Likable Characters? In Mein Kampfer? Nein!

Before the season started, I’ll be quite honest. I was excited for Kampfer. Loaded voice acting cast, tons of girls, and a trap. Nothing could go wrong except everything. After spewing random seiyuu jokes for the first two episodes, Kampfer was showing signs of running out of steam. Lord knows it can’t rely on a plot to float the show. The main character randomly turns into a girl and is surrounded by a harem for christssake. But apparently the past few episodes have been surprisingly enjoyable. The secret is in the characters. Fanservice is there to keep you from falling asleep and somehow, someway, I manage to care about just about all the characters. This show is truly the guilty pleasure of the season, if not much more than the embodiment of Horie Yui’s yuri vibes towards Yukari Tamura and the resulting tension between Mizuki Nana *seiyuu fag fantasies*.

So let’s run down episode eight and what this show is and is not. If you’re expecting Kampfer to turn into some kind of innovative action comedy with romance elements you’re watching the wrong show. Episode 8 contains lots of character development, especially for the male lead Senou Natsuru. That development being that he is literally as dumb as a brick, like in all harem shows. It’s one thing to not understand girls and their feelings, it’s another to be as clueless as a deaf blind person raised in some kind of combine where you were classically conditioned to ignore everything said to you. That said, there’s not too much more to complain about this episode.

Senou goes on a date with Shizuku, which is all fine and dandy. I like class prez, and to be honest I like just about all the girls in the show. They are well drawn, have good design, and have clear cut and defined conflicts and objectives. This is an attribute of character design often overlooked by writers and often taken for granted by viewers. Shizuku brings balance to the cast by being cool, calculating, and mature in contrast to Akane’s vain outbursts in both forms. Her crush on the male Natsuru gives her that tsundere-like streak and I love it. Obligatory scene where she makes bentos, check, and the resulting lunch scene where they eat it, check.

Obviously at the end of the date the gig is up and a very upset Mikoto ambushes Natsuru. I like Mikoto too just because she’s cute and has white hair when she transforms. Plus I have this thing for osananajimi characters.

On that note, Is that Jigoku Shoujo “ippen shinde miru” thing the only reference in Mamiko’s arsenal or something? Oh wait. It is. Akane does get on my bad side a little bit, if not simply because her gimmick is old and run into the ground. Regardless, even she has her cute moments. She’s also voiced by Horie Yui so that’s a free pass in my book.