This episode starts out with a lady’s swimming competition (if it can be called that.) Pudding and some other girls swim 100 meters freestyle, then compete in a water-bound wrestling match. From atop her perch, a new girl named Ai, who is jealous of Pudding and tries to humiliate her, joins the match and ends up winning.
In his benevolence, Shuta agrees to carry Pudding for the wrestling match and is oh, so disturbed when Ai tears her meager bikini off and her bush starts rubbing against his head. When Ai trips up Team Pudding, she falls in and Shuta just happens to fall between her legs. Imagine that.
Cue intro, then it’s off to another fight where the Sex Warriors are battling another Lividoll. This one is called “Fan Boy”, and has a giant fan for a head. What does he do with it? Why, blow up the girl’s skirts, of course! When the tide turns against the Sex Warriors, Shuta gets blasted in again to save the day (at least he’s wearing pants this time!)
This Lividoll apparently knows that Shuta is able to power up the Sex Warriors so rather than stay and fight (and loose) he bugs out, leaving Nako to cry on Shuta’s shoulder. She’s never been with anyone before, and the incident with the Lividoll has her a little spooked. So what does she do once the restaurant is closed and everyone but Shuta has gone home? Throw herself at him, what else!
Just when he’s about to deflower her, guess who walks in! None other than his love, Pudding. Somehow, she doesn’t hear Nako and Shuta getting it on behind the lockers, so she goes back to work and the fun continues. Gotcha! She heard, and comes round the corner to find Shuta with his bit inside another girl. Oops.
Shuta chases after her and attempts to smooth things over, but it doesn’t help that he’s still…hanging out. To apologize, he goes down on her. When she’s standing, in the middle of the hall. I guess they’ve never heard of propriety.
Then, without any warning at all, suddenly they’re going at it doggy style and Nako is underneath giving Pudding an “apology”. What a friend! Once that’s done, it’s both of them at once, Nako on top of Pudding. How Shuta manages to keep going is nothing short of a miracle but hey, it’s all fantasy and absurdity right?
Just as Shuta finishes, the alarm rings and all three of them get locked in a capsule and shot off to the battle. The battle goes better this time, as Nako is synched up with Shuta and is able to enter Maid Up. She finds that Fan Boy’s weakness is…a power cord. She pulls it, and Fan Boy shuts down.
But there’s more trouble ahead. A new restaurant, Trifle, has opened across the street and Alamode is going bankrupt both from lack of Smiles and from lack of cash. Pudding and Shuta go incognito to investigate and find that the staff of Trifle is giving sexual service to their customers in order to be popular.
What’s more, Ai drugs Shuta into having sex with her while her waitress takes advantage of Pudding. Unable to resist, they fall into the trap. High above Trifle, sits the evil overlord’s castle, where he takes Ai, in all her dripping, curvaceous glory. The team is very concerned about what happened at Trifle, so what does Chiyoko do when she thinks she smells something funny on Shuta? Suck him off and tell him to loosen his load.
Thinking to learn Trifle’s secret, Shuta heads over and is promptly serviced by AI, again. He manages to keep his cool and overcomes the perfume Ai has been using to seduce everyone. Despite finding the secret to his enemy’s power, he continues to ride her until, ultimately, she looses.
Again, I was amused by this entry into the absurd. It’s crazy, it’s kooky but you have to give it props for being entertaining.
What is it that draws us to hentai? Each fan probably has something different to say. For me, the appeal lies in many different aspects. I'm a big anime fan, and hentai seems to be a somewhat natural evolution from that. Afterall, if you like regular movies, isn't live-action porn just an extension of that? Doesn't it just cover the material they leave out of the theater (well, most theaters)? But there's more in it than that.
Hentai is also a strong counter-culture icon. In a land where American Idol presides and the public is torn between the duality of having an overly sexed yet overly conservative mentality, the idea of cartoon porn is not exactly mainstream material. For many people, hentai represents one of the ultimate ways to get back at society. While I do enjoy the idea of spitting in the face of what mainstream culture says I should be like and enjoy, this still doesn't quite reach the heart of hentai's appeal to me.
