I honestly figured SILVER LINK would be one of those companies that would never ever do nudity. I think it’s pretty cool they were willing to leave their comfort zone a bit and appeal to a different sub-section of anime fanatics.
Torrent: Original version. Abridged version. Seeders needed!
DDL (abridged) [1080p]: part1, part2
DDL (abridged) [720p]: part1, part2
Alternate download (1080p): DepositFiles
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Production Company: SILVER LINK
Vintage: Fall 2012
Notable Seiyuu: Eri Kitamura
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Produced by SILVER LINK, a fast rising production company with debut hits such as Baka to Test and Dusk Maiden of Amnesia, I was pretty sure this series would stay far, far away from nudity in OniAi’s adaptation, especially since the nudity level in the manga is modest and can be excluded without much issue.
I liked Baka to Test and it’s sequel. In fact I thought it got better as it went along. Dusk Maiden was a mixed bag but I liked what they tried to do in that series, and the final episodes were genuinely distressing to the emotions. I was a bit miffed that both series avoided chances for nudity on blu-ray. You never like seeing blank boobs on blu-ray, but that’s what they did in Dusk Maiden.
Back in the 80s and 90s, occasional nudity wasn’t something to make a big deal out of, and major studios didn’t go out of their way to avoid it. But for most of the new millennium, attitudes have changed and major companies have almost completely avoided it. Kyoani hasn’t done any nudity since Full Metal Panic TSR. JC Staff, which ironically dabbled in hentai during their early days, hasn’t had any nudity in a production since Ikkitousen and Read or Die TV back in 2004/2005. Production IG occasionally goes there, but it’s brief and uncommon. Ditto Madhouse and Sunrise. Until just very recently, A1 pictures had completely sidestepped it. And so on*.
*all examples are only as far as I’m aware.
Point being, I think most anime companies see nude ecchi series as beneath them, and they seem resistant to making them as it would tarnish the prestige of their company.
SILVER LINK was and is a fast rising company, so I was expecting OniAi to be totally nude free. Not only did it have nudity, it had nudity immediately on the first volume of the blu-ray, and even included fap material type specials on each volume, which contained even more nipple sightings. This I did NOT expect, especially not from a company as trendy as this one. And doubly so after they passed on all those chances for nudity with Dusk Maiden (in fairness, the Dusk Maiden manga is arguably non-nude).
Not only was there a fair amount of nudity, but the non-nude fanservice was fairly extreme as well. In the end, it turned into a surprisingly massive fanservice video, about twice the length of a typical 13 episode ecchi series. I generally have a cutoff point with non-nude fanservice- it needs to be over a certain hotness level. Due to there being so much non-nude fanservice to cleared the bar in this series, the nude fanservice ends up getting drowned out a little. Because of that, I edited down an abridged version that contains the nude scenes while only keeping the hottest non-nude stuff to make for a more condensed video. I think there might be one extra nude scene in the original- by mistake I didn’t include it in both. Could be wrong though. I made this a couple months back. My memory is hazy.
As far as the anime itself, the artwork was a big step down from SILVER LINK’s previous efforts, and they might win an award for worst nipples, but I don’t care. I am so happy with this show and I hope it isn’t the last nude ecchi effort from them.
The character designs are a major strength and Eri Kitamura (playing the redheaded Arashi Nikaido) goes into sultry overdrive mode as usual, this time with a more aggressive style from her usual character type. I liked the teacher character a lot, not to mention Anastasia, who always looks like she just doesn’t give a fuck, which somehow makes her sexier. And then you have all the other harem candidates too. The show might have cliched characters, but the execution was superb. In their first such effort, SILVER LINK shows they get it. They did ecchi right. By pervs, for pervs.
With SILVER LINK and A1 Pictures jumping into the nude fanservice fray, we’re seeing evidence that the nudity on blu-ray sales tactic is actually working, or at least getting attention from the industry. I like where this is going. Personally, I would love to see JC Staff get back into nude series again. It probably won’t happen, but one can dream, can’t he?
