Anime: Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsuji ga Ore de

Kimiaru is a fun, short depiction of a hopeless guy and his "ascension" to butler of the Kuonji family, not nearly as dramatic as in Hayate but along similar lines. Parts of the show are a bit far-fetched but the wild collection of characters and antics combine to produce a delectable, entertaining experience.

The first thing that drew me to this show was the large number of veteran, respected voice actors and they definitely shine in this work. The only caveat here is that there are quite a few sexually suggestive situations and the like that would make it inappropriate for those under 14. But that aside, Kimiaru is a pleasing and entertaining watch.

Animation:
The animation quality is very good overall. Colors are vibrant and characters are drawn to good proportion. Prepare for a lot of visual references to other animes and real life (I saw a Wii!). Do note that there are a few scenes in which the background characters are barely drawn in at all. I found this shortcut to be annoying enough to detract from the otherwise aesthetically pleasing series. Second, Ren has Naruto whiskers for unexplained reasons, which also bothered me a bit. My last complaint (though very minor) is the fact that I can't tell how the Kuonji sisters can possibly be related unless they are always wearing color contacts and dying their hair (which judging from their personalities is not true).

Despite minor complaints, the series was well drawn overall.

Sound:
Music-wise, this series did not stand out that much. Both the OP and ED were average at best and the BGM only minimally complemented the animation. However, voice wise, the VAs get A LOT of credit. For instance, I've known Rie Tanaka as the light, cutish-sounding voice actress of Chi in Chobits and Lacus Clyne in Seed. However, she plays a brash, aggressive character in this series. The magnitude of the change in her voice is just incredible. Other VAs also say a lot of lines from their other series as a parody, which is very entertaining.

Overall: music 2/5, VA 5/5, Avg 7.

Story:
Ren is a boy who had been physically abused by his father for years. He finally escapes with his sister and luckily bump into the Kuonjis. They come up with the idea of hiring the two siblings as live-in hires and thus we have the flirtatious, hilarious situation in the Kuonji compound.

The majority of the series is very light hearted as the two siblings get acquainted with their new lives as servants. It does get a bit more intense near the end as master Shinra tries to please her former teacher and as Ren finally confronts his father.

The conclusion is a bit short (basically part of the concluding credits) but is enough of a closure to give the show a proper end.

Overall the story is very intriguing and believable considering the genre. A fun watch but I think it could have been better if it was a bit longer.

Character:
The characters in this series all are unique in their own way and a great deal of the show is spent on exploring the differences between the characters and giving insight into their pasts.

What makes it extremely hilarious is the fact that the characters do dozens of parodies of other animes (based on works done by the corresponding voice actors). The characters are all vibrant and enthusiastic (with much of the credit going to the VAs). The most interesting contrast is definitely between the three Kuonji sisters as each is very unique (note that it might seem odd at first since two of the sisters are over twenty... older than the main male character Ren).

Value:
The show would have had more value if it had a bit more drama or length but it was nonetheless very enjoyable to watch. In terms of actual content, it is not necessarily the best show but for just good old enjoyment, this show is definitely one of the better ones this year.

Now the hard question, is this just another Hayate? In fact, I must admit that though some aspects in this series are a bit more mature themed, Hayate is still the more enjoyable watch.

Review "Short Version"

Synopsis
As the title states this anime is about the relationships between butlers/maids and their masters. The anime has a typical beginning where a brother and sister runaway from home because an abusive parent. They eventually meet up with a super rich family and begin serving the family as butler and maid.

General Overview
Right from the start the anime does not have anything that stands out. It uses a clichéd premise with a stereotypical plot line. The anime itself focuses on three main things comedy through fan service, comedy through parodies and episodic character development based on their pasts. For the most part it is quite corny, but on the rare occasion it can be funny. Nonetheless it is really hard to say that it is good anyway since the bar was set fairly low from the get go.

Conclusion
This anime is a quick and easy watch. It has no depth whatsoever so it really appeals for those who want a no-brainer. By no means is it original and has many similar animes. This would best suit fans of ecchi and parody.

Similar Anime
If you like the butler/maid comedy genre some other titles you might want to consider are:
Hayate no Gotoko
He is my Master
Mahoromatic

Detailed Look at the Ratings

Animation
Its not the best or worst in the world. Its just what you would expect of series in this genre. It works.

Motion
Through out the series it can be either quite active or flat depending on the situation. When they do have fighting or parodies of it they use techniques that are considered "poorly" animated. it also has to be noted that since it is parody it is ok to have cheesy movement like long limbs or lots of lines to show fast movement. Thus in this aspect it catered to the needs of the scene.

Characters
The cast was mainly female heavy and thus tried very hard to satisfy a male audience. The majority of the females had big breasts and in many cases did not hesitate to show cleavage or panty flashes. None of the characters had many distinctive qualities about them and the character sets were nothing out of the ordinary. In many scenes they censor the private parts, but I saw an uncensored version for this anime so I'm not sure if it’s the same in that one. However for the level of fan service they had they should of at least NOT censored the nipples.

