Centaur No Nayami

Again? Another comedy series that involves monster girls? After Monster Musume No Iru Nichijou and then Demi-chan Wa Kataritai, now we have Centaur No Nayami. At first I wanted to skip this one thinking that monster girls aren’t my cup of tea. Especially now we have a Centaur as the main focus, she looks a bit scary even if the general art feels cute and all. Then I decided to give this a try because I too am curious what Centaurs worry about while growing up in a normal high school life. Wait. What?! I’m interested to know about a Centaur’s life. Thanks to that internet thingy…

Episode 1A
Himeno “Hime” Kimihara kisses Nozomi Gokuraku. Everyone is shocked. Despite this is just a play, should she really have done it in this practice? Apparently her script says the kiss is a must. Well, somebody’s handwriting is there. The one who passed her the script was Makoto Komori. Previously he was supposed to play the prince but when it is discovered he rigged the vote, he was replaced by Nozomi. There goes his kiss for Hime. But the question is, would Hime have really kissed him? The rest notes Hime has always being playing princess roles is it because of her name? The preparation and practice goes well. The actual play also goes well. But no real kiss. Except the props they were standing on start to collapse due to Hime’s weight. Luckily Hime uses her agility as a Centaur to save herself and Nozomi. Once landed safely, Nozomi pecks her on the cheek. Everyone loves the play and they get great praises.

Episode 1B
There is some origin of the evolution of ‘humans’. Sounds like sophisticated BS. But anyway, these dominant humans evolved into 4 groups: Fauns (or those with long ears or tail), Angelfolk (dragons include), Centaurs (Weretigers were included but became extinct) and Merfolk. There is also a tragic past how these people discriminated against each other as well as the possibility of amphibians evolving. Kyouko Naraku has no stamina in running. Though, she can eat all she wants without getting fat but she is really ‘flat and straight’. They wonder how fast Hime can run so she demonstrates. As fast as a horse. Too bad she forgot how to stop and almost crashed into a car! An accident could have happened! Despite her horsepower, she is the slowest of the Centaurs and a klutz in all other areas. When the midterm exam results are out, Nozomi is devastated. She scored 299 overall and those scoring below 300 have to take supplementary lessons and make-up tests.

Episode 2A
Nozomi is unsure if the model on this magazine is Hime. Mitsuyo Akechi confirms it is so. She then tries to blackmail Nozomi to become a model for her as she hints working part time is against school rules and will get her expelled. No choice, she goes to her home only to discover she has been set up to wear her cosplay outfits. She doesn’t want to do this anymore till another blackmail how expelled students will find it hard to get letter of recommendation. Later Nozomi asks Hime if she is hiding something. No, not the extra doughnut you ate. Apparently Hime’s mom’s friend is an editor-in-chief of a magazine and since there were no Centaur models around, she begged her for this role. But isn’t it against school rules? Not if you don’t get paid! Of course Hime doesn’t plan in going into modelling since she finds the editor-in-chief’s eyes scary. She would prefer to be a veterinarian, fishmonger or medical research. Later Akechi’s lesbian partner, Michi Inukai whispers a juicy detail to Nozomi who then confronts Akechi about working part time in a maid café. Now she threatens her of expulsion but Akechi is confident she won’t because she is her friend. In that case, is Hime her friend? She runs to hug her. Yes she is.

Episode 2B
It’s such a cold day so Akechi teases Manami “Tama” Mitama by wrapping herself around her warm angel wings. This encourages Kyouko and Nozomi to lie themselves on Hime’s back. Looks funny and embarrassing as they keep walking like that. This prompts them to remember a time where they visited the school for Merfolks and the place is obviously submerged in some water. The Merfolks are quite beautiful people but of course both sides were curious with each other. Like how the guys were trying to hit on Kyouko. Despite being almost naked all the time, their biological construct of course differs from others and can stay warm in the cold water. Meanwhile Takamichi Koma is always seen carrying the Mermolk, Ruru Shizuura. They get teased by their friends but they soon realize why he keeps doing this is because Shizuura is his childhood friend, beautiful and has boobs. You girls just lost. Later Shizuura wants him to buy a Centaur-like robot that will help her walk around instead of him always having to carry her but it’s too expensive.

