Interspecies Reviewers is a 12 episode anime based on the manga. The first thing that would probably draw viewers is its sexual content. Yup, it’s almost there in terms of explicit content. Naturally, there is a lot of fan service and it doesn’t censor anything (unless it’s illegal), whether it’s the imagery or the dialogue. Surprisingly, the anime isn’t as shallow as that as it has rock solid humor and the premise works quite well.
It takes place in a world where all sorts of species exist: humans, beastmen, demons, angels, half-animals, elves, orcs etc. Whatever fantasy creature you can think of, it exists. And naturally as with everything, there are sexual drives, which naturally give rise to a healthy prostitution industry. The brothels are staffed by “succu-girls”, who has succubus blood in them (but everyone has succubus blood in them if you go back far enough).
Enter Stunk, a human, and Zel, an elf. These two has an insatiable lust, and their goal in life is to sleep with every single specie that they can lay their hands on. They save Crimviel, an angel, from an attacking monster, and immediately defiles him / her by taking him to a brothel. The trio has the bright idea of putting reviews of the brothels they visit, and trying with different species, onto the tavern’s notice board and it explodes in popularity. Earning quite a decent amount of coin from this, and them immensely enjoy what they do, they continue with their reviews.
The anime manages to leverage off the sexual content really well. It’s resists the temptation to just show off every kind of fetish. Although in a way, it is still achieving that as the trio touches on different kinds of exotic partners, from tentacle girls to slime girls to minotaur girls. Yet their dialogue, their reviews, and their reactions (based on their personal preferences) are hilarious. Make no mistake, this is very much an adult show and its content is reflective of the disturbing psyche of its target audience, but at the same time, it’s strikes true with its pointed humor.
As the season goes on, you might wonder how it can manage to keep things interesting and different. Well, it does that by showing off weirder and weirder things. It can eventually quite disturbing in its content, but it makes sense in the context that its world is populated by many different species, and each species has their own likes and dislikes. This makes Stunk, the only human character, the most relatable to the viewer and one of the most important characters. It’s also impressive that Stunk and Zel aren’t only filled with lust, but are actually capable fighters and adventurers on their own.
The anime can be clever in how it portrays the different species. Some are inherently hard, such as golems and will-o-wisps, but it also needs to make them attractive in order to make the context work. It doesn’t sexualise them or pretty them up with only a superficial redesign, but can be quite clever in what key elements it retains, so that it still feels very much like what it is supposed to, just more attractive.
While the anime cannot be called wholesome, it does have that same type of positive feeling and tone to it. There are no villains, nor does anything bad (that isn’t funny and easily gotten over with by the characters). Stunk and Zel soon corrupts Crim into being addicted to it as well, so the trio is always looking forward to the next establishment that they get to review. It shows that all parties are happy with it, and succubus industry is bustling in this world.
Perhaps the other draw to the anime is that it isn’t only about the sexual act, but throws in random bits and pieces about its world as well. We learn a bit about the politics of this world, the quirks of each species, and it’s these little things that makes it much easier to be absorbed into the world. Then there are the golden one-liners that are clever written, with enough innuendo to not state it explicitly, and are throw with such unexpectedness that you can’t help but laugh out loud.
Overall, Interspecies Reviewers is a surprisingly good anime. It was always going to target a niche audience given its content, and its approach to the content. Rather than an overabundance of pure fan-service that saturates the anime and becomes desensitising within a few episodes, it touches on some weird fetishes. Yet it does it in an engaging way with a fun spin on the quirks of each species it features. The characters are fun to watch with some really inventive scenarios. It has such an absurd concept, but managing to straddle away from being a hentai, manages to make it work.
----------------------------------------------------------