Common Name: Tsugumomo
Score: 4/10, 5/5
Length: 12 Episodes
Genre: Ecchi, Comedy, Action, Supernatural
WARNINGS: Multiple scenes that both suggest and depict highly sexual content involving characters who are or appear to be VERY underage
Summary: Even though his mother only died a few years ago, Kagami Kazuya has no memories of her. While he claims that the loss of his mother and those precious memories of her don't bother him much, he never goes anywhere without her obi, the sash to a kimono. All things considered though, life isn't too bad for Kazuya. He has lots of friends, a loving family, and a hidden power even he's unaware of. When strange things start happening around his school, Kazuya will get the chance to finally learn something about his mother and the dangerous inheritance she left him.
Review: I don't think it can be denied at this point that a good portion of the anime industry could be described as little more than a "fetish generator." Season after season we get a couple shows that avoid being outright porn but are clearly meant to titillate in some of the weirdest ways possible. Tentacles, incest, loli, NTR, harem, BDSM, upskirts, yaoi/yuri, the list goes on and I really wouldn't recommend looking them up if you aren't familiar with any of those terms. While I could easily make an argument that this obsession with fetishes--or at least of few of those I listed--is detrimental to the industry and its fandom, I won't do that today. I'm willing to acknowledge the fact that most everyone have some kink that grabs and entertains them, so I can understand the necessity for the industry to throw some spice into what would otherwise be considered "normal" anime.
Take for example one of my most disliked shows in recent memory, Strike Witches; a show with a fetishistic premise that actually wasn't that bad when all was said and done. Sure, it was more than a little off-putting to have a show provide in-world logic to back up the fact that the creator just really liked the idea of a group of pubescent girls flying around and beating up the bad guys in their underwear, but the fetishistic nature of the show wasn't actually all that harmful. At no point did the fetishes devalue or outright harm the characters, story, or presentation of the show. They were little more than quirks meant to add some attention-grabbing flavor to what would have otherwise been a middling and unimpressive show. What I cannot tolerate, however, is a show where the fetishes present either take over or actively harm the characters, story, or presentation. Tsugumono is one of those kinds of shows.
It's kinda disturbing to know that my talking smack about this show could be construed as
having a vested interest in it. Trust me when I say that's not the case this time.
While I'll admit that I might be a little overcritical in regards to this show, since I went into it with some high expectations, I don't think this title is defensible outside of it having some solid art and animation. These high expectations came from a vague impression that it bore some similarities to the classic Tenchi Muyou! series. After all, the show is based around a young boy who has some secret and potentially dangerous power he never knew about (like Tenchi) that is revealed to him when he meets a headstrong, alien girl (like Ryouko) who is in some way connected to his family's past (like Yōshō) and together they must battle a threat his predecessor wouldn't/couldn't handle (like Kagato). Still not convinced? Well, the show goes out of its way to make the comparison between Tsugumomo and Tenchi all the more obvious considering the main characters of both shows, Kazuya and Tenchi respectively, possess the same God-given ability to attract women to them in spite of them being absolute nobodies with no defining character traits outside of "he's a nice guy." However, that's pretty much where the similarities between the two shows end since Tsugumomo doesn't have a story nearly as strong as Tenchi's, which didn't have much of a story to begin with. Instead, this show just tries to prop up what little story it has on fetishes, trope-ridden scenarios, and cringy humor until it reaches a point where the show can finally call it quits, leaving a metric ton of issues unresolved and questions unanswered in the process.
Questions like why this show was ever greenlit in the first place.
Ending a series on a note of "and then the hero kept doing hero stuff" is nothing new to the industry though. If anything, that kind of conclusion is a staple of all one-off series that happen to promote the main source materials and were thus never meant to go anywhere. That, of course, assumes that the source material has some destination to reach in its own which, which I'm not convinced it does, based on what little I've seen. Throwing aside the lack of any real or particularly inventive plot though, all this show really has to offer is that fetishistic, cringy humor that overshadows and often insults any character growth or compelling plot this show had to offer. Judging a show on that concept alone is difficult though, since that kind of humor is specialized from the beginning--it's meant to appeal to a certain demographic and no one else. This specialization, in turn, leaves you with a product that might get a few good hits in along the way but will more often upset its audience than amuse them. So, while I won't say this show is impossible to enjoy and sink your teeth into, I certainly found the task of attempting to do just that, hoping that I'd get a taste of that classic Tenchi goodness, absolutely infuriating. So, in the end, I'll conclude with this:
As far as comedies go, this one honestly isn't all that great.
Sometimes the humor is legitimately funny and inventive, throwing a sinker when you were expecting a curve ball. In those brief moments, all the frustration and suffering might seem like it was worth it.
But, in the end, you would have probably been better served watching something that isn't supported by pedophilic interests and scenarios.