Episode 3A
Hime’s young cousin, Shino comes over to visit. As they take a walk, they bump into Tama and her triplets little sisters, Chiho, Chinami and Chigusa. The triplets are the kind who love to kiss to show their love so when they try to kiss Hime, Shino puts a stop to it. Nobody kisses her Hime but her! And so at the park, Shino explains all she knows about what is love. But when they ask if their big sisters kiss each other, they say girls don’t kiss each other when they grow up. Till Akechi and Inukai pop up and show them how it’s done! And then pecks Tama on the cheek! Another form of love?! Tama beats her up. Poor leek got damaged… And when Akechi wants to kiss Hime, Shino blocks her. Now the triplets want to kiss Shino. She doesn’t want it and runs away. And so begins the world’s slowest chase… Luckily they end up being friends and play with each other. Nothing naughty there… Though, they get all their clothes wet and their sisters have to come pick up after them. Back home, Shino is still confused and asks Hime about the meaning of girls kissing. Maybe she’ll understand when she grows up. Hime thinks that is when she’ll have boobs as big as her.

Episode 3B
The triplets aren’t happy when they need to watch over the house since Tama has some work and needs to go out. Tama has to explain about society. Not really in detail but their dad has to work to earn money and can’t stay home all day to play around. So that’s what weekends are for? In exchange, the triplets get to call some friends over and play. While doing so, their youngest sibling, Sue suddenly falls ill. They believe she is always so when she runs around a lot. So instead of playing outside, why not play inside! Meanwhile Tama is in her student council meeting and she is rushing for time. She wastes no time in admitting she needs to be home by a certain time to cook for her family. This stem from her stubborn late grandpa who always put his dojo first. When he was on his deathbed, he called out to wife and wanted to go home. That was when she decided to put family first. When Tama goes home, she gets mad at the triplets for letting one of their friends look after Sue while they go play. Well, they kept their promise by staying at home. At the end of the day, the triplets realize something eerie because there seems to be an extra friend whom they didn’t invite nor showed up late. Dad thinks it is a zashiki warashi and it’s a good spirit.

Episode 4A
A guy gives Hime a love letter. But in the train? But she gets scared and runs away when her stop is here. So her friends later talk to her why she acted so. Turns out a trauma she had when she went on a school’s field trip. You know those cows? Those udders? A kid teased her she had them. To put it bluntly, she is worried about her vagina. Well, can’t blame her because, can Centaurs see their own crotch? With this complex, she can’t date anyone. Nozomi assures they will show theirs and they can check hers out. Twisted. But if it is what gives her peace of mind… Nozomi goes first. Looks… Unused… Nozomi then forces Kyouko to show hers. Erm… Hairy? Let our imagination go wild! Finally they check Hime’s. Uhm, beautiful? With her fears allayed, the next time the guy gives her the letter, she is able to take it with confidence. However when she reads it, she gets disappointed. The next time when he waits for her answer, she rejects him. Her friends find out why. The letter wrote and described her big and beautiful boobs.

Episode 4B
Nozomi is being lazy. She doesn’t want to study so Kyouko and Hime are forced to make her do so. Even so, Nozomi lacks the motivation. So they play psychological with her that if she stays back a grade, they couldn’t do things together anymore. Well, that did the trick. While studying, Nozomi thought she saw a UFO. This leads them to discuss about aliens and more practically, those reptilians who live in Antarctica who possess technology that the rest of the world doesn’t have. The next day as they head to school, they notice the place is tight on security. Even more so at their school. In class they notice an extra table. Could it be an important transfer student? Yes. It is Sassassul “Sassu” Quetzalcoatl from Antarctica. Hime is tasked to show her around. She’s scared. Yeah, those snake eyes are scary…

