martine.padberg - 2016-08-07 16:11:30

Very generic anime for its genre. Was not invested in the characters at all after 6 episodes.

fchamplin - 2015-02-02 05:39:52

Shuffle was animated by Studio Asread based from a visual novel originally for the PS2 and was ported later for the PC. Shuffle is not your ordinary school, romance, harem show; I mean everyone still wants the main character’s dick, but at the same time the anime progresses in a format that balances between serious and comedy.

Story

Shuffle is just like your average anime today - Japanese high school boy surrounded by beautiful girls. Did I forget to mention school? No? Okay. Meet our Main Character-kun, Rin, who lives with his childhood friend Kaede - perfectly natural right? Two high school students of the opposite sex living with each other. Just going to say, this show isn't natural at all.

What’s abnormal is that Earth is connected through a gate to Heaven and Hell, another realm where God and Demons exist. On Earth humans co-exist with these Gods and Demons. The Gods and Demons can use magic, but it’s barely mentioned at all simply because it’s used as a plot device for an event which the writers don’t go into depth about. It’s supernatural, yet the writers don’t go into any detail about its own elements.

The huge coincidence is that our Main Character-kun, Rin, was involved with the Princess of the Gods and the Princess of the Demons, and now they’re living right next door on each side to Rin. What’s next? They go to the same school as Rin and proclaim their love? Wait… that happens. Never mind.

What really bothered me the most was the overall execution; it’s really random, and this spire of events makes it feel impractical. Without going into detail for what happens later on, Shuffle does indeed get worse. More coincidental events suddenly happen for no reason; terribly written melodrama occurs; and don't get me started on how plain the characters are…

Characters

Our main male protagonist, Rin, is… nothing special. He’s just a “regular Japanese high school boy”. he can literally relate to anyone who is male and in high school because of how plain he is; he shreds no sign of character at all. He has no skills, no hobbies, no interesting past, no talents; he's just a guy. That's the only way I can describe him: just a guy, yet why do 3 beautiful girls like him from the first episode? For ridiculous reasons that is.

The female cast, however, is questionable; we have our typical childhood friend, the cute one, the shy one, a loli and… a bitch. I could mention their names, but they aren’t memorable in the slightest. They have somewhat of a personality, but they’re closer to being generic than being unique.

Something positive to say about the characters is that the female cast members interact with each other, which is something really uncommon in a typical school harem. Each of them have at least collaborated together. Whether it was cooking for Rin or working at a job or going shopping, the characters talk to each other about their daily lives.

Final Verdict

Shuffle is bad, and I really dislike it. This could have been a great romance drama; I can tolerate the fact that the main character is empty, but if it had better writing in terms of execution, drama and events, it would have been great. It’s too bad the potential was wasted.

As for recommendations, I recommend:

-Kanon 2006

Another High School Romance show with a plain main character however, the show delivers good written drama in a supernatural way.

-Amagami SS

Another High School Romance show, which is “like” a harem, and when I say “like”, it isn’t. Short cycles of our plain main character ending up with a different beautiful girl each cycle.

awhite - 2013-12-08 00:58:41

It's a bit old.. but God/Hell that's epic! It's definitely something fun to watch and it's age only seems to give it a charm of its own.

Everyone wants a piece of Rin.. but he is, of course, indecesive.

Im a bit annoyed with the series. It's somehow tragic in some ways, but that isn't even how it was originally presented. But one thing is for certain, that you learn from this anime, that magic is some dangerous shit and the root to all evil...

Spoilers below - Highlights:

...Though I think I've come to terms with his choice. Asa-sempai seems like a nice girl and I really like her long pony tail in the end! But one thing I really like about all this, is Sia's comment.. "It's not a problem, because gods practice polygamy."

- The multiple soul thing is kinda annoying.. It ruins the image you have of the girls.

Ep 19:: I've never seen anyone sacrifice himself so much for somebody.. Fuck it's getting scary, the way they act.

"HE'S SO FUCKING DENSE!" (negatively) You just became the reason I created a Anime Character Hate List... Lolipedo-fin!

Watch episode 22 again for Neko-Primula!

"T-That sale is final! Not a chance! I already bought him!"

ystroman - 2013-03-18 23:22:19

Shuffle was an anime that changed the way I look at anime forever. Shuffle was the 4th anime I had ever seen(school days being first, boy was that a mistake, and a few really ecchi ones). I came in looking only at the romance factor and the 18 and over rating. What I got on the other hand was an anime that would forever live in my "Hall of Fame" animes so to speak.Story - 7 The story was unexpected, and that I believe made it even more magnificent. Prior to this I had seen titles like Omamori Himari, Kiss X Sis, and HOTD. They were animes that didn't lack a story line, but didn't have a suprising or "hanging-on-the-edge-of-your-seat" story line that Shuffle! has. It made me realize that anime isnt just big boobs and panty shots. I also like the fact that its all HUMAN emotions. The drama, the romance, the joy that they all experience is all realistic and I could easily see it happening in real life(except the whole angel demon thing). I also re-watched it and LOVE the fact that he choses a girl in the end. No the crap in every other harem in the world where he decides that he'll just love all of them equally.Art - 8 I am no art expert, but I thought it was done really well. The characters were well done and are all rather unique. The backgrounds were well done and everything looked crisp. Its exactly what I look for in "good art" in an anime.Sound - 8 Once agian I am no expert. But I found myself listening to the OP and ED when the episode began and ended. By about episode 14 I had most of the OP memorized and decided that I had to have it on my iPod. I listen to it to this day(I watched this about 1 ago ago).Characters - 8 The characters were by far my favorite part of this anime. Just about everyone had an amazing backstory.They were all compelling and a couple of them brought tears to my eyes. The main character is your run-of-the-mill super nice guy who helps everyone and is to dense to realize six beautiful girls love him. But theres something about him that makes him different, maybe the way he talks or the way he does thing makes me like him even more. All the other characters seem to be once agian your overused and cliched(tsundre, loli, childhood friend, shy girl, energetic)characters. But they put a twist on all of them. And by twisting these cliched personalities, you get somthing unquie. Something that makes you want to know more about them and why they ae like that, all of which are answered.Enjoyment - 10I enjoyed this anime immensley. It brought joy, saddness, and the wonder if there would be something as great as what I had just watched. It opened my eyes to a new horizen of anime. No longer stuck in the "if its ot ecchi, its not good" phase I went through.I reccomend to anyone, no matter what genre your into. Team Sia for life!