Criticism of Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu Purezza (episode by episode)

I’m pretty tolerant, but I have to admit that this is one anime I was rather ashamed to have continued watching to the end…

Even though I’m a girl, I have nothing against moe/harem anime. In fact, many series that I like have characters who could be considered moe and/or situations that could be considered harem-esque, for example, Kannagi, Toradora!, Clannad, Haruhi Suzumiya, Hayate no Gotoku!, and Lucky Star. But what’s different about these compared to Nogizaka Haruka is that the ecchi fan service is nil, or at least mild compared to other factors of the show such as storytelling quality and character development. What I personally don’t enjoy in anime is obviously blatant, ecchi fan service, especially when the show ends up being more fan service than plot. Unfortunately, Nogizaka Haruka is such a series.

I decided to watch the first season when it came out last summer, inspired solely by a synopsis of the series. It sounded like a fun story and something I could relate to (being a female anime fan and all). The first season was indeed littered with often pointless fan service, but had enough character and story development, especially about Haruka’s secret and her relationship with Yuuto, to keep me interested. A few episodes were actually pretty good and the fan service and one-dimensional characters weren’t quite enough to turn me off, though they did get close at times.

But now that I’ve watched all of Purezza, I have to say that the series degraded. Even though, by the end of season 1, Yuuto and Haruka are already an established couple, season 2 goes the total harem direction and features a bunch of shallow, fan service-filled misadventures between Yuuto and other girls. Even though Yuuto remains loyal to Haruka and his mishaps with the girls are mostly unintentional, I agree with wah that season 2 is no longer about “Haruka’s himitsu (secret).” In fact, I believe only half the episodes in Purezza were focused on Haruka. I have no problem if episodes feature Yuuto forming non-romantic relationships with other girls – it’s the way these episodes were handled in season 2 that irked me…

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Episode 1 was basically reintroducing the characters (and the fan service atmosphere) while episode 2, like the episode 2 of the first season, was a cute Haruka+Yuuto episode. This is about the only episode that focused on Haruka’s himitsu.

The dispensable episode 3 was about Yuuto and a completely unnecessary, one-shot, one-dimensional tsundere character whose sole purpose is to flash her panties every few minutes (I’m not kidding). Yuuto could have had any number of part-time jobs besides becoming a butler and going through the most cliche tsundere relationship with Touka (she treats him like dirt at first, then warms up to him in the end, all the while “accidentally” getting all over him with her panties showing). It seems like this episode’s (and this show’s?) only purpose was wish-fulfilling fan service for its male viewers. The panties scenes and total predictability of this episode were just too overkill for my taste.

Episode 4 was still filled with blatant fan service, but it had enough cute and not completely intelligence-insulting Haruka+Yuuto moments to be relevant.

Alice was one of the only new season 2 characters I liked. Episode 5 was her starring episode and it was actually pretty good. Practically no fan service and just touching cuteness and warmth – that’s what I like.

Episode 6 was a sweet Haruka+Yuuto episode. Even though it had some fan service, for some reason the ecchi scenes between just Haruka and Yuuto don’t bother me as much. I guess it’s because they’re in a romantic relationship so it seems more mature and natural.

After a few decent episodes, the series again takes a nose-dive with episode 7. Shiina was part of a love-triangle with Haruka and Yuuto in the first season though, if I recall correctly, she realized that her chances with Yuuto are pretty much shot. But now, in the middle of the second season, we’re given another harem-esque episode between her and Yuuto. It wouldn’t have been so bad if Shiina’s two “friends” weren’t there to crank up the ecchiness and add to Yuuto’s harem when we don’t need it at this point in the series. They were just too obnoxious for me – I mean, Ryoko comes in and throws Shiina’s lingerie all over the place! What kind of friend does that? Like Touka in episode 3, Shiina’s friends have a one-shot purpose to create as much fan service scenes as possible while they’re with Yuuto.

The first half of this episode was not too bad but I had major issues with the last half. Mika, who’s been actively supporting Haruka and Yuuto’s relationship for so many episodes, suddenly gets it in her head that Yuuto doesn’t think she’s pretty and practically tries to seduce him? WTF!? Mika was acting so out-of-character in this episode. I can’t believe they would temporarily change her personality just for the sake of showcasing some fan service scenes between her and Yuuto. She had friends with her so they could have been used instead. Disgraceful.

Episodes 9, 10, and 11 were an arc dealing with Haruka being manipulated into becoming an idol. Nothing too bad about these episodes – the fan service wasn’t obnoxious and it had some good Haruka+Yuuto moments. Unfortunately, Yuuto is once again suckered into becoming a servant for a new, foul-tempered, and virtually purposeless female character. But unlike Touka, Milan doesn’t thrust her panties into his face every minute and she isn’t as purposeless since she helps Yuuto realize what he must do.

Episode 11 would have made a better ending but the creators decided to throw in this extra side-story episode. They just couldn’t end it on a somber note and instead had to fill the first half of episode 12 with more obnoxious, ecchi fan service (i.e, that ping pong game). Throw all the characters together at a hot spring, including perverts like Ryoko and Takenami, and fan service will flourish. However, the episode slightly redeemed itself in the second half by having one last Haruka+Yuuto scenario. It was cute and touching, and fan service scenes were okay because they were handled more maturely and the two of them are already in a romantic relationship. Haruka’s parents reactions in this episode were pretty funny too. They really should have had more screentime.

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As you can tell from my thoughts above, even some decent episodes couldn’t make up for the indecency in the rest of this season. Instead of introducing one-dimensional and ultimately pointless new characters, the creators should have just worked with characters from season 1, i.e., episodes focused on Yuuto getting to know Hazuki, Minami, Haruka’s parents, Nobunaga, or others better. Even giving some depth to those two unappealing drunken lesbians would have been welcome. This, plus not going so overboard with fan service, might have saved this season.

This is all my personal opinion of course and I’m not blaming this show for what it is. Just about all anime have a dual purpose of trying to tell a respectable story but also giving their target audience what they want. Depending on the series, one of these two factors could be more important than the other. Nogizaka Haruka is a prime example of the fan pandering factor completely dominating. I’m not blaming it for serving the fetish-pleasing purpose that its creators intended for it. All I’m saying is that obnoxious fan service overpowering story quality and character development is simply not my taste.

Credit for screencaps goes to Random Curiosity and Chikorita157′s Anime Blog.