Episode 5A
Hime must be wondering if snakes like to eat horses. But she faints upon seeing Sassu’s fangs! Later as she wakes up at the infirmary, her friends learn her fear of such stems from an old movie about a reptilian eating a Centaur, spitting out her skin and masquerading in it! Yeah, pretty traumatic. But is that a Psycho reference? Sassu comes by to apologize and explains she was just trying to smile. Yeah, it was sure a scary smile. So when they tell her about that movie, they go and watch it. Is Hime’s trauma going to be reactivated again? Well, it was scary enough for both girls to hug each other. At the end of the day, Sassu dismisses some of the myths like how their jaws are too weak to bite like that and they cannot kill via constricting like snakes. Asked if she is going to sue to movie producers, Sassu says the reason she is here is to quell such myths. She hopes they can be friends. She smiles and once again Hime passes out. Maybe she really needs to work on this.

Episode 5B
The classmates are spamming Sassu with questions. She explains them all to quell all the myths surrounding her people like they are more warm blooded like birds rather than reptiles and the unfounded claims that they rule the world from behind the shadows. When they try to ask her love life, it all turns back to something pedantic again because only the queen can lay eggs and they themselves are not sure about emotions and if it were to be the same as the other humans. Back home, Sassu sees the news that an American ship was sunk near Antarctica and this causes some tension between both nations. She feels guilty about it and tries to hide her face in public? Well, she looks like attracting more attention looking like a burglar. Hime and co talk to her about it and assure everything would be fine. It’s not her fault to begin with. Also notice her strange clothes which she based on monks, they take her to shop and buy some clothes. Sassu hangs out with them. She hopes to understand more about others. Not because of work but because as duty.

Episode 6A
It must be one of those days Hime got up from the wrong side of the bed. Despite mom keeps pestering, she still wants to tug in and there is this ‘fight’ with dad over the use of the toilet, causing her to run late for school. Oh well… In school, she and her friends talk about their hairstyles because for some races, it is really troublesome to keep them looking good. This also extends to some races with hair on their tail. Hime’s friends then notice her red hair which is supposed to be rare for Centaurs. She claims she got it from her mother’s side. Once a teacher detained her thinking she dyed it but he got arrested for discrimination! Yikes! Hime relates the supposed story that her ancestry was of a royal family. A princess got kidnapped from Japan and taken to Europe but her siblings chased all the way there to bring her back. There are many other exaggerated legends like how an arrow sunk a ship but even if it sounds far-fetched, there are some records of it.

Episode 6B
Kyouko is like the secretary to her father and is very strict in making him meet his deadline for a publisher. It is a good thing because otherwise he wouldn’t have gotten any work done. Yeah, looks like she is his life manager as well, doing all the cooking and such. Meanwhile Tama arrives at Kyouko’s neighbour to help solve a cursed box she is having. This is a way for her to make ends meet for her family. When she returns, her siblings are sleeping and father is cooking. What she proceeds to ask dad is quite thought provoking. As he alternates between a contractor and painter, she asks if he is really a painter. He thinks she is implying if it puts food on the table. But what she meant was when he is off work, the kids are asleep. He should be using this time to paint. Inspiration, he says? She then tells him if he is a painter, he should continue doing so if he hates it and when even his daughter hates him for it. Can he be both? But does he have the talent to manage both? If he isn’t dedicated on being a painter, this means he is working as a half contractor too. It also means it makes him a lousy father and is trying to earn compensation on Sue due to her medical conditions. Wow. So deep… At least Hime is having it easy sleeping and being pampered by mom.

Episode 7A
The triplets meet Sassu for the first time. They are fascinated and can’t help toy with the ‘dinosaur’. Snake being toyed by kittens? All of them head to the pool. If you are curious how a Centaur puts on its pants, be fascinated on how they do so here. Oddly Sassu is scared of water as falling in one back in Antarctica means certain death. Her kind also lack sweat glands so they don’t bath. Then the triplets naughtily bring her into the shallowest part of the pool. Well, she’s still alive. The triplets want to follow Shino to another section of the pool but Tama stops them since that area is only for Centaurs. They pout as they learn swimming under Tama as Shino learns under Hime’s guidance. When it is done, the triplets sulk when Shino wants to play with them. But all return to their playful self when she starts splashing water on them. On the way home, the young ones get sleepy but luckily there is enough ‘manpower’ for each one of them to carry each of them. But when Hime starts to feel sleepy… Nobody is going to carry that heavy half horse back home.

