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[Shukufuku no Campanella]
AKA: 祝福のカンパネラ (The Blessing of La Campanella)
Genre: JRPG Knock-off
Length: Television series, 12 episodes, 24 minutes minutes each
Distributor: Available to stream courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment
Content Rating: 13+ (Nudity)
Related Series: There is an OVA episode, which I prefer. It's so stupid it actually ended up being quite amusing.
Also Recommended: Dog Days, Koihime Musou, Tales of Symphonia
Notes: Shukufuku no Campanella was originally an adult Japanese visual novel developed by Windmill and released for Windows.
Rating:

Shukufuku no Campanella

Synopsis

The story takes place in a trading city Ert'Aria. Leicester Maycraft is an item engineer belonging to an adventurer guild "Oasis". One night, he is at a party with his friends to see a meteor stream on the rooftop of a chapel. One meteor grazes them and hits the steeple of the chapel. There he finds a secret room and a sleeping girl. The girl wakes up and says, "You must be my father!" The encounter with the mysterious girl brings an unexpected adventure to Leicester.

(Source MAL)


Review

Positive things first: the Tortilla Sisters and Golem.

And for the negative things...

Let me be honest, I can count on two fingers how many adult visual novel adaptations I've come across that are honestly worth watching (and that's tentatively counting Fate/Stay Night of all things with the other honest example being YamiBou) and I'm sure most of you have had a similar experience. I have heard rumblings that Koihime Musou isn't too bad but also that it is a series that never raises its head above being a silly fanservice vehicle with little to no plot worth considering. Oh how I wish that Shukufuku no Campanella did the same! There is nothing fun about this show, nothing remotely entertaining aside from the occasional splash of comic relief from the Tortilla Sisters or Golem and even then, I wouldn't even consider that a positive in even a semi-decent show.

Let me just run through it. The world is boring. The show barely has the presence of mind even to parody itself and it would be so incredibly easy considering how bland it all is. Adventurers, guilds, some sort of mana system I barely care to remember and the characters might as well be wandering around with character classes with how clichéd they are (maybe they did, who knows?). Another problem is that the 'plot' (for a serious lack of a better term) is almost an aside to the main thrust of the series that consists mostly of random activities, which are as enjoyable as repeatedly hitting your hand with a hammer but half as interesting. The actual plot when it finally does arrive is generic; the new girl is special, they protect her, she's kidnapped and so on and so forth. The show makes no effort, ever, to do anything remotely adventurous or different to such an extent that it embraces its mediocrity so tightly that it slips through its arms like soap, letting the show fall face first into the floor, never to rise.

The characters are pretty painful too. Everyone loves Leicester and, yes, I'm pretty sure some of the guys are lusting after him by the end of the show. I know he is a harem lead but he loses to Kio from Asobi ni Iku yo! in the personality department and that is like losing to Keanu Reeves at the Oscars or to a garden shed. Most of the characters are 'nice' which only adds to the generic harmlessness that this series embraces. Everything is playful, everything is nice and occasionally the girls will get their tops off. The creepy lolicon aspect of the Leicester (why call him after an English city?) and Minette relationship is also incredibly off-putting but maybe that is just me. Have her call him father, Shukufuku, I don't care, but you're fooling nobody - especially with your origins.

I would talk about the characters more individually but I'm afraid I'd only bore you are much as they bore me. They do include, though; childhood friend, lolicon, genki and the list goes on. His mum is another odd example, looking no older than he does and gleefully fills another 'demographic' amongst the community 'who like that sort of thing'. Sadly, for you ecchi fans out there, there really isn't much here for you here either. This isn't Queen's Blade or Koihime Musou where there is a bare pair of breasts at least once per episode and so it isn't even worth you guys' time to wade through this nonsense. To be honest, I struggle to think of any reason why any of you would want to watch this.

Not particularly offensive or repellent but so lacking in merit that it isn't worth anyone's time. Not even the adequate comic relief of the Tortilla Sisters and Golem can give this show another star.Aiden Foote

Recommended Audience: Not really appropriate for anyone with an IQ in double figures, but the occasional topless scene means it's definitely not for the kids in any case.



Version(s) Viewed: Digital source, censored version
Review Status: Full (12/12)
Shukufuku no Campanella © 2010 Windmill・La Campanella della Benedizione Production Committee
 
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