Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs

It’s become a cliché at this point to say just how powerful nostalgia is, but it’s all true. Once you get into your 30s, 40s, and beyond, you start to feel this longing for the things of your youth. Not just the most beloved things, but anything from your youth. My fellow boomers and I will dance to shit we HATED back in the 90s just because it’s from the 90s. Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs will set off an explosion of nostalgia for anyone who grew up watching shitty harem anime. This was made in 2018 but feels exactly like something that wouldhave come out in 2001. The Yuuna manga ran in Shonen Jump from 2016-2020 and really wanted to pay homage to the romcom mangaka of the past like Rumiko Takahashi and Ken Akamatsu. To be fair to Yuuna’s author, Tadahiro Miura, that’s exactly what this feels like. If you were to tell me that Ken and Rumiko met on vacation somewhere and made the first few chapters of this manga together, I would genuinely believe it! This is the story of a young man with spiritual powers named Kogarashi, who spent his childhood constantly getting possessed by ghosts. After the ghost of a failed day trader possessed him and made him go into crippling debt, he went into the countryside to find a Buddhist monk and master his psychic powers. After a few years of grueling training, Kogarashi is now a master exorcist and is OP as FUCK. When he hears about a haunted inn offering a room for dirt cheap, the utterly destitute Kogarashi shows up thinking it will be a quick exorcism and a peaceful life. Instead, the inn is home to a sexy ghost girl named Yuuna and a whole harem of supernatural babes. Unfortunately for this anime, audience tastes often change over time. The same show that would have sold 2 million DVDs and been a smash hit in 2001 was met with utter disdain in 2018. Funimation passed on it. Sentai passed. Aniplex got roped into licensing it, but then they just sat on the license and never released a dub or DVD/Bluray. Allegedly, this was after test audiences despised it. I can definitely see why Zoomers would hate this anime. This isn’t a “cool” ecchi like Mushoku where you can tell people you’re just into the magic system and the world building. This is the cringeworthy shit that your weird uncle that watches anime jerked off to 20 years ago. This is “guy slips on a banana peel and accidentally a grabs a boob” humor. In fact, there are SOO many scenes like that in Yuuna that it somehow becomes funny again! The fanservice in this show is relentless. Kogarashi is accidentally getting his face shoved into tits, ass, or vagina for what often feels like 30% of the runtime. It’s fucking insane! Despite all of this, I actually still loved this anime! Don’t worry, I’ll explain myself. So, what studio would put THIS amount of ass and titties in their anime? If you guessed Xebec, congratulations! You win a free trip to horny jail! This was one of the very last series that Xebec made before closing their doors forever. A fate that they shared around the same time as their longtime rival Studio Arms. Xebec burst onto the scene with the Love Hina anime and their entire history was mostly harem anime. These horny bastards did To Love-Ru, Shuffle, MM, Ladies Vs Butlers, Keijo, Mnemosyne, and a dozen others. This was their swansong and by God they wanted to go out showing as many titties as humanly possible. You know that really famous scene from Cinema Paradiso? The old film projectionist before he dies splices together all of the hundreds of romantic kiss scenes that the village priest forced him to cut out and it forms this beautiful compilation that represents his love for cinema and his life devoted to film. Well Yuuna is basically like that…only with titties. Xebec put in every single titty shot that they held back on in Shuffle and Love Hina and everything that came before. It is simply ludicrous how many titty shots are in this anime. I think you see every female character topless like 3 times every episode. This has to be the world record for a non-hentai anime. Interspecies Reviewers only has like maybe 1/4th as many titties as this show. Obviously watch the uncut version. Otherwise, what are you doing with your life? So why do I like this piece of shit? Firstly, a lot of the humor when not resorting to “oops I grabbed a booby” is actually funny. I was shocked that it managed to deliver so many genuinely clever gags. In one of my favorite episodes, Kogarashi is concerned about Yuuna’s lingering regret that’s keeping her bound to the Earth as a spirit. So, he takes her to an exclusive couple’s resort to try make her happy. He does this without thinking about the fact that nobody else can see her and everyone is going to think he’s just some loser who is SO lonely that he’s gone insane. The shenanigans that follow are quite hilarious. Part of what makes the humor work is that Kogarashi and Yuuna are actually likeable characters and their romantic chemistry together is sincerely good! As in better than 85% of romcom anime main couples. The side characters definitely borrow heavily from Love Hina and Ranma, but they manage to work. The cast has really solid comedic synergy and it makes every scene of them hanging out together enjoyable! Like their previous work on Shuffle, Xebec managed to squeeze in these really sweet moments that catch you completely off-guard because you’re just expecting some dumpster fire ecchi show. What is THIS? The