who thinks Kizuna's actions are "indecent". So I'm thinking, "You poor girl. You have no idea what this anime has in store for you." Also when the American girls "combine forces" to power up, "I'm like Aww yeah. `Merica!"

Hybrid x Heart has good character artwork as the girls are the biggest draw. Although on a constrained TV budget, this anime wasn't content sticking to regular boundaries. Instead it pushes the budget limit with adventurous animation sequences that end up not so well animated. This is apparent in battles and cheesy transformation sequences. Yet I'm not complaining. I like anime taking chances to entertain me, so I give it credit for trying. Yeah, it's not pristine, but the whole show is a bit sloppy in its entertainment value so why not?

The story is in progress, but whats accomplished thus far suggests it will be decent. Far better than most harem shows anyway. The rest of it mostly comes down to your opinion of the pervy stuff. If that's your thing, this anime has enough going for it to make it worth watching, otherwise probably not strong enough to recommend.

Screen Caps: >