Nana To Kaoru

I actually waited and waited for over a year thinking that there would be more episodes of Nana To Kaoru. Then it crossed my mind perhaps this is only a one-shot OVA. So what the heck. Just watch the single episode. For those wanting to watch this OVA, it is strongly suggested that you have some sort of BDSM or S&M fetish or at be least able to stomach the kind of kinky act that is to play out. If you don’t understand what that means, it’s better you go look somewhere else.

I do not have such fetishes but after reading the short synopsis in Animenewsnetwork, which goes something like this: “Nana is an honour student who the entire school respects and admires. Kaoru is a known pervert who gives most of the girls the creeps. But these two have a secret and that secret is they both love S&M and they meet secretly to experiment with each other“. Aha. A comedy, right? So I thought. Well, it’s funny only if you think a model student is secretly into such things.

Needing more information on what it is about, I read the ‘longer’ synopsis from MyAnimeList, which turns out something like this: “Kaoru is a 17-year old virgin who has an S&M fetish. He has always dreamt about an S&M relationship with his childhood friend Nana, who is looked upon as perfect and is always the target of boys’ eyes. Their relationship has somewhat deteriorated through the years, due to them hanging out with different people and because Kaoru is not taking his education too seriously. One day though, Kaoru’s mother gives some of his S&M toys to Nana for safekeeping – Nana finds the leather one-piece that Kaoru bought and tries it on but accidentally locks herself in it and doesn’t have the key! Kaoru frees her of the one-piece, but then Nana realizes she may like Kaoru’s hobby more than she thought and subsequently the two of them start engaging in so-called “breathers”. These breathers are intended to relieve Nana of stress, stress originating from her attempts at keeping her grades and her name perfect“. Does it have any ring that indicates this is a comedy? Well, maybe my misinterpretation is to blame. But you can’t deny the fact that there is ecchi element in it. S&M style of course.

So to recap what I was in for. Nana Chigusa is your typical top and model student. She’s got the looks, she’s got the body, she’s got the brains, she’s got the grades, she’s got the activeness to be involved in club activities, she’s got the popularity, she’s got the nice personality. Oh, so perfect that she is literally everybody’s dream girl. Be it boyfriend wannabes, teachers, parents or friends. However not everyone is perfect because deep down, she has a secret fetish that would scream front page headlines scandal. She loves S&M. She gets her thrill from it. She unwinds with it. She gets her piece of mind from it. Seriously. And helping her out and the only one who knows about this secret is her childhood friend, Kaoru Sugimura. If you know a girl who is into this stuff, you’d be an idiot not to take out your fantasies on her, right? Right. Don’t blame him. That’s what being a guy is all about.

As the OVA begins, we see Nana and her class have just finished the test. Of course it’s child’s play for her. Her friend, Yukari Mutsuki is pestering her about the secret of her success. Get plenty of rest, etc. You know the usual stuff. Then they pass by Kaoru who is walking from the opposite direction. Though their eyes met, both Nana and Kaoru walk pass without greeting. And that’s when Nana notes to herself she indeed has a secret for her success. I bet we already know what it is.

Nana anxiously waits in the room for Kaoru because she can’t wait to start their soft S&M play. It’s not that she’s over excited in looking forward to it because she’s still somewhat embarrassed and nervous. The tension is killing her. Then she notices a package and inside a sexy one piece leather suit. She remembers it was this outfit that led her to realize her fetish. If Kaoru’s mom had not given her the package that belonged to Kaoru for safekeeping that day, she probably wouldn’t have been like a curious cat and tried on the suit. One thing led to another and further recalling reveals Kaoru was really taken aback on how good she looked. Nana was so embarrassed and her chest in pain but at the same time loves the kind of sensation that is giving her. Even Kaoru’s stares were enough to make her feel like as though he is touching her. And true enough, instead of just watching and admiring Nana, Kaoru ‘upgrades’ to touching and then molesting her. Feels good, right? It’s a win-win situation, I guess.

Back in reality, Nana is caught red-handed fidgeting with the outfit. Seems today’s S&M try-out is experimenting with some bonding with ropes. Since Nana can’t be totally naked, she wears her swimsuit. Seeing how erotic Nana is, Kaoru warns her that he might not control himself. Thanks. That warning really helped. I thought she was going to counter with some disclaimer too. Another part of Kaoru’s idea is to take pictures of Nana with his camera. So Kaoru snaps away, admiring every inch of Nana’s beautiful body, making that girl feeling embarrassed. I thought she was supposed to get used to it by now. Maybe you can’t be a master overnight, eh? Next, Kaoru has her squat with her legs open. He then ties her hands behind and blindfolds her before completing the bondage over her entire body. Because she can’t see him, Nana gets jumpy not knowing where Kaoru is. It sounds like he’s over there but he could be here. Before she knows it, Kaoru makes her do very embarrassing positions and snaps a picture of her expression. She thought he was forcing her but he says that she also loves it and her erected nipples are her proof.

Then he unties her blindfold to let her see for herself. Nana makes a priceless expression that Kaoru captures on his camera. Noting that her face and expression is the only thing seen, he wants to send this photo of her to everybody! Nana objects because as part of the agreement, if she says no, then Kaoru will have to stop. But you’re talking to a guy. A guy who’d say anything and give you the world just to get into your pants. Kaoru feigns he never heard of that deal. He continues that she puts up a totally different side in school and wonders what it would be like if everybody finds out. He wants to let everybody know the real Nana is a pervert. Is this considered blackmail? I’m not sure if he did because next day in school, Nana seems fine though she is cursing that pervert. Looks like he hasn’t blown her cover yet. If you can keep her all to himself for now, why not? She meets him outside waiting and realizes that she too is just like him. A pervert. Tonight’s try-out is at the park. Kaoru has Nana take off her panties as she goes to buy coffee at the vending machine while he waits. I guess there’s thrill in being ‘vulnerable’ beneath while traversing the crowd. Your fate depends on the wind…

Urm… So what else can I say? I wasn’t ‘stimulated’ to see this S&M bondage thingy even if this one is considered mild. I have to admit that I was a little disgusted in seeing this. Well, at least I know this isn’t my kind of thing. Not going to try this out ever. But as for the anime related stuff, as an OVA, it doesn’t offer much. You’d just see a couple of kids doing S&M play. That’s it. Probably it’s to introduce things but you don’t really get the feel of the deep relationship between the childhood friends and the way they showed it made it feel kinda ’empty’. I mean, if 2 parties are going to engage into this kind of stuff, there has to be a certain level of trust and feelings in their relationship, right? Unless you’re some kind of porn star that’s a different story.

One thing this OVA tells us is that it isn’t necessarily sex that many would find their thrill. BDSM is just one of the many weird fetishes that humans tend to find exciting (if you’re into it, that is). This type is something less seen and if you are curious enough, you’d probably find different types of S&M styles over the internet. I went to the series’ official website and briefly saw a handful of different bondage (it was all in Japanese so I couldn’t read, haha). There is even a live action feature on this series but of course I didn’t watch it. So if you want much more erotic and depth in story, many viewers suggested the on-going manga doesn’t disappoint. Then again, only if you are into this sort of fetish.

