Otogi Story Tenshi no Shippo

This is a review of the dubbed version. Tenshi no Shippo, or Angel Tales as the dubbed version is called, is a supernatural, harem, romance series that is the least bit original. However despite the low score here on MAL and an seemingly ugly artsyle, I did find it to be a decent series in the end. Story 6/10 The story starts off with this typical loser-guy Goro, who has no job and little money. A rather unlucky young fellow, who doesn't seem to have any promising future. Then suddenly he meets a fortune teller, and before you know it there are three angel girls coming to servehim as their master. Heard something similar before, perhaps? Well from here on the story is basically about Goro and the increasingly amount of angel girls that come to serve him. Each of the first 5 or so episodes introduces new angels, and after some time there are a dozen of them living together with their master. However, all these angels care for him with a reason, since they used to be his animal pets earlier in Goro’s life. At one point in the series it seemed that the story would take a cliche direction, with some bad guys appearing to fight Goro and his angels, but it never gets that serious, and eventually it goes back to concentrating on the daily life of Goro and his angel girls again. So, what does a guy do with a dozen of girls in his apartment o_O?? Well nothing special really. Buying food, doing the laundry, going to work, and eating together with his 'servants'...all the usual stuff you find in shows like these. There is hardly any fan service or action, and the comedy consists mostly of easy jokes and small misunderstandings, it never goes over the top, like tsundere beating up guy for instance. All the girls really care for their master Goro, and there are plenty of romantic feelings developing, though it never becomes too serious. 'Calm and cute' is what best describes this anime, and personally I liked it that way. Characters 5/10 Since there are plenty of characters and only twelve episodes, there is not much time for any character development. Goro the main protagonist stays the same during the whole series. He's your typical loser-kun, who cares about his angel servants. A kindhearted guy that often is indecisive with the girls, but determined to protect or help them whenever there are troubles. As for the angels, they each have their own personal trait, since they all used to be different animals earlier. Some of them are small girls, and their affection for Goro is more like that of children, where they look upon him as a father like person perhaps. Then we have those who are about the same age as him, and it’s mainly these girls that are romantically involved (in one episode there's a childhood friend romantically involved as well). But the angel girls and all other characters are quite simple and two- dimensional, you don’t really get to know them well. Sure, some of the girls get more screen time than others, but that's basically just to even further express their already obvious feelings for their master. Everyone loves Goro, simple as that. Animation 4/10 The artstyle is very simplistic. The character design looks average and pretty much the same for all the characters. What separates them from each other is hair colour, body size and clothing, other than that they share about the same face and facial expression most of the time. The background aren't put much detail into either, with simple colours and little variation. Also the animation is below average. Characters stand still when talking, and sometimes when they turn their face it looks out of proportion. But since there isn’t much happening anyways, you won't notice this so much, except during maybe one episode where there is some fighting. With all this said though, the animation really isn’t that bad, there are worse animated shows out there (ever seen Hanaukyo Maid-tai? Ugh...) Sound 8/10 The OP has a positive and catchy tune, where all the girls are singing what sounds almost like a parade song. It’s damn nice, actually one of better opening songs I’ve heard in a while. The ED has a calmer tone, with melody from a harmonica. It’s the same song that you will hear Goro play several times on his own one, so guess you can also call it the main soundtrack, since there are hardly any other soundtracks. I think this is a good thing, since it suits the mood to be more silent when the characters are talking and such. No complaints about the voice actors either, they did a decent job with the dubbing. Enjoyment 7/10 The romance was what made this series enjoyable for me. Seeing the angel girls wanting to get attention from Goro, and hearing how they care about him was pleasant. Occasionally nothing really happens, and it might get a little repetitive and boring, but at least there are no annoying moments with over the top comedy. I rather prefer it like this, where the characters are talking and acting in a more relaxed way, not doing all those crazy stuff you would see in other slice of life harem series like 'Hayate no Gotoku' or 'Koi Koi 7'. The episodes with the 'bad angel guys' were totally uninteresting, so during those episodes I felt pretty bored. Actually the only thing that I did find entertaining was, as mentioned, the romantic harem elements of the show, and fortunately that's what the story focuses on most of the time. Overall 6/10 Overall I can say that as a harem fan, this was a good enough anime for me to bother finish. Calm and relaxing, where everything is quite simple to follow... sometimes I just feel like watching these shows in between all the bigger series out there, and Angel Tales was a nice little watch that didn't take much of my time. What drags down is the animation and those girls that hardly got any screen time, otherwise this could have gotten a 7 or 8... I recommend it for all those who like series with plenty of girls wanting the attention of a guy, and who doesn't need comedy or action to be entertained.