“I've always thought about this, but she's way too sensitive! ...I've never been this close to her before. She smells so damn nice! She feels so soft too! And what thick thighs she has. It smells of flowers, fruits, and sun from her which is different from soap... A calming scent and warmth, as if I were surrounded by nature... Wait, that's not it! I'm surrounded by natural flesh, not nature itself! This is bad! I'm starting to feel funny! Is this her mana's doing too?!” - the protagonist’s inner monologue during the classic To LOVE-Ru gag of a girl tripping and landing with her crotchonto his face.
Futoku no Guild is that one scene from Konosuba where Aqua and Megumin get molested by giant frogs stretched out into an entire series. What’s amazing is that it actually works, thanks to absolutely top-notch writing.
First, let's get the elephant out of the room and into an ivory processing factory. This show is very lewd. Being lewd, however, is not the same as being vulgar (here’s a quick guide on how to tell that two words mean different things - they’re two different fucking words). A lewd show still can be classy and/or wholesome, while vulgarity is the opposite of those things. See the epigraph, this is about as classy as you can be in response to a faceful of vagina. In contrast, something like a panty shot is comparatively less lewd, yet much more vulgar because of the non-consensual peeping aspect. And while one’s personal tolerance for how lewd a show can be without turning vulgar is entirely subjective, the actual level of a show’s vulgarity is entirely objective, it can be objectively quantified by comparison with other shows. Redo of Healer, Futoku no Guild, and Bakemonogatari are three examples of lewd anime, and if asked to sort them by their vulgarity, you'd need to have some sort of brain damage to give an answer that wasn’t Redo of Healer - the most vulgar, Bakemonogatari - the least, and Futoku no Guild - in-between. Furthermore, lewdness and vulgarity aren’t even directly connected, it’s a matter of how you handle the subject matter. From recent examples, Uzaki-chan and My Dress-Up Darling are two shows that are much less superficially lewd than Futoku no Guild, yet much more vulgar because of how they handle their lewdness - as a source of fap bait, they’re pretentious censored hentai. Futoku no Guild is the polar opposite, it’s very lewd on the surface but uses that lewdness as a source of comedy, which naturally leads to a higher degree of writing quality and integrity, as making your audience laugh is a much more intellectually demanding task than making your audience masturbate. So, here’s what makes Futoku no Guild’s writing highly intelligent:
The protagonist.
Given how lewd the show is, it would’ve been so easy to make the protagonist a faceless cumbrain so that the coomer audience could self-insert into him (like Highschool DxD’s protagonist). Kikuru is so much better than that. He’s the straightest man that ever straighted (in the tsukkomi sense, not in the not-gay sense). He’s entirely unamused by all the lewd bullshit happening around him, and his unexpectedly classy and sensible responses are a major part of the show’s comedy. He is also a refreshing sight as far as fantasy anime protagonists are concerned, being a highly competent professional that relies on his wits, training, and experience. Kikuru shares more in common with Goblin Slayer than with your average Kirito clone. This matters because the series follows Konosuba’s formula of being a light-hearted sitcom most of the time, but switching into action hype mode for major boss battles - and the action scenes here are better than in the majority of “serious” action titles. We even get genuine character growth with occasional emotional moments on top of everything else.
The girls.
Futoku no Guild unambiguously belongs to the “Konosuba’s bandwagon” genre like pretty much every single isekai/fantasy comedy made in the last seven or so years. Seriously, try to name three titles of this kind that do not include a ditzy Aqua-like goddess. Again, Futoku no Guild is far above just copying Konosuba, it builds something of its own on top of the existing foundation. For example, the ensemble includes two “Megumins” (haughty nerd mage) and two “Darknesses” (bubbly warrior bimbo), yet each of them has a distinct and well-developed personality. Since the principal cast is so big and varied, the show can allow itself to swap the characters in and out, focusing on just a few at a time, exploring their unique chemistry and the unique sort of situational comedy their interactions bring.
The worldbuilding.
