Everyone has a perverted side, whether they want to admit it. It’s a very fact of life that makes us human in every way to heighten our sexual desires in private or, in some cases, publicly. For us that are of the latter and are fans of anime, the ecchi genre has fueled that encompassing aura in our psyche that makes us like to see sexy and beautiful girls. There’s always that example that puts the rest to shame throughout the millions of ecchi manga. For me, Sora no Otoshimono comes to mind the most.
It’s important to realize that, with how typical ecchi is as a genre, it’s not the kind of medium that has had its fair share of brilliant writing or story, with most of them being stale or forgettable on almost every level. Some manage to give some original characters in the mix and add exciting plot devices that eventually don’t help their credit, especially in the harem sub-genre. With that said, Sora no Otoshimono can be construed as that one shining beacon of light that dissipates the overwhelming shadow of blandness that has plagued the genre in this area.
While the story overall does not shy away from weak writing since there is an uninspired villain whose intentions of being evil are for a dull purpose, even with the explanation at the end, that’s not the best way to describe the excellent quality of Otoshimono. What the writing does make it up for is how brilliantly-paced the story is from how it slowly builds up the development of the story and how it balances out the comedy and the drama with each chapter. There’s no sudden awkward transition from comedy to drama on one page to another or a couple down the road. Although there are a few instances of this happening in the manga, they don’t feel very contrived in those moments, and they think fitting is based on the context of the situation. It takes its time to let us take in the mystery of the potential scenarios that they might hint at in the next chapter.
The one word to describe the greatness of Otoshimono’s comedy is “magical.” In the sense that the humor is absurdly childish and stupid in almost every scenario, with flying pantsu in the sky and a little chibi Tomoki running around naked with his Angeloid partner in crime, Ikaros. Despite this, it has a ton of charm to every single joke. It doesn’t feel afraid to push the boundaries of what a perverted protagonist, such as Tomoki, can do in any comedic situation and is self-aware as the jokes themselves are seen at face value. Usually, comedy this inept with crude gags that torment poor girls in sexual positions would seem childishly mean-spirited. Nevertheless, Otoshimono manages to one-up this humor by giving it more of a slight edge in creativity, making it fun to read instead of squirming in pure disgust. The invention involves excellent comedic writing that feels fresh and bold in every attempt at doing so, from how it draws out “one-page moments” where there’s one substantial comedic moment that genuinely shines throughout the chapter.
When a good comedy is found in any medium, there has to be a colorful cast of characters who manage to pull off their charisma to make it work, right? Well, have no fear because there’s plenty to find in Otoshimono. I want to begin this by talking about the manga’s primary source of fun and energetic charm, Sakurai Tomoki. This bundle of perverted glamour is this generation’s Kintaro Oe of Golden Boy fame. His general wicked nature comes full circle with an extremely captivating presence thanks to the great comedic timing he has in these specific scenes in question. That is not to say that Tomoki is always the perverted nut everyone on the show makes him up to be. Like Kintaro, he has a big heart for his actions. He is written very well in being a more three-dimensional character in that he cares for beautiful girls despite always being lecherous to their innocent bodies. It’s one of those things where it’s so hard to dislike him despite how despicable his actions might be if someone did the same things in real life.
Another main character that needs to be praised is the beautiful Angeloid Ikaros that Tomoki first possesses after she falls from the sky to Tomoki’s peaceful life. Ikaros, unfortunately, has no emotion to speak of to constitute anything to show that she is happy, sad, or anything from facial expressions alone because of how her Angeloid type was built in the first place. In essence, this is a lovely explanation of letting in a typical anime character with an unemotional appearance to make her have a purpose for being this way rather than pander to the dandere crowd. Her lack of emotions serves as a brilliant development of her character as she is Tomoki’s master, and he teaches her all of the things that contribute to emotional value. It’s similar to how one would show a little child how to live their lives accordingly to how to function in social interaction, and that’s not to say that negatively on Ikaros’s part. You feel an emotional attachment to Ikaros because you want her to realize her true nature because of the upbringing that she was brought up in a dark past in synapse with her previous master, to which the writer built it up extraordinarily well.