What is it about hentai that is so alluring, so devilishly curious that despite all the pressure from other sources in one's life, it demands to be heard? It's forbidden. Just as Homer Simpson can never resist the donut or sandwich that will invite his damnation, I cannot resist the call of hentai. It's edgy, it's counter to everything I've been told is right, it's irreverent and contrary to popular belief, it has more plot than regular porn. It takes me to the edge of reason and shows me things I would've never thought I'd care to see, but I stare, transfixed.
There's a guy sprouting cocks from his back. Cool. There's a chick bound and gagged with a dildo stuck in her. Funky. There's a pink-haired waitress getting it on with a guy in a locker room seconds before being shot out of a cannon. Strong.
Hentai shows us what nothing else dares to and that, I think, is why I find it so appealing.
If you’ve got a thing for waitresses with pink hair who engage in campy combat, look no further!
Undoubtedly one of the more eccentric ideas to emerge from Japan, Sex Warrior Pudding follows the life of waitress and fighter extraordinaire Pudding (what a name!) as she battles through evil “Lividolls” controlled by a fiendish sex villain, and while waiting tables at the restaurant “A la mode” with her fellow sex warriors.
We start off with blue-haired Misuzu getting attacked and felt up by one of the Lividolls which apparently specializes in licking. Great scene for the tentacle fans. Before he gets too far with her, Pudding and the Sex Warriors show up. Cue intro, then the fight scene.
Behind the Lividoll attack is a strange man wired to a big machine with a woman giving him a good time. If that’s not strange enough, the next scene has the young man by the name of Shuta, apparently now the manager of A la mode, getting acquainted with the assistant manager Chiyoko. What does she do to welcome him? Go down on him and give him a boob job, what else!
Some quick exposition interspersed with more action has us feeling about the same as Shuta: “that’s nice that you’re fighting to save the world, but I’m rather distracted right now…” In order to defeat the Lividolls and restore order to the world, the World Defense Organization requires “people’s smile”, something akin to good vibes, and apparently you get that from a restaurant. Cool.
After a quick intro to Pudding, it becomes obvious that Shuta has quite a thing for her, but in typical teen fashion, is totally unsure of what to do about it. Misuzu sees Pudding watching them at the table and calls her over, then trips her, causing poor Pudding to fall on top of the hapless Shuta and gives us a nice long panty shot. While Pudding is watching Shuta drool over her, another warrior in a control room informs us that Pudding’s “Emogauge” is up.
Cut to Chiyoko bending over a table with no panties, telling Shuta that this is what employees and managers do. What an employee! They have their fun and are able to finish just in time to hear the alarm go off; another attack is underway!
This time the attack is coming in daylight, and the Lividoll likes to rubby rubby. Just when it seems like Pudding won’t be able to prevail, Shuta gets shot out of the base on a table and into the combat zone. His arrival tips Pudding’s Emogauge and allows her to enter Power Frame Mode. Now she’s ready to kick some Lividoll ass! Only she’s not quite ready. Shuta tries to tell her they need to work together, but she goes it alone. She defeats the Lividoll, but her armor takes a hit and she needs to be helped out. When it’s all said and done, Chiyoko informs the group that Misuzu needs to become a Sex Warrior since she witnessed the event and knows their secrets. Oh darn, another hot body!
But there’s another problem: Pudding is jealous of Shuta’s relations with the other girls. Chiyoko’s solution: have sex with her! This isn’t made any easier when two of the Sex Warriors catch Shuta in the restaurant and start giving him a good time when Pudding walks by. Before he even knows it, he is feeling up Misuzu in the locker room, while Pudding watches, no less. The sight of it gets Pudding all hot and bothered, causing her to start pleasing herself. Sadly, she doesn’t get far when the alarm goes off again.
All the Sex Warriors save Pudding are deployed, but it’s not long before they hit trouble. Only Pudding and manager can save them, and to do it, they need to become one. In a surprisingly tender scene, Shuta breaks her in and confesses her love for her. When they’re nearing the end, they get strapped in and shot out of the restaurant again, just in time to save the rest of the Sex Warriors. The fight goes well, with victory for the good guys. Just when you think it can’t get any better, we find that Misuzu has had a secret crush…on Pudding!
While this may have been one of the strangest and certainly the most idiosyncratic hentai I’ve ever laid eyes on, it’s a very amusing half hour. The voice acting is fine, the animation is good, if a little lacking in detail. The action is silly and light-hearted and still manages to give the viewer some good sexy scenes.
