I've given these shows a fair trial. In truth, none of them are unwatchably bad. I could go on watching them for many weeks to come. But what's the use? It's evident that the shows will never amount to anything no matter how much time they're given. They're too centered on sex to be serious about anything else. Grisaia no Kajitsu is a freaking eroge, but it was never as coarse or in-your-face all sex all the time as these shows are.
To Love-ru is special in that it can get away with 'all sex all the time.' This is because the art is great, the plot is great, the characters are adorable, the humor is top class, the romance still shines through beneath it all, and basically To Love-ru is God. The laws that apply to mere mortals do not apply to God. If you can write as well as the author of To Love-ru, and draw as well as the illustrator, you can do whatever you want. I will just surrender and watch with rapt eyes at what they'll think up next. However, for anyone who lacks the talent of To Love-ru's tag-team, putting sex front and center in all scenes at all times is a horrid attempt at storytelling.
Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai made the same mistake. It had its share of ecchi moments and harem nonsense. But that wasn't the core of their mistake. The core of their mistake was making the show about nothing. A guy with no problems coasts through life using magic that was freely given to him through no effort or merit of his own. How do you make a story out of that? I assume the visual novel was much better, because it was rated as the best visual novel of the year. This wouldn't be the first time a visual novel's anime adaptation has butchered the source. But it's still unforgivable. How do you go nine episodes without saying or doing anything? The only thing Daitoshokan had was cute girls. It was just as vapid and pointless as Shinmai or Seiken's constant breast service.
Junketsu no Maria has its own share of dumb sex jokes, but the larger problem here is that it's depicting an entire cast of awful, evil scum as their main characters. A good story can't afford for even its villains to be bad people. They're far more interesting to watch and observe when the villains are cool people in their own right. How much worse is it when even the heroes are all worthless scum? Sex crazed bully succubus/incubus pair are awful. The angels who just sit around as people suffer are unforgivable scum. The priests who go around persecuting innocent people while chanting how loving and holy they are are scum. The worthless mercenaries in the battles are scum. The stupid peasants who believe what the Church says are scum. And in the midst of all this Maria alone is the only sane character, but obviously she's powerless to stop the human wave of filth that makes up the rest of this world. This story is just too depressing to watch. It may be a little more intellectual than Seiken or Shinmai, but what use is it when its setting is the darkest era in European history?
In order to save time and mental health points, it's better to just give up when a show isn't working, rather than trudging on and on through an endless swamp of 'watchable' material. I made that mistake with Mouretsu Pirates. Ugh. So here's my new 'looking forward to this week' list:
1. Shirobako
2. Go! Princess Pretty Cure
3. Assassination Classroom
4. The Idolm@ster: Cinderalla Girls
5. Juuou Mujin no Fafnir
6. One Piece
7. Dragon Ball Kai Buu
8. Sailor Moon
9. Naruto
10. Durara Shou
11. Akatsuki no Yona
12. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders
13. Koufuku Graffiti
14. Sengoku Musou
15. Fairy Tail
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