“With so many girls it is hard to choose just one”
Note: This review is based off the original release singles of the series and not the current release.
Plot Synopsis:
When two doors are discovered in an ancient ruin, the gateways to shinkai, the realm of the shinzoku (Gods) and makai, the realm of the mazoku (Demons) are irreversably opened. The races of human, shinzoku, and mazoku come together in the mortal world and nothing will ever be the same. One day, two new families move next door to a boy who had previously been living a very peaceful life. In one house lived the family of the King of the Gods, and in the other lived the family of the King of the Demons. Both families had one daughter whose single wish to live next to the boy they had fallen in love with years ago has just been fulfilled. Also living with the boy is his childhood friend. With these three girls vying for his affections, the boy finds that his new life filled with despair, jealousy, and just a little hope is beginning.
Plot:
Harem shows usually fall into one of two groups with anime fans, they either like them or they dislike them. There is no grey area with harem shows it is black or white. Most of the time you can say that most harem shows all follow a similar formula and do not do much to deviate from the standard formula. However there are a few those that do change things up a bit and make it a standout in the genre. Shuffle! is just one of those shows that does change things up and be one of the better shows in the genre.
Well, let me rephrase this in a different way. If Shuffle! was just twelve or thirteen episode series instead of twenty-four episodes I could be safe to say that Shuffle! would just be another show in the genre that does nothing to separate itself from the pace. Why is that you ask? This has to do with the first half of the series which follows a lot of aspects that we see in other shows of the genre. The first few episodes set up the world that our cast lives in and introduces us to cast members including the girls of the harem and the side characters. Right after these introduction episodes we have several episodes that focus mostly on each of the girls in the harem and if you have seen any harem anime before you would be able to recognize these episodes as they do nothing to set them apart from other shows. One weak point with these introduction episodes is that the world of Shuffle! is never fully explained. We understand that the portals to the worlds to the gods and demons were opened, but how did they get opened? How did the initial meeting between humans the demons, and gods go? Or more specifically why did both groups decide to come to the human realm and not stay in their own perspective worlds? I understand that this is a harem show so the girls are the focus of the series, but some information about the world the cast lives in would have been great.