I can’t help notice about the drawing of the characters. The way the shading and the lines, Nana seems pretty odd. Maybe it’s her lips and big eyes. As for Kaoru, I guess they want to paint a picture that he’s a pervert and from first looks, he really does look like one. In addition to that, I thought he looked like a toad, a frog. Serious. And for a big part of the show, it’s like both of them have this permanent blush on their faces. Yeah, it’s embarrassing enough to engage in this kind of act. Nana may be giving out embarrassing voices and her facial expression may look like she’s in pain (I think those are tears of joy, no?) but I guess it’s a natural way of enjoying this kind of engagement. It would sound totally odd if you’re over happy and very noisy, right? Kaoru too is somewhat embarrassed doing this because notice his stammering whenever he wants to do something on her? Maybe a few more times they’ll both become pros in this. The close-up angles on Nana also occupy a big part of the episode and this is where the ecchi part is. Makes you feel like you want to touch her yourself, eh?

Right at the end of the episode, there is a “To Be Continued” notice so that’s why I thought there would be more episodes. Maybe, maybe not. It’s been around a year and nothing has been heard of it. Perhaps too ‘hot’ for some people to handle? If you’re wondering why this series wasn’t classified as hentai is because nobody had real sex. No penetration, no totally nude bodies with the obligatory mosaic censors. So BDSM isn’t what many would really think it is. A sick play by sickos alike. There are psychological effects of pain and pushing of limitations to take into account as well. Not to say that this kind of act is anywhere near holy or the new trend whatsoever but everyone is a pervert in their own ways. Ironically for S&M fetish, how can one feel stress-free or freedom ‘free’ when one is all bound and gag? Like they say, no pain, no gain.

MM!

How often do you have an anime series named after just initials of the alphabet? Either it may sound very simplistic or a little brain-cracking puzzler to decipher what it means. So unless you are new to the anime world or actually have not come across the anime series MM!, well, let’s just say this show isn’t about those tiny colourful little chocolates that doesn’t melt in your hands but in your mouth. Are you familiar with the S&M term? Uh huh. Don’t get the wrong idea. This isn’t some hentai porno series with kinky characters taking out their kinky desires. Though it really has something to do with S&M. Trust me. You either going to hate it or love. And perhaps become an M along the way. Haha. Just kidding.

So folks, meet Tarou Sado. Despite his name sounding very close to the S word, he is in fact a super M (no, not that Man of Steel, mind you). Hmm… Maybe that is just an understatement. Would ultimate freaking pervert masochistic f*cking bastard do justice? Unlike many guys who would feel insulted and take it as a sign that they’re a useless piece of sh*t after getting hit by a girl or their girlfriend, Tarou is the total opposite. He loves getting hit, whacked, beaten up! And enjoys it to the max! Not just physically, but piercing words would also stimulate and excite him! If this is considered as his sex, I’m sure he has climaxed a hundred times in a day.

Episode 1
However he notes this problem is going to get out of hand and he needs to do something about it. As seen, he is in love with a pretty girl and wants to confess. But he needs to cure his masochism before he does so. I mean, which girl would want a guy who loves getting beaten up? Don’t want to make a first impression that you’re some kind of pervert, won’t you? As suggested by his best friend, Tatsukichi Hayama, Tarou joins the Second Volunteer Club to get some much needed help. The purpose of this club as mentioned by its president, Mio Isurugi is to listen to the students with their problems and try granting it. Tarou is hesitant to tell this beauty about his problem, till his classmate Arashiko Yuuno comes in. She is also a member of this club. Mio gets tired of acting like a good girl so she beats him up to make him spill out his problems. Ah, I guess that’s how trouble starts. Tarou gets excited and turned on by her sadism and reveals his masochistic problem and nearly pounced on her! If Mio wasn’t fast enough, she could’ve been raped! Maybe not. Tarou is the kind of guy who prefers receiving pain rather than giving, right? After tying him up and a few more whacks, Mio takes on the challenge to cure him seeing she considers herself as God. Oh boy. I hope Haruhi fans won’t get mad by that statement. Tarou works at a convenience store run by a 2D-lover boss we shall all identify as Tenchou. The girl that Tarou wants to confess always passes by the store at the same time (which is right about now) but when their eyes meet, she runs away. Next day in school, Tarou gets a shocking treatment from Mio. She is going to slam baseballs into his freaking body. The reason? She got frustrated of staying up all night trying to think of a way to cure his masochism. Then it hit her that she will need to awaken his survival instincts and replace his masochism by beating the crap out of him. Uh… What logic is that? Beat him up till he fears getting whacked? That’s one way of putting it. And why dressed in a maid outfit? Well, her so called sister, Michiru Onigawara (who is also the school’s nurse but not blood related) told her to do so. It’s going to take a lot more than just pummelling baseballs into him because Tarou is starting to awaken to a new kind o M! Even if he nearly died. So much so he had a flashback of how he first awakened to this masochistic pleasure when a girl hit him during middle high school and he started begging for more abuse.

When Tarou wakes up, he finds Arashiko next to him in the infirmary. She denies carrying him here since she will never ever touch him. In her panic, she trips while she leaves as Tarou catches her. In that instant, she got scared and beats the crap out of him. Michiru learns Tarou’s problem is real and wants him to forgive Mio for doing those cruel things though she didn’t do it all as a joke. Later Mio calls Tarou and asks his opinion on a hypothetical question. A certain student has been hiding a secret from his best friend. That student hates that and wants to reveal this secret to his friend but is afraid he might be hated for it. What would Tarou do in this case? He wouldn’t hate that person and accept him for who he is because like his case with Tatsukichi, he accepted Tarou for a perverted masochist when this secret was found out. Tarou goes home and he is the ever popular guy. Yeah, even mommy Tomoko and sister Shizuka are fighting over his attention! His entire family is screwed. So can we really blame him for being an M? That night when Tarou goes to work, the girl of his dreams comes in. Is this the moment he is waiting for? Well, she gets rough and beats him up! Then she runs away but Tarou goes after her. When he catches her, she beats him up some more. But Tarou realizes his masochism didn’t awaken and wonders if this is true love. Well, more like the truth revealed. This pretty girl turns out to be Tatsukichi cross-dressing! Ouch! As they talk, Tatsukichi reveals how he got introduced and infatuated with cross-dressing. He wanted to tell this secret to Tarou but couldn’t that’s why she went to the Second Volunteer Club for help. Tarou accepts Tatsukichi for who he is so emotions get the better of him as he cries in his arms. Then it hit Tarou. His first love was a guy. Double ouch. When Tarou goes back, he sees Mio waiting for him. He tells her Tatsukichi was very grateful. This causes Mio to feel quite happy inside. But since Tarou is grinning like a pervert she kicks him where it hurts most. Or rather, he’s feeling good about it. Next day, Mio register Tarou as the club’s member and makes him do all the chores as part of his treatment. I guess it’s a win-win situation. BuTarou (a play of words of ‘buta’ meaning pig in Japanese and his name) gets his kicks from being abused and Mio gets her thrill by being a sadist.