Of course, that’s not to say that these two delightful leads are what make the manga’s cast great, oh no. I can say without hyperbole that there’s not a single character in this manga that is unlikable or poorly characterized whatsoever. They all have a unique charm in giving us endless hours of lively entertainment thanks to their gag that involve a part of their distinct level of humor that feels genuine and original. Many may point out that they are cliched to their very nature, with Sohara and Nymph being the tsundere archetypes and Astraea being the stereotypical dumb blonde character. To which I agree that they are but in a good way. They are cliched, but at the same time, they manage to become inherently more than their initial archetypes, in particular, thanks to how superb their characterization is. The comedy that involves both of these aspects more than makes up most of that. These juxtapositions can be warranted praise enough to look past their cliches by this very element alone. To succeed in wonderful comedic characters, you must give them many things to work on. Otherwise, it’ll fall flat quickly, and Otoshimono gets it right from beginning to end.
To preface each character individually to expand this, the cute little Nymph starts as your typical tsundere who calls humans bugs and wishes to squash them. Nymph’s growth from disliking Tomoki into falling for him feels more natural, thanks to the excellent pacing. Tomoki works hard to get her attention by showing her that she’s a particular person despite her slave nature to her own master. Her love for Tomoki feels genuine, along with the rest of the girls who do. For instance, Hiyori, who appears later in the story, starts off her character by being in love with Tomoki from love at first sight. This situation could easily be conceived as contrived or lazy from a writing standpoint. Still, it surprisingly works based on how beautiful the dialogue details her deep reasoning for liking him in the first place.
Sohara, Tomoki’s childhood friend, manages to become more than just your quintessential “childhood friend living next-door” character. Her hilarious attempts in literally chomping down Tomoki’s devious antics are always fun to see from how they built it up so dramatically as a horrifying experience to go through. Tomoki's last girl for his Angeloid harem is Astraea, the big-breasted blonde girl who loves to eat anything in her way. She always calls Tomoki baka even with her ridiculous attempts at being cool, only to be put down by her stupidity. She ultimately proves herself worthy of being an entertaining character and being an ultimately important character later on, which brings her characterization a full circle.
There are Mikako Satsukitane and Eishirou Sugata, which I’m putting together since they’re very poignant to describe with them together. There’s an essence of sarcastic humor from Mikako because of her funny, sadistic quality to her. At the same time, Sugata has more of a serious side to him, even though there have been many moments with him that are worthy of gut-busting laughs. Then there’s the tragic character Chaos, whose name is quite fitting compared to how much she has gone through in her lonely existence. I use that word loosely because although her struggle to understand what love is is endearing for many, I couldn’t help but find it a bit redundant after the fourth mistaken communication that makes her upset. Not to say she doesn’t have her moments, but she’s the weakest of the girls.
Going back to the story, I will say that the ending was a bit anti-climatic. With the last few chapters before it being the most serious than the rest of the dramatic ones in the past, you’d think that they would have more guts in giving us an ending that makes us question how great an ecchi story such as Otoshimono can be. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, and all we got was a rushed ending that is not bad by all means, but it could’ve been so much more than what many would’ve hoped for. I would've had fewer problems if they had done one last plot arc that ran for at least three or four more chapters on the final chapter alone.
The artwork for Otoshimono is no less than stunning, from how creative the characters are in their comedic chibi forms to how gorgeous they are in the more typical scenes. I would argue, however, that the show did more justice to the artwork because of how lush the colors were that they added to the animation. Thanks to Suu Minazuki’s brilliant skill with his drawing utensils, the manga still manages to be pretty to look at. There’s never an instance where a drawing felt rushed or done superficially. The line drawings on the edges of the character make them very pleasing to see whether to be emotional or delighted about what is on the panel.
To set up my final thoughts on this manga, this is one hell of a manga to experience. Even if you are not a fan of the ecchi genre in general, there are plenty of other things to see that will please fans of many different genres. These include action, science fiction, and romance, all packed in one glorious set of volumes. It’s hard to fill in dramatic moments and hilarious comedic scenes together in one story in any medium and prove to be successful. Still, Sora no Otoshimono manages to be one of the few to succeed in almost every measure. Many moments will make you laugh, cry, or both, but most importantly, those moments will be unforgettable, and you’ll have this manga to thank for those great memories.
Grade: A