Bottom line: if you’re looking for something entertaining that doesn’t take itself at all seriously, check this out! If you’re looking for something more serious, keep looking.
Many people, particularly here in the U.S., look on hentai with a very tough stigma, as though it is somehow worse/stranger/more offensive than "regular" (read: live action) pornography. Overcoming this hurdle is tough, because there is, in all honesty, some hentai that try very hard to push comfort barriers, much the same way other porn tends to cover topics most people, even those who watch "regular" porn would consider strange.
One of the easiest ways to get around the hentai stigma is to think of it in a different light. Consider it this way: is porn real? Any porn, not just hentai. Are the situations portrayed in pornography an accurate depiction of everyday life? For most of us, the answer is no. Most people don't lie around having sex all day. The situations in hentai are equally unrealistic; people don't sprout penises from their backs, nor do they turn hordes of the opposite sex into their willing sex slaves. It just doesn't happen (often.)
So if porn is by definition unrealistic, what does that make it? A fantasy. We put ourselves into the mindset of the people we are watching. We imagine that it is us who is being pleasured or is giving pleasure. On a more basic level, we simply enjoy. We enjoy watching things that we know would never happen in real life, but are entertaining to watch. Nobody you may know has breasts that big, but with porn, you get to have a small taste of what it would be like to know someone with a pair of giant knockers.
Ultimately, all porn comes down to the eye of the beholder. What's strange for me may be perfectly acceptable to you. Is hentai dangerous? Is it subversive? Does it turn our children into anti-social basement dwellers who shun real people in favor of cartoons? Not usually. Like any fantasy, hentai only becomes dangerous or subversive when one allows it to become too important to them.
A (somewhat) relevant example: I am a gamer. I have always been a gamer, I have grown up with gamers and I consider myself a fairly well-versed expert on gamer culture. I have known many gamers over the years who indulged in Live Action Role-Playing (LARPing.) Most of them were just normal people who liked to spend a weekend in, quite literally, someone else's shoes. They dressed up, they had a good time being a character in a fantasy or sci-fi world, then the weekend ended and they went back to their lives. No big deal.
I have also known many gamers who enjoyed LARPing, but became so engrossed in it that it literally ran their lives. They worked day jobs they hated only so they could afford to pay the bills and get them into their next LARPing session. They ate, drank and slept LARPing. It was, to say the least, unhealthy. Similarly, I have known many people who like porn. No big deal. They watch a movie every now and again, they get off and then they go back to their lives. I have also known many people who lived for porn. They downloaded all they could, they sat in their basements all day (when not at work) and simply lived for the sheer pleasure of viewing explicit material.
So long as we recognize that hentai is a fantasy and we let it remain so, it is my contention that hentai is not dangerous, it is not subversive and will not turn people into basement dwellers. Unless of course, we LET IT.
Episode 1
Taboo Charming Mother starts out rather tame; the housewife of a salary man and stepmother to his son, Misako seems to be the typical Japanese housewife (except she has a giant rack.) Everything seems fine except Misako has a little problem with a stalker. A man with a strange voice calls her just about every day and taunts her with stories of how neighbors jerk off while watching her, and how he fantasizes about being her husband and doing all manner of dirty things to her.
Odd, to be sure, but Misako can’t seem to get up the nerve to call the police, even though she probably knows who is calling (she has Caller ID.) After several days of her stepson and husband going off to work and school with few words exchanged, she gets a call from her stalker, as usual. This time, he mentions that he has left a package for her on her doorstep. Cautious but curious, Misako checks it out and sure enough, finds a white box outside her front door. Inside? A rather devilish-looking red vibrator with extra appendages.
Initially disgusted with her stalker giving her a sex toy, Misako hides it away in a cabinet and does her best not to think about it. A couple months go by with her husband becoming increasingly aloof. He spends lots of time at work and is always dead tired when he gets home (such is the life of the salary man) which leaves Misako feeling more than a little unfulfilled.
Having become despondent over the stagnation in her sex life, she begins to think dirty thoughts about the toy her stalker gave her, but the prudish side of her wins over at first. Then he calls again and promises that if she does what he says, it will be his last call. This is where it starts to get interesting (for those with little patience, this starts at around 9 minutes in.)
