Overall Rating: 20/100, FUBAR
If I could press a button to destroy every text and digital media relating to this slop, I would in a flash! It encompasses everything that is a blight on modern literature and storytelling. This is the first time I have felt this much animosity towards a work of fiction in years. Cuckoldery, AND a terrible story? I am debating if I am more shocked that you manage to fuck up yuri — something that is extremely hard to mess up — this badly, or that you couldn't pick a struggle between the bad storytelling and cuckoldery and slam to mix in both. I tried to watch this with an open mind for my (now ex) friends, but I honestly couldn't help but abhor every second of this.
It fails at what it does for the most part. It gets too "emotional" for the sexual doujin part it tries to play into and fails at that, and it gets too sexual for any emotional part they also try to play into, thus failing at that. And it's not that those factors can't co-exist; this piece of media failed so badly at it that it synergizes.
Without further ado, you WILL hear every reason why this might be the worst thing conceived since the bubonic plague. I will avoid using personal biases when accounting for my final rating for this show, but I will also show you my personal rating at the too
The Story Telling: (3/10)
The "storytelling" was a RAMSHACKLE Mess of Incoherence. It resembled a drunken hobo stumbling through plot points more than a story. An example is the early episodes where Hotaru's advances on Yuma start as "practice" for their boyfriends but quickly escalate to outright molestation in public settings, like school bathrooms or trains, without any buildup or insight, not only feeling rushed, but also artificial and engineered to be churned out like wood in a wood chipper. And while me hating NTR with a passion, and my friend group forcing me to watch it also plays into how I didn't like it, I wouldn't like it even if it was presented in a scenario that would've been preferable for me.
Conflicts: (1/10)
The "conflicts" also feel emotionally, sexually, and narratively bankrupt and unresolved! Conflicts are meant to drive stories and help push them to be as good as they are, but in NT, they feel like contrived excuses that lack stakes or resolution. Good conflicts stem from character flaws/external pressures that evolve into growth, but NT throws all of that out, opting to use them to push a romance that feels forced and written by a sexually frustrated "femcel." (No offence to the author, I bet she's a wonderful person, but the writing itself screams bad) The sexual teasing reads like F-tier Doujins that are churned out to satisfy once and never to be read again, barely managing to get a twinge of excitement out of me, though what do you expect from an "anime" that proudly wears "NTR" in its title? There's also the cheating dynamic I already have a heavy bias against, somehow made out to be even worse than I thought it could get. Yuma's boyfriend, Takeda, is portrayed as overly nice to earn him sympathy, likely a botched attempt at adding "depth" to this clusterfuck, but this backfired spectacularly on me. All I could see him as was a loathsome pushover that could make a throne out of the extra chairs hotels leave at their rooms rather than a rounded character and an add-on to make the "conflict" seem more "cOmPLeX". There's also how little attention was given to what happened with the two boyfriends at the end of the show, or if any resolution took place, showcasing how rushed and forced everything about this dumpster fire felt. The way they added depth to these characters are reprehensible, chosing to use common tropes found in NTR Doujinshis as the stand in for any depth a character could have, prime example being the relationship between Yuma and Hotaru.
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The Characters: (2/10)
The characters feel like shallow, detestable caricatures without a drop of depth. They are one-dimensional sock-puppets, devoid of personality or growth, making empathy virtually impossible. They lack any motivations, flaws, and arcs that feel compelling. They use (I know I've said this already, but I need to reiterate) tropes found in Doujinshis as stand ins for any emotional development and depth a character could have, making it feel more like watch a Porno for the plot and cutting out 90% of NSFW scenes than an actual thing on it's own.
Yuma, The Other Pushover - a passive "victim," constantly manipulated by Hotaru, yet she flip-flops between resistance and reciprocation without explanation as a faux attempt at trying to churn in "depth," throwing all sympathy out when she engages willingly in secret encounters, making her as detestable as Hoturdu.
Hotaru - a manipulative predator whose actions, like seducing Yuma while cheating on her own boyfriend and while knowing she has a boyfriend, are not only never explored beyond surface-level jealousy, but also feel sickening to watch, truly a character I was hoping would just somehow die, even if impossible considering the plot, but the boyfriends are just as bad.
Takeda, The Main Pushover - a bland "nice guy" fauxed as someone "understanding" and meant to evoke pity, but his obliviousness and spinelessness make him infuriating. It really feels like a match made in hell that the two pushovers got together.
Fujiwara - an abusive, toxic, asshole who had no chemistry, who I felt was thrown in for plot convenience. Though he is the least detestable of the characters, as he is the only one with agency who didn't completely make me want to punch the nearest wall twice, just once with this dipshit.
