The Hentai Prince and the Stony Cat Review (Madman – 2015)

The Hentai Prince and the Stony Cat is a 2013 anime series written by Michiko Ito and developed by Japanese studio, J.C Staff. The DVD series collection, licensed by Madman Entertainment, released in New Zealand in 2015.

The anime follows Yokodera, a high school student who also happens to be the biggest pervert in town, and Tsukiko, his junior. Yokodera has a one track mind focused solely on girls, from their soft and sweet femininity to the outline of their bodies through to see-through clothing. However, this isn’t a problem to him. Instead, he believes that the issue is due to his inability to drop his emotionless façade when attempting to lie his way out of being caught out for his indiscretions.

Tsukiko, on the other hand, believes that her problem is being childish and emotional, blurting out whatever comes to mind without much thought. The solution they both find is to visit the Stony Cat statue, which is said to have the ability to remove an unwanted personality trait. The only catch, that personality trait doesn’t just get taken away, it’s given to someone else who is in need of that trait. As a result, Yokodera can no longer stop himself from saying exactly what’s on his mind and Tsukiko has lost all ability to express emotions. The only way to return to normal is to find the person their personality trait was given to.

Anime has always taken what should be impossible and turned it into something that becomes completely natural. The Stony Cat is a perfect example. Who would actually believe that making an offering to a cat statue would mean your one wish will be granted? In an ideal world, this would be the perfect solution to mankind’s many problems. Another question I had was, who would openly admit and be proud of being a pervert?

This anime was certainly different to ones I’ve seen in the past. It is very much a harem style anime, wherein there is one main male character with a number of female characters who end up falling for him. Harem style animes aren’t for everyone. Some can be done very well and incorporate humour and sometimes even some dramatic moments that pull you in.

Others are blatantly sexual, with excessive amounts of nudity (or fan service as anime fans refer to it) and innuendo that often times is pointless. This anime is sexually charged but does so in a not-so-in-your-face manner which I appreciated.

Throughout the anime I was slightly irritated by Yokodera’s lack of tact but I suppose this is exactly what the creators intended.

The good thing is that Yokodera has a very redeemable quality in that he is a kind hearted and an extremely caring guy. He may be a pervert but at least he’s a good friend. Tsukiko, on the other hand was unnerving due to her lack of expression. I’m not sure about others but I certainly don’t respond well to a monotonous tone and personality. Again, for me to feel that way means the creators did a good job in portraying Tsukiko exactly the way they intended, as a girl who really needs her expressions back.

Another thing that bothered me was the character of Azusa, who plays a snobby girl who really is just a loner in desperate need of friends. She’s important to the plot for a few episodes, after which she becomes just another girl with feelings for Yokodera. A bit more character development would have been helped but this isn’t the kind of anime where you need a well thought out character journey to drive the anime.

Speaking of character development, the anime took me completely by surprise with the character of Tsukushi, Tsukiko’s older sister and the captain of the track team. She’s first introduced as a no nonsense captain who’s always on Yokodera’s case and it is quickly revealed that she keeps her distance from her sister, wanting to break their sisterly bonds, something Tsukiko desperately tries to change by wanting to become more mature and less of a cry-baby.

Yokodera takes on the protective older brother role and tries to save the sisters’ relationship. This is where what I believed was a good plot line turned into something more peculiar and slightly disturbing. Tsukushi reveals the real reason she wants to break her sisterly bonds with Tsukiko and the reason is one that you’ll never imagine.

I won’t spoil it for you but this was the point where the anime really became interesting and made me curious as to how everything would play out between the characters.

When it comes to selecting an anime to watch, art style is of particular importance, to me at least. I find that I enjoy anime a lot more when the characters look more realistic and there is a lot of colour and detail in terms of the anime art. The Hentai Prince and the Stony Cat’s art style seemed very simple and basic to me, with the characters’ eyes being way too huge for my liking. I found that I just could not take them seriously.

If you’re fussy about how visually impressive something is then this anime will be slightly disappointing. That is not to say that the art style is bad. On the contrary, the art is satisfactory but that’s about it.

All in all, I wasn’t too taken with this anime.

In comparison to other animes I have watched, The Hentai Prince and the Stony Cat lacks pizazz and a storyline that’s enticing and gripping. Instead it is a more light hearted anime that takes the idea that girls are all that high school boys think of a bit too far and portrays some of the female characters as cool and fascinating up until they fall for the main male character. A harem anime is just that, a harem anime.

If you are into that sort of thing then I would recommend this anime to you. If you watch anime for the plot, well, then I’d suggest you look elsewhere.

*For more pop culture and anime rantings and reviews, check out my blog, The Vanguard.