Shuffle! - Volume 1

Unfortunately, once episode 1 and 2 set up the initial premise of the series and the unbelievable situation Rin is now in, the next two episodes do very little to advance what little plot there is. Sia and Nerine each have an episode focused on them, but not a whole lot happens. Four episodes is not enough to display any real advancement of the story. We are still in character-introduction mode. I am assuming that this series will eventually develop a real plot because I can't imagine them filling up another 20 episodes with non-events like this.

If this series continues to follow the harem anime pattern, all of the girls will eventually have their own story arc where they each reveal some deep, dark, angsty problem they have while Rin helps them get through it in some important way. He will probably make no clear choice of a girl until the very end (if at all). Rin does make some initial fuss about making a decision and not leaving all the girls hanging (a shocking concept in a harem anime) but then he promptly forgets about that idea altogether, and we return to the usual situation of girls engaging in competition over an indecisive guy.


"Shuffle!" is nothing new or original. These days, each TV season in Japan has at least half a dozen series that follow this pattern. However, within this particular genre, "Shuffle" can be fairly entertaining. There are some mildly amusing characters, and the sense of humor is not bad. The production quality is good— the character designs are very attractive, and the flow of animation is smooth. Just don't go into this series expecting something deep or groundbreaking. Whether the story will actually get stronger or serious later on is yet to be seen from this volume.

Video:
"Shuffle" is presented in 4:3 full screen ratio and looks rather nice. The colors are bright and sharp. There are some occasional jagged lines during any scene involving action, but it is nothing overly distracting.

Audio:
This disc provides Dolby 2.0 English and Japanese language tracks. I watched this disc with the Japanese language track on. I must say that I almost always prefer watching anime in the original Japanese. I have never been much of a dub fan. However, this anime amazed me by being rather painful to listen to in Japanese. Rin's voice actor, Tomokazu Sugita is one of my favorites, so there was no problem there, but for once I found most of the rest of the cast to be absolutely horrible. The acting is bad and the voices are all grating. This really surprised me! However, as bad as the voices strike me, the actual audio quality is just fine. There isn't really a need for a powerful mix here, considering the lack of dramatic action scenes. This series is dialog-driven so far, and the audio tracks sound fine.

Extras:
There is only one extra feature on this disc: textless songs. Once again, "Trailers" are listed as an extra feature, but I don't consider advertisements to be a value-adding bonus unless they are vintage ads for the show or series featured on the disc.

--Miscellaneous--
This DVD comes in a clear case. The cover insert has artwork on both sides, so that the back side can be seen through the case. There is also a fold-out poster insert included with the disc.

Film Value:
I am not exactly in the target demographic for this series, so perhaps that is why I mainly 'put up' with "Shuffle" rather than enjoyed it. I don't really care yet which girl Rin will choose. The harem series cliches can be done only so many times before they become tiresome, and that time happened many years ago for me.

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