Eroge. http://www.cuffs-sphere.jp/yosuga/
Story & Characters
Warning! The following is not a joke. This really is what this series seems to be about.
Every so often a romantic anime story steps aside from the stock of characters and story elements to produce something
special and unusual. Though not well-known, incest is a very common element in eroge, and that's exactly what
Yosuga no Sora is: an eroge visual novel in animated-form.
Handsome, kind Kasugano Haruka and his damaged twin sister Sora have recently lost their parents in an accident, so they
have decided to return their original home in the countryside. While Haruka attends school, Sora stays home, frustrated
by the lack of convenience. At first, Haruka determines to move on but soon attracts the local schoolgirls with his
dashing look, things eventually get complicated when Sora has no intention of letting anyone else have her big brother.
Will any of these girls be able to win Haruka's heart over someone who already closer and dearer to him?
So the very first episode of this eroge-adapted anime involves the twin moving back to their old home, Haruka reforms
the bond with his old friends and new. Towards the end, there's a sudden not-so-surprise scene: Sora takes off her
clothes, leaving only undergarment in a form of brother-sister masturbation and full-frontal nudity.
Oh, yeah, it's that kind of series.
This trashy, twelve-episode series will initially be considered another awful fanservice due to its strong emphasis on
nudity, sexual interactions, though this one takes it to a more extreme. Tracing its root to an eroge dating game,
Yosuga no Sora's tone is not difficult to figure out. The content plays almost entirely seriously and with a mood
not common to the typically more outlandish style of ero game adaptations, each girl can be considered a route, and by
conquering the girl's heart is the end of its arc. Though the gap between the first two arcs is distracting,
it's not very surprise for fans of ero games.
Even by goopy teenage romance standards, this series' male protagonist is another fine example of the typical harem
lead. Indecisive, goofy, always needs a push to act, Haruka (sounds like a girl's name) is just tiresome and
unexciting; if there's anything he's good at, that is being a hit with the ladies no matter how much of a
dunce he is. The set up is fairly common for the type: a rich girl, a girl next door, a miko. While we're at it,
let's not forget the prominent star, the selfish and fragile twin sister Sora because incest is the real deal of this stuff. As typical as the stereotype, every girl's story is just
a plain problem which will leave Haruka to solve them, rewarding him some free hot scenes in bed. While the main plot
focuses on the girls, a bonus sidestory is set for the maid type (because there's always a maid) in chibi form and
it is just as ridiculous as the main plot, or even more. Like a complete harem comedy, they're quite the fiasco
although Sora's story can be a little interesting. What is it with these small towns that lead all these women to
simper over these astonishingly boring young men?
Psychologically, it goes without saying that Sora is very damaged. She just lost her parents, and I assume she's
only had her brother for companionship all these years, since she's been sickly. Naturally, she easily gets jealous
every time she sees another woman clinging to her brother, that would explain her self-centered behavior. Jealousy is a
powerful emotion, it does crazy thing to people. But the way they perform it is just redundant. Incest is not a weak
element, just hardly has its place and sometimes it does make things nasty, and when it bothers you, stay well away.
Rating: 3
Art
The artistry is supposed to complement the fanservice as the other feature of the series, but they try so hard to be
campy that their merits as designs are severely lacking. Some of the premises are gimmicky in a clever way, such as the
image of Sora wearing her finical white Gothic dress and carrying a black rabbit doll would make her look like a
noble-class young lady, while others are gimmicky in a stupid way, such as the old-time blushing expression on the
girls' faces or the maid who has breasts the size of her face. You know how big they are when you see one, because
somehow she found the only maid uniform in the world that fits them. Either way, the designs are stiff in execution,
resulting in many of them having less trouble giving sex scenes for free. The amount of sexual interactions in here is
astounding; the emphasis on sex is bad enough, but this really pushes it over the top.
Though this is not a top-grade artistic effort, the visuals aren't bad, either. Feel, which has specialized in
graphic, harem titles such as Da Capo, makes a concerted effort to give it a strong and fluid animation. The animation
actually looks better in the more usual scenes than in the sex scenes (censored or not), save for some silly chibi
sequences towards the end.
Rating: 7
Sound
Whenever you hear a sad piano piece in anime, you know exactly what kind of show it will become. Set in the rural
countryside where there's hardly a paved road. Yosuga no Sora is like that, the good-mixed, gentle piano tunes
flawlessly set the tone for each song with pleasant singing. On the downside, they'll soon be disadvantaged by the
too hyperactive piece in the sidestory. Voice acting retains the same seiyuu in the original game, with veteran harem
male Shimono Hiro played Haruka while some less prominent actresses try to match him. Not only is this a lamentableness
of casting, but it also is accompanied by the sound of moaning together.
Rating: 7
Presentation
With the sloppy writing and showy displays of nudity, don't expect anything great out of Yosuga no Sora. It is
ultimately a series strictly for fans of the game and those who seek anything beyond fanservice in their anime
offerings. There are two aspects that rise above the level of mediocrity: the animation is strong and fluid, and the two
music pieces are quite the gentleness, but with such dull disadvantages, they don't add a lot. Anime like this is
what often comes out of the shadow and merely tries to insult or provoke your intelligence. A tedious and horrific mess
that at least gives ero gamers what they wants: a guy who looks and acts like a dullard, a bunch of pretty girls, and a
set of difficult trials for the guy to achieve his heavenly dream of both nudity and sexuality. Or something.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Story: 3
Characters: 4
Art: 8
Animation: 7
Voice: 5
Music: 8
Overall: 4.5
Good:
+Amounts of effort in animation and music; Sora's character is interesting.
Bad:
+''This is madness!'' ''Madness? THIS IS PORNO!''
Rating: 3
Final Verdict
4.3333 (below average)
Reviewed by Weskalia, Jul 16, 2011
