Heavy censorship in episode two. Nothing can be said for sure, but the content of this episode was as positive of an indicator as one could have hoped for.
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This episode was very encouraging. It opens with potentially nude bath scene only seconds in. It’s followed by some steam censored scenes, including one where the camera actually swoops over Mio’s bare boobs at point blank range, with nearly the entire screen getting steamed up at one point. Notice how her arms are tucked underneath? Very nice.
Maybe they give us blank boobs on BD the way shows like Blood Lad have in the past, but that steam is probably gone. I just can’t easily see Production IMS keeping THAT much steam on BD.
There’s even more frontal censorship that comes later. Some censorship is briefly shown during a moment when Mio is imagined with her clothes off (I suppose to communicate the idea that she was sexually vulnerable during her succubus pact ritual). The censorship is quick but it’s definitely there.
This was a very ecchi episode for story content. We basically learn that Toujou has to ‘relieve’ Mio sexually as a sort of biproduct of her pact with Maria. Toujou reluctantly agrees to help, and while it doesn’t show him groping up a storm*, we do see the aftermath: Maria cleaning a wet spot on the floor afterwards and making a fairly blunt reference to multiple female orgasms. Even by ecchi standards, that was a bit of an eyebrow raiser.
*(I think it’s a safe bet this is going to be one of those ‘salacious’ scenes IMS made reference to).
While the show cuts away during this scene, we later see a brief “flashback” to the groping which is heavily censored.
I really like the way this show has started off. It’s ultra pervy but in a way that has some levity. I found myself chuckling at how perverted the show is, rather than feeling kind of creeped out by it.
There’s also a cool little easter egg when a supporting character is reading the magazine containing the Shinmai Maou no Testament TV series announcement.
Given that the light novel is basically porn and was created by one of the more noteworthy ecchi authors, this story just wouldn’t be right without nudity. Both of the manga spinoffs have nudity as well, even the toned down manga spinoff showed nipples in the tankobon on at least one occasion.
After ImoCho trolled us so hard last year it’s been difficult to trust these kinds of anime since. Particularly when they are produced by companies that have shied from nudity in the past. But if Production IMS has it in them, Shinmai Maou no Testament could end up as an incredible ecchi anime.
