Plot: The tales of mythical monsters have been told for countless years, stories about all kinds of colorful mysterious beasts and creatures. These legends have intrigued listeners to no end, with stories of centaurs, harpies, and other mystical beings. But when the government issues a statement and confirms the existence of these monsters, the public is still shocked. Now mankind will learn to live with these monsters, at least on some levels and explore coexistence. The monsters are integrated in a way like exchange students, turned over to a host family who helps them blend into society and learn about the human world. Kimihito finds himself involved in such an arrangement, when he wakes up and has a snake-girl in bed with him, wrapping her powerful tail around his body. While Kimihito is a normal high school boy, these monster girls seem to be overly attracted to him and he is easily overwhelmed by their affections. Especially since there are rules against intimate relationships and a strict integration agent is always on the prowl to sniff out rule breakers…

Entertainment Value: Monster Musume is a twelve episode series that uses a tried and true premise, with an ordinary male who finds himself the center of the attention of numerous females. This common narrative is kept fresh by the inclusion of monster girls, who are of course quite attractive and always down for some physical attention of one kind or another. The interactions between Kimihito and the monster girls are quite fun, since each of the girls has a unique monster type and that opens all kinds of doors into humor and awkward moments. The scene where he is wrapped up by Miia’s tail is hilarious, as he struggles to free himself by squeezing her tail and of course, it looks beyond inappropriate. The rules against relationships also help keep the dynamics fresh, not to mention add tension and some humorous moments, as the agent makes every attempt to catch them in the act. So the interactions between Kimihito and the monster girls is a lot of fun and makes up the bulk of the series. As Kimihito is the only prominent male character, the emphasis is squarely on his perspective. As he is such a central presence, the series tends to skimp when it comes to developing bonds between the monster girls. Which is a shame, as these are some cool characters with some great potential, so seeing them interact more and watch how they deal with each other could have been fun. We get some of that, especially in early episodes, but not as much as I wanted.

If you can’t tell by now, this series is all about the innuendo and fan service, which is in huge doses here. The emphasis is on the boobs, with a lot of jugs on showcase and bounce factor is sky high here. Given the monster element, this prevents some of the standbys like panty shots and big asses, but that’s the cost of having some fresh dynamics in play. I also loved the way Monster Musume looks, as the visual designs are excellent and really pop, especially if you’re able to watch in high definition. The series is bright and bursts with color, so the image is always lively and fun to watch. The character designs are terrific as well, especially with how the monster girls have been brought to life. The attention to detail is remarkable, you can tell a lot of thought went into how to make the girls as cute as possible, while keeping the designs filled with monster inspired touches. In the end, Monster Musume was a brisk, fun series that puts a new spin on an anime classic premise. The only downside is that if you really like one of the early girls, she might not have a lot of presence in later episodes. The formula is mostly to focus on one girl per episode, introduce her and establish her, then move her into the background a little in following episodes. I had a lot of fun with these episodes and if you’re a fan of colorful anime with a harem/fan service approach, you should give Monster Musume a chance.

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