Papa no Iu Koto o Kikinasai! – 01 Review

And... Ummm... "I love it when you call me Big Poppa!"

Papa no Iu Koto o Kikinasai! – Episode 01

When I read the description of this show, my first thought was, “Sounds like a typical anime incest-fest.” Well, so far it’s not really like that. Not *really* like that. I mean, hey, at least there aren’t any panty-shots of the main character’s 3-year-old biological sister. Only time will tell if PapaKiki is going to go down that long and cliché road, but this relatively decent first episode presents a possibility (although slim) of something different.

Synopsis:

Segawa Yuuta (main character) is at his first day of college, and together with his typically-pervy-best-friend (Nimura Koichi) they attend a mixer with the Sightseeing Club (SS Club for short). The club’s president tries to play a prank on Yuuta with assistance from the sexy senpai Oda Raika. Raika fails miserably at her acting role during the prank, and is subsequently nicknamed “Sob Sob Sob Girl”.

Yuuta discovers that he is in a class with Raika (surprise), and they end up having the typical anime “What should I call you?” conversation, in which Raika insists on using their first names with each other. Raika is a bizarre girl with unclear motives and possibly a spring or two loose upstairs, but Yuuta is totally entranced with her. True to the pervy-best-friend stereotype, Nimura does his research on Raika, although he doesn’t give her measurements. He discovers that she is great at sports, has perfect grades, and that during her freshman year many guys surrounded her. Mysteriously, all of the guys trying to get in her pants have disappeared, which leads Nimura to the conclusion, “She’s got a great face and giant tits, so if no guys are trying to get with her then she is obviously a weirdo.” He seems to have hit the nail on the head, but none of this can dissuade Yuuta from his infatuation, so he joins the SS Club to get close to Raika, followed by Nimura who wishes to watch his friend’s fate unfold.

Some time passes (3 months), and the relationship between Yuuta and Raika hasn’t developed much beyond Raika inviting Yuuta to participate in an awkward fetish moment, which, assumed from the dialog, happens every now and then. Yuuta’s older sister, Yuri, (who was introduced a little earlier during a phone conversation about the meaning of family) comes to visit, and while accidentally exposing his loli-porn mags, jokes with him about being a “tit” guy and makes an offhand comment about him staying away from her daughters. Then Yuri essentially bullies/charms Yuuta into babysitting her three daughters, of which the youngest is hers by her husband, and the two older girls her husband’s by previous marriages.

Yuuta shows up at Yuuri’s place, grumbling to himself about his disapproval over his sister marrying a man who has had two previous wives (and a daughter by each of them, named Miu and Sora). Sis and brother-in-law are nowhere to be found, so Yuuta is left alone with the girls. The youngest is Hina, a charming and ridiculously cute 3-year-old, and Yuuta’s biological niece. Miu is the middle sister, with a big personality and alarmingly big breasts for a 10 year old. Sora is the oldest at 14, likes older guys and appears to have a serious crush on her “uncle” Yuuta (and she also appears to have the same hairdresser as Haruhi Suzumiya). Within 10 minutes of his arrival, Yuuta is blushing at having seen Miu’s pantsu, and manages to barge in on a barely-clothed Sora in the bathroom.

Review:

Hmmmm….. This is a tricky one. I didn’t have any major problems with the episode, and I thought it was generally well-executed with good production values. I suppose my resistance to PapaKiki is solely based on my unwillingness to suffer through another generic loli-incest-harem anime. I just am not in the mood to see another boring dipshit guy get with his little sister(s) (although since they’re never biologically related it’s “okay”) while their parents are semi-permanently out of town. I’m not in the mood to watch another boring dipshit guy get with his non-biologically-related niece, either. So far, in episode one, loli-incest hasn’t become the main premise of the story, but I’m honestly just cringing, waiting, knowing all too well that it’s a common anime pitfall that this series will be hard pressed to avoid.

I did like a lot of things about the episode – for example, the animation was on point. The backgrounds were nice (and I’m particularly turned on by good background art for whatever reason) and they did the job, but they weren’t always top notch. Overall, the animation was crisp and colorful throughout, and I especially liked the scene with Raika and Yuuta talking under the falling sakura petals. The lighting effects were fantastic, although mostly confined to the first half of the show, and I really appreciated the various light levels employed in the SS Club after-party prank scene.

