karl.mckenzie - 2013-07-19 06:24:41

So after watching the first episode of Girls Bravo, I kind of rolled my eyes preparing for more of the same (re: tentacle rape scene), but as the season progressed I actually started getting mildly interested.Character and plot development actually started poking its proverbial head in and making an appearance, all be it a very small one by the end. Throughout, they really started to try and give Girls Bravo some direction and purpose in story. I really don't mind the excessive ecchi in a series (I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a perv and I find it funny), but when the story rivals that of a pornographic film it kind of feels as such. And frankly, that's boring.I bumped up my grade for the second season for two reasons:1 - Characters felt like they were growing a little bit. Fukuyama started becoming a guy you could find a spot for in your heart (even if it was a tiny, seldom used spot). Kirie became a significantly less brutal person and started showing her compassion more. Yukinari started getting a backbone (although I still hated his constant whining - he even sounded whiny when he was showing personal strength against adversity!). Koyomi also started gaining some courage and not a sniveling baby all the time. Character growth all around was ACTUALLY starting to show so they get some props for that.2 - Direction. By this I mean the characters actually started to have some purpose or goals. This was helped along by two things: first being the characters becoming more comfortable about confessing their true feelings to one another and second the introduction of genuine villains. Although the villains were far too mysterious (and in some cases strangely shocking) for too much of the season, it was nice to see the protagonists go up against someone or some thing rather than just bumbling along pointlessly for no reason.The penultimate confrontation in season 2 was interesting enough at the end, but it still felt rushed in a lot of ways. Therefore, I was unable to bump up my grade more than a point (which honestly is probably pretty generous). While Girls Bravo started off as an excessive breast-fetish ecchi with some mildly chuckle-worth laughs from time to time (the episode where Yukinari dresses up as a girl at the video game convention to help the girls made me actually laugh out loud), it grew into something that could have been a fairly decent anime but was cut short. The end was reasonably emotional and cute enough, but it probably won't leave a lasting impression on me. If you like breasts, this is the anime for you. If not, then...I dunno, you probably should skip the series unless you're willing to sit down and give it merit based on both seasons. If the latter, then I'd say give it a shot at least and then see what you think before striking it off your lists forever.