Episode 2
More boiling torture for Tarou to cure his problem. But he is inching closer to Arashiko so she punches him away. On a day taking a train to school, Tarou remembers it was Arashiko, the girl who first hit him and awakened his masochism. He spots her unable to get on a train packed with men. He goes talk to her and this is when she reveals she has androphobia, fear of men. So each time a guy touches her, it becomes her reflex to punch him. She is still afraid of Tarou but decides to call him by his first name since she has a dog that goes by that name. Then Tarou starts acting like one and this brings a smile to her face. She also has a request of him: To help her in her studies since the mid-exam is around the corner. In the clubroom, Tarou brings Antoinette (Tatsukichi in his drag form) to Arashiko. Though she is surprised to learn of his cross-dressing ways, at least this lessens the effect of her androphobia. Well, Arashiko even admits that Tatsukichi really does look pretty in drag. Because of all the praises, Antoinette awakens and turns into a royal praise-freak. Yeah, she wants all those commoners to praise ‘her’. Antoinette crosses the line by mocking Mio’s flat chests. She’s going to show who’s the boss. The study group goes on without a hitch. Just that Mio and Antoinette don’t have very good compatibility. Tarou walks Arashiko home and though nervous, she manages to thank him. The exams come and go as Arashiko feels confident she is able to pass them all. As a reward, Michiru offers them tickets to the zoo. Arashiko is such an eager beaver. The weekend comes and Tarou is shocked to see Shizuka crawled into his bed and sleeping with him. He’s already running late and it doesn’t help when mother and sister start arguing over getting horny over him! Kick them out! When Tarou arrives at the zoo, he finds himself the only one and shortly Arashiko coming by. Then he gets a call by Mio and realizes this is a setup from the rest. It’s a kill-2-birds-with-1-stone plan to cure his masochism and her androphobia. Though Arashiko is enjoying herself, she notices Tarou otherwise so she thought she isn’t a fun person to be with. She reveals she knew it was Michiru’s plan to put her with him to cure her phobia. She apologizes for hitting him and awakened his masochism but it was all due to a misunderstanding. A little girl accidentally pushes Arashiko as she falls into Tarou’s arms. Here comes the pain and pleasure. With the rest spying from afar, the duo continue their fun outing at the zoo. At the end of the day as they rest, Arashiko reveals why she was so eager to go to the zoo. Apparently her parents promised to take her there but they got divorced and thus her wish unfulfilled. Slowly, she reveals how her androphobia started. Back she was in school, she was quite popular but turned down confessions from guys. Then her friends suggested she go out with a popular senior-cum-model, Yoshioka. Due to circumstance, she couldn’t reject him. At her home, he tried to force kiss her. She got so scared and scratched his pretty face. He became violent and that’s when her reflex was invoked. Tarou is just filled with rage upon hearing this and realizes what Mio meant when she mentioned they were both similar to each other. Tarou walks Arashiko back as they exchange email addresses. Arashiko hears a familiar voice calling her. She is Yumi Mamiya and is her old friend.

Episode 3
Tarou remembers Yumi as the she is the one going out with Tatsukichi. Yumi takes a strong dislike for Tarou and says Arashiko will be going to an all-girls school with her. Though Tarou gets more torture from Mio, his mind is deep in thoughts of Arashiko’s case. Further flashbacks to the previous episode’s talk has Arashiko fearing men so much that even a stranger passing by would make her shiver in fear. It doesn’t even end there. Yoshioka went on to spread nasty rumours she was a lewd woman and the worst part was how everyone in school changed and treated her differently. Yumi also visits their school to see Mio. Since Yumi comes from a line of massaging experts, the movements of her fingers were enough to send Mio ‘paralyzed’ but in a feel good fashion. Tarou is tasked to stop them so Yumi hits him, he touches Arashiko, she hits him. After things calmed down, Yumi reveals her intentions to transfer Arashiko. If she stays here, her androphobia will only get worse and thus Yumi is here to make proper greetings to the club. So by transferring schools, she automatically quits the club. She doesn’t have confidence of leaving Arashiko in the hands of that pervert but Mio is confident they can cure her problem. That night, Arashiko bumps into her worse nightmare. Next day, she is absent from school and attempts to reach here failed. Tarou fears the worse when Tatsukichi mentions he saw Arashiko with Yoshioka that night so he rushes to her home and sees her hiding herself in her dark room. She is still traumatized by that incident so Tarou has to think quick. He starts acting like her dog to break the ice. Once Arashiko calms down, she explains after she met Yoshioka that night, he started harassing her with non-stop threatening warning calls. Arashiko feels like she just wants to die. It’s time for Tarou to settle things. He goes straight to Yoshioka’s school and confronts that bastard. Yoshioka doesn’t give a damn about Arashiko and as long as she becomes a recluse, he feels assured. Tarou fights him and gets beaten up despite Yoshioka being a boxing club member. But remember, he is a person who specializes in taking hits. And even if his masochism doesn’t awaken, his tolerance level is pretty high. Tarou is beaten to a pulp but he still manages to stand up, surprising Yoshioka. What drives Tarou to continue is his anger and pain that Arashiko went through. He is to throw a punch when Mio throws her baseball bat at his knee. This causes Tarou’s position to sink and Yoshioka to miss, allowing the former to do a head butt. Well, at least he knows he doesn’t get his kicks from hitting people. Mio didn’t want to help out initially. But seeing that he is doing so hard for Arashiko getting beaten up, she thought she might lend a hand. As for Yoshioka, he gets his punishment via Yumi’s hands. Then a perverted and embarrassing picture taken complete with blackmail never to bother Arashiko again. Otherwise, this picture will be leaked. Grateful Arashiko thanks everyone and as for her transfer, though she says she is still afraid of men, it’s not like she wants to live in a world without them. But with everyone looking out for her, she wants to stay. This means, Yumi transfers herself to this school since she can’t be parted from her best friend. Well, she’s not accepting Tarou anytime soon either.

Episode 4
Mio wants Tarou to go out with her and be her lover. Can this be true?! Oh, it’s just part of her plan to cure his masochism with love. Well, if beating up doesn’t work, perhaps reverse psychology of giving the power of love may work. With the rest taking care of the details, the date doesn’t seem like your typical lovers one. Well, Mio is still the brute, Tarou still loves her kicks. Did anything changed? As they hold hands, Tarou remembers Tatsukichi telling him how he broke up with Yumi. She simply moved and that’s when their relationship naturally ended. But now he doesn’t know if he still holds the same feelings for her. The date continues with Michiru ‘suggesting’ to Tarou what he should do but usually with disastrous results. Whether it’s wiping ice cream off her face, or Antoinette declaring a face-off with Mio to see whose love is greater for that guy (chest size mocking included – oh, Mio won by the way because of her rage) and the Ferris wheel ride (some odd conversation they had there). Then Arashiko shows up in another battle over Tarou. A tug of war with him in the middle? Don’t forget, he’s enjoying it. So you can guess what happens when Arashiko pulls to hard and he touches her, right? Then suddenly Mio starts bleeding! Uh… Her story that she is terminally ill and ran away from hospital just to date him was a dead giveaway. Besides, that ‘blood’ is just tomato juice. Tarou has no choice but to play along with the drama. The next thing he knows, he is in a chapel and is to be wedded with Mio in her wedding dress! Married couples are supposed to kiss at the altar, right? Is she joking? Apparently not. Because Mio kisses him for real! But he pushes himself away and is upset and thinks she took this kissing as something nonchalant. Even if this was all part to cure him, you don’t just kiss people you don’t like. Then Mio collapses and he thinks it’s just one of her pranks. It hit him that she is sick for real. And thinking back throughout the day, she was holding it in and pretending to be fine. Tarou quickly rushes to the hospital with her in his arms. She apologizes for the kiss. At the hospital, Michiru tells Tarou that this date was supposed to be for Mio’s sake. When she was young, she couldn’t play much with her friends, that’s why she can’t establish a smooth contact with everybody. She wanted her to conquer that even if it’s just a little. Tarou sits by Mio’s side throughout the night. Because of that, he gets ill but Shizuka and Tomoko continue to fight over the rights to nurse him. I guess he won’t heal at this rate. Few days later, Mio and Tarou are back to school. In the club room, Mio says she loves him and wants him to close his eyes. But it was just a ploy to beat him up. She notes the failure of the power of love to cure him so I guess it’s back to the usual beating. Besides, he didn’t really think she was going to kiss him, didn’t he?

Episode 5
In another one of those beating sessions, unknown to the gang, Noa Hiiragi is spying on them and notes Tarou is the one. Later Tarou teases Tatsukichi about the love letter he got. But it seems Tarou has one too. From the president of the Invention Club, Noa. But Tarou starts getting psycho if this really is a love letter or just a threatening letter about his M condition. I mean, a girl with over IQ of 200 in love with a dumb masochist like him? Even if it’s opposite attracts, that’ll be too good to be true. Arashiko suspects something amiss since Tarou doesn’t tell her what’s going on. He goes to see Noa and she has a favour of him. She starts stripping and wants him to get down and dirty with her! Is this some sort of an experiment? Yes. A trap to tie him up and zap lots of pain into him. Noa’s assistant, Yukinojou Himura unties him and thinks it’s too late. He reveals Noa’s plan to turn all of humanity into perverts (WTF?!). Well, looks like her plans has just taken flight as the entire school has turned into sick perverts! Himura further explains that Noa was researching on perverts and trying to harness the power of perverts and amplify that energy in every human. Himura blames Tarou for it since he possessed an unrealistically large amount of Hentai Energy! Then Tarou realizes Himura is a pervert in his own way. He is a lolicon, especially over Noa. Yeah, I don’t think it’s Noa’s doing. They need to stop her but all the students won’t allow it. Himura gives Tarou some belt that can convert his Hentai Energy into projections! Man, it’s real! Himura becomes bait for all the girls to swarm over him while the jealous guys beat him. So it’s up to Tarou to save the day from Noa’s hideous machine on the rooftop. How the heck did she create that large machine without anyone noticing? Noa doesn’t need Tarou anymore seeing she has got enough energy to make her plan work and orders her robot to squash him. We know a beating like this can’t kill him but he is running out of power. Tarou gets this idea. He calls Mio… And tells her she is a f*cking flat chest b*tch!!! Before he can even hang up, she kicks the door wide open!!! It’s part of his plan to let her abuse him so he power up so much so his outer appearance changes into a Super Saiyan!!! WOAH! Dragonball parody! Super Hentai Man! What the hell is that character doing here?! He fires a powerful blast at the machine but it’s not enough. The world will soon be turned into a paradise of perverts. Noa reveals her ‘tragic’ past on how she was treated differently because she was a genius. She wanted to play and have friends but the scientists always denied her this. So because she is not normal, she’ll turn everybody abnormal instead. This way, she won’t be lonely. Tarou shares her pain and tells her that he is willing to accompany her and play with her for all she wants. But it’s too late still. A minute left till everyone becomes a pervert. Suddenly perverts of the world lend their powers to Tarou so he powers up enough to destroy the machine and save Noa. What’s this about pure perverts teaching Tarou that turning humanity into perverts is just plain twisted? Thinking about it, isn’t it disgusting harnessing all the world’s perverts’ power? So it goes to show that everyone in the world is a pervert with or without the machine. For the first time, Noa felt a different feeling in her heart for Tarou. I call it love. But Tarou’s torment isn’t over yet. Mio is going to punish him…  While he gets his usual abuse in the clubroom, Noa barges in in her robot to give him lilac flowers, which symbolizes first love.

Episode 6
Sleeping Tarou could’ve been morning raped by mommy and dear sister if not for an incoming SMS from Arashiko. The ladies get suspicious who this b*tch is and think their precious guy is being targeted and will stop her at all cost. Tarou is in yet another one of those painful abuses to cure his masochist but this time in the woods. Need a change in scenery? He’s still enjoying though. Back home, Tomoko and Shizuka start their devilish plan. On a Sunday, Tarou is surprised Arashiko visits him. She got a mail from him saying he was sick and she thought she was the cause of it. Actually that fake mail was sent by a certain pair of devil women. Tarou realizes this is Tomoko and Shizuka’s plan to interrogate Arashiko and instil some fear into her. However to his surprise, they seem very polite and minding their manners. More than meets the eye… Yup. Last night they had a ‘practice’ with dolls about today. No wonder they’re holding out well. Tarou is confused because they are having a normal conversation and wonders if they have really awakened to a normal family. Huh! That will be the day when his masochism is cured. The conspiring pair moves on to their next plan. As Tarou shows Arashiko his room, he is shocked to see his room like a pig sty, macho men pictures pasted on the ceiling and heaps of female jerseys planted in his closet. After cleaning up and having tea, Arashiko says she is okay with him and causes Tarou to blush. Eavesdropping mama and big sis rush right in to tell Arashiko off that they have spent more time with Tarou then her. As proof, they start showing embarrassing photo albums of Tarou! In the end, the ‘partnership’ breaks down as both women start fighting that Tarou loves them more by revealing more embarrassing stuff. As Arashiko leaves, Tarou apologizes for the mess his family made but she thinks his family is great. Tarou remembers her case whereby her parents are divorced. She lets him in on her embarrassing dream that she wants to marry and a guy she loves and start a warm family but with her androphobia, everything just seems weird. Maybe it takes one weirdo to know the other so Tarou doesn’t think otherwise. She thanks him and wants him to keep this a secret since he is the first person she told about this. Tomoko and Shizuka are left crying like babies upon realizing how a good kid Arashiko is. Then Tarou sees a very detailed outline about their plan… You don’t know what happens if you make him mad. They run away but are caught by Michiru. He allows her to whatever she wants to her heart’s content: Taking pictures of them in various costumes.