Episode 7B
Hime and her friends are part of the occult club. The club’s president, Buchou wants them to stay here overnight and tell ghost stories. He is inviting Towako Yachiyoda too. The girls think this is his subtle way to ask her out but he says she won’t come if it is just the 2 of them so she won’t feel so lonely if the rest come. Not only that, they can gather scary stories, submit it as their activity and hence the club will receive increase in funding and budget. Killing 3 birds with a stone! If this is the real reason, it just sucks, right? So I guess everyone is in since they’re interested to hear what kind of ghost stories they can tell. Towako also tags along but she isn’t really impressed. So we hear lame ghost stories from Kyouko and superstitious stories from Sassu. But the lamest has got to be Buchou’s because he is talking about some ghost of an extinct dinosaur animal and the punch line is to show his ‘scary’ face. In all cases, Hime freaks out and almost chokes Nozomi to death. In the end, Towako can’t put up any more with this crap and wants to go to the toilet but wants somebody to accompany her. Is she scared? She denies but nobody seems to believe her…

Episode 8A
Hime is part of the archery club. But her junior, Ayaka Wakamaki doesn’t seem to like her as she doesn’t look serious in her practice. Plus, a tournament is coming up so Ayaka tells her to put more effort in it although she won’t be putting her hopes too much on her. This hostility stems from a past tournament in which Ayaka was doing badly and Hime tried to cheer her up by doing a funny face. It only distracted her. But it worked on Shino… At the tournament, Kyouko knows for a way to motivate Ayaka. She whispers to Hime to make a bet with Ayaka. If Hime loses, she will have to date her. Oh dear. Now Ayaka is only more distracted. She is only thinking of what to wear during the date! Is she tsundere?! I think so. Ayaka gets serious and focuses. Her date is on the line. In the aftermath, Hime and Ayaka go on a date. I guess she really won. Hime’s friends are hiding and tailing them but because of Sassu, I guess they are easily spotted.

Episode 8B
Those Merfolk guys must be really lucky. The females actually swim around topless and it is nothing to them. They just put on something to cover when other races visit. So some Merfolk guys are still looking at soft porn of other races. Why? Because it is fun when you have your boobs covered! You lucky bastards! I think these guys love flat chests too because their favourite is the idol, Eri. It must be the way she acts embarrassed too. Eri for the first time is tasked to sing for a festival as celebration to a local god, Tamon. As she starts singing, a good sign is when man-dolphins (aren’t they just dolphins?) start swimming and dancing about. However they get scared and run away when the waves get violent. A large monster fish appears and proclaims he is Tamon. The elder recognizes it as an imposter and takes Eri to swim as far as away. He tells her the god they worship is only a rock as living gods can’t exist among them. They head back to shore to report to the coastal guard. Well, those snake people coastal guards examine it but I’m not sure what they do with it. Meanwhile Sassu talks to her friends about gods but they don’t really believe such exists. Nozomi thinks of asking Tama the ‘master’. At first she is thinking of brushing it off but has this devilish thought of how she can ‘defeat’ them (source of income seems to be the key) and tells them how they exist because of all the good luck charms they bring. Meanwhile Tama’s father thought Sue is playing alone. However he can’t seem to see this ‘god’ kid she is playing with. Anyway she beats him flat.

Episode 9A
Hime notices this frog guy, Jean Rosseau recently all over in advertisements online. He is a president of a conglomerate company as Sassu explains his past of how he was picked up by a French missionary after being found almost dead in the jungles. He was brought up and discovered has quite the intelligence. He went on to achieve greatness to where he is today. He will soon be giving a speech at the school. But first we see him in one of his daily dealings. Like meeting and making a deal with a president of another company. Then he dons his traditional tribal wear to visit his tribal folks. However they believe he has been corrupted by the mammals. Rosseau is sad that their warring attitude is what makes them like mammals and his advice to coexist with others fall on deaf ears. After giving his speech at the school, he accidentally burns his tongue on hot tea.