Background
The backgrounds are dull and unappealing. You barely really notice it much and most of the anime takes place at the mansion anyway. You might get one or two nice views but other then that it’s pretty boring.

Sound
The sound also serves around the same purpose as the animation. Its their but it really doesn't matter.

OP/ED
I have to admit I only sat through the ending once and the opening not a single time. Thus really its not great at all. From the sound of both they are very "Pop" kind of songs with higher pitch and childish voices.

OST
Again I did not notice much of it in the anime. In fact overall the sound effects just kinda did what they normally do. Fit in and work towards the end :S.

Voice Acting
Not the best in the world. Many of the characters voices sorta of fit the characters but didn't really. The emotions aren't always there and overall some of the voices are just annoying to listen to. I personally didn't like the two male characters voices much. They are both kinda squeaky and annoying.

Story
Did this series really have a story? Truthfully whatever they attempted at one really didn't seem like much at all. The anime focused more on either being episodic or building the overall story through the mini stories. Either way the overall effect equaled a weak and stupid main plot that no one could careless about. From start to finish not much really happens it’s just basically the life serving a rich family.

Side stories
A big part of the series was the side stories, which ties into the character development. Basically they used each one of these to give the viewer some background information about individual characters. The stories them self are usually suppose to be sad and encouraging, however they don't ever have that effect and are more though as ridiculous. So really the side stories were all for convenience.

Character
The characters all follow typical anime trends and can easily be matched with many others. I guess in a way this was how they planned it to be but this only caused me to not really like any of them. Since the series focused on mini stories it also made it hard to draw a line between characters that were main and side ones.

Main Characters
I considered the 3 sisters Yume, Miyu and Shinra along with the butler Ren the main characters. The three sisters brought had totally different personalities where Shinra is the sadistic household leader, Miyu is the intelligent loli neet and Yume is the panty flashing ditzy high school girl. Ren does not have any unique features just your average teenage/young adult strong headed male. None of these characters were able to spark much enthusiasm from me. They were also developed quite poorly so this did not help at all.

Side Characters
For some reason many of the side characters got as much screen time as some of the main ones. Not that either really proved any more important or less then each other. The purpose of each character and their stories basically were used to solve conflicts and bring the happy family closer together. The side cast is large so I don’t want to talk about them too much.

Value and Enjoyment
I would never rewatch this series ever again. There is nothing worth revisiting or seeing that would help in another sitting. Nor is there anything I liked so much I want to see it again. On the moral side it also has nothing much to say to the audience. Most of the messages are clichéd and really don’t amount to much. Hell I’m sure if you watch too many series like this it probably contributes negatively to your overall morality. Either way I didn’t hate this anime it was ok. For me its just another one added to my list of killing time and cheesy enough for me to laugh at and finish.

So I hope if you watch this series you will enjoy.
Drop a comment/rating regardless if you enjoyed my review or not, if you don’t want to put a rating and just talk about this anime or any others feel free to give me a message.

This is a good quick watch, however I'll keep this one short and simple[br][br]Plot summary (in a nutshell):[br]Sister and brother run away from an abusive father and go looking for work. They find work @ a mansion working as a maid and butler for 3 sisters. Butler gets close to the girls and decides on which one he likes. Father comes to pay him a visit after hearing about his son's status. Father, son, and daughter come to good terms in the end. ~~~~ The end.[br]Animation:[br]Fair enough, but in some episodes the animation is a bit tweaked (your typical scene where it's obvious it does not correspond with the rest of the animation).[br][br]Sound:[br]The OP is fair enough, nothing memorable. the ED was alright . As for the OST, I did not really notice it enough throughout the series so it's fair to say it's nothing too spectacular.[br][br]Story:[br]To be honest, the story seemed to flow fine, nothing going out of place. The viewers get to learn the backgrounds of each character to a fair amount and there's not too much drama to deal with. There are some parts that are downright unnecessary though but they can be overlooked easily. I feel that this is one of those animes that one can sit down and watch in one go as the story does build up properly to a climax and resolution. however this anime as you might have guessed is in no way realistic (like i said, not much drama).[br]*there are many trivial (puns, side jokes, parodies) things shoved into this anime, some of which are quite clever*.[br][br]Character:[br]For the girls you Basically got your tsunderes, tomboys, and excessively moe. *bump up the rating if you're a fan of tsunderes* All the girls act well according to their role, chances are you'll find one of the girls likable.[br][br]For the guys you got a trap, two butlers who seem to throw away their pride, and the main caretaker who is overly strong (he's a mercenary). I personally did not find any of the male characters likeable due to the fact it was the typical guy who has no balls guts to do anything. * bump up the rating if you favor indecisive characters* [br][br]Value:[br]The value deserves a bit more than it normally would due to the fact that there aren't too many solely directed animes concerning maids/butlers. also the parodies built in were pretty clever. All in all it's not great and it's not bad, it's just.[br][br]Enjoyment:[br]A good quick watch to get through the day. Nothing more. [br]