anime that just showed me 300 mammaries in the last 15 minutes is actually making me feel things? So how does Yuuna compare to modern ecchi? I’m going to be honest here. Yuuna just beats the dog shit out of most modern ecchi anime. It’s not a fucking isekai. It’s not pretending to be better than what it actually is. Kogarashi isn’t just a “nice guy” who wants to help everyone around him with no ulterior motives. He’s much more than that. He’s also assertive, strong, and frankly admirable in his moral convictions. One girl desperately wants his seed because he’s super powerful and she will throw herself naked at him. He’ll calmly put her clothes back on and tell her that he’s only interested in doing that with the woman he loves. No nosebleed freak outs. No judgment. Just outright stating his feelings. Compared to most ecchi leads, Kogarashi is a fucking GigaChad. However, he also avoids being wish fulfillment bullshit. Kogarashi is not supposed to be us. He is an idealized positive example for young men to try living up to in the classic shonen sense. So many modern ecchi instead give us this lonely otaku who is “Just like me” but then he gains this power and starts desperately making up for all the ass he wasn’t getting in high school. Stories that mostly appeal to bitter, angry, single men in their 20s and 30s. That evolutionary tree within the ecchi family can pretty much directly be blamed on Rance, which led to Mushoku, which led to Shield Hero, Overlord, Redo of Healer, and SOO many others. I’m absolutely thrilled to see something that sprouted from the grandma Rumiko tree again. I’m sick to death of Rance and his offspring. Also, Yuuna is astoundingly wholesome compared to Higehiro, Domestic Girlfriend, Rent-A-Girlfriend, let alone anything from the Rance Family. The show with 500 boobies an episode is crushing modern ecchi in wholesomeness. That’s honestly very sad but it’s true. In conclusion, this absolutely should have received a dub and physical release in the US. If it really was a test audience that convinced Aniplex to do Yuuna dirty like that, I have something to say to them. In the immortal words of Michael Jordan, “Fuck them kids!” Yuuna frankly deserved WAY more love than it got back in 2018. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a masterpiece or anything. It is still kind of bad in some regards. Some of the running jokes do get a bit stale. The full-frontal nudity unfortunately extends to the 13-year-old innkeeper. Why Xebec? Why would you do this? The anime also left on a cliffhanger regarding Yuuna’s forgotten past that will never be resolved in anime form. The manga eventually answered all the questions, but this anime sure isn’t getting a second season. Yuuna does have some problems. However, this trashy ecchi is also worth your time. It’s only 12 episodes and it’s pretty damn enjoyable. I have to recommend this one.

Well, well, lookie what we have here. "It's the seasonal trash of harem and ecchi that has dawned on us again once in awhile!" I beg to differ, because of what this show has been, it was a time waster but yet did find a fairly good time watching this overall. Story (just for contextual reasons as it serves very little meaning thereafter): Kogarashi Fuyuzora, our male harem MC, has had quite the life: He's a qualified spirit medium, trained from young to harness the ability to see, discern and exterminate evil spirits. However, his background is anything but noteworthy as he is poor and homeless, andis searching for a place to reside in. Enter in the "haunted" Yuragi Inn, which he has found in the search for a lodging place, and is cheap due to the inn being haunted by a high school JK whose corpse was laid for as long as it has held. Nevertheless, Fuyuzora settles in and unwittingly does as the former popular inn now houses women of all dimensions (sexy, loli, you name it). Since it has always been his duty to purify ghosts, it is not until his encounter with the ghost, Yuuna Yunohara, changes his life upside-down (and eventually helping her to be purified as a good spirit)! Together with the residing women of Yuragi Inn whom look ordinary from the outside, but with their unique supernatural powers, our male harem MC's life will never ever be the same again! The story is just to provide the introduction to the main series overall, but what "sets (the story) apart" is with the characters who supports the episodic plots: Kogarashi Fuyuzora is more than just the dense harem joker, amidst from always falling prey into the seemingly endless amount of insane lewd ecchi moments, he's a solid character that does willingly as his motivation and passion of a spirit medium does, through trained possessed experiences as a child which shapes who he is ar his core. The residents of Yuragi Inn: Yuuna Yunohara the titular female ghost, has no recollection about her past existence, but the point through is that for seemingly some reason, her being bound to Yuragi Inn does not forebode well to the inn if it ever wants to receive customers again (who knows?), and therefore attaches herself to Kogarashi in order to find a cure to the bounded curse and be set free. Sagiri Ameno the demon-slaying ninja, with her sole purpose to venture and fulfill her clan obligliations to eliminate harmful and evil spirits. On the way, her tsundere-ness grows with the non-acceptable lewd and hidden love moments with Fuyuzora, to the point of her imagination running wild. Yaya Fushigoro the human-cat vessel for the Cat