The series of the season, at least for this site, begins today.
(As a precursor, I will say now that I will not be comparing the Light Novel or Web Novel in either illustration or plot in this review series. All of them have their differences, and while it would be interesting to compare them all, that would mean comparing four separate adaptations of a single series, which would bloat the text in these posts heavily. Also, given the promotional material shared over the past few months, and from what I’ve seen of this first episode, it’s clear to me this will align most closely with the manga. I will say just once though, that if you’re more interested in plot, or a more in depth exploration of the slave girls and Michio himself, seek out the Light Novel and Web Novel. There is more depth to these characters than what the manga bothers to share.)
Meikyuu is a series with a good amount of potential, whether it is realized or not we will see. I am hopeful, however. This isn’t a “standard” ecchi along the lines of DxD or TLR. For one thing, the manga is far more explicit, but the ecchi hijinks are fewer in number, and the service itself is far less comedic. I struggle to describe it with more than the word “visceral.” Regardless, we have a lot to cover here in the next 11 weeks, so let’s begin now.
(I won’t bother with the OP or ED yet, I’ll save that for a later post. Probably in a less service heavy episode.)
Our protagonist Michio wakes up lying down in a bed of straw- his most recent memory was playing an online game. He stumbles about, assuming that he’d somehow been transported into the game.
Michio sees a group of bandits attacking the village and decides to join the fight on the side of the villagers. His sword makes quick work of them all despite his own lack of combat experience, for reasons we will fully understand later.
If the anime fails to provide the sex scenes this series will inevitably draw the “gore okay, nudity bad” criticism. I didn’t expect the anime to go this far though. I expected blood in the early parts when he’s fighting bandits, but you can see one bandit’s severed, bloody spinal cord. Maybe Michio is auditioning for a position in a Mexican cartel?
After the battle, Michio is thanked for his part in the battle and is granted some of the spoils. After resting for a moment, he decides to log out, only to find he is unable to do so, and that he is trapped in this world. Realizing his new reality also brings the realization that he has just killed several people. With hardly a moment to collect himself, the village chief enters his room and offers some hot water so he can clean himself. He quickly resolves himself to live in this new world, despite the shock he’s experienced.
Michio’s identify skill comes in handy, as he exposes a villager for having swapped the bandit leader’s bandana with a regular one. This earns the villager a debt of slavery, and the village chief hands over his “Intelligence Card,” which now marks him as a slave.
An interesting note here, is that if this man did not swap the bandana’s, Michio would never have owned him as a slave, and he’d have either never met Alan, or not met him in time to encounter Roxanne. Michio has quite a bit to thank for this treachery.
Michio is late- hopefully his mother bothered to butter his bread.
For some reason, they decided to have Michio meet with the Knight’s first in the anime, whereas in the manga, he meets with Alan first.
Michio’s eyes can’t help but wander when he’s riding in the travel cart. He is advised to stop gazing around when he comes across a shady area, but begins to daydream when told there are brothels about.
Michio’s first meeting with Alan is a momentous occasion in his life. Alan asks Michio if he’s interested in buying a slave, probably knowing that at his age, it would be easy to tempt him into buying a female slave. Michio declines for the moment, but Alan has already won the war by planting the seeds of desire in his head. Michio sells the slave that stole the bandana earlier in the episode and goes on his way.
He tries to go on his way, but is hailed by Alan. I mentioned above that the anime switched the sequence of events by having Michio visit the Knight’s first. This leads to an awkward moment, where Michio exits Alan’s business, and Alan happens to conveniently greet him again just as Michio is pondering on what to do next or what anything is. In the manga, he returns to Alan on his own, seeking information on the labyrinth. The whole situation here makes Michio seem a bit less determined and directionless. This is just a minor gripe.
Michio’s thoughts wander towards the possibilities of owning a female slave yet again, after Alan suggests he buy a slave.
This panel was too tall to align these side by side. The perspective in the anime seems a bit off, but maybe that’s just my eye. It feels like Michio’s eyes should be centered a bit upward and to the left (his right).
And here we are with the first appearance of Roxanne, the girl that will soon change Michio’s life, and vice versa.
Alan, a veteran of the business and once a young man himself, knows immediately that he has Michio in the palm of his hand. For his own part, Michio himself cannot stop thinking about Roxanne. He buys himself some time by asking about the details in owning a slave, but the conversation cannot stray from the topic of Roxanne for long.
This one’s for all the NTR fans out there. Unfortunately, this one stitch is probably all you’re going to get.
After being told Roxanne’s price, Michio is forced to decline because he lacks the money.
After seeing Michio hesitate, Alan is quick to tell Michio he’s willing to wait a few days for Michio to gather the funds. Alan tells Roxanne that Michio has taken a liking to her, essentially forcing Michio’s hand in the situation, though Michio would have likely taken up the cause regardless. Alan probably did him a favor, nudging him in the right direction while also offering him the opportunity to buy Roxanne before anyone else could.
Michio leaves Alan’s business, determined to gather the money needed before the 5 days is up. This is the end of the fourth chapter, so a pace of 3-4 chapters an episode seems likely to hold, as I believe the season will end with a teaser for Sherry, Michio’s next slave, which occurs around the mid to late 30’s.
One thing that bothers me here is that in the manga, Alan comes across as far more savvy and justified in providing Michio with this offer. He had accurately guessed the amount of money Michio made on the day, and mentioned also that he heard Michio defeated the bandits with ease. Having not mentioned any of this in the anime, he’d have far less of a reason to assume that Michio could have pulled this off. I understand that certain concessions must be made to accommodate for time constraints, but Alan comes across as a bit less wise for this.
Of course, the main draw here is not in minute details such as the above, but in the pure service that series covered on this site provides. But I do feel compelled to mention this regardless. Next episode might not have as much service, as Michio travels the labyrinth and takes on some more bandits. There is a female bandit that wakes up naked in the next few chapters that we should end up getting to, but we probably won’t get much more than that. I will see you next week when that happens.
