Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?

Genres: Harem, Comedy, Supernatural, School

Studio: Silver Link.

Have you already seen a show so great you have nothing but praises for it? Something that you can label as flawless or impeccable? You might think that today's recommendation is a masterpiece based on the things I am asking, but it is quite the contrary. Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? is by no means a perfect show, not by a long shot, that is if we would go about technical stuff and other complex dissecting of its components, but I don't care about that stuff. It is not like I am glossing up its flaws, it is more of I am accepting those flaws as part of the experience. I am after the feeling that when I finish a show, I am left with this emotion of happiness and a little bit of emptiness inside, and I would be able to genuinely say to myself "hey, that was a fun ride" or "I am glad I gave this a try". That is what this show has given me, it was a 1 cour show with 12 episodes but it was able to hook me with that little amount of time that I am even considering reading its source material. If I were to borrow a phrase from the show that would perfectly describe what I felt when I finished it then this is the perfect line: "I think these invaders may have invaded my heart, instead".

Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? is a harem series so recommending it is quite a challenge for me since the genre has a strong tie with the infamous ecchi tag that many people doesn't see in a positive light. However rest assured that this show is relatively tamed and it doesn't really have ecchi as one of its genre in the first place.

This is the extent of its fan service so if you are expecting a To Love Ru or High School DxD level, well sorry to disappoint you.

Now let's properly begin. First up is the story, which I think is the weakest part of the show. It has an interesting underlying premise but maybe the 12 episodes count has hindered it from telling the story properly but let's talk about it nonetheless. The first episode alone introduced all of the important characters, the protagonist, a ghost, a magical girl, an earth person and an alien princess and her aide. The initial plot that they set up is that they are all targeting room 106 for different reasons and each of them can't back out of it. But it seems like something bigger is at work and they are hinting at it little by little throughout the series, something about the protagonist's past and his involvement/ connection with each of the other characters introduced, but as I said earlier, they really never got to address that and put a proper conclusion to it hence the reason I am considering taking up the source material because it intrigued me and I want to know how things panned out.

Regarding the harem part, this is handed pretty well. The girls are not the usual clingy, love at first sight characters that makes you wonder why they even fell in love with the MC. The guy has earned their affection and that makes it a hundred times better than the usual kind/ nice guy trope. Each of the girls had their own time in the spotlight adding depth to each of their characters which makes me really root for them.

Let's now talk about the characters. They have variety of different tropes mixed on this one like the little sister type ghost, clumsy magical girl, big sister type earth person, loli tsundere alien princess and the surprisingly overpowered protagonist. This line up reminded me a little bit of Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? because of the diversity of the cast minus the over the top comedy plus more sweet moments.

The protagonist, Koutarou Satomi is a breath of fresh air in the growing number of basically useless harem MCs that does nothing but to be the punching bag, moral support and clumsily stumble on girls every opportunity that they get. Kotarou stands up, fights and doesn't just sit back in the sidelines during important moments. He also has a clear romantic interest towards one of the characters and doesn't get swayed by the presence of other girls, but he still cares for the other girls and he won't think twice to face dangerous situations just to protect them. He has his cool moments but it is his words that leaves the greatest impact.

For the main girls let's start with the ghost of room 106, Sanae Higashihongan. She started off as a little bit aggressive and annoying character but seriously improved later on and became Koutarou's most trusted companion.

Next is the alien princess, Theiamillis Gre Fortorthe. I honestly thought that she would be the most annoying character of the series because she is a spoiled princess and a tsundere to boot which is a deadly combo in its own right. Just like with Sanae that was how it turned out in the earlier episodes but despite keeping up the high and mighty tone till the end, she became more modest and even rewarded Kotarou for his valor but did it without him knowing because she knows that he won't accept it otherwise.

Then next is the magical girl, Yurika Nijino. She is a real magical girl but no one believes her (Yeah they believe in ghosts, aliens and earth people but not on a magical girl) and is often being teased as a normal cosplayer. She has done many amazing feats throughout the series but didn't get any recognition and I honestly feel bad for her especially during her arc, she is treated like the mascot of the series because of her ditzy nature. Fortunately, Kotarou's words gave her encouragement and made her feel better at what she's doing despite no one recognizing her deeds.

Last is Kiriha Kurano, a descendant of earth people that has lived underground for centuries. Among the 4 she is the one that was the most distant to the MC but also the most crafty. She came above ground to search for her first love under the pretense of invading earth but Kotarou saw through her and they even became best friends by the end of the season.

There is also another girl, Harumi Sakuraba which is seems to be a key player had the show continued for another season based on the pieces of information that was hinted. She is the president of the knitting club and Kotarou is the only member. It was implied numerous times that they share mutual feelings for each other but hasn't progressed so far. However, they are really close to each other and can be easily mistaken as a couple already because of Kotarou's over protective attitude towards her.

I don't know how to properly put it into words, but I love the characters of this show and their interactions and it might be the real reason why I got hooked on this one. I lost track of how many shows I have seen to date but I can tell that this is one of those that made me feel empty after it ended. It is just simply a fun ride that I don't want to end, it didn't exhibit clever twists, it didn't pose questions that will change one's worldview and didn't even have meaningful life lessons however it left its mark and that's all that matter. I think what makes a show good is not its technical aspects but how one can wholeheartedly enjoy it, something that surpasses human judgement and criticism. Even if it is not perfect, even if many people doesn't agree, if you are enjoying it then don't let them tell you otherwise. After all having the same taste with others is kind of a bore isn't it?

That's all from me today and see you again on my next post!

Ciao~