Shojo Auction

I've seen a fair amount of hentai, and, with a name like "Shojo Auction," I thought I had a pretty good idea what I was in for. Namely, cute girls being sold into sexual slavery, which would basically play out as a rape-fest. Boy, was I wrong, and, boy, did that make for a pleasant surprise. Shojo Auction, instead, is kind of like a coming-of-age tale of three women, except it's still totally a hentai. We see three women, each with different reasons to sell their bodies, somehow triumph over some past wrong to which they were subjected. Granted, this isn't so much throughany sort of character-centered intelligence or noteworthy scriptwriting; it just so happens that the shojo auction itself miraculously puts these girls in just the right positions to settle old scores and move on with their lives. Since no one can resist a good terrible pun, let's talk about the right positions. These girls get in all the right positions, if you know what I mean (you totally do). The sex, while not as drippingly explicit as some hentai made recently, is pretty good overall. There's a lot of looping in the sex itself, but there's a fair diversity in seximatography, as I now like to call it. This applies primarily to the type of sex (we've got footjobs, blowjobs, anal sex, vaginal sex, a bit of lesbian sex at the end, a tiny little bit of bondage (of the MALE, actually) at the beginning, and rape during a flashback). There are many changes between positions, but they sometimes occur a little too rapidly/frequently for my tastes, although the diversity is still welcome (positions include 69, doggie-style, missionary, and many other styles I don't know the semi-technical names of). Two of our heroines seem to have very similar physical characteristics, barring hair color (of course). The two main males are somewhat more diverse, for what it's worth (not a lot, really). Anyways, the sex is pretty hot and surprisingly happy, which is, in my opinion, perhaps the best part. The guys and girls are pretty darn willing right from the get-go, which is a refreshing change of pace from what I've seen a lot of recently. I may just not be looking in the right places, but, well, I've made my point. In terms of aesthetics, this hentai looks pretty good, although it definitely looks older than it is (by about 4-5 years, I'd say). Lines are bold, colors are pretty bright (but relatively realistic in hue). The girls are on the well-endowed side of normal, or, alternately, the slightly under-endowed side of the typical, non-lolicon hentai breast-size absurdity. Males are somewhat average-looking: neither extraordinarily hot nor ugly. Overall, I like the art, and find it fairly low key. Sound-wise, it's pretty typical for hentai. Good moaning, oohing, aahing, squelchy sounds of intercourse, etc. Voices are typical, and none are blatantly annoying. The script-writing is more believable than your average hentai, for what it's worth, which is, admittedly, not a lot. Strictly speaking, the BGM was forgettable. As in, I don't remember it; not really a bad thing, to be honest. More attention left to focus on the delicious sex. Speaking of sex and really substandard transition sentences, people (and animals) have sex (okay, one could argue that some plants have sex, but let's not go there now). The people having sex in Shojo Auction are a bit different from the usual suspects, in that the females are surprisingly empowered, and the men are just fine with it. I think this is good. In fact, the sexual empowerment endears the characters to me somewhat more than usual. I'll outline the main ones here. Rongai is the main male protagonist. He's a bit of a pushover, but seems to be a cool, calm, and collected character. I don't dislike the guy, which, sadly, is a marked improvement over many hentai. Shirohebi is the main female protagonist and totally the star of the show. She will find a way to get her way, no matter what, but she isn't totally ruthless about it (just kinda overbearing). She also has altruistic tendencies, and is intent on helping her clients see the silver lining in their situations. She's also rather kinky and something of a nymphomaniac. And I'm not saying that's a bad thing. Then we have each of the three girls to be auctioned. Each has a bit of a different personality, and each has a problem that, by the end of the series, will be solved in some way or another. I find Umi to be the most fascinating of them, in the way she reacts to realizing that she's been given the opportunity to gain control of her life. Unless you like yandere gaijin or broken birds, in which case you may like the other two better. I just found Umi's story to be uplifting, which says a lot since it's coming from a hentai. These stories of personal triumph make for a surprisingly good story, fairly saturated with pretty hot, normal, happy sex. As such, I actually enjoyed this hentai quite a bit. Take it out for a spin if you're in the mood for something uplifting in your daily dose of hot, animated sex.