God, she serves the purpose of providing others with her power, while maintaining a dandere look, one that doesn't demand others attention, but yet when needed, she is a force to be reckoned with. Chitose Nakai the loli-looking girl who's the caretaker of Yuragi Inn, but with a definite twist of luck. That's because her power is manipulating the luck of the people of her choice, but with great power comes great consequences, so her power isn't used much. Other than that, despite her appearances, she is a great caretaker whom cares for everyone. Nonko Arahabaki the busty crude girl whom isn't afraid to show her affections...at the sight of alcohol, that which stores her power as an oni. Her side job of being an manga author is what she does to maintain her constant supply of alcohol. Always the proactive character, her power is one that must not be undermined. Other characters: Koyuzu Shigaraki, a raccoon kid who is capable of shapeshifting into other people, with the help of her leaf charms which by no surprise helps her be covert with her movements, and the overtime settlement at Yuragi Inn helps her coincide better with the girls and Fuyuzora. Chisaki Miyazaki, the oh-so-dull high school classmate, with the usual troupe of being popular for the most aestethical of traits, which is beauty. Similar to Sagiri, she is yet another tsundere that is aware of her own existence beside Fuyuzora, constantly having lewd thoughts and unable to maintain her stance (for majority of the time). Ryuuga Genshiro and Oborou Shinto, the male heir of his own clan and the half-daughter of the Black Dragon God bloodline. Mostly for filler (the manga covered a bit more), both characters won't stop at nothing to realize their ambitions, with Oboru subsequently moves to Yuragi Inn in the hopes of harbouring a child through Fuyuzora, and in the midst, you;ve guessed it once again, like Sagiri and Chisaki, another girl vying for Fuyuzora's naive attention. You'd think that the whole host of characters are what defined the overall series, and you'd be right to say that, because this show is entirely subserviant to the growth of the many characters, and for a sense, they all work their parts well. Xebec's production values are good to say the least since it's a harem rom-com series, and they don't have to take a lot of considerations and liberties with the source material (decent but good manga adaptation). Both the art and animation are neither striking nor noteworthy, but for what's presented here overall, I'll take it anyday. The character models are definitely unique and props to the character designers as they stand out and it's easy to discern the character traits. Overall, an easy-to-the-eye production with good art and animation that doesn't make you cringe a lot. The music is one that gives off the Slice-of-Life feels, yet it doesn't force you to grow on it much. Luna Haruna's OP definitely gives off that vibe, that it's a series that just explains its insane cheesy traits and it's good. Same with the ED by Yuuna, Sagiri and Chisaki, which supports the claim that whatever this anime wants it to be, "Lets-a-go!" with it. A good mix of genres I must say. If you're not a fan of trashy ecchi, I would ask you to turn away at this moment. What's not to love about ecchi series such as this one, while it takes your time away by watching and insulting trash, it certainly doesn't disappoint if you're one that doesn't take everything here seriously, and honestly it's just a good time overall. I'd recommend this to diehard ecchi fans who just can't be milked enough from the genre.

Dear god I would have so much money if I had a quarter for every time this series did the lucky pervert trope. We would literally be down half a show in that case. Story: Yuragi no Yuuna focuses on the story of Fuyuzora Kogarashi, an exorcist whose preferred (and only) method of cleansing evil spirits is through the use of his fists. Now moved to a new town with the prospect of getting through his high school life normally, he finds himself living in the Yuragi inn, a bathhouse turned boarding house filled with supernatural women, of various kinds, tropes, and (as apparent with this show'scontent), chest sizes. As your run of the mill ecchi harem supernatural story (this is a surprisingly common genre despite the number of adjectives), Yuragi no Yuuna is a series without any shame when it comes to flaunting its wide assortment of supernatural women, doing the classic lucky pervert trope at any instance it can while systematically having our main protagonist conquer almost every existing female in the show one at a time through happenstance, or by virtue of him always being there to act as the hero and saving the featured girl of the episode/showing them his good side. And that's about it. Being so focused on fanservice, hardly any other aspects of the series have any notable presence, and we're unfortunately left with a show that can only stand because of that feature. It gets to the point that the punchline for any given episode IS the fact that Kogarashi either accidentally sees/fondles/looks away from the naked body of the show's female characters, and the A or B plot of the show is devoted to that final moment. The series is so baseless and devoid of plot the further you get that unless you're really needing a fix on ecchi, there's no reason for you to watch this. There are a few major arcs that do happen in the middle of it, but even then the punchline is still something sexual or