DearS Anime Review

DearS
Diazu
Pioneer (Geneon)
Complete Collection - 4 discs
325 mins. - 13 episodes
$79.98 (2007)
$24.98 (2005) Vol. 1-4
$34.98 (2005) Vol. 1 w/Artbox
ISBN 013023272491
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Iku Suzuki
Studio - Daume

Synopsis: It was one year ago when an alien ship landed in Tokyo Bay and humanity first made contact with extraterrestrial life.  The ship was filled with beautiful creatures who looked exactly like human beings.  They were dubbed 'DearS' and have started to slowly assimilate into human culture.  In an effort to learn more about humans the DearS have a home-stay program where they live with a foster guardian or family.

Neneko is Takeya's best friend

Takeya lives on his own while his family is in America and he goes to high school.  His landlord's daughter is Neneko and they have been friends since childhood.  Neneko keeps Takeya on top of his schoolwork and always wakes him up in the morning so he's not late for school.  One day as Takeya is walking home he finds a strange girl hiding behind some bushes. She is dressed in only a blanket and no clothes.  Takeya is startled by her appearance and when she suddenly begins floating.  She then promptly faints and he takes her home to make sure she's alright.

Takeya wakes up in his man-cave with a beautiful girl in his face

He discovers the girl is a DearS and she introduces herself as Ren Ren Ren Nagusaran Rensia Ruroonren Nakora.  She is timid and completely unfamiliar with human life, but forms an immediate attachment to Takeya.  He calls her Ren and he grudgingly lets her stay in the closet of his apartment.  She doesn't know about modesty and walks around naked which completely embarrasses poor Takeya.  He tries to keep her a secret from Neneko, but good luck with those boobs!

Takeya has Ren sleep in his closet instead of his bed

Neneko thinks Takeya is a huge perv, but tries to help Ren learn about human culture.  She's very sweet and learns very quickly.  DearS have big collars around their necks which give them strange powers like materializing their uniforms, flight, strength, and others.  The collars can also shrink to regular size for camouflage as a regular chokers.  Ren ends up going to school with Takeya much to his horror!

Ren is accepted as a student at Takeya and Neneko's school
with no questions asked

Another DearS comes to school named Miu and she is offended by Ren's utter incompetence with human culture despite being new to it herself.  Apparently the DearS are genetically bred slaves in their culture and live to serve their masters.  Ren is a defective model who escaped and the DearS hierarchy wants to recapture her to save face.  Will Takeya protect Ren or does he really want her out of his life?  Is Neneko jealous and why is Miu spending time with Takeya?  Why is their school teacher wearing skimpy lingerie and making them read erotic doujinshi aloud in class?

Neneko walks in on Takeya, um, trying to get Ren dressed and
 not doing something perverted to her.  Yeah, that's it.  

Pros: Lots of fan-service and very beautiful girls, a bunch of mild nudity (particularly during the hot springs episode), quite a few risque situations where Ren wants to fulfill all of her master's desires, some comedy, mildly endearing characters (Ren and Neneko particularly), Takeya was not a complete wimp

Miu freaks out as she watches Ren empty the classroom trash
into another trash can!

Cons: Nothing surprising happens and the show is obviously juvenile, bland characters and overall plot, the DearS wear big dog collars (apparently to emphasize their slave status), the whole slave thing is a bit weird (although this show is from the Japanese who take bondage/kinbaku to a whole new aesthetic), Takeya is kind of a jerk, his lecherous yet hot teacher is also kind of annoying, lame cat-girl character, no real story resolution/ending

Takeya's horny teacher just happens to be lingerie shopping
when he and Neneko take Ren to shop for clothes

Mike Tells It Straight: Based on a manga by the artist group Peach-Pit, DearS is your standard harem anime with some subtle plot variations.  Takeya is actually not a complete whiner like most typical harem male main characters (Hideki from Chobits is another good example).  The trade off is he's kinda mean to Ren who showers him with utter devotion as any good slave should.  Neneko is the plain girl best friend with a secret crush and then another DearS (Miu) is thrown in for good measure.  Their teacher is a horny lady who fondles herself and is pure fan-service material.

Ren does a little cleavage-check on Miu.  Ren wins ;)

I found this show to be a pretty typical harem anime with a few good moments, some amusing comedy, an above-average amount of fan-service, and mildly endearing characters.  Ren and Neneko were great, I was pissed at Takeya when he was a jerk to Ren, and the whole DearS situation was kinda lame without a definitive ending.  Nothing new or surprising happened in this show and I can't give it a big recommendation to anyone who is not into fan-service. It kind of felt like a retread of Chobits, but without a compelling mystery, and involving aliens instead of human-shaped personal computers.  Entertaining, but nothing special.  

Takeya's mom and sister talk about moving back to Japan from America
while completely naked in a hot tub (of course!)

TO BUY and Recommendations: