Review of DearS

He is a 17-year old high school student who ends up living with a sexy alien girl. Despite this not-so-original premise, there is constant caper and comic relief to keep you coming back. What would happen if a beautiful girl become subservient to a rather hostile-but-good-natured young man? Chaos and comedy, that's what (and a good dash of sexual innuendo and titillation)! A series of 12 episodes were released in 2004 (a bonus 13th added with the DVD) and they definitely deliver in entertainment value. We are first introduced to the main protagonist and his alien sidekick early on, and their initial chemistry upon meeting for the first time is typical "He doesn't want her/She wants him" situation. In almost every episode, we can see Takeya complain and show frustration over his predicament with a sexy alien. She tells him her name but due to her complex alien language, he gives her the title "Ren" for short. She comes from an alien race dubbed "DearS" by humans. Ren is a curvy, busty typical anime heroine with unrealistic measurements (to seemingly counterbalance the "average Joe" nature of Takeya). Despite this, Takeya himself is rather attractive as well, tall, and slim, with a typical "I don't care" attitude. Takeya lives alone but is almost regularly visited by additional female characters, from his childhood friend and neighbor Naneko, to Mitsuka, his step sister, and even other DearS. We can see Takeya and Ren grow from "subservient/reluctant" to a genuinely friendly and caring relationship throughout the episodes.

Positives: Fun soundtrack, bright and crisp animation, good chemistry and interaction between the characters, satisfies certain fantasies, faithful to the manga.

Negatives: Doesn't revolutionize any genre it represents, misogynistic plot devices and themes throughout the story, shallow and annoying in some areas, rather short amount of episodes.