Episode 9B
OMG. What is this?! A remake of the Holocaust?! Nazi Centaurs beating up Angelfolk Jews?! Actually there are all species on both side of the divide. We focus on a young Angelfolk boy who has been sent to the concentration camp and being worked to death. He learns about discrimination as he watches other prisoners gang up and beat a Centaur dude for colluding with the Nazis. One day, Angelfolk boy thought he was going to die after he didn’t have the energy to continue working and is taken away by Centaur guy for a beating. However he gives him his food portion instead. He can tell kids like him are good guys and must live to make the world better. He knows he himself will not survive the war. If stays a prisoner, get executed. If freed, executed as a traitor. Soon the liberation army liberated the camp. Angelfolk boy finds Centaur dude hanged by dissatisfied fellow prisoners. They were going to hang him too thinking he is a traitor but a soldier protected him and even adopted him into his family. He is now an old guy and president of a company who just made a deal with Rosseau.

Episode 10A
What’s this?! Sassu on a date with Taito Nakafumi? Cue for Hime and friends to tail them. No matter what disguise Hime puts, she’ll always stand out. Also hot on the tail of this date are Sassu’s SPs but they’re being very stealthy about it. Oddly, they are at the art museum as Nakafumi’s view about art is enlightening. For instance, watching a famous movie 10 times won’t give you 10 times the satisfaction. That is why some art remains abstract and subjective so they don’t capture its actual essence. After all, it is up to everyone’s interpretation. Hime accidentally bumps into Tama there. Hey, is she on a date with a guy too? Too bad they have not enough resources to tail both dates so they continue with tailing Sassu. Then the biggest fear: Are they going to a love hotel?! Are you curious how a snake person makes out with another species? The SPs begin implementing their plan for ‘juvenile protection’. Thankfully or disappointingly, they walk pass the love hotel and into a used bookstore. Next day in school, Hime and co learn about Sassu’s ‘date’. She was trying to understand different forms of art. Not that she quite get it either. Meanwhile the guy Tama was dating is actually a girl.

Episode 10B
Now we see what happened on Tama’s side. She went out with Makoto Omaki and the triplets were pouting they had to stay home while she goes out on a ‘date’. On the way because there are punks trying to hit on girls, Omaki’s boyish looks make it the perfect cover to make them look like as though they are a couple as they hold hands. After Hime bumps into them, Omaki is interested to tail them but Tama reminds her they’re here to visit the art museum. Tama asks Omaki’s advice about her dad being a painter. His art is average and he doesn’t want to paint abstract art but remain painting normal stuffs. There are many students who draw better than him. He too isn’t bringing in much income because if he is to be an illustrator, he has to draw as clients request but he draws as he wishes. So he is doing it as hobby. Tama feels bad and cannot tell him to stop because he has been doing it even before she was born. Omaki tells her she is being soft on him. She might be shouldering responsibilities of an adult but technically she is still a kid. Wouldn’t it be weird for her to plan out her dad’s life? Having faith to support someone is important too. Tama feels better and when she gets home, she gives dad her support to continue his painting. Next day Tama thanks Omaki for her advice.

Episode 11A
Sue is so cute that others want to kidnap her! The triplets relay a few cases whereby a friend’s dog wanted to keep her and a random little girl suddenly wanted to become Sue’s older sister! We see Shino trying to explain to her kindergarten friends about the different flowers as well as shapes. I guess it must be confusing for a kid but well, don’t give up. Next day, her friend is shocked that the flowers are gone. Although the teacher explains it as weed, she is still sad. Till Shino explains the seeds are somewhere and will one day bloom as flowers again. Wow. Shino more adult than the adult? And now she knows what it is like being a grownup and that how hard it is for Hime to be a big sister. Remember kids, don’t neglect your studies!

