Back when 8-bit added nipples to the blu-rays of Infinite Stratos, many considered it to be a pleasant surprise. After all, Infinite Stratos had a strong brand, great animation, appealing character designs, and while the action was average at best, the humor usually hit the mark, at least for those who can stomach harem series.
Infinite Stratos sold a ton of copies, and it wasn’t because of the nudity, which was hardly evident most of the time and easy to miss.
Why is it then that 8-bit has been relatively frugal with nudity in Walkure Romanze, despite the fact that it is based on a very popular X-rated eroge? Looking at sales trends the last couple years, I understand the trepidation that comes with breaking the nipple barrier in a “typical” anime series. But with Walkure Romanze there is absolutely no point to this series other than seeing pretty art, pretty girls and fanservice, so why the hesitation?
In episode three we are treated to another bathing scene, this one decently lengthy and full of easy redraw potential. Nipples are added on just one of the angles, and they are mostly concealed even then. Episode four brings another bathing scene and this time they don’t fuck it up, but sadly it’s only about six seconds of fun before it’s over. (I’ve lost count, but I think this is at least the third bath scene for this series in the first four episodes). Above is a compilation video that contains both bathing scenes in their entirety, unedited so that you could see for yourself the missed opportunities.
Another missed opportunity came from the “out of body” visualizations during the jousting duels near the end of both episodes (the picture above is just one of many from episodes three and four). Various other ecchi series have used these kind of moments to draw nipples (Super Robot Wars, etc).
I guess this post has kind of a negative tone, but truth be told Walkure Romanze is still a decent ecchi series especially when considering the quality of the art and character design. On its current pace it would only just barely justify an FC video, though I seem to remember there being a pretty big group bath episode late in the series. Or am I just remembering things?
Here’s the direct download for the video above.