related to something perverted. Overview: +/- Ecchi (for you ecchi fans) - Not much else Characters: Fuyuzora Kogarashi is our resident male harem protagonist this time around, boasting an upbeat attitude for a (hopefully) successful highschool life after surviving years of being possessed by various spirits and finally learning how to kick their ass so they don't bother him anymore. His trait of chivalry and protecting girls is what nets him the ladies, and the two common things you'll see him do is either: give an ass-beating to whoever is threatening him or his friends at the time using a convenient skill he picked up from one of the ghosts that were haunting him, or beat an ass cause he's ended up in a situation where he is either accidentally touching or tasting the privates of one of the girl's resident female characters. Though more to him than most harem protags, there's not much else to explain. The rest of the cast for the most part falls into the same spectrum of being a member of Kogarashi's harem. Yuuna, being the series's titular character/main girl is a ghost bound to Kogarashi's room, and proceeds to make his life a living hell by freaking out and tossing him out the window any time he accidentally touches where he's not supposed to even though it's clearly her fault that she ended up in that situation in the first place. The point of the series is to try and help her pass on to heaven, but since this show hardly focuses on actual plot, it's nothing more than a backdrop that gets forgotten 2 episodes into the series. Other girls involve Sagiri, the series's token tsundere threatened by her lack of feminine qualities and Chisaki, the only normal girl in the entire series who gets swept up in all of this and I guess is sort of the 'perfect waifu' trope. Or something like that. (There're a few others, but I'd argue these are the main ones.) These girls are mostly there to act as the bait for ecchi fans, and are usually the ones subjected to the treatment as a result. Most other characters are simply there to act out their predestined tropes, and being honest, have few other reason to be a part of this series otherwise. Overview: +/- Pretty much your standard harem cast Art: Produced by Xebec, the company responsible for To Love Ru and Keijo, it...honestly makes sense for them to be responsible for this series. With bright colors with an almost glossy look to it, Yuragi no Yunna is a visually 'cute' and 'moe' series given common features such as round eyes and shapely bodies on its primarily female cast. But that's the boring stuff. For ecchi, the series really tests the limit of what is allowed on television, using massive beams of light to cover up what's only allowed on the blu-ray, going so far as to devote entire scenes to accidental skinship and the comedic turmoil that comes with trying to get out of it. Expect this often because it's nigh inescapable given how this show has nothing else otherwise to entertain its audience. Overview: + Bright, colorful art +/- A...lot of fanservice. A lot. Excessive really. Sound: Luna Haruna's "Momoiro Typhoon" is an upbeat song meant to sound cute in order to exemplify the typically upbeat and comedic atmosphere the show exhibits. Personally I think it's alright. Nothing too memorable about it aside from the hot spring sounds that're sprinkled throughout the song to remind you that the show is set in a bathhouse. Similarly, the show's ED "Happen", sung by the seiyuus of the Yuuna, Sagiri, and Chisaki (basically the entire harem) is a seiyuu song meant to have less energy compared to its OP sister. I find it pretty unmemorable too, so there's not really much else to say. Personal Enjoyment: Having heard of Yuragi no Yuuna prior to the anime's release, I was rather unsure what I was going to find myself in, given how it was a series that was apparently pretty popular yet I had never really heard of it being talked about. Having watched the show...now I know why the series is popular to begin with. I'll be honest, this was a pretty bland watch. The show is so devoid of any kind of actual content due to the fact that more than half of the available runtime is used for gag chapters and/or lucky pervert situations that run for WAY too long that after the halfway part, I really stopped caring about what was going on. Constantly shouting "It's not his fault!" at every accusation towards Kogarashi was just wasting my breath, and choosing to pander to the lowest common denominator really didn't do it any favors. Honestly, I would just say skip this. If the show spent any amount of considerable time of making the plot of helping Yunna get to heaven a reasonable part of the series, then I would at least give it that for intrigue reasons, but since it doesn't and instead chooses to show us her tits for the fifth time in the same episode, this one is worth a pass.

Is enjoyable enough but has some glaring issues: 1. Our MC is so OP that the story arcs lose their tension and significance. 2. Extremely high-pitched voice acting for the main heroine Yuuna and the inn-keeper. Caused actual physical pain to my ears. 3. General perception of the supernatural within the world of the show. On one hand, you have the MC mocked for claiming to be a spiritual medium, on the other you have a complete acceptance of floating objects, etc. 4. Characters unable to be fleshed out given a main cast of about 6 characters. I know nearly nothing about the characters that I didn'talready know by the first 3 episodes.