Asobi Ni Iku Yo!

Another series I picked up this summer season is “Asobi Ni Iku Yo!”, the anime adaptation of the light novel series written by Okina Kamino with original art from Houden Eizo.

Purposely waited to write this short preview until the third episode aired as the first two episodes formed a rather self-contained arc with sufficient closure that it could have been a stand-alone OAV.

Preferred to see what the third episode would be like to get a feeling what general genre or atmosphere the series would continue on, it seems set on a more or less typical course of a harem comedy mixed with some action.

The starting plot of “Asobi Ni Iku Yo!” isn’t very novel but mixes in tried and true elements. A shy boy becomes the focus of interest of shapely alien cat girl Eris whose species lands on earth, his childhood friend Manami is a knockout tomboy involved with the CIA and reserved, ladylike megane girl Aoi who has magical powers completes the string of girls smitten on him.

While “Asobi Ni Iku Yo!” looks like it promises to bring alien faction feuds and political action by the appearance of a dog race next to the cats, it looks like the general tone of the series will be lighthearted comedy with harem elements. As such it promises to be a weekly rendezvous for some good laughs and an eyeful of shapely cat girls and other cute maidens.

Another element the series is not shy of is fanservice. While the more action oriented second episode featured less of it, the first and third one featured plenty of fanservice, including some revealing bathing scenes. Although mist or glare conveniently covers up any risky areas.
So lovers of fanservice are sure to get a healthy dosage of it in “Asobi Ni Iku Yo!”.

Although the original artworks or Eris by Houden Eizo do feature the cat girl with an impressive bosom, somehow the artist’s typical painting-like coloring creates a more subdued atmosphere which prevents her chest from looking absurdly large.
Alas that doesn’t always translate that well into her anime form in several scenes, where it can look a bit too big to my personal taste. A more modest size for Eris in the anime wouldn’t be all that bad.

Perhaps that may also be an impression reinforced by the fact that so far I’m more keen on the very cute Futaba Aoi, whose petite form and gentle demeanor are offset against her lethal battle skills. In fact, Aoi is voiced by Kana Hanazawa who I’ve mentioned before for her role as Mato in “Black Rock Shooter”.

Cat girl Eris is voiced by Kanae Ito, who you may remember as Saten in “To Aru Kagaku No Railgun” or Airi in “Queen’s Blade”. Manami is voiced by Haruka Tomatsu who also voiced Lala in “To Love-Ru”, that other comedy about an alien girl landing on earth.

Will definitely keep on watching “Asobi Ni Iku Yo!” and do recommend it to amateurs of comedy, ecchi scenes and cat girl shenanigans.