Episode 11B
The triplets teach Sue how to move her tail. I think they’re teasing-cum-bullying her because of their longer tail, they can make other shapes. Tama assures them when the triplets were younger, they had very short tail too. This leads them to discuss holes in pants and skirts so they are able to move their tail freely without any wardrobe malfunction and discomfort. Tama shows a younger toddler self so the triplets cheekily ask why she didn’t stay this cute. Otherwise she wouldn’t be able to cook and take care of them. When Sue calls Tama the prettiest girl in the world, the triplets disagree. They think this will get to her head as they preach about there will always be someone better. So if you think you’re important, there’s always someone important. Not sure if they’re trolling when Tama says father is most important of this house and they go into deep thinking! And so begins the triplets’ goal to find other pretty woman. Their kindergarten teacher? Nope. Hime and friends? Not really. They even think Nozomi is a boy! That is insulting. At the end of the day, they won’t give up and believe the world is so big and there is bound to be someone prettier. Yeah, they won’t leave it at Tama being the prettiest. Otherwise one day she’ll grow up to be an ugly old hag. In that case, the triplets and sue will be the prettiest. Really? If they be good girls and do as they’re told. I don’t think they look too convinced about Tama lecturing them again.

Episode 12A
RPG version! Hime the archer, Nozomi the fighter, Kyouko the mage and Sassu the dancer? Oh, priestess. They fight through hordes of monsters and earn meagre coins. Then there is this slime monster that serves as tentacle rape. I think Kyouko purposely doesn’t want to help them and leaves it late till their armour is all eaten. They reach the final boss who is Tama the queen. Queen as in the dominatrix kind? They ‘defeat’ her after noting her fake boobs thanks to all the padding. She runs away in defeat as the place crumbles. Turns out it is a story written by Akechi. They ponder the point of it all and Akechi ‘agrees’ it is somewhat useless to have some of them wear bikini armour because they have no boobs…

Episode 12B
The girls are holding an arm wrestling tournament. Hime is the favourite as she is the strongest. Given her monstrous Centaur strength, she hears others whispering about that natural gorilla strength of hers and purposely loses. But nobody is buying it and warn her if she does so again, they’ll personally inspect if her boobs are real! Replaying her match, she instantly wins! Brute force! The tournament is down to the last 4: Hime, Tama, Nozomi and Inukai. Nozomi takes on Tama and after putting up a fight, Tama wins. A mother’s love beats the strength of a dojo. Hime vs Inukai. No contest. Hime easily wins! Again! Too bad Akechi’s love isn’t enough to stand up to brute force. Finals. Hime vs Tama. As it begins, Tama looks like she is struggling. A lot. Hime isn’t breaking into any sweat. And then the inevitable. Hime wins. Looks like brute force overwhelms a mother’s love. Hime is declared the winner but her answer of why they’re holding this tournament is never answered. Because final episode shenanigans?

The Centaur Of Attention
Can I say this series falls under the category of cute girls doing cute things? Even if you tell me the definition of cute, I’m going to say that despite the girls here are cute but they aren’t cute in my books. Oh. I just confused myself. What I’m saying is that they might not look scary but if I were to imagine myself to date any one of them, I wouldn’t. Discrimination!

Therefore there is really no plot or storyline throughout the series. When it first started, we are already thrown into this very odd world and as we learn a bit more as we go along. And of course, it had to end in a somewhat familiar fashion where there is no closure or anything that would hint of something really ominous. You know, like say, a darker species trying to wipe them all out! Too bad we don’t have any of that so basically every episode is the same slice of life but infused with some supernatural creatures. If you’re not into this, you’ll definitely find it boring as it does fit the characteristics of what constitutes to be a cute girls doing cute things genre. Which is still pretty odd for me to call it so.

However not all the episodes are pretty boring. Heck, let me just be honest. There was only 1 episode which was really interesting. It was that Holocaust one. It was really different than the boring high school daily life as we get to see a different aspect of life in the past although the story is hardly new and is probably a rip-off from some other war story. Heh. Even when they are different species, they fight among each other. This also prompted a provoking thought mentioned here that even if they look exactly the same, humans will pick on something else to fight over about like different clothes, etc. It is so damn true. I guess that is why humans will always be humans.

