Ladies X Butlers (TV-MA)

Ladies x Butlers


Storyline ***
Graphics ****
Character Structure ***
Soundtrack ***
Entertainment ***


This show took me by surprise and it's not because of it's ecchi content. I'm going to warn people ahead of time that if they plan on watching this, they'll have to note there is a good amount of nudity. Considering that this show is ecchi, I doubt many would have a problem with it.

The show is about a boy named Akiharu who is a clumsy man. He transfers in to a school called Hakureiryou where the richest of the rich come to learn to be nobility and the rest come to learn to be maids and butlers. He finds himself in tricky, suggestive situations and... I'm just not going to explain anymore because it's ecchi. It's all ecchi and was made for fan service so nothing really matters.


With that being said, the storyline was actually decent. The rivalry between the two female protagonists Selnia Flameheart and Tomomi Saikyo helped advance each episode. This show plays out with no cliff hangers until the end and features the minor characters each episode. Because this show is intended for fan service, all the characters are very cute. I was only disappointed by the fact that there was no real intended point of the show and no one is a winner or loser in the end. Stalemates are a turnoff.


The characters, main and tertiary, really all stand out and hold themselves up well. You have the busty ladies, the elder, the teacher, the otaku girl, the shy girl, evil girl, proud girl, the girl next door, the maid (dur), the cross dresser, and even the lolicon. If you can think of some kind of common Japanese hentai character, they're all here in this little school. Each character is also very true and faithful to their roles. The lolicon acts more childish as the episodes progress. The proud girl gets humbled. The cross dresser falls in love with the main male protagonist. The otaku is girlxgirl obsessed and will make it happen. However, despite all these characters being together, they fit in well together and are still cute overall. However, the characters themselves are not capable of twists and turns in the plot and thus there's always something unexpected happening... if not, it's cliche and expected. Just about the only downside to the characters thanks to their traits.


The soundtrack was just as cliche. Typical anime music and very typical background music play all throughout the show. You see the characters having tea, hear some violin ensemble play in the background. You see a wacky 'comedic' scene, you hear odd percussion music play in the background. There's no real transition between music either. However, the songs get their jobs done and meet the requirements set before them. No more, no less. Slightly disappointing.


The graphics were great. Shading and highlights in areas were typical but for a fast paced, short anime, it was done well. I've seen animes with 20+ episodes failing at decent artwork. Also, the background scene to foreground was nearly seamless. I really appreciate it when animes can do that. You have the painted background that the editors knew wouldn't move with action in the foreground that's cell-shaded. That's how most animes like doing their full scenes. However, it's difficult to transition cell-shade to paint style. This anime did it rather well and I applaud them for it. I can go on with my personal thoughts into the anime's character design but I'd have to blame that on the manga's author and not the animators themselves. I actually liked all the character designs... except for one. And that one, despite being the center joke of the anime, made me angry and disappointed. I just dislike protagonists to be unappealing. If you couldn't guess, it's the character 'drilling' the male protagonist on the right. The design is so absurd that the center joke of the show is that her hair style looks like drills.


As entertaining as an ecchi show could get, this met the basic expectations. However, I felt that it didn't meet more than that. I also couldn't help but feel like I was watching a perverted, busty version of Lucky Star because the art style was so similar. Imagine Lucky Star girls in a high society school being trained in etiquette. I think the adaptation would be easy. The whole school only has five (technically four) boys anyway. Either way, it's a show you could watch if you're into the whole fan service thing. I warned about nudity so all precautions are out of the way. This isn't a show I'd recommend but it's not a show I'd discourage. If you're not into ecchi, like myself, you wouldn't watch it after reading this review. If you're into that stuff, I guess this is your thing.