I like it when anime gets innovative, coming up with some fresh new idea or gimmick to make things interesting for fans. Like when the industry embraced series based on light novels, which allowed for more developed stories and characters than were possible before (Slayers and Shakugan no Shana were two groundbreaking works here), or the development of the isekai genre, which allowed for new forms of escapist fun. Or the idea of moe itself, which basically hacks our brains into experiencing feelings of love and protectiveness for 2D characters. One fresh concept in anime is the One Room anime, a series of first-person animated shorts, which has a second season currently airing. Want to see if it’s worth your time?
The idea is that we’re the main character who is interacting with a cute girl—there are three in each season, with each girl getting four short episodes—who’s always viewed from “your” perspective while you talk with her, experiencing emotional (and somewhat ecchi) situations with her. No lines are spoken by the main character because he’s “you” (you can make up lines and say them to your screen if you like), and slowly each girl’s route evolves, allowing you to progress romantically with her. It’s not unlike to the character interaction in an excellent harem-style visual novel, though on a much more limited basis as the episodes are so short.
Is the One Room anime worth watching? It’s certainly not Shakespeare, but it’s a fun show to sample while you’re working through the longer, more serious anime offerings of the season. Since the characters are designed by the famous Kantoku, they’re top-notch, too. So give the One Room anime a try!
If you love awesome hentai doujinshi and all-ages “doujin” artbooks, h-manga, art books, and English visual novels from Japan, today’s your lucky day, because Comiket 94 is currently on-going we’ve decided to have a sale from August 10-15 to celebrate! You can get 5x J-List points for every purchase you make, which can be used to get even more awesome products on your next purchase. Visit our sale page and browse now!
