Based on a manga by Peach-Pit, DearS was available in Japan in the Dengeki Comic Gao magazine on a monthly basis and here in the states we can read the manga thanks to Tokyopop. As with a lot of popular manga, DearS got the conversion into an anime series last year and has finally found its way overseas to the U.S. thanks to Geneon.

The anime (much like the manga) features several commonplace standards from large-eyed big-breasted alien girls to a guy victimized by an obsessive and attractive girl and the show even has an obnoxiously cute cat girl. There are a lot of unique things going for this show, but with several "been there, done that" scenarios floating around it has a hard time setting itself apart from the rest of the pack.

I was only able to take a look at the first release of the series, so character development hasn't really occurred yet not has a really interesting story. Sure, there are a lot of hilarious bits blended with snippets of intrigue, but this volume doesn't offer enough in terms of story to really set things in motion for this relatively short show. In Japan it aired with only twelve episodes, but the DVD release of the series will feature thirteen. Most anime that even have as many as 26 episodes have character development and the foundation for a story laid down in the first volume.

The show focuses on the life of a high school student named Takeya as he goes about his business and we learn of his great dislike for the DearS. It seems that exactly one year ago an alien ship crashed on Earth and it was filled with a race of beautiful aliens that became affectionately known as DearS. There were apparently only 150 of them, but they quickly were assimilated into the culture and adored by everyone as goddesses. That's kind of ironic considering they apparently live to serve and their relationships tend to be that of master and slave.

Anyways, one day Takeya is walking home when he sees a girl (Ren) in a cloak off to the side of the road so he stops to see if she's ok. Well, it turns out that not only is she a DearS, but she's also buck naked aside from a collar around her neck. This is where Takeya's life gets muddled as he becomes her master despite his unwillingness to accept it. Things get even more mucked up when his friends find out about her and even more DearS come to town.

While there are a lot of very amusing interactions between Takeya and Ren, their relationship never really elevates beyond predictable considering we've all seen scenarios like this before in anime. Things get funnier though when his friend Neneko walks in on him and a nearly nude Ren, who constantly refers to him as master. One has to wonder if the creators for this anime weren't trying to compensate for something by having beautiful women for slaves that obey your every command and even do all of the housework. It's kind of a sexist view, but they're aliens and it just appears to be their nature, so we'll roll with it.

Aside from a very likeable (if not standard) cast of characters there are quite a few irritating ones as well. Takeya's school chum come to mind as he smuggles in porn for him to watch, there's an annoying cat girl that says "nya" way too much but probably the most irritating character here is the teacher. She is an oversexed freak and the first time we see her she's in front of the class wearing lingerie, not to mention the only thing she seems to teach is how to read exotic material. You'd think that Takeya's porn hound friend would be excited about this prospect, but all he does is gripe about sexual harassment.

Despite the bright bubbly characters, goofy amusing animations and overall kiddy look, DearS is an extremely sexed up show. As if the teacher wasn't enough, Ren is constantly getting naked (though you never quite see anything) and there is an amazing amount of breast squeezing. Whether they're groping their own breasts or someone else's, there's more squeezing here than an old lady searching for a good cantaloupe at a farmer's market.

I realized by the end of the fourth episode that while I had a good time watching the show and had a few laughs, I wasn't treated with anything more than fan service. The style of the anime, the storyline and the characters gave me an overwhelming sense that I had sat down and watched this show before. Even so I am looking forward to see where DearS goes as a series and hope that it finds itself in the coming volumes.

DearS Volume 1: 1st Contact is presented in its original 1.33:1 full frame ratio and has a very clean transfer. A lot of the main issues stem from repeat animations and some various shortcuts in the animation process, but video quality is not really an issue since I noticed only small amounts of grain. I particularly liked the art direction and overall style of DearS since it has a very upbeat vibe with strong uses of color and facial expressions.

DearS is presented with English and Japanese 2.0 soundtracks and forced English subtitles tossed into the mix for the Japanese track. Both tracks featured very good quality and despite the 2.0 aspect of the channels there is some directional sound used, though not much. I found both audio tracks to be competent and worthwhile and neither offended me with any bad voiceovers.

Geneon sure likes those credit-less openings as a special feature, but those wind up being nothing more than a glorified music video in that sense. Unlisted on the back of this volume of DearS, the disc also includes an Art Gallery with nine images featuring some character designs and illustrated shots from the DVD's packaging. Another aspect regarding the packaging is a reversible cover that is arguably naughtier than the regular one with partial nudity and groping.

DearS is a very upbeat, funny and potentially interesting show, but unfortunately this first volume suffers from some poor character development and an overwhelming sense that the show is trying to be too much like other anime. There is a lot of potential here for the series to improve, but with only nine episodes left will that happen before things end? I sincerely hope so, because I had a lot of fun watching the show, it just comes off as filler instead of something special and memorable. Rent It.

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