Episode 7
A beach episode. Another change of scenery as part of curing Tarou’s masochism? Heck, we can do fanservice at the same time. Mio tries a different treatment by waiting for a shark to bite him. Didn’t turn up. Then letting the crabs pinch him seeing that the cause of his pain isn’t from a female. But since the source of it is from a girl, he still enjoys it. Failure. How about watermelon splitting using Tarou’s head as the ‘it’? He wants to be split more. Another failure. Yumi tries to get close to Tatsukichi but he doesn’t seem interested. Tarou takes a boat out to sea with Arashiko but they are attacked by a shark. Oh, now it appears. Hey wait. Isn’t that a mechanical shark? Yup, it’s Noa. Stranding them on a faraway island, Noa wants to play house with Tarou since he promised her. But Arashiko won’t let it have her way so Tarou suggest they all play together. Yeah, Noa has even created a life size house just for that and with a push of the button, they’re all ready. The girls argue as they want to be Tarou’s wife. Obviously Noa is more suited as a child. Deciding this by rock-scissors-paper, Arashiko wins and gets the coveted part. The house play is proceeding smoothly till Noa barges in as Tarou’s partner in adultery instead of his daughter. I suppose she doesn’t want to lose out, eh? They start presenting their case like why Tarou strayed because he can’t get no satisfaction from his wife who always beats him up upon contact in their domestic violence. Arashiko tries to prove otherwise but it was just too much for her and Tarou ends up being thrown over the table. Since Tarou is enjoying it, Arashiko fights back that he loves the pain. Their play is interrupted when Mio and the rest come crashing in. Looks like they all want a part of this too. Yeah, they start claiming they are his so and so and start beating him up. I think this is part of their excuse to take out their frustrations on him for making them worried. Since the rest continue to mock kiddie Noa, she uses her trump card. A potion that would unleash her womanly charms. Wow! She’s grown up with busty curves! For real?! She didn’t use this at first because this will bring about a bad storm. And indeed a storm is brewing. Remember that lolicon Himura? Somehow his Noa detector could sense the change in her loli body so he becomes upset and flies all the way here. With his Deluxe Hentai Belt (why is he turning into a Dragonball-like character?), Himura is in a rage that no amount of words could snap him out of it. “Everyone who uses that potion should just go to hell!!!”. Tarou is the only one who can save them. Simply because he still has that belt and with his masochistic energy converting him into that Super Saiyan, and epic power battle is on the cards. Remember, you’re not watching a Dragonball series. The battle lasted for 3 days and ended in Tarou’s victory. Freaking long! Then at the festival, Tarou spends some quality time with Arashiko.

Episode 8
Mio uses hypnotism as a test to cure his masochism. Seems to work because the test trial has him end all his sentence with ‘weird boobs’. As Mio is in the final hypnotizing stages of curing his masochism, Noa barges in and says he will fall for her charms. Yeah, now he has turned into a lolicon. They try to elope but Himura stands in their way. And got owned. In the storeroom, they’re playing some kind of game which has Noa breathing real hard. Actually it’s just some pirate-pop-up game. Mio crashes in to steal Tarou. She uses her hypnotism to cure his lolicon condition. It works but something odd… Tarou is acting like a gentleman. In an underwear! Did he turn into an even serious pervert? Well, he is now a womanizer and any woman would do! Yeah, even caressing Michiru’s calves. Discussing his worsened condition, Michiru deduces that since his masochism is forcefully sealed, it may have distorted his mind. Mio captures Tarou before he can traumatize that poor girl with his flirting (who wouldn’t get shocked to see him in his underwear?). She hypnotizes him to be a true human. Then she verbally abuses him but he feels hurt. Cured? For real? Hooray! Banzai! Next day, everything seems perfectly normal till they realize something is really wrong with Tarou. Isn’t he getting too close to Tatsukichi? Don’t tell me? It’s true! He has turned into a homo! He even confesses he loves him! They try using Arashiko’s sexy seduction but he still loves men. Then back home he is going to confess something big to Tomoko and Shizuka. Is this the moment they have been waiting for?! Has dear Tarou realized their love for him? Well, he mentions he loves Tatsukichi. Boo hoo! Oh, the shock! To counter this problem, Tatsukichi cross-dresses but Tarou also cross-dresses into a cute girl! Wow. This is something new. Men dressed as girls loving each other in public. So are you gay or lesbian? To stem Tarou’s advances, he is locked in a cage but Arashiko pities him and lets him out. They talk things out and share the same can drink. Arashiko tells him about the indirect kiss but Tarou thinks of trying this on Tatsukichi. Arashiko is so heartbroken that she pleads for him not to fall for men. Mio is upset Tarou caused her to cry and beats him up like a punching bag. As he is sent flying into the sky, Tarou meets his other inner self as the seal over his masochism is unlocked. When he comes crashing down, he starts relishing all the pain that hurts so good. Though they’re back to square one, I guess they wouldn’t have Tarou as anybody else except an M. That itself best suits him. Okay, prepare for more beating up then. It feels good to be back, doesn’t it?

Episode 9
With the school cultural festival tomorrow, Tarou’s class rep, Kirino Ayasegawa approaches him about his booth at the festival. He invites her too visit them if she has any problems but she says she is too busy with committee work. During the festival, Nobody patrons the Second Volunteer Club’s booth and this is irritating Mio. They got their first customer when frantic Tenchou says his lover, Ruri-ruri is missing! Turns out it his daimakura (a big pillow with a character, usually a 2D female printed on it). Go look for it yourself! Tarou helps him find it and Tenchou is happily reunited with his lover since it was with Kirino (she was about to get rid of that suspicious thing). Kirino then wants to discuss something with Tarou. He rushes back to Mio explaining that Kirino showed him a threatening letter to their club that they will pay for their sins. Mio is all fired up and goes around searching for the culprit. But it seems like they’re going around the festivals like as though they’re a couple. Tarou sees Mio happily enjoying her crepe so much so he gives her his share and she is afraid of cats when they patron that a cafe is using felines as its theme. Then they spot the beauty contest and unbelievably, Antoinette is taking part! I wonder what happens if the truth is out? More shockingly, Shizuka and Tomoko are participating! Why? The prize is a trip to the hotsprings for two. Oh dear. Shizuka and Tomoko try to sabotage each other’s chances but they both got disqualified. Who wants to believe a college student and an old broad as students of this school? Then they visit the haunted house. Tarou is being a wimp even if all those realistic ghost effects are fake. Mio is cool till the final ghost turns out to be a cat. She cowers in fear in Tarou’s arms till he comforts her and holds her hand. But in a flash, Tarou is suddenly kidnapped. When he comes to at the rooftop, he sees a bunch of cult people. The leader takes off her mask and turns out to be Kirino. She is the leader of MFC. No, not some profanity word, mind you. It stands for Mio-sama’s Fan Club and they idolize that sadist. Tarou realizes they are the ones who wrote that threatening letter. Kirino asks his relationship with Mio and wants to know if they are lovers since they have dated once. He denies. You’d think that answer will make him safe from the hands of those fanatics, right? Nope. Instead, if Tarou had admitted he was her lover, they would accept every pain and pleasure Mio had been through. By denying so, it is like he is monopolizing Mio for his own selfish desires! WTF?! She is going to teach this piece of sh*t a lesson of flirting with Mio in public. At that time, Mio barges in (after threatening Noa about his whereabouts but spotted him on the rooftop). Mio finds out what is happening and doesn’t give a sh*t about their club’s doing. Yeah, they love Mio so much that they got ecstatic when she ticks them off. Doesn’t it make them feel like losers? Kirino apologizes for what they have done and disbands MFC. Mio lets them off with a warning never to pull off this kind of stunt again but if they have any trouble, they should come to her club. During the night’s bonfire, Tarou and Mio blushingly hold each other’s hand. However Arashiko is not happy and confronts them. She has been trying to find Tarou the whole day because she too wanted to go around the festival with him. Now she sees this and they’re having so much fun holding hands. Unknowingly Arashiko holds Tarou’s hand too before her fear gets the better of her and both girls start beating him up. Yeah, it sure ends with a bang as always. Can you blame Tarou for being the happiest man alive?

