Search - Shuffle, Vol. 1 on DVD

Disappointing.

Meredith Hill | 04/02/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I just finished this disc and in retrospect the whole thing was... lame. All very cliche, boring stuff. I was pretty much drawn to it based on the cover (someone did their job well -_-) because of the cute girl with funny ears and sunflowers. That's basically all the show has going for it. The characters really aren't especially cute and they're all very plastic. I can accept an anime with sub par animation and a great story. I can accept an anime with stunning animation and a less than stellar story. But I can't accept Shuffle!'s mediocrity. I personally don't mind "harem" anime shows in general if done well (and I consider myself quite a feminist), but I can't stand when they make girls seem like utterly mindless robots without any emotion besides their unexplicable undying love for the protagonist (except for maybe a little sadness when they can't do something right for him. but not even jealousy/competitiveness towards each other!). Many of these types of shows are charming and show much more depth. This one has the charm and depth of a kiddie pool. It doesn't have any qualities that make it worth watching compared to similar series.

I'm giving it 2 stars because the reviews thus far are too positive (though 2 1/2 would suffice..). But really, I just want to reach anyone who is considering buying this. I was expecting better; I should have done my research. If you're looking for a real quality anime (or even for just a few laughs), don't bother with it unless you absolutely thrive on this type of anime despite how good or bad it is."

Choices......choices

Anime Lover | Parma, OH | 02/26/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It has been over 10 years since the gates to the heavens and the underworld has opened. Now it is not uncommon to see humans, gods (human like with elven ears), and demons (human like with ears like Ryoko of Tenchi fame) living, working, and going to school together. Ren is your typical high school boy with an unusual problem, he lives with the schools most beautiful and intelligent girl (Kaede) because his parents and her mom died in an accident and the other guys are very jealous forming the Knights for Kissing Kaede, or the KKK (no relation to the other version). Then two new girls are transferred to the school, Sia and Rin. Sia is a god and Rin is a demon and both of their fathers are the Kings of their respected realms. And both are in love with Ren, which of course makes the rest of the male population even MORE upset. Throw in Aya, another human who has known Ren as long as Kaede and Padoma, a demon girl who is attached to Rin and therefore also attached to Ren, and his best friend who is a bit of a womanizer and you have the main cast of characters. So you have one guy, five girls, and a couple of ultra powerful fathers, and one very difficult choice you get a very entertaining storyline....WHO WOULD YOU PICK????

This disk was entertaining from the get go. The dubbing is great and story gets you hooked right from the start. Watching the fathers get out of trouble with the teacher in episode one and four is great and seeing Sia club her father when he gets out of hand is worth watching. see you next disk"

Worth watching but, I wouldn't go out my way to see it.

maskedgamer | 03/09/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The beginning episodes are very goofy and light hearted. They are meant to be fun and believe me far from reality. This is an anime when girls actually fall for the "nice guy" and as we all know "nice guys" are not the type of men that women chase after. The main character Rin is as nice as they come, and for the most part is lacks qualities that most women would find attactive. He is indecisive,cowardly, easily manipulated, affraid of hurting others feelings so he alows himself to get manipulated. He is too sensitive, He doesn't stick up for himself, and is always apologizing for everything that upsets anyone. He is ideally what women do not want. However, in this Anime this nice guy "Rin" finished first. He has his pick of the litter and just about every girl wants him.

The anime really plays around with this concept and for the most part is is very entertaining. Sometime however it is a bit disgusting. Especially with the Primula character who is supposed to be a young girl, but most of the time is placed at the center of sex jokes, which really is kind of disturbing considering she really is an innocent childlike character in the Anime. I didn't really find those parts funny or sexy...mostly just strange and made me question if I wanted to see the other episodes. One I saw that the first Volume was just fun and games, I was in for a shocker when I got deeper into the anime. You get to take a closer look into the lives of the girls and get to see that Beauty is only skin deep and not everything is what is seems. Each of the girls have their skeletons, and we get a chance to meet them all.

This part of the Anime is what made it very real and extremely realistic, no matter how over the top the Anime was at times. In earlier episodes we watch these beautiful girls fight over Rin but then we get to see each of their real flaws,and who they truly were. We learn that some of them have serious problems from low selfesteem, to regret, to shame, to the downright phsychotic. Just like in real life dating and meeting women, no matter how beatiful they are, they all have their problems. Things aren't always as they seem, and this pretty much is the same note the rest of the series takes off on. I liked watching the anime, but like I said I wouldn't break my neck to watch it. The character of Rin, and his uncanny ability to attract so many females with his many flaws just always seemed like a downer to this Anime. Had he been designed as a more believable character with traits that you could imagine in the slightest bit seeing women being attracted to this anime may have been better, but it just didn't hit it off for me."