The conceit here is that Steven made up a scoring system to judge romantic anime comedies by. Now really, it doesn’t judge their qualities; if anything it’s really just a measure of how many tropes a given comedy has inserted. I think it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, so I’m about due.
To the right is the number of points that can be scored, to the left the number this series has scored:
(2) – 2 or more people seriously contending for the affections of one (1 point for each serious contender)
(1) – …who trickle in (1)
(0) – …who aren’t human (1 for each)
(0) – …who have special powers (1 for each)
(1) – Dorky hero (1) [I’m interpreting this as how “in control” he is]
(1) – …who has a unique power (1)
(0.5) – Klutzy heroine (1) [Jyuubei, in normal form]
(1) – …who has a unique power (1) (came out of nowhere, unique effects to her appearance)
(0) – Love expressed as violence (1) [Fortunately, no]
(1) – Obvious choice (1) [appears to be aiming for a harem ending, or unresolved]
(1) – Women with exaggerated figures (1)
(1) – Jiggle (1)
(1) – Panty flashes (1) (Samurai Girl Panty Blitz!)
(1) – Ecchi (1)
(1) – Joshikousei (1) [In theory. Sen is technically in a school uniform, but she’s the only one.]
(1) – Meido-san (1) [Hanzo, even though she’s not strictly a maid, dresses and acts as one.]
(1) – Accidental exposure (1)
(0) – Accidental groping (1) [surprisingly, not a bit. Muneakira’s hands have never accidentally gone anywhere inappropriate]
(1) – Swimsuits at the beach (1) [coming up in ep.6]
(1) – Bathing and yukatas in a bathhouse (1) [Bathing sans yukatas. Is that an extra score?]
(0) – Kimonos at a summer festival or cultural festival (1) [not yet]
(0) – Girl’s locker room (1)
(0) – Cosplay (1) [although I should count their “descended” outfits]
(0) – Romances among secondary characters (1) [Well, Hanzo’s got a yuri crush on Sen, but they’re not secondary.]
(1) – Meganekko (1) [Hanzo]
(0) – Annoying relatives (1) [Unless Sen’s brother is going to turn into this, it’s not likely.]
(1) – Meddlers (friends or family) (1) (Two of them.)
(0) – No romantic resolution at the end (1) [Pending, but I’m figuring on it.]
Total: 18.5, but I’ve got some explaining to do. This system is designed for contemporary-era, normal world stories. Stories in other settings, especially magical, can completely break the system, and that’s what’s happening here. The entire premise of the story guarantees that there will be multiple magical girls, and given that they have to at least kiss to seal the contract, they have to consider the lead male at least tolerably passable. Thus I only scored Sanada and Sen as competitors, as Jyuubei isn’t especially romantic in her released form, and treats Muneakira a a beloved brother in her normal form. The others may admire him (or loathe him, in Hanzo’s case) but aren’t competitors. I did not score the girls as having special powers (Master Samurai forms), because they’ll all have it by the end, per the first episode. I did score Jyuubei as the only “unique” power, since she is apparently extra-planar in origin. I thought about scoring it for Sanada’s photographic memory and speed-reading, but decided it was just a throwaway joke. Sen is the “obvious” choice, due to length of relationship, overall maturity, and social factors; but mostly because Sanada is only 15 and still looks ten. Of course the 0.5 “klutzy” score is due to Jyuubei’s being klutzy only in her ditz form, and not especially then.
A final bit of cheescake below the fold, so maybe NSFW:
Edit: Sorry, left out the divider!
/Has a vision of walking into the kitchen in the morning, just as Jyuubei is burning the eggs, while dressed in nothing but a business shirt held closed only by that big rope she wears./
Why do those swords never slide down her legs? Must be SuperHero Glue.
Um, excuse me. Gotta go take care of a nosebleed. Gomen…
