Anime Hajime Review: Monster Musume – Everyday Life with Monster Girls

Original Run: July 8, 2015 - September 23, 2015
Number of Episodes: 12
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Harem
Based on the Series Created By: Takemaru Inui

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

Three years ago, the Japanese government revealed the existence of monsters. What followed was the Interspecies Cultural Exchange Act, which allows other species to visit the human world. Kimihito Kurusu (voiced by Junji Majima) was tricked into signing up as a volunteer host.

Despite his forced hand, Kimihito wants to do his best for his guest. Soon he is charged with looking after a beautiful lamia named Miia (voiced by Sora Amamiya), instantly develops a crush on Kimihito.

With his kind nature quickly giving him a reputation, Kimihito becomes the go-to person to watch over visiting species. Before long, his house grows quite crowded with:

• Papi (voiced Ari Ozawa), the harpy
• Centorea “Cerea” Shinaus (voiced by Natsuki Aikawa), the centaur
• Suu (voiced by Mayuka Nomura), the slime
• Meroune “Mero” Lorelei (voiced by Haruka Yamazaki), the mermaid
• Rachnera “Rachnee” Arachnera (voiced by Sakura Nakamura), the Arachne.

If one thing can be said, days in the Kurusu household are not dull.

Series Positives

I have known about Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls (Monster Musume)for some time, and my curiosity finally got the best of me. Thus, did I go into this series expecting to hate it? No, I thought it would be enjoyable in a certain capacity. However, I can tell you this; I didn’t think I would like it as much as I did.

To get this out of the way, Monster Musume went full erotic. This series was a fanservice anime if there ever was one. However, what separates this show from others like it is, if you were to take out Monster Musume’secchi elements, you’d still be left with something fantastic.

To start, Kimihito Kurusu was a great protagonist and is, by far, one of the best leads in any harem anime ever. He did none of the things that usually annoy me. He didn’t whine, he wasn’t a wimp, and he wasn’t the center of affection simply because the story said he was.

Kimihito was patient, kind-hearted, and respectful. It made sense why the girls of this series would have developed feelings. Although his easily breakable human body was always at risk due to his houseguests’ monster-strength, he never held a grudge. He never got angry at those under his care. But he wasn’t a pushover either.

Kimihito took his guardian role seriously.

There were also a handful of moments when Kimihito was just straight-up cool. Not only would he protect his girls, but he would also be there to lend a caring ear. Kimihito, unlike a lot of other humans, never saw his charges as horrifying monsters. To him, they were women.

Kimihito’s best moment came when some scumbag was harassing Miia. This prick was berating poor Miia, and she was on the verge of snapping. According to the law, monsters could not hurt humans for any reason, but this ass-hat was asking for it. Then, before she can even react, Kimihito came out of nowhere and decked the f@#$er, and holy s@#$ was it satisfying.

Harem anime are often plagued with uninteresting centers. As it is, Kimihito is now the model to which all future series should strive to achieve. And it isn’t just Kimihito. Monster Musume is now the gold standard in my eyes when it comes to these types of shows.

This is how you should do a harem series. Not only did you have a lead who was worth rooting for, but you also had several distinct romantic routes to grow attached to. There were no repeat characters with bigger boobs. Everyone was an individual.

I’ve not even touched on the fact that this show was hilarious. The humor in Monster Musume was a byproduct of the characters’ unique personalities and their interactions with one another.

You could see this show as an excuse to flaunt monster boobies. Although that did happen, Monster Musume was so much more.

Series Negatives

Monster Musume suffered from wanting-to-do-to-much-but-not-enough-time syndrome.

Yes, the main household received the appropriate amount of development. You really got to know Kimihito and the girls. Too bad they weren’t the only characters.

For example, there was the Monster Ops: Neutralization (MON) team. They were introduced halfway through this series in a kickass action scene. They may have had numerous reappearances throughout the show, but they weren’t given a lot of opportunities to develop.

Considering that, we should talk about the white elephant in the room.

Monster Musume is not for everyone.

There was almost no filter with this series. There was suckling, bondage, accidental insertion (that’s a horrific phrase without context), and many other things I don’t have words for.

If this kind of stuff makes you uncomfortable, this is not the show for you.

Final Thoughts

I went into this series expecting it to be crazy. To that end, I was not disappointed. Still, I was shocked by how much I ended up like this show.

For all the fanservice it flaunted, this series had a fantastic lead, interesting characters and is one of the best harem anime I’ve seen to date.

Although I found this show’s indifference to decency funny, I understand why it might turn some people off.

Nevertheless, Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls has earned a recommendation.

But these are just my thoughts. What are yours? Have you seen this series? How would you advise Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls? Leave a comment down below because I would love to hear what you have to say.

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For Anime Hajime, I’m LofZOdyssey, and I’ll see you next time.