I don't usually write reviews for harem + ecchi anime. The reasoning is quite simple, there is nothing to review. Every one of these goes pretty much the same way, and I never like it. Still, I make an exception for To-Love ru since I have watched the previous two seasons, and used to be pretty committed to it. The other reason being that To-Love Ru actually tried to create a story which was somewhat different from the others. TRIED? Yep, tried and failed.
The series has been, for a long time considered the face of Harem + Ecchi genre, and why wouldn't it be? Its got a denser than potato MC, a massive harem, quality artwork, a moronic fanbase, and the most important of all - nudity.
Artwork (14/20)
The artwork is the same as it was the previous two seasons, some improvement has been made on character models but nothing worth noting. The animation has definitely improved though (not the day to day animation, think more along the lines of breast physics, which, now that I think about it, IS day to day animation). The partially nude scenes have been somewhat improved (I won't provide pics, because site policy)
At the same time, neither of these is something to write home about (see how 10 is average on a scale of 20), its good, but it isn't over the top eye candy, so I give it a 14.
Music and Sound (8/10)
The music stays true to tradition and is rubbish. I don't know if it has something to do with the series itself, but out of all the To-Love Ru Music, I could barely just tolerate Motto To-Love Ru's OP, I just skipped the rest. Darkness is no exception to this. Its OP and ED were horrible (including their videos). The only redeeming quality in an otherwise ruined music section is the music accompanying the usual fights which is mediocre, but its still something.
Plot (7/20)
To-Love Ru never had a plot. I don't care what the fans say, pulling something approaching a story at the end of episode 10 and taking it all the way to episode 12 is NOT a plot. Its just a last minute hope of trying to end something that never began. For some reason people believe that harem as a genre is something more than a cocktease, but it isn't. Some seek closure (who does the guy pick?!?!), but it always ends the same way, the guy just chooses everyone or comes off with some sweet platitudes which somehow calm down the girl in question (that's why its called a harem, duh)
Darkness deviates from it -which I suppose is a good thing- and tries to create something fresh. Rito is told about his harem right into the first episode, and Momo starts doing shit. But once again, I got my hopes up, and had them trashed. Momo's bullshit tactics just serve to create typical "uncomfortable" situations which are present in every anime ever, and her motives are more than just stupid. The plot lacks flow and goes too fast (though it could be just me because I read the manga) which leads to "oh we just met, and you are a stupid as fuck person who grabbed by breasts, but I love you now and let's do uncomfortable stuff together after which you won't take responsibility and will forget all about it by saying 'what was that all about?'" you know like it happens in every poorly written anime ever. To Love Ru tries VERY hard to create something approaching a story, but in the end it really is just momo or golden darkness flipping out and beating everyone ever using something they never mentioned before and turns out they had all along.
Characters (5/20)
To-Love Ru drops the development and focus from Lala and Haruna and moves its focus to Momo, Golden Darkness and Mea. All of which are boring robots with no emotions at all and have no development except the extremely forced development handed over to Mea and that Run guy/girl. Not that even the forced development serves any purpose beyond it being used as a shitty fanservice device sometime in the future, but well, atleast they are trying, as opposed to the moronic degeneracy that was the original To-Love Ru. Out of all the new/revamped characters I didn't like a single one, even the somewhat tolerable and moralistic Kotegawa fell from grace and became shit.
Enjoyment (5/20)
404 not found. Sorry if I don't think ONLY with my dick. Yeah sure, naked girls are nice, but having them naked all the time doing crap gets boring REALLY fast.
If you actually like the To-Love Ru series for any reason, go ahead and watch it, nothing will stop fanboys.
If you just want a decent fap, go get some hentai, it will save you a lot of bandwidth, and will probably work better than this cesspool of cancer.
If you are just a passerby, get the hell away from Darkness at any cost, its only trouble
See what I did there?
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