Ahoy everyone, it’s been a while. Rather than provide a review this time around I figured I’d lay down a few talking points on the verge of V.D.’s decent upon the perverted masses…
The release of Valkyrie Drive is mere days away, and a damn good number of pieces are in place on my awesome ecchi bingo sheet. Like many a release over the past couple years, I’m looking at Valkyrie Drive like a crack addict with no blow… with eyes thirsty for the next wonder show to top what has been an unreachable ecchi plateau for me. The “Hoods/Kaneko trifecta” which I have previously reviewed in detail are the de-facto standards that I hold all of ecchi to. Perhaps that’s a little unfair considering those ecchi were so bakunyuu-fetish centric, but I know damn good ecchi when I see it, and those were it.
Maken Ki II teased us with near greatness, To Love-Ru continued to display great art and creativity, and Monster Musume adopted techniques from the greats of old and gave us a nice change of pace… But, to all my bakunyuu brothers out there, we always seem to be looking for something “more”. Something more “substantial”… something that “knows” Exactly what it is and goes to 11 with it. Like Manyuu Hikenchou’s anime website being called oppaidaisuke.jp, translated to “I love boobies”. That shit is hilariously awesome, and exactly the kind of class A “effort” we expect to see in our ecchi. Like the picture above… you could have Kagefusa just leaning there, OR you could have Kagefusa just leaning there with some love juices between her legs. Come on people, that is the thinking of champions!
Again, other ecchi can always hit the right buttons at times, but I feel that the “Hoods/Kaneko trifecta” perfected a certain “soul resonance” with the perverted minds of its viewers. What I mean is, everyone else is Kendrick… while the trifecta is 94’ Tupac.
My hype train rolled out of the station a long time ago, and while Valkyrie Drive is certainly looking like “the shit”, I urge my fellow ecchi-minded colleagues to take a step back before the dust settles. Don’t just fanboy, think critically with your upstairs and “downstairs” heads as to what makes true bakunyuu greatness. I want nothing more than for Valkyrie Drive to shatter expectations and save me from my 2 ½ year Quest for Peace… but we’ve all been spoiled before by the hype, right? Perhaps, I’m too far gone…
Maybe I’ll never find true peace… but right now, even when compared to the anticipation felt at the height of Maken ki II’s hype, Valkyrie Drive is looking to be the definitive instrument of Kaneko’s vision and the best bet we’ve had in a long time of an ecchi capable of satiating our ridiculous cravings. You know something’s on the right track when it incorporates Kaneko’s classy breast charts.
You know, that kindov reminds me of some things.
By the end of Seikon no Qwaser’s second episode I knew we were in for greatness after witnessing one of the hottest breast-based yuri scenes ever with a unique take on female eroticism and a focus on breast feeding.
By the end of Manyuu Hikenchou’s first episode I knew we were in for greatness after witnessing the most erotic and detailed breast expansion scene ever animated.
And by the end of any of the trifecta’s OVAs I knew I had to take ten before continuing my day…
We shall see by the 10th of October just how ballsy-high a standard Valkyrie Drive plans to set. Or perhaps, the 18th of December will be the real showing? Hmm.
Will it be a letdown when compared to its unreal levels of hype?
Will it raise the bar in some areas but leave others below expectations?
Or will it be a legend?
The Fucker better be a damn legend after showing us goddesses of this quality…. fucking counting on you Kaneko
Upon reflection, it’s been a crazy ride these past five years watching Kaneko’s ascension to the throne of oppai ecchi god. He went from “the dude who designed Cattleya” to “Fuck yeah bruh this anime is going to be directed by Hiraku Kaneko” after just ONE show. His tastes seem to jive perfectly with my own, and his work does far more for me than any quick unimaginative panty shot ever could. If nothing else, I’m an observer… and as an observer these past few years I have seen undisputable evidence of Kaneko’s influence over the oppai genre. From breast-design and animation, to even sound-direction, I’ve seen numerous ecchi projects recently (and let’s be real, even hentai) take a page or two out of Kaneko’s playbook. Even if Valkyrie Drive doesn’t live up to the hype, we can at least take comfort in the knowledge that there is a silent perverted warrior out there fighting for the satisfaction of all of us.
Because he’s the perverted hero Gotham deserves.… AND the fucking one it needs right now.
Over the last couple days, I’ve really tried to crack my skull and develop a theory as to what makes great ecchi. The following are my thoughts, and the meat of this perverted little therapy session. I hope this spawns some discussions on the subject. And I certainly hope it brings everyone over to MY way of thinking… if not I’ll be back someday to school everyone, all over again.
In my opinion the glory of ecchi comes from creating realism to a point, but also remaining “unrealistic” enough to explore truly unique and creative erotic situations. Let’s look to ecchi tits (of course) for an example of what I mean. Early 2000s ecchi and prior had very simplistic, boring tits lacking any depth or creativity. We needed more detail for something to reach a more favorable plane of erotic, and looking at masters of the art like Seikon no Qwaser, Manyuu Hikenchou, and Maken ki II we see what I consider to be the now de facto standards of tits. All of them managed to create beautiful, detailed tits in an erotic/artistic sense that were also grounded enough in the “unreal” to be manipulated in over the top sexy situations.
Seikon brought unique nipples and areola to each girl and pioneered what I like to call, the “aroused nipple” erotic reaction.
Manyuu further expanded on actual breast detail with masterful art, inking, and nipple shading which gave its breasts beautiful depth and fullness.
And let’s not forget, Manyuu pioneered the major inclusion of realistic “titty-smack and boob-flop” sound effects into oppai ecchi.
The two most recent ecchi titles to use this technique were Bikini Warriors and Monster Musume.
Maken ki II essentially learned from the past and held up the status quo, but made everything look damn good with Xebec’s stellar art. It even had a few flashes of genius wherein it surpassed even Manyuu in breast-design, with some scenes featuring wonderfully pronounced areola with gradient coloring methods that appeared to showcase for the first time a woman’s “areolar glands”. (wiki it).
Each of these advances brought ecchi tits to a new level of realistic erotic, but at the same time kept them “grounded enough in fantasy” to allow for much more imaginative and fantastical breast play. In my opinion ecchi should never try to become “too real”; as I believe that will be the downfall of the genre. As fans and more importantly as human beings, we must never blur the lines of reality and realistic fiction, as that’s how shit like the Matrix happens…
Although, if this was our Matrix I don’t think anyone would complain
In all seriousness though real titties are fuck mothering awesome for the obvious reason of residing in the “real”, but ecchi tits can also be fucking awesome in their own way for residing in the realm of the “unreal”. To put it simply, ecchi tits can be fondled, sucked, and fucked in all the ways real tits can’t. They can be bigger, perkier, and more engorged than our wildest dreams… this fact makes Japan’s imagination a much greater “reality” than our own. Tits are life, ass is home town.
