Shuffle!

Genre: Fantasy
Age Appropriate: Teens
Emotional Response: quirky and painful
Notable Features: gods, demons, high school, ooo la la
Language: English
Length: 2 seasons, 24 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Good

"Well, my dad told me to wear it." - Nerine


Gods and demons and humans, oh my! Rin is a high school student who is originally introduced running away from other male students. They are stalking his good friend, Kaede, who happens to be the cutest girl in school, and Rin's roommate. On a daily basis, these creepy stalkers attempt to destroy Rin, as they see him being in the way of their love for her. Rin is completely oblivious to her feelings for him, but his protective friend instincts help him protect her from strange guys - including his own womanizing friend. His undying loyalty to his friends, and a desire to help anyone in need, actually gets Rin in quite a predicament.

Enter Rina, from the Realm of the Demons, and Sia, from the Realm of the Gods. They both show up in Rin's classroom, sharing that they've both come to Earth in order to become Rin's wife. This is fully supported by the kings of both realms because Rina and Sia are their daughters! The Kings of Gods and Demons have agreed that whichever daughter Rin chooses will include being heir to their thrones. Between Kaede, Rina, Sia and an additional wrench in the system, childhood friend Asa, Rin is being chased by a bevy of lovely young ladies. He needs to make a decision soon, or everything will fall apart!

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I really wanted to go with another fun-loving goofy comedy this time around. I did a series of not-so-much fun ones, so I was looking forward to this. Fruits Basket wasn't always hilarious, but it did the job quite nicely. This one was surprisingly depressing. There weren't a lot of laugh out loud moments, and the episodes past the first few seemed to focus on how heartbroken someone was, or their coming-of-age story - good for the story, not so good for my desire to laugh uncontrollably. It gets really dark and really emotional in the later episodes. Apparently, all of the girls are close to certifiably insane.

Personal disappointment aside, as it has nothing to really do with how well it was done, Shuffle! really is good. It's kinda quirky, and the Kings are hilarious. The King of the Gods, and his daughter's consistent violent reaction to him, has a great clown quality. The King of the Demons is a little more reserved, but with a sneakiness hidden behind it all. They make an interesting duo of bffs. Primula, a young lady pseudo-demon, seems to be interested in Rin, but maybe in more of a big brother sense. She's adorable, and I want her stuffed kitties. I don't even like cats.

There is some incidental nudity, but not enough to bother most, and  no vulgarity. It's pretty safe, in that regard. I don't know if I'd highly recommend this or anything, but I wouldn't mind watching it, if it was on TV or something. I certainly wouldn't stop someone from watching it. Maybe just a word of caution that it's not what it seems. It's a nice diversion, anyway.

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4, 3, 2, 1: Happiness!