Anime Review | Tsugumomo
SPOILER ALERT!!!
While this school anime has several surrounding themes like supernatural, harem, comedy, action and ecchi, its intentions are absolutely clear. From episode 1 Tsugumomo dives headfirst into fanservice and ecchi. That aside, it doesn’t linger on one trope for too long, though you can’t help but wonder when you’ll see more oppai.
Kazuya, goes about his school day minding his own business when an unexpected wig monster attacks him. Strange, right? Turns out that the wig was actually a tsukumogami. These emerge from objects after many years of human use. Furthermore, their sustaining energy comes from the bonds they form with their humans.
Keeping this in mind, this concept isn’t exactly original and if you’re a Bleach fan, then the term “fullbring” should jog your memory. Apparently, they borrowed the idea and tweaked it to where the objects manifest into human-like beings. Take Kiriha for example; she’s an obi (sash) that Kazuya inherited from his deceased mother. He’s able to summon her as his servant whenever he sees fit.
Next, there’s the Amasogi. Amasogi are formed due to intense human emotions. They can even come to life when drawn on a sketchpad similar to the way Light Yagami writes in his death note. Kazuya’s eventual purpose as a ‘malison cleanser’ is to purge the earth of these negative forces and what makes it easier is that they’re all drawn to him. The anime goes as far as explaining each type of manifestation, but due to their lack of importance I won’t go any deeper.
What’s more is that they add a different spin to fight scenes as inanimate objects become sentient. Just the thought of it makes me cringe. As the series continues, the background music for action scenes in Tsugumomo sound like something you’d probably hear from Naruto. Best believe I’m a Naruto fan, but that’s definitely a no-no from me.
On the personality side of things, Kazuya is always being assaulted by his female classmate, Chisato. I guess it’s only natural being the tsundere that she is and of course, she has a huge crush on him. Interestingly enough, Kiriha is a tsundere and she’s into him as well. He seems to be quite the favourite among the dating pool.
Ironically, it turns into an open-world dating sim for a brief moment. Let’s not forget this is a harem, so it’s not exactly alien subject matter we’re dealing with. Of course there are ravenous boys, but the girls don’t seem to be shy about it either as they all enjoy taking baths with the main character. If you think that’s odd, I’ll go further on to say that even his elder sister seems interested in having a bath with him.
AWKWARD!!!
Kazuya’s life continues to be unpredictable. One minute he’s taking a nap in the nurse’s office and the next, he innocently wakes up with his hands and feet tied to a bed by his childhood friend with her sitting on top of him. What more could an adolescent male ask for, right?
Some of the characters go from normal to loli and for me, there’s a lack of enjoyment when they become involved in adult themes. Maybe you can, but I just can’t bring myself to feel comfortable about this. I give a thumbs down on the character design just because of that.
Final Verdict
When watching Tsugumomo I’d say skip all the fights scenes and go straight to the ecchi. The story isn’t anything special so you’re not missing anything important. I’ll continue to think that this anime wasn’t made with independent thought because it just has copyright infringement written all over it.
Honestly, this anime tries too hard to make people like it by adding ecchi scenes, familiar music vibes and a used plot. Ultimately, it gets a bad rating. It gives you the impression that it’s got more than ecchi and comedy to offer, but those are its only strong points. What a let down.
You can watch Tsugumomo on Crunchyroll with 9 different Subs including: ENG, ESP, ITA, DEU, POR, & FRA.