Title: Val X Love: Complete Collection

Director: Takashi Naoya

Screenplay Writer: Tatsuya Takahashi

Music: TECHNOBOYS PULCRAFT GREEN-FUND

Studio: Hoods Entertainment

U. S. Release Date: Nov. 17th, 2020

U. S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23

Format: Blu-ray / 12 Episodes / 300 Minutes

Genre: Fantasy, Fan Service, Comedy, Harem

Age Rating: TV MA

Overall Personal Rating: C+

Synopsis:

Takuma Akutsu is not an attractive guy. In fact, his hulking size and ugly face have earned him the nickname “demon”, which is ironic since all he really wants is to be left alone. But you know who never pays attention to what people want? The King of the Gods, Odin, who decides that Takuma is the one person who can save Earth from complete destruction.

As a result, Takuma finds his school, class and home all infiltrated by Odin’s nine luscious Valkyrie daughters and, in order to become the Army of One that Odin seeks, Takuma has to use love to forge the Valkyrie’s maidenly powers into the ultimate force for saving the world. Yeah, no pressure there, right? Can Takuma man up and ride all nine Valkyries to save the Earth?

Commentary:

As harem anime go this is as basic a series as you can find. The basis of the story is unremarkable and the execution is average at best. In the first episode I understood what was going to happen and with little exception I was not surprised. I understand who the audience is and why there is such a strong following for these harem series, but I fail to understand why there are so many average series made. It is as if the writers can’t think of anything that would make the story more interesting and the directors have no idea how to push the production and creation to higher levels.

I have become a little more jaded and think that series like Val X Love is only about a quick money grab. While watching the series I found myself reimagining it in so many different ways that I found myself distracted by my own thoughts. This discraction never bodes well for any show that wants to keep your attention.

Overall Grade: C+

The only strong point to the series is the overall production quality. I found the animation to be a little better than I would expect for a simple harem anime like Val X Love. The fact that it was so very clear what was about to expire once the first episode aired I just had a hard time keeping my focus and found the earlier episodes very tedious. It wasn’t until the later episodes that I was more entertained and thought that there was some real redemption.

If basic harem anime are your sweet spot then Val X Love is a winner for you. If you are looking for something that will give you something more than the simple story Val X Love provides then you should look elsewhere.

Val X Love is a textbook example of a harem anime and should be watched as something meant to provide the standard trope that goes along with that story line.