The character design was so-so. I really dislike the severely up-turned noses that most characters in the show possessed when seen in profile. That style just looks lazy/deformed to me, and on top of that, it reminds me of a pig’s nose. Other than that small detail, I liked the look of the characters and thought they were cute, although they felt somewhat… familiar? Maybe I’m just trying to say that the designs are generic? But it’s beyond that – like, why does Sora (eldest sister) have the exact same hair style as Haruhi Suzumiya? And, Miu (middle sister) reminds me a LOT of Yoshino Sakura from Da Capo. Maybe all these girls shop at the same wig store, something like “Acme Anime Wigs Incorporated”? And, well, Miu is just a little too mature for a 10-year-old, IMHO. Nimura Koichi reminded me a lot of Itsuki Koizumi from Haruhi Suzumiya, especially when he joined the SS club (similar to SOS?) to “watch Yuuta’s fate play out”.

I suppose Koichi’s resemblance to Koizumi may have been at least partially due to their having the same seiyuu. Speaking of, I thought the seiyuus and their acting was great. That was a really stand out point for me about the show, and I considered all of the voice acting to be above average. I also really enjoyed the background music – it was light, playful, and well placed – which suited the show perfectly. The ending song was good; I’m by no means in a rush to put it on my iPod, but it fit well and it didn’t hurt my ears.

Sound. Check plus. Animation. Check. Character designs. Check minus.

I’ve got one particular beef with the show so far, and I’m hoping that you readers will be able to help me out with it. It may just be a cultural thing that is preventing me from understanding, so that’s why I would love any clarification or pointers you all may have to offer. Here it is: Why do anime characters always end up getting “drunk” off of non-alcoholic beverages? Why??? You see it all the time – hapless middle schoolers getting drunk off soda or carbonated juice, and college girls wasted after simply *watching* someone drink a beer or glass of sake. In PapaKiki, Yuuta became completely shit-faced drunk, ripped off his clothes, did indecent things on a large sculpture, and then had a full-on black out, all a result of inhaling alcohol “fumes” in a restaurant/bar. Is this just because animators don’t want to show underage drinking on television? What’s going on? Someone please enlighten me!

So, I’ve already made it clear that I think this show may be nothing more than generically designed characters going down a generic road towards harem-loli-incest hell. But one thing I liked was that the actions of the characters were realistic and believable, more so than in most anime. Like, Raika is sexy, smart, athletic, and seemingly interested in a seriously dull guy who has neither looks nor personality. But, this is reasonable because she is a kinky freak and has scared off all her other options. Nimura is a typical pervert best friend, but it becomes acceptably realistic because he isn’t just some horny teenager fantasizing about a girl’s measurements, he’s actually a cute guy and smooth-enough player with plenty of girls coming over to his place. I think the sisters are also realistic – especially Sora, who acts true to how I (and my girlfriends) acted at age 14. She is silly, precocious, vain, and head-over-heels crushing on the only “older guy” she knows, while (so far) being only slightly aware of herself as a sexual being.

So, this might just be wishful thinking on my part… But the show has definitely hinted at concepts beyond the trite loli-incest-harem thing. For example, when the older sister (Yuri) gets so worked up about family values over the phone, or when Yuuta is mulling over his feelings of disapproval regarding his sister’s marriage – these are both moments that present us with possibilities. If the primary sexual aspects of the show can stay between age-appropriate partners (Yuuta and Raika) then Papkiki has the potential for having a watchable plot with likeable characters. However, I’d like to reiterate the word “potential” here. Potential, as in, we won’t know where this is going for at least another week or two.

Well, there you have it. PapaKiki is most likely going to go in a direction that (for me) isn’t worth following. However, interspersed between a dull main man, loli-panty shots, and a tsundere college girl with big breasts, there is this wonderful thing called “possibility”, and there’s at least enough of it around for me to watch the next episode. What about you?

Episode Rating: 6.5/10