There are plenty of anime series featuring Magical Girls but few if any featuring Magical Boys
that is until 'Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!' came along! The members of the 'Earth Defence Club' at Binan High School are visited by a strange creature, which resembles a large pink wombat, and given the task of saving the world. To this end they are each given a 'Loveracelet' which enables them to transform from ordinary students into Magical Boys known collectively as the 'Battle Lovers'. Their foes are the 'Earth Conquest Club'
actually the Student Council members who have been given powers by a strange green hedgehog. This later group use those in despair, turning them into monsters which the Battle Lovers must defeat. Neither group knows the identity of their opposites until the series draws to an end and secrets are revealed.
When this series was announced I assumed it was very much going to be a shoujo series; with its list of bishounen characters and camp costumes perhaps it is but it is also a lot of fun and can be enjoyed by just about anybody. The Battle Lovers' costumes could hardly be more camp; something that isn't lost on the characters. One doesn't have to watch for long to realise this series is rather special; the events spoof magical girl tropes while also giving us something new. The characters are a lot of fun; most notably Yumoto Hakone, the red costumed Battle Lover who is oblivious to the campness of the situation. The Wombat provides plenty of laughs too as he is carried around by Mr. Tawarayama, the boys' teacher who is now under his control and looks like a rotting corpse when away from the wombat! The various battle scenes are fun with the characters transforming and calling out their amusing attack names and when the characters aren't fighting monsters they are being funny. Overall I'd say this series was a real surprise; much better than I expected and definitely one to watch.
These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.
When this series was announced I assumed it was very much going to be a shoujo series; with its list of bishounen characters and camp costumes perhaps it is but it is also a lot of fun and can be enjoyed by just about anybody. The Battle Lovers' costumes could hardly be more camp; something that isn't lost on the characters. One doesn't have to watch for long to realise this series is rather special; the events spoof magical girl tropes while also giving us something new. The characters are a lot of fun; most notably Yumoto Hakone, the red costumed Battle Lover who is oblivious to the campness of the situation. The Wombat provides plenty of laughs too as he is carried around by Mr. Tawarayama, the boys' teacher who is now under his control and looks like a rotting corpse when away from the wombat! The various battle scenes are fun with the characters transforming and calling out their amusing attack names and when the characters aren't fighting monsters they are being funny. Overall I'd say this series was a real surprise; much better than I expected and definitely one to watch.
These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.
