Forum - View topicREVIEW: Tales of Wedding Rings Episodes 1-12 Streaming Anime Review
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Glordit
 Posts: 461 |
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They had to spend all 12 episodes capturing Pokémon for the harem so they could fight with them in season 2!!
This was as generic as a fantasy harem can get, it could have been so much better. I'll probably watch season 2, at the hopes that it somehow improves. |
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chrisb
 Subscriber Posts: 617 Location: USA |
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I was so bummed since the manga was done by creator of Dusk Maiden of Amnesia. I was expecting a nice twist or two but got NOTHING.
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Jabootu
Posts: 68 |
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Re: Ring Wives. Utterly boring. The show really offers nothing to repay one's attention, although I made it about halfway through or more before I just dropped the show in despair of it ever improving.
The most irksome thing is that even in the latter episodes I saw Satou and HIme were STILL doing the red-faced "ka-ka-ka-kisssss?!!!" thing. Look, I hardly need male heroes to act like womanizing Chads so I can pump my first and yell "Boo-yah!" But we have two healthy teens, one of them a fantasy princess saved from a loveless marriage because the guy she loved traveled across worlds to be with her. She loves him. He loves her. And, so yeah, they have to be intimate in order to save the world. Is it supposed to be entertaining that this gets them so flustered? Look, if Satou, say, couldn't perform because the fate of the world was on his shoulders, or Hime had, I don't know, an actual reason to get so flustered all the time (say she did end up in the loveless marriage and had to do stuff with that guy), fine, good writing could make that work. But man, there is no good writing here. Again, I get that not everyone in the real world jumps in the sack at the drop of a hat, and in fact you can put me in that club. But these two characters? It just doesn't make sense and it was increasingly annoying to see the whole thing being dragged out. Last edited by Jabootu on Fri Mar 29, 2024 6:53 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18191 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Nick's evaluation of the series is perfectly in line with mine. It was certainly the worst of the series I actually finished in the Winter season, with the mostly-uncensored fan service being its only saving grace.
I've quite liked the other two titles created by manga-ka Maybe, so I'll give the second season a chance to see if it does better now that the whole cast has been introduced. But after seeing the first season, I don't have high hopes. |
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Shay Guy
 Posts: 2123 |
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I do have fond memories of the Lord of the Wedding Rings manga as a guilty pleasure, but yeah, in a post-Hyakkano world, the "Hime and Hime alone, other girls are hangers-on" approach leaves something to be desired. With Satou's starting point, it seems like the natural arc for him would be learning to stop worrying and love the harem -- him and Hime accepting that he can and maybe should build real romantic relationships with the other girls instead of freezing them out, and it doesn't make the two of them any less important and special to each other. Have Hime develop one or two of her own relationships with them, too -- embrace the yuri, it's perfect for the kind of trashy fun this series wants to be (as, again, Hyakkano well understands). Pay some lip service to themes of "there's lots of ways girls can be wonderful" along the way.
Like, there's plenty of romances where the guy has some reason at first for not going after the girl, and eventually changes his mind. "I don't want a girlfriend, I need to spend my time studying to get into a top university!" "I don't want that girl, I already like this other girl!" For harem purposes, a natural evolution of that is "I don't want that girl, I'm already in a committed relationship with this other girl!" …Which is kinda how the manga Honeymoon Salad goes, come to think of it. And of course, I'm sure it doesn't help that this adaptation seems to suffer all the production problems endemic to anime these days. Going by screenshots, that is -- I've been choosy enough in my own viewing that I've managed to avoid most of that. Looking at an episode 12 synopsis on another site, and the Fandom wiki's volume summaries, it looks like this cour adapted the first five, maybe five and a half volumes. Yeah, that's too much. |
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Andrew Cunningham
 Posts: 443 Location: Seattle |
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I'm the translator of the manga, which has been consistently a bit better than it should be on paper--and the anime adaption has largely wrung that right back out.
Primarily they've upped Sato's weenie quotient to try and sell the laughs, but this just makes it all seem like generic harem hijinks. While in the manga these same scenes have a pretty solid dramatic undercurrent, where he's trying to navigate a delicate relationship situation without hurting anyone, while there's a ton of pressure on everyone to move faster than they're really ready to. |
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Covnam
 Posts: 3651 |
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Yeah, I'd probably give this a C at best. I didn't mind the rush through the countries since it made sense for the plot, but hopefully now that he's "got 'em all" there can be some more world building/exploration in the second season as it seems like there could be some good stories in this world. The cat country being a giant wagon train was an interesting concept for instance.
The lack of progress with Hime was expected, but disappointing. Once they were alone in the regular world, I was hoping the typical tropes would be left behind. Speaking of, I think it would have been far more interesting to have the cast stuck in Japan for 6+ months instead of the week or so it seems they were. Lots of chances for character development if everyone has to deal with the potential of being stuck there forever that an extended period could force these characters to face. Have to give some credit to it being streamed uncensored (and one of (at least?) 3 this season!) and going with the decision to not hold back on nudity over the steam that the manga used (at least in a quick comparison check). |
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SteelBlaidd
Posts: 25 |
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Your work is very appreciated As I read the series Saitou and Hime are supposed to be carrying more of the drama. It's the other girls (and grampa) that carry the bulk of the comedy. Trying to shift it on to the central couples shoulders obscures the emotional turmoil that Hime is feeling, because as soon as she's had her turn then that removes her main weapon against the other princesses taking theirs, and that Saito's main objections are things like having to perform before an audience and wanting a little bit of romance. |
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Rosiero
Posts: 116 |
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Thank you very much--both for translating the manga, and for pointing this out. I very much agree that the manga is superior. |
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thecritter
Posts: 68 Location: Northwest GA |
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I had looked forward to this because I enjoy the source manga, but a few factors ruined it for me. Bad animation. Poor pacing. The inevitable screeching, maddening voice acting of the male lead and Hime's grandfather every time there's either a surprise or an embarrassing moment. They should be ashamed, or at least the voice director should.
It's almost as if this series became a refuge for B and C grade artists, animators, character designers, and voice actors. There was good potential here, but it was squandered by all the mediocrity at every level. I saw a few days back that a second season had been approved. I hope they pull things together better. The source material deserves better than this. |
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MFrontier
Posts: 11221 |
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I thought this show was quite fun. I mean, it's a show that pretty much advertises that you're getting what you came for and I feel like it delivers that fairly well as far as Battle Harem Fantasy goes, and being pretty straightforward direct about it when it comes to the characters, romance, and fanservice.
Marse is one of the best Bro characters in this genre, especially for getting his own character arc. All the girls are likeable in their own way to me. I also like how straightforward Satou and Hime's feelings for each other are even if it also interferes with the Harem dynamic, but I find that novel in and of itself. Though I can see how some might find it frustrating, but I think season 2 might end up improving on that. Obviously the production values aren't stellar but I think they were pretty serviceable.
To be fair they do end up kissing quite a bit and over time become more open to sexual intimacy (even if they end up getting cockblocked or cockblocking themselves).
Thank you for your work! |
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JustMonika
Posts: 965 |
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One of my favorites of the season. Can't wait for season 2!
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SinisterOracle
Posts: 187 |
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I agree with everything in this review. My favorite part of this show was the background music. My second favorite was Satou being nude almost as much as the females. Although the fact he and Marse had no nipples was quite suspect.
Doubtful I’ll check out season two as I expect the bad animation and pacing will remain, similar to Hikari no Ou’s second season. |
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