Before I go into the other aspects of this series, I want to point out something mind boggling about the setting of this series. All the creatures and species here are referred to as humans. Yeah, it gets weirder and weirder. I am not sure if they evolved from us actual humans or this is completely a different and alternate world where the term humans is generally referred to all the intelligent life forms on this planet. Oddly enough, they do sometimes make reference to their animal appearance like snakes or frogs so this shows that such animals exist in this world too, right? So it’s like a rose is still a rose no matter what other name you call it, except this is the visual version of it. Humans will still be humans no matter how different they look physically. Here is another odd thing. In addition to these humans, the animals are not just animals. What I mean was, did you notice that normal dogs in this world has 6 legs?! WTF???!!! Like as though this is the aftermath of some sort of nuclear fallout and hence everyone got mutated into something weird but history worded it in a nicer way called evolution. Keeps us all from freaking out, eh?

Sometimes this series feels like a bit of propaganda. With a few types of humans, it is made clearly how any sort of discrimination towards the other kind is forbidden and illegal and it could land you in prison. Hmm… Are they trying to imply something in the real world? No wonder I can see why everyone is living so peacefully and not insulting each other the different race they are from. I’m sure that all the characters you see here don’t give a damn about it either. You see interracial marriages and hence siblings coming out mixed as in the case of Tama and the triplets. Sure, discrimination is bad but sometimes they really make it sound like it is the end of the world if you ever cross that line. Because if you noticed Sassu has lots of SPs working in the background and almost everywhere just to keep watch on her. I am not sure if she is aware of it but it feels like as though if something bad happens to her, a world war will erupt. It feels like they’re taking this discrimination thing a bit too far although in some ways it is good to keep certain people on their toes. Never take peace for granted!

Speaking about Tama’s household, it brings a whole new question of how different species can mate and produce offspring. Because screw science and DNA, right? I guess this is why they coin the term humans for all of them here. Despite you looking so much like an alien, as long as you are man and woman, you are able to f*ck each other and form a whole new family. Yeah, I don’t know if I am supposed to be curious or utterly horrified to think how it looks like when one species f*cks another kind of species. Definitely weird.

On to the characters of the series, despite they have their charm points, overall I still find them boring. Hime doesn’t steal the limelight and I believe she doesn’t even get half of it although it feels she takes up most of it compared to the other characters. So instead of giving us a dozen of episodes showing what Hime worries about, we also see the other struggles of other characters. Which is sometimes a bit odd considering that this series is called. But it isn’t like Hime is having a hard time in life nor is she facing some sort of crossroads in her life that makes her stuck in a dilemma to choose. We see a bit of insights like how Centaurs wear pants but nothing so much as thought provoking. Heck, if Hime was a normal human instead of a Centaur, I’m sure her troubles are no different than a normal girl.

Tama is the other character given the most prominence because of her family household. She acts like the responsible adult given her circumstances but she is still a child legally and isn’t as perfect as you might think of her to be. She isn’t such a strict uptight person you first thought. Like I’ve said, her circumstances has her to be more responsible than carefree than her classmates. If I had to point out the best character of the series, it had to go to the triplets. They’re the funniest because of their kid-like honesty and hence the sarcasm in the innocence. They are cheeky in that sense and in a way it makes them cute. Hey, they’re just toddlers!

For the rest of the other characters, well, not so much leaving an impression in me. Like Nozomi who is tomboyish and Kyouko who seems to have that sly and ulterior motive. Sassu is the transfer student on the series as she tries to understand the ways of the human culture. Then there is the lesbian pair of Akechi and Inukai whom you’ll slowly forget they are ever one in the first place as well as Shino who has this big sister complex. For a short series, it does have a lot of other characters although they only make their appearance once. Like that Koma and Shizuura case. They appeared so short and that their part could have been done without. Like as though they are there just to fill the remaining duration of the episode. I thought they would play some sort of role later on but looks like they have been forgotten. Even that Eri Merfolk story also feels out of place because at the end it just made me go, “So what?”. What happened to Ayaka? Wasn’t she going to be some sort of lesbian junior to Hime? I guess we don’t need any more lesbian couples. Did Buchou get Towako in the end too? Remember Sue’s real imaginary friend? No? So do I. Hence many of these once-only characters feel like fire and forget.

