Director: Shinji Ushiro
Starring: Ai Matayoshi, Mary Morgan, Hiro Shimono, Joel McDonald, Hiroaki Miura, Ricco Fajardo, Junichi Suwabe, Scott Freeman, Mayumi Yoshida, Felecia Angelle, Ryoko Ono, Milly Prowler
Running Time: 325 minutes
Certificate: 18
They may be without wings but the characters in this sexually aggressive anime certainly have plenty of boob and panties. An early scene in this series has a character arguing about the portrayal of Japanese stereotypes regarding young girls in schoolgirl outfits before delivering every stereotype it can muster. The show is based on a visual novel series, which is essentially an interactive story on videogame systems where the player can choose certain outcomes and paths. No doubt playing the games amplifies the idea of living through sordid fantasies but here we are simply subjected to watching a number of characters act in sexually charged immature fashion.
The box art claims this to be a parody, but there was no sense of satire when I watched it. This is definitely absurd, but not to the point where it highlights what is wrong and misogynistic with these types of anime. It still has all the focus on tits and knickers and thinks that having characters point out how predatory the males are can excuse the events and depiction of women. Worst of all though, this is simply uncomfortable viewing where you are left wondering how long the artists studied the crotch area of girls in their undergarments, as these are by far the most detailed shots in the show.
Buried amongst all the sexualised nonsense is a story in which young people traverse the dating arena. The show actually offers up some brilliant twists, but having failed to get us involved in the characters on any level means that they aren’t as effective as they could have been. The idea of parallel universes and conflicting identities are also placed throughout, but like everything, it all gets buried beneath layers upon layers of innuendo, gratuitous rubbing and bouncing breasts.
It may sound harsh, but We Without Wings is what is wrong with anime. This is why so many are put off from the medium, as it wants nothing more than to be the masturbation fuel of young teenage boys who are too young to buy it in the first place. Even then it fails as we see nothing sensual or passionate in any of the nudity scenes, just salivating men and feeble self-conscious women judging and groping each other. This is a cheaply produced series which fails on all fronts.
[usr=1]We Without Wings is released on DVD on 30th June via MVM.
