Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!
Alternate Titles: Binan Kōkō Chikyū Bōei-bu Love!
This show was made for Sailor Moon fans.
Wait, what did I just say?
No seriously, it was… And I’m going to prove it to you.
The show starts off with a magical pink wombat falling from space and telling five pretty boys that they are going to be magical warriors for love. As they’re learning what this means an anti-love monster appears, a monster that you quickly learn was created by an equally ridiculously clad opposing group.
The five boys then go through magical transformation sequences, that’ll have you laughing instantly as they kiss their magic bracelets and proudly proclaim “love making!” to become the Earth Defense Club. Ensue spinning, rainbows, hearts, and a magical transformation sequence that’s actually better than the recent Sailor Moon reboot. Within the first few episodes those who have a special place in their heart for the nostalgia of magical girls will be squealing and roaring with laughter.
That’s because Cute High Earth Defense Club Love knows exactly the type of show it is and at the same time has some great things to say about the genre. What “The Daily Show” is to news programming “Cute High Earth Defense Club Love” is to the magical girl genre. It takes everything you’re familiar with and turns it on its head. It embraces the ridiculous and makes a point to laugh at almost every trope.
Even the characters make it a point to frequently break the fourth wall and give a wink at the audience in the first four to six episodes. They comment on how silly their costumes are, how ridiculous their moves are, and how things just work because “hey we’re magical now, we guess.”
The episodes themselves follow a familiar format. The characters you know and love are met with an internal problem, a random monster appears spawned by another person with a problem whose heart is closed to love, the boys transform, say their lines, use their magical powers, and then save the day. The “bad guys” lament on how they were foiled yet again – those dastardly Defense Club boys! – and live onto the next episode.
When I watched the first episode of this show I was loosing my shit, for lack of a better term, right off the bat. This show feels like a bunch of guys – or girls? – got together, had a couple drinks and said, “woah, woah, what if-WHAT IF-we made a show with MAGICAL BOYS?!” and you get to feel like you’re at that table with them imagining all the crazy hyjinks that you could come up with for such a concept.
The characters are appropriately tropes, rather than “characters.” There’s basically no backstory to speak of and no development. But it makes the “pick up and go” aspect of the story much easier as a result. You have Yumoto the really eager rape cuddler (that got a little creepy). There’s En, the “cool guy” type. Atsushi, the “glasses wearing” type. Io, the smart entrepreneur who’s always focused on the bottom line. And finally Ryuu, the cheerful sporty bishonen.
Equally their opponents are bishonen.
In fact, there’s a complete lack of girls in this whole show. The ONE beach episode that there was ended up being shades of boys love as the characters ended up at a possibly gay muscle beach. For a show that feels like it was made by women, for women, it’s worth noting that the director was a man! The director, Shinji Takamatsu, has directed everything from Gintama, to School Rumble, to the 1996 After War Gundam X. The chief character designer and animator was a woman, but that’s the most notable female on the staff.
The problem with Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE! is the fact that it’s an idea that you get about five episodes in and then nothing changes. It’s the same thing magical girl/monster of the week shows suffer from, formula issues. That repetition clearly works for some, but it can begin to feel dragging and LOVE! is no exception.
After the novelty of the concept wears off and you see the boys in a few various settings, from being turned into kids, to the beach episode, to the obligatory “the club could be disbanded” episode, you know how everything’s going to play out and that shiny glossy charm of “OMG IT’S MAGICAL BOYS” wears off.
For me, this came around episode 7, which, when I consider that, is actually pretty good. So, I give it some credit. The show sets a course, tells you what you’re in for, and then continues the course until the last episode and a half when they wrap it up with a fun little twist that’s appropriately dumb.
And, I think that’s a fair way to wrap up the review: “Appropriately Dumb.”
This show has its laugh, it’s fun moments, and it’s completely transparent with the viewer. I give it novelty and amusement points, but deduct the usual points for all lack of substance. It’s not stunning looking and the music is average and show-appropriate. But, it was far more amusing in what it was doing than just a random romp we’ve seen 100 times. It was a random romp we’ve seen 100 times done in a completely new way.
As I said, it’s the perfect show for Sailor Moon fans because it’ll evoke nostalgia for Sailor Moon in a crazy fun and novel way that makes you admit to how ridiculous all the magical girl series really are. This is the perfect show for guys and girls, for different reasons, and I think it’s a great “party” anime. When you have a bunch of friends over and you can watch an episode, laugh at how ridiculous it is, have fun, but then play cards against humanity as it plays in the background. It feels like something I would’ve watched in college.
It’s an easy 3.5 magical boy transformation sequences. Nothing amazing, but above average for the amusement factor. This is a show I recommend at least the first episode of for the sheer ridiculousness of it. If you like that, you’ll like the rest.
[Starrater]