Embarrassed at first, Misako complies with her caller’s requests and begins masturbating with the toy. Her response is immediate and sharp: it feels GOOD! She struggles against the lust building inside her, but she just can’t do it, she’s been alone too long! Even with a creepy guy on the other end of a phone, she can’t help but pleasure herself in ways she would never have thought to do.
Even though she is repulsed by the caller, at the end of their first session, she asks him when he will call again. Their calls continue, with her masturbating a storm and him continually coaxing her to higher and higher levels of pleasure. He sends her another toy and a movie to watch, all of which give her more excitement than her marriage has given her in a long while.
Their sessions continue unabated for a while longer, then we get a twist in the plot when Misako discovers her stepson masturbating while sniffing and licking her panties. Again, repulsed at first, she begins to feel the virility of her stepson and starts thinking unsavory thoughts about him during her next call with the stalker.
And then, right at the end, as she is oh so close to cumming, she has an experience that anyone who masturbates dreads: someone walks in on her. And not just anyone; her stepson. Both Misako and the young man stare at each other, mortified…and the episode ends.
Despite some initial trepidation, I was quite pleased by Taboo Charming Mother. The plot is unusually prevalent for a hentai, the action is good even though it takes some time to get going, the voice acting is good and the animation is excellent.
Episode 2
The second installment of Taboo Charming Mother picks up exactly where the first episode left off: with Misako naked on the couch, discovered in the midst of masturbating by her stepson, Kazuhiko. As one might expect, Kazuhiko (being the horny young man he is) can hardly contain himself, and jumps right in to a new world of sexual exploration with Misako.
As the episode goes on, their exploits get bolder and bolder, going from quick oral sex while the husband/father, Yosuke, is out of the house to being all sorts of naughty while he’s in the same room! Amazingly, even though she’s getting fingered quite heavily, Misako manages to keep her moaning and gasping relatively under control, feigning a fever. Also amazingly, Kazuhiko and Misako don’t get caught.
Throughout, Misako laments her interaction with Kazuhiko, still feeling pangs of guilt for cheating on her husband with her stepson. Despite this, she can’t seem to resist Kazuhiko’s virility, and acquiesces to his every whim. Of course, Yosuke’s life as a salary man doesn’t help things out at all.
Just when it seems as though things couldn’t get any more complicated for Misako, the phone stalker calls again. Though she hasn’t heard from him in a while, she seems quite excited to get a hold of him again, at least at first. This time, he has something else in mind for her. Somehow, the stalker has managed to record Misako and Kazuhiko in the midst of their exploration, and is threatening to give the tape to her husband if she doesn’t do what he says. His request this time: entertain some of his friends who have yet to be pleased by a woman.
Moments later, the doorbell rings and Misako is greeted by four young men who are only too eager to entertain themselves with a housewife like Misako. What follows is pretty much what you’d expect with a horny housewife and four virile young men, though despite it’s predictability, the scene still manages to please.
At the very end, we are treated with a bit more story, and a twist in the plot. After being used over and over by the four friends of the phone stalker, Misako picks up the phone again and continues talking to him. At the end, he mentions that he’s watching, and she begins throwing doors open. When she thinks she’s just being paranoid, the stalker shows up behind her and greets her, ending the episode. Curious to know who the stalker is? I won’t say, so you’ll just have to watch it for yourself!
As with the first episode, the animation and voice acting do not disappoint. The action here is much better and doesn’t leave a long interval at the beginning when there is not much going on. The forbidden love angle gets developed quite a bit in this episode, and it does end on a plot point, giving a nice lead-in to episode three.
Episode 3
Taboo Charming Mother 3 starts out a bit differently than the other two. Instead of a bashful Misako who mostly engages in solo pleasures, we see that Misako has rapidly undergone a transformation into a very lustful woman. She has oral sex with Kazuhiko on a near-constant basis, engages with other pursuits with him when Yosuke is absent, and winds up exploring some very wicked positions when she finally decides to let Kazuhiko penetrate her.
Initially, the episode starts out rather dark. The music and action is indicative of a more forceful situation, with Misako spouting half-hearted protests until she eventually gives in to her carnal cravings. After about halfway through the episode, both Misako and the music change tone. The music becomes a bit more upbeat, as does Misako. It’s just a ruse though.
