NTR: Netsuzou Trap Episode #06 Anime Review

Did you think I was going to kiss you?

What They Say:

Yuma, a high school second-year, is enjoying every day now that she has her first boyfriend. After she asks for relationship advice from Hotaru, her beautiful long-time friend who has had many boyfriends, Hotaru teases her for her inexperience and playfully does things to her that even her boyfriend doesn't do. Yuma and Hotaru's secret relationship continues to escalate, and Yuma finds herself unable to deny how it makes her feel. This school drama tells the story of the interwoven lives of these two girls with boyfriends.

The Review:

Content: (Please note that the content portion of the review may contain spoilers)

Last week, we finally got to see NTR's first attempt at being an actual series. Now that Fujiwara has been tossed into the fray, giving the show a much-needed centralized conflict, things are beginning to spiral a bit out of control. It's seeming less possible every episode that Takeda and Yuma will wind up together (Though, I doubt anyone imagined they would from the start) but as NTR progresses, even the idea of Yuma and Hotaru ending up together seems a bit off. In fact, I imagine everyone by the end of this series winds up sexually dissatisfied. 

By now, Yuma's outlook on everything is a mess. She's clearly into both Hotaru and Takeda, but Takeda won't even look at her and Hotaru is essentially just a sex toy that has legs and talks. And, after an extremely brief flashback to the origin of their friendship, it's clear that Hotaru has been a bit of a strumpet for pretty much forever. And, in other news, I'm glad I finally got to use the word 'strumpet' in a sentence. Regardless of the secondary protagonist's outlook on sex, NTR continues to rely heavily on its cuckhold-ish themes while also figuring out new and unique ways to make them incredibly boring.

In terms of content, I suppose this episode does offer a bit more than the others. But considering that we've gotten halfway through the series and the most dramatic part thus far has been a dude saying, "How about a threesome?" only to say, "Nahh, just kidding" half a scene later, I wouldn't say that's anything to celebrate. Episode six finishes exactly where it started but with both girls wearing significantly less clothing than they were the week before.

This sentence is reserved to complain about yet another error in continuity during the "sexy time" scene where Hotaru's lights develop a mind of their own and turn themselves off -- presumably to avoid getting any further into this mess of an anime.

In Summary:

Yet again, NTR drops the ball in its incessant attempts to force drama and trick us into believing that something is actually happening. Halfway through the series, the only character who has developed even slightly has been Takeda- who, despite having less screen time than anyone, seems to be the only character with any bit of common sense. As for everyone else, maybe they'll finally have a threesome or something next week. Though, it's probably safe to assume they won't considering that might advance the conflict to the level directly above non-existent.

Grade: C

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

NTR: Netsuzou Trap Episode #05 Anime Review

What made you want to do those things with me?

What They Say:

Yuma, a high school second-year, is enjoying every day now that she has her first boyfriend. After she asks for relationship advice from Hotaru, her beautiful long-time friend who has had many boyfriends, Hotaru teases her for her inexperience and playfully does things to her that even her boyfriend doesn't do. Yuma and Hotaru's secret relationship continues to escalate, and Yuma finds herself unable to deny how it makes her feel. This school drama tells the story of the interwoven lives of these two girls with boyfriends.

The Review:

Content: (Please note that the content portion of the review may contain spoilers)

After four weeks of watching Yuma and Hotaru attempt to drown each other in their saliva, we finally get an episode where they manage to act like normal human beings. Kind of. Apparently, Yuma and Takeda have started [sort of] seeing each other again. That being said, there is still an awkward air between them. Takeda knows that Yuma is trying to keep their relationship going but he can't help but feel like she's hiding something. Meanwhile, Fujiwara begins to use his knowledge of the situation to his advantage, essentially blackmailing Hotaru into doing anything he wants whenever he wants. Yuma, once again being the ultimate best friend, figures this out and finally confronts him about the whole eyepatch thing.