Talking about the art and animation, it is leaning more towards the cute aspect and this is one of the elements that I find conflicting within myself. This is more of a personal taste than anything since this aspect is rather okay and not too bad. Seeing these supernatural creatures is definitely odd for me especially if the setting is a normal high school setting. Because like Hime as a Centaur, to me she looks pretty ‘intimidating’. I like my girls to look like bishoujo, cute and kawaii so someone like Hime just doesn’t quite cut it and not really pleasant to my eyes. Discrimination! At least she doesn’t look as scary as those in Monster Musume No Iru Nichijou. Still, seeing other characters with ears, tail and wings still somewhat puts me off. But the scariest of the lot has got to go to Sassu because she really looks scary with her snake head and eyes like as though she is some sort of alien ready to pounce on you if you let your guard down. Discrimination! Okay, okay. Call me a racist if you love to as long as I don’t have a girlfriend looking like this because it’ll give me more nightmares and fuel my fears instead of giving all my love, get what I mean? Haha! Oops.

Another surprise I discovered is that this series is animated by Haoliners Animation League. They produced mainly series that has Chinese setting and influence so it threw me off with this one since this series has nothing very Chinese-like. Of course the original manga it was adapted from was written by a Japanese. I don’t see many of their other works being that crappy and silly To Be Hero still as my favourite. But this series, it was definitely a surprise to know it was from them.

A bunch of large seiyuus lend their voices to this series. But I’m just going to state the main ones. The only one I recognized was Yukari Tamura making her small cameo as Eri as the rest are mostly newbies. They are Seria Fukagawa as Hime (Touko in Glasslip), Yuuki Kuwahara as Nozomi (Tooru in Kobayashi-san Chi No Maid Dragon), Haruka Shiraishi as Kyouko (Kirie in Himouto! Umaru-chan), Yuu Ayase as Sassu (Stylet in Frame Arms Girl), Yuna Kamakura as Tama (Ema in Yugioh! VRAINS), Emi Miyajima as Akechi (Mayu in High School Fleet), Honoka Kuroki as Inukai (Ruise in Seiren), Akane Kiryu as Shino and Atsumi Tanezaki tripling as the triplets (Mizore in Hibike! Euphonium).

The opening theme is Oshiete Darwin by Purely Monster. Yes, there is a cute all-girl idol group by this name. I’m not making this up and initially I thought that was the name of the group formed exclusively for the seiyuus of the main casts to sing. But the song is a typical lively anime pop piece that you’d expect from an all-girl idol group to sing. However the other surprise is the ending theme, Edelweiss by Asaka. Sometimes it feels out of place but yet it is curiously interesting. This is quite a dramatic piece that you would not have expected to hear in at least this kind of genre. Even more so, the credits animation shows only Tama like as though she is an angel going through hard times. Really weird. But interesting, though.

Overall, this is a very strange anime. Although mostly light-hearted moments, it has some thought provoking moments as well but the characters in the form of supernatural mythical creatures and calling themselves as humans are somewhat a put off for me. I guess a real and impartial person who isn’t a racist can only see past the physical and skin deep aspects and enjoy this series. And to answer your question why I decided to watch this anime because of the internet arousing my curiosity of Centaurs recently… Because I wanted to know how Centaurs masturbate given their body structure and all. HOLY SH*T!!! NOW YOU CANNOT UNHEAR THAT!!! Curse you internet! And curses, Hime didn’t really address that question of mine in any of the episodes. I really hoped she would at least give a hint instead of making me look for the answer on the internet. Sighs… Hentai no nayami…