Anime Review: Shuffle!

Review Shuffle!Written by WarpshadowRating good/ very good

Shuffle! is a good fan service show but a fan service show none the less. If you like that kind of stuff you will like it.

Rin Tsuchimi is your typical unlucky every-dude found in just about every dating sim adaptation known to man. He lives in a world just like yours and mine only that a gate to the world of the gods and the world of the demons has been discovered. As luck would have it a beautiful princess from both of the realms has transferred to Rin’s school and promptly declared their love for him. On top of this Rin also lives with another girl (who isn’t related to him) and two other girls are vying for his attention.

At first glance Shuffle! appears to be a vapid romantic comedy filled with stock characters, gratuitous fan service and little in the way plot or real character development. That prognosis would be accurate for the first 11 episodes but things start improving at episode 12 when the character’s histories and motivations begin to be explored. Even when the show grows a plot so to speak it is still peppered with panty shots. The show uses it’s dating sim roots well as it manages not to tip their hat so to speak on which girl Rin eventually ends up with too early unlike many romance shows of several stripes so there is some actual mystery in what the final pairing might be. Decent animation and humor round this show out. While this may be one of the better fan service shows out there it is still isn’t the type of show that has much crossover potential with people that normally don’t like this type of show.