Near the end of the episode, Misako mentions that her sister Emiko is coming to visit and Kazuhiko instantly gets this devious look in his eyes. You can tell he’s up to something, but what exactly he’s got in mind may surprise you.
Throughout the episode, Kazuhiko’s demands on Misako grow more brazen, as he requires increasingly larger and larger amounts of pleasure in order to sustain himself. It’s unclear exactly how long this goes on, but one thing is for sure: Kazuhiko succeeds in cultivating a burning lust in Misako.
As we’ve come to expect, Taboo Charming Mother 3 leaves us with a plot hitch that we may not have seen coming. No spoilers here, I’ll just say that it’s definitely a character change for Misako. Falling to the dark side has never felt so good.
While the action and score were both on par with the previous two episodes, the animation seemed a bit different. This is common in a lot of anime series, both hentai and not; partway through the series, you’ll see an episode or two that were drawn by someone other than the regular team of artists. That is probably the case here. While the animation is consistent enough to keep the eye pleased, there is a noticeable difference.
The action itself continues in the same way the previous episodes have: with things starting out relatively tame, then climbing higher and higher to new levels of pleasure and lust. This is mostly due to Kazuhiko’s ever-increasing demands and increasingly brazen carnal acts. He doesn’t bat an eyelash at fingering Misako in front of her sister, or anyone else for that matter.
If taboo love is your thing, and you see one of the episodes in this series: make it this one.
Episode 4
Taboo Charming Mother 4 follows the trend and picks up where the previous episode left off, with a quick recap in the beginning to let you know what’s going on. It starts with Emiko getting a glimpse of Kazuhiko and Misako going at it and at first, she is disgusted. The concept of mother and stepson is, after all, extraordinarily taboo.
Emiko’s protection instincts kick in, and she starts to try and dissuade Kazuhiko from his wicked behavior. He agrees to stop his dirty behavior with Misako, but only on condition that Emiko take her place. After a quick moment, Emiko agrees and begins doing all the things with Kazuhiko that Misako liked doing.
Emiko is resistant at first; she tries to tell herself that it’s just to help her sister and stop her devilish behavior, but the conclusion is inevitable; Emiko starts to like it. Almost immediately, we see some tension begin to mount between the sisters. As much as she may detest her behavior, Misako has fallen deep into lust and can’t stop. When there’s another woman encroaching on her territory, even if it’s her sister, she can’t help but feel jealous.
It is here that we see Misako completely naked for the first time in a while. Most other times, she keeps at least some clothing on, but when she sees her man taking pleasure from another woman, she pulls out all the stops to bring him back. Her success is somewhat limited, but pleasing nonetheless.
These feelings of jealousy come to a climax near the end of the episode when Emiko comes back the next day, ostensibly to talk to Kazuhiko about his behavior. Misako answers the doorbell with the intercom but is interrupted mid-conversation by Kazuhiko. After a quick one, he opens the door and reveals that he and Misako are about to get back to business. Emiko tries to put a stop to their behavior again, but she’s just fooling herself; she’s comes back for more and everyone knows it.
The episode ends with Misako becoming intensely jealous as Kazuhiko takes Emiko as his new woman. Misako laments her age and Emiko’s beauty, but you can tell that she’s got something cooking in the back of her mind. Something dirty, something naughty, something…taboo.
The animation is a little different this time as well, but the change is for the better. It seems more consistent with episodes 1 and 2, with a few extra little changes that make some of the quick movement shots a bit more intense. The voice acting is, as always, excellent. The action is a bit tame compared to other elements, but is countered by the addition of new elements (mainly Emiko) and is still pleasing to watch.
Episode 5
Taboo Charming Mother 5 leads us into ever-deeper levels of naughtiness as it unveils Misako’s hidden interest in exhibitionism. Things start out tame, consistent with the pace of most of the rest of the series, then builds from there. We get a continued look at Misako’s disinterest in her marriage, yet her loyalty to Yosuke still seems present, at least superficially.
Just after Yosuke falls asleep, leaving Misako unfulfilled again, she heads into Kazuhiko’s room and finds him asleep. Not to be dissuaded, Misako starts without him and we find that her lust for Kazuhiko is extremely potent. After a few minutes, Kazuhiko confirms what we knew all along: he wasn’t sleeping, just pretending to in order to find out how dirty Misako really is deep down.
