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[Darling box art]
AKA: N/A
Genre: Hentai comedy
Length: OAV, 3 episodes, 30 minutes each
Distributor: R1 DVD from Kitty Media
Content Rating: MA/18+ (full frontal nudity, explicit sex, violence)
Related Series: N/A
Also Recommended: Buttobi CPU, Golden Boy, Ogenki Clinic
Notes: Based on a hentai game of the same name released in 2001 by Cherry Soft.
Rating:

Darling

Synopsis

Jun is an erotic manga artist who is put on the ultimate test as he agrees to an almost impossible task: to make a huge amount of manga in an impossibly short time. And impossible this would have been if not for his special ability; the "Hyper Erection Mode", which allows him to work at an incredible pace.

Still, this won't be an easy task. Will Jun be up to it? He will, if his lovely wife has anything to say about it. She will go through rain, snow, and heaps of cosplay shops to help him find his inspiration.


Review

And that's not all she does. But then, this is hentai -- and she IS his wife and assistant -- so what do you expect?

To be honest, I wasn't sure what to think of this one. The plot sounds ... well, to be blunt, stupid. Still, I heard (read) good words about this one, so I gave it a chance.

The beginning made me feel somewhat ill at ease. Part of that might have been because I had seen the gorgeously animated Moonlight Lady, making this one seem rather pedestrian at first. It also starts out with the two main characters' wedding and the two practically GUSHING at each other.

The main plot (if you can call it much of one) doesn't take long to start, however. Granted, it is pretty daft stuff, but it immediately introduced me to the strangeness that is Darling. The main meat of the plot, if you'll forgive me the slightly corny pun here, is basically Jun and his wife going somewhere to find inspiration for one of the stories they plan for the manga, striking gold and heading off for home to start working on the manga.

Enter the "Hyper Erection Mode".

Yes, you see, as long as Jun is aroused, he can work at a breakneck pace. And when you have a wife who is more than happy to do cosplays and whatever for you, you got the recipe for a lot of oddball fantasies. Strangely fitting, considering his line of work, right?

And that's the other main part of the story. The ... ah, ANIMATED versions of the manga Jun's making. And what a collection we have. From Chinese secret agents being captured by the enemy and ... er, interrogated. And then, there's the doctorate student getting his first ... taste of medical ... er, procedure, which gives birth to the line "Nurse, could you please clean my instrument." And speaking of instruments, that's one of the other fantasies. A female music student meets up with her teacher, and both of them start putting trumpets and clarinets to novel uses. And I laughed a lot, if somewhat disbelievingly at times. Yes, it's incredibly corny stuff, but it works, if only on a somewhat satirical level. (Even though that was probably not the OAV's original intent.)

Anyway, I've already made you aware that the characterizations of nurses have been covered, though I'm sure you would not be surprised if I told you that there's a little section for the maid fetishists as well. The sci-fi part, much to my consternation, does lead to what appeared to be a tentacle assault. Luckily, it is cut short before really getting started. (So to speak.)

For all my initial worries, the art and animation turned out to be quite good. Awfully fluffy at times, as should be expected on a title that delves heavily into the topic of cosplaying. The dub is also quite good, though the lines are your typical corny hentai stuff. Since this is mainly lighthearted goofery, one shouldn't expect much in the way of characterization or plot advancements (though the main characters ARE lovable in their own way). What one SHOULD expect, though, is a lot of random nonsense sprinkled with the full-blown hentai scenes. (No pun intended.) It's not great, but neither is it particularly bad or even just mediocre. It's ninety minutes of oddball, corny fun that lands it straight in the middle of the road to hentai city.

Not necessarily a good buy, it IS a good watch if you're into random nonsense.Stig Høgset

Recommended Audience: Well, there's explicit sex scenes and some sexual assaults played out from the mind of your typical hentai manga artist. As such, this title limits itself to adults only. There is also a minor martial arts fight scene at the first ... er, fantasy. It's not particularly violent or bloody, though, so it's no big deal.



Version(s) Viewed: R1 DVD
Review Status: Full (3/3)
Darling © 2003 Cherry Soft
 
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