Anime Review No 38 "Nyarko-san: Another Crawling Chaos" Episode 1/First Impressions

Hello, I'm the Eclectic Dude and I review it for the lolz.
Ok, from now on, my reviews will be released every weekend (be Friday, Saturday, or Sunday).

Anyway, onto this weekend's review: Haiyore! Nyaruko-san (Crawling Up! Nyarko-san) It is based on light novel and web animation short series from 2009-11. An animated TV series came out April 2012, done by Studio XEBEC (responsible for the anime series like Nadesico, Zoids, Love Hina, To Love Ru). 

This show can be considered a Comedy/parody series. It is a odd/quirky tale based off of the Cthulhu Mythos, except it has cute anime girls with magical powers/abilities instead of eldritch abominations. I personally don't know not much on this Mythos, except a basic gist of it-it deals with cosmic horror and wonders. Now, I watched this on Crunchyroll, a really good website that has legitimate anime streaming. 

Episode 1: Like a Close Encounter of the Third Kind (Spielberg called, he wants his title back dude!)

It was a dark and spooky night.  A Teenage boy chased by a demon that sprouts a mouth out of his head. Fortunately, he is saved by a girl with grey hair (Nyarlathotep) in a checker pattern dress outfit who slices the demon in half. I like this cold opening-its exciting and gripping, and gets your attention right off the bat. 
Then the opening song: It's energetic, rhythmic, goofy and silly. This helps establish the mood for the show quite well. 

After the break,  it is revealed the girl in question ends up staying at the boy's home, eating breakfast. I like Nyarko-san. She is energetic, perky, cheerful, if a little over the top in terms of acting. She is a lot of fun. She is, in reality, a Crawling Chaos: typically a monster form, but she takes on the form of a cute girl for no clear reason. The boy tries to get an explanation from her, and after some prodding, she does. She has come to Earth to defend it from alien invaders/meddlers as part of some galactic agency mission. 

The teenage boy is named Yasaka Mahiro, who acts as a bit of a jerk when it comes to Nyarla. It seems he more of the straight man (comedically), whereas Nyarla is the joker. This is key to establish this in the first episode of a comedy like this. Good on you, production team.

So, Nyarla runs off taking Mahiro-kun with her to a anime store (wait, what?!). Apparently, alien gods smuggle anime, manga and games from Earth and it is a very big deal. I'd question this, but my mind hurts too much to think on it. Moving on... It seems there's a relationship between Mahiro and Nyarla, sweet love at first sight but becomes slightly awkward if you stop and think about it. 


Once done there, they go outside where Nyarla punches Mahiro in the head. What?! Well, it turns out that's the way to get to the other realm, where the alien gods reside and prey on humankind in secrecy. They
encounter another alien and Nyarla demonstrates her 'Power of Space CQC' Which is.... Drop kick the fecker in the nuts, then proceed to bash the thing’s head in. Flawless Victory!!

It then cuts to a mysterious girl before the break before the commercial break, which has avery nice eyecatch. Nyarla ends up coming with Yasaka to his school as a transfer student, as you do in these sorts of comedy series. Some of Yasaka's friends are introduced, like his male friend Yoichi and  Kurei, a girl working with the school paper. Meanwhile, Nyarko-san causes antics for Yakasa (lunch, lighting up romantic tension, being generally silly) which annoys straight man Yasaka almost to the brink. 

Another unnamed demon is spotted by the pair. Another fight sequence commences in the other realm. Nyarko summons Shanta-kun, a dragon (much like a Pokemon) to combat the demon. When that fails, she defeats the demon with a magical crow bar. Later, when he is taking a shower, Nyarko interrupts. Hijink ensues. The ending song is lighter, sweeter, slower then the opening, providing a nice contrast.


Final Thoughts? I like this show, it got me interested in this show. The comedy is spot-on, the characters engaging, and the story weird and quirky. I will add this to my list of anime I will watch then do a more comprehensive review. 


Next Weekend is You're Under Arrest OVA. See ya laterz.