Yuri Seijin Naoko-san (2012)

This little gem really is underrated, with brilliant animation from Tetsuya Takeuchi and a pretty good OP and END theme. Story: It's basically about an alien trying to conquer the earth by yurifying it. Not much else happens this this is an ova, but if you really wanted to get the whole thing I'd definitely recommend the manga. Art: The animation is amazing, with maximum efficiency and minimal frames, from the brilliantly talented Tetsuya Takeuchi. You probably don't know, but his animation style usually fits into that category. The art is light and colourful, maintaining quality all throughout both ova's running time. Sound: The show hasa very retro feel to it, one that you would find on some of the old arcade machines and early 90's home consoles. Overall it's pretty enjoyable. Character: Because this show is so short, there isn't room for much character development at all, but you get the idea that Naoko is trying yurify everything, with Misuzu disapproving of everything like a regular person would. But of course there isn't much room for character development, so once again I heavily recommend the manga. Enjoyment: There were some pretty good moments all throughout the entire show, you'd think the entire thing would just be filled with lewd joke after lewd joke, which it is. However they are pretty funny throughout both ovas. Overall: You can definitely tell Tetsuya Takeuchi cared about this, you can tell that he actually read the entire manga to get a feel of the characters and how they would react. And I definitely hope he gets more opportunities to show off his talent because I'd certainly watch whatever he makes. 8/10 They really need to make more of this

This show is disgusting, unfunny, incoherent. And yet... it's a favorite of mine. I don't remember how often I've rewatched it over the years. It's the same thing every time: I wonder what's so special about it, press play, fall in love with the artstyle. Smooth, fragile, soothing. I frown over the distasteful sexual jokes. Some are funny, but most of them focus on kids. Don't know about that. I listen closely to Naoko-san's voice. Her manner of speech is weird, but to me, somehow very nice to listen to. I shake my head at the weird turns of the story. Supposedly funny because it's random? Meh. I realize thatover two thirds of the OVA have passed. Seems I've seen something in it that wasn't there. I feel the disappointment creeping in. But there is something else. Gentle artstyle contrasting with violent actions. Innocence of children contrasting with harsh sexual jokes. Family contrasting with alien lifeforms. Beneath all of this, the feeling of loss and helplessness. What happened to Misuzu's sister, why was she "replaced", why by someone who is nothing like her? All this time Misuzu is getting dragged along, quietly accepting her fate. What is Naoko-san trying to achieve, why is she so focused on Misuzu, is she trying to distract or console her? Is she her sister after all? The ending song hits. Misuzu feels like she was abandoned by her sister, yet she wants to go to such a forsaken place. Because she feels understood there? The imagery goes very well with the song, and at this point, I'm completely sold. To me, it's a show of extremes accompanied by a sense of strange longing, creating a feeling I haven't experienced anywhere else. I can't say whether any of this was deliberate, maybe I just like the ending song and read way too much into it, but to me, it doesn't really matter.

Yuri is good; Yuri is great, let us thank Yuri for our food. By Yuri's hands we are fed, give us Yuri our daily bread. Amen. *Ahem* Yuri Seijin Naoko-san is good. My name is Neimaj, and thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this review. Kekeke. If it really ended there, the review would still be longer than the OVA itself. Seriously, Yuri Seijin Naoko-san is really good. Twenty-eight minutes. That's the amount of time this OVA had to leave a good impression on me. And oh boy, did it leave an impression. Naoko-san is such a wonderful character. Shecame to planet Earth with a single goal in mind, to conquer it! By yurifying it! "That's a goal I can get down with," I thought to myself. I love her purpose, voice, and character design. Naoko-san is an alien from the planet, Yuri. Her entire character is obsessed with making girls go gay. She lives in a treehouse right above a young girl's home by the name of Misuzu. Misuzu, coincidentally, had an older sister with the same name as Naoko-san. Misuzu does ponder whether or not her sister is Naoko-san, but that idea never comes back up, unfortunately. That's definitely the most intriguing part of this story. And most of what I've said is the story. Naoko-san loves with a human family and bizarre things happen, like in Alf, or Urusei Yatsura, or any other show similar to this. However, Naoko-san is much more entertaining. Now, I typically dislike "Straight Man vs. Funny Man" comedy in anime. I promise, this is connected to Naoko-san, just let me speak about this for a quick second. So, the double act structure in comedy with a "Tsukkomi" and a "Boke" I find this style of humor to be very obnoxious in anime, because the jokes get very repetitive and predictable in such a short period of time. There are a few exceptions of this style of humor being well done, e.g., Arakawa under the Bridge. In Arakawa, the straight man (Rec) is surrounded by a bunch of crazy people (Everyone living under the bridge) and the jokes/situations work, because of the strange nature of the characters. They're weird and wacky people that have some depth to their character. Although, some of the jokes do get ran into the ground later on in the manga. I brought this up because Yuri Seijin Naoko-san does an excellent job with this style of humor, considering how likable and charming the characters are. They're all full of personality. Watching Naoko's jokes bounce off of Misuzu is very entertaining. Did I forget to mention that this OVA is hilarious? It does a masterful job at creating these funny visual gags with gorgeous and fluid animation. Every single frame looks amazing! Even the OP was astonishing to watch. One of the weirdest OP's I've seen in a while. The ending of the OVA also does a good job at transitioning to the ED, which was also a great watch. I didn't feel like it was appropriate to give this OVA anything higher than a nine, mostly because not much actually happens. You can't really do much in twenty-eight minutes. Y'know what? I'm going to give this OVA a 9 out of 10, just for the hell of it. Why not. It doesn't do anything wrong. I'm tired of giving the same scores whenever I make these reviews. It was a brief experience and I enjoyed a lot of it. I only wish it was longer. My scores: Story: 6/10 Art: 8/10 Sound: 9/10 Characters: 8/10 Enjoyment: 8/10 Overall: 9/10

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