A Cheap Trick Is Cool x Sweet Anyways?

Tsuyokiss is a crappy show, but I don’t regret watching it one bit. Why?

The actors. Tsuyokiss throws a handful of veterans with a bunch of anime voice acting n00bs. Nana Mizuki takes the lead role and I think she alone carried the show. It all works out well because she is really the main character with the majority of lines. Without spoiling the last episode, let’s just say, she really performs. While I’m not sure where to place Mai Nakahara, but Norio and Takehito Koyasu? They shine when they get the chance to, I suppose?

The theme. Granted as a TEROGE adaptation (or an bad eroge adaptation/bad adaptation of an eroge), Sunao’s schtick is acting, which folds right in with the fact that the best part about this show is the acting! And I think it kind of shines through.

The focus. Considering the man at the helm of this directed some…TERRIBLE? GOOD? I don’t know. Mahoraba? Maburaho? But this is a quick & dirty repeat formula with no originality aside from the shift of focus/theme to double-up on the acting cast. It’s done simply and farcically, and people have fun doing it, it felt. Fun both in “lol I get to cut corner in TEROGE adaptation” and “lol I get to mock TEROGE adaptation.” The show was serious, yes, but it walked through the motion only as much as it was necessary.

The feel. Some got pissed because the OP of the anime wasn’t this. What’s worse, and the pissed people have it right, is that the anime OP is downright awful. I’m sorry but it’s so true. However the last episode gave us a little treat when the SFX team and the voice actors got together and aurally annotated the OP for us. It’s got that “energy” the game OP has, despite the crap animation and crap music. It was fun. I guess he did get a bit less Maburaho and a bit more Mahoraba in the end.

And speaking of which; the end. Both for the series and the ending theme. The ending theme is a nice piece written by KOTOKO, and Kaori Utatsuki delivered it sufficiently to carry the feeling across. Ok, well-illustrated naked chicks in tasteful poses does help, too. As far as the end of the anime goes, I’m just not going to spoil it, even if it’s all too obvious. I think it would suffice to say it ended on that positive note with enough wrap-up to capitalize on the full build-up over the course of 12 episodes.

Yeah, in Air Gear terms, Tsuyokiss was a trick. And it’s a cheap trick. But I guess it’s got less love than the equally cheap trick, Soul Link. Boo-hoo. Alas, I did see it, so I merely lament having few to no one to share.