Thoughts on: Imako System - The Animation

You know who's cool? The artist Midori no Rupe. I liked Imako System so much I got myself a physical copy of the tank.

But you know what's even better than a tank full of MnR?

 

Animated MnR.

While Queen Bee isn't the BEST studio, I do love their attention to detail. MnR's deliciously attractive artstyle is captured quite well in the animated adaptation, for the most part.

Speaking of animated adaptations, Pink Pinapple's take on Garden wasn't bad, but it wasn't that great. IIRC Garden the Animation only adapted bit of the first chapter or so, then went on to feature some other girl. Furthermore, the designs were definitely cookie-cutter PinPai fare. Hitotsuji looks like Hitotsuji, but you can DEFINITELY tell she's been given the PinPai character design... It sort of works with the original design, but is nowhere as attractive as the original.

... but who cares about Garden? We're here to talk about Imako System: The Loli-Snatching Saga~!

Truth be told, I absolutely abhor NTR, which makes my interest in this series rather strange. To date, the only 2 NTR-themed serials I've read and actually enjoyed were Midori no Rupe's "Imako-san" and Yuzuki N''s "Another World". And in both cases, it was because I REALLY like the artist.

I also really, really like Imako's design. I think it's the glasses. I REALLY like glasses.

The Imako-san serial was also one of the first to get me into hunting down anthologies like TENMA. I used to get so excited to see how Imako's situation would change every other month. Ah, those were the times.

Likewise, I'm excited to see how Queen Bee will wrap up this one. While each episode has been based on 2 chapters each, one must wonder how they'll handle the remaining chapters Kimodameshi and Ichina III. When Imako System vol. 1 came out, I was surprised to see Ichina II in the latter half of the episode. I'm also suprised to see that NONE of the flashback bits were featured as well. Perhaps they'll all make an appearance with Kimodameshi? Or maybe they'll just squeeze everything into the 3rd volume, sort of like what they did with Tayu Tayu. (I really, really thought vol. 4 of Tayu Tayu was going to be longer... and they didn't even do the Teacher's chapter!)

Part of me thinks Queen Bee goofed with the chapter order, thinking Ichina II came before Yakubutsu Gaku. Another thinks that this was intentional, given the nature of the story. These feelings are why I'm so interested to see how Queen Bee will handle the rest of the series.

In any case, Imako is still cute in all  her animated glory. While the animation isn't all that, and the plot is still as convoluted as it's been, it's still Imako and that's always a good thing. Maybe fate will smile upon me one more time and we'll even get an animated adaptation of Neko Kaburi? (I know that's a fan favorite, there.)

... speaking of animated adaptations, you know what I'd really like to see an adaptation of? Either Saegusa Kohaku's "Onii-chan to wa Yobitakunai!" or "Onegai Sister", Yaya Hinata's "Perverseness", Teri Terio's "While Their Guardian's Away on a Business Trip...", or Azuma Tesshin's "Ojou-sama Ikemasen". That would be awesome.