Of course, Fujiwara denies his involvement in Hotaru's injury and dodges a major bullet when Yuma confronts him about cheating. Instead of giving into the question, he subtly lets Yuma know that he knows what's going on between her and Hotaru and that she is the last person he wants to hear about cheating from. Meanwhile, Takeda sits on a bench somewhere being stood-up by his girlfriend for the umpteenth time. When Yuma finally remembers that she is someone's significant other, she sprints over to the park where she was supposed to meet Takeda and, upon arriving, receives a phone call that severs their relationship. The very next day, Fujiwara pretty much laughs in her face about the entire situation and says the only way he'll keep quiet about the cheating is if he gets to have a threesome with them. Nice.

I'm going to use this space to complain about the horrible continuity in this series. In the short time between leaving Hotaru's house and going to meet up with Takeda (Which couldn't be any longer than an hour at most), Hotaru's black eye just straight up disappears. Now, either she possesses some sort of unworldly healing power or this is a blatant lack of attention to detail in a narrative that already feels forced. It's basically an admittance that the whole abuse thing was nothing more than a temporary plot device used to lure us into thinking that something was actually going to happen sometime soon.

In Summary:

The lack of fanservice in this week's episode may irritate some, but I see it as a ray of light. Don't get me wrong, I love physical yuri romance just as much as the next guy, but the allure of NTR is supposed to preside within its darker themes. The only way we're ever going to get to that point is if Yuma and Hotaru stop making out long enough to actually do something. Luckily for us, they almost manage to restrain themselves for an entire episode this time around. Unfortunately, the bonus points they gain from this cancel out due to an extreme error in continuity concerning Hotaru's black eye.

Grade: C+

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

NTR: Netsuzou Trap Episode #04 Anime Review

And besides...I'm cheating too.

What They Say:

Yuma, a high school second-year, is enjoying every day now that she has her first boyfriend. After she asks for relationship advice from Hotaru, her beautiful long-time friend who has had many boyfriends, Hotaru teases her for her inexperience and playfully does things to her that even her boyfriend doesn't do. Yuma and Hotaru's secret relationship continues to escalate, and Yuma finds herself unable to deny how it makes her feel. This school drama tells the story of the interwoven lives of these two girls with boyfriends.

The Review:

Content: (Please note that the content portion of the review may contain spoilers)

Now that Fujiwara knows about all of the yuri stuff that's been going on behind his back, life for Hotaru isn't going to get much easier. Considering it's probably never been easy for her in the first place, the plot finally has a reason to pick up a bit. With Yuma still trying to figure out how she really feels about her best-friend, Takeda begins to lose his patience. However, after stumbling in on the other couple shortly after they finished 'getting jiggy with it' as all the cool kids say, Yuma is hit by the jealousy bomb. She stops caring about her feelings and, instead, decides to spend the night with Takeda. And while she originally thought she may have been ready to get jiggy as well, she winds up backing out and Takeda is forced to sleep on a chair.

Following a disastrous end to an otherwise decent trip, Yuma starts subconsciously distancing herself from the entire group- Hotaru included. However, upon returning to school, she catches wind of a new rumor. Apparently, Fujiwara has been cheating on Hotaru with some girl that we're probably never going to see and Yuma, being the ultimate best friend, immediately breaks her distance with Hotaru and heads over to her house. This, of course, opens up yet another window where the two girls are alone. Being incapable of sitting next to each other without engaging in borderline sex, Hotaru basically says she doesn't care about Fujiwara cheating because she's been cheating as well and proceeds to grab her best friend's face and insert her tongue into it. Then, in the most cuckworthy moment of the series thus far, Yuma proceeds to have a phone call with Takeda while the life is being fondled out of her. Sweet.

In Summary:

NTR keeps up the fanservice-y goodness while finding a way to make the series relatively more interesting in terms of, you know, actual stuff happening. With the darker sides of each character slowly being dragged out into the light, NTR's otherwise boring timeline is revitalized, albeit for just a brief moment. If the series continues to spiral down this path, it may wind up being worth acknowledging. But as of right now, the show remains a repetitive and underwhelming adaptation of an otherwise interesting and engaging story. 

Grade: B-

Streamed By: Crunchyroll