Love To-LIE-Angle

[Yuri Harem: a Three Minute Short] From the studio that brought us Netsuzou TRap and Osake wa Fuufu ni Natte kara comes their latest short: Tachibanakan Triangle. Adapted from the manga of the same name, you can expect the studio to produce a “quality” adaptation. In fact, I believe the studio has the capability to cram over 30 pages of manga content into a three minute anime and make it work. And if you believe that is a “quality” adaptation then I have a bridge to sell you. STORY: Synopsis: expecting a normal life, Natsuno Hanabi returns to her hometown to study at a localhigh school, however upon entering Tachibanakan, her new dormitory, she realizes her dorm mates are anything, but normal. There will be tons of poor/rushed development and that’s because the studio is trying to cram as much content as they can into three minutes. You will see many cut scenes jumping from one scene to the next with little time for the audience to digest the previous scenes in question. There will be lots of fanservice/ecchi content with the usual annoying censors, blocking the essential goods. The fanservice mostly involves the main character getting into absurd and perverted situations that any ecchi fan would recognize. Some classic ecchi scenes include: walking in on naked girl, falling on top of naked girl, girl getting tied up in a suggestive way, ‘two people stuck in the closet’ situation, etc. Still, fanservice or not, it’s overdone and overused, making it predictable and boring. And because this is a three minute anime, expect little to no world or character building. In fact, if you are expecting only fanservice and poor storytelling, then you’re in luck. ANIMATION: The animation is really poor/lazy with some scenes sometimes feeling a bit choppy. The girl’s character designs looks pretty cute, especially in their chibi forms. And since, this is a Yuri fanservice show, expects lots of bosoms, ass, and groin shots from questionable camera angles. SOUND: The voice acting is good. There is no opening song, however there is a heavy metal ending song, which is surprisingly good. CHARACTER: The characters are cliched and forgettable with no sense of character development and few redeeming traits. If you do watch this, you will see the girls sexually harass each other and make suggestive moves in an attempt to get into the other’s pants, as if these were the only forms of communication that they know. And in cliched fashion, we have the boring harem protagonist (but a girl this time), the childhood friend, the older sister-type with large breasts, the girl that likes to drink and make sexual advances, the mysterious stoic type who is secretly perverted, and the perverted ojou-sama. Nothing new, and nothing exciting. ENJOYMENT: The entire show was a huge disappointment. This should have been longer, like a regular 24 minute episode, with more focus on the story and character as opposed to focusing on fanservice and ecchi content.

Story 7/10: Tachibanakan Love-to-Lie Triangle takes place in an alternate universe where the Hojo clan triumphed over all of the others during the Sengoku period, which in turn allowed the offspring of Hojo Soun's concubines to spread across the nation in the following years, spreading the 'yuri' gene to their daughters. The story takes place in the early 18th century, showing the effects that these lesbian genes have had on the nation in it's premature industrial revolution. The men of this world at some point in history were subjugated to a caste system where they were at the bottom, forcing them to work long, hard hoursand as a result caused the technology of Japan to advance far faster than in our own world. This is an easy to miss detail, but is reinforced by the only male characters being the plumber, and people working the stands at the festival. Our story follows six young women and their coming of age as they find the true meaning of love in this world. Art 6/10: Love Tachibananakan Tri-Angle uses a similar style to most shorts, utilizing the usual moe-blob visuals to appeal to those of us who like 'girls-love'. I would have liked a little more effort put into the backgrounds however, but for a short anime like this, it was pretty standard. Sound 10/10: Nothing about the sound effects in Tabichichan Triangle-Lie-Angle used broke my immersion, the voice acting really fit the character. I was a little sad that the cicadas didn't make their usual sound, but it is what it is. The real deal is the ending, I have a feeling that song is going to be stuck in my head for a few weeks now. Characters 7/10: Tabatriangle Lie-Anakan love really made good use of showing a wide range of character architypes that we see in many other anime, and then shows us how they interact in such a different world than our own. It could be seen that they are generic architypes, and while this is true, it allows us to understand said characters and better understand their place in this alternate universe's setting. Enjoyment 9/10: Tri-Love Tachibana's Angle had me hooked right the way through it, so much that I watched the entire show in one sitting. I really enjoyed their subtle ways of uncovering the mystery of this strange world to us, the viewer by introducing plot elements gradually, yet not at such a pace for it to become a slog to get through. It especially had me glued to the screen trying to figure out the motives of each and every character as I watched episode after episode. Overall 7/10: For the final score I had to look at it from an outside point of view. I gave the score I did because while I enjoyed The Triangle of Tachibanakan's Lie, I can easily see why it wouldn't be for everyone, it's the sort of show that takes a few rewatches to really uncover everything this show has to offer.

I'm a huge fan of yuri and I wouldn't even mind the trashy formula this starts with - a standard ecchi/harem setup, just with an all-female cast (although, with only two girls developing into proper love interests - thus the love triangle thing). This really could've been fun... But it simply isn't, in any way. The jokes fall flat and the super-short nature of the series (3-min episodes) makes any serious romance or storytelling pretty much impossible. It's not really funny, neither it is endearing or interesting, apart from maybe a few scenes. It just seems like a very, very poor adaptation and I would encourageall yuri fans to skip it and possibly give the manga a try - from what I've heard, it's much funnier and more compelling.

What a shame. The manga was quite nice, light-hearted, enjoyable, with some decent character development and serious moments. The manga does not deserve to be treated like this. This anime adaptation removes almost all of it with it's way too fast pacing and sub-par animation quality. It deserves at least 12 minutes episodes. The anime definitely does not do the manga justice. A sad day for Yuri lovers. Story: 2/10 The manga could easily get 6 or 7 because of there are some small dramas happening in between fan services. The anime removes that all and ends abruptly. Art: 4/10 Bearable. The fan service drawings are quite nice,but the animation is not that great. Sound: 3/10 Nothing to write home about. The voice acting is not very good. Character: 4/10 The manga could easily get 8 for me, with some nice character development happening with Hanabi, Iori, and Konomi searching for what their feelings truly meant - none of those happen in the anime. The other 3 residents even have their background stories and their own character development in the manga - none of those happen in the anime. The anime just hits you with boom Konomi and Hanabi are childhood friends, they like each other - boom, Hanabi sees Iori naked, Iori likes Hanabi. The other characters don't even get their chance to shine. Enjoyment: 4/10 Despite all these, I get some enjoyment out of it, but purely because I like Yuri, so yes, it's subjective. And I am glad to see the manga at least gets an anime adaptation. The ending leaves you very unsatisfied - even more, if you have read the manga.