Episode 10
Arashiko is acting strange. She is being a sadist and subjects Tarou to verbal abuse. Not that he hates it. She even makes him eat a hard bread roll. Wait! Isn’t that a brick?! Yumi confronts Tarou in the female’s toilet and wants to know what he did to tick Arashiko off like that. Of course he doesn’t know. Kirino thought he is cheating on Mio but Antoinette brings her ‘servant’ out. Mio and Tarou are brainstorming to find an answer to Arashiko’s behaviour. Since nothing comes out of it, Mio subjects him to torture. When Arashiko sees this, she falls to her knees and thinks she can’t win. She convinces Mio to give her a few days off. Seems she is doing some harsh training in the woods with Yumi as her instructor. When she returns after 3 days, she instantly challenges Mio to a duel. A match to determine who is the real sadist. If she doesn’t do so, she will quit this club. Michiru can understand why Arashiko is doing this and allows it. Let’s say it’s a woman’s intuition. The prize will Tarou and the winner gets to do anything to him for a whole day. The matches will be best out of 3 and the winner of each round is decided with the one awakening Tarou’s masochism the most. To be fair to Arashiko’s androphobia, no touching of Tarou is allowed. The first round is cosplay sadist. Mio’s nun outfit and sin confessing sadism beats Arashiko’s policewoman’s arrest. Though Mio notes Arashiko isn’t bad, but she’s just copying her and thus chasing her shadow. The second round is silent sadism in which they have to awaken his masochism without speaking. Mio goes for boxing and lets her fist do the talking but Arashiko’s winter outfit and creative use of the handphone to send SMS abuse turns the table around. With both girls a win each, the final round is item sadist and they have to use an item presented to awaken that M guy. Mio uses a panda as a substitute for Tarou while Arashiko a sketchbook and playing with puns. Tarou got so excited that he passes out. He wakes up at the infirmary with Arashiko by his side. She reveals that she is doing this because during the festival, she thought he liked someone like Mio more and thus she needed to surpass Mio’s sadism. If he keeps up with Mio’s sadism, his masochism may get worse. But she realizes she can’t beat Mio. However Tarou tells her the circumstances he was in during the festival and it’s not like he loves a sadistic person and if she turns into one, his body won’t be able to take it all. He prefers Arashiko to return back to her usual self because he likes that Arashiko better. She flusters upon hearing that so she agrees to do as he says. As he leaves, she tugs his shirt and accidentally touches him. No prizes to guess what happens next.

Episode 11
Great Teacher Mio (doesn’t have a nice ring to it if you ask me) is educating Tarou about his rotten masochism. During all that, Tarou slips on a blackboard duster and loses his memory. Though it will be just temporary, they’ll have to make do with this Tarou who doesn’t remember them nor is a masochist. Poor Tomoko and Shizuka are disheartened that Tarou doesn’t remember them. You got to hear mommy’s words: “Surely you do remember your mother even long before you’re born?”. Obviously there is something very wrong with that question. However, see their evil grin on their faces? They must have hatched some wicked plan… Shizuka comes in pretending that she is pregnant! Then Tomoko too! See the horrified look on poor Tarou’s face as he realized he did in his family! He is so in despair that he didn’t realize Tomoko and Shizuka started fighting each other with the pillow they hid underneath as their bulging tummy. Then meeting with Arashiko, she tries to remember the time they spent together so he wonders if they are lovers. Arashiko is in a dilemma to lie but eventually did so since Tarou was going to start to believe such a cute and nice girl couldn’t be his girlfriend. Then seeing her contorted face (because of the lie), he starts fearing that he too must have screwed her just like he did with his family!!! Oh, what have you done? He asks if she is having his baby and when he touches her, she sends him flying. He feels this bittersweet sensation but couldn’t put his finger on it. At school, Tatsukichi starts talking to him and is prepared to offer his help. But Yumi cuts in between them and breaks them apart. She thinks his gay condition has returned. Since Tarou doesn’t remember, Yumi explains he already confessed he liked Tatsukichi and even pushed him down and took his virginity! So okay, maybe the last bit she was pushing it but poor Tarou now thinks after his mother, sister and girlfriend, his best friend too got screwed! HAHAHA! He laid his hands on just about anybody. Then seeing Michiru in the infirmary, she is sorting all the photos of girls she took by genre. He picks up one whereby he was cross-dressing. Guess what happens when he finds out it was him in that dress? Oh! The horror! Now he thinks he is a perverted cross-dresser.

As he wallows in despair, Arashiko tells him that she doesn’t have his baby (yet) and wants him to take her to the zoo. Now? Right in the middle of class? Though his memory doesn’t return, he thanks Arashiko for the charm she gave him because he feels calm with it and will do his best to remember everything about her. Noa interrupts and doesn’t want him to fall for a woman like her. She fixes him up implanting fake memories into his head! But her plan backfires because the machine is being powered by Himura and his lolicon got the better of him and chases Noa to the ends of the Earth. At the end of the day, Arashiko feels sad that he isn’t close to remembering himself so she runs away. Tarou walks back to school and in the clubroom, Mio’s ‘weapons’ cause this nostalgic feeling in him. Mio is upset that he is looking like her like some stranger and beats him up to remind him the perverted M he is. Yeah, he’s starting to feel good about getting kicked. Tarou runs for his life when she comes chasing him with a bat to return his memories but Arashiko shields him. She asks Mio what she thinks of Tarou. Mio has a hard time answering so Arashiko says she loves Tarou. Mio stutters as she thinks up of something and comes up with that irritated feeling of seeing his face. Tarou stands up and realizes that both of their feelings have reached him. He thinks they’ve been fighting over him before he lost his memory and doesn’t want them to fight anymore. He touches Arashiko so both girls send him flying outside. This causes his memories to return. But the odd thing is, he doesn’t remember everything that has happened when he got amnesia. Too bad, he won’t be remembering Arashiko’s confession. Mio walks up to him and warns him never to forget her before giving his usual punishment. Though Arashiko thanks Mio for returning Tarou back to normal, she says she won’t lose and seriously asks her what she thinks of Tarou. She didn’t hesitate and replies he is her servant. Release the sadism!

Episode 12
The Second Volunteer Club members are putting up Christmas trees around town so that they could help and grant wishes for those who write on them. Doesn’t it feel like the Tanabata festival then? Though the response isn’t good, many of the requests are unrealistic and the wishers don’t even leave their name behind. There are only 2 valid requests, which is to either help out a cake shop or a cafe. The gang splits up and realize both stores locate directly opposite each other. Rivals? They take on the challenge of beating the other but what is match without incentives? The prize? You guessed it: Tarou. You can do anything with him if you win. This condition again? But I don’t think it gets old because Arashiko and Noa are up for it as they will be working at the cake shop along with Yumi and Michiru while the rest at the cafe. Mio enters the cafe and realizes it is run by Kirino and her dad. Mio and Tarou disguise as lovers to spy the cake shop. Yumi, not realizing who they are (seriously?) has them play a game whereby they have to eat a biscuit stick till the finish and the ultimate prize (a kiss) awaits them at the end. Mio and Tarou are embarrassed but slowly munch their way. Just when they are a breath away from locking lips, Arashiko spots and recognizes them and breaks them apart. Heading back to the cafe, Mio thinks of making new items for the menu. The squid ink spaghetti (or is it Carbonara?) looks horrible… Why give it to Tarou to try? Because he is an M! Don’t try this because as Kirino and her dad found out the hard way how horrible it tastes after thinking how great Mio’s cooking is based on Tarou’s reaction. Then a competition to attract customers with coffee at half price by the cake shop. Mio isn’t going to lose out and sells everything at dirt cheap prices. Arashiko and co retaliates using womanly and loli charms so Mio counters it by having Tatsukichi and Tarou cross-dress as maids. Tarou is a big hit with the guys! But the cake shop girls try seducing the crowd with adult charms so all the perverted guys started pushing and grabbing. They don’t know about Arashiko’s condition right? POW! Hey look, it’s raining men! It occurred to me that all the customers are just perverts and wants to ‘eat’ the ladies than buying the things they sell. Didn’t you notice that?

