Conclusion: Haiyore! Nyaruko-san

I never thought I would end up using the term "moe anthropomorphism" for a series.

sigh Japan...

And that's why she called.

Haiyore! Nyaruko-san is quite predictable in terms of what it's doing, yet remains a mystery as to what it's supposed to do. It's funny, charming, and wacky with a side of friendship power. The harem end is a copout and  Haiyore! is proud of it. It's everything that we should "hate"...yet I rather think it's a quite satisfying series - perhaps even one of the better shows of the season (and not just because everything else is crap/weird/mecha/Shirokuma Cafe).

I won't go into detail on the production values of the show, but the OP and the ED are both great, and I especially recommended the OP (Taiyou Iwaku Moeyo Chaos! by Ushiro kara Haiyoritai G) already in one of my Soundtrack Picks of the Week. Graphics were great, as expected of Xebec (no, I did not look on Wikipedia. My fanservice-senses were tingling.)

Again, Haiyore doesn't even try to pretend to be a "deep" series. It has blatant fanservice. It has blatant references to everything, from mecha series to The World God Only Knows. As mentioned, it has a cop-out harem ending. The series 100% of the time simply will not let things have a dramatic conclusion. It doesn't matter if a monster's about to kill somebody or if they've even already killed somebody; all of the good guys will resurrect, the villainous monster will reveal his evil otaku ways, and then off with his head! And the girls use fire, wind, and a wrench to fight aliens, for chrissakes.

So what makes this a "satisfying" series? And secondly, what makes it any different from/better than, say, Kore wa Zombie?

Well...

YES.

The point is, there was a point to the Kore wa Zombie sequel. The fanservice that came along with it, no matter how much it dominated that series, was ultimately overshadowed by the elephant in the room: what's with Eucliwood's background development? What in hell are they actually trying to do with the background? Why is this only starting up in episode 9-10? Because of this, Zombie falls flat on its face because it didn't know how to juggle stuff well.

What's the point of Haiyore? Well...fanservice. JUST. Fanservice. Like, there is no semblance of plot. There is no adventure. The largest arcs are maybe 2 episodes long. And no, it's different from Maken-ki! and similar modern series that do this by having no major arc planned OR any significant world development. Yes, that little blue-haired loli girl visits in the last (two?) couple of episodes. But other than that, Mahiro and his friends are stuck in this microcosm that they'll never ever get out of. In that way, it's more similar to a visual novel adaptation than one of those fantasy-genre light novel ones.

Warning! A new player has entered the arena!

And yes, the premise at least is rather creative, don't deny it. Male protagonists that get flustered and try to get away from bold girls can be found a dime a dozen, but full-on tsundere protagonist? Interesting. Yes please. In fact, if I had to pick a specific point that Haiyore builds around, it would probably be the change in Mahiro from tsun to slightly less tsun - all from a first-person perspective. I like the idea and it shows well in the series. Why? First, tsunderes open up all kinds of opportunity for the standard fanservice routine (mainly for girls, but obviously also well-adapted for boys). Second, it ALSO opens up a nice side-shtick + conclusion where Mahiro has to reassess his priorities and get that stick out of his ass before it's too late. The prominent example of this, of course, was the beach sunset scene where Nyaruko asserts that she'll confess as many times as needed to, regardless of how tsun Mahiro is. Having obviously never really seen it from the other side, it was cute to see this roleplay reversed.

However, for being an episodic fanservice/harem/supernatural series, the ministories within each episode(s) were often themselves relatively lacking. Again, most of them consisted of either:

1. Alien-related trouble occurs.

2. Slapstick comedy.

3. Wild goose chase.

4. Fanservice

5. Fanservice

6. A wild VILLAIN appears

7. The cast all talks. Somehow they all appear, one way or another.

8. Dramatic climax. Mahiro-kun re-evaluates his feelings towards his harem.

9. Just kidding! The villain is actually just a stupid otaku.

10. Nyaruko-san destroys it/them.

11. Fanservice.

12. I watch Acchi Kocchi.

OR 

1. Fanservice

2. Fanservice-related plot

3. Dramatic climax. Mahiro-kun re-evaluates his feelings towards his harem.

4. Happy-happy-fun-time-blushing with Nyaruko and Mahiro.

5. More blushing.

6. I watch Acchi Kocchi.

Now imagine Tachibana Miya saying that.

So although the fanservice/tsukkomi acts are quite good, the episodic plots could have just been eliminated and replaced with more/better fanservice and references. Especially the references. Again, Xebec, don't try what you're not good at.

Anyways, all in all, Haiyore! Nyaruko-san gets a good review in my book because unlike Kore wa Zombie, it doesn't leave random loose ends hanging behind and doesn't pretend to have a major arc/plot but instead just delivers on the fanservice. High-fives all around, and hope Xebec improves on this concept next time!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

P.S. I would like to laud Kugimiya for playing another good role that doesn't involve a short-tempered loli.