Misako and Kazuhiko have a busy night, but Kazuhiko has something new in mind for the next day: a trip to the park. The trip begins with a pair of bums sitting on a park bench with a stack of girly magazines. A non-sequitor you might think, but they come into play later.
Misako’s apprehension at their little excursion is alleviated by a disguise Kazuhiko gave her which consists mainly of a coat and a pair of pink sunglasses. Somehow, this ruse manages to fool their neighbor, who is a park attendant. After passing by him unnoticed, they head into the bathroom and the real action of the episode begins.
After a devilishly naughty scene in the bathroom involving Kazuhiko, Misako, the two bums and the park attendant, we get a bit of expose: Yosuke is being transferred to Sapporo and would like Misako to go with him. She agrees, but is torn inside for her loyalty to her husband and her lust for Kazuhiko. In her confusion, Misako makes a terrible mistake: she calls Emiko and tells her she is leaving for Sapporo.
The episode ends with Misako coming home from the grocery store to find Kazuhiko and Emiko blissfully engaged on the couch; her couch. Misako can do nothing but stare on in abject horror at her sister stealing her man. You can be sure that the final episode will be an interesting one!
The animation in episode five returns to what we originally saw, making things flow quite well. The action is excellent as we’ve come to expect, as is the voice acting. Overall, the episode does very well and with a bit of plot intertwined, gives a remarkably entertaining thirty minutes.
It’s a school, like any other in Japan. Well, not quite like any other. This one has a student by the name of Keisuke who has a certain way with teachers and young female students. His specialty: turning everyone into sex slaves and bending them totally to his will. What starts out as a bet between classmates quickly turns into something much more sinful.
It starts out innocently enough. Yuuka, the young, virile virgin and class president, is looking for a place to eat lunch one day when she runs into the school’s bad boy, Keisuke Shimizu. We also see very early on that Keisuke has a special relationship with one of the teachers, Izumi Remi.
Yuuka begins as a very conservative, upright girl. She’s got everything going for her: good friends, class president status and the respect of the faculty. And then she has a chat with Keisuke. Keisuke is a very jaded young man, hardened by a life at home with extraordinarily lustful parents. As a result, he is driven to have sex with nearly any girl and to turn them into his willing sex slaves.
Keisuke sets his sights on Yuuka and begins propositioning her in his own way while Yuuka does her best to resist. Yuuka realizes very early on that Keisuke has some behavioral “eccentricities” and makes a bet with him that she can show him that life isn’t about sex and lust, and that love can really happen between a man and a woman. In response, Keisuke brushes her off and takes her right then and there, in the classroom.
Yuuka continues to try and change Keisuke for a little while, but eventually realizes that she is giving in to lust, just like all his other women. Meanwhile, Keisuke begins working on Yuuka’s other conservative friend, Korin. While she seemed to be a good girl on the outside, all it took was a little of Keisuke and Remi’s convincing to bring out the bad girl in Korin. From then on, Korin explores and enjoys ever-climbing levels of pleasure.
Meanwhile, we also have a side story going on between Remi and Keisuke. Initially assigned by the principal to keep an eye on Keisuke and keep him out of trouble, Remi is reminded that Keisuke’s father was her sex master and as such, she is immediately attracted to Keisuke. Their lustful pursuits begin when Keisuke catches her masturbating in the faculty restroom.
After a steamy romp in the school’s chemistry lab, Yuuka’s descent into pleasurable bliss becomes complete, and she submits utterly to Keisuke’s will. Korin begins taking on various members of the faculty, Remi returns to Keisuke’s father for some pleasure that only he can give her and Keisuke makes his domination over Yuuka complete. In the final scene, one of Korin’s friends asks about Yuuka not being at school for a while. Keisuke is only too glad to show them where Yuuka is and how she is doing.
What’s in a name? The jist of the story, apparently. If you’re looking for animated masochism, your search is over. The story is rife with all manner of different positions, styles and various bits of sadism and masochism. Kinky, to be sure.
The animation is a little dated and a bit choppy in places, though it still manages to please. The voice acting is fine, as is the musical score. The action: no complaints! A bit specialist in it’s content but again, if this is what you’re looking for, you won’t be disappointed. If you're not into S&M, I'd strongly suggest finding something else to watch.
