I hadn’t expected that the first post I would write after so many days would be about HenSuki, but I only just found the time to watch the anime this morning and boy, do I have talk about it!

Hensuki, or Kawaikereba Hentai demo Suki ni Natte Kuremasu ka?Hensuki, which is basically a question asking if you’re willing to date a pervert, is an anime released this summer season. It’s n ecchi comedy set in highschool about this second year, Keiki Kiryu, who gets a love letter along with a girl’s underwear, and sets off to find whoever sent him the letter since there’s no name on the letter.

More info here and here.

This is actually an anime adaptation of a light novel, and it has a wiki, which you can check out here. It’s an ecchi anime, but it’s not of the lucky lecher variety, like ‘Do You Like Your Mom’, another great ecchi and isekai this season, or of the extreme variety like Shinmai Maou No Testament, it’s situational, awkward ecchi, which is the best kind of ecchi.

In this first episode, the anime starts off by introducing us to all the main characters in a fast paced, cleaning scene which establishes the basic character of all the main characters as well.

There’s the big breasted senpai of the Calligraphy club, Sayuki Tokihara, the cute kouhai from the library, Koga Yuika, his classmate, Nanjou Mao and his own sister, Mizuha.

Then the episode moves on to Kiryu finding the letter, getting ecstatic and embarking on a quest to find the person who left him this letter, whom he and his friend whom he seeks advice from. Shouma Akiyama, name ‘Cinderella’.

The first episode centers around Kiryu suspecting Sayuki-senpai of being ‘Cinderella’, and the rest of the episode is spent in Kiryu finding various ways to test whether Sayuki-senpai is actually ‘Cinderella’, which leads us to the last part of the episode where he confronts Sayuki-senpai in a classic ‘Kabedon’ and gets her to admit her ‘secret’

This leads to a misunderstanding, when Sayuki-senpai calls Kiryu to the clubroom, which is where the first episode ends.

The first episode also gives instances of Kiryu’s playful relationship with the other two ‘Cinderella’ suspects, Yuika and Nanjou, not eliminating the possibility of them being ‘Cinderella’, because as his friend Akiyama said, Kiryu is a man that girls can actually like.

We’re also introduced(barely), to a mysterious girl who only makes a single appearance in the first episode. Watch out for her later on!

Having read the manga and the light novel up to the latest volumes, I know of all the things that are going to happen in the anime, which actually makes me even more excited for them. Let me tell you why.

First of all, I like the art style of the anime, it’s almost like a mix between a refined hentai art style and a classic ecchi art style, which I love. The pacing and direction of the first episode is according to my tastes, with sudden cuts to frames for scene changes and illumination and shading at points to emphasize certain aspects of the frame. The pacing may be a bit fast for some people and may take some time getting used to, but I like it.

The thing that elevates the Hensuki anime and makes it a rare case of when I enjoy the anime more than the manga or light novel is the soundtrack. It’s this nice and smooth, jazzy, swingey sound track the likes of which Tony Takatani’s father might have played(that’s a Murakami reference), but only a bit more upbeat and modern.

You’ll understand what I’m saying when you watch the last few minutes of the episode and the music kicks in in the background. I mean, this was a nice and comedic series from the beginning, but the inclusion of that sound track at choice moments just made me lose my shit laughing anf laughing and laughing. The situational and shock value humor in this anime is simply golden.

I mentioned it above, but I must admit, I like the anime version of this series more than the light novel and manga. The manga is a little bit more appealing in the ecchi direction and is a good option for those who might want to check out what happens later in the series if they can’t for the anime to catch up, and the light novel is also really good, but you’re gonna have to find a translation online because I don’t think there’s any official english translation, even though there should be.

I like the anime more simply because this is the kind of series that is only fully brought to life when there are voices behind the characters and of course, the amazing use of the soundtrack. I love anime where the soundtrack is used to properly accentuate important moments rather than just provide background music.

With that, we come to the close of the first of a long series of posts discussing the Hensuki anime. I plan to do similar posts for some other Summer 2019 anime, like En En No Shouboutai. Let’s see what happens!

Farewell for now my dear readers, I hope we can meet again soon.