There is a reason why the world of Konosuba is colloquially referred to as Fantasy Australia, but 90% of isekai titles get bashed for being generic. Good worldbuilding is absolutely crucial for a show of this genre to feel fresh. When the protagonist enters the adventurers’ guild and you see the receptionist behind a desktop PC, while a pair of chipmunks in overalls are nonchalantly vacuuming the floor, you know this isn’t your average isekai.
The story.
The main premise of the series is that the local JRPG monsters that the characters are supposed to be slaying are suddenly focused on molesting female adventurers instead of killing them. And the story acknowledges that this is, in fact, what is happening. The MC questions why the monsters are behaving in such a bizarre way and tasks himself with investigating it. He also wants to quit his job but feels obliged to train his replacements - also a goal that he meaningfully works to achieve over the course of the series. Unlike many similar ecchi shows (such as Ishuzoku Reviewers), this one has an actual story and a sense of progression, which saves it from getting stale after a couple of episodes.
The comedy.
Genuinely clever and imaginative, not limited to just “haha, boobs,” and absolutely nailing the comedic timing. I can’t repeat this enough, it’s both in the style of Konosuba, and, more importantly, on almost the same level of wit.
The ecchi.
Just to make it clear, you absolutely can turn your brains off and watch this series just for the THICC art. The THICC here is beautifully drawn and the ecchi scenes are hot. The show is a ton of pure fun.
9/10 for a high-quality erotic comedy.
i-i-like-this
December 21, 2022
Mixed FeelingsFunny
Immoral. Look, Immoral Guild is trash. It’s another almost hentai that fell off a back of a transportation truck from studio Poro, urinated on by a homeless person and later picked up off the street by an employee of studio TNK… but to be honest, I’ve poisoned my brain with some of the worst anime imaginable, and compared to shit like Redo of Healer, Eiken and Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World, it contains no rape, grooming or main protagonist’s buying and owning slaves which by default makes this anime look remarkable in comparison. That’s how low of a bar we’re dealing with here, justto be clear.
Whilst it’s true there is no rape or sexual assault by revenge healers or isekai slave owners, there is… err… molestation by rpg monsters… yeah, that’s a new one. For you see the big joke Immoral Guild weaves into nearly every episode is that the RPG adventure party made up of four girls that the main protagonist Kikuru has to train so he can retire as a town guard, are all completely useless, and almost all quests will end with them being molested by a monster to Kikuru’s dismay, and the audiences (supposed) pleasure, especially if not always, Hitamu, the adorable dog girl with a heart of gold, a smile like a sun and a tank top full of anime titty. If you’ve ever watched Konosuba and thought to yourself “I wish Aquas and Megumi’s clothes would melt off when the big frog eats them and then starts licking their nipples with its tongue.”, then this is your alternative… Also, seek help.
Despite the sometimes err… questionable ways the show tries to expose breasts for our pleasure, the Konosuba comparison isn’t completely too far off. Immoral Guild has a quirky cast of loud-mouthed, big breaste- big-hearted, over(and under)-the-top characters who make excellent foils to Kikuru’s straight-man personality. This show is surprisingly funny at times with surprisingly excellent voice acting and comedic timing. It leverages its lewd moments and integrates them into like, actual jokes, something many ecchi anime don’t execute well. Toxico and Kikuru have some excellent back and forth, and the misunderstandings between Kikuru, the hot blonde mom guild receptionist Enome, and her daughter Esyne are legitimately funny. You can pair up most of the cast with each other and they’ll create some comedy gold until they get molested by slimes and tentacle crows (yes, I’m not kidding).
The animation isn’t too bad either. Though it’s a more cartoony style than TNK’s last work of fart Redo of Healer, it moves a lot better than that show and has some genuinely good action scenes when it’s not displaying another type of action which would probably get you arrested.
Look, it’s not a good show, but fuck it, I like it. Granted the world-building makes no sense, the main cast are all tweaked rip-offs of the cast from Konosuba and some of the scenes meant for titillation range from awkward to just plain what the fuck(?), but sometimes you’ve just got to accept that you’ve found yourself a new anime guilty pleasure and tell no one about it. Especially your parents. They’ll tell you they still love you, but they’ll be disappointed deep down.
