Hen Zemi Review - 75/100 - Star Crossed Anime

This season had what I’d liek to call “the disgusting comedy block”. It’s a double feature of Hen Zemi and Yondemasuyo, Azazel-san. Both have just 10-minute episodes, both are really extreme in what they do, both were preceded by a far superior OVA and both… had no sense of shame. Hen Zemi was the weakest of the two: it’s fun to watch, but not much more than that.

One big factor in this is that it just never was able to get anywhere near the quality that its OVA had. The OVA really is superior in every way to the TV-series: the animation is much better, the dialogue is much more fast paced and detailed, the characters are more interesting. The TV-series really is a tamed down version, and it loses a lot of charms because of this.

To explain: the big difference between the two is that the OVA really described its disgusting content in full detail. That’s what made it so completely disgusting and if you want to watch something that gets under your skin: that’ the series for it. The TV-series however is just a kaleidoscope of various disgusting practices. It just lists a bunch of disgusting things. The effect of that wears off once the novelty disappears and in the end it becomes more of an exercise. This makes the disgusting stuff just predictable, and the nudity and sex references just plain fanservice.

Where this series does try to deliver is in expanding upon its characters. This admittedly worked out quite well, and there are a few cast members that are well fleshed out this way. On the other hand though, there also are plenty of characters who just have one defining trait or too much of a caricature. Especially the lead character is used as nothing else aside to be the butt of a joke, and the biggest pervert in the series is taken way too far.

So while I liked the OVA, I unfortunately can’t give a high mark for this series. If you’re interested, you can just check out the OVA: they’re short and sweet and perfect for this type of show, and even though the TV-series expands upon the characters, there are tons of other comedies that do that better. This was just too often too mundane. I watch comedies because I want to laugh or otherwise be moved, and that’s where this series had little effect on me as it neared its end.

Having said that though, I do want to praise Xebec for finally going with a fanservice comedy that does NOT revolve around teenagers. At least it’s something, but there still is a long way to go for them. Like Gonzo, there really is a Good Xebec and a Bad Xebec, with a very strong distinction between the two. I guess that this was amongst the best tv-series from Bad Xebec, but it really needs to give more space to Good Xebec, because these guys can really make great stuff when given the chance.

Storytelling:	7/10 – Goes too much into a formula.
Characters:	8/10 – There are some interesting characters, nobody really is obnoxious, but it’s nothing special.
Production-Values:	8/10 – Again solid, but nothing special like the OVA.
Setting:	7/10 – Yeah, it’s a kaleidoscope of disgusting stuff. That novelty wears off quickly, but not as quick as the pseudo-academic air that it wants to give off.