The Dialogue: (3/10)
The dialogue is clunky and unconvincing at times too! What dialogue should do is reveal character (not much to be had with these characters) and advance the plot, but here it's drivel that exposes the writing's incompetence. Lines like Hotaru's unconvincing quips during ecchi scenes feel unconvincing and unnatural (Not the line delivery itself, but the concept of it), which makes it feel even more frustrating when Yuma buys the cheap shots, but stammers protests anyway that don't matter at a faux attempt at adding "depth" that rings hollow. The script prioritizes setup for cheap fan service that couldn't even maintain a stiffy on a man using Rhino Pills. It reads more like what should be a fanfiction of the work rather than the work itself. If you like getting it on to things with depth (or even without), this isn't what you're looking for. The line delivery saves this, though, not by much. I love the work the VAs did, phenomenal for what the show itself is.
The Plot: (1/10)
The plot is riddled with holes too, a sieve of inconsistencies, jumping from event to event like a freight train. It starts with unconvincing and nasty practice sessions veiled as "innocent" brought on by a jealous witch, but spirals into full-blown affairs with speeds that could make a derailing freight train blush. The twists, like Hotaru's jealousy-fueled manipulations, feel unearned and despicable. Another glaring hole is Yuma, Pushover number 2's, sudden acceptance of the relationship despite her reviling thoughts on it, feeling as if it 180'd out of nowhere. But don't worry, it's all resolved in a rushed ending where the author went "they lived happily ever after, the end" without addressing anything else. This plot is predictable, nonsensical, and despicable. I've seen Gacha Life Mini Movies more compelling and complex.
The Interactions: (2/10)
Interactions lack chemistry and feel forced, coming across as powerplays rushed in to sexually satisfy an audience, who they wrongfully assume have the attention spans of botflies, with the way they fail this badly. (do better for the people going out of the way to watch your show!) Not much to say here since I pretty much explained everything wrong with the interactions in every single point before this.
The Themes: (1/10)
Themes are lackluster and are what every doujin ever produces, trying to be mashed into something "emotional and deep." Infidelity and Sexual Assault is attempted as an emotionally charged tale and fails incredibly. Save yourself the hassle and go to a doujin site and pick out literally anything; it will be the same thing but done 10x better than what NT tries and fails to do.
The Pacing: (2/10)
The pacing feels erratic and swings wildly, rushing key moments and shoving hollow plot points and twists down the throats of viewers before they understand what's happening, with the anime's short format exacerbating this. Such as (as listed before) the sudden 180's of the reaction to Hotaru's advances, the pushover boyfriend letting go easily, and the rushed endings. My other examples of terrible pacing are listed above in some of my other points, and I go in-depth into them too; you can go back to read them. (Which you should've if you made it here,, don't skip.) I'd rather not spend much more time thinking about this pseudo-hell.
The Animation and Art: (4/10)
The animation and art feel generic and bland, not to mention how the movements of the characters feel stiff from time to time, which matches well with how the show feels. The OP theme is also incompatible with what the show is trying to be. Seriously, this is just playing into the rushed feeling around everything by making it feel like they threw the animation and a random OP in as fast as possible to churn this unlovable slop out. But, it's the least of the bads this show has to offer. The voice actors were on point, though. I can't praise Daisuke Ono enough for his act. There are so many great VAs here.
The Execution: (2/10)
It's a catastrophe that failed in every aspect. Even if I didn't hate the whole concept of the show itself, I would probably rate it just as bad. This show is one of the reasons why the people who made me watch this are now considered "ex"-friends. I bet what it's based on is better by a small margin, but won't fall far from the tree. The only reason it gets a point above 1 is that it was watchable enough for me to endure it and crack jokes about it with my old friend group.
Final thoughts:
I feel as if I may have been too harsh on this show, but trying to rewatch it (I have done a few times to make this review possible) reaffirmed my original stance, as hard as I try to find one good thing. There's a difference between enjoyable slop and actual slop. This one is the latter.
If I were thirty years in the future with a successful life, an accomplished family I could be proud of, and millions of dollars in the bank, but were given an option to be thrown back in time so I could've never seen this shitshow with the consequence of losing all of my acquisitions and never seeing them again, I would take it within a heartbeat.
It fails at trying to play into the NTR Doujin vibe to the point you couldn't call it proper NTR but a faceless recreation, but it also fails at the emotional depth it tries at, using common tropes found in doujinshis to add depth instead of branching off and trying its own thing.
My professional rating itself is a 20/100, but for a personal rating, accounting for my biases? I'd give it a 1/100
From the bottom of my heart, this is my admonition to anyone reading this: avoid it at all costs.
Sorry for constantly updating this review, I am still reading over it and thinking of ways to improve my review so it's actually helpful and not just a voiceless mess in a sea of words
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