Seiren

Episodes 1-3

Adapting a multi-route visual novel to anime form is always a tricky proposition. The mediums are just fundamentally incompatible in terms of narrative structure, so in order to translate the material, you either have to squash all the “routes” into one narrative, just adapt one potential route, or create an anthology of short stories. 2010's Amagami SS took that last route, and now in 2017, we have Amagami's spiritual successor, a visual-novel-esque romantic anthology that's actually anime-original.

Seiren's first “route” introduces us to our hero Shoichi Kamita and first heroine Hikari Tsuneki. Shoichi feels uncertain about picking a direction in life, but prompted by the confidence of Tsuneki, he ends up following his friend to a summer break studying retreat. There, he runs into the irrepressible Tsuneki once again, who was apparently forced to attend the retreat by her parents, attempted to escape, and got subsequently chased back to the school by wild deer. And so begins a whirlwind micro-romance, as the eternally flustered Shoichi and extremely forward Tsuneki awkwardly bang into each other.

So far, Seiren largely feels like the closest an anthology romance can get to being a traditional harem. While its multi-narrative structure avoids the constant girl-on-girl fighting of most harems, it's still very specifically aimed at boys, heavy on fanservice, and kind of questionable on the character-writing front. If you're not explicitly looking for a show focused on staring at cute girls, you probably won't find much here.

The biggest variable keeping Seiren from rising from “spruced-up harem” to character-driven romance is definitely Shoichi himself. While the anthology structure avoids some of the dramatic issues inherent to harem shows, Shoichi is still the absolute wet blanket of a male protagonist that often accompanies them. The boy has basically no personality outside of “timid, flustered, and extremely horny,” so his conversations with Tsuneki often feel frustratingly one-sided. Romantic chemistry can be its own reward, but when one side isn't holding up their end of the personality bargain, it's harder to see this as anything but the show presenting Tsuneki for the audience's enjoyment. The fact that Shoichi is a piece of damp toast actually makes it harder to believe in Tsuneki's personality, since it's hard to understand what she sees in him.

That said, as far as quasi-harems go, Seiren is reasonably accomplished. The show is heavy on fanservice that isn't just in-your-face, but also unusually sensual, full of lingering shots and provocative body language. The character designs are attractive while remaining inside the realm of realism, resulting in a greater sense of believable intimacy. Tsuneki is constantly presented as flirting with Shoichi and the camera, meaning the show's goals feel more naturally realized than a show that regularly has to have one lead trip and fall into the boobs of another. Seiren's dedication to a vast cross-sample of bizarre kinks could be considered praiseworthy in its own way.

Seiren's weirdness is ultimately its most notable quality. The third episode alone addresses kinks like “a girl is sensually drinking my ramen soup” and “navels with sweat pant marks are sexy,” and all of the episodes are full of strange non sequiturs like “I'd love to have a porn artist's autograph.” Seiren isn't really a good show, and parts of it are actively frustrating. (Its third episode leaned heavily on a gay panic gag, for instance). But as far as harems go, you could do worse than the one that fixates on random stuff like “oh my god, a girl is cleaning the bathroom in my sweatpants.”

Overall: C

Seiren is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Nick writes about anime, storytelling, and the meaning of life at Wrong Every Time.