Later as everyone rests in the cafe and claims the match to be a draw, a little boy comes in saying he has made reservations to celebrate a friend’s birthday today at 4pm. The gang realizes they have sold out everything and have no choice but to turn him down. However Mio says they are going to grant his wish and delegates duties for all of them and makes the impossible possible. They manage to get everything ready in time and during the celebration, Tarou notices Mio singing happy birthday to herself. He starts thinking that today may be her birthday and as told by Michiru, she always spends her birthday alone but this year was different and perhaps her only wish was to stay together with everyone. Tarou SMS to the rest to plan a birthday surprise for Mio. But while they need time to get ready, Tarou will have to distract her. How? Insult her flat chests! See that deadly aura? It means you’re in big sh*t! Good luck staying alive. Mio is persistent hunting him down and when she catches up, she is willing to hear his last words. He wonders why she can’t be honest to herself. How can she fulfil wishes of others when she can’t fulfil her own? Tarou has one thing he has always wanted to say to her. This catches her by surprise because when it seems he is going to confess, he touches her boobs to confirm that she is really flat. “DIE YOU F*CKING ASSHOLE!!!!!!!!!”. All the water in the world won’t put out her fiery rage. Tarou rushes back to the clubroom in time for everyone to surprise her with a birthday cheer. Mio is overcome with emotions that she can’t control her tears although she keeps denying. Before she extinguishes the candles, there is somebody’s life she wants to extinguish first. Hehe… As everyone celebrates, Mio thanks him and would like to give him her present. One big drop kick! Panty shot included! Best Christmas present ever! Hey, what do you know? This is the first real fanservice we’ve seen since the series began.

Hidden Video Recording Camera
Speaking of fanservice, you’ll get that much needed fix if you buy the DVDs. Albeit not much but it’s better than none for those of you who are just begging to see some pantsu. Though each special are short and lasts around 2 minutes, there are 2 types of specials. One of them being Hidden Video Recording Camera. As we know, Michiru’s fetish of not only capturing girls’ beautiful body is confined to cameras but videos as well. So she places them in a strategically hidden position as we see her capture the girls changing and in their undies before discovering the voyeur. However there are only 3 of this kind of specials, one each for Mio, Arashiko and Noa. But what puzzles me is that at the end of it, we see Michiru waking up from her slumber having fallen asleep in front of her laptop. Apparently she is working and editing some Photoshop work of the girls in skimpy outfits and pose. Fakes? Compilation? Whatever it is, she must sure love it very much. Why no Yumi or even Shizuka and Tomoko? Not into older women, I take? And not even one on herself (perhaps as something accidental or something)? Not to mention the one on Tarou cosplaying. I remember she did mention that was her favourite one but I guess to us viewers, we’re not into traps, aren’t we?

SS!
The other type of special is called SS! Yes, the opposite of the M word. But don’t expect to see some freaking violent bash ups in all of the 6 clips. Like in SS! 1, Mio is ‘paralyzed’ when a cat pounds on her. She gets so scared that to the eyes of some (read: perverts), she looks so stimulating and helpless that you might want to do her in! Eventually Arashiko shoos away the cat and Mio hugs her warm body. SS! 2 must be the most stimulating one because Yumi is giving Mio the ultimate body massage. More like molesting. Yumi is so good that Mio is ambiguously breathing deep and hard and putting on that expression that only perverts will revel in joy. Though Arashiko tries to stop her, she too falls under her magical fingers. Yeah, make it a threesome. In SS! 3, while Noa is playing ball with Tarou, she accidentally injures herself. Albeit not serious, she starts fantasizing all the hentai play Tarou will do to her to heal her wound. Oh Tarou, you’re going to need lots of denying to prevent that from happening. Shizuka is heartbroken in SS! 4 because the guy she loves dumped her when she confessed! Am I hearing things right? She loves another guy? For real? Anyway Tarou agrees to comfort her by hugging her tightly as requested. Then I guess she isn’t satisfied and wants more as she wants him to say how much he loves her. Repeatedly. This awakens her perverted side because she starts stripping and is going to rape him! Even twisting his words that he wanted to have sex with her! Poor Tomoko misheard that but it gets worse because she too wants Tarou to do the same to her. And so the battle for Tarou continues… SS! 5 sees the MFC losers watching a spy camera on Mio, following her around everywhere she goes, anything she does. They get the thrill of seeing say anything or do any action. Though Mio eventually finds out their hideous act and squishes the camera, the MFC losers love her even more. Yeah, these people are the true M. Is this how they are trying to protect Mio’s beauty? Finally SS! 6 has Mio bringing Arashiko and Noa to a hotspring that could cure Arashiko’s androphobia. Man, it can cure a lot of other diseases as well! Crap! But Mio is the naughty one as she pulls off the towels from the rest and washes their body before having a nice long soak. I don’t know how this will cure Arashiko’s problem. We know the results at the end of the TV series, right? Perhaps all in the mind?

Sometimes Receiving Is Better Than Giving…
I must admit that as I watched the series, it was getting draggy and repetitive. I mean, in every episode, it’s almost the same thing. Mio beats up Tarou, he enjoys it, Tarou accidentally touches Arashiko, she gets scared, he gets beaten up, he also enjoys it. It’s getting rather stale at this rate so much so it was no longer funny as it should be when it first started. But the penultimate episode whereby Tarou got amnesia, that was the funniest episode ever and I was laughing so hard that I forgot about this repetition. I was hoping to see some reaction and consequence from Shizuka and Tomoko after Tarou retrieved his memories back and especially the disappointed look on their face when they weren’t able to ‘brainwash’ Tarou into their ideal beloved. The final episode didn’t have that cure-Tarou theme too so I guess that’s why I didn’t feel the drag when it ended. Though I would have prefer the ending to do better than that.