Animation: B
Voice Acting: A
Action: A
Overall: B+
Spa of Love 2 is a direct continuation of the first Spa of Love OVA. The characters are all the same, though we get to see more of the chef and Yuji makes his final conquest: the purple-haired beauty, Yuki. Like the first, the action starts at a relatively tame state, then quickly builds and builds to higher and higher levels of lust.
It seems as though Yuji is somehow able to put a spell over all the women he beds. No matter who else they sleep with, they keep coming back to him, literally begging him to service them again and again. We started to see their lust for him growing at the end of the first Spa of Love, but it really comes to fruition here.
The animation is the same, with a few minor spots where new effects have been created. Since the original was made in a very common style of animation and the second is in the same style, the animation shouldn’t put anyone off unless you’re a die-hard fan of 1980’s anime. The voice acting is all the same, with all the actors and actresses returning for the second film. There’s a lot more screaming and moaning to be had and although the dialog is generally fine, I’m a bit baffled as to how well someone could speak with a large cock in their mouth…
Like the first Spa of Love, the plot in Spa of Love 2 is pretty thin. A spa that used to be great is now a seldom-visited destination, though this time around we find that the owner and the cook came up with a way to attract repeat customers: by turning them into sex slaves and forcing them to come back to the spa in order to get satisfied. This worked well until one of the women fell in love with the cook and got jealous of all the women he was bedding, so he decided to hire the strapping young stud Yuji to do the “dirty work.” Apart from that, we see a much quicker growth in the lust of the three housewives who have fallen so deeply in lust with Yuji that nobody else can satisfy them. Completely bereft of any other satisfaction, Yuji has to have them take turns pleasing themselves while he services them one at a time by the end.
The pacing in the second Spa of Love is consistent with the first. What starts as a single couple romp quickly turns into a threesome, then a foursome and it keeps going from there. At one point, Yuji’s “sister” (probably just a good friend considering the way he talks to her) is being serviced by four men at once. At the end of the film, all five female leads are begging left and right for Yuji’s unequalled prowess.
Despite the relative absence of plot other than “stud turns several women into his willing sex slaves,” Spa of Love 2 provides some pleasurable scenery for half an hour. There are a variety of different styles, tastes and fetishes going on, so whatever your pleasure is, you’re probably going to find it here. Spa of Love 2 is an enjoyable film for anyone looking for good animated eye candy.
Animation: B
Voice Acting: B+
Action: A
Overall: B+
One of the biggest turn-offs to hentai that I've seen yet, even among anime fans, is the misconception that all hentai involves freaky tentacles. For those of us who happen to be familiar with hentai, we know this is simply not true, but how does one go about dispelling the myth of the tentacle without sounding like an etchi? Dispelling any myth is always tough, particularly when it can be personally compromise to attempt to do so. I've found that there are several ways to go about it, though these are by no means the only ways to dispell the tentacle myth, I have found them to work most of the time. The catch is that you have to choose the right method for the right person.
Method 1: The Direct Approach
"Have you actually seen any hentai?" 1)Yes, and it had tentacles. 2)No.
If they answered 1), respond with "Then you should see (insert name of hentai that does not have tentacles.)
If they answered 2), respond with "Maybe you might want to see one before you judge it."
Fair warning, this approach is best used with people who are open-minded. Using it with stubborn people or those who are fearful of new/strange things will not react well to this. This approach also makes it plainly obvious that you are knowledgeable about hentai which, if you're trying to remain discreet, can be disastrous. Of course, if you don't care that people know you watch hentai, then this is a fairly simple approach.
When attempting to educate anyone, the last thing you want is to be forceful. Try and take a calm, educated and mature attitude towards it. Or, failing that, crack a joke and try to play it off. As long as you come off sounding like a human being instead of a basement-dwelling vampire (even if you are, I know I am, though I live in an apartment instead of a basement), you've done well. If not, go back to the drawing board and try again.
More on dispelling the tentacle myth later.
Something a few other fans of hentai have broached with me, and it's difficult to be sure, is how exactly to explain to someone here in America that you're into hentai. The thing is, as far as I've found, there is no easy way. There's such a stigma attached to hentai that telling anyone you like it is almost guaranteed to brand you a perv, even though aside from your fascination with animated adult films, you may have no other "strange" inclinations.