6/10 It’s Okay *Thumbs Up*
KAKANLen09
December 21, 2022
Recommended
Well, well, well. Every season has to have that ONE pervy, near-borderline Hentai ecchi show acceptable for TV broadcast standards, and this Fall, it has to be mangaka Taichi Kawazoe's erotic comedy Futoku no Guild a.k.a Immoral Guild. But I've gotta say, tis' iz some guilty pleasure show to like about. And please don't look at me with the disgusted face, won't cha? It's a surprise that this show went completely unlicensed in the West, or rather, not a complete surprise, as if you would rather want Crunchyroll's heavily edited version of this show to be filled with ridiculous and copious amounts of censorship like howWinter's Shuumatsu no Harem came out to be, replicated here. It would be a horrible sight. Thankfully, the Chinese streaming company Bilibili has you covered, being the only English licensor to this glorious ecchi fest that can be fun, when you mean it with your whole heart.
Futoku no Guild a.k.a Immoral Guild sounds like what it is: a capable person in a town that has enough of doing the guarding job for his entire youth life and wants out so that he can treasure his remaining years of youth being a completely normal person. The only problem? Finding a successor that can best, or at least replicate his standards at his local guild in Mebuki City, but there's none that could fit his character. So, he is introduced to a few girls to see whether they could satisfy his requirements in retiring from the endless job, but instead they satisfy him in the perverseness of their own personalities, and monsters that don't just attack, but are unique in the way that they attack in pervy ways towards all women for the men to glimpse at their way of sight for some salivating goodness. Now that's some worry if he wants to train the girls to be just as capable as himself, both in the normal and mundane, and the sexy and sweet moments of intentionality.
Man, Kikuru Madan has it tough. He's being obviously overworked as a guard, and the unfortunate situation of spending his youth to do a job like this, certainly doesn't befit ANY growing and budding teenager of all kinds. Like any sane young adult, Kikuru wants to be free from his cage, and sure he does, but it comes at the cost of the girls that he has to constantly fight with for their idiosyncrasies: the energetic beastwoman Hitamu "Hitamuki" Kyan, the prodigy Maidena Angers, the laid-back Tokishikko Dana, the strong warrior Hanabata Nohkins, and the trap Noma Rune. No doubt that each of them has traits befitting of their character and something that Kikuru can help them develop with, but where there are strengths, there are weaknesses as well, and for all the effort that Kikuru is investing in their lives, their defining characteristics are also what sets them back from reaching their potential, say Hitamuki's clumsiness and Hanabata's over-sized boobs that are a burden weight, on top of her powers that leaves her senseless. And doggone it that the monsters use these to their advantage, forcing the girls to perform unintentional sexual acts in front of Kikuru to gawk in dismay. To add to the intended comedy, the mother-daughter family of Enome and Esyne is eccentric in their approach towards Kikuru: the young man in question having felt for the mother, while Esyne is a capable daughter that has the wish fulfillment of wanting another child from a man, such is Kikuru being a "man of fervor" enough to be a father figure. Let's face it, you watch Futoku no Guild for the characters and their character development, that on top of all of the sexual depravity, feels heartfelt.
If you have to have a studio adapting this, make sure it's one that knows the ins and outs of near-borderline ecchi, and out from the violent and somewhat weirdly satisfying sadism cringefest that is Redo of Healer, TNK is back making the absolute best that they can muster to adapt the manga...and is decent in all regards, except for all the ass-busting shots, they're on Level 69 of N I C E. Even the OST itself is just decent with Sayaka Sasaki and Minami Kuribayashi, not the best pairing but it is what it is. Although there's a nitpick if I would allow: the OP visuals are a joke for the first half, and then it suddenly going into all descriptive mode for the second half.
It's lewd, it's pervy, it's ecchi! A decent watch all things considered, and you'd land yourself a fantasy dream of an unintended harem that's willing to be of sexual servitude to yours truly. It's a lot enjoyable than it looks, though how that'll fare to each and every individual, it's on taste alone.