So Tarou didn’t get his masochism close to anywhere cured and Arashiko still punching men upon contact. So it’s back to square one. As good as never getting treated at all. The more he receives pain, the more pleasure he gets. No wonder he can’t stop this ‘addiction’. But look on the bright sight, they get to make friends with each other, right? The kind of friends that beat you up, that is. I think Mio is rather a sadist because as we know, even her theory of beating the crap out of him to awaken his survival instincts to replace his masochism doesn’t really work, after a few trashing, an intelligent girl like Mio should’ve realized that violence is not the answer. At least not in the long run. Therefore it can mean only one thing: Mio is an S. Possibly a tsundere too because based on her body language, we all know that deep down inside her sadistic heart, she likes Tarou and couldn’t admit it when Arashiko questions her. At least Arashiko fares just slightly better than Tarou in terms of overcoming her fear of men. Generally she still has that phobia but at least with Tarou, she doesn’t feel afraid. Just don’t touch her. Hey, being less afraid of one guy is better than none, right? And I think she too doesn’t fear Tatsukichi that much either. I was hoping there was a short flashback on Mio’s past to shed some light on certain things like why she is afraid of cats or her real reason to set up this Second Volunteer Club. Well, her high and mighty attitude makes her consider herself as God but really, if she was truly one, Tarou’s masochism would’ve been cured at first go, right? Besides, she too in a way is imperfect with her own weaknesses and peculiar habits. So perhaps she really is a sadistic and BuTarou is her living punching bag and excuse to take out whatever frustrations she has pent up. So if you’re like that pig boy, Mio is definitely your God. May God bless you and have mercy on your soul. Get what I’m saying?

I thought Noa would be an addition to the ‘love triangle’ between Tarou, Mio and Arashiko. Though she did fall in love with him, but I don’t feel that she made any impact except being an annoying loli side character. Basically if it’s a fight over Tarou, it’s down to just Mio and Arashiko. Besides, I don’t feel Noa as a genius as proclaimed. Her inventions go awfully wrong after some time. Maybe love dumbed down her intelligence? Remember that case in Itazura Na Kiss? Dumb girl makes smart guy falls for her even if he said he hates stupid girls. Ah, the power of love… Over to the other love chemistry, I wonder if Yumi is still really interested in Tatsukichi seeing that guy doesn’t seem too attracted to her. Besides, she doesn’t know of his cross-dressing fetish. Would her perception of him change if she finds out? And if Tatsukichi isn’t interested in continuing their love, could he just have told this to her assuming this will get her ticked off? Maybe the workings of her fingers are something to be feared of. She can turn paradise into torture before you know it.

The most amusing and probably my most favourite characters are Tomoko and Shizuka. I never get tired of seeing their perverted and evil schemes to make Tarou theirs, especially sabotaging and arguing over each other. Some kind of mother and daughter. Besides, why does Tomoko look young enough to be Tarou’s sister?! I just wished they had more screen time so that I can laugh my heart out each time they try and fail miserably. I’m not sure if they are aware of his masochism because if they do, they would be hitting him every day and sending him to heaven. That way, he may ‘fall in love’ with them and never leave the house. Hah. That’s just my theory. But then again, Shizuka and Tomoko don’t look like the kind of woman that would hit a fly. On the contrary, maybe they would if they get desperate enough over Tarou.

Somehow the perverted theme of this anime had me remembering the other anime series that I recently watched whereby everyone else is a pervert in one way or another. Doesn’t it feel like a much violent version of Onii-chan No Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara Ne? Yeah, another trivial difference is the length of its anime title. Mio and Tarou are the S&M pair, Himura the lolicon, Tatsukichi the cross-dresser, Tenchou the 2D lover, Noa the pervert-transforming scientist-cum-loli, Yumi probably a bisexual because she’s still into Tatsukichi but is also fond of groping Arashiko’s boobs, Shizuka and Tomoko with their Tarou-complex-cum-obsession, the MFC members because of the excitement they get just about anything that has to do with Mio and yes, Michiru due to her penchant of taking photos of girls in costumes. She must have amassed a huge collection by now. So don’t you see? Even without turning the entire world into perverts, everybody is already one in their own way.

Jun Fukuyama definitely suits his role as Tarou. He really makes his character sound like he enjoys all the pain. In a way, he sounded so gay too… Yeah, brings back memories like how he voiced Grell in Kuroshitsuji or Kakeru in Akikan. Whenever I hear Ayana Taketatsu’s name, every other role she plays will have me forever associating her with Azusa from K-ON! Here as Mio, she really sounds like a very sadistic version of Azusa and if this was K-ON!, Yui is going to really die! Release the pain! At first I thought it was Kana Hanazawa who was voicing Arashiko but it turns out to be Saori Hayami (Musubi in Sekirei). Maybe it’s because of her shaky and vulnerable voice portraying Arashiko (something I feel Kana Hanazawa can equally and easily depict) as someone who is greatly trying to overcome her phobia but isn’t anywhere near to getting over her fear of men. As usual, I can never seem to recognize the voice of Rie Tanaka as Michiru (Suigin Tou of Rozen Maiden) since she didn’t pull off any crazy screaming and Rina Satou as Tatsukichi (Misaka in To Aru Kagaku No Railgun) maybe because her voice wasn’t unique enough for me to remember ;p. It’s always that feeling of “I-think-I-heard-this-voice-somewhere-before-but-I-can’t-put-my-finger-on-it”. Other casts include Sayuri Yahagi as Noa (Haruna in To Love-Ru), Yuko Gibu as Yumi (Maon in Tamayura), Kana Asumi as Shizuka (Yuno in Hidamari Sketch), Sayaka Ohara as Tomoko (Raquel in Scrapped Princess, Alicia in Aria The animation), Tsubasa Yonaga as Himura (Jun in Special A, Hanabusa in Yumeiro Patissiere), Tomokazu Sugita as Tenchou (Gintoki in Gintama) and Ryoko Shintani as Kirino (Milfeulle in Galaxy Angel).

If you keep your ears peeled, you will notice that there are 2 versions of opening themes. Actually they sound the same, just that the lyrics are changed depending if they are the Hell version or Heaven version. Say what? Uh huh. Help!! -Hell Side- by Ayana Taketatsu as the name suggests, the lyrics are more devilish and sadistic. Especially that “Go to Hell, desu!” line. Something befitting the theme of the series and the punishment Mio is going to impose on a certain masochist. But this naughty version only lasts for the first four episodes. After that and right till the end, it will be Help!! -Heaven Side- by the duet of Ayana Taketatsu and Saori Hayami. The lyrics now sound friendlier and helpful with the line “Go to Heaven” replacing that hell line. The ending theme is More-more Lovers by Natsuko Aso and sounds like a dance song. You can dance to the beat of Mio and Arashiko onscreen if you want to. To me, the song sounded a little weird. Maybe it’s her voice. The special ending theme for the final episode, Happy Birthday My Holy Day by Ayana Taketatsu is a slow and calming ballad befitting the end of the TV series. As for the drawing and art, the character design and looks somehow reminded me of Kanokon. Well, that’s because this show is produced by Xebec who was also responsible for Kanokon. Though I would say that the characters here look slightly better as compared to that said anime.

So what do we learn after watching this show? That violence is not the answer! But let not this be a glove that fits all because in certain circumstances, it would be something like ‘spare the rod, spoil the child’. It’s amazing after all that whacking, Tarou do not suffer any broken bones or concussion. I know his body is meant to take all the abuse but there has to be a limit to all that he can take. I guess in this world you can really group people into either an S or M. I mean, I’m not sure whether this is a joke or not but during the opening and ending credits of the series, next to the staff’s name, there is an S or M indication! I can safely say the ratio is 50:50. See, the world is a much balanced place. Now with the S&M question out of the way, the next one would be, are you uke or seme? Don’t understand what it means? Need me to whack that into your head?