It helps to first gauge whether or not your partner in conversation is even a fan of anime. If they are, that helps open up new avenues for conversation and can eventually allow you to explain your interest in hentai. If the person you're talking to does not know what anime is, then you might as well not bother. If the knowledge of appropriate subcultures is not present, there's no sense in trying to explain it, unless you're trying to broach the subject with someone close to you.
The best way I've found is to skirt around the subject, first asking questions regarding one's knowledge of Japanese culture, anime or manga, specifically. If they've no knowledge of such, don't bother. If they do, proceed to step two, where you gauge their interest in adult subjects. If they've no interest, again, drop it. If they have, ascertain what they're into, then if it seems like they're fairly open-minded in such matters, then it's kosher to mention your interest in hentai.
Spa of Love wastes no time getting your right into the thick of the action. Spa worker and resident huge cock Yuji starts off his day at the spa by taking advantage of a cute little redhead with the help of his “sister.” Their romp lasts a full seven minutes and transcends several positions, styles and locations, and winds up with Yuji needing to do more than a little window cleaning. And that’s just for starters.
Next, we find that a trio of housewives have made a trip to the spa. Again, Yuji wastes no time in imposing his will upon them and before you know it, he has the housewives practically begging for his attention. Throughout, we see a good deal of squirting and bouncing and we hear plenty of screaming and gasping from Yuji, his sister and their explorations.
The sex scenes themselves are quite invigorating! The action is quick, but not rushed, the dialog sparse and not overly talkative. The action always begins with something a bit mundane, then quickly builds and builds to higher and higher heights until Yuji and his lady can take no more. The pacing is excellent, as are the visuals.
The plot itself is simplistic: a spa that once used to be great is now quiet, except for the screams of female visitors and the lascivious Yuji. Despite having a simple plot, the film itself is quite enjoyable. The sex scenes are engaging and long enough to be satisfying, while the intervening plot scenes are appropriate, brief, and move the story forward as much as possible.
The music is a little ominous, but fits the theme as Yuji tends to be a bit demanding of his lady guests. The overall ambiance is a little tense, which usually fits the scene quite well. Yuji’s sexual exploits happen quickly and sometimes a little forcefully, but his subjects acquiesce quickly to his requests with the help of his sister.
The voice acting is pretty good; the voices are clear, the dialect common and the dialog is easy to follow even for those who don’t speak Japanese fluently. The animation is decent, the style fairly common and not overly experimental. If you have even a passing familiarity with anime from the late ‘90s and early 2000’s, this style will be close to the standard.
Overall, I found Spa of Love to be quite enjoyable. The visuals were good and combined with good animation and voice acting to give the film a spicy ambiance. While the plot left something to be desired, the action makes up for it and makes this a worthwhile view.
Most people who enjoy hentai, or enjoy porn in general probably have a story similar to this, if not nearly identical to this.
This one starts back in 1998. It was Sophomore year of high school, and I was at a friend's house pawing through the mounds of random junk in his room. This particular friend of mine happened to be a consummate shit collector, but that's irrelevant. While wandering through his stuff, I came across a box set of VHS tapes with a naked anime chick on the cover. I don't remember much of it, the name especially, but I do remember him getting this strange smirk on his face as he pulled one of the casettes from the case and walked over to the VCR.
A mix of curiosity, trepidation and disgust crept through me but something compelled me to carry on. Again, I don't remember much, just that it involved a young girl on an operating table and a bunch of robotic hands wandering over and through her. It was the first porn I ever watched and even though I was rather prudish at the time, somehow it seemed to be less disgusting to me than I thought it would. It was bizarre, sick, nauseating...and yet, I couldn't take my eyes off it.
Since then, hentai has been something of a dark secret for me. I've never become too engrossed in it, but whenever I think of porn, it's never far away. Something about it seems strangely liberating; like it's somehow outside the boundaries or "normal" (read: American) adult entertainment. It breaks boundaries that we here in the U.S. are only too eager to throw up. Granted, it's still viewed as strange in Japan (hence the name hentai) but it's not viewed with nearly as much of a stigma as it is here.
On that note, I say to all those who believe that cartoons are only for kids: grow up.