Mr. Love Queen's Choice (Koi to Producer: EVOL×LOVE)- 12 episodes
The heroine is a producer of the show, Miracle Finder, which features all things strange. She meets four different men who in one way or another are connected to the show...and her. They will also lead her to the existence of evolvers, humans with powers.
My First Impression for the series from episodes 1-3 is good but things started to get boring right after. But every time I get bored, I'll be disarmed by the guys' looks or by their personalities again. They are such a feast to the eyes! But if I really need to pick just one, my favorite is Gavin/Haku. (The first name is the English version while the second is the Japanese version. Correct me if I'm wrong) Haku looks so refreshingly cool and badass with his earring. Next are Kiro/Kira and Lucien/Simon just because they're hotter in their 'other' personalities. But if not for that, Kiro would have been last since his scenarios are not at par with the others. The animation really brought out their character visuals. There are also memorable background scenes like in front of the merry go round with Lucien and inside the elevator with Kira.
The overall story is predictable but still bearable to watch. I doubt I would feel the same way though if it was a marathon. This is the first time that I feel strongly about a reverse harem anime even though I didn't enjoy the story. Who knew it would be possible to enjoy purely for their visuals alone. But in a hindsight, we do need to credit the storyline too in achieving its goal, after all, to make the boys shine. I have not played the game but it certainly made me protective of it.
The finale sets up for a second season which is surprising. My expectation is for the usual 12-episode series but now I'm greedy for a sequel I never knew I wanted. Take note, there's no announcement yet. I just want a sequel purely for the boys. I like the heroine too although she may not be as standout if compared to other popular reverse harem heroines, I like that she's got a mind of her own.
Mr. Love Queen's Choice got me rethinking of the levels of reverse harem. Is it still a reverse harem is there is no confession of love? They all seem to deeply care for her but with no clear realization of romantic love from any of the guys. Is it a prerequisite? I don't think anyone will doubt the reverse harem-ness of MQLC. And the anime can get away with it since it's based on a romance mobile game after all. This is the same case too for Stand My Heroes, Yume 100, Scared Rider Xech, and more. But with Phantom in Twilight, I was quite stingy and labeled it as kinda reverse harem even though there's romance. The fact that it's not based on otome game or manga to strengthen its status played a factor too. Now, I'm feeling bad for tagging it under Related Review. Must update. It did get a game tie-in later on but I'm not sure if it's otome game.
How did you find the anime? Who's your favorite? Let me know in the comments. You can also download the artist's coloring book and smartphone wallpapers of the first picture above.
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Stand My Heroes: Piece of Truth - The Complete Series [Blu-ray] https://amzn.to/3nwFFSK
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The game the anime is based on is definitely a reverse harem. Nevertheless, it's far from being a typical reverse harem. The main storyline doesn't show any romance, it is rather tragic, loaded with sci-fi concepts and with a good amount of action scenes. The romantic parts are included in the dates, which, up to now, do not influence the main story importantly. And this is probably a very smart move from the developers. This allows the players, who take the role of the main character, to choose their love interest and who they go out with, without the need for creating several independen routes, making it slightly different from conventional visual novels.
ReplyDeleteAs for the anime, I don't know where to start, but, here I go.
If we judge it as a standalone, it might not be a perfect series, yet it's still highly enjoyable, but, as a adaptation, we can't really say it is a proper adaptation. It is understandable that adapting such a long story with such complex characters into twelve episodes is almost an impossible task. Despite this, the studio was making a relatively good job during the first episodes. They removed the fluff and kept the basics.
However, as the story went on, they started changing the order of events and altering or removing scenes that were extremely important for character and world development. They softened the breaking points and turned the atmosphere into that of a cute shoujo/harem, instead of showing how dark and confusing the game is. That's why you found them a little boring. Also, the quality started fluctuating considerably from episode 7 on. The last episodes should've included many thrilling action scenes, but they were either softened or removed. And that last episode, that had nothing to do with the original story was the last straw and will probably mean story-continuity troubles if they ever make a second season.
The anime also feels biased towards Gavin and Kiro, sending Lucien, and especially Victor to a second plane. Huge mistake, because these two neglected characters are the most important ones of the animated arc because it is through them that the most important information is revealed. Lighting is also a relevant element in the game, as it is used to reveal things about the characters that are not explicit. Nonetheless, the anime never paid attention to these details. They also removed or fast forwarded certain scenes that set the basis for the upcoming events.
If you haven't played the game, I highly recommend doing it. Everything will seem completely different and you will start seeing the anime as a complementary set of videos instead of an adaptation. Don't worry if you can't play it right away, the gameplays are available on YT, but soon you'll want to get the full experience. The voice acting and music are outstanding.
Sadly, at this point I do not have time to play otome games yet even though I really want to huhu More so now after reading your post. I love getting insights from someone